Бессмертие, Бессмертие - Глава 50
"Why are you staring at my boat? Trying to rob it?" a voice said with a smile in her ear.
The Miao girl was slightly taken aback. She seemed extremely calm, and although she was surprised, her expression did not change. "Is that your boat?"
Standing behind her was a young man dressed in Hanfu with a jade pendant at his waist. No wonder the boat was drifting on the river; its owner had already gone ashore. The young man had delicate features and bright, lively eyes, and his smiling face aroused curiosity. The Miao girl looked him up and down, "Your medicine is going to burn."
"I'm brewing medicine." The boy frowned. "It smells awful. If it's burnt, so be it. Forget it, this is too much trouble. I'm not eating it."
The Miao girl was slightly surprised. "Decoct medicine? That's not how you decoct medicine."
"I've only ever seen fried eggs, never decocted medicine." The boy frowned. "Whatever, it's probably similar."
The Miao girl looked incredulous. "You can mix decocting medicine and frying eggs together?" She sniffed. "Your medicine contains salvia miltiorrhiza, red peony root, chuanxiong rhizome, safflower, and sandalwood... You just boil it like this... It's mainly for treating irregular menstruation in women..." She probably found it very funny and pursed her lips to suppress her laughter, but her expression already betrayed her laughter. "Medicine cannot be boiled haphazardly."
The young man chuckled dryly, "I've never cooked before, how would I know I'd cook it wrong? Luckily, I've already decided not to eat it. Thank goodness, doing good deeds brings good fortune."
"Are you sick?" The girl in Miao attire was amused by him, and her expression was no longer as cold as before. "My medical skills are not bad. Do you want me to take your pulse?"
"Yes, yes, yes! I'm so weak, I'm really sick, I was almost dead!" The young man nodded frantically. "My head hurts, my stomach hurts, my hands hurt, my feet hurt, my whole body aches, oh dear, I'm exhausted." He said, sitting down casually on the ground by the river. "But the important thing isn't that I'm sick, it's that I found an old man in that village with the same ailment as me. I had a sudden burst of kindness and wanted to brew some medicine for him to see if I could save his life. Luckily, I decided in time not to eat anything I cooked myself, or he would have died."
The girl in Miao attire smiled faintly, "Then you are very kind."
"Of course, this young master is of course very kind." The young man chuckled and fanned himself with his sleeve. "Pretty young lady, may I have the honor of knowing your name?" As he spoke, he made a proper bow.
“My surname is Pan, and my name is Yu’er. I’m not a local Miao person,” the girl in Miao clothing said calmly. “I’m Han Chinese, just like you.”
"Ah, then I can call you Xiaoyu." The young man was overjoyed. "My name is Shengxiang. Xiaoyu, please help me cure my illness." After getting to know her, he immediately treated her as a friend, grabbing Pan Yu'er's hand. "Come, come, saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. It's a remarkable thing that saves a lot of building materials. Just by looking at your ability to smell medicine, I know you're amazing..."
Pan Yu'er had never seen anyone like this before. Caught off guard, she was dragged more than ten steps by him. "Let go!" She had come out to gather herbs, and the medicine furnace at home was still refining pills. How could she go with him to save someone? Besides, this person was completely unknown, and she had no idea who he was!
"Aren't you coming with me to rescue him?" Shengxiang turned around, her face already brimming with tears. "That old man has seven or eight children and grandchildren. If he dies, they'll be pitiful without anyone to take care of him. Can you bear it? Never mind, I know you can't bear it. But to avoid you regretting it tonight and not being able to sleep, you should come with me to rescue him." With that, he dragged Pan Yu'er away.
"How could this person be like this..." Pan Yu'er was both amused and exasperated. She was a renowned female doctor in the area, notoriously eccentric and difficult to persuade to come down the mountain. Everyone here revered her like a goddess, yet today she was being dragged to treat a young master who couldn't even distinguish between frying an egg and brewing medicine.
Before long, Shengxiang had led her to a village at the foot of Daming Mountain. The village was nestled against the mountain and bordered by the river, and the journey was difficult, so the population was small.
Shengxiang's return was met with cheers, and the village children all ran out to see him with beaming smiles. "Brother Shengxiang is back so soon?"
"Where is Grandpa Apkin?" Shengxiang asked with a smile.
"Rest in your room."
Shengxiang pulled Pan Yu'er through Apujin's gate, and a moment later Pan Yu'er resignedly began brewing medicine at Apujin's house. When Shengxiang wanted to entangle someone to death, her prey was often unable to escape.
"Salvia miltiorrhiza, Paeonia lactiflora, Ligusticum chuanxiong, Carthamus tinctorius, Dalbergia odorifera, Codonopsis pilosula, Polygonatum odoratum." She lit the medicine stove to decoct the medicine, and Shengxiang sniffed it. "My medicine also contains Platycladus orientalis seed, Polygonum multiflorum, Ziziphus jujuba seed, Schisandra chinensis, Acorus tatarinowii and Asarum heterotropoides."
“He just has a weak heart, not insomnia or heart palpitations,” Pan Yu’er explained. “Your nose is perfectly fine too.”
