Jade Beauty Syndrome

"Yang Chen?"

"That Yang Chen from the Yang family?"

Behind the young maiden followed quite a few admirers and hangers-on. Upon hearing Yang Chen's words, they burst into uproarious laughter, as though they had heard some absurd joke.

"Who is Yang Chen?"

"You don't even know that? The Yang family has a good-for-nothing who can neither refine pills nor cultivate martial arts. At this year's Coming-of-Age Ceremony, he'll be stripped of his household registration by the Yang family. If this man calls himself Yang Chen, then it must be genuine. After all, who would pretend to be Yang Chen?" A handsome young master sneered.

Gu Mingyue followed closely behind Yang Chen. She had not known what was happening at first, but as she heard them mock him one after another, her face flushed crimson with anger. "You're the good-for-nothings! Our young master is an upright man who stands tall beneath heaven and earth!"

Hearing the woman behind Yang Chen speak, those young masters from who knew which lineages all fixed their eyes on her. Their eyes lit up, and they secretly thought, What a beautiful girl.

"Hmph, your young master's foul reputation has even reached the ears of us outsiders, and you call him a man? Your young master gambled against the Wang family and even lost his split-crotch pants. As his maid, don't tell me you didn't know? Oh, right, Brother Wang, you're from the Wang family too. You know about this, don't you?"

The young master surnamed Wang chuckled wickedly. "I still remember it vividly. Back then, our two elder brothers, Wang Ren and Wang De, gambled against this Yang Chen. But Yang Chen was truly pathetic beyond measure. He had enough materials for three furnaces of Return Bone Pills, yet he failed to refine even a single pill. Oh, right, Brother Yang Chen, your ancestral Purple Show Pill Furnace is still with our Wang family, isn't it?"

Hearing this, the young masters burst into loud laughter.

Yang Chen would be lying if he said he was not angry. The disgraceful things this "Yang Chen" had done were truly known far and wide. It seemed that improving his current reputation had to become one of his priorities. Otherwise, being viewed through tinted glasses whenever he went out would leave no one in a good mood.

Just as Yang Chen was about to speak, the woman at the center of the crowd, surrounded like the moon by stars, finally opened her mouth. "Little brother, I am Feng Xuewu of the Feng family. This Fire Red Fruit is of great use to me. I hope you can be generous and let your elder sister have it."

Given Yang Chen's current age, it was not strange for Feng Xuewu to call him little brother.

"Young master, the Feng family... the Feng family is one of the Twelve Great Clans among our Great Wilderness Hundred Clans. Feng Xuewu is known as one of the Three Golden Hairpins, as famous as Miss Caidie, and she is also the Feng family's eldest daughter." Though Gu Mingyue had never met Feng Xuewu, she had heard of her name. Upon learning that the woman before her was the renowned Feng Xuewu, she immediately began to retreat in her heart.

Yang Chen stroked his chin, somewhat surprised as well.

With a hundred clans standing side by side, there were naturally strong and weak ones. The Yang family was a middle-ranking lineage among the hundred clans, neither strong nor weak. Above the middle-ranking clans stood the Twelve Great Clans, and the Feng family was one of them.

But asking him to yield like this was clearly impossible. He did not harbor much ill will toward Feng Xuewu; at least, her words had not been so unpleasant. Yet he could not pretend not to hear the mockery from those behind her. If he kept yielding again and again, then what difference would there be between him and the former Yang Chen?

He had to let them know that he was not so mild-tempered.

Yang Chen snorted coldly. "Miss Feng, are you saying that because this Fire Dragon Fruit is important to you, it is not important to me?"

"Yang Chen, as the shopkeeper, I have to say something. The Yang family is a middle-ranking lineage, while the Feng family is one of the great clans among our many clans. Compared like this... hehe, surely you understand which is lighter and which is heavier." At that moment, the shopkeeper of the Li Family Commerce Association stepped out at the worst possible time.

The moment he appeared, his words toward Yang Chen were dripping with mockery, while toward Feng Xuewu, he fawned and groveled, showing his true colors to the fullest.

It was obvious that the shopkeeper intended to side with Feng Xuewu.

Yang Chen glanced at the shopkeeper. He was a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties with a black mole on his face. Upon seeing those young masters, he went forward with a sycophantic grin to greet them, yet he treated Yang Chen as if he did not exist.

The stance he had chosen could not have been clearer.

Yang Chen's voice sank. "So, Shopkeeper, you mean the Yang family is easy to bully?"

"Hehe, Yang Chen, since you put it that way, this shopkeeper had originally intended to leave you some face. But since you refuse to keep your own face, then there is no need for me to give you any. As a mere shopkeeper, I naturally cannot afford to provoke the Yang family. But do you think that you, Yang Chen, a discarded son whom the Yang family can abandon at any time, can represent the Yang family?" The shopkeeper sneered repeatedly.

As he spoke, the shopkeeper turned to Feng Xuewu with a flattering smile. "Miss Feng, since you have taken a liking to this Fire Red Fruit, it is naturally yours."

"Our young master saw that Fire Red Fruit first." Gu Mingyue could no longer suppress her anger. Still trying to defend Yang Chen's dignity, she stamped her foot. "Do you people have no regard for first come, first served?"

The shopkeeper did not even spare Gu Mingyue a glance. "I am the shopkeeper here. Naturally, what I say goes."

Seeing the shopkeeper promise her the Fire Red Fruit, Feng Xuewu felt much more at ease. Yet when she saw the shopkeeper and her admirers relentlessly oppressing the youth before them, she could not bear it and sighed. "Little Brother Yang Chen, I do not know what you need this Fire Red Fruit for, but I need it to save my mother's life. My mother suffers from an illness and desperately needs the Fire Red Fruit. I hope you can grant my request."

