Chapter 623: Hmph, I’ll bite you all to death
Was that it?
Han Yunxi thought curiously, while Pill King began to panic. He was terrified of Gu Beiyue saying the full formula next.
Anything else?
Of course there was something else!
Gu Beiyue was as gentle as ever even when defying all odds. He pondered thoughtfully before he began to list the various ingredients and their necessary quantities. “Three liang of tendril-leaved fritillary bulb, one liang of melon beach wormwood, one liang of skywinter grass, one single lily plant…”
Pill King was already stunned before Gu Beiyue completed his list. He looked towards his elder companion, who was wearing an equal expression of shock. How….could this be possible? Even a fifth-rank Divine Doctor could cure Halfday Cough? Are his medical skills even stronger than Academy Head Gu’s? That’s incomprehensible! If that’s the case, why would Gu Beiyue have spent all those years in Tianning’s Imperial Physician Courtyard? Why did he end up working as a mere doctor for Pill Fiend Pharmacy? He didn’t even need to ask anyone for favors. As long as he went to the medical academy with those skills, he’d easily gain an official post and be recognized by Academy Head Gu himself for his worth. His rise in the ranks would be meteoric!
As long as Gu Beiyue had the ambition, he could even take the medical academy for himself someday!
Soon enough, Gu Beiyue finished listing all the ingredients. There were a total of 17 different items, all of them an exact match to the prescription in Pill King’s possession!
“This has to be a coincidence!” Pill King was convinced. Gu Beiyue ignored him to look towards the other man. “Is junior’s prescription accurate?”
Although the old man didn’t want to admit it, he still nodded his head. “Yes, completely accurate! This is the prescription to cure Halfday Cough. As long as it’s stuck on the patient, it’ll treat the illness promptly.”
Han Yunxi was thrilled. “Then hurry up and hand over the medicine!”
The old man stroked his beard in hesitation. He finally understood why Pill King was so insistent on keeping Han Yunxi as a disciple here. She had a startling ability to identify medicine, while Gu Beiyue’s medical skills were extraordinary. If both of them could stay, then nobody would need to worry about the future of their cottage. He was reluctant to part with them and still didn’t release the medicine.
“Where’s the medicine?” Long Feiye demanded coldly.
While the man was still hesitating, Pill King spoke up. “You have to find the medicine yourselves. The Medicine Requesting Cave never stores common medicinal ingredients!”
“What do you mean by that?” Even the even-tempered Gu Beiyue had lost his cool.
But their old examiner actually teamed up with Pill King to open up the stone door behind them. “Once you step out of the Medicine Requesting Cave, you’ll see 100 mu of medicinal plants. Hehe, a few youths like you should have the skills to find the ingredients in no time. This old man will wait until you’ve returned to bring you to the third trial. Remember, you only have two hours total for all three trials. Better hurry back fast.”
He was even more vile than Pill King. No matter how nicely he spoke, he was nothing but a sham!
“Despicable!” Gu Beiyue cursed. They only had one hour total left for the third trial. How were they supposed to find ingredients before then? Moreover, the Halfday Cough would react very soon. Once it did, it’d attack the vital organs. Which one of them would have the strength to search for ingredients then? Both Pill King and the examiner were seizing on this loophole to make things difficult. How could they have any face to say those words?
Gu Beiyue glared at them, making the two squirm from their guilty conscience. Neither of them dared to retort and only pretended they hadn’t heard anything at all. If this was anyone else, they’d definitely treat them fairly, but miracle workers like Han Yunxi and Gu Beiyue weren’t talents they wanted to lose!
Trying to ask others for favors on their turf was just asking to be under their control. Gu Beiyue looked towards Long Feiye next, who returned the look with his own. Aside from fighting it out, neither men could think of another solution. But Han Yunxi only asked coldly, “Once we find the ingredients, do we still have to boil them?”
There was a mocking tone to her words. Pill King and the examiner exchanged glances. The former ended up having the thicker skin, and answered back, “That’s your business. Rules of the second trial state that you have to cure yourselves to pass!”
Han Yunxi only gave a derisive snort. Fine then! She already had the ingredients on hand! She had two dimensional storage spaces on hand, so where would she be if she couldn’t get ingredients like those instantly? The detox system’s greatest strength was creating antidotes by itself. As long as she had the necessary items, she could make whatever she needed. And she hadn’t forgotten to replenish her stores every time she went to Medicine City, too.
“Doctor Gu, can you repeat those 17 ingredients again?” Han Yunxi asked.
Gu Beiyue was at a loss. “This…”
“If she tells you to repeat them, then just do it!” Long Feiye muttered. He had no idea what Han Yunxi was planning, but he had enough experience to know better. In other words: listen to her!
Gu Beiyue had no choice but to obey. But as soon as he said Springsee, Han Yunxi took a pack of medicinal powder from her bag and declard, “Here’s Springsee!”
Everyone was stunned. What kind of tempo…is she going on now?
“You…how much medicine did you bring?” Pill King asked uncertainly.
Han Yunxi looked over with a threatening flare. “All of them. Hmph, it’d scare you to death if you knew!” Then she coughed a few times and urged Gu Beiyue, “Hurry, time’s running out!”
Both Gu Beiyue and Long Feiye were equally frightened by her actions. But the former didn’t think twice before repeating the rest of the list. “Summerhalf, Autumnstone, Wintergrass…”
Each time he called out a name, Han Yunxi immediately took an ingredient from her pouch. In the end, all 17 items were placed before the spectators.
