In a quiet, countryside village in the western reaches of the Xiang province within the state of Hua, a small crowd of elderly and middle-aged people had gathered around a small house built out of mud and thatching. Everyone spoke in quiet whispers, seemingly afraid to disturb someone inside the house. A few distant coughs would occasionally come from inside the house, causing many to have unsightly complexions.

Inside the house, a frail man who was as pale as a ghost laid on on his deathbed. This man’s name was Ip Nan. Ip Nan’s closest friends stood at his beside with heavy eyes, observing his helpless situation. Aside Ip Nan’s stood Ip An, his grandson. An elderly woman with squinting eyes and a slight frown combed through his hair with her left hand, comforting the boy.

Aside from Ip An’s uncontrollable whimpering and his grandfather’s hoarse coughing, a small group of men were currently talking in quiet whispers.

“Tsk, tsk. It’s a shame. Ip An is a smart boy he will be on his own once he is gone. I wonder what he’ll do?” An old man with a regretful expression filled with bitterness and a straw hat on his head who was a friend of Ip Nan mused.

“His grandpa was a wise man, but to refuse the treatment of Doctor Qin? He’s simply a fool”, a middle-aged man with a scar on his left cheek shook his head in disapproval with his arms crossed.

“Not just that! He even argued that his medicine simply wouldn’t work on him!” An old man with a wooden cane nearby also added.

The old straw-hat wearing man was completely stunned at this comment and soon became infuriated.

“Watch your tongue! It’s implausible for him to just be rushing to his death! He has his reasons..” The old man who was a friend of Ip Nan rebuked with clear anger in his voice.

Although he knew he was touching a sensitive topic and the old man’s status was higher than his, the middle-aged man didn’t back down, “Everyone knows that Doctor Qin is a miracle man! Every single one of his patients has always recovered, no matter the illness or condition they are in! Even the imperial doctors from the capital can’t even compare! Yet why did he simply refuse his kindness?”

The old man grumbled in annoyance before facing the rest of the small group and asking, “Does everyone remember that day a decade ago when those two sword-immortals came to this humble village?”

The middle-aged man rolled his eyes but still nodded along with the rest of the group as he too couldn’t forget that unforgettable day. Everyone remembered that day very clearly. Not just them, nearly the whole village did. It was just an ordinary spring day filled with the warmth of the sun.

On that day an ordinary six-year-old boy had been playing with his friends underneath an oak tree on a small hill and seemingly spotted two black dots in the distant sky. He ignored the dots as he thought they were a couple of birds. However, a few moments passed and they soon enlargened to what looked like two white-robed figures riding on swords!

The boy was astonished and immediately told his friends who were playing with him at the time. All the children gave no thought and ran off to their parents, telling them about the two strange swords flying figures they saw in the sky. Their parents were in disbelief and very distrustful, thinking they were playing one of their pranks.

However, due to the serious attitude and continued pleading of the many children, they reluctantly left to see the so-called “Sword-Immortal”’s as the children thought them to be. When they exited their houses, they couldn’t believe their eyes!

They saw two extremely handsome and charming white-robed men, slowing descending on their swords, towards the centre of the village. The children didn’t expect them to seemingly visit their village. They simply thought they would fly over and they and their parents could catch a glimpse. This was far out of their expectations!

More and more people slowly gathered due to the commotion created. The people in this crowd naturally included the men who were currently in front of Ip Nan’s house. They too held similarly astonished faces.

As the two “Sword Immortals”’ finally touched down, no one spoke a word, simply staring on. They waited for their first words, wondering why they were here.

One of the men cleared his throat before scanning the crowd before asking with a soothing to the ear, crystal clear voice, “Me and my Senior Martial Brother have come here in hopes to meet with a man named Ip Nan. We hear he lives here in this very village”.

A majority of the crowd formed confused expressions, unable to recall an Ip Nan. However, several key people in the crowd had faces of surprise, wondering why they wanted to see that old man. After a moment of slight hesitation, an old man walked up. This happened to be the old man with the straw-hat who was currently arguing as of now!

He bowed with profound respect, not daring to even look the two men in the eye, “This old man happens to know of an Ip Nan living in this village. Fortunately, he lives but just a short distance away from where we are currently standing. But, this one is ignorant and struggles to think he is the correct person and is unable to comprehend why your Immortal Excellence’s are seeking him out. May you please enlighten me?”

The Immortal at the back raised an eyebrow, while the one who the straw-hat old man was addressing gave a slight frown.

“Hmph! You do not need to concern yourself, mortal. Don’t speak anymore and lead me and my Senior Martial Brother to his residence promptly”, he said with disdain, almost looking at the straw-hat old man as if he was now an eyesore. He also heavily emphasised the word mortal, almost looking at him as if he were an ant.

The old man and many people in the village were left speechless due to the cold response. Nevertheless, due to their status’s as immortals which could be seen very clearly by their attire, heavenly appearances and their ability to fly in the sky, they thought this to be normal. After all, they were simply mortals that farmed for a living. Whereas they were beings that could upturn the heavens and live forever.

