The two of them shared uncomfortable looks, for they’d never faced a situation as awkward as this. What could they do now, though? Meanwhile, Heather noticed the old woman’s resentment toward them as well, so she pulled Leon to the side immediately. It seemed like they’d run into quite an ancient village today.
“I don’t think we’re welcomed here, Leon.” Heather lowered her voice since she wasn’t sure if the villagers could understand them.
Leon blinked a few times; he was unsure as well, but he had a feeling that the villagers were extremely unfriendly toward them. Leon tried to think of a way to solve the issue at hand, but he couldn’t come up with any good ideas even after racking his brains.
“Do you have any solutions in mind?” Heather assumed that Leon had already found an answer, for his eyes were darting left and right.
“No, but why don’t we go deeper inside?” Leon felt that it wouldn’t help to keep being surrounded by these groups of people, and it’d be better to continue the search themselves.
“Okay.” Since they didn’t have better ideas at the moment, they could only go with this one.
Heather and Leon continued walking under the unfriendly gaze of the villages. The two of them didn’t know where they’d find more signs of human life, but nothing could go wrong if they followed the hillside path.
Right now, they weren’t anywhere near the depths of the mountains or forest, so why were these people acting like they’d never seen any forms of modern civilization? Heather was constantly troubled by this doubt, and it seemed as though this place had been completely cut off from the outside world.
Was this why the old physician had decided to reside here? After all, he was indeed known as someone with pure intentions to help the sick. Heather studied the faces of the surrounding people and noticed the dull and spiritless look in their eyes—she had a feeling that there was something not quite right with these villagers.
Soon, the duo finally let out a breath of relief after leaving the village. However, they had now entered a forest. Just then, a strange and inexplicable fragrance wafted from the trees; the faint yet notable scent surprised both Heather and Leon.
She took a deep breath and turned to Leon. “Do you smell that?”
Leon followed suit and took a deep breath as well, inhaling a huge gulp of the mysterious fragrance into his lungs. After that, he felt uncomfortable all of a sudden; there was something unusual about the scent.
“Something’s definitely wrong.” Leon was confident about it.
“This fragrance is indeed suspicious,” Heather expressed her doubts. Why would there be a lingering floral scent in the middle of winter? It doesn’t smell like plum blossoms, so what is it?
“You took such a huge breath of it earlier, Heather. Aren’t you feeling dizzy?” Leon narrowed his eyes at her, for it seemed like Heather wasn’t feeling any aftereffects at all.
“No.” Heather shook her head. She wasn’t dizzy, but Leon didn’t look so good on the other hand.
“Could it be a poisonous gas?” Heather guessed. At the same time, panic rose on Leon’s face as soon as he heard that.
He looked at Heather in disbelief and terror—why would there be poisonous gas in the middle of an ordinary forest?
“Don’t scare me, Heather. We’ve been here for some time now; how could we still be alive if we’ve really inhaled poison?” Leon was a little worried about himself, for he didn’t want to sacrifice his life in a place like this.
Heather shielded Leon behind herself and said to him in a strict tone, “Anything is possible in a place like this.” She wasn’t trying to scare him, but since this was the famed physician’s chosen residential spot, there was bound to be something special about this place.
“What do we do, then?” Leon wanted nothing but to leave this forest as soon as possible. Otherwise, he wouldn’t know what to do if they were really poisoned to death here.
“Why don’t we turn back? Maybe they’ll help us if you pretend to pass out.” At that moment, Heather thought of an idea.
Healers were supposed to believe in equality for all lives; since the renowned physician was kind-hearted with pure intentions, he would definitely lend a helping hand to any sick person. If that happened, wouldn’t they be able to find the doctor effortlessly?
With that thought in mind, Heather let out a silent chuckle of glee—her idea was not bad indeed and it seemed reliable. However, Leon wasn’t too happy with her suggestion. He didn’t want to pretend to be sick, but he was actually feeling quite dizzy.
“Are you sure it’s going to work, Heather? They looked so disgusted earlier; will they really help us?” Leon was a little concerned, and his heart shuddered at the thought of the old woman’s terrifying glare.
Heather put on a confident smile and said, “I don’t think they’d leave us to die. All right, then. I’ll be counting on your performance later. Considering your outstanding acting skills, I know you’ll win their pity for sure.”
Leon stared at the ominous grin on Heather’s face. Why does her plan feel so unreliable? That peculiar village didn’t feel safe at all.
Snippets of horror films appeared in Leon’s mind. The storyline they were experiencing was precisely a common occurrence in such a genre—they’d first arrive at an uncivilized village, and that would lead to many bizarre incidents.
Right now, Leon was more than eager to leave this place; even the way their car had descended into a pithole seemed straight out of a horror movie. At the thought of that, Leon was instantly covered in cold sweat.
This didn’t feel like a journey to find a doctor at all! Instead, what a strange experience this was—he felt like they were on a treasure hunt. They couldn’t have been tricked by the group of scary old people, right?
While Leon was still immersed in his wild imagination, they had already exited the forest. In truth, they hadn’t gone very deep inside it, so it would only take a short walk before they reached the strange village again. With that, Heather turned to Leon—it would soon be his time to shine.
However, Leon clearly still hadn’t snapped out of his trance. Heather coughed loudly to gain his attention but to no avail, so she could only slap his shoulder hard to wake him up.
