Murim Recurve

"Token number 641!" A voice resounded through the hall as Ki'Nha gently shook Re'Kha awake, watching her sit up with a start. She rubbed her back, "It's alright, it's alright. They are calling you."

"Eh? Ah!" Re'Kha regained clarity as she stood up in a hurry, wincing in pain. Ki'Nha accompanied her to one of the rooms on the side; after seeing their token number, a nurse pointed them to their respective room.

At the entrance was a small room for four to sit. It was meant for those accompanying the patient. Ki'Nha sat in the room as Re'Kha entered through the door—blocked with a curtain—beside, coming face to face with a lady in her forties.

She wore a hood that covered her from head to toe, only showing her face. Her eyes seemed a bit tired, despite it being only the afternoon. She didn't even glance at her Tikka jewellery, an action everyone did out of habit, motioning for Re'Kha to take a seat on the berth beside.

There were shelves containing numerous incenses, tools used for a variety of purposes, some solutions of sorts, etc. The doctor watched Re'Kha slowly sit, noticing how she winced in pain as she sat, "Tell me your complications."

Re'Kha took in a deep breath, pointing at the areas as she spoke, "I have pain in the joints, my back aches, I feel lethargic and weak, and I feel cold during the night."

"Alright, please lay down. I'll just inspect your condition," The doctor only now gazed at her Tikka jewellery, "Since you are a water element Harmoniser, I'll use Water Qi to inspect you."

"Yes, please," Re'Kha nodded as she lay down, asking, "Do I have to have to remove my clothes?"

"It won't be needed here," The doctor smiled, "I'm only going to inspect your condition using your blood flow and Water Qi flow."

The doctor took out a blue needle from a box placed securely at one side. Upon her thought, it shone with a blue radiance. It was a Magic Artifact, a miniature one at that. She nudged the feet of Re'Kha, identifying the blood vessel she wished to find as she gently pierced the needle into it.

Re'Kha didn't even react, as if she hadn't noticed the needle piercing her feet. The moment it was pierced, the doctor deactivated the needle, extending her perception through it as she seemed to be looking for something. "Did you encounter a Sha recently?"

"Yes, yesterday. I faced the Blinded Ghost and another new Sha. I didn't fight much though." Re'Kha replied.

"Among those Sha, have you encountered any of them before?" The doctor continued to sense through the needle.

"Yes, around 10 days ago." Re'Kha nodded.

"No wonder," The doctor nodded, pulling out the needle as she took out a paper and scribbled something on it. She then motioned Re'Kha to get up as she handed over the paper, "Give this to the nurse outside. She'll direct you to the respective ward immediately."

"Thank you," Re'Kha nodded and slowly exited the visiting ward. The visiting ward was where a line of doctors would inspect the conditions of the patients and would then designate them to their respective treatment wards.

It was a bit longwinded, but in this way, they were able to deal with the workflow with their limited manpower. Those who had minor illnesses would be given a prescription at this point and sent away.

Re'Kha looked at the paper, noticing that she was unable to read it. It looked like a blank piece of paper too. But, knowing that it was a prescription written by a doctor who handled a lot of patients daily, she chuckled, giving it to Ki'Nha, "Can you read this?"

Ki'Nha took a glance and retorted, "When Ki'Nua was two years old, she had a habit of doodling on the floor with an ink brush. If I had understood what she wrote back then, I would have understood what is written here."

It basically meant she was clueless about it too. The prescription was no different from a drunkard's doodle. But, Re'Kha wasn't afraid she would have prescribed something wrong. For, the doctor had determined she had come into contact with a Sha more than once recently. Re'Kha hadn't said anything about that to her. This meant the doctor was skilled enough to deduce the information through her ability and experience.

The nurse stationed outside the room looked at their prescription, motioning for them to follow her. Her linguistic ability seemed capable of comprehending the doodle. The moment she accompanied them, another nurse filled in her position. She had just returned from accompanying someone towards their respective ward.

The trio of Re'Kha, Ki'Nha, and the nurse headed towards the mechanical lifts and boarded one that just arrived. Considering the activity in the hospital, all the mechanical lifts were constantly in motion. Not one was idle.

She extended her Wind Qi perception, wondering how the operators handled this without rest. She noticed that they worked on a shift basis. One batch worked during the morning and was replaced during the afternoon by another batch. She didn't know if they were done for the day with a single shift, or if they returned for a second shift later.

The lift was the same as the one in the inn but was bigger, able to house 10 people. They were accompanied by 7 other people, two of which were nurses. The mechanical lift's motion was stable. It was also faster than the one in the inn, but the motion didn't affect them.

When they were on the third floor, their nurse beckoned for them to follow her. They exited the lift and walked through the corridor that seemed filled with a pleasant scent of incense. The end of the corridor had a large window that facilitated the floor's ventilation, keeping the place fresh. There were many branching corridors, scaling through the wide area of the hospital's floor space.

The nurse took a couple of turns through the corridor before entering the seventh room on the right, motioning for Re'Kha to enter as she looked at Ki'Nha, "Entry is only for patients, my lady."

The nurse handed the prescription to Re'Kha before exiting the room. Re'Kha stood rooted to the spot in shock as she saw a familiar face.