Luan Jingfu

Duan Rong untied his Waist Tag and handed it to the Old Man.

The Old Man took it and examined it carefully by the dusk lamplight. Then he looked up at Duan Rong. "You're an Apprentice Escort?"

Duan Rong nodded.

The Old Man returned the Waist Tag to Duan Rong and chuckled. "An Apprentice Escort coming to decoct medicine—you seem to be the first!"

"One qian of silver."

Duan Rong took out a qian of loose silver and handed it over.

The Old Man accepted it and gave Duan Rong a key, marked with the number of a medicine furnace.

Duan Rong took the key. The Old Man pulled the quilt over himself and lay back down.

Duan Rong looked at that grimy, greasy quilt and shook his head slightly.

This Old Man was not an ordinary man.

Ordinary people could not enter the Middle Courtyard to guard the Medicine Furnace Room.

He was the father of Luan Jingfu, the current Chief Escort of the Yuan Shun Escort Agency.

His own father lives like this. This Luan Jingfu must be rather unfilial!

Duan Rong muttered to himself, took the key and Medicine Pack, and entered the Medicine Furnace Room.

The moment Duan Rong entered, he stopped at the door and froze slightly.

There were already two people inside the Medicine Furnace Room. Their medicine seemed nearly finished, and they were waiting for it.

The two wore standard brocade uniforms with trimmed edges, yet their attire differed from that of escorts like Zhao Mu.

Duan Rong's thoughts stirred. Those were the uniforms of escort captains. These two were escort captains! It was Duan Rong's first time seeing any.

Luan Jingfu, the Chief Escort of the Yuan Shun Escort Agency, oversaw all escorting affairs and commanded six escort teams.

Each escort team had an escort captain, who led several escorts and runners.

Though Duan Rong had guessed their identities from their clothing, he did not know either of them.

What made things even more awkward was that the two had clearly been whispering about something when Duan Rong suddenly barged in.

The instant Duan Rong appeared at the door, the two noticed him.

One of them, a long-faced man, looked Duan Rong over. Seeing his brown short outfit and the medicine packet in his hand, he glared and asked, "Which courtyard are you from?"

"I'm an Apprentice Escort from the Middle Courtyard," Duan Rong answered truthfully at once.

The long-faced man paused. He had originally assumed someone from the Inner Courtyard had sent a servant to decoct medicine, but it turned out to be an Apprentice Escort. He snapped, "Let me see your Waist Tag!"

Duan Rong handed it over. The man glanced at the tag and returned it, his expression turning sinister. "There are no empty furnaces. Leave."

Duan Rong glanced at the furnaces against the wall. There were plainly several empty ones, but he said nothing. Taking back his Waist Tag, he turned and walked out.

Behind him, the long-faced escort captain said, "Since when did even Apprentice Escorts start decocting medicine?"

Duan Rong went outside and woke the Old Man again. "The people inside said there are no empty furnaces."

The Old Man did not seem surprised. He directly took out the qian of loose silver and returned it to Duan Rong. "Give me the key. Come back tomorrow morning."

Duan Rong accepted the silver and returned to the dormitory in frustration.

There was nothing he could do. He was only an apprentice now. In the escort agency's hierarchy, he did not even count as an intern. Anyone could throw him a cold look, and all he could do was endure it.

Every world was the same. Survival was not easy!

Duan Rong washed himself with well water and lay on the bed, intending to read some miscellaneous books before sleeping.

But he had stayed up through the night for several days in a row, and his mind was truly exhausted. After reading only a few lines, his eyelids drooped as though filled with lead.

The moment Duan Rong closed his eyes, he fell asleep face-down.

He slept deeply through a dreamless night.

When Duan Rong woke, the oil lamp had already gone out. He leaped from the bed, dressed himself, opened the door, and looked outside. The hooked moon was sinking in the west.

Duan Rong estimated the time, picked up the Medicine Pack from beside his bed, locked the door, and headed for the Medicine Furnace Room.

