Chapter 14: Deception
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
Dark clouds loomed on the horizon before night fell.
“The acid rain is coming. Let’s hurry back home,” Ren Xiaosu said with an impassive expression. The woman was still crying and shouting, but no one cared about them.
The man did not look like he had suffered the injury due to an accident. Ren Xiaosu could easily tell that it was a knife wound, so he was sure that the man did not accidentally get injured at the factory but was killed in a fight.
When they got back to their shack, the acid rain came and went just as quickly.
Yan Liuyuan suddenly said as he sat on the bedroll, “Bro, you want the sincere gratitudes of other people, right? Being a doctor seems like it’s an easy way to gain more gratitude. In the past when the old doctor was still around, everyone was always very grateful to him. But I don’t suggest you become a doctor. First off, it’s very easy for a doctor to get stuck in a dilemma. Second, you don’t have any medical skills.”
Ren Xiaosu turned around and looked at Yan Liuyuan with an expressionless face. “Then what the hell are you blathering about!”
Wait a moment!
Ren Xiaosu suddenly felt that he had missed something. Although he did not have any medical skills, he could learn them!
The two Skill Duplication Scrolls awarded by his mind palace were still available. By using one of these scrolls, he should be able to learn another person’s medical skill, right?
At that time, he could start seeing patients, or at least be able to treat Yan Liuyuan or himself if they fell sick or got into accidents.
When the old doctor was still around, he would often go out to gather medicinal herbs. Back then, the old doctor had smilingly mentioned to people that even though the beasts were more powerful in the current day, the medicinal herbs had also become more effective.
Thus, the old doctor successfully treated many people with his skill in identifying the different types of medicinal herbs and having excellent medical skills. Furthermore, he even sold the medicinal herbs that he gathered at a dirt-cheap price.
But of course, Ren Xiaosu was not as kind as the old doctor. He only felt that if he should possess such good medical skills, he could better deal with future emergencies, as well as making money on top of that!
Usually, Yan Liuyuan would suffer a cold, headache, or fever as a consequence of making a wish. Even though he did not want Yan Liuyuan to face these side effects, what if they were forced by circumstance?
“I’m going to be a doctor!” Ren Xiaosu said as his eyes shone with an unwavering determination.
“Bro, are you alright?” Yan Liuyuan was stunned. “It’s not like you have any medical skills, so please don’t cause deaths. Although we don’t know how to save people, we shouldn’t harm them either.”
Ren Xiaosu feigned a slap upside Yan Liuyuan’s head. “You always have so much to say. When have I ever initiated harm upon others?”
Ren Xiaosu was making some calculations. If he became a doctor, he would definitely profit and earn a stable income.
As the people in town often got injured, going to the doctor for their injuries had become a necessity.
He proceeded with his plan immediately. The next day, Ren Xiaosu did not go to school when he awoke. After scarfing down two bites of black bread, he went and crouched at the clinic’s door and waited for it to open.
In the end, the clinic opened late. Ren Xiaosu waited until the afternoon, but the clinic still remained closed
In the afternoon, when the stronghold’s clock rang to signal that it was 2 PM, the young doctor leisurely opened the door from the inside and stretched himself under the sun. But before he could stretch his entire body, he was startled by the presence of Ren Xiaosu, who was crouching at the entrance.
“Are you here to see the doctor? And did you bring any money?” the doctor asked.
The doctor did not even bother asking what illness Ren Xiaosu was suffering from. All he recognized was money.
Ren Xiaosu said with a grin, “I’m not here to see the doctor. Please carry on with whatever you were doing.”
The doctor was dumbfounded. ‘If you’re not here to see the doctor, what are you doing squatting at my front door?’
Ren Xiaosu silently used one of the Skill Duplication Scrolls in his palace.
He saw the Skill Duplication Scroll made from leather parchment spontaneously combust and instantly burn to nothing.
“One of the target’s skills will be randomly copied.
“Randomly copied target’s bragging skill. Do you want to learn it?”
Ren Xiaosu was dumbfounded on the spot. Why would I learn bragging?
He had almost forgotten that the Skill Duplication Scroll could only randomly copy another person’s skill for him to learn. It wasn’t something that he had control over.
But the problem was: ‘Why the fuck would you even have a skill like bragging? Something like this can even be considered a skill?! You fucking useless piece of shit!’
Ren Xiaosu gave the doctor a dirty stare and felt that the man was an awfully disgusting person. However, since he was here to steal his occupation, he couldn’t possibly be beating him up after trying to do so, right? That wouldn’t be cool.
The doctor felt a little uncomfortable being stared at. Just as he was about to say something, he finally remembered who Ren Xiaosu was!
Ren Xiaosu never came to his clinic to see him. However, both of them had heard about the other. One of them was the only doctor in town, while the other was a well-known ruthless individual. So it was only natural that they knew about each other.
As such, the young doctor was terrified.
“What are you trying to do?” the doctor asked meekly.
“Are you always bragging when you have nothing to do?” Ren Xiaosu snapped at him.
The young doctor was dumbfounded. “What the hell?”
Ren Xiaosu did not bother arguing with him. He definitely did not want to learn how to brag since it would be useless even if he learned it. So he could only consider it a waste of a Skill Duplication Scroll.
Then he used the second Skill Duplication Scroll!
“One of the target’s skills will be randomly copied.
“Randomly copied target’s deception skill. Do you want to learn it?”
Learn, my ass! What the hell is this!
Ren Xiaosu glared at the young doctor. “You’ve got quite a lot of messed up skills for someone so young.”
The young doctor was on the verge of crying. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t mind me saying this, but do you like cheating people a lot?” Ren Xiaosu asked, “Who’ve you cheated before? Why don’t you tell me about it?”
“Don’t you bullshit me. Who have I ever cheated?”
Ren Xiaosu was a rational person. After suffering such a heavy loss, he meticulously analyzed his current situation. He certainly needed to learn some medical skills. He was sure that the palace would give him another Skill Duplication Scroll in the future, but he did not know when it would assign him another quest to get them.
Hence, Ren Xiaosu wanted to find out how good his target’s medical skill was and whether it would be worth trying to continue learning from him.
He asked in his mind, “What’s the level of that doctor’s medical skill?”
“This information can be revealed if it’s for a former target that you’ve attempted to learn from.
“He has no medical skill.”
What the fuck!
Motherfucker!
Ren Xiaosu wanted to smash the large cauldron that he was carrying right then and there. He had carried the pot with him when he came out this morning.
No wonder you’re so fucking good at deception. Dammit! So it turns out that you don’t have any medical skills at all and have been swindling people all this time?
How did the old doctor get such a good-for-nothing son!
This guy was utterly relying on the reputation of the old doctor to get by. Since there wasn’t a second doctor in town, he had no qualms about swindling others. If his patients managed to survive, then good for them. For those who did not, the people around here were used to death anyway. After all, there were also some patients that the old doctor couldn’t save.
Moreover, before the old doctor passed on, he left behind a lot of medicinal herbs for his son and even labeled what symptoms each type would treat. All he needed to do was to give a prescription to his patients.
Ren Xiaosu learned a lesson today. If he encountered another such situation in which he was unsuccessful at copying a skill on the first attempt, he would have to make sure that the other party had the skills that he wanted in the first place.