Wu Zhi pulled away the ink-stained paper, but Han Su held her hand.
Wu Zhi replaced the paper with another one and put the pen in his hand. "Continue copying."
Han Su stared at the recipe, thinking about its origin, and wrote down his thoughts in a heavy voice.
After copying one sheet, he asked again, "So how did you end up becoming a doctor?"
Wu Zhi said, "After I contracted the plague, the old monster tried many medicines on me, both mild and severe... Since the plague had killed so many people, it was obviously difficult to cure."
"What year?"
"The year of Guihai."
In the year of Guihai, a great epidemic broke out from Jiannan Road to eastern Zhejiang, and most of the people died.
Han Su gave us a glimpse of the severity of the epidemic from the few words in the "Record of Epidemics" written by the Medical Bureau.
Wu Zhi's current narration and the current scene in the capital seemed to bring Han Su back to that great epidemic, where he saw the bones and wasteland, and the widespread wailing.
"I was locked in the alchemy room, and my mother came to see me secretly. She became infected, and the plague spread throughout the witch village."
Wu Zhi thought of the crematorium, the look on her mother's face as she died with her eyes wide open, and the smell of the burning corpses. Her chest felt as if a stick had been stabbed into it, churning it constantly.
She slowed her breathing, calmed her nausea, and continued, "After the plague spread, the people of the witch village either died or fled. The escapees alerted the government, and they eventually sealed off the village. After the closure, food and medicine were cut off, and even more people died."
As she spoke, she let out a short, cold laugh. "The old monster got the prescription and wanted to present it to the government, but no one believed him. They thought he just wanted to take the opportunity to escape."
At that time, epidemics were everywhere. Once a village or a village was found to be infected with the disease, the government would basically seal it off and let it fend for itself to prevent the spread.
"So even if he got the prescription, the old monster could only watch the people in the witch village get sick and die one by one."
By then Wu Zhi was awake, but she felt like she was trapped in a strange dream.
She wandered around the village looking for food, watching these people being devoured by the plague one by one, but she was not afraid and had no sympathy.
In her eyes at that time, human life was not worth a piece of cake.
"And the old monster's closest relatives, that is, my father and uncles and brothers, although they got the medicine, they had been taking Dansha pills for longevity and strengthening the body since childhood, which had weakened the medicine. They were either intolerant to the toxicity of the medicine, or the medicine was ineffective against the epidemic. They all died."
Only the male members of the Wu family are qualified to take the Dansha Pills. It is also the Wu family's fate that they deserve this disaster of genocide.
"In the end, I was the only one left among the old monster's blood relatives."
Han Su showed a complicated expression, "So he passed on his medical skills to you?"
Wu Zhi shook his head. "He always despised me because I was a girl and refused to teach me what he knew. After the plague, he took in two disciples, taught them medicine, and asked them to take care of him until his death."
“I guess they didn’t learn.”
"If they've learned it, what's my business?" Wu Zhi snorted. "They couldn't bear the hardship, let alone the old monster's brutal and violent temper, so they secretly resold his herbs and prescriptions, and finally took all the money in the village and fled."
"So you took advantage of the situation and swooped in?"
Wu Zhi glanced over coldly.
Han Su changed his words, "So you just acted according to circumstances and gained his trust?"
Wu Zhi rolled his eyes at him and finished the remaining tea in the bowl before answering, "The old monster's fire disease had relapsed and he needed someone to take care of him. Moreover, he was too old to take on other disciples and was afraid of being deceived again, so he had no choice but to choose me."
Wu Zhi's push that year caused the old monster to have most of his flesh burned away by the cremation fire. Although he did not die, he would suffer from the fire disease for the rest of his life.
When the fire disease struck, the pain was unbearable, and the old monster had to use acupuncture to seal the acupoints to relieve the pain. After the two disciples escaped, the only person who could treat his illness and take care of his daily life was Wu Zhi.
Wu Zhi had endured him for so long, so he wouldn't agree for nothing.
Seeing that the time was ripe, she put forward conditions to the old monster, asking him to teach her medical skills and pharmacology and promise to accept her into the orthodox Wu family and make her a direct descendant.
Only then will she cure his illness and take care of him until the end of his life.
The road was already blocked, and no matter how much hatred or reluctance the old monster felt, he had no choice but to agree to Wu Zhi's conditions.
But the old monster also knew that Wu Zhi was mean-spirited and vindictive, and he was afraid that she would retaliate against him.
He ordered Wu Zhi to set up an altar and swear a solemn oath on the ghost of his mother, vowing to serve him until the end of his life, to break the basin and carry the coffin for him after his death, to bury him properly and to offer him sacrifices, and to observe mourning for him for three years.
Otherwise, her mother's soul would be restless, and she would become a pig and dog in every life, being driven and slaughtered by others.
"You promised?"
"I can only agree." She had to set her goals and establish herself, and to live a legitimate life, so she had no choice but to agree to the old monster's request.
The witch clan made a solemn oath, and since it was sworn by the spirit of their closest relative, she dared not disobey.
However, after the old monster died, Wu Zhi wrote her mother's name into the family tree, and her tablet was placed in the Wu Temple, where it was enshrined next to her father, thus fulfilling her wish before her death.
Wu Zhi said calmly, "If one wants to move forward, one cannot dwell on the past and hatred. One must make a choice."
Everyone she loved and hated was dead.
When a person dies, all things end, but she still wants to live, not only to live, but to live well.
At this moment, Han Su finally understood why he was attracted to the person in front of him.
She lived too truly, just like the silver needle in her hand, piercing through appearances and illusions, reaching the bones and facing cruelty.
Such almost indifferent tenacity and courage are beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Then he couldn't help but feel proud of himself for having such good vision.
As he was enjoying the beauty, Han Su suddenly realized something, "Did you know that I deliberately gave the wrong medicine?"
He still has the nerve to admit it?
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