Elixir Supplier

“It’s nothing. Just good old exhaustion.” He was truly tired, mentally and physically.

He returned to his temporary residence and slumped onto his bed, staring at the ceiling.

He recalled what he had been through lately. The cases he was in charge of were different from those he had dealt with in the past. None of these cases were independent. Instead, they were all interconnected. Worse yet, they seemed to be the kind of cases that created more questions than answered them as one delved deeper. He felt as if he was venturing into some frightening woods that would swallow him whole if he were to let his guard down while investigating its mysteries.

Bang, bang, bang. Knocks were heard on the door.

“Come in.”

Lu Xiufeng pushed the door open and came inside.

“Are you still thinking about the cases?”

“Yeah, I am,” Yang Guanfeng said. “The more I think about them, the worse my headache becomes.”

“Stop thinking and get some sleep.”

“Heh, easy for you to say. All those higher-ups up are keeping a close eye on what we’re doing. How long have we been here?”

“Well, there’s progress. We did get ourselves a suspect at least, right?” Lu Xiufeng smiled as he lit up a cigarette.

“Is it like how I narrowed down on Miao Qingshan back in the valley, but he escaped and is still on the loose now?”

“Well, if you want to see it that way, that’s how it is,” Lu Xiufeng said.

“Work is part of life and a way to sustain one’s life,” he said with a smile. “You can’t let work take over your entire life. Being happy is important.”

“You really are taking it easy, eh.”

“What good would it do if I wasn’t taking it easy? We still wouldn’t get the problems solved.”

“Alright, I’m dead tired now. I need to get some sleep.”

“Alright, I’ll leave you be. Sleep tight.” Liu Xiufeng patted Yang Guanfeng’s shoulder and headed out, shutting the door gently behind him.

“Get some sleep.”

Liu Xiufeng lit another cigarette after exiting the room.

“Just what the hell is this case?”

He was also feeling irked and frustrated inside. He had a good attitude and was the kind who considered his work fun. He had an affinity for challenging cases that proved more difficult, but the current case was simply too difficult. The difficulty had gone from being a challenge to downright torture. He had been working there for more than a dozen years. He had looked into more than a hundred cases, with some being very difficult to tackle. Those cases proved challenging, but he had fun taking them on. However, those that he took after arriving there were nothing of that sort.

It felt like mysteries were everywhere, but one trap was followed by another. The largest of which was the Valley of Thousands of Medicine.

Pfft!

“Captain Lu.”

“Oh, Secretary Guo, you are here too.” Lu Xiufeng was rather startled when he saw who had come in. He figured the young secretary of the county was rather frustrated as well.

“I was just stopping by for a little bit to ask about the progress of the cases.” Guo Zhenghe handed a cigarette to Lu Xiufeng.

“Thanks.”

“Yeah, the cases are still being dealt with,” Lu Xiufeng said. “We still haven’t been able to make any breakthroughs. By the way, there’s no need to get so hung up on it, Secretary. We know how severe the cases are, and we’re looking into them with all we’ve got.”

“Right, thanks for all the hard work,” Guo Zhenghe said with a smile.

“We are just doing our jobs,” Lu Xiufeng replied.

“How is Captain Yang doing?”

“Oh, he said that he was feeling under the weather and is resting inside.”

“One’s body is what decides if the battle can be won,” Guo Zhenghe said. “We all have to take care of our bodies whatever it is that we do.”

“You’re correct, Secretary.”

“Are you guys available tonight? I’m thinking of buying you both dinner.”

“Tonight would work,” Lu Xiufeng said.

“Sure thing. Inform Captain Yang for me. It’s my treat tonight.”

“Sure. I’ll tell him once he gets up,” Lu Xiufeng said.

They chatted for a bit before Guo Zhenghe took his leave.

“There really is more to the young secretary than meets the eye.” Lu Xiufeng let the cigarette hang on his mouth before leaving in a wobbly manner.

In a mountain village several thousand miles away...

“Master.”

“Are you not on duty?”

“Nope, I’m off duty. Are there many people around today?”

“How many would be willing to come outside in such freezing weather?” Wang Yao asked with a smile.

“Heh, it is cold today. While I was driving, it was below freezing, and it’s still daytime!”

“If you don’t want to come out on such cold days, you don’t have to,” Wang Yao said. “I don’t think there will be many patients around.”

“It’s not like I’ve got much to do at home anyway,” Pan Jun said. “Oh right, that Primordial Spirit Soup is selling like hotcakes at the clinic. Many people are looking for it there.”

“It is good medicine,” Wang Yao said with a smile.

It was his formula, and all the ingredients for making the medicine were the best wild herbs available. Something that was made using so much good stuff could only be “good” medicine.

“Are there other retail outlets in town?”

“Not for the time being. Your clinic is the only one.”

“Good. That means we have a monopoly over it,” Pan Jun said with a grin.

“There is one thing. It’s not meant to be expensive.”

“Rest assured about that part, Master,” Pan Jun said. “Me and Sis will definitely see to that part well.”

Pan Jun arrived after lunchtime. There was only one patient that came throughout the entire afternoon. The patient was an old man who lived just outside the village. The weather was getting cold, so the elderly man’s leg was aching. It was more than he could handle, so he came to see Wang Yao.

The old man grumbled as soon as he sat down. “When it gets cold out there, this leg hurts like hell! It was more than I could take! I wouldn’t have come in such cold weather otherwise!”

“How long has it been like this?”

“I started feeling my leg hurt when it started to get cold two days ago,” the old man said. “The pain has gotten worse over the last two days. I come to you now because I just can’t take it anymore.”

“I tried doing a hot compress back home, but it was of no use.”

“Let me have a look,” Wang Yao said.

He checked the old man’s knee and found it to be cold. It was a typical case of bad blood flow.

“Sit still. I’ll give you a massage.”

Once the old man was still, Wang Yao began massaging his leg. Next, he gave him an acupuncture treatment. It took only about 10 minutes before the elder felt the pain leave altogether.

“Hey, it doesn’t hurt anymore!”

“It’s too cold out there. Has this leg of yours been injured before?”

“Well, it sure was.”

“The last time it was injured was during winter, and it didn’t heal well back then,” Wang Yao said. “It left a complication that causes it to hurt whenever it gets cold.”

“That’s indeed the case,” the old man said. “I’ve been afraid of cold weather ever since. The leg will feel like it’s freezing, and the pain just won’t go away. I don’t dare walk much, and I can’t sleep well. I can heat the hearth to burning hot, and it still doesn’t do anything.”

“I’ll get you some medicine,” Wang Yao said. “You will be all better after you take it.”

“That’s great, thanks,” the old man said.

He had heard villagers talking about Wang Yao. However, given his age and the fact that he lived just outside the village, the hassle of getting to the clinic was too much for him. He finally came looking for Wang Yao when the pain became too much.

“Just hold on for a second.”

Wang Yao gave the old man the medicine and told him how to prepare it. The old man paid and left with his medicine.

The old man was limping when he arrived. When he left, it looked as if nothing was wrong. It mostly had to do with his leg no longer hurting.

“That’s one sprightly old man,” Pan Jun said.

“Well, he’s OK, but he’s actually sick all over,” Wang Yao said.

“Huh, is it not just the leg?”

“It’s not,” Wang Yao said. “He had old injuries in one arm, and his heart was in a bad shape. If you were to just listen to his heartbeat carefully when he came in, you’d know that the rhythm was bad. His lungs were also damaged from too much smoking for a long period of time.”

“Did you see all of that by just looking at him?”

“Looking, listening, questioning, and feeling the pulse are the four methods of diagnosis,” Wang Yao replied with a smile.