Shi Yun Lan woke up the next morning and noticed that Bi Ri and Phyllis had stopped their previous actions.
They served him as they usually did.
Shi Yun Lan didn't question it.
He simply went to the training hall to meet the trainer who had been assigned to teach him physique-enhancement techniques.
"The Third Young Master of the Shi family, welcome to our training hall."
"My pleasure."
Shi Yun Lan looked at the man before him.
His eyes moved across the trainer's body, observing every single movement of his muscles.
The trainer immediately frowned.
"You are not a physician! You mustn't use your eyes to observe the energy.
Use your own energy to observe the other person's body!"
Shi Yun Lan closed his eyes.
Then he released his Aura of Death, allowing it to spread throughout the training hall.
But he couldn't sense anything.
"...?"
Shi Yun Lan opened his eyes.
The trainer had already retreated several steps.
His knees were shaking.
"Wh... Who are you?!"
"..."
Shi Yun Lan immediately realized that he wouldn't receive any proper training from this frightened man.
The same thing happened with the physicians.
Even though he didn't release his aura and made sure not to do anything threatening, his mere presence seemed to frighten them.
Some of the patients even became worse because of their fear.
The matter gave the elder a headache.
'Is he an omen?!
There's no one who can feel comfortable beside him, and it becomes even worse whenever he uses his power!'
The elder wanted to kick him out.
But he couldn't.
So, he tried to find another solution.
Before he could do so, another report reached him.
"What is it?"
The elder asked.
The servant answered nervously,
"Actually... it's about the Young Mistress."
The elder's eyes darkened.
"Talk. What about her?"
The servant swallowed nervously.
"She refused all the young masters from the three continents."
"!!!"
The elder felt as if he were about to lose consciousness.
"What... did... she do?!"
"She created a contest involving the treatment of the patients suffering from the plague that occurred in our lands last month."
"..."
The elder remained silent for several moments.
Then he asked,
"Does the head of the family know about her actions?"
The servant nodded.
"Yes. He also agreed with her."
"That...!"
The elder stopped himself.
Then an idea suddenly came to his mind.
His expression slowly changed into a malicious smile.
...
Shi Yun Lan wandered through the village with his guard, Leon, searching for the physician who was treating the people affected by the plague.
"Will everything be alright, young master?"
Leon was worried about him.
Shi Yun Lan calmly answered,
"No one has accepted me as a trainee.
They all stayed away from me, so I have to meet that person in the village."
He remembered the elder's words.
"There's someone in the village who can endure being around you.
Don't be shy. Ask him to teach you about anatomy and the other techniques."
Shi Yun Lan continued walking until they reached the village.
The sight before them immediately caught their attention.
Many people were lying on the ground, covered with white cloth.
Others were bedridden inside tents.
Leon surrounded his body with his aura to prevent anything from entering it.
Shi Yun Lan did the same.
His deadly aura spread through the area as he looked around, searching for someone who could tell him where to find the physician.
"The young master?!"
Shi Yun Lan turned his head.
A little girl, no more than six years old, was standing there.
She didn't recognize him as the Third Young Master of the Shi family.
To her, he was simply a powerful warrior accompanied by his guard.
"What is the matter, little girl?"
Leon spoke calmly.
The girl answered with tears falling from her eyes.
"My mother is suffering, and I can't reach the physician.
Please...!"
She couldn't say much more.
Leon looked helplessly at Shi Yun Lan.
"To be honest, we're heading there to meet her, but we aren't sure—"
"Take me to your mother."
Shi Yun Lan interrupted him.
The girl hesitated when she saw his pitch-black eyes.
She was afraid of him.
But she couldn't oppose someone of his status and strength.
So she led him toward her house.
Shi Yun Lan followed her while thinking,
'This is my opportunity to see whether my studies will be useful or not.'
Although his desire was based on his own cold curiosity, something inside him told him that he had to do this for the girl's sake.
He wasn't sure where that feeling came from.
But Shion Lan felt the same thing inside him.
Only his feeling was much stronger.
