Memory and First Aid

Download "Memory and First Aid"?

When Lu Qing saw the prompt, he froze completely.

Then he broke into a smile.

His Supernatural Ability really did surprise him from time to time.

He had been worrying over how to chew through this Classic of Materia Medica, yet before he could doze off, someone had delivered him a pillow.

Without hesitation, Lu Qing chose to download it.

Downloading. Current progress: 1%...

Lu Qing waited quietly, but after quite a while, the progress bar had not budged.

He paused, then picked up the Classic of Materia Medica and began slowly flipping through it from the beginning.

Sure enough, as he turned the pages, the download progress bar began moving as well.

1%, 2%, 3%... 98%, 99%, 100%

Classic of Materia Medica downloaded. Begin learning?

When Lu Qing finished reading through the entire Classic of Materia Medica, his Supernatural Ability indicated that the download was complete.

At the same time, another prompt appeared.

Lu Qing immediately chose to learn it.

The next moment, a flood of information surged into his mind, like clarified butter pouring over his head, allowing him to swiftly memorize and comprehend the contents of the Classic of Materia Medica.

From the outside, Lu Qing merely looked as though he were holding a book and staring into space. No one knew what changes were taking place in his mind.

"The path of medicinal herbs truly is broad and profound."

After some time, Lu Qing came back to himself, his face full of amazement.

At this point, he had already memorized the entire Classic of Materia Medica.

He had also gained a basic understanding of its contents.

The names and properties of the various herbs described in the book were now as familiar to him as the back of his hand.

Of course, this understanding was still only empty talk on paper.

Next, he would need to compare what he had learned with actual herbs before he could truly digest the Classic of Materia Medica.

Even so, merely memorizing it had already allowed Lu Qing to feel the breadth and depth of the art of herbal medicine.

The Classic of Materia Medica recorded several hundred kinds of herbs, yet that was less than one ten-thousandth of all the plants under heaven.

By combining and transforming these herbs in different ways, one could formulate all manner of prescriptions to heal people and cure illnesses. It was truly miraculous.

Having learned of the wonders of medicinal herbs, Lu Qing's interest grew even stronger.

Though he had already memorized the entire book, he continued leafing through the Classic of Materia Medica in his hands, reviewing the old to discover the new.

Old Doctor Chen had been waiting inside the house for Lu Qing to come ask him questions.

After waiting a long while without seeing Lu Qing enter, he could only step into the courtyard to see what was going on.

There, he saw Lu Qing engrossed in the Classic of Materia Medica.

Xiao Yan, meanwhile, was in another corner catching butterflies by herself, not disturbing her brother.

Seeing this, the Old Doctor felt quietly gratified.

It seemed Lu Qing had not merely been paying lip service when he said he was interested in medicinal herbs.

Otherwise, how could he be so absorbed in such a dry book as the Classic of Materia Medica?

However, the Classic of Materia Medica was not so easy to understand.

Just as Old Doctor Chen was about to ask Lu Qing whether there was anything he did not understand,

Several anxious shouts suddenly came from outside the courtyard.

"Old Doctor Chen! Is Old Doctor Chen home?"

"I'm here."

Hearing the panic in the voices outside, the Old Doctor hurried out to meet them.

Lu Qing was startled as well and rose to his feet with the book in hand.

Then he saw several villagers carrying an unconscious person inside. The Old Doctor directed them to lay the person down in the middle of the courtyard.

Lu Qing recognized the unconscious man. He was also from the village, a villager Lu Qing should call Uncle Zhao.

At that moment, Uncle Zhao was drenched from head to toe, his face deathly blue, his belly swollen, and he was completely unconscious.

"Come, move aside first and let me take a look."

After directing them to put the man down, the Old Doctor waved the villagers away.

No one dared disobey him, and they immediately stood far back.

One of them happened to retreat to Lu Qing's side.

Lu Qing lightly patted his shoulder. "Da'an Ge."

The villager jumped in fright. When he turned and saw Lu Qing, he was immediately surprised. "Lu Qing, why are you here?"

"Never mind that for now," Lu Qing said softly. "What happened to Uncle Zhao?"

"He fell into the river. If we hadn't been nearby, he probably would have been carried away by the current," Wang Da'an replied.

"How did he fall in?" Lu Qing asked in surprise. "Don't you usually fish together?"

"He wasn't with us today. He went somewhere else to fish alone."

"Where?"

Wang Da'an's expression turned somewhat awkward. He glanced around a few times before lowering his voice. "Probably the place where you caught that big fish yesterday."

"..."

Lu Qing fell silent for a moment. "Even so, he shouldn't have fallen in. I leveled that spot quite well."

"I don't know about that. We heard him crying for help, and by the time we got there, he was already in the river. He'd been swept a long way off and was almost submerged."

As Wang Da'an spoke, he seemed to remember something and added, "Oh, right. When we pulled Lao Zhao out, he was still gripping his fishing rod tightly, but the line had snapped long ago."

Lu Qing fell silent again. A guess suddenly formed in his heart.

Still, he asked, "Uncle Zhao... can't swim?"

"No. If he could swim, would he have drowned? The current where he fell in wasn't even that fast."

"..."

Lu Qing was speechless.

He could not swim, yet he had gone alone to fish by the river and even dared to enter the water to snatch back his rod. Uncle Zhao was far too unreliable.

Based on his years of fishing experience, Lu Qing had already more or less guessed why Uncle Zhao had fallen into the water. But whether that was truly the case would have to wait until he woke up.

Lu Qing looked toward the center of the courtyard.

By then, Old Doctor Chen had learned from the other villagers that Lao Zhao's unconsciousness had been caused by falling into the water.

He immediately pried open Lao Zhao's mouth to check whether anything was blocking it.

After confirming there was no obstruction, he immediately pressed his hands against Lao Zhao's chest and abdomen.

No one knew what method he used, but with a gentle press of both hands, Lao Zhao suddenly spat out a huge mouthful of murky water.

Then the Old Doctor pressed again, and Lao Zhao spat out another mouthful of murky water.

The Old Doctor continued pressing like that. With every press, Lao Zhao spat out another mouthful of murky water.

After seven or eight presses, there was very little murky water left. After more than a dozen presses, Lao Zhao, who had remained unconscious all this time, suddenly coughed a few times and slowly opened his eyes.

"He's awake! He's awake!"

"Lao Zhao is alive!"

"The Old Doctor really is incredible!"

The villagers cried out in delight.

At the same time, their admiration for Old Doctor Chen's medical skill reached the point of utter prostration.

When they had carried Lao Zhao over earlier, his chest had barely been rising and falling. They had thought he was about to die just like that.

They had never expected the Old Doctor's wondrous hands to bring back spring and save him after all.

After coughing for a while, Lao Zhao slowly regained consciousness.

He looked blankly at the people around him. "Where am I?"