“Hey!” Leon exclaimed in shock. “What the hell, Heather?” He glared at her in dissatisfaction.
“What are you daydreaming about?” In fact, Heather was more annoyed at Leon—he was being absent-minded this whole time.
“Are you really sure about this, Heather? Do you really think they’d really bring us to the doctor? Besides, he can’t be the only doctor around!” Leon listed a series of possible scenarios, insisting that her plan was unreliable.
“You’re not entirely wrong, but either way, we’ll find the doctor faster this way. Just endure it for a little while!” Heather blinked repeatedly at Leon. His strong reluctance against her plan was quite interesting to watch.
Indeed, Leon wasn’t planning to be swayed by Heather’s persuasion attempt. He turned his face away, but Heather quickly pushed his head back to face her. She stared at him innocently and tried to convince him by acting cute.
Heather knew that she had to be soft in order to deal with Leon. Sure enough, he couldn’t resist her display of cuteness. His brows snapped together, and he had already decided to give in deep down.
“Come on, Leon. Let’s give it a try, okay?” Heather said coyly. With that, there was nothing else the man could say against her.
She maintained her pleading gaze as Leon nodded reluctantly. He chewed on his bottom lip and said, “Remember to be alert later, Heather.” Leon was still doubtful about the plan, but there was no way he could reject her at this point.
Heather put on a kind smile and replied, “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” Heather knew exactly what Leon was worried about, and he was definitely thinking too much again.
If someone were to fall sick in a horror movie, it would mean the end for that character. Male characters were mostly used as bait in such plots, and Leon had a feeling that he was currently in a similar scenario.
The two of them walked side by side while doubt still lingered on Leon’s face; he was a little regretful for accompanying Heather on her arduous journey. How could someplace like this still exist in this day and age? Indeed, the way a famous doctor’s mind worked was different from an ordinary person, and he wondered how the doctor could get used to living in a place like this.
From afar, they could see the figures of the old folks in the village. These people moved very stiffly to the point where Heather and Leon felt uncomfortable.
There was still no sign of the younger generation this time round. As the two of them entered the village again, Heather deliberately let out a few coughs in Leon’s direction, signaling that it was time for him to pass out.
However, Leon didn’t make a move. He simply stared in puzzlement at the elderly and children around him. All of a sudden, he felt like he was surrounded by a group of Neanderthals.
He took in the mud houses around him, and he was a little worried about his safety at that moment. Since the villagers weren’t aggressive by any means, though, he could at least relax slightly.
“Are you feeling unwell, Leon?” Heather turned to him, seemingly questioning the man fiercely with her eyes.
“I’m fine, Heather. Is your throat feeling dry?” Leon asked in concern. Heather was almost panting for air from her excessive coughing earlier.
“Don’t push yourself, Leon,” Heather forced those words out through gritted teeth, refusing to believe that Leon was that oblivious to her hints.
It seemed like he couldn’t escape any longer. Without a choice, he let himself collapse to the ground in an exaggerated manner. Heather’s face fell immediately, and she stared at Leon in panic as he lay motionless on the ground.
“Are you okay, Leon?!” Heather shook him gently; the astonishment on her face didn’t look like play pretend at all.
As Leon lay there with his eyes shut, he could only think about his clothes which were ruined just like that. The ground must be filthy… My clothes must be covered in mud right now… Leon was practically crying inside.
“Wake up, Leon!” She pinched his philtrum as she spoke, being completely serious with her acting.
Leon was still unresponsive, so Heather turned to the people around her and yelled, “Is there a doctor? We need a doctor!” She hoped that they could understand her.
Surprisingly, the crowd seemed to have understood her words. Either that, they had caught meaning from her gestures and facial expression. They pointed her in a direction and gave her a bunch of instructions too. Sadly, Heather couldn’t understand them at all.
Just then, a boy who looked like he had autism came up to them suddenly. He spoke to Heather in standard English with incorrect pronunciation as he said, “I’ll take you to Dr. Turner.”
Heather looked at the boy like she had just found her lifesaver, for she didn’t think there was anyone in the village who knew standard English. Even though his pronunciation made it difficult to understand, at least it was slightly easier to comprehend compared to a Scottish accent!
“Thank you.” With those words, she put Leon’s weight on her own back and stood up while supporting his side.
The elderly and children were all shocked to see that—they’d never seen a woman with such great strength. Heather smiled slightly as she noticed the stunned expressions on their faces. This had indeed destroyed her image of an elegant goddess, but she was a strong and independent woman to begin with. Now wasn’t the time to pay attention to those unnecessary details.
Leon didn’t look too heavy, but Heather felt otherwise as soon as she had to carry him. If it weren’t for her strength training in the past, she would’ve probably been crushed by his body weight.
As she followed behind the little boy, she asked him, “This Dr. Turner you mentioned… Is he from your village as well?” She seemed to be too straight-forward with her question.
However, the boy didn’t seem to think much of it. He replied frankly, “No, he’s from the big city. He’s the one who taught me standard English.”
Heather was overjoyed inside. Her plan was a success indeed—they’d effortlessly found their target. Nonetheless, Leon wasn’t in a celebratory mood as he lay on Heather’s back; he didn’t feel right to put his full weight on her, but he couldn’t get up either. What should I do? He felt unbelievably shameful to be carried by Heather like this!
