A Healer’s Journey (Finnegan and Nuthana)

Chapter 1

In a deserted primeval forest in Loang, over ten members of the wealthiest family in Nuthana, the Langdon family, were kneeling in front of a small wooden house amidst a drizzle without shelter over their heads. Mandy Langdon, a beauty whose wet clothes clung to her body as she was drenched by rainwater, shouted, “Dr. Larkin, we’ve been kneeling here for a day and a night. Please forgive us for our sudden intrusion and follow us to Nuthana to save my grandpa! By the way, can we get up now?” “I haven’t forgiven you all for interrupting my peace, yet you’re already thinking of getting up? Don’t you know I have specific rules when it comes to medical treatments?” A man’s indifferent voice rang out from within the house. “Yes, we do know!” Mandy’s body shuddered. She feared she would further upset the miracle doctor, as that would mean any hopes for her grandfather’s illness to be cured would vanish entirely. “Recite the rule!” That man’s voice rang out again. Undaring to defy him, Mandy enumerated, “Dr. Larkin, also known as the Mischievous Doctor, upholds the ten non-treatment rules. No treatment shall be given to dishonest government officials, disloyal people, unfilial children, sexual offenders, criminals, immoral people, disbelievers, non-Chanaean speakers, and money-grubbers. Finally, a flat refusal to give treatment to others whenever you’re in a bad mood.” Right after she finished talking, a small black bottle was tossed out of the window of the wooden house. Then, the man inside uttered, “Well done. I shall forgive you today and help treat your grandfather’s disease.” Mandy picked up the small bottle. Upon opening it, she noticed that the bottle contained seven pills that emanated medicinal fragrance. Elated, she quickly expressed her gratitude in the direction of the wooden house. “Thank you, Dr. Larkin! Thank you, Dr. Larkin!” “Let your grandfather consume one pill every day for seven days in a row to get him into shape first. Within ten days, I’ll personally visit the Langdon residence to treat him. Transfer one hundred million to my public account as the consultation fee. Any objections?” As the richest family in Nuthana, the Langdon family possessed assets worth hundreds of billion. One hundred million was merely an insignificant amount to them. Besides, that matter concerned Howard Langdon’s life. The Langdons were willing to pay any sum to treat his condition. “No objection. In that case, we shall await your advent at the Langdon residence, Dr. Larkin!” “You can go now,” he said impassively. After the members of the Langdon family left, the door to the

wooden house creaked open. Finnegan Larkin strode out from within. He had a straight posture and a gentle countenance. His eyes were pensive, and he wore a faint smirk. “I’ve completely eliminated the toxin that old guy poisoned me with. I can finally go home now!” Longing emotions bubbled within Finnegan as he scanned the surroundings of where he had lived for the past five years. Then he held up an umbrella and ambled into the rain. Two days later, in Jadeborough, Nuthana. Five years had passed, and Jadeborough, a bustling economic hub to begin with, had prospered further. However, Finnegan’s house was located on the outskirts of Jadeborough, an area yet to be included in the development plan. He began to panic as he arrived before a cottage. Five years ago, the day before his university entrance exam, he had heroically saved a girl after finishing his revision at night. However, he ended up offending a scion named Killian Chomsky, got severely beaten up, and was admitted to the hospital. His father, Desmond Larkin, who was a teacher at that time, was also dragged into the mess and was dismissed by the school. Subsequently, his mother also lost her job. Finnegan left without saying a word one night to avoid burdening his parents. He wondered if they were doing well. Finnegan collected himself and knocked on the iron door. Footsteps could be heard, followed by the opening of the door. His mother, Quiana Lane, stepped out of the house. “You are?” Finnegan’s height and appearance had changed a lot in the past five years, so she failed to recognize her son immediately. Tears brimmed in Finnegan’s eyes as he gazed at his aged mother. Her hair had turned white, and the wrinkles on her face had deepened. “Mom!” “Fi…Finny? Is that you, Finny?” “Mom, it’s me. I’m home!” At that instant, he couldn’t suppress his emotions of missing his family anymore. He stepped forward and embraced his mother tightly. Upon ascertaining the man before her was indeed Finnegan, Quiana shed tears of joy. “You’ve finally come home, my son!” “Who’s there?” Desmond’s voice rang out from the courtyard. Quiana hastily let go of Finnegan and replied merrily, “It’s Finny, Desmond. Our Finny is back.” Finnegan was about to greet his father while dragging Quiana into the house when utter shock overwhelmed him. He immediately dashed forward and crouched down at the sight of his father. “What’s wrong with you, Dad?” In Finnegan’s memories, his father was a gentlemanly-looking educator. Yet at that moment, Desmond, lying on a recliner, had been reduced to a white-haired, emaciated, and sickly man. “You’re really back!” Tears streamed down Desmond’s

