A Medicinal Ingredient

After hearing Liancui's account,

Everyone looked at one another.

At that moment, the observant Su Ziyang noticed that everyone present looked surprised, except Mr. Mengfei.

Ever since Su Ziyang and Fairy Li had entered the room, Mr. Mengfei had worn that same half-smiling expression, and he still wore it now.

With such a long course of illness and such bizarre symptoms, Old Daoist Master Xiao was at a loss for the moment.

All he could do was step forward and take Liancui's pulse.

Daoist Master Xiao took her pulse with great care. Three minutes passed, and the only sound in the room was people breathing.

"Alas!" Daoist Master Xiao sighed softly after taking her pulse.

He then turned to look at Mr. Mengfei.

Mr. Mengfei's expression remained unchanged when he saw Daoist Master Xiao looking at him.

Seeing that Mr. Mengfei said nothing, Daoist Master Xiao spoke. "Her pulse is entirely normal. She doesn't seem to be ill?"

Hearing this, Dazhuang, who had been hopeful, suddenly wilted like a flower.

Dazhuang and Liancui then looked into each other's eyes, and the disappointment in their eyes filled the whole room.

Dazhuang stroked Liancui's head with his rough hand. Liancui took his arm, then stood up.

Dazhuang was an honest, hardworking man. The couple had traveled nearly all over China because of this strange illness, seeing practitioners of both traditional Chinese and Western medicine.

At the end of their rope, they had been about to go home just like that when someone suddenly told them that Daoist medicine might have a way.

This was their last stop.

"Thank you, Old Daoist Master. And you too, Daoist Master Li. Thank you for your efforts!" Dazhuang's voice caught in a sob as he spoke.

Liancui, the one afflicted, lowered her head and said nothing.

A man loved her so much, yet she couldn't fulfill her responsibilities and obligations as a wife. What did it matter how capable she was?

Seeing the couple rise to leave, the old Daoist master looked somewhat apologetic and embarrassed.

Just as the two reached the door of the consultation room,

Someone suddenly spoke.

"Why are you leaving? We only said there was nothing physically wrong with her. Nobody said your problem couldn't be solved! Why are you two leaving in such a hurry!?"

It was Mr. Mengfei who had spoken.

His words shocked everyone in the room.

The couple, who had just been utterly dejected, instantly turned to look at Mr. Mengfei as if they had been charged back up.

Tears welled up in Dazhuang's eyes, and he dropped to his knees before Mr. Mengfei with a thump. "Really, doctor!? You mustn't lie to me!!"

As Dazhuang knelt before him, Mr. Mengfei stepped sideways, neatly avoiding his bow. "Oh, dear. Having someone kneel to me will shorten my life! Get up, get up, and we'll talk!"

Dazhuang stood up and wiped away his tears.

"Doctor! Please, hurry up and tell us! You're killing me here!" Dazhuang was frantic, and seeing Mr. Mengfei still taking his time without a trace of worry, he immediately urged him on.

No matter how anxious Dazhuang was, Mr. Mengfei remained unhurried. "What? You've waited twenty years, but you can't wait now? Young Daoist master, take Ms. Liancui outside first. The rest of us will discuss it."

The young Daoist master Mengfei meant was Fairy Li.

No one understood why.

But Liancui was eager to be treated, so when she heard the doctor tell her to go out, she went to the door of her own accord. Although Fairy Li didn't understand what Mr. Mengfei was doing, she did as instructed and took Liancui out of the third-floor consultation room.

When the two had left,

Old Daoist Master Xiao was the first to lose his composure. "Oh, come on, Mengfei. Hurry up and tell us! Are you trying to drive us to death with suspense?"

Dazhuang gazed eagerly at Mr. Mengfei.

Daoist Master Xiao Yang and Su Ziyang watched him eagerly too.

Su Ziyang was itching with impatience. He wanted nothing more than to grab Mr. Mengfei by the neck and force him to speak.

"Actually..." Seeing how anxious everyone was, Mr. Mengfei seemed to have an almost obsessive fondness for teasing people.

"The medicine for this illness is right here in this room!"

Damn it!!!

