Chapter 24: The Mountain Path Is Rugged. It Is Hard to Beg for Medicine
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
At this moment, w.a.n.g Yao was busy in the herbal field watering the herbs. With the help of the ancient spring water, the herbs grew up rapidly. Especially those common herbs such as radix gentianae, adenophora stricta, radix sileris and matrimony vine. It was just one month, but their growth could be compared with the growth of one year in other places.
Woof, woof, woof! San Xian barked suddenly.
“Yes, there is someone.” w.a.n.g Yao raised his head and looked. He found that there were two people on their way to his house. There was one woman and one man.
He did not care, but he came to realize that they came for him when they got closer. He could see the appearances of them when they were close. The young woman was less than 23 or 24 years old. She had delicate facial features and pale skin. She also had a nice figure. The man after her was in his 40’s but he had nothing special about him except that his eyes shone brightly.
The middle-aged man, whose name was He Qisheng sighed slightly when they went to the edge of the herbal field.
“What’s wrong, Uncle He?” the woman asked.
“The herbs grow up well.” He pointed at the herbs growing in the field.
“They are medicinal herbs?”
“Yes. There are radix gentianaes, adenophora strictas, radix sileris and matrimony vines. Hey, what is that?” The man looked at several strains of moonlight herbs with new leaves and found that he had never seen that herb before. He decided to go closer to have a look, but he was blocked by a young man.
“h.e.l.lo, what’s the matter with you?” w.a.n.g Yao asked.
“You are w.a.n.g Yao?” The woman looked at the young man carefully. He was dressed commonly but there was a unique air around his body. He seemed like the hermit hidden in the remote mountains in an old legend.
“Yes, I am,” w.a.n.g Yao replied.
“h.e.l.lo, I am Guo Sirou.”
“h.e.l.lo.” w.a.n.g Yao did not know why this beautiful stranger came to see him.
“I just came to ask you for a favor.”
“Favor? What favor?” He had never met this girl before but yet, she came to ask him for a favor.
“My brother is in the hospital since he suffers from an unknown poison. Several days before, there was a patient that had a similar illness and I heard that he recovered after eating the herbal medicine made by you. So, can you give me that prescription, please?”
“Poison? Prescription?” w.a.n.g Yao understood what she wanted before she even finished her sentence.
It was so simple to detoxify. All it required was one leaf of the antidote herb and a bowl of ancient spring water. But he also had to think about the trouble that would be caused by it since the herb was magical, it did not exist anywhere in the world. It was not in the known system of Chinese medicinal herbs.
In the hospital, there would definitely be someone who knew about herbs. How would he explain it to them if they found out about the antidote herb? A nonexistent old Chinese medicine doctor could cheat the common people, but it would be found that it was just a lie by those smart doctors.
In the eyes of w.a.n.g Yao, this beautiful girl also seemed to be smart.
“Sorry.” w.a.n.g Yao shook his head after he had been silent for a while.
“What?” Guo Sirou frowned slightly after that. “The price of the prescription is up to you.”
“Not for the matter of price.”
“Then what is it?”
“My master is afraid of being bothered.” He had used this excuse before, so he decided to just use it again.
“Being bothered?”
“Yes. The diseases that doctors in the hospital could not fix but an herbal medicine could fix it. What would you do if you were a doctor? Wouldn’t you try hard to get the formula yourself?” w.a.n.g Yao said directly.
Guo Sirou was silent after that. She did not think about that since she would not have any evil intentions. However, it was hard to say whether the others were as kind-hearted as she was. Money and wealth could convince people to do bad things.
“My master is old and he does not want to be bothered, and I just want to plant the herbs quietly.”
“I can promise that you and your master will not be bothered by it,” Guo Sirou said after some consideration.
“What do you have to promise with?” w.a.n.g Yao was not a naive guy and he wouldn’t just believe the words of others.
Guo Sirou forced a smile. She was not expecting to meet such a stubborn guy. No one would argue with her if it were someone else. She just had to give them a look and they all just hurried to finish all the tasks given to them.
“How should I show my promise is genuine?”
“I don’t know.” w.a.n.g Yao grinned to show two rows of white teeth. “How about writing a guarantee?”
Guo Sirou then wrote a strange guarantee, something that she had never written before in her life and gave it to w.a.n.g Yao. w.a.n.g Yao took it and read it before nodding and putting it away.
“Before this evening, I will send the medicine to you.”
“This evening? Can’t it be sooner?” Guo Sirou asked.
“No. I need time to make it.”
“Okay. Where should I pick you up?”
“No. I know how to go to the hospital in town.”
“Okay. I hope you’ll keep your promise!” Guo Sirou said.
“I will.”
“Okay, I won’t bother you anymore.” Leaving the contact, Guo Sirou left.
“The mountain path is rugged, so please keep your eyes on it!” w.a.n.g Yao called after her.
“Hold on, buddy. I have a question for you.” The man who had been silent suddenly spoke.
“What is it?”
“What is that herb?” He pointed at the several strains of moonlight herb close to them.
“Sorry. Master is not allowed to say,” w.a.n.g Yao said after some hesitation.
“That’s okay, thank you.” He Qisheng did not ask any further questions. He and Guo Sirou turned around and walked down the hill.
“There must be something behind the words of that young man,” He Qisheng said on the way down the hill.
“Yes, he is so careful,” Guo Sirou said.
“There are two herbs in the herbal field that I have never seen before.”
“What? Uncle He, you have never seen it?” Guo Sirou said surprisingly.
“Yes. There are thousands and hundreds of herbs in the world, so it is common that I have never seen it. However, the growth of the herbs in the herbal field does surprise me. It is late fall, but the herbs are still green with the sense of summer. It’s strange that there would be a powerful master that could have such an excellent apprentice. He seems to be much more powerful than other medicinal herb growers.”