cheeks. He wanted to lift his arm to caress his son’s face, but he couldn’t. “All that matters is that you’ve returned. You don’t have to ask or know anything else. Let’s get on with our lives now that our family has reunited.” Finnegan held Desmond’s hand and placed it on his cheek. How can I not find out what happened? “Dad, tell me. What happened to you?” When he left, his family members were healthy and well. Their household wasn’t as shabby and poor either. “Desmond, Finny will discover the truth sooner or later, so let’s just tell him,” Quiana sobbed. Finnegan learned that after he was forced to leave, Killian was still reluctant to let that matter go. He led his subordinates to the Larkin residence and demanded that the Larkins compensate him one million for the medical fees after Finnegan injured him. Because of the Chomsky family’s influence, the Larkins had to sell their assets to gather the sum. Unfortunately, they could only pay around four hundred thousand. Finnegan’s parents had no choice but to beg Killian on their knees to provide them with more time to reimburse the rest of it. To their surprise, Killian mentioned Desmond could settle Finnegan’s remaining debt by shouldering the blame. Then Killian ordered his men to cripple Desmond. As a result, Desmond had been disabled for five years. Finnegan didn’t expect Killian to dwell on that matter even after he left. He punched the table beside him, shattering its surface with one strike. “He crossed the line by driving our family to the brink of desperation. I won’t let Killian off!” After a brief pause, he added coldly, “Also, that girl is such an ungrateful person. I shouldn’t have rescued her if I had known that was her character!” “Are you talking about Bernice Zimmerman of Firebird Group?” Quiana held Finnegan’s hand and explained, “You misunderstood. She came here to look for you, but you were gone. She wanted to give us five million as a token of appreciation, but you know your dad—he didn’t want to receive favors from her simply because you saved her. He rejected all forms of remuneration from Ms. Zimmerman aside from letting her sponsor Rhia’s education.” “He’s the daughter of the Zimmerman family, and her family owns Firebird Group?” Finnegan merely remembered the girl he rescued was beautiful. He knew nothing about her background. Quiana nodded. “She’s a nice girl. She visits us almost every month and even helped us resolve some troubles when we said we didn’t want her money. She’s not an ungrateful person.” Realizing he had misunderstood Bernice, Finnegan said, “I shall give her some credit for that.” “Unfortunately, good things don’t always happen to nice people.” Over a month ago, Bernice hadCcontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

suddenly fainted and hadn’t regained consciousness since. After that, Finnegan chatted with his parents about the things that had happened in the past five years. Then, he made up an excuse and left the house. He dialed a number right after walking out of the door. He wanted Killian to pay the price for what he had done. “Send someone here to carry out my orders. Also, investigate the Chomsky family from Jadeborough, especially that b*stard named Killian.” “Dr. Larkin, are you in Jadeborough? In that case, I shall come over to serve you in person.” “Stop spewing nonsense and send someone capable to assist me.” “Yes, yes. Sure.” After hanging up the phone, Finnegan strode to the side of the street and hailed a cab. He entered the vehicle and said, “To the Zimmerman residence in Xendale.” Bernice is an appreciative person, so I shall grant her a blessing. Besides, I will need a lot of precious medicinal herbs to cure Dad. The Zimmermans can help me with that.