In the courtyard, while Yan Beitong practiced the Five-Animal Exercise, Lian Youming began going through the movements alongside him.
"Dad, do you think that old medicine could be made into an injectable formula?"
He lowered his voice to ask as he practiced.
Surprise crossed Yan Beitong's face. "Why are you asking about that?"
Lian Youming immediately gave him a brief account of what had happened last night.
Yan Beitong's brows knitted tightly after hearing him out. He led his son-in-law over to a corner of the courtyard and carefully searched his memory before saying, "To think something like that happened. Could it be some sort of stimulant? Still, the kind of changes you described aren't impossible... and they sound somewhat familiar." Lian Youming hurriedly pressed him. "Tell me more!"
Yan Beitong sighed and said slowly, "Back then, I was just groping around in the dark. Mainly, I'd encountered some difficult, unusual illnesses and terminal diseases that even the big hospitals in the provincial capital couldn't treat. So I thought I'd try an unconventional approach and see whether I could find a way to save them. It was partly to save lives, and partly because I thought that if I did cure them, I'd make a name for myself."
The two continued practicing the Five-Animal Exercise as they talked.
Yan Beitong paused, then continued, "The old medicine Lingyun found had the extraordinary ability to mend broken bones and severed tendons. It was practically like remaking body and spirit. At the time, I wondered whether it could reconstruct other parts of a patient's body, too. Vital parts, for instance-the heart, lungs, and other internal organs. To that end, I consulted several Western medicine specialists I was friendly with and spent some time teaching myself pharmaceutical formulation in Western medicine."
Lian Youming listened