Chapter 62 Imperial Physician Gong Seeks Help

"What on earth is going on?"

Imperial Physician Gong's eyes were bloodshot as he whipped around and roared at a trembling servant boy inside the room.

The servant flinched in terror and stammered in reply, "R-Reporting to my lord, yesterday the young master went with the sons of Junior Minister Zhang to the potter's field in the outskirts to play. They said they wanted some thrill-seeking..."

"The potter's field?" Imperial Physician Gong's heart sank. Such places were saturated with heavy yin energy, making them the absolute easiest spots to attract unclean entities.

His expression turned grave. He had no idea what the outcome would be with the Empress Dowager's situation, and now his own son had gotten into this kind of mess. Wasn't this just adding to his chaos?

"Oh, right, Master. The young master also brought something back with him..."

As if suddenly remembering something, the servant pointed a shaking finger toward an object on a table not far away.

Imperial Physician Gong looked in the direction he pointed.

It was a clay doll about the size of a hand.

The doll was dressed in red clothes and trousers, with two exaggerated dabs of rouge painted on its face. Its eyes, dotted with black ink, were disproportionately large.

Most eerie of all was the way the doll's lips parted, curving into a profoundly bizarre smile.

Clearly just a doll, it radiated an indescribable malignancy that made anyone who laid eyes on it break out in goosebumps.

Imperial Physician Gong stared fixedly at the clay doll, feeling a wave of bone-chilling cold race frantically up his spine.

Medical skill seemed so pale and powerless at this very moment.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck his mind, vividly bringing up the young and composed face of Xie Ning.

Yes, Xie Ning!

If he could tell at a glance that the Empress Dowager had been afflicted by sorcery, he would certainly be able to figure out what was happening to his own son!

"Someone come!" Grasping at what felt like his last straw, Imperial Physician Gong decisively shouted, "Wrap that thing up in a black cloth! Quickly! Prepare the carriage! We're going to the Marquis of Dingyuan's Estate!"

At the Marquis of Dingyuan's Estate.

New guards, newly recruited, were now stationed outside the courtyard gates of Xie Ning's residence.

They stood straight and rigid with sharp gazes, vastly superior to the clumsy, incompetent lot previously arranged by Jia Yibo.

Imperial Physician Gong's carriage pulled up recklessly outside the gates of the estate. He practically tumbled and crawled out of the vehicle, his expression frantic.

"Quickly, announce me! Imperial Physician Gong Zuofei of the Imperial Hospital urgently requests an audience with Heir Xie!"

Although the guards at the gate did not recognize Imperial Physician Gong, seeing his official attire and extraordinary bearing, combined with his explicit demand to see Xie Ning, they dared not be negligent despite their reluctance. Immediately, one of them turned and went inside to report.

Before long, Mingyue came out personally to welcome the visitor in.

As soon as Mingyue left, that same guard hurried away toward Jia Yibo's courtyard.

It was blatantly obvious that he was going to inform Jia Yibo of the situation.

Xie Ning was sitting leisurely in the courtyard sipping tea, not expecting that Imperial Physician Gong would actually come.

The moment Imperial Physician Gong saw Xie Ning, he threw all etiquette to the winds. His legs went weak, and with a loud thud, he dropped to his knees.

"Heir Xie, please save my unworthy son's life!"

"What is Imperial Physician Gong doing? Please, get up."

With a flick of Xie Ning's hand, a gentle force caught Imperial Physician Gong's sinking knees, making it impossible for him to kneel all the way down.

Xie Ning glanced at Imperial Physician Gong's physiognomy: his hall of destiny was blackened, and a faint wispy black qi coiled above his head—unmistakably the sign of a disrupted household and calamity befalling family members.

"Has your household come into contact with something unclean?" Xie Ning set down his teacup and asked indifferently.

A single sentence sent shockwaves through Imperial Physician Gong's mind, filling him with utter disbelief.