"Shouldn't I only feel Shi Yun Lan's emotions?
Then why do I feel this way?
This isn't like Shi Yun Lan at all..."
While he was thinking, Shi Yun Lan entered the wooden house.
He immediately noticed a closed room.
A strong aura of death radiated from behind the door.
"Little girl, why didn't you take your mother to the physician?"
Shi Yun Lan asked as he approached the door.
The girl answered,
"My mother couldn't walk because she was injured.
But there was a young master who wanted to marry the Queen of Beauty of the Jian family.
He offered to help us, but..."
Shi Yun Lan entered the room.
His eyes immediately noticed traces of the light element inside the woman's body.
The girl continued,
"She got worse day by day.
Then the young masters left without giving us any help.
Only pain remained..."
She began to cry.
Shi Yun Lan looked at her.
"Don't you feel afraid of me?"
The girl hesitated.
"Are you here to marry the physician?"
"No."
"Then you're not evil!"
"..."
Shi Yun Lan looked toward the woman.
To him, she was already standing at the edge of death.
Leon could barely sense any life remaining inside her.
For some reason, Shi Yun Lan felt something painful in his heart.
He couldn't understand it.
He shook his head, trying to push the strange feeling away.
The little girl misunderstood his expression.
She thought he had found no hope of saving her mother.
She began crying harder.
"Don't worry, little girl."
Shi Yun Lan placed his hand gently on her head.
Then he approached her mother.
His aura began to flow from his hand.
He paused.
'I will save her.'
He abandoned his original intention of simply using her as a test subject.
He had made his decision.
(Aura of the Death) surrounded the woman's body.
Then Shi Yun Lan activated his technique.
"(Blood of the Dead)."
His aura spread throughout the woman's body.
He carefully controlled it, locating the source of the infection.
Once he found it, he concentrated his aura there.
The infected tissues and cells were destroyed instantly.
Then he controlled the remaining energy and stimulated the body to regenerate them.
The girl watched in horror as her mother's body twisted in pain.
Her face became pale.
But then she noticed something.
Her mother's skin was slowly regaining its natural color.
Although she remained pale, the signs of death were disappearing.
Gradually, her condition improved.
Finally, Shi Yun Lan completed the treatment.
"She won't feel well for some time."
He looked at the little girl.
"But seeing you will be enough for her."
The girl bowed deeply.
"Thank... you... young... ma...ster!"
She couldn't hold back her tears anymore.
She ran toward her mother with relief.
Shi Yun Lan looked at them for a moment.
Then he turned toward Leon.
"Leon, leave some space for them."
The two of them left the house.
But Leon couldn't hold back his curiosity.
"Young master, I don't dare to interfere with your decisions, but..."
He hesitated.
"Can I understand?"
Shi Yun Lan understood his question.
But he didn't know how to answer it.
"I don't know either."
He looked at his hand.
"I just wasn't happy.
That was strange.
I mean, it shouldn't matter to me.
But I felt like I couldn't endure watching her cry over her mother.
So I helped her."
He looked at Leon.
"That's all."
Leon became silent.
He focused on one word.
'Mother.'
He suddenly remembered that Shi Yun Lan had no mother.
His young master had spent almost his entire life doing nothing except training.
Leon had never thought about how much that might have affected him.
He quietly sighed.
...
They eventually reached the center of the village.
There were countless patients gathered there.
But among them stood a woman.
Her face was covered, revealing nothing except a pair of beautiful eyes.
Eyes that seemed capable of reviving broken hearts with a single glance.
Shi Yun Lan approached her.
"Are you the physician, Jian Blu Eva?"
Jian Blu Eva looked at him.
She noticed his pale skin and the ominous aura surrounding him.
Her first thought was that he was another patient.
"Yes, little one."
She turned toward her assistants.
"Let me treat them first, and I'll come to you later..."
She was about to order her assistants to take care of him.
But Shi Yun Lan bowed.
"I am Shi Yun Lan."
He paused.
"The elder told me to come here and learn from you."
"!!!"
Jian Blu Eva's eyes widened.
She was shocked.
