Chapter thirteen: the rude woman on the bus

"Stop right there!" Lucas's cold voice cut through the air.

Dr Christopher froze, turning to face Lucas.

"What do you want?"

"To settle the scores between us" Lucas said slowly, emphasizing each word. This jerk not only insulted him but also messed with Aunt Miriam's medication, nearly worsening her condition. Lucas wasn't about to let him off easily.

"And if I refuse?" Dr Christopher retorted defiantly. "You should know I'm from the city. Lay a hand on me, and you'll be locked up for good."

"Is that so? I'm just worried you won't last until then" Lucas warned. "Haven't you noticed you're feeling a bit lightheaded? And is your arm turning dark?"

"Impossible..." Christopher began to deny it, but a sudden dizziness almost made him stumble. As he recalled recent events, his face turned pale with fear.

"What did you do to me?"

"Don't ask too many questions. If you want to live, do as I say," Lucas replied calmly.

Dr Christopher hesitated, but as his condition worsened, he reluctantly agreed

"Fine, I'll do it."

Better to live and fight another day, he thought, recalling the story of a famous figure several years ago, who endured humiliation to survive. He tried to console himself, masking his fear of death.

"I believe you know what to do?" Lucas smiled cunningly.

Under the sparse moonlight and cool breeze, Dr Christopher's cries of "I'm a quack" shattered the peaceful night of the little town of Greenwood. The village dogs barked in response, creating a comical scene.

Hearing the commotion, some citizens of the town wrapped themselves in coats and gathered at their doorsteps, curious about the noise. They soon realized it was Dr Christopher, crawling on the ground.

"Why is Dr Christopher crawling?"

"Well as you can see I have no idea, and he's calling himself a quack. It's bizarre."

"Could he be possessed?"

The entire town were abuzz with chatter. When someone mentioned that Dr Christopher might be possessed, a chill ran down their spines, and they hurried back inside, barricading their doors tightly.

Greenwood town was quite backward and superstitious. The people couldn't understand why Dr Christopher was lying on the ground at night, calling himself a quack. Apart from possession, they couldn't find any other explanation.

Dr Christopher was annoyed by the people's gawking and muttered under his breath

"A bunch of nosy folks, shouldn't you be sleeping instead of staring at me?"

But when all the doors were shut tight, and the world was plunged into darkness, with only the sound of barking dogs breaking the silence, Dr Chris felt a shiver run down his spine, fear creeping in.

"Lucas what did you do to Dr Chris?" Anna's delicate face was filled with worry. She feared Lucas might have gone too far, causing harm to Dr Christopher, something she would regret forever.

"Don't worry, Annabelle. I know what I'm doing"

Lucas reassured her with a smile. "He'll be fine once he's done crawling around."

Lucas had infused Dr Chris with a very faint amount of dark energy, derived from the snake venom in Anna's body. This energy would have some effect on him, but nothing too severe. The small amount of dark energy could be expelled through sweating, and after crawling around, Dr Christopher would sweat enough to rid himself of most of it, minimizing any impact.

Anna felt relieved and glanced outside into the pitch-black night, blushing slightly as she whispered,

"It's so late. Why don't you stay over?"

"There are only two beds. It wouldn't be proper for us to share one" Lucas said declining Anna's offer, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"What are you thinking?" Anna playfully knocked him on the head. "I'll sleep with my mom. You can take my bed."

The thought of sleeping in a bed filled with Annabelle's scent excited Lucas, and he wanted to stay. But he had to get up early the next day to sell his medicinal herbs in town. Anna's family was struggling, and he needed to earn money to help them live better.

"No, Anna. I should head back to the temple. Rufus is waiting for me" Lucas said as he packed up the leftover chicken soup mixed with rice to take back for Rufus.

"Be careful on your way back" Anna said, not wanting to force him to stay. She walked him a long way before stopping, watching his figure disappear into the night, lost in thought.

Before dawn the next day, Lucas got up early and quickly got ready for his little journey to the cit. Before going he waved to Rufus, saying,

"Stay here and be good. I'll bring back something tasty for you okay?"

He then shouldered his basket of herbs and headed down the mountain.

By the time he reached the road, the sky was just beginning to lighten, and cars and buses were already passing by. He flagged a bus down, got in, paid the fare, and stood by the handrail with his basket of herbs.

"Ew, you stink! Get away from me, go stand over there" a heavily made-up woman complained, waving her hand dramatically in front of her face. "You farmers are all so dirty and smelly. Honestly, the government should make a rule that you all ride in a separate car. It's disgusting."

As soon as she finished speaking, everyone on the bus turned to look. Some shared her disdain and glanced at Lucas, while others were clearly unhappy with her words. However, seeing her decked out in expensive jewelry, no one dared to speak up. After all, she seemed like someone they couldn't afford to offend.

Lucas frowned slightly but then quietly took out a small piece of herb. With a flick of his wrist, he aimed it at the woman's waist and fanned the air in front of him, exaggerating,

"You're right, it really does stink. I should move out of here too."

He quickly stepped aside, acting as if he was avoiding catching something unpleasant.

Seeing Lucas's reaction, everyone turned their attention back to the woman.

The woman was not pleased and shouted angrily.

"What do you mean, you filthy farmer? My perfume is imported from France! What you earn in a year wouldn't even buy me half a bottle, and you dare say I smell..."

Before she could finish, her expression changed, pain and discomfort spreading across her face.

The passengers looked at her, puzzled by her sudden silence, and the bus grew quiet.

Then, unexpectedly, two loud and unmistakable sounds broke the silence.

Pruhh!!!! Pruhhhhhhh!!!!

Faces around her changed instantly, and windows were flung open as a foul odor filled the bus. The woman's face turned bright red, holding her breath in embarrassment.

Before anyone could recover, another sound, more alarming than the last, echoed through the bus.

Prohhhhhhhhhhehhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

At this point nobody in the bus could take it anymore and quickly began to riot inside the bus.

"Driver, stop the bus, stop the bus!" everyone shouted.

The driver quickly pulled up at a corner.

As soon as the bus stopped, the woman, legs clamped together, dashed towards the roadside bushes at lightning speed.

Once the air in the car had cleared enough, the driver, under everyone's insistence, reluctantly left the overly perfumed woman behind and drove off.

"Forget French perfume, even if she poured all the perfume in France on herself, it wouldn't cover that stench."

"Exactly, she complains about others smelling bad, but doesn't realize how annoying her character is."

"That woman has no manners. She's not even from a big city yet she looks down on farmers. If you trace back a few generations, her family would probably be farmers too. Such ungratefulness."

With the overly perfumed woman gone, everyone felt free to voice their dissatisfaction.

Meanwhile Lucas, the one who had started it all, didn't join in the chatter. He gazed out of the window, feeling a pang of sadness. A considerable amount of the people in the world are farmers, yet many look down on them. It's truly a shame.

When the bus reached the town, Lucas began his rounds, carrying his angelica root from one pharmacy to another, trying to make a sale.