The ledger of bamboo slips said, "Yang Lu, born on the 13th day of the first lunar month in the seventh year in a cycle of sixty years, has been a good man for three lives, and owns 333 points of merits of good intention. His wife in this life is his lover who killed him in his previous life, and she will be punished for it in this life. They are destined to have a tragic ending of love. The pact for merit of good intention could save him while eliminating his merits."

This was the first time Ning Tao had met someone with 333 points of merits of good intention, but what surprised him more was that Yang Lu had been a good man for three lives. When he treated his previous patients, the ledger of bamboo slips had never mentioned their previous life, let alone about being a good person for three years. The ledger of bamboo slips labeled Yang Lu as a good man for three lives, which indicated that people really had previous lives.

"Who was I in the previous life?" Ning Tao couldn't help but wonder, but the question confused him.

He thought of the Ancestor-seeking Elixir, and somehow he vaguely felt that the mysterious drug was likely to be a key to the previous life!

Ning Tao's att.i.tude towards the Ancestor-seeking Elixir had undergone many changes. When he first knew this drug, he thought it would produce the new demon so that it should not be made. Then, forced by the situation, he promised Yin Molan to refine this drug because he had to join forces with Yin Molan to deal with Tang Tianren, but he only planned to refine according to the elixir prescription. He would not demand the results, or study it in depth or even try the second time. After he knew the content on the ledger of bamboo slips, which said that Yang Lu was a good man for three lives, his att.i.tude toward the Ancestor-seeking Elixir changed again.

He also wanted to know if there were any previous lives, and if so, why didn't anyone remember who they were and what they had experienced in their previous lives? Also, why did some hateful people live very well without receiving retribution? Was it because of his previous life? In the meanwhile, some good persons in this life always lived uneasily, suffered a lot, and even did not have a good end. Was this the previous life's retribution?

These secrets really needed a "key" to unlock.

"What are you looking at, Doctor Ning?" Yang Lu asked. Somehow he felt better after he touched the ledger of bamboo slips with his hand.

Was this the preferential treatment to the benevolent people of three lives?

After a moment's silence, Ning Tao asked, "Do you believe in past lives?"

Yang Lu paused slightly and asked back, "Doctor Ning, aren't you going to treat me? Why do you suddenly ask me such a strange question?"

Ning Tao replied, "You are a benevolent man of three lives. You have great merits. If you choose death, your next life will be good, but if you want to live and be with your wife, the price you have to pay is your merits of good intention, and you will forget some things, including the healing process, and everything you see and hear recently, and even..."

"Even what?" Yang Lu inquired.

"You might even forget your wife," Ning Tao replied in a somewhat heavy voice.

"Hha... kas.h.!.+" Yang Lu's laughter affected the tumor in his lung, causing him to cough immediately.

"Honey, are you all right?" Lu Nan's worried voice came from outside the door.

"I'm fine... Don't worry about me..." Yang Lu answered. Although he felt better than before, it might actually be psychological, his condition still not stable.

Ning Tao said, "I know it's hard to convince you of what I'm saying, but I'm going to tell you it's true. This is a love disaster in your life. You need to make a choice between this life and the next. If you choose to be with your wife, you will have to exchange it with your merits of good intention. If you choose the blessing of the afterlife, you should die and get a good afterlife. Perhaps you will be born into a rich family, or the family of a powerful official, or even become a man like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates with your own talent and luck. I won't interfere in your decision. Choose for yourself."

"Are...are you serious?" Yang Lu had a funny look on his face.

Ning Tao smiled at him and said, "Do I look like I'm joking?"

"Well, suppose what you say is true, and I believe it is, then I have a question. If I choose to be blessed in the next life, will I remember people and things in this life?"

Ning Tao shook his head and replied, "No, you won't remember."

"Then what does the afterlife have to do with me?" Yang Lu looked straight at Ning Tao, with an incredulous look in his eyes.

Ning Tao couldn't give an answer. He was actually confused, too.

A person had been a good man all his life, done a lot of good things, suffered all kinds of hards.h.i.+ps all his life, and finally he died with plenty of merits and would enjoy the reward in the next life. However, no one remembered what they did or loved in their previous lives. What did such a reward mean to a man in this life?

"If I had a choice, I wouldn't believe you, but I don't have a choice." A bitter smile appeared on Yang Lu's lips.

"Do you choose therapy?" Ning Tao asked.

Yang Lu gave a nod and uttered, "I don't want an afterlife. I just want to be with Lu Nan. She means everything to me. I can't live without her. If I die, she will be very sad. I don't want her to be sad. If I can make her happy by living, I will give anything for it."