The Medicine Furnace Room remained open all twelve double-hours of the day.

The hook-shaped moon was dim and lusterless, while a few stars around it flickered like little eyes.

The entire Yuan Shun Escort Agency lay silent. Lanterns hanging beneath the eaves lit the path ahead as Duan Rong hurried once more to the Medicine Furnace Room.

Duan Rong woke the sleeping Old Man, paid the silver, took the key, and entered the Medicine Furnace Room.

The room was empty. Only the large lantern on the wall cast a tranquil yellow glow.

There were six medicine furnaces in all, standing against the walls on three sides.

Fine charcoal and mountain spring water were stored along the eastern wall.

Duan Rong chose the medicine furnace closest to the mountain spring water.

The furnace was made entirely of copper, supported by a thick iron frame and suspended above a large charcoal brazier.

Its mouth was fitted with a specially designed spring mechanism. A twist locked it shut, and only the matching key could open it.

Once the mouth was locked, the entire furnace had only three pinprick-sized holes for venting air.

It used high heat and pressure to steam the medicine, squeezing out and stimulating its medicinal potency to the fullest.

Duan Rong used the key in his hand to open the spring mechanism at the furnace mouth. With a twist in the opposite direction, he removed it.

Duan Rong examined the mechanism and found it quite ingenious.

It seemed this world had many skilled craftsmen as well. Such a copper furnace could not be cheap, yet they were charged only one qian of silver. It truly counted as a benefit provided by the escort agency.

Duan Rong then studied the structure inside the copper furnace.

At its center stood a three-tiered bamboo rack fitted with mesh screens. Duan Rong understood at once that this was where the herbs were placed.

The medicinal primer went on the top tier, the main medicine on the bottom, and the supplementary ingredients in the middle.

Furthermore, while the furnace's exterior was copper, its inner lining was coated with a layer of grayish-white clay.

Duan Rong opened his Medicine Pack and arranged the ingredients one by one, then placed the three-tiered rack back inside the copper furnace.

Only then did he ladle in several scoops of mountain spring water, filling the furnace to ninety percent. He replaced the lid and tightened the spring mechanism.

After finishing all this, Duan Rong found some thin kindling in the woodpile and placed it in the charcoal brazier. Then he took a bundle of dry grass, lit it from the lantern, and set it in the brazier to ignite the kindling.

Only after that did Duan Rong gradually add thicker charcoal wood into the brazier.

Before long, blazing flames surged from the brazier, roasting Duan Rong's cheeks until they ached!

Seeing that the fire was burning fiercely enough, Duan Rong stopped adding fuel.

This furnace would need to simmer for one double-hour. He would have to wait.

With nothing else to do, and no one else in the Medicine Furnace Room, Duan Rong placed two slices of Blood Antler Velvet in his mouth and began to hold his stance!

The copper furnace conducted heat well. After roughly a quarter of an hour, the contents were already boiling. Steam shot out from the pinprick holes with strange sounds.

As Duan Rong held his stance, he added several thick pieces of charcoal wood to the brazier at intervals!

The span of one double-hour quickly passed.

By then, steam was no longer spraying from the copper furnace's pinprick holes!

The charcoal brazier beneath it was still packed with glowing red coals, but no flames rose from them.

And the entire Medicine Furnace Room was filled with a strange medicinal fragrance!

As Duan Rong held his stance, he did not know why, but the scent made his heart pound wildly without cease.

After one double-hour of holding the stance, the two slices of Blood Antler Velvet in Duan Rong's mouth had long since dissolved.

Duan Rong exhaled deeply, then dispersed his cultivation.

These past few days, he had only held his stance for one double-hour each day, yet the feeling of emptiness in his body had grown stronger and stronger.

Duan Rong opened his eyes and looked at the copper furnace, illuminated by the red glow of the coals. Excited, he said, "The medicine is finally ready!"