The Yao Emperor and His Human Doctor.

Chapter 39 - Attempt to Aproach

Su Ning ended his report in a brief manner. It was all he could remember. After breakfast, he was led to a room and was sitting on an arhat sofa surrounded by everyone's watchful eyes. Until then he had been worried about remembering all the essential details of that morning, however, now that he had finished the story, seeing everyone looking at him, his face flushed with embarrassment.

The servants noticed this and laughed softly into their sleeves. So cute! The others seemed too busy lost in their own thoughts.
"So your last memory was of going to collect herbs to treat your sick brothers?" Ren Loo muttered thoughtfully. Qiang Yong was following his sister's reasoning. First a black fungus epidemic ravaging the central plains and then the northern mountains and now two suddenly sick children. That certainly hadn't ended well.

The Empress sighed beside the child, stroking his shoulder.
"I wish I had met your parents. What were they like?"
This answer was easy for a child Su Ning to give. "My father was very tall and very strong. But he was very calm and spoke little. His skin is a little darker, I think because of the fire."

He smiled as he described it but deep down he felt an unfamiliar tightness in his chest. "Some people say I look more like my mother. We have similar hair. She's also tall and her eyebrows are always arched. She always laughs, even when she's nervous." He paused again. "She's also very smart!"

The Empress laughed. "I understand. You could only have been raised by wonderful people indeed."
"Su Ning, you said that your mother was studying the black fungus." Qiang Yong said slowly. "Were you guys being careful so it didn't spread?"
"Yes!" The boy widened his eyes in fright. "No one else knew where the cabin was and when we weren't there it was locked. I never touched the fungus myself, because it seemed capable of growing on everything..."

Su Ning lowered his head in sadness.
"It's horrible, isn't it? We are nothing in the face of a disease like this. Even the yao got sick... Some humans don't like yao, but in the face of illness, we are all under the same fate."
Qiang Yong looked up in bewilderment. How did this child have these types of thoughts??? Seeing those sad eyes, he accidentally reached out and ruffled his hair.

"You have ideas that are too heavy for a child."
Su Ning turned his head to look at that yao. He wanted to be able to understand the feeling of security and comfort that he gave him, that made him want to be by his side. He met many yao and did not fear them. He even took them to his mother to help them. Su Xue did not distinguish between her patients, whether they were yao or human, foreigners or village residents.
"If it's a living being, then it's just like me." Su Xue once said to her son as he attended to a yao.

Su Ning didn't even need to write down his mother's words, he kept them in his memory and especially in his heart. But he could very well write a book on everything she said. Su Xue seemed to speak even to make up for what I know her husband didn't say. However, Su Wu's ideas were no different and the two were as one.

Now Su Ning's thoughts turned to the gentle dragon. He was nothing like his parents, he was very direct, objective and practical, but he seemed to like him.
"Well, now you'll have to remember the rest." Qiang Yong said. "I advise you not to try too hard, it will be more difficult. Just relax your mind and try to think about the past a few times. This should unlock the memories."

"Would it be better then for me to go into meditation?" Su Ning considered the hypothesis with a serious expression.
Qiang Yong gasped in shock and Ren Loo burst into laughter. "By Buddha! Who taught you this??" He passed his hand over him face. "Let me guess, it was your mother?"
Su Ning nodded, confused. "What is wrong?"

"You're a very precocious child! Qiang Yong meant for you to distract yourself a little and let the memories flow. Not to focus completely on it."
Ren Loo clicked his tongue. "I have an idea! A-Shyu why don't you go play with him in the courtyard? He'll like seeing the garden!"
Ren Shyu, who had been silent all this time, just watching adults drool over a small child, was upset.

"Where did you get that idea from? I'm not a child to play around!"
"Ren Shyu! Don't be cheeky! Or can't you even take care of a small child?" Ren Loo retorted good-naturedly.
"What child? Until yesterday he was an adult with 200 year old hands!"

"Hunf! You don't need to take care of him! I'll keep my master company myself!" An Shu hissed and took the form of a small snake coiling around Su Ning's wrist. The boy looked at him in amazement.
"Oh! Are you really a snake?"
"Master doesn't remember me." An Shu whimpered. "You don't want me be around?"
"What child would want a snake?" Qiang Yong took the opportunity to speak

"No! It's not that!" Su Ning corrected his speech. And he caressed the snake's skin. "I'm sorry. That was the first time I've seen one of your kind."
An Shu was happy as if he had been accepted by his master again and stroked his neck against his skin. "I'm glad master doesn't hate me! I was afraid you'd disown me!"

Qiang Yong snorted, "As if he could do that. He told the snake that he doesn't know anything about his master's life or his temperament!"
Ren Loo did not give up and pushed his son and Su Ning out. "At least be friendly with him! You need to know how to deal with humans! And we have a lot to talk about here, that's not talk for you!"

Ren Shyu left under protests, but in the end, grabbing Su Ning's wrist, he led him to the courtyard, leaving the adults to talk.
"Bah! They always treat me like a child!" He complained when they reached the garden. Su Ning's attention immediately turned to the plants, but then he looked at the young dragon and thought of something to reassure him.

"Ah... you don't need to worry about me... you must have a lot of important things to do. I can just stay here and try to remember." He said confidently. Those words made Ren Shyu feel ashamed, as if he really wasn't capable of taking care of a child! However, this same child seemed much more mature than him.

"I... have nothing against staying here with you, actually." He scratched his head and turned his face away. "It's just so strange to see you like this. Not that you weren't strange before, being so friendly... You remind me a little of the adult but at the same time you're... different."
"Did you know me too?" Su Ning sat on the grass with his legs crossed, admiring the plants.

"Hum, yes." Ren Shyu accompanied him.
"Can I ask you a question? You seem very sincere about what you think." Su Ning asked and Ren Shyu felt flattered.
"If I know how to answer."
"They said I'm a doctor... am I really a good doctor?" Su Ning lowered his head, a little anxious. Ren Shyu looked at him in astonishment. His uncle was right! This child had too many heavy thoughts! Even so, he stopped to think a little.

After all, the boy found him frank and expected an answer without flourishes. In the end, what did he really think of the doctor?
"Yes..." He replied slowly. "In fact, I think he must be one of the best doctors in the world today." He thought the other would be proud, however he received a piercing gaze to the bone.
"Do I treat everyone without distinction? Don't I charge too much?"

"Eeeh, yes. You treat everyone very well. And the price is very low too." He felt trapped by that look. The serious boy smiled with a relieved expression.
"Phew, now I feel much better. Ever since they said I was a doctor I've wanted to know that." He caressed An Shu, still trapped under his wrist. The snake listened with curiosity to this unknown side of his master.

"Why?"
"I want to be like my mother. I want to be like her."
Ren Shyu nodded slightly, understanding. He also felt great admiration for his uncle. It was the same desire.
"I believe you got what you wanted. You'll be able to confirm that when you regain your original form. And if you don't remember our conversation, I'll tell you that again myself."

Su Ning gave a sincere smile. "Thank you. By the way, thank you all for taking care of me."
Ren Shyu patted him on the shoulder. Maybe it would be easier for him to deal with a child Su Ning anyway.

Author's Note

Ren Shyu is such a rebellious teenager, but he is so soft in this chapter. I want a little Su Ning art too 😚.