Su Ziyang was losing his mind.

Why does this man love keeping people in suspense so much?

Is he addicted to it or what!?

I really want to strangle him!

In fact, Su Ziyang wasn't the only one who thought so. Everyone present felt the same way, especially Dazhuang.

Dazhuang thought, If this doctor doesn't give us a proper explanation today, I'm going to pound him to death.

But everyone kept their thoughts to themselves. They were still waiting for him to reveal the answer.

Just as Su Ziyang's fingers involuntarily curled into fists, Mr. Mengfei pointed to a potted plant on the old Daoist master's windowsill.

"That! That's the medicine for this illness!"

Everyone turned to look at the plant on the windowsill.

"Chloranthus?" Daoist Master Xiao Yang had bought the plant and put it in her master's consultation room.

"This can treat the illness?"

Everyone was astonished.

The others all expressed doubts about what Mr. Mengfei had said, but Daoist Master Xiao, though surprised, showed no doubt.

He seemed to have great faith in Mr. Mengfei's words.

Mr. Mengfei shook his head. "Well, to be precise, it's the root we need, not the flowers."

Dazhuang was surprised at first, then doubtful, but in the end he chose to believe him.

Because he had nowhere else to turn.

"Oh, doctor, could you please stop keeping us in suspense!!! All right? I'm begging you. Just tell us how to use it!" The simple, honest Dazhuang finally couldn't take it anymore. He had voiced what everyone in the room was thinking.

Seeing how anxious everyone was, Mr. Mengfei seemed to have thoroughly satisfied his perverse taste for teasing them. "All right. Xiao Yang, dig that plant up, then cut off the roots and wash them thoroughly with water! They won't be ready to use until before evening!"

Daoist Master Xiao Yang obeyed this friend of her master's in everything. She immediately carried the flowerpot outside to deal with the plant.

Now that there was a solution, Dazhuang should have calmed down, but instead he grew even more anxious than before.

But seeing how calm and composed Mr. Mengfei and Old Daoist Master Xiao were, Dazhuang could only force himself to appear calm.

At that moment, Su Ziyang could no longer sit still. "Why are you so certain the root of this chloranthus can treat the illness?"

Mr. Mengfei seemed to be somewhat at odds with Su Ziyang. Hearing Su Ziyang's question, he raised an eyebrow and looked at him. "Why should I tell you? You're an academy student who can't even take a pulse!"

Hearing Mr. Mengfei needle Su Ziyang, Daoist Master Xiao coughed softly. "Mengfei, the younger generation is humbly asking for advice. How can you speak to him like that?"

Hearing Daoist Master Xiao, Mr. Mengfei gave a quiet snort. "How come I didn't see him humbly asking for advice?"

Su Ziyang's tone just now really hadn't sounded like a humble request for advice. Hearing Mengfei snap at him, and recalling how Mengfei had needled him upstairs earlier, Su Ziyang finally lost his patience. "Tch, the illness hasn't even been cured yet! What are you so proud of?"

Dazhuang listened to the two doctors bicker, silently staring into space at the side, not daring to say another word.

Seeing the two trade barbs, Old Daoist Master Xiao fell silent too.

He didn't know the newly arrived Su Ziyang very well, but he knew Mengfei extremely well. In his eyes, Mengfei had never lost a war of words.

Mr. Mengfei looked at Su Ziyang's indignant expression and chuckled. "We'll know tomorrow whether it works! Ignorant youngster!"

"What if it doesn't work?" Su Ziyang immediately shot back.

But as soon as Su Ziyang said this, before Mr. Mengfei could reply, Dazhuang suddenly spoke up. "Oh, young doctor, you mustn't say things like that. Of course I hope it works!!! The better it works, the better!"

Su Ziyang glanced at Dazhuang and didn't argue with Mr. Mengfei any further. After all, the patient's family was still present.

While they had been bickering, Xiao Yang came in carrying the chloranthus roots.

The soil on them had already been washed off.

Seeing Xiao Yang return, Mr. Mengfei began giving instructions. "Xiao Yang, in a little while, pound these chloranthus roots to a pulp in a mortar, then wrap them in gauze to make a long strip and put it in Liancui's birth canal!"

