"Divine Doctor... Wu Jia?"
Xie Suyao asked, not wanting to believe her own eyes.
Why did this famous "Divine Doctor" have the demeanor of an ordinary middle-aged uncle?
"Nobody's called me that in years, you know?"
Wu Jia laughed lightly. He didn't seem heavy-hearted in the slightest, unlike Xie Suyao who kept staring at him up and down without stopping.
"Young lady... why are you staring at me?"
"Elder Sister... is this person?"
"No, he's not... This person doesn't have a special constitution. He's just an ordinary man in his late forties..."
Bai Fanxian knew what Xie Suyao would ask. She had assessed him earlier. At most, this Divine Doctor's lifespan shouldn't exceed fifty years.
"If that's the case, then you have no right to call me a young lady!" Xie Suyao, upon learning that the other party was definitely younger than herself, lifted her chin with a hint of pride.
"Wait, what's going on here?"
Wu Jia asked in confusion. What's wrong with a middle-aged uncle like him calling a woman in her twenties a young lady?
"I'm older than you. Call me Elder Sister Xie, Grandmaster Xie, or Lady Xie." The young woman spoke with slightly improved spirits.
"Xie...?"
Wu Jia murmured as he tried to recall. Then his eyes widened. "Don't tell me you're the Red Widow Queen, that Xie Suyao?"
"That's correct."
Wu Jia stared at Xie Suyao in astonishment. The name of the Red Widow Queen was one he had certainly heard on the path of cultivation. Her fearsome reputation was legendary enough to reach his ears. A Grandmaster-level figure in that era was like a goal they all tried to reach.
Although Wu Jia was busy treating people and cultivating, he still knew about some famous figures.
Therefore, what she said must be true. She was older than him!
But she didn't look scary at all, did she?
He began to feel a little itchy, curious to experiment and discover the secret of this unaging body.
"Fine... you're not that much older than me anyway." He sighed as he took a deep drag of the rolled herbs into his lungs.
"...And what's the other young lady's name?" The middle-aged man turned to ask Bai Fanxian. To be honest, he was quite a bit more interested in this young lady, because ever since she entered, he couldn't sense her level at all.
"Elder Sister Bai is even older than me!"
Xie Suyao spoke sternly. After getting acquainted and discovering they were from the same dimension, it wasn't difficult for them to become close. In a place like this that felt like being away from home, meeting people from the same place made conversation naturally easy.
But the young woman's words left Wu Jia's jaw hanging open.
He rubbed his eyes and stared clearly at Bai Fanxian.
"No way... She looks like a young lady in her twenties for sure."
Bai Fanxian herself was too lazy to explain anything. She let the two of them continue their conversation, which allowed them to learn more about this Divine Doctor's story.
It was as they had suspected. Wu Jia had already achieved the Grandmaster level in the first year of his closed-door cultivation. But before he could exit, he encountered a secret chamber in the cave wall. And due to curiosity, he was sucked into this dimension from that moment on.
"...I see. That must have caused quite a commotion back there." Wu Jia sighed. He thought of the world on the other side that he'd left behind. His patients, the villagers beneath the clouds, and his disciples must have been terribly worried seeing him disappear.
"Haven't you found a way to return?" Bai Fanxian asked what she was most curious about.
Because many years had passed, yet he still hadn't returned. So there was the most frightening possibility that "there's no way back" could actually be true.
But then—
"There is. There's a way back."
"..."
Bai Fanxian felt her brow twitch slightly.
Why did she feel like this uncle was somehow getting on her nerves? Especially when he answered with a normal, casual expression as if nothing was happening.
"...But I still can't go back."
When Wu Jia spoke this sentence, Bai Fanxian could sense a certain determination from his tone and the look in his eyes.
"Want to go outside and look around?"
.
.
.
Outside Wu Jia's house were the many herb gardens that Bai Fanxian had already seen earlier. But Xie Suyao, who hadn't seen them yet, was widening her eyes in surprise.
"By the way, only two of you fell into this dimension?" Along the way, Wu Jia in his medical gown turned to make conversation. He still had his signature herbal cigarette between his lips.
"Not at all... There are several more people. And three children too."
When she mentioned this, Xie Suyao began to worry again.
"...It's fine. Their bodies aren't weak. They have my qi and Intent protecting them. At least for now, they'll be alright."
Bai Fanxian consoled her. She didn't want Xie Suyao to feel guilty anymore.
Besides, she could still sense that the children were definitely safe.
Wu Jia simply listened quietly. He could sense Xie Suyao's sadness, so he tried to change the subject.
"But you two are pretty unlucky too. I guess it was curiosity that made you try to open that dimensional gate, right?"
"And whose fault do you think that was!" Xie Suyao, who had been sad, changed moods instantly. She turned to complain to Wu Jia for several sentences until she found herself feeling a little better.
Perhaps this man really was a good doctor after all...
Wu Jia's house stood separate and isolated. But when they walked into the village area, he received a warm welcome. Whether dog-eared or cat-eared villagers, when they saw Wu Jia walking by, they all greeted him in a friendly manner.
When they saw the two young women, they looked startled. But they didn't commit any impolite actions and only secretly glanced quietly.
"You're quite popular, aren't you..." Xie Suyao said. Everyone in this village seemed to love and respect this man greatly.
Wu Jia laughed lightly.
"They're people who fled from conflict."
He spoke. At the same time, small girls with cat ears and dog ears on their heads came running up.
"Where are you going, Doctor?"
One of them tugged at Wu Jia's gown and asked innocently.
The middle-aged man smiled at the children while his mouth continued explaining the situation of this dimension's world to the two women.
"Like these children. They lost their families due to fighting between species. They didn't do anything wrong. They were just born having to bear grudges from their ancestors."
