Returning to the village
Walking along the path back, Shen Ge was in a fairly good mood. Although he had spent some time in fear, he had come away with benefits in the end, so the trip hadn't been in vain.
"This Storage Bag really is an indispensable Law Treasure for immortals. It's convenient wherever you go."
"Su Liuyue. I never expected that woman to be her. Tsk, tsk, tsk, she really does deserve to be called a fairy, though she's a little cold."
Su Liuyue's great name rang in Shen Ge's ears like thunder. He had often heard the Devil Cultivators in the Verdant Sea's camps talk about how formidable she was.
Having seen her today, he found that she didn't quite live up to her reputation.
A favor like that should have been saved for a critical moment, but the circumstances had left Shen Ge too wary to keep it. After all, he had only saved her by accident. If he had dared to use the favor to demand something in return, he might not even have made it out of the cave. It was better to settle for the next best thing and leave her with a relatively good impression.
Even so, the final result had taken Shen Ge by surprise. He hadn't expected Su Liuyue to be so remarkably generous.
Perhaps that was the confidence of a personal disciple. These little things simply weren't worth her notice.
Aside from what Su Liuyue had taken, the Devil Cultivator's Storage Bag still contained quite a few good things. Of course, they were good things as far as Shen Ge was concerned.
There were only three bottles of pills, called Spirit Restoration Pills. They were Golden Core Stage pills used to restore one's Spiritual Qi. A single pill diluted in wine could be used by cultivators at both the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages, though it was rather wasteful.
On the market, however, a single pill could be exchanged for fifty Recovery Pills, or five hundred Spirit Stones.
There were three bottles in all, with five pills in each. That came to nearly seven thousand Spirit Stones. Add in the assorted artifact-refining materials, spirit medicines, and medicinal herbs inside, and the Storage Bag was worth at least twenty thousand Spirit Stones.
That was a respectable fortune for someone at the Golden Core Stage. Many Golden Core Stage Rogue Cultivators couldn't even produce ten thousand Spirit Stones. As soon as they got any, they couldn't wait to exchange them for resources to improve themselves, so most Rogue Cultivators had little to show besides their weapons and armor.
"Getting such a huge fortune all at once really makes me a little uneasy. If some old scheming bastard jumped out and robbed me, I wouldn't rest easy even as a ghost."
After that sigh, Shen Ge tucked the Storage Bag away close to his body, afraid someone might see it, turn green with envy, and decide to murder him for his treasure.
He walked and stopped along the way, and only emerged from the forest two days later. The little village stood beneath the sun, quiet and peaceful.
Coming down the mountain, Shen Ge immediately spotted Han Yu looking around at its foot. The corners of his mouth lifted, and he said with a smile, "Fairy, did you come all this way just to welcome me? I'm rather flattered."
Han Yu wasn't shy this time, because she hadn't taken in a word Shen Ge said. She hurried over to him and looked him over with concern. "Brother Shen, you aren't hurt, are you? Didn't we agree on five days? Why are you so many days late? I was worried sick."
Seeing that Han Yu was so anxious she was nearly in tears, Shen Ge put aside his teasing and explained, "I ran into a little accident on the way, and the mountain paths were harder to travel than I expected, so I was delayed."
"But I'm not that late, am I? After all, I'm only three days later than the ten days we agreed on."
"Come on. I've gathered the medicine, so let's go back and treat your brother."
A glimmer of delight appeared in Han Yu's eyes, and she skipped after him.
"Brother Shen, where are your back basket and sword? Did you run into a wild beast?"
Han Yu had already looked him over. Shen Ge had no injuries, and even his clothes weren't torn. Since he had lost both his back basket and his sword despite that, he must have run into some trouble, and he had won. Judging by his appearance, he had won rather easily, so she didn't mind hearing the victor share his joy.
"No. Even if I had run into an ordinary wild beast, it couldn't have hurt me. I threw the back basket away because it was a nuisance, and I hid the sword. Don't be curious about it."
Back in the village, Shen Ge paid no attention to the hostile looks and quiet muttering around him.
He went straight back to Han Yu's home. As soon as he reached the door, Han Wu came out with his wife to greet him. "Doctor Shen, you were gone for so many days that we were worried sick. We thought you'd run into a wild beast in the woods. Thankfully, heaven looks after good people like you, Doctor Shen, and you've returned safe and sound."
"Brother Shen, you go ahead and talk. I'll go cook." Han Yu tactfully slipped into the kitchen.
Looking at Han Wu, Shen Ge waved a hand. "All right, enough pleasantries. Find me an iron pot so I can refine the medicine."
"Yes, yes, yes. I'll go borrow an iron pot right away." Han Wu gave a fawning smile, then went out.
"Doctor Shen, can my son's illness really be cured?" Mother Han asked, her face full of worry. It wasn't that she didn't trust Shen Ge, but so many doctors had been at a loss that she no longer dared to hope.
Shen Ge nodded and said firmly, "No problem. He can be cured. Trust me."
"Thank you. Thank you so much."
"All right, auntie, no need to thank me. Go get some firewood. I'll need it to prepare the medicine in a little while."
"Yes, yes, yes. I'll do it right away." Mother Han hurried to the back courtyard to carry firewood. On hearing the good news that her son could be cured, even her bad leg seemed to improve a little for the time being.
Before long, a large pot had been set up in the courtyard, with a big pile of firewood by the house. Outside the courtyard, a large crowd had gathered to watch the excitement.
Truth be told, Shen Ge didn't know how to refine pills. After all, pill refining demanded extremely precise control over the heat and the strength of one's spiritual power. Apart from the ingredients, there was nothing else in her memories-not even the order in which to add them.
This Detoxification Pill, however, was quite simple. It required only two ingredients: Clear Brightness Grass and Five-Leaf Ginseng. It wasn't complicated.
In fact, Clear Brightness Grass was the main ingredient. The Five-Leaf Ginseng was merely a supplementary ingredient, and a single rootlet would do.
He lit a fierce fire, and the iron pot soon glowed red. Shen Ge picked up a few stones and put them inside, then placed a small bowl on top of them. Above the bowl, he arranged bamboo strips in the shape of a funnel. Once that was done, he tossed a stalk of Clear Brightness Grass and a short piece of Five-Leaf Ginseng into the funnel, then put the lid on the pot.
"What's he doing? Making medicine? With a dry pot over such a big fire, isn't he afraid of burning through the bottom?"
The question arose from the crowd watching the excitement, and many people quickly voiced their agreement.
"No matter how I look at it, that doesn't look like making medicine. What medicine shop in town makes it like that? Don't they all give you herbs to take home and simmer in water yourself?"
"Even the powdered medicines don't look like they're made that way. Personally, I think those are made by drying the herbs and grinding them up."
"Could this man be a swindler? But Han Wu's family has been as poor as can be for years. What do they have that's worth swindling?"
"I'd say there's an eighty percent chance he's after the Han family's daughter. Otherwise, why would he stay and claim he could treat illnesses when he clearly doesn't know a thing?"
"I think so too. Han Wu's daughter isn't as pretty as the young ladies from the town's wealthy families, but she's still a virtuous girl who can manage a household."