Elixir Supplier

“Excellent! I’ve improved the quality of the pills this time,” said Wang Yao with a smile as he was looking at the herbal pills inside the herb tray.

Wang Yao put all the herbal pills inside a porcelain bottle after he had made them.

Another day! Wang Yao stretched and yawned, then walked out of the cottage.

Water had entered the small pool Wang Yao dug just now, which looked very clear.

Good! The pool should be full of water in the next two to three days.

Wang Yao went to the top of the hill and started to practice Tai Chi next to a big rock. His body moved with his heart. His Qi flowed freely inside his body as if Wang Yao could control the wind and Qi in his palm.

Wang Yao didn’t stop practicing until it was dark. He went home for dinner.

“I heard hot spring water was found in the ditch inside Li Village at West,” said Zhang Xiuying while they were having dinner.

“Hot spring water?” asked Wang Yao.

“Yes, I also heard the area is going to be developed into a holiday resort,” said Zhang Xiuying.

“Holiday resort? They should fix the roads first,” said Wang Yao with a smile. The roads inside Li Village only had one lane. People couldn’t even take over a car in front—who was going to go there?

“You never know. Some people just like visiting rural places, and they don’t mind whether the roads are good,” said Zhang Xiuying.

“Hey, how can you guys start having dinner without me?” Wang Ru opened the door and came in while Wang Yao was having dinner with his parents.

“How come you are back today?” said Zhang Xiuying in surprise.

“It’s Friday today, and tomorrow will be weekend. I called you earlier,” said Wang Ru.

“Sorry, I was busy talking about the hot spring water and forgot about you. Have you had dinner?” asked Zhang Xiuying with a smile.

“Hahaha!” Wang Yao suddenly started to laugh. He looked really happy.

Wang Ru stood there and pretended she was angry.

“There is still some lamb soup left in the pot; I’ll heat it for you,” said Zhang Xiuying.

Feeling that she was not treated seriously, Wang Ru, a pretty and slim girl drank three bowls of soup in a row.

“Jesus, Sis, haven’t you had lunch?” said Wang Yao.

“Shut your mouth!” said Wang Ru.

The whole house became alive after Wang Ru had arrived.

Wang Yao and his family chatted and played poker games after dinner. It was nice and cozy.

“What’s your plan tomorrow, Yao?” asked Wang Ru.

“I need to run some errands tomorrow in town,” said Wang Yao. He actually needed to see Wei Hai the next day.

“Can I take a look at your herbal field tomorrow? Tell your dog, and your eagle don’t stop me,” said Wang Ru.

“Why do you want to see my herbal field?” asked Wang Yao reluctantly.

“I need to look for some herbs. Well, no, I need to study the herbs,” said Wang Ru.

“No way! Don’t even think of it,” Wang Yao declined his sister directly. “I’ll go with you after I come back if you really want some herbs.”

“Stingy!” said Wang Ru grumpily.

Wang Yao was worried that his naughty sister would do something she was not supposed to do on Nanshan hill. He never worried about his parents staying around on Nanshan hill; they never entered his herbal field. His parents knew it was not easy for him to plant all those herbs. However, his sister was too curious to stay away from the herbal field. Wang Yao wouldn’t risk her damaging his licorice roots.

“I’m going back to the hill,” said Wang Yao to his family before leaving.

…

It was very quiet on the hill at night. A person was walking extremely fast on the winding roads of the hill. Wang Yao walked in the same way uphill almost every evening. Tai Chi was not always slow. Sometimes Tai Chi could be as fast as thunder.

Wang Yao walked all the way up to where his cottage was without stopping. He did breathing exercise to settle his breath before entering the cottage. Then, he read scriptures for a short while and went to sleep.

The next day, he came to Wang Mingbao’s store as promised. Wei Hai had been waiting for him by the time he had arrived.

“Hello, Dr. Wang.” Wei Hai came to Wang Yao as soon as he saw him. The look on Wei Hai’s look was like meeting a family member who he hadn’t seen for years.

Tears were in Wei Hai’s eyes. He was so eager to see Wang Yao.

“Finally, you are here, Yao. He had arrived even before I opened the store,” said Wang Mingbao with a smile.

As soon as Wang Mingbao arrived at his store in the morning, he saw Wei Hai got out of his vehicle. Wei Hai had been waiting for Wang Yao in his store since early in the morning.

“Please sit down, let me take a look at you,” said Wang Yao.

Wei Hai was very compliant. He sat down and showed Wang Yao his arms immediately.

Wang Yao checked his pulse for a while and could sense the difference.

“How have you been feeling in the last few days?” asked Wang Yao.

“I feel much better,” said Wei Hai. “The herbs you gave me worked really well.”

Wang Yao knew the decoction he made for Wei Hai only made him feel better. The decoction had been repairing his body and consolidating his corporeity. It would not cure him—not even the symptoms.

Regather soup surely had its effect.

I should let him try the other decoction, thought Wang Yao.

“What’s wrong? Dr. Wang?” Wei Hai was a bit nervous, as Wang Yao hadn’t spoken for a while. He was very jittery and easily panicked.

“Your health has improved. I’ve got another decoction here, which could kill the insects in your body, but the nature of the decoction is very strong. You may not feel good while taking it,” said Wang Yao.

“Don’t worry, I can tolerate the discomfort,” said Wei Hai even before Wang Yao had finished talking.