But the surprise quickly disappeared.
Her expression became cold.
"Do you know Shi Yun Suan?!"
Shi Yun Lan answered without hesitation.
"He is my elder brother."
"Get out of here!"
Jian Blu Eva shouted.
Leon immediately became angry.
But he noticed her aura.
'Noble Level.'
He suppressed his anger.
'What did the other young master do to her?'
Shi Yun Lan remained calm.
He continued bowing.
"I came here to learn, not to cause trouble."
"Are you deaf?!"
Jian Blu Eva shouted again.
"Get out!"
Shi Yun Lan didn't move.
Instead, he lifted his head.
He looked directly into her eyes.
They had once been calm and beautiful.
Now, they were wild.
There was even a clear killing intent within them.
"..."
Shi Yun Lan remained in his position.
He didn't react.
He simply waited.
Jian Blu Eva didn't have time to waste on him.
She ignored him and began moving between the patients, treating them one after another.
Shi Yun Lan heard the conversations around him.
Eventually, he understood the reason behind their hatred.
"The Shi family again?!"
"Didn't one of their young masters cause a huge disaster here?!"
"Yes! He wanted to win against the others, so he brought other people here to get infected."
"Then he planned to treat them and prove that he was the most effective healer!"
"But he didn't realize the catastrophe he was creating!"
"His plan brought innocent people here, and the disease mutated inside them!"
"It spread to other villages too!"
"And his medicine became the catalyst for the entire incident!"
"It's obvious that the other young masters were the reason his medicine was changed because of their stupid competition!"
"But what is our guilt?!"
Shi Yun Lan's expression became colder and colder.
He didn't raise his head.
He continued waiting for Jian Blu Eva.
Some of the patients smirked.
They thought he was too embarrassed to look at them.
Leon wanted to act against them.
But Shi Yun Lan stopped him.
"The family's dignity is already on the edge."
"If we make one wrong move, it won't be good for us."
"But...!"
Leon couldn't understand.
"Why do you have to carry your brother's sins?!"
Shi Yun Lan answered calmly,
"He acted in the name of the family.
We have to explain everything as members of the Shi family."
He didn't move.
He wasn't waiting only for Jian Blu Eva.
He was also staying for the people who had suffered because of Shi Yun Suan.
Night eventually fell.
The moonlight descended upon Shi Yun Lan.
He had remained there patiently throughout the entire day.
Although the patients didn't care about him at first, they eventually began to feel pity for him.
He was still young.
Yet he was standing there, accepting the humiliation and waiting to apologize for his brother's actions.
Eventually, Jian Blu Eva returned.
But she wasn't alone.
Shi Yun Lan recognized the woman beside her.
"Isn't she the mother you treated?"
Leon asked,
"Yes."
Shi Yun Lan watched as the woman entered her house with Jian Blu Eva.
Fatigue finally began to appear on his face.
"Young master... you have to—"
"No."
Shi Yun Lan interrupted Leon.
He didn't want to hear anything about resting.
He remained there.
Waiting.
...
The sunlight finally reached Jian Blu Eva's face.
She opened her eyes.
After changing her clothes, she was still thinking about the woman's words.
"There was a young master who came to me and healed me.
Now I don't feel anything wrong."
Jian Blu Eva had investigated the matter throughout the night.
She discovered that the woman was indeed completely healthy.
When she asked about the young master, the woman explained that she hadn't been able to see his face.
However, her daughter had.
So Jian Blu Eva went to the little girl's house and asked her about what had happened.
The girl gave her every detail.
Jian Blu Eva fell silent.
'Was he really the one who healed her?
But... he's the brother of the man who caused this entire chaos.'
She left the house and returned to her work.
But the moment she stepped outside—
"!!!!"
Her eyes widened.
Shi Yun Lan was still there.
He was standing in the same position.
His face was pale.
His clothes were covered with dust.
His body looked exhausted.
Yet he hadn't moved.
Jian Blu Eva stared at him in disbelief.
For the first time, the hatred in her eyes was mixed with something else.
Confusion.