A Western Doctor’s Happy Farming Life[1] 126

“So where is it?”

Song Qinghan couldn’t help asking, even if he knew that Qin Sanmu was probably playing with him.

Suddenly, Qin Sanmu opened his palm and stretched forth in front of Song Qinghan, with a smile of evilness around his face, and then he spoke in temptation as if he was seducing Song Qinghan by something valuable, “Take it and eat it, and then I will tell you where it is! After all, it’s the secret I know so far.”

Song Qinghan stared at Qin Sanmu’s palm, approached to pick the pack of powder up in his hand, and then put the pack between his nose. Frowning, he asked in a low voice, “Is it the opium poppy?”

Seeing Qin Sanmu’s seemingly burning eyes, Song Qinghan shook the pack in his hand and said leisurely, “Why should I trust you? What if you are lying to me, won’t I be the stupidest person in the world?”

Qin Sanmu burst into a laughter and then put his hands in his back, saying, “Believe it or not! I can’t prove it anyway, it only depends on you now, Doctor Song. But as long as you believe that, you have to pay the price and accept the result you might think of. Even if you go to law against me to the master, I am not afraid at all. Yet, the only consequence of that is that you might lose the chance the snowlotus grow at its blooming moment. Weigh it yourself.”

“Blooming moment?” asked Song Qinghan, and then he lowered his eyes and pondered, and then he continued to ask, “Then how do you know that the snowlotus is growing right now? Have you seen it before? Why did you confess to me then? Don’t you want to pick it yourself?”

Beyond Song Qinghan’s expectation, there was a trace of arrogance emerging suddenly. And then the arrogant man replied leisurely, “Well, I can get it whenever I want. But what I am going to do is much interesting than that.”

Although the man’s tone was rather plain, Song Qinghan could still discern some senses of danger.

What was he going to do? Was it about the opium poppy?

Seeing that Song Qinghan didn’t say anything, Qin Sanmu sighed and said slowly, “It seems that you’re still hesitant, then it’s time to say goodbye, Doctor Song, I hope you will have a smooth and fun trip to get the snowlotus yourself.”

“Wait a minute!”

Song Qinghan suddenly shouted just at the moment Qin Sanmu turned around and was about to leave.

It could be seen from the expression of Qin Sanmu that this man was quite complacent as he turned around back facing Song Qinghan, and then he pretended to be quite surprised and asked, “What’s wrong, Doctor Song? Did you change your mind?”

“Yes,” answered Song Qinghan, while the powder pack in his hand seemed to be as heavy as an elephant. And then without a further hesitation, he raised his head and poured all the powder into his mouth, and then tore the pack paper into pieces and spread them into the air. Staring at Qin Sanmu in the eyes, he said, “Are you satisfied now?”

Qin Sanmu stretched out his hands and clapped. And then he praised, “I would say that Doctor Song is really braver than any other men, and I respect that. Since you are so straightforward, I won’t let you down. The snowlotus grows at the Northwest side of the snow forest around one mile in distance. It will probably bloom within two days, so, go and get it now as soon as possible.”

“Oh,” he sounded again after turning around, and then he added, “It’s all fine for you to take the master with you, but for the further reason, I won’t explain, just find out yourself.”

Song Qinghan stood still and watched Qin Sanmu leaving. From the corner of his eye, he saw a few black shadows make a move to retract the crossbows. Finally, he released his tense nerve.

Probably he would have been a lifeless corpse on the snowy ground if he didn’t eat that pack of powder…

Instantly, the opium poppy came into effect. The image figure of Wu Dahu emerged suddenly in front of Song Qinghan who got a gradually blurry eyesight. Though he knew deeply that it was just a delusion, he felt rather happy and couldn’t help smiling, “Dahu, how come you’re here? Is that because you are worried about me? I’m all fine, please wait for me two more days, and I can get you the snowlotus…”

“Wu Dahu” was silent standing there, and suddenly approached and supported Song Qinghan by a hug. The warmth made Song Qinghan feel at ease. Gradually, he closed his eyes and sank deeply into his sweet dreams.

By the time Song Qinghan woke up again, the sky had already welcomed its other brightness. What was different from what he imagined was that under his body was a hard bed instead of the snowy ground. Aside him was only silence roared by the scary emptiness. “Wu Dahu” had already gone far away.

For some reason, after realizing that he had returned to reality, his heart was empty just as the environment was.

He knew that this was one of the consequences of smoking poppy. He pursed his parched lips and was about to get up when he saw the master coming in from the door.

The master felt somewhat a bit awkward when he saw Song Qinghan, he put the warm congee onto the table, and then rubbed his hands, explaining, “I saw you passed out onto the snowy ground yesterday, so I carried you back in the bed. I hope you will forgive me if I had offended you by doing so.”

Song Qinghan nodded and said calmly, “It’s fine, thank you anyway for taking me back, otherwise something might have happened out of my expectation.”

Seeing him take the congee over, the master hesitated for a moment, and then he still came to ask, “What happened to you last night?”

Song Qinghan paused and said calmly, “Nothing, I just got a bit uncomfortable, old troubles, you know.”

He didn’t intend to confess about the evilness of Qin Sanmu and the deal between him and the evil man. Well, it was not that he didn’t trust the master, he just thought that it wasn’t necessary.

As long as things went smoothly, he would be able to expose the true intention of the Qin Family and obtain the snowlotus by the way today!

Thinking of this, he took a sip of congee and raised his head to speak to the master, “Ask them to throw Goudan into the snow forest, and just tell them that Goudan is about to die out of this addiction.”

