Chapter 113 The Doctor Is In 9 (1/2)

”Alright, Zero. Let's have a chat, shall we?” Hua Tuo eyed the brunet who appeared nervous. Still, he did not refuse the physician. Hua Tuo didn't know if Zero knew the impact of what he'd done. Making friends with the Demon King was something unheard of. Demons were known as creatures who did not understand the meaning of love or loyalty. Demon King Baal was one of the seven who ruled the abyss. His reputation would make anyone quake in fear. Yet Zero had gone and made friends with a creature born from nightmares without much effort. Cuteness was justice but how far could it go? Not to mention, the brunet had revealed some very hard to believe facts about Baal. A sleepy klutz? Really? All those years of disasters caused by Baal's supposed fury were merely side effects of his carelessness? Hua Tuo found it hard to believe and even harder to accept such facts. It was easier to imagine Baal as the merciless and unpredictable Demon Lord who killed thousands with his roar of rage rather than a sneeze from a sensitive sinus after waking up.

Zero didn't know what to do. His teacher was giving him such an intense look and it was getting uncomfortable. Hua Tuo would've bored a hole through his forehead with the intensity of that stare if Zero didn't snap him out of his thoughts.

”What are we going to talk about?”

”Huh? Oh yes, we were going to have a chat. Take a seat, don't look so tense. I just have a few questions to ask you.”

Zero nodded and relaxed a little seeing the usual Hua Tuo return.

”How long have you known Demon King Baal?”

Zero hummed and tried to recall when it was. He hasn't been friends with Bell for long so it was still easy to answer.

”Slightly more than a week?”

Hua Tuo didn't know what to think. Why would a Demon Lord decide to help a child he knew for less than a week? Hua Tuo was no fool. Even if Baal wasn't completely evil, it didn't mean he had a heart of gold. This generosity may only be extended towards Zero but the physician still had his reservations. There may be deeper reasons behind Baal's actions and neither he nor Zero had the answers to it.

”How did the two of you meet? I'm sure you didn't have the time to be sneaking away to make friends with someone from the abyss. We've been travelling for the last two weeks.”

Zero grinned and brightened up. ”That's right! I made friends while I was travelling. If not for mediation, I wouldn't have been able to make friends this easily. It was slightly scary at first meeting so many new people and going to so many new places but it worked out in the end.”

Wait... people? As in plural?

”Please don't tell me you've made more than one friend... also, how did you meet them when you were meditating?”

Zero frowned in confusion. Hua Tuo wasn't making any sense to him. Was he not supposed to make friends when meditating?

”But I did it the normal way? You told me to empty the thoughts from my mind and I did... then I went back to the space that I came from and waited until someone found me.”

Space? Now Hua Tuo was confused. ”How did that space look like?” He'd heard of Buddha meditating into a different dimension the spirit world. There were many dimensions that one's soul could travel to after mastering meditation. He hadn't realised that Zero had progressed to such levels.

Zero frowned. ”It's dark and empty. I can't see anything, feel or move. It's not warm nor cold... there was just nothing there. It's exactly how I was before that bright light appeared.”

Hua Tuo made a mental note to ask the Great Gods more about Zero's past. He didn't know what light or space his student was talking about but there was one thing clear. They were not on the same page.

”Alright, can you tell me what happened after that? How did you make friends?”

Zero grinned. ”I heard voices calling out for help and responded to them. It was always a different voice and sometimes they responded, sometimes they didn't. Sometimes they said really mean things but then there are some who turned out to be real like Bell.”

Hua Tuo didn't know how to react. Those voices... could it be that Zero had the ability to listen to prayers? He didn't know that Demon Kings prayed because they had no Gods to pray to but those voices Zero heard and described sounded a lot like the voices of people praying to the God of Medicine.

”What did these voices normally say?”

Zero tried to recall what he heard. ”Most of them were lonely. They just wanted someone to listen to them or talk to so I did.”

Hua Tuo didn't quite understand this. Gods could listen to the prayer voices if the people praying to them met two conditions. The first was to know of their existence and the second was to believe in their powers. The stronger their faith, the stronger the effect of blessings a God can bestow upon the person praying to them. Gods had different domains and prayers worked much like in a company. Different types of prayers were categorised and sent to the God responsible for the domain. For example, Sedna would listen to all prayers about safe sea journeys. She wouldn't receive or entertain any prayers about wanting blessings for fertility. Then there were those whose prayers didn't have any God to listen to and were discarded somewhere in the void. The voices that Zero heard sounded like those discarded into the void. But why would Zero end up in a void?

”Alright. Who else did you meet there?”

Zero didn't answer so readily. ”It's a secret. I can't reveal their names or identity for now because I promised them.”

Hua Tuo didn't push it. He had expected something like that after all. He assumed that all the people Zero made friends with were somewhat powerful and influential people. It would be bad for their reputation if the secret got out that these powerful beings were lonely. Just imagining Baal confiding that he didn't mean harm and was a natural klutz was a frightening enough image for Hua Tuo. Instead, he had one last question.

”How many friends have you made from meditating?”

Zero paused and counted them. Hua Tuo began to worry when Zero counted more than three but sighed in relief when the brunet stopped at four.

”Four I have met like Bell but many others whom I have not. I've spoken to a lot of people. Some come back to talk to me again but some don't so it is difficult to know who's considered a friend and who's not.”

The physician almost face-planted at that explanation. Here he was hoping that Zero wouldn't go more than five but it was now a lost cause. He'd have to teach Zero about stranger danger, a lesson that Truen failed to get Zero to understand. The physician didn't know if Zero's ability to readily trust strangers was a good or bad thing. The worries he had for his apprentice only increased by the day and Hua Tuo felt exhausted. They haven't started any consultation in the village or done any surgery but Zero's made quite the impact by himself.