Hidden in the Mortal World

A wandering physician came to Small Creek Village.

His surname was Xu, and his given name was Qing. After a misfortune befell his family, he had seen through the ways of the world and wished to find a quiet place to settle.

Small Creek Village was not large. Previously, the village had only a half-blind old man with a rudimentary knowledge of herbs; his medical skills were limited. Now that a physician had arrived—though young, he spoke with calm composure and carried a medicine chest—they naturally welcomed him warmly.

Especially after they witnessed him ease the village chief's grandson's diarrhea with several common herbs, they gladly let him move into an abandoned, dilapidated wooden house at the edge of the village, without even asking for rent.

Thus, Xu Yuan settled down in Small Creek Village.

At this time, he completely concealed every trace of a cultivator's aura. Even the abnormal vitality brought by the Green Wood Sacred Body was deliberately drawn inward, leaving him to appear merely somewhat healthier than an ordinary person.

Relying on the "ancestral" silver needles in his medicine chest, as well as his instinctive understanding of medicinal herbs and their properties, Xu Yuan began treating the villagers.

At first, the villagers only dared to let him handle minor ailments such as headaches, fevers, sprains, and bruises.

Xu Yuan was gentle and courteous, and the prescriptions he gave mostly used wild herbs gathered locally. His fees were extremely low, and he often charged nothing at all, merely asking the villagers to repay him with a little grain, mountain produce, or help repairing his house.

Later, he cured hunter Chen San's leg, which had been sliced open by a wild boar's tusk and was on the verge of festering with pus. Then, using deft force and herbal medicine,