Chapter 52: Healing the Sick is Like Eradicating Bandits

Pan Jun sat in front of the mountain gate and sighed. A black cat squatted beside her, sighing as well.

There were simply too many people on the mountain and nowhere to earn any merit.

Pan Jun was a pragmatic person: since there was no merit to be earned, she would make money instead!

The very next day, she strapped a small back-basket on her back and followed right behind Wang Feiyin, along with Miaozhen and Miaohe, to dig up medicinal herbs.

"Eldest Senior Brother, which herbs in the mountain are the most expensive?"

"Purple Ganoderma," Wang Feiyin replied. "Valuable things are never easily obtained. They mostly grow on the roots or dead trunks of oak trees. Both the cap and the stem are made of hard, black wood, while the flesh inside is brown."

Just as the group reached the edge of a cliff, about ten zhang away stood an outward-slanting precipice of rocky mountain. Wang Feiyin pointed at it and said, "Look over there, there is one right on that slanted peak."

Pan Jun eagerly stepped forward a couple of steps. "Where? Where is it?"

"Right there!"

Guided by Wang Feiyin, Pan Jun finally spotted a dark brown Ganoderma mushroom seemingly embedded in the mountain face. She blinked. "Why does it look just like a rock?"

"That is why it is also called stone Ganoderma."

Wang Feiyin waved his hand and walked away. "Let's go. There is no use looking at it; you can't harvest it anyway."

Unconvinced, Pan Jun withdrew her gaze and was about to speak when she caught sight of the bottomless abyss right beside her feet. Startled, she shrank back, her legs momentarily turning to jelly due to a purely physiological fear of heights.

Miaohe said, "Junior Uncle, you are afraid of heights."

"Not at all," Pan Jun retorted. "I've been thousands of meters up in the air and even flown through the void. How could I possibly be afraid of heights?"

Miaohe looked entirely unconvinced, while Miaozhen asked bluntly, "Was that in a dream?"

Pan Jun did not answer and ran off to catch up with Wang Feiyin. "Senior Brother, since we juniors cannot reach it, why don't you harvest it?"

The rock wall looked as if it had been cleanly sliced away by a blade, leaving it exceedingly smooth with nowhere to climb. Yet she figured that with Wang Feiyin's level of cultivation, even if he couldn't practice levitation and flight, leaping up by borrowing momentum shouldn't be too difficult.

Wang Feiyin replied, "I am not short of money. Why should I bother taking such a risk and exerting so much effort?"

Pan Jun's voice cracked in disbelief. "You're not short of money?"

Wang Feiyin affirmed, "I am indeed not short of money."

Pan Jun scoffed inwardly. This was just as unbelievable as her claim that she wasn't afraid of heights.

Gathering herbs was not solely for making money; at Sanqing Temple, collecting medicinal herbs from the mountains was also a mandatory course. Wang Feiyin skillfully led them to a slightly sloping hillside, pointed at the surrounding trees, and said, "These are all medicinal herbs. Peel them."

Miaohe and Miaozhen skillfully took off their back-baskets, pulled out their knives, and cut a complete circle around a tree trunk. About forty to fifty centimeters above that, they cut another circle, connected them with a vertical slash, and then carefully pried open the bark along the vertical cut with small blades. With a firm pull of their hands, a forty-to-fifty-centimeter strip of bark was cleanly stripped off in one piece.

Having watched it once, Pan Jun quickly grasped the method. She took out the two knives from her own back-basket and, while imitating the other two in cutting and peeling the bark, asked, "Is this Houpu?"

"Correct. Junior Sister is truly clever, recognizing it before even being taught. Now, tell me, what are its medicinal uses?"

Pan Jun shook her head. She recognized the Houpu tree, but she had no idea it was used as medicine.

Wang Feiyin did not remain idle either; he peeled bark right beside them and called out, "Miaohe, tell your Junior Uncle."

Miaohe recited, "It has the functions of warming the middle energizer and directing qi downward, resolving dampness and relieving stagnation. It enters the spleen, stomach, lung, and large intestine meridians, and can treat chest and abdominal distension and pain, indigestion, intestinal obstruction, dysentery, and wheezing and fullness due to phlegm and fluid retention."

Looking very satisfied, Wang Feiyin nodded and said, "Not bad. You see, its flowers have already bloomed, but you can still catch their fragrance now. The flowers can also be used as medicine, and when it bears fruit in autumn, the fruit can be used medicinally as well."

Thus, amidst Wang Feiyin's constant chatter, they spent the entire morning stripping tree bark. They stripped every single Houpu tree within sight, filling all four back-baskets to the brim, and Wang Feiyin even pulled out two hemp sacks to pack the rest.

While peeling bark and reciting herbal formulas, Pan Jun's mind was now completely filled with the "Houpu, Greater Rhubarb, and Immature Bitter Orange" from the *Essentials of the Golden Cabinet*, "Houpu, Perilla Fruit, Tangerine Peel, and Pinellia" from the *Formulary of the Pharmacy Bureau*, and "Houpu, Greater Rhubarb, Mirabilite, and Immature Bitter Orange" from the *Treatise on Cold Damage*.

On their return trip, they took a different path and stopped along the way to gather the Immature Bitter Oranges mentioned in the formulas.

Wang Feiyin was not only carrying a large back-basket on his back, but he was also holding two hemp sacks in his hands. He looked unencumbered except for the clothes on his body, but then he felt around his lower back and pulled out a tightly folded, extremely small hemp sack.

When unfolded, the hemp sack turned out to be quite large—large enough to fit two Pan Juns inside.