This was the power of love. It could overcome all fear and suffering, and was the greatest and most powerful human power.

Ning Tao hesitated, then rolled up the ledger and put it on Yang Lu's chest, saying, "Open it and read it for yourself."

Yang Lu grabbed the bamboo slips and unfolded them.

The content displayed on the bamboo slips was exactly the same as that Ning Tao just saw.

"It's..." Yang Lu was also stunned by what he read.

"I don't know about your past relations.h.i.+ps, but I'm showing you this just to tell you the choices you're facing. To receive the treatment or not, making a decision after you know the truth. Fairness is the only thing I can give you," Ning Tao said.

"I... She killed me in the previous life?" For Yang Lu, the fact that Lu Nan was his lover and killed him in the previous life on the ledger was like a needle p.r.i.c.king his heart.

"I can't tell you what it's like, but I can tell you that everything it says is true, with nothing false," Ning Tao said. "It's your destiny to marry her in this life. My understanding of this pa.s.sage is that you were lovers in the previous life, but you died by her hand. You have married her in this life in order to ask for her debts. You will make her lose the one she loves most, and make her suffer."

Yang Lu was silent. Ning Tao didn't know what he was thinking.

Ning Tao continued, "That's the truth I want you to know. Now that you know it, do you still want to get treatment?"

As the owner of the Sky Clinic, Ning Tao didn't have to tell Yang Lu the truth. He did it because it wouldn't be fair for Yang Lu not to know the truth. Receiving treatment meant that his acc.u.mulated merits would be eliminated because of the disease. If he didn't know the truth, how could that be fair?

"I... I don't know," Yang Lu responded, kind of out of his mind. It was too sudden and strange for him to accept the information.

Ning Tao said, "I'll give you some time to think about it. But you are in a very bad condition. I will give you acupuncture first to relieve your pain."

Yang Lu nodded.

Ning Tao took out his Sacred Needles and gave Yang Lu acupuncture. As his special spiritual power entered Yang Lu's body, Yang Lu's illness soon subsided. However, the acupuncture was unable to eliminate the large tumor in his lung.

After the acupuncture, Yang Lu became mentally and physically stronger. He tried to get out of bed, and he made it. Out of bed, he stood trembling.

"Do you want to go out for a walk?" Ning Tao asked.

Yang Lu nodded.

Ning Tao helped him to the door and opened it.

The sun came through the door and shone on Yang Lu's face, making him close his eyes.

"Honey!" At the sight of her husband standing in the doorway, Lu Nan got excited. "How, how are you feeling?"

Yang Lu replied, "Doctor Ning gave me acupuncture and I feel much better now. I'm a little hungry. I want something to eat."

"What do you want? I'll do it for you now." Lu Nan was all smiles. Then she turned to Ning Tao and praised, "You are a miracle doctor, Doctor Ning. My husband hasn't been out of bed since he came back from the hospital, but now he can walk. Thank you so very much."

Ning Tao said, "You're welcome. I'm just easing your husband's complications. He needs further treatment. It's up to your husband to decide. Go and cook him something to eat."

"I want porridge," said Yang Lu.

Lu Nan said, "I'll cook it for you right away and make a couple of dishes. Doctor Ning, don't go this noon, and just have lunch with us."

Ning Tao said, "Okay, thanks for your hospitality."

After that, Lu Nan and the village woman went to the kitchen.

Yang Lu sat down on the threshold, staring at the roses on the bamboo fence with glazed eyes. The roses were blooming brightly, with bees and b.u.t.terflies flying around them.

Ning Tao knew Yang Lu was thinking. He went back to the room, took out the Soil-seeking Inkstone, and poured 30 milliliters of ink into it.

The Soil-seeking Inkstone gave a slight s.h.i.+ver, and the ink rippled, and surged to a scale.

Ning Tao adjusted his standing posture and faced the direction of the scale in excitement.

The direction of the Soil-seeking Inkstone pointing was the Sword Pavilion Mountain. It was not sure if there had a pavilion in the mountain, but it was certain that there was spiritual soil in the mountain!

Ning Tao slung his medicine chest over his shoulder, and then went out with the Soil-seeking Inkstone in his hands. Yang Lu didn't even move when he pa.s.sed him.

"Chief Lu, I'm going out for a walk," Ning Tao called into the kitchen.

"Okay, but don't walk far. We'll wait for you to come back for lunch," Lu Nan replied.

"All right," said Ning Tao, and he went out with his compa.s.s in his hand, walking along the flagging toward the Sword Pavilion Mountain.

In the farmyard behind him, Yang Lu said after a long while, "Is what he said true or not?"

In fact, people were confused about this topic.