Before he had even opened his mouth, Xie Ning had already pinpointed the root of the matter.

It was at this exact moment that the last trace of doubt in Imperial Physician Gong's heart vanished completely. He became all the more certain that only Xie Ning could save his son.

"You speak with divine precision, Heir!"

With his voice trembling, Imperial Physician Gong hurriedly retrieved an object wrapped tightly in black cloth from his bosom and offered it up with both hands.

"My unworthy son mistakenly brought this item back from the outskirts yesterday. Ever since, he has been out of his mind and acting as if possessed by madness. I beg the Heir to save him!"

Xie Ning took the cloth bundle.

The moment it touched his hands, a piercing, biting cold radiated from it, as if he were grasping a block of ice rather than a clay doll.

Without even untying the black cloth, he sneered, "A substitution vessel harboring evil spirits, nourished by the vital essence of a living person. Whoever did this intends to use your son's life to raise a malicious ghost."

Hearing this, Imperial Physician Gong felt his blood run cold and every hair on his body stand on end.

Raising a ghost!

He was merely a physician; where had he ever heard of such dark and malevolent arts? For a moment, his lips trembled with terror.

"Heir, what... what should be done?"

"Lead the way."

Xie Ning stood up and tossed the cloth bundle casually to Mingyue behind him.

"If we delay any longer, your son will likely be sucked dry of all his essence, and not even the celestial immortals could save him then."

Daring not hesitate a moment longer, Imperial Physician Gong voiced profuse thanks and personally led the way, having Xie Ning and Mingyue board his carriage to race at top speed back to the Gong residence.

The moment they stepped into Gong Fei's bedchamber, a dense wave of yin qi rushed toward them, mingling with a faint, putrid stench.

On the bed, Gong Fei had already been securely bound with ropes, yet he was still struggling frantically. Unintelligible screeches issued from his mouth, his eyes rolled back, and white foam frothed at his lips. His body had grown a size thinner than before, his eye sockets sunken deeply, and his complexion as pale as gold foil.

"Prepare cinnabar, yellow paper, and a lively, flapping rooster. Quickly!"

Xie Ning merely glanced at the scene and gave the deep-toned command.

The servants of the Gong household dared not dawdle and quickly gathered all the required items.

Xie Ning picked up a wolf-hair brush, loaded it fully with cinnabar, centered his mind, and swept the brush with dragon-snake agility. Before long, he had drawn a profound and intricate ward-breaking talisman on the yellow paper.

He snatched up the talisman paper, while using his other hand to grab the fluttering rooster. With a flash of his hand and a drop of his finger, a bead of scalding rooster blood dripped precisely onto the heart of the talisman.

With a low hum, the talisman seemed to spring to life, faintly emanating a dim red glow.

"By decree!"

A single syllable escaped Xie Ning's lips. With a flick of his wrist, the talisman paper ignited without fire, transforming into a ball of blazing flame.

Holding the burning talisman paper, he strode to the bedside and swept it swiftly three times around a space three feet above Gong Fei's head.

"Vile fiend, show yourself!"

With a crisp ripping sound, a wisp of black qi, finer than a strand of hair, was violently forced out from the crown of Gong Fei's head. It let out a piercing screech and transformed into a streak of black light, attempting to flee out the window.

"Trying to run?" A cold glint flashed in Xie Ning's eyes, for he had been prepared all along.

Mingyue, fully understanding his intent behind him, hurled the clay doll—still wrapped in the black cloth—high into the air the very instant the black qi darted out.

That wisp of black qi, like iron filings drawn to a lodestone or a wandering ghost that had finally found its destination, let out a joyful shriek and plunged straight into the clay doll.

*Crack... crack...*

Infiltrated by the black qi, the clay doll instantly seemed to come alive.

Its bizarre smiling face began to twist and struggle in a scalp-tingling manner, while a web of cracks spread across the surface of its body accompanied by harsh, splintering sounds.