In early June, Di Xiu set a date and told the people at the clinic that he planned to leave at the end of the month to travel and learn more about medicine.
At the end of the month, he bid farewell to everyone at Ren'an Hall, and before leaving, he gave a peace charm to the two doctors and his fellow disciples.
Since he was preparing to leave, he naturally wouldn't stay in the mandrill's courtyard any longer, so he also told Chang Niangzi and the mandrill.
The mandrill, having not seen him for a long time, dragged him out for drinks all night, and brought up a long-held secret.
Six hundred years ago, he successfully transformed into human form through a ritual to seek revenge. He was eager to take his revenge and only returned three months later, only to find that his benefactor had fallen in love with a demon. On their wedding day, a passing Taoist priest discovered their affair, and the villagers wanted to burn the demon alive. In order to protect the demon from harm, he was accidentally killed.
Two hundred years ago, a mountain demon was traveling in the mortal world when he encountered a young Taoist priest who looked exactly like his benefactor. After trying every means to find out that the priest was indeed his benefactor in his previous life, he began to repay him.
They gradually became friends, until the mandrill's identity was exposed. In order to avoid implicating him, he repeated the old story, pretended to injure him, and then returned to Half Moon Mountain.
Later, I heard that my benefactor had become a famous demon hunter, so I never saw him again for the rest of my life.
I don't know what happened after that, but after my benefactor died in that life, he was imprisoned in the Blood Pool Hell. Thirty years ago, he escaped from the underworld, and seven years ago, he rose to fame in this dynasty and became the Imperial Advisor.
Later, even Emperor Xiu found out, but it was unclear how long the Imperial Advisor had been watching Half Moon Mountain before he could pinpoint the exact day to bring people over.
...
After spending three days in the mountains, they came down on the day of Meng Liniang and Xu Chengzong's wedding.
The second day of the seventh lunar month is an auspicious day for marriage.
Xu Chengzong rode a tall horse with a big red flower tied to his front, leading the wedding procession to the Meng family in a grand procession, and indeed received the bride in a very impressive manner.
When they arrived at the Xu residence, the matchmaker next to him told the groom to kick the bridal sedan chair. He kicked it casually, not daring to use too much force, for fear of startling the people inside.
He stared intently as the carriage curtain was lifted, and saw the bride, covered with a bright red veil, being helped down by the matchmaker. She turned her head slightly in his direction, as if looking at him.
He tried to reach out and hold her hand, but the matchmaker stopped him. When he looked over, he felt his heart pounding, and his palms and forehead were sweating involuntarily.
The two, holding hands with a red silk ribbon, stepped over a brazier and began their wedding ceremony amidst the chanting of the officiant, before being led to their bridal chamber.
Xu Chengzong still had to go out to deal with the guests, so he asked a servant to send some food to Qiuju and have her take it inside so that the bride wouldn't go hungry.
Even with the help of relatives and friends to fend off the drinking, he still drank quite a bit. At this moment, there was a slight noise outside, and his servant hurriedly went out to check. He returned shortly afterward, holding a bright red love knot in his hand.
“A wandering Taoist priest came by to freeload some drinks and brought this as a gift. I wish you and your wife a long and happy marriage, and that you will be of one heart forever.”
Xu Chengzong thought the love knot was beautiful, and it seemed to have a faint golden glow, though he wondered if it was mixed with gold thread.
He ordered his servant to deliver the gifts to the young mistress, and then drank with the guests for another round. He pretended to be drunk and was helped into the bridal chamber.
After lifting the veil and drinking the nuptial wine, the newlyweds dismissed the others and gazed at each other tenderly. Xu Chengzong, thinking about what was about to happen, felt his mouth go dry and, after a long while, managed to stammer out, "Are you hungry?"
Meng Liniang chuckled: "I'm not hungry anymore, but what about you? You've drunk a lot of wine, are you feeling dizzy?"
As she spoke, she reached out to massage his head, her sleeve slipping down to reveal a section of her fair wrist.
Xu Chengzong's gaze was immediately fixed on her. He took her hand, looked at her intently, and said softly, "Li Niang, I'm not dizzy, but I'm hungry."
"You had it delivered...Young Master Xu..."
"My wife, it's time to change how you address me."
"My husband..."
The red curtains sway gently, and the wedding candles seem to weep; the meaning is self-evident.
As Di Xiu presented the love knot and was about to leave, he saw Chang Niangzi. She looked at the Xu family's festively decorated house from afar, her eyes filled with envy.
She was skilled at embroidery and often sold clothes with lifelike flowers and butterflies on them, sometimes even attracting real butterflies. However, she said she was unlucky and never made wedding dresses for others.
Di Xiu inadvertently saw a phoenix coronet and wedding gown in her room. The once bright and beautiful dress was now faded and worn, with faint dark stains. It seemed that this Lady Chang was also a heartbroken person.
The two demons exchanged a glance, and Di Xiu nodded slightly before bidding her farewell again and leaving the place.
On the way, he used the money he had saved to buy a donkey for transportation and began to travel around.
001 materialized and accompanied him, sometimes helping him with chores. They initially claimed to be brothers, but later became father and son to avoid well-meaning older women trying to arrange marriages for Di Xiu.
Using illusions all the time is troublesome, as it easily attracts Taoist priests and monks. So he concealed his spiritual power and disguised himself as a mortal, wearing a mask that only revealed his mouth. But he still couldn't hide the sharp eyes of the old woman.
Di Xiu felt that his medical skills were still shallow and he needed to learn more. Whenever he went to a place, he would often go to the local famous doctors to discuss and learn. Sometimes he would meet easy-going doctors and exchange information with them, achieving a win-win situation. However, sometimes the other party was not willing to share, and he would not force them.
When passing through the mountains and forests, he would go in to look for the medicinal herbs he needed or those unique to the area. If any wild beasts were to harm people, he would teach them a lesson. As for some hooligans and bandits, if they encountered him, they could only consider themselves unlucky.
He didn't care about time and wandered around aimlessly, sometimes going to bustling cities and sometimes to remote, impoverished places.
In the former case, he would visit local renowned doctors one by one, learn from and discuss with each other, exchange prescriptions and explore ways to improve them, and explore and summarize some difficult and complicated diseases.
Di Xiu had a notebook in his hand, on which he had gradually written down quite a lot of things.
In the latter case, when there were few skilled doctors in the area, he would stay for a while to treat the locals. Sometimes he would stay longer, teaching them remedies for minor illnesses and disasters, and occasionally, when the mood struck him, he would even teach them methods for identifying and dealing with disasters.
As he traveled to more places, he truly began to learn how to treat patients according to local conditions, and gradually made a name for himself. After he felt that he had mastered the skills, he began to carry his medical bell and walk from street to street.
The emperor is currently obsessed with alchemy, and alchemists are rampant. The imperial advisor who died earlier was one of the best among them and was highly trusted by the emperor. When the emperor learned of his disappearance, he was very saddened.
Di Xiu also took the opportunity to learn about the alchemy techniques of this world. He didn't know how the gods in heaven refined pills, but these things on earth seemed more like chemical research, which was a perfect match for his expertise.
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