Chapter 129: The most difficult recipe to save people

Xinghuagou is not worthy of its name. In the cold winter, there are only bare branches and bleak adobe houses.

The village was small, and the arrival of the jeep caused quite a commotion. Several children, wearing bulky cotton trousers and jackets, with chapped cheeks, ran timidly behind the vehicle, shouting, "Car! The car is coming!"

Following the villagers' instructions, they stopped in front of an extremely inconspicuous courtyard.

The house, with its low earthen walls and old wooden doors, seemed even more dilapidated than the surrounding houses. Zhao Changhe was the first to get out of the car, took a deep breath, and walked forward to knock on the door.

After waiting for what seemed like a century, the wooden door creaked open a crack, and a skinny old man wearing an old navy blue cotton-padded jacket, with sparse gray hair and a thin body, stuck his head out, his eyes cloudy and wary.

Looking at the group of uninvited guests outside the door and the conspicuous jeep.

"Who are you looking for?"

"Excuse me, is this Mr. Chen?"

Zhao Changhe tried his best to sound respectful. "We are from the provincial capital. We would like to ask you to take a look at our child. He is very ill and has had a high fever for more than two months..."

The old man glanced at Zhao Changhe's military uniform and the jeep behind him, then looked at the tightly wrapped child in Shen Lingning's arms, his brows furrowed even tighter.

He just shook his head and waved his hands: "You've come to the wrong place! I'm just an old widower who looks after the woods. I can't treat illnesses! You should find someone else!" Then he was about to close the door.

Seeing that his only hope was about to be shattered, Shen Lingning's heart sank to the bottom in an instant.

Wang Xiulan was so anxious that she almost knelt down. "Old man, please be kind and save the child! He's only two years old! Xu Zhendong, Captain Xu, do you still remember him?!"

Hearing Xu Zhendong's name, the old man paused in his motions to close the door, but then said stiffly, "I don't know Captain Xu. You've got the wrong guy!"

At this moment, Shen Lingning suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse due to anxiety and lack of water, but unusually clear: “Old sir, the child is not suffering from an ordinary fever.

When she had a fever, her hands and feet would feel cold, she would occasionally talk nonsense, and her eyes would stare blankly. She tried all kinds of anti-inflammatory and fever-reducing medicines, but not only did they have no effect, but her spirits became worse and worse, as if... as if her soul had been sucked away.

She deliberately used some terms that might be easier for people in the countryside to understand. These were the abnormalities she summarized after carefully observing Fubao's condition. Even the doctors at the provincial hospital didn't pay much attention to these details.

The old man stopped at the crack of the door just as he was about to close it.

His cloudy eyes looked at Shen Lingning again, his gaze lingered for a moment on her anxious but intelligent and determined face, then swept over the silent child in her arms.

He was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly sighed and said in a deeper voice, "...Come in. Keep quiet."

Shen Lingning and the others who were traveling with him looked at each other, and they all understood the silent recognition in each other's eyes.

They understood the old man's concerns - the storm of the 1970s had not yet completely subsided, and the whole society was still in a delicate and tense atmosphere.

Those Chinese medicine practitioners who possess traditional Chinese medical skills and are rooted in the countryside, especially those traveling doctors often called "barefoot gentlemen", have long been accustomed to hiding their edge.

They may have acupuncture techniques that have been passed down for thousands of years, or have folk remedies that work quickly, but they no longer dare to save people easily.

The lessons learned from each movement are too profound. No one wants to get into trouble or even bring disaster because of a momentary kindness.

The gate finally opened.

The yard was quite clean, with firewood piled in the corner and some dried herbs hanging under the eaves, emitting a faint, peculiar herbal fragrance.

The main room was dimly lit and simply furnished, but surprisingly clean.

The old man - Mr. Chen asked Shen Lingning to put Fubao on the kang.

He washed his hands and walked over. He did not take Fubao's pulse immediately, but first looked carefully at Fubao's complexion, eyelids, and tongue coating, and then touched her forehead and the cold soles of her hands and feet. His fingers were as rough as old tree bark, but his movements were extremely gentle.

His brows knitted together into a knot, his expression growing increasingly serious. "This child... isn't suffering from a real fire, but rather a subtle evil that has infiltrated his body, draining his vital energy and shocking his mind. If it's two days later, even a Daluo Jinxian wouldn't be able to save him."

He raised his eyes to look at Shen Lingning, his eyes sharper: "Did you give her any extremely cold and strong medicine? Or...did she eat anything very tonic, but she was too weak to take it and ended up burning herself instead?"

Shen Lingning was shocked! Fubao had indeed been given a lot of strong antibiotics by the hospital while he was in a coma, and even earlier, in order to strengthen his body, she had secretly fed Fubao extremely diluted spiritual spring water!

Could it be... could it be that the spiritual spring water conflicts with modern medicine?

Or is it that being too nourishing can actually be toxic to young children?

She didn't dare to say it clearly, and could only say vaguely: "The hospital used a lot of medicine... before... I drank some water soaked in old ginseng roots..." She thought of an excuse quickly.

Mr. Chen snorted and didn't press the issue, seemingly having already made his decision. "Nonsense! The child is so young, his organs are so delicate, how could he possibly withstand such a brutal ordeal? Now the poison is inside him, his vital energy is about to be drained, it's very troublesome!"

"Old man, please save her! As long as there is a glimmer of hope, no matter how much it costs or what medicine it uses, we will find a way!"

Zhao Changhe hurriedly assured.

Mr. Chen pondered for a long time, then paced a few steps in the dim room with his hands behind his back. Finally, he seemed to have made up his mind: "Money is a small matter. In the child's condition, ordinary medicine is no longer effective.

When I was young, I found a rare 'Soul-Returning Grass' in the mountains. If I combine it with some rare wild herbs, I might be able to revive her and restore order. But..."

He changed the subject and glanced at everyone, "This medicine requires three things: First, three grams of wild ginseng roots that are over thirty years old, and of sufficient age; second, two ounces of honeycombs from 'Dripping Rock Bees' collected from the cliffs on the shady side of Mount Zhongnan, and they must be frozen in winter, so that the medicinal properties are sufficient;

The third one is… three coins of the brain of a small black-backed silverfish from the Black Dragon Pond in the back mountain. Those fish can only be seen occasionally, one or two, when the ice breaks in the coldest days of winter, and are extremely difficult to catch.

Every time he said something, everyone's heart sank a little.

Each of these three things is a rare treasure nowadays, and you may not be able to buy it immediately even if you have money, especially the last two, which almost require you to risk your life for the chance.

"Old man, this... we might be able to find a way to exchange the first two items, but this Black Dragon Pond ice fishing..."

Zhao Changhe looked troubled. He knew that the Black Dragon Pond was dangerous and fishing in the ice hole was a life-threatening task.

Mr. Chen sighed, "I know it's difficult. But this is the fastest and perhaps the only way to save this child."

I still have some old ginseng roots here that can be used as a first aid, but the other two ingredients will take at most three days. If I can’t find them within three days, my prescription will be useless.”

Everyone's eyes turned to Shen Lingning.