Dr. Gu Qinghe sprinted down the marble steps like a man half his age.
He didn’t care about his polished leather shoes or his white doctor’s coat.
He dropped to his knees on the concrete sidewalk, catching the stumbling old man in his arms before he struck the curb.
“Master!” Dr. Gu cried out, his voice cracking with immense sorrow. “It is Qinghe! Your student Qinghe is here!”
Grand Physician Bian stopped.
His blind, cataract-clouded eyes turned toward the sound of Dr. Gu’s voice.
His trembling, bony hands reached out, feeling Dr. Gu’s face, his temples, and the fabric of his doctor’s coat.
“Qinghe...?” Grand Physician Bian whispered in a raspy, cracked voice. “Is it really you, my child? I... I heard news in the western mountains. People said a hospital in Tianhai was selling life-saving herbal decoctions for one hundred yuan. I walked three hundred miles to see if it was true.”