After listening, Xiao Yang took the chloranthus roots and went out again.

Once Xiao Yang had left, Mr. Mengfei turned to Dazhuang. "As for you, just stay at the Daoist temple tonight. You should see results tonight, and by tomorrow morning your wife should be completely cured! It won't recur after that!"

Dazhuang hurriedly nodded.

After Mr. Mengfei had finished giving his instructions, Old Daoist Master Xiao suddenly asked, "Mengfei, Young Doctor Su asked you for advice just now, and now these old bones of mine would also like to ask you. What strange ailment does this female benefactor have? And how are you so certain about the medicine you're using? Please enlighten us, Mr. Mengfei!"

Su Ziyang knew that Old Daoist Master Xiao and Mengfei were friends. Only after hearing Old Daoist Master Xiao's words did he understand what humility was.

Since Old Daoist Master Xiao had asked, Mengfei naturally offered no further refusal. He merely glanced at Su Ziyang, who stood to one side, and said softly, "You're getting a free lesson!"

Then Mr. Mengfei slowly began, "This illness is called ghost intercourse! The Classic of Gathering from Women says:

"The gathering woman asked: How does the illness of ghost intercourse arise? Peng Zu said: When yin and yang do not join and desire runs deep, a ghost or spirit assumes a false form and has intercourse with the person. Its way of intercourse can surpass that of a human. With prolonged encounters, the person becomes enthralled, conceals it out of shame, and refuses to tell anyone. Believing it to be wonderful, the person carries the secret to the grave, and no one knows.

"To test whether this is true, go deep into the mountains or great marshes in spring or autumn. Do nothing but gaze into the distance and ponder deeply, thinking only of the union of yin and yang. After three days and three nights, the body will suddenly alternate between chills and fever, the heart will grow restless, and the eyes will grow dizzy. A man will see a woman, and a woman will see a man, and they will engage only in intercourse, more wonderful than with a human. Yet it will surely make the person ill, and the illness will be difficult to treat, as the Qi of loneliness and resentment is overtaken by evil."

Mr. Mengfei recited a passage of classical text on the spot. Of the four people present, only Dazhuang failed to understand it; after hearing it, Su Ziyang and Old Daoist Master Xiao grasped most of it.

After reciting the passage, Mr. Mengfei continued to explain, "Actually, this illness is similar to a psychological disorder. If it's discovered and treated early, it isn't difficult to cure. The difficulty is that if someone has hallucinations because of their dreams and becomes immersed in them, then naturally, the longer the illness lasts, the harder it is to cure.

"Liancui belongs to the latter category. Having spent years immersed in it, she is naturally difficult to cure.

"The Classic of Gathering from Women actually contains a treatment for this illness. First, fumigate with sulfur, then take a little deer antler, that is, velvet antler. The dreams will naturally disappear, and the illness will naturally be cured.

"But sulfur fumigation is difficult to carry out, and velvet antler is too expensive! So I'm not using that method.

"The method I'm using comes from the Record of Reverence and Trust. The book says, 'Apply Chinese parasol tree oil to the private parts, and it will go away of itself; or apply chloranthus root.'

"This method is cheap and convenient, but Chinese parasol tree oil leaves things oily when applied, and I don't much like that. So I'm using the second option!"

When Mr. Mengfei finished speaking, Su Ziyang was utterly stunned!

He couldn't say he merely had no idea about this illness; he knew absolutely nothing about it.

He had never even heard of the illness, yet Mr. Mengfei could speak fluently about it off the top of his head, and he had two or three alternative treatments ready.

Su Ziyang had loved Chinese culture since childhood and often prided himself on how much he had read, yet he had never heard of the Classic of Gathering from Women or the Record of Reverence and Trust that Mr. Mengfei had mentioned.

Although he now understood this strange illness he had never heard of before, Su Ziyang felt his face burn when he recalled his earlier attitude toward Mr. Mengfei.

The breadth of Mr. Mengfei's reading and knowledge could crush him eight or nine times over!

Being mocked by someone like that seemed acceptable!