Surprise flashed across the master’s eyes, and he hesitantly said, “Goudan…? Are you planning to let Goudan check out the situation in the snow forest?”

Song Qinghan shook his head and said decisively, “I will go there first and wait for them, at that time I will launch a signal flare into the sky. Remember, as long as you notice that, gather all the other residents and bring them there.”

The master got his nerve tense suddenly, and then he refused, “It’s so dangerous, I won’t allow you to go alone!”

Song Qinghan put the congee aside and said calmly, “They probably know better than you how many people there are in this village. If they come to know that one or two are absent among, they probably won’t implement their plan, and at that time, probably Goudan will be put into a real danger. Yet as for me, they had already exclude me from out of the list subconsciously. Even they come to know that I am in the snow forest, they won’t do anything bad to me.”

Song Qinghan had made everything rather clear by saying that yet his words came with obscurity. If the master still insisted rejecting his plan, he could only resort to any other means.

Anyway, the problem caused by the Qin family must be solved. Otherwise, even if he obtained the snowlotus, it wouldn’t be easy for him to get away from this place.

Although the head’s expression was still equipped with embarrassment and worries, he didn’t say anything in objection now. He just sighed softly and said slowly, “Alright, then do as you wish. This is my crossbow. Be careful.”

Song Qinghan looked at the exquisite-made crossbow in his hand and looked up at the back of the master with determination in his eyes.

He should and had to get everything settled smoothly this time! Because his husband was still waiting for him at home!

Song Qinghan set off towards the snow forest himself after he finished the congee. He even went around and made a particular detour in order not to arouse the suspicion of the Qin Family. After reaching the stone, he he abandoned the sleigh and hid it behind the stone,  and walked into the snow forest by his own legs.

After all, he was only one person on this route right now, so he didn’t walk randomly. Only after a careful wandering around the periphery, he hid himself on his calculated route.

Before he was so cold that he was about to lose consciousness, a few shadows finally appeared in the distance.

Goudan seemed to feel rather disappointed to be abandoned so easily, he roared loudly with sobs and bawls, “Doctor Song did tell me that I was getting better and better! Why are you going to throw me into the snow forest today?! I don’t want to live with those mountain ghost, I am so scared! Please let go of me, I will be obedient from now on!”

Seeing that the poor Goudan was crying hysterically as his face was almost frozen by his own snot and tears, Song Qinghan felt much guilty in his mind. But if he didn’t use Goudan as a counter, he couldn’t conceive of another means to get the Qin Family over here and expose their evil intentions. In that case, he could only choose to disappoint Goudan temporarily.

When the Qin family arrived at the entrance of the snow forest, they looked around and saw that there was no any difference. All of them got a relief in minds.

Noticing that Goudan was still bawling, Qin Sanmu frowned and warned, “Stop crying yourself! You’d better behave well, otherwise the mountain ghosts will come in advance being attracted by your bawling. At that time you might beg for the Buddha for sparing your life!”

Goudan suddenly withdrew his cry after that, and then stared at Qin Sanmu in a pitiful way.

Qin Sanmu seemed to enjoy this kind of expression. He sneered and raised his eyebrows, “Besides, you might not necessarily die if you enter the snow forest. Maybe you will find yourself in another world of happiness and enjoy a happier life.”

Gou Dandan choked for a moment and didn’t seem to put Qin Sanmu’s words in mind. In his eyes left only an ocean of despair.

After they tidied up their clothes a little bit, they raised Goudan again on their shoulders and then headed inwards.

Song Qinghan took a look and found that they walked very carefully after entering the snow forest, as if they were avoiding something.

He quickly memorized their route in his mind. Just as their figures disappeared in sight, he quickly followed up.

The internal structure of snow forest was more complicated than Song Qinghan had thought. The Qin family carried Goudan left and right along the way and finally stopped until they reached in front of a cave.

Seeing this, Song Qinghan hid himself behind a thick and old tree. When he saw some skinny people walking out of the cave, he got his nerve extremely tense as all his goose bumps erupted suddenly.

Probably this group of people was the so-called “Mountain Ghost” they mentioned. But after a further and clearer observation, he found that this group of people was obviously at the same boat with the Qin Family!

Seeing those ‘ghosts’, Goudan shouted loudly and even more hysterically as if he was about to be insanely crazy the next moment. Being annoyed by the shouts, Qin Sanmu picked up a random brick aside, and then hit Goudan on the head till Goudan passed out.

After a long while of conversation, they carried Goudan again on their shoulders and moved him into the cave.

Currently, Song Qinghan finally figured out that the secret of the Qin Family was actually hidden in that cave. And now he sank into a long while of hesitation, he hesitated over whether he should go up to check the situation himself or just launch the signal flare now.

The sound of the signal flare wasn’t that small. Probably as soon as he launched the flare, the Qin Family would definitely notice that. And at that time, they would ruin the evidences and he would be the one who lied to the residents.

Looking at the cave which was featuring an unfathomable darkness, Song Qinghan gritted his teeth, and made up his mind and then rushed into it directly.

He hid himself behind several rocks inside the cave, silently peered in. Noticing that the internal structure was rather complicated, he walked quietly on tiptoe.

Even though he knew that it was rather dangerous to enter such a cave he was not familiar with, and probably he would be caught by the Qin Family out of his concerns, he still wanted to take the risk. He even felt a bit excited instead with a rapid adrenaline secretion combined with a feeling of fright.

Getting deeper inside the cave, he finally heard the voice sounded by Qin Sanmu.

“Did you get a harvest recently?”

“Yes, but we got not enough labor force, and we need more people getting involved.” a hoarse voice sounded.