"Many people have always envied my nose." Shengxiang touched his nose. "Now that's great, old man Apkin owes me a favor. When I ask him something, he'll feel bad not answering me, hahaha." He chuckled smugly.
"What do you want to ask him?" Pan Yu'er asked in surprise.
“He said there are very, very fat gray rabbits around here,” Shengxiang emphasized. “I really want one, but the stingy old man won’t tell me where to find them.”
A very fat gray rabbit? Pan Yu'er closed her eyes, not wanting to get angry with this young master. "The medicine is ready, I'm going back now."
"Where are you going back to?" Shengxiang asked casually, "To the place with green bamboo and red walls?"
"Hmm—" Pan Yu'er suddenly took a step back, "You—"
Shengxiang rested his chin on his hand and looked at her with interest. "I guess all the powerful Han people in this place are probably Li Lingyan's neighbors. Don't be afraid, I'm not a god." He actually explained, "I was just guessing casually, and I just happened to guess right."
"What do you want with Young Master Li?" Pan Yu'er asked coldly.
"Hmm... You don't know my reputation, so you probably don't know Young Master Li's either." Shengxiang looked at her with a grin. "It's a good thing for me to visit him, chat, have a meal, and drink tea. Don't worry, I won't lie to you."
The green bamboo and red walls marked the Blood Sacrifice Society's stronghold on Mount Daming, and also Li Lingyan's hometown. This location was calculated by Rong Yin, Yu Xiu, and the old Taoist Qingjing; as for how they calculated it, Shengxiang was too lazy to know. Anyway, what Rongrong said was probably right, so he came. Pan Yu'er clearly knew nothing of the martial world; in her heart, Li Lingyan might not only not be a bad person, but also a lover. Thinking of this, Shengxiang bit her lip and chuckled; this was truly an interesting situation.
Pan Yu'er wasn't a particularly experienced woman, but she was clever—she knew that Sheng Xiang had deliberately startled her to lure her back to the mountain to warn Li Lingyan, so he could easily follow her and find the location of the green bamboo and red walls. So she didn't leave; instead, she pulled up a chair and sat down opposite Sheng Xiang.
“Young Master Li is not a bad person.” She was very clever, and when she discovered that Shengxiang was also clever, she chose to appeal to her emotions.
“I didn’t say he was a bad person,” Shengxiang said with a smile.
Pan Yu'er smiled faintly, "Perhaps, but I sense a certain... chivalrous spirit about you." She spoke sincerely, "Young Master Li is not a bad person."
“The chivalrous dao and I are friends, maybe they’ve caught some of their stench from me, you don’t have to take it seriously.” Shengxiang blinked and rested her chin on her hand. “Are you going to tell me the story of Li Lingyan? Go ahead, just don’t say ‘Young Master Li isn’t a bad person’ again. Don’t accuse me of being a villain.”
“Li Gongyu is a very gentle person,” Pan Yu’er said sincerely. “I am Li Gongyu’s doctor, and no one understands his suffering better than me. He has had a strange illness since he was ten years old, which prevents him from feeling pain. No matter if he is attacked by swords or knives, he will not feel any pain. Over the years, this has gradually turned into numbness in his hands and feet, causing him to lose all sense of touch. If this numbness spreads to his chest and abdomen, he will die from difficulty breathing… That would be extremely painful, and he would be more lucid than anything else when he dies. Therefore, he cherishes the present moment more than anyone else. If his family asks for anything, he will always help them. He never asks for anything for himself. Such a person… is definitely not the kind of bad person you imagine!”
Shengxiang blinked and stuck out her tongue. "Have you ever seen an ungentle Young Master Li?"
Pan Yu'er was taken aback. "What?"
"What I mean is, have you ever seen a young master Li who isn't at the bedside to show filial piety, or who isn't always there for his family?" Shengxiang asked with a smile.
"No... what do you mean by asking that?"
"I just wanted to say that people have many facets, and sometimes it's hard to tell whether someone is good or bad. I don't like to categorize people as good or bad." Shengxiang made a face. "Just like how even though I'm very kind, I'm not necessarily a good person."
“You… are not Young Master Li’s enemy?” Pan Yu’er frowned.
"No, I'm here to chat, eat, drink tea, and play chess with him," Shengxiang said seriously.
While Pan Yu'er and Sheng Xiang were chatting at Apkin's house, Li Lingyan quickly received news that Sheng Xiang had arrived at Daming Mountain. Liu Jiecui turned her head away and said, "I'm going to kill him."
"Wait." Li Lingyan didn't stop him, raising his left index finger. A man in white robes appeared like a ghost. "Duoyue, you and Jie Cui go together." Li Lingyan smiled. "He only came today, which is much more patient than I expected. It's just a pity that he didn't bring those heroes who want to kill Li Lingyan to make a name for themselves..." He sighed. "Jie Cui, you kill him and bring his heart back with you. Mother hasn't had a fresh human heart to eat for two or three days. I'm afraid she won't be able to stand it."
“I only care about killing people; you’re the one who’s responsible for cutting out hearts,” Liu Jiecui said coldly.