“Okay, I’ll give the decoction to you to try.” Wang Yao took out the decoction which contained miasma grass.

“Just try a little bit to begin with,” said Wang Yao. Wang Mingbao took out a small glass while Wang Yao was talking.

The decoction was light green and had a mild aroma. It didn’t seem to be strong.

Wei Hai took the whole glass of decoction without hesitation. The decoction tasted special and was a bit spicy.

Wang Yao checked Wei Hai’s pulse again after ten minutes.

“Tell me if you feel uncomfortable,” said Wang Yao.

“Sure,” said Wei Hai.

After half an hour, Wei Hai’s face changed, and he started to sweat on his head.

“What’s going on? Do you feel pain in your belly?” asked Wang Yao immediately.

“Yes,” said Wei Hai.

“Where is the pain?” asked Wang Yao.

“Here,” said Wei Hai.

He pointed at the ribs on his right-hand side.

“Liver?” asked Wang Yao.

“I need to go to the toilet now!” Wei Hei rushed out of the room.

Blergh! Wei Hai started to vomit before reaching the toilet. He vomited blood, dark red blood, which was as thick as mud.

Ah!!

A woman passing Wei Hai screamed after she saw the blood.

“What’s going on?!” Wang Yao and Wang Mingbao ran out of the room after hearing the scream. They saw Wei Hai holding onto the wall with a puddle of dark red blood next to his feet.

Wang Yao felt a fishy smell before walking closer to Wei Hai.

“Oh my god! What’s happening?” Wei Hai was in shock.

Wang Yao bent down to check the blood on the ground. It seemed that there was something muddy in the blood. Wang Yao looked close and found that there were actually tiny insects smaller than a thread within the vomit. The insects were moving inside the blood—it looked disgusting.

“Oh!”

Wei Hai’s body suddenly started to shake. He then ran into the toilet and stayed there for a long time.

“What the hell is this?!” asked Wang Mingbao.

Wang Mingbao saw the blood on the ground, and he could see something moving inside the blood, which gave him a shiver. He felt his hair standing on end.

“We need to have the place cleaned and sterilized,” said Wang Yao to Wang Mingbao.

“Okay, I’ll deal with it now,” said Wang Mingbao.

Wang Mingbao immediately arranged people to clean the blood off the ground and wash the area a number of times using bleach. The corridor was full of the smell of cleaning supplies afterwards.

“Can you see him at a different place next time?” asked Wang Mingbao.

Businessmen were often superstitious. Blood was not a good sign; the blood was in Wang Mingbao’s store, and it looked a bit spooky.

After coming out of the toilet, Wei Hai acted like he had lost his soul. He couldn’t even walk properly.

“Dr. Wang, what happened to me? Why did I vomit blood and why does my stool have blood?!” Although Wei Hai was seriously ill, he had never vomited blood like this.

“It was due to the decoction you took just now. The decoction helped you to excrete the parasites,” said Wang Yao.

He thought for a short moment and agreed with Wang Yao. “Maybe I should drink a bit more?” said Wei Hai. He then wanted to take more of the decoction.

“Not now!” Wang Yao stopped him.

He didn’t expect the decoction to be so strong. Wei Hai was still quite weak, so he wouldn’t be able to tolerate more decoction in his body.

“Well, let me brew you another Regather soup to take with the decoction I gave you just now,” said Wang Yao after thinking for a moment.

“Okay, should I wait for you here?” asked Wei Hai.

“No, you can come back tomorrow,” said Wang Yao.

“Dr. Wang, I bought a commercial property in town, and it is not far from here. Shall I meet you there tomorrow?” asked Wei Hai.

“That’s fine,” said Wang Yao.

Wang Yao and Wang Mingbao went to have a look at Wei Hai’s property, which was about 50 meters from Wang Mingbao’s store. It was recently rented out. Surprisingly, the tenants didn’t run Wei Hai’s seafood business. It was a tea shop.

“How about meeting you here tomorrow?” asked Wei Hai.

“No problem,” said Wang Yao.

Wang Yao went home after seeing Wei Hai. Then, he returned to Nanshan hill to prepare some herbs used to brew Regather soup. He didn’t have many herbs left, so he asked Li Maoshuang to purchase some for him.

What a strong decoction! Wang Yao thoroughly documented Wei Hai’s response to miasma grass in his notebook.

One decoction directly targeted the disease, while the other treated the disease indirectly. They worked quite well. Wang Yao had more thoughts and a better understanding of how to use herbs. Accepting knowledge from the system and applying the knowledge in a flexible way, were two totally different things.

While Wang Yao was busy working on the hill, he received a call from his mother. She asked him to go home due to something urgent, so Wang Yao stopped working and went home.

“What is it, Mom?” asked Wang Yao.

“Your youngest uncle’s wife is pregnant,” said Zhang Xiuying.

“What!” Wang Yao felt speechless. “Why does it have anything to do with me?” It took Wang Yao a while to find words.

“I thought since you knew a lot about medicine, maybe you could tell if she is pregnant with a boy or a girl,” said Zhang Xiuying.

“So, this is why you asked me to come back; just for this?!” Wang Yao was even more speechless. What the hell is this? he thought.

“This is a big thing in the family. You know, your grandparents are so keen on having a grandson!” said Zhang Xiuying.