Three years passed. For three whole years, Miss Lin’s condition did not improve at all; her skin remained just as dark, and due to the medicine, she had become so thin that she looked like a little monkey if one didn’t look closely. Finally, in the autumn of the third year, the Ghost Doctor left with a flick of his sleeve, leaving behind the words, “Miss Lin can now survive, but as for her skin condition, I am powerless. This child is a freak, a true freak!” After that, the Ghost Doctor retired from the world, no longer treating patients, and never again dared to call himself the “enemy of Yama.”
Since then, various rumors spread in the Lin family. “The eldest Miss is a freak, a demon…” “She is the reincarnation of Daji; the Ghost Doctor said if her skin condition also improved, she would bring disaster…” “The day she was born, it rained heavily, and there was a monster dancing in the sky…” The Fourth Madame (Part One) “I heard the next day all the purple lilacs of the Third Madame withered…” “…” Once, someone said: If one person calls you a murderer, you might not be; but if a hundred people say it, even you might start to doubt yourself. At first, Master Lin didn’t pay much attention to it. Even though the ingredients in the Ghost Doctor’s prescription were hard to find, he sent people to search diligently. However, as Miss Lin’s condition showed no signs of improvement, the rumors grew more rampant, and he gradually lost patience. Seeing Master Lin visit less and less, the servants became restless, and the medicine was given sporadically. The Third Madame felt deeply pained, crying all day, which made Master Lin despise her even more, not visiting even once a month.
Winter passed in such drizzling rain. Miss Lin was almost four years old. She didn’t even have a name. Initially, Master Lin told the Third Madame, “We should think of a good name for our daughter.” Later, he completely forgot about it. Neither her first month nor her first birthday had any guests invited. The Third Madame spent her days in tears and had no time to care for her daughter. During festivals, no one bought her new clothes; she was still wrapped in the cloth the Ghost Doctor left on the day he departed, now indistinguishable in color from wear. She couldn’t even speak a few simple sentences.