Though Yang Chen was rather frustrated at losing the fight for the Fire Red Fruit today, there was nothing he could do. The shopkeeper looked down on people with dog eyes and had plainly decided to cling to Feng Xuewu's high branch. What other options did he have?

But upon hearing Feng Xuewu's words, Yang Chen's favorable impression of her increased greatly. Curious, he asked, "Fine. A human life hangs in the balance. If Miss Feng had said this earlier, I certainly would not have fought you for the Fire Red Fruit. But what illness does your mother suffer from?"

Feng Xuewu only wanted to obtain the Fire Red Fruit and was desperate to save her mother. When Yang Chen asked, she answered hurriedly, "I cannot really describe my mother's condition. I only know that whenever it strikes, her whole body trembles and she feels terribly cold. Yet beads of sweat keep falling from her forehead, and that sweat is hot. It is truly strange."

"Oh?" Yang Chen asked curiously. "Then when your mother has an episode, does her face become abnormally flushed, while her hands and body are ice-cold and without warmth?"

"H-how did you know?" Feng Xuewu's eyes widened.

Hearing this, Yang Chen was thoroughly amused. "Miss Feng, your mother's illness is called Jade Beauty Syndrome. When it acts up, breathing becomes difficult and the pain is excruciating, as though she could die at any moment. I do not know why you would use Fire Red Fruit to treat her, but it is completely useless for her illness. On the contrary, taking it for a long time will harm her!"

In his previous life, he had mastered the Alchemy Way. Naturally, he had long practiced healing the sick and saving lives as well. Jade Beauty Syndrome was indeed a difficult and complicated ailment, but to him, it was not particularly hard to resolve.

Feng Xuewu, on the other hand, stared with her eyes wide open, her cherry lips parted, looking utterly charming and adorable.

Because what Yang Chen had said matched her mother's symptoms exactly, without the slightest discrepancy.

"You're saying the Fire Red Fruit will only make my mother's illness worse?" Feng Xuewu had not initially believed Yang Chen. After all, she had heard every evaluation of him from the admirers pursuing her behind her. It was only because Yang Chen was still young that she had been unwilling to join them in bullying him.

Yet Yang Chen's words just now had all been true and matched her mother's condition exactly. She now believed more than half of what he said.

"Xuewu, don't listen to him. This brat is spouting nonsense. Who here doesn't know exactly what he's capable of?" One of Feng Xuewu's admirers sneered.

Zhao Xiaowen, the shopkeeper of the Li Family Commerce Association, chimed in. "Young Master Sun is right. Miss Xuewu, you must not listen to Yang Chen's nonsense. When this brat gambled against the Wang family back then, he was utterly defeated and lost all face. His alchemy level was abysmal. And now he dares to pretend to be a pill physician? In our Great Wilderness, where a hundred clans stand side by side, there has never even been a pill physician!"

Pill physicians were a branch of alchemists, and they were highly respected across the continent.

Unlike ordinary alchemists, pill physicians also refined pills, but their primary path was healing the sick and saving lives. They were unlike ordinary alchemists, whose pills came in a dazzling array with all kinds of effects. In comparison, pill physicians were harder to cultivate, and one had to possess a warm heart for healing and saving others.

In his previous life, Yang Chen had not only been an alchemist, but had also entered the largest branch of alchemists: pill physicians.

His level as a pill physician had also been one of the foundations of his fame as an alchemist in his previous life.

Pill physicians were exceedingly rare, so it was not strange that the Great Wilderness had none. Not only the Great Wilderness—even throughout all of North Mountain County, there were probably not many pill physicians.

Listening to Zhao Xiaowen now, Yang Chen could not be bothered to argue. He said lazily, "Whether you believe me or not has nothing to do with me. In any case, your commerce association has the final say over who gets the Fire Red Fruit. If I cannot take it, so be it. I'll give it to Miss Feng. Mingyue, let's go!"

After saying this, Yang Chen had no intention of lingering. He turned and left.

But seeing Yang Chen about to leave, Feng Xuewu truly could not settle her heart. After pondering briefly, she hurriedly called out, "Little Brother Yang Chen, please wait!"

"Does Miss Feng have anything else to say?" Yang Chen asked in confusion.

Feng Xuewu bit her lip with pearly teeth. The hesitant, unspeakable look on her face was enough to make one's heart ache. After hesitating for a moment, she finally said, "Little Brother Yang Chen, you said just now that if my mother has those symptoms, taking Fire Red Fruit truly does more harm than good?"

"Wouldn't Miss Feng know the answer if she thought about it carefully? I imagine this is not the first time you have used Fire Red Fruit on your mother. But after doing so, have you ever seen any effect?" Yang Chen responded with a question.

Hearing Yang Chen's words, Feng Xuewu's delicate body trembled. Her mother's illness had always been a wound in her heart. At that moment, she was like someone seeking any doctor in desperation, and she hurriedly said in panic, "Since Little Brother Yang Chen understands my mother's symptoms so well, do you have a way to solve them?"

Yang Chen had not intended to reveal too much about his identity as a pill physician. After all, if word got out that he understood medicine at thirteen, it would be far too shocking. At first, he had only pointed out that Feng Xuewu's mother did not need Fire Red Fruit because Feng Xuewu had not spoken to him with disdain or mockery.

For the current him, that was already enough. That was why he had not begrudged saying a few more words. But he had never considered treating Feng Xuewu's mother.

However, seeing Feng Xuewu's face full of urgent filial devotion, Yang Chen pondered for a moment before saying, "I cannot guarantee that I can resolve your mother's illness. But if I examine her, I may be able to see some clues. Still, regardless of the outcome, Miss Feng, please believe that Jade Beauty Syndrome is an acquired stubborn illness. It is absolutely not something a mere Fire Red Fruit can cure."