Chapter 65: Fellow Countryman

Wang Keyue felt overwhelmed by the number of tasks he had to handle. He hurried back to the small courtyard of the county office by noon, using the medicinal herbs sent by the magistrate to brew a potion for reducing inflammation and detoxification.

As always, he took out the medicine produced by the system, specifically designed to treat plague, and carefully added it to the herbal concoction in the proportions recommended by the system. He mixed everything thoroughly, and thus, a powerful batch of Plague Dispelling Powder was ready.

Wang Keyue summoned two young maids from the courtyard, handed them twenty leather pouches, and instructed them to fill each one. The two girls worked swiftly, and in less than half an hour, they had filled twenty-two pouches with the Plague Dispelling Powder from two large pots. Wang Keyue marveled inwardly—earning four thousand taels of silver had never been so effortless.

He decided to deliver the powder directly to Bamboo Pavilion and bid farewell to Young Master Chen.

Upon arriving at Bamboo Pavilion, a figure caught his eye. Against the backdrop of verdant bamboo, Young Master Chen’s silhouette appeared even taller and more striking. At that moment, he was slowly stretching his limbs in the courtyard, seemingly exercising. As Wang Keyue drew closer, he realized the movements looked oddly familiar.

Isn’t this... a watermelon split in half, you take one half and I take the other... This is Tai Chi!

The existence of Tai Chi in this world was truly astonishing. Wang Keyue stood quietly to the side, refraining from interrupting, simply watching the youth’s every move. The practiced fluidity of his forms revealed a mastery of Tai Chi, honed to perfection.

Watching the youth gracefully perform Tai Chi, Wang Keyue felt, for a fleeting moment, as if he had returned to his previous life.

“Doctor Wang...” The youth’s voice pulled Wang Keyue from his reverie. “Doctor Wang, do you know what style I was practicing just now?”

“Ha, Young Master Chen, your martial art overcomes strength with softness, so skillful that I find it quite admirable. Yet I truly don’t know its origins,” Wang Keyue replied.

“This is Tai Chi. Tai Chi gives rise to Two Forms, Two Forms to Four Images, Four Images to Eight Trigrams...” Young Master Chen began to explain, then suddenly stopped short, abandoning the rigid explanation. “Doctor Wang—Heavenly King covers the tiger!”

“Pagoda suppresses the river demon!” Wang Keyue turned reflexively, responding with the punchline that everyone from his past life would recognize.

After delivering the line, Wang Keyue looked at the youth’s triumphant grin and found himself utterly bewildered.

The room fell into a quiet hush as the two sat across from each other, sipping tea in silence. Neither wished to speak first, and the atmosphere grew somewhat awkward.

“9538, 9538, have you figured it out yet? Who is this person? Does this parallel world have other taskers, or other transmigrators, 9538?” Wang Keyue called out silently to 9538 in his mind.

At that moment, System 9538 was equally at a loss. “Host, please wait, I’ll check.”

With that, 9538 rushed off to investigate, leaving only silence behind.

Calm! Stay calm! Since he was here, he might as well make peace with it. There was nothing to panic about—after all, the person before him was simply another tasker. As long as their missions didn’t conflict, perhaps they could even help each other and progress together. This thought brought Wang Keyue some comfort.

“Young Master Chen, may I ask where your hometown is?” Wang Keyue wanted to confirm the youth’s identity once more.

“Earth. The Ancient Nation,” the youth replied, his lips lightly parted, his deep brown eyes filled with curiosity.

Wang Keyue drew in a sharp breath. He had imagined the young man might come from some ancient plane or a star system, but... he said—

Earth, Ancient Nation!

Wang Keyue could hardly believe it. In the vast universe, among three thousand worlds, she had actually encountered a compatriot!

As the saying goes, when two compatriots meet, their eyes brim with tears. Both hailing from the Ancient Nation, Wang Keyue could no longer contain her excitement. Tears shimmered in her eyes, threatening to spill at any moment.

The Ancient Nation! That name was etched deeply in her mind, yet she dared not dwell on it, for any thought of home would unleash a tide of longing that could drown her last shred of reason.

“Ancient Nation, Ancient Nation...” Wang Keyue muttered, images of her family and the harrowing scene of the explosion flooding her mind.

“Senior, you’re from the Ancient Nation too!” Seeing Wang Keyue so moved, Young Master Chen shed his previously amused demeanor, replacing it with genuine concern.

He never expected, after arriving here inexplicably and becoming a cripple by some strange twist of fate, that his life, once mired in hardship, would take such a turn. Not only did he meet a legendary healer, but the healer turned out to be a fellow countryman!

“Rongshan Base, Ancient Nation!” Wang Keyue uttered the place she yearned for most.

“Ah!” Young Master Chen’s face brimmed with astonishment. “I... me too!” His eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had just realized something. “Could it be... you... are...”

He didn’t finish, sensing his guess was too far-fetched.

At this moment, Wang Keyue was too shocked to speak.

“Host! Host! Disaster! Disaster! Something terrible has happened!” System 9538’s voice rang out in her mind, filled with alarm.