This…
Both Pill King and the examiner were staring with wide eyes, thoroughly terrified out of their wits. Their jaws were hanging from their faces! Both of them came to examine the items, but Han Yunxi avoided them.
“Long Feiye, cough, cough….boil the water!” The frequency of their coughs was increasing. They had to take the medicine now!
Despite his shock, Long Feiye quickly grabbed a kettle. Han Yunxi filled it with water and dumped all of the ingredients inside, then asked Gu Beiyue, “Doctor Gu, do you want to try a taste?”
Gu Beiyue drank and sip and was stunned. Not only were all 17 ingredients correct, their quantities were completely identical even after being dissolved into the water!
“This is it!” Gu Beiyue said after two more sips, before handing the drink to Han Yunxi. “Three sips should do it!”
Han Yunxi and Long Feiye both drank their filled. As the examiner said, the medicine would do in a pinch to cure the illness! The pain in their throats immediately vanished, and a few light coughs had them feeling better than before.
This…this was truly defying the Heavens! Even the miracles before this couldn’t compare. Both Pill King and the examiner were flabbergasted. They would rather believe they were dreaming than face the reality before them.
“Old thing! Keep to your word and immediately take us to the third trial!” Han Yunxi demanded loudly.
The old examiner finally recovered his senses. Judging from their complexions, Han Yunxi’s group had truly recovered from the illness, but he was still harboring suspicions in his heart. Or rather, he was still holding on to the belief that they’d gotten by with a lucky fluke.
“This old man…this old man has to verify by taking your pulse first,” he said listlessly.
Han Yunxi was about to extend her wrist when Long Feiye pulled her behind him. He was over a head taller than the examiner as he glared and stuck out his arm. “Hurry up!”
The old man shivered involuntarily before backing away. “No…no need, time’s about up… You guys….you guys should have all recovered. Otherwise, the disease should have flared up long by now, right?” He smiled as he spoke, but his expression looked absolutely ghastly! He didn’t even want to look at Long Feiye’s face and those emotionless, icy eyes, much less touch that hand.
“Then why aren’t you leading the way yet?” Long Feiye retorted coldly.
Spooked again, the old examiner quickly started walking. “Please follow this old man this way…”
It wasn’t until they were far off that Pill King recovered his wits to chase after the quartet. His eyes were fixated on Han Yunxi’s medical pouch as if it held all the mysteries in the universe. This is too much of a coincidence. How can that tiny pouch fit so many things? And not only that, it was powders precisely prepared for the decoction. There has to be a secret with that pouch. Maybe it’s even a rare medical treasure!
When Han Yunxi glanced back, Pill King immediately averted his gaze. Still, she had long figured out what he was after. This wasn’t the first time someone had coveted her pouch, so she remained calm. In fact, she even gave a disdainful snort and looked down on Pill King before resuming her walk.
Her medical pouch was no different from those of many female medical practitioners across Cloud Realm Continent. There wasn’t even anything particularly eye-catching about it. This one had been hand-stitched and left to her daughter by Lady Tianxin and was part of Han Yunxi’s dowry. She’d picked it up on a whim because she just happened to spot it. The inside contained nothing but ordinary medical supplies and acupuncture needles. It was more useful as a cover while she took things out of the detox system or poison storage space. The one precious thing about it was the hand-sewn Xin (心) character on the outside. But in anyone else’s hands, this pouch would be nothing but trash.
The old examiner led the way forward while Pill King brought up the rear. Whatever made up the third trial was still a mystery because they’d already passed two checkpoints without any ill effects.
“Doctor Gu, how’s your body doing?” Han Yunxi asked softly.
“Many thanks to His Highness Duke of Qin for saving this one’s life with true qi,” Gu Beiyue said sincerely.
Long Feiye was still curious as to how Gu Beiyue had expelled the true qi in the end. But he wouldn’t discuss too many martial arts matters with Han Yunxi present. Since it was a difficult topic for Gu Beiyue to continue, he simply led them on a tangent. “Esteemed wangfei, how did your medical pouch just happen to have those ingredients? And even ground up and ready to brew?”
Gu Beiyue had long harbored curiosity about her pouch. He had also secretly peeked at her when she materialized a bottle of medicine out of mid-air. Long Feiye too, had once spotted Han Yunxi’s similar skies while hiding in the ceiling. He even searched her pouch personally and found nothing of note. Though he didn’t ask the question, he was waiting for the answer, too. Han Yunxi had been forced to dig out the 17 ingredients by circumstances at hand. She knew that Gu Beiyue and Long Feiye would get suspicious, but she hadn’t thought up an answer yet.
This is going to be complicated!
Han Yunxi thought over the question for a long time. Gu Beiyue was usually a tactful man, but the recent events had been too shocking for him to consider her feelings. Seeing her silence, he teased, “Esteemed wangfei, your medical pouch does seem like a Hundred Medicines Bag.”
Han Yunxi really wanted to say that everything was a coincidence, but even she felt that was a lame excuse. She was stuck!
Right at that moment, the old examiner freed her from her problem. “Everyone, we’ve arrived at the last trial of the Medicine Requesting Cave.”
What would the last trial be?
Behind them, Pill King narrowed his eyes dangerously!