Entering the Soul Hunting Forest! Gathering Herbs!

After leaving the blacksmith's shop, Lan Tian did not go straight back to the clinic. Instead, he took a turn and headed toward Nuoding City's Spirit Hall Branch.

The branch was not large, but it had everything it needed. The deacon in charge of reception already recognized him. After all, a twenty-five-year-old rank-twelve one-ring soul master whose martial soul was Blue Silver Grass—there was no second person with that combination in all of Nuoding City.

"Doctor Lan, here to collect your stipend again today? I don't think it's time yet this month," the deacon teased with a smile.

Lan Tian shook his head and placed a Silver Soul Coin on the counter. "I'd like to get a temporary pass. I want to take a look around the outskirts of Soul Hunting Forest and gather some medicinal herbs."

"Soul Hunting Forest?" The deacon frowned slightly. "That place may not be too dangerous on the outskirts, but it's still soul beast territory. For a healing-type soul master like you to go in alone is no joke."

"Don't worry. I'll stay on the very edge and won't go deeper in. I'll come back once I've gathered what I need." Lan Tian's tone was calm. "The clinic has run out of a few herbs, and I can't buy them outside, so I can only make the trip myself."

Seeing that his mind was made up, the deacon did not try to persuade him further. He quickly finished the pass and handed it over. "All right, then. Be careful. If anything happens, run back. Don't try to be brave."

"Many thanks."

Lan Tian put away the pass, turned, left the branch, and headed straight for Soul Hunting Forest outside the city.

Soul Hunting Forest was located thirty li east of Nuoding City. Though it was called a forest, it was actually more like an official trial ground. The outermost area was a mixed habitat for ten-year soul beasts and ordinary wild animals, and only farther in would hundred-year soul beasts appear.

It was still dangerous for ordinary people, but for Lan Tian, as long as he did not go deep, it was not much of a problem.

An hour later, he stood at the edge of the forest.

Green shade blotted out the sun, ancient trees towered into the sky, and the air was filled with the damp scent of earth and the unique fresh fragrance of plants.

Lan Tian took a deep breath, tightened his grip on the dagger at his waist, and slowly walked into the forest.

He did not go deep. He searched carefully only in the outer area.

He had not spent all that time soaking in Nuoding Library for nothing. Those books recorded quite a bit of knowledge about medicinal herbs. Though it was all the most basic information, it was enough.

He remembered several herbs mentioned in the books, such as Drunken Dream Grass, a low-growing plant with dark-purple leaves. Once crushed, the smell it released could make people drowsy, making it perfect for use as an anesthetic.

There was also Numb-Bone Vine. When the sap from its vines was applied to the skin, it could temporarily numb the muscles in a localized area.

For the clinic, these things were treasures.

If those gravely injured patients needed surgery, without anesthesia, the terrible pain alone could make them die from agony, let alone cooperate with treatment.

"Found it!"

Lan Tian's eyes lit up. He crouched down and found a cluster of dark-purple grass leaves beside a damp tree root. The leaves were thick, and their edges glowed with a faint silver sheen. It was Drunken Dream Grass.

He carefully used his dagger to dig it up by the roots and wrapped it in the oilcloth he had prepared.

He continued searching and soon found a length of gray vine coiled around a dead tree not far away. Numb-Bone Vine.

Aside from that, he also picked a few ordinary medicinal herbs for stopping bleeding and reducing inflammation.

In less than two hours from start to finish, he had basically gathered everything he needed.

"That should do it. Time to go back."

Lan Tian patted the dirt from his hands, put away all the herbs, turned, and walked back the way he had come, leaving Soul Hunting Forest without incident.

By the time he returned to Nuoding City, it was already evening. He brought the herbs back to the clinic's back courtyard, carefully washed and dried them, then ground some Drunken Dream Grass into powder and sealed it in a porcelain bottle. Only then did he rest in satisfaction.

Over the next few days, he treated patients as usual while waiting for news from the blacksmith's shop.

Until the morning of the seventh day, when Shopkeeper Shi personally sent someone over with a message: the items were ready.

Lan Tian immediately closed the clinic door and headed straight for the blacksmith's shop.

"Doctor Lan, take a look and see if they're to your liking."

"The small items like the scalpels and tweezers are in the box. The four Weighted Rings are in the iron chest. Each ring is one hundred jin, four hundred jin in total. I forged them myself, not a fraction off."

Boss Shi pushed a wooden box in front of him, then pointed at the heavy iron chest beside it.

Lan Tian opened the wooden box. Inside, three scalpels, two pairs of tweezers, a small pair of scissors, and several fine needles were neatly arranged.

The blades gleamed coldly, polished with extreme precision.

He picked one up and tested its weight on his fingertip, then examined the edge under the light and nodded in satisfaction.

"Boss Shi's craftsmanship is beyond reproach. It's even better than I imagined."

Then he opened the iron chest. Four Weighted Rings forged from refined iron lay quietly inside. The rings were polished smooth, and a layer of soft leather had even been padded on the inner side to prevent them from directly abrading the skin.

Lan Tian put the four Weighted Rings on his wrists and ankles right there.

The heavy weight dragged down, making his whole body sink half an inch in an instant, but he quickly adapted. He lifted his arms, then stamped his feet, and felt it was just right.

"My nineteen years of foundation weren't built for nothing," he thought to himself with a nod.

After paying the remaining balance and giving his thanks, he carried the iron chest and tucked the wooden box under his arm, then returned to the clinic.

He pushed open the clinic door, and before he could set the things down, he saw that someone was already waiting inside.

Louise was sitting in a chair, her face full of anxiety. Beside her lay a man. Judging from his clothes and bearing, he was either rich or noble, but at that moment his face was deathly pale, his forehead covered in cold sweat, his lips blue. There was an obvious bloodstain seeping from his chest.

"Doctor Lan! You're finally back!" Louise abruptly stood up and said urgently, "This is my father's friend, Mr. Connor, a wealthy merchant from the west. He was originally coming to Nuoding City to discuss business, but he ran into a Hedgehog Soul Beast halfway here and was attacked!"

Lan Tian set his things down and quickly walked over, bending down to examine Connor's condition.

The man was about forty years old, slightly plump, his eyes tightly shut at the moment and his breathing rapid. There was a hole torn in the clothing over his chest, and a sharp spine roughly two inches long could faintly be seen embedded in the flesh. The surrounding skin was already red, swollen, and turning purple.

"The city guard found him while patrolling, drove off that soul beast, and brought him into the city," Louise continued explaining. "I brought him straight to you at the first opportunity."

Lan Tian didn't respond. He had already summoned the Blue Silver Grass, its vines gently wrapping around Connor's wrist as he injected soul power to examine him.

A moment later, his expression tightened slightly.

"The Hedgehog Soul Beast's quill broke off inside his body. It's pierced deep into his chest cavity, less than two fingers from his heart. Three ribs are broken, and his internal organs are bleeding and bruised to varying degrees."

He withdrew the Blue Silver Grass and said in a low voice, "If the quill isn't removed, healing him with soul power alone won't work. That thing is lodged inside him, and with every breath it'll drive deeper. He won't last the night."

Louise's face went pale. "Then... then can you treat him?"

"I can." Lan Tian's answer was decisive. "But it'll take time. You need to wait outside and not let anyone come in to disturb me."

Louise nodded without the slightest hesitation. "All right. I'll guard outside. I won't let anyone in!"

With that, she turned and left the clinic, closing the door behind her. Then she stood at the entrance like a door guardian.