My newest patient rests comfortably on the table, ignorant of the vast disgust I have towards him and his family.

This elderly man has multiple curses placed on him, most of which’s effects have been muted by various elixirs and previous healings. And from my perspective, it is obvious that some of these were done by low-end, but hard to remove sources. A desperate measure by those sacrificing everything just to inconvenience him.

In other words, he had done something unforgivable to someone who normally would never have a chance to get back at him. The small information I can glean confirms this.

Just knowing this makes me consider whether I should heal him of it.

Fortunately for this bastard, I've already decided to follow (generally) the American way of medical practice in wartime. To treat all who need aid, albeit with differing priorities on how much and when.

And this guy seems like the perfect testbed for something I’ve been looking to try out on someone I dislike. Which none of the others before this had.

Mental instabilities. Psychopathy, both primary and secondary. And other mental aspects that could lead to negative behavior.

This patient is Long Chao, part of the Long family and the uncle of the rapist, Long Shui, who tried to kidnap Mei Lin, my new little sister.

His son, Long Heng, is the one who has been sexually torturing many slaves.

… I’m seeing a pattern in this family.

And the scary part is that these people aren’t even the power players of their family. It makes me wonder what those people are like. Especially considering this is an old family that used to be extremely powerful.

But either way, I see a path forward from my scan for this guy.

While healing mental aspects, like psychopathy, wouldn’t always create positive outcomes, it will for him.

This patient, Long Chao, doesn’t operate off cruelty for its own sake. It’s simply a means to an end. So, it is more likely that healing him will lead him to positive actions more consistently, while reducing the negative ones.

With all of this in mind, I start my work.

My qi snakes into his chest, distributing throughout his body like all the others. And with this action, I get more information on his condition.

Clearly primary psychopathy. He was born with it.

As I direct my qi to the cursed areas, I also have it probe into his brain and nervous system. Reducing the areas that are oversized and promoting bad behavior back to an average size. Increasing the size of the ones that were undersized for good behavior to average. And any that fit my goals of increasing positive behavior that were divergent, I kept in place and didn’t change.

All while using my scan to predict what would produce the best long/short-term outcomes.

Even though I’m simply bringing each area to a ‘normal’ state, the changes made will make ‘good’ actions seem comparatively more rewarding, with the ‘bad’ ones much less so. Adding in guilt, embarrassment, and other feelings associated with emotional empathy, he will experience a new world of feelings that will make being ‘good’ fresh and interesting. Forming a new pattern of behavior and potentially better actions towards those around him.

And the biggest priority in the changes is to make it so that this process will feel good and provide positive results in his life. Otherwise, negative incentives will be built, not including fear and revulsion in being treated by me. Something that I really don’t need to happen.

Sigh…

I wish this would work for everyone. But not everyone’s situation, morality, and choices align for a positive outcome. Sometimes, this treatment could allow a person to enjoy torturing others in new and inventive ways to get these ‘fresh’ feelings.

Something I will avoid at all costs.

…

Just like the other patients, and despite the additional changes made, healing him doesn’t take much time.

He swiftly moved out, and they moved another patient in. But that won’t be the end for him.

As I expected, like many other patients, he is hoping to meet with me to express his thanks and establish a connection.

Unlike the others, I want this to happen.

I motion to Sister Nuan for us to pause the flow.

“Sister Nuan, I want to speak with the person who I just treated.

“Their family is holding the two people I told you about before. The wife and child of Ao Jin, the demonic cultivator.”

Her face turns dark at my words.

When we talked earlier, after the confrontation by the sect patriarch, I told her everything. Everything that I’ve gone through, planned for, and who I’ve interacted with. Really letting her in and helping me to plan for what’s coming. All so she could help me achieve these goals easier.

Even this healing of him was part of her machinations, as I was originally going to use a different route to get them back. Having her do this made things a lot easier, as she was very subtle about having that information leaked to him.

In this situation she’s created, he is the one that wants to reach out to us and form that connection, rather than me demanding something from them… or starting an underground war.

Yeah. This was unquestionably the more peaceful route. Though, there will come a time when I will go through each of these organizations and families. And tear down all they’ve built.

Even Yellow Sashes won’t be spared… as I haven’t forgotten about the people they have in the caves, being used to breed parasites. I will find out what’s going on and will see why such atrocities are being done.

With just a nod, she opens the door. As soon as it opens, Long Chao bows his head and comes through it. He gives me a marginally less deep bow to me, showing his respect to us both as master and disciple.

“Elder Song, Disciple Delinion. I am truly grateful for the treatment you’ve provided to me. After experiencing this, I feel… invigorated. Fresh. Changed.

“On behalf of my family, I must do something for you.”

He looks between us both before continuing.

“Is there anything you wish for that I can provide?”

I steal a glance at Sister Nuan before changing my face to show a hint of my feelings.

Anger. Frustration. Irritation.

All of which is shocking to him, with my next words more so.

“To be quite honest with you, Senior Long, I have a grudge against your family. As your son has significantly harmed the loved ones of those I cared for.”

I can see a flicker of panic and then frustration cross his eyes before they are quickly muted. Even with greater empathy, established behavior and thought patterns endure. His eyes also flicker towards Sister Nuan, seeing her reaction.

She remains neutral, in a sense supporting my words.

He is silent for a few seconds before he speaks out again.

“… How would you like me rectify this grudge? I and my family would definitely benefit from being in good standing with you and I would take steps to gain that.”

Good. This is what I was looking for.

This also sets a precedent on what I do and don’t support.

“Your son has numerous slaves that he tortures. Within those batches are some slaves that were the family of someone dear to me.”

And I go quiet from there. Withholding the specifics of the victims' identities or batch.

He nods, his lips pursed.

“I understand. I’ve been meaning to stop my son from pursuing such distasteful activities for some time now.”

That’s a lie.

He would have allowed it to continue, even with his distaste for it, as long as it didn't harm him.

He glanced to his upper left, unfocused.

“He should have around three hundred heads' worth of slaves in those centers of his. I’ll have them removed immediately. Considering your recent actions, would I be safe to assume you want to take custody of these slaves?”

I nod once. He swallows before adding more.

“I’ll make sure that they are here safely within the day.”

This is what I was looking for. Navigating this, so that it wouldn’t be just those two that get saved, but the source of the issue gets removed and others taken out of that situation.

Unfortunately, I’ll need to go through the process of rehabilitation and adding them to the contract. There will be so many things to do after this. It’s going to be tough, making all of this work.

Now that my aim has been reached, I have to give some leeway. I let my emotions soften a bit, giving a small smile. Hoping that this will help to stimulate that freshly amplified emotional center in him.

“Thank you for your understanding of my position. If you can bring all of them to me, regardless of their state, this grudge between us can be moved aside and we can consider potential future actions.”

I emphasize the ‘all’ in my words, to show my knowledge of the situation.

But now I’m the one lying.

Fuck these guys.

With that said, I acknowledge this change in him and will work with this guy a bit to help with the positive interaction aspect.

I can see his face brighten at my words, as he bows and thanks me again, swiftly moving out of the room to set things up for the transport.

As he leaves and I move back in position to finish up my cultivation in this rank, only one thought comes to mind from my words that I hope he keeps to.

I made it clear that I required 'all' of them, irrespective of their state. The little that I discovered from my scan is absolutely horrific. And Long Chao’s ‘face’ will be thrown very low from this.

And it will be very tempting for him to get rid of the worst of the victims.

The question really will be… will I be able to hold back when I see all of them?