Wu Jia reached into his coat pocket and pulled out something like round candy balls to distribute to the children. Bai Fanxian knew those were a type of Tier 1 medicinal pill with a sweet taste.
The children who received treats were all excited and happy. They turned to thank Wu Jia before waving goodbye until they disappeared from sight.
"This village is a gathering of refugees. People who lost their homes, lost their bodies, or fell ill. For them, war and conflict are just meaningless. They only want to live peacefully."
When he finished speaking, Wu Jia had walked until they reached the front of the village, which bordered the forest.
"In this forest, there are monster beasts with combat power at the Martial Master level scattered about... For this dimension that has no Grandmaster-level beings living in it, just these monster beasts are enough to make it called a forbidden forest."
"That's why I need to stay here... and build the village on the other side of the forest like this. If there's a Grandmaster-level being protecting it, whether it's any faction's army or monster beasts in the forest, they can't do anything to them."
Bai Fanxian understood what this Divine Doctor was doing.
From what she'd heard since being in the current world, he helped and treated cultivators and villagers without discrimination or division of which side they were on. What he did was simply help with all his might and treat them until they recovered.
So after appearing in this dimension, even though he found a way back home, these people still needed to rely on his help. If Wu Jia left, the villagers and children in this village definitely wouldn't survive.
"That's how it is... I'll tell you the way back home. You two go back first."
When Wu Jia spoke this sentence, he was full of ease, meaning this man had already mentally prepared himself well.
Xie Suyao and Bai Fanxian looked at each other's faces. They could sense this Divine Doctor's determination from his demeanor and expression very well.
"...Actually, I have something I want to ask you."
Bai Fanxian spoke up after thinking.
"Previously, did you have problems with cultivation?... No matter what you did, you couldn't step into the first stage of Qi Gathering?"
Bai Fanxian's question surprised Wu Jia, because only a few people had ever known about that. Before he was called the Divine Doctor, he wasn't particularly famous.
"That's right... Why do you ask?"
"...There's a young girl who's like you. I want to request that you treat her." Bai Fanxian spoke softly. This man was the only hope to help Hui'er.
Wu Jia, upon hearing this, lowered his head with a thoughtful expression. After a moment, he sighed.
"...Can you bring that child to me?"
"...I'll try my best." Bai Fanxian felt a bit of relief. Now her big problem was finding those children and her followers, sending Hui'er to the Divine Doctor for treatment, and then having him tell them the way back home.
"If you two want to find information, try going to the city."
Wu Jia suggested after understanding all their purposes. He would try to help as much as he could. So going to search in the city where merchants and travelers gathered should help to some extent.
"...But let me warn you about one thing." The middle-aged man paused to think. "For this dimension, humans like us are rather strange beings."
"According to their legends, the ones who brought the beast-humans to this dimension were humans. Humans passed down technology and knowledge to them until they could survive on their own before all the humans disappeared."
"So for them, besides species, another thing that divides them is religion."
"Half of the beast-humans still worship and have faith in humans. They believe humans are benefactors and are always grateful for that kindness."
"But another religion believes that humans abandoned them without reason. This group will hate humans greatly even though they haven't encountered actual humans for many eras. But the teaching that humans are enemies is still deeply rooted. So you two must be very careful."
When he finished speaking, Xie Suyao became worried. She turned to ask Wu Jia:
"Then when you go outside, what do you do?"
She understood that the villagers here probably revered and worshipped Wu Jia greatly from the expressions they'd seen earlier. So it wasn't a problem to reveal his identity here. But it wasn't like Wu Jia only stayed in the village. Before building this place, he must have adventured outside before too.
"...I disguise myself."
Wu Jia seemed reluctant to answer this question. He had an evasive manner and didn't dare make eye contact with the two young women.
"Disguise?"
Seeing that he probably couldn't avoid it anymore, Wu Jia reached into his gown pocket and pulled something out.
"...A cat ear headband... is it?"
"Mm."
The middle-aged man nodded in acknowledgment. In his hands were two cat ears, black and pink, that looked quite real. He scratched his face with a strange embarrassed feeling at having to explain something like this.
"It's like cosplay in our world... As long as you two attach these specially made cat ears and cat tail, no one can tell."
He finished speaking and pulled out a matching cat tail as well.
"...I'm not forcing you two. Wear them or not, it's up to you." Wu Jia felt a strange chill when Bai Fanxian's gaze fixed on him. He quickly passed all the "disguise equipment" into Xie Suyao's hands.
"..."
Xie Suyao frowned as she received these cosplay toys. She was about to voice a complaint to Wu Jia, but when she thought of something, she quickly turned sharply toward Bai Fanxian.
She stared intently at her Elder Sister.
Even Bai Fanxian felt strange when she met Xie Suyao's gaze.
Wu Jia standing beside them felt this woman's breathing starting to become strangely intense, and her face was beginning to flush red.
"...Let's wear them, Elder Sister."
Xie Suyao's voice trembled slightly as she began to imagine her Elder Sister—so beautiful and powerful, whose demeanor was so cold and aloof—but on her head appeared small black cat ears that were twitching adorably.
Just thinking about it, Xie Suyao felt like blood was about to flow uncontrollably from her nose!
"...Will it be alright?"
Bai Fanxian herself didn't think Xie Suyao would change her mind this quickly. Hadn't she seemed displeased at first?
"It's perfect! Especially... this tail?"
Wu Jia quickly scooted back to distance himself from the young woman who was holding the black cat tail with both hands, and her gaze was fixed on a certain part of Bai Fanxian's body.
...That's just a tail attached to a belt, isn't it!?
As he thought, this "Red Widow Queen" was even more frightening than the rumors he'd heard!