He handed the sack to them. "Gather everything in sight."

Pan Jun took the sack and, crouching on the ground alongside Miaozhen and Miaohe, tossed all the fallen Immature Bitter Oranges into it. As she tossed them in, she asked, "Senior Brother, how much do these Immature Bitter Oranges sell for per pound?"

Wang Feiyin glanced at her and replied, "Different processing methods yield different medicinal effects, and naturally, the prices vary accordingly.

As for medicinal herbs, their prices fluctuate with the market. The last time I went down the mountain to sell Immature Bitter Oranges was... well, the last time, so I have no idea what the current price is."

Pan Jun: ......

Wang Feiyin pulled out water and dry rations, glanced at the three children, and beckoned with a smile. "Stop for a moment and come over to have lunch. I see quite a lot of Immature Bitter Oranges in this area, so we will likely be gathering them until the afternoon."

Indeed, the three of them were both thirsty and hungry. Dropping their sacks, they scampered over and sat down.

Pan Jun was extremely persistent and earnest when it came to making money. She took the initiative to ask, "Eldest Senior Brother, how should the medicinal formula for these Immature Bitter Oranges be compounded?"

Wang Feiyin was very pleased with her studious attitude. As he handed them water, he said, "That brings us to the *Prescriptions for Emergencies Worth a Thousand Gold* by your Patriarch, the Immortal Ge. Aside from the others, once we return, you must memorize the entire *Prescriptions for Emergencies Worth a Thousand Gold*."

Miaohe immediately raised her hand. "Eldest Senior Brother, I have already memorized up to the third volume."

"Good, good, good," Wang Feiyin praised approvingly. "Pan Jun, Miaozhen, although you do not specialize in alchemy, you must still learn what is required. Later on, when I teach Miaohe acupuncture and pharmacy, the two of you must also sit in and practice your hand."

Pan Jun declared that she could specialize in this field as well. "I am very bright. Although my studies in talismans and arrays differ somewhat from the sect's traditions, I believe I can quickly master them. I have plenty of time and can study alchemy and medicine just as thoroughly as Miaohe."

Turning first to Miaozhen, Wang Feiyin cautioned, "Do not follow her example. First, her talent is truly extraordinary; second, she is arrogant. Since you have decided to specialize in astronomy and shamanistic arts, focus solely on that path and do not let your attention be divided."

Miaozhen, whose resolve had been somewhat wavering, instantly firmed up her mind and nodded in agreement.

Only then did Wang Feiyin say to Pan Jun, "Very well, I will teach you diligently."

He could not sense any genuine fondness for alchemy and medicine in Pan Jun; she was likely still doing it for the sake of money.

Nevertheless, he would not stop her. If a child was eager to learn and had the capability to do so, it should be encouraged.

"Immortal Ge's *Prescriptions for Emergencies Worth a Thousand Gold*, as the name implies, consists of formulas and methods for treating acute illnesses, and the case studies are all examples of sudden death. The formulas utilized encompass medicinal decoctions, acupuncture, and various external treatments."

Seeing that the three of them were growing a bit drowsy, Wang Feiyin decided to pick out some interesting cases to tell them. For instance, he asked, "Do you know how to treat being bitten by a dog?"

Pan Jun had eaten some dry rations and water, and now, mottled by the sunlight filtering through the leaves, she was feeling a bit doopy. She answered, "Get a rabies vaccine."

Ignoring her, Wang Feiyin turned to Miaohe and Miaozhen, whose eyes had widened in curiosity, and said, "Beat the rabid dog that bit the person to death, and smear its brain onto the wound to effect a cure."

Pan Jun's eyes widened as well, and she sat up straight. "That is actually quite a clever method; it shares the same underlying principle as a vaccine."

Wang Feiyin turned the question back on her. "What is a vaccine?"

After pondering for a moment, Pan Jun explained, "A vaccine is a virus without toxicity—equivalent to a bandit or robber without any intent to kill. When it enters my house, my guards see it, realize it's a bandit, and kill it.

Later on, if a toxic virus enters the human body again, it's like a murderous bandit trying to break into my house. Because they look the same, my guards recognize them as bandits the moment they see them, and without waiting for them to act, they rush forward and slaughter them indiscriminately, blocking them outside the gates—meaning outside the most vital internal organs. That is what a vaccine is."

Miaozhen and Miaohe listened with utter bewilderment in their eyes, but Wang Feiyin, being a veteran physician, understood immediately. He slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Precisely! Some people bitten by a mad dog do not fall ill for a day or two, others for three or four years, and some remain healthy and sane for over a decade before suddenly going mad—all because that bandit hid in their home and didn't act up right away.

They simply wait until the guards in their household let down their guard, then leap out from their hiding place and strike a fatal blow."

Delighted, Wang Feiyin paced around in circles and let out a hearty laugh. "Yes, exactly! In such a case, smearing the brain of the mad dog onto the wound beforehand forces a bandit to openly walk through the door so the guards can spot it and kill it.

Since a bandit has appeared in the household, the guards will naturally conduct a thorough search, starting to hunt everywhere. Eventually, they will find any other hidden bandits. Hahaha..."

Miaohe listened in stunned amazement and asked blankly, "Is this curing an illness, or fighting bandits?"

Smiling, Wang Feiyin patted her head and said, "Treating an illness is just like fighting bandits. It is the exact same principle, the exact same principle indeed."

He cast an approving look at Pan Jun. "What you said is correct. You truly possess extraordinary talent. Hahaha..."

The sound of Wang Feiyin's laughter echoed throughout the entire mountain valley.

Pan Jun proudly lifted her chin.