Naturally, the straw-hat old man nearly bit his tongue in half, causing it to bleed. He realised that he had made a grave mistake offending this immortal as he noticed the immortal giving him a cold gaze filled with resentment, causing a cold shiver to run down his spine. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he turned around and led the immortals to where Ip Nan lived with as much confidence as he could muster.

Everyone else merely stood in place as their figures became more and more distant. As it would be improper and could be taken as an offence if they followed them around. The crowd went into a heated discussion as to why they wanted to meet that unassuming old man that most of the village had never even heard of. The crowd eventually dispersed, many planning to simply ask the straw-hat man about what happened afterwards.

Once the straw-hat man and the two immortals reached Ip Nan’s house, they knocked on the door and were greeted by a much more youthful and energetic pink-faced Ip Nan. He talked to the straw-hat man with much vigour and passion, asking him how his day was and about small things. His onslaught of words didn’t even let him get to why he was here in the first place! His carefree attitude gave the straw-hat man a lot of stress.

He was afraid that if Ip Nan talked any longer, the two immortals would smite him with lightning for talking too long!

Thankfully, he eventually noticed the immortals behind him. Several emotions flashed on his face in just a single second before darkening and becoming solemn. He let out a long sigh before asking the straw-hat man with a fake smile, “I am deeply sorry, Qin Xiao. However, these highly-esteemed guests behind you are a very high priority. If it is convenient, we may catch up on a later date!”

Qin Xiao, the straw-hat man, gave a wry smile as he nodded his head in understanding before he scuttled away to escape the dangerous situation he had put himself in.

Qian Xiao had no clue as to what they talked about or who these two men actually were. But he could tell that Ip Nan was no common man. He could see that he held very deep connections to some very powerful and influential people.

Later that afternoon, the two immortal masters could be seen riding on their swords, towards the sunset. When the people of the village came to question Ip Nan, he had seemingly disappeared from his home! People thought he may have been killed or kidnapped by the immortals.

Fortunately, the next day he had reappeared and a flood of people appeared, asking countless questions. In response, Ip Nan gave a confused look and said he couldn’t recall what they were talking about. One by one, he denied anything that may have occurred yesterday, saying that all he remembered was sitting under his favourite oak tree and reading an old scroll about birds.

After a whole week of this nonsense, everyone gave up and soon left him alone. Much to his pleasure and relief.

In front of Ip Nan’s house, Qin Xiao gave a quick recall of what happened those many years ago, rousing those distant memories within everyone present. For a few moments, everyone pondered in deep thought, heavily considering what he had said.

“You mean…”, the man with a wooden cane asked with a lost expression as if he was trying to put together the pieces.

Qin Xiao gave a small smirk which was obviously directed towards the middle-aged man, “This one thinks that due to Ip Nan’s connection to those mysterious immortals he is most likely a hidden master. Although I have not witnessed even the slightest hint of a martial artist in all my years of knowing him, I speculate that somewhere along with his life he must’ve been a well-respected expert, his profound strength would’ve allowed him to make many valuable connections. Thus, prompting a visit from those two immortals that fateful day.”

Suddenly, everyone had a look of understanding, except, the middle-aged man still did not see why Ip Nan would reject treatment from Doctor Qin. He furrowed his eyebrows with a slight frown, “So what if he was an expert? That doesn’t mean he can ignore death’s shadow.”

Qin Xiao responded to the middle-aged man with steady eyes and proposed, “Well, if we consider that he was most likely an expert, a person who conditioned their body in extreme ways, causing the common man to even wince in pain thinking about their training methods. We can also take into account his accumulation of Inner Qi. Inner Qi, has been shown time and time again to change the human body in unfathomable ways. If it were the case that Inner Qi changed the body in the same way for every person then all doctors would need to do is adapt their methods with some simple trial and error. Yet, this is not the case

Lastly, due to the extreme increase in strength, vitality and changes the body undergoes from Inner Qi, normal medicine is almost useless. It is akin to giving the medication a normal person would need to a giant. And even if the dosage is increased accordingly, problems can still occur that would cause dire consequences. The only way to treat them is with spiritual herbs of legends and a master alchemist to concoct them into pills for treatment. Even then, they would not be willing to squander these priceless herbs for an aging or sick person. They would use it to create pills that increases one’s own strength. Therefore, due to all of these reasons, it becomes an incredibly difficult matter to cure or even help these types of people.

Everyone looked on with a look of natural agreement, taking Qin Xiao’s proposal and theory into serious consideration. Just as the middle-aged man was going to argue again his words got caught in his throat and his face turned a sour red. He also realised his words were very reasonable despite his bitterness.

This reaction brought a warm, pleasant smile to Qin Xiao’s face.

Qin Xiao gave the defeated middle-aged man a pat on the shoulder before reminding everyone, “Despite all of this, it is just pure speculation. He could be in fact an old fool wishing to die. But i guess...”

He gave a long pause.

“We will have no way of knowing who he truly is.”

(AN: Doctor Qin and Qian Xiao are completely different people, in case someone didn’t notice. Just making sure there isn’t any confusion)