Sour-Sour Fruit

The middle-aged man named Hong Qiu climbed off Ban Ming and greeted Wu Jiong in a muffled voice. Then, clutching his forehead, he gave Ban Ming, who had just returned to human form, an irritated look. "Why were you running so fast? My head already hurt, and now it hurts even more."

Ban Ming pointed at Jian Mo. "He said he could treat you."

Everyone looked at Jian Mo.

Faced with their expectant gazes, Jian Mo practically wanted to fire off a triple denial: "It wasn't me, I didn't say that, don't talk nonsense."

Wu Jiong asked, "Can you give it a try?"

Jian Mo hesitated where he stood. "Let me think."

Wu Jiong said to Jian Mo, "Use a method that won't do any harm. Don't take risks."

Jian Mo gathered his thoughts and gave him a serious nod.

Jian Mo asked Hong Qiu to sit down, then asked what had caused him to fall ill.

Hong Qiu wiped his nose. "A few days ago, a Cave Ox chased me and tried to gore me. I had no choice but to jump into a pool to hide. I stayed in the water for a long time, and when I got back, I fell ill."

Jian Mo asked, "Was the water cold? Were you exposed to the wind on your way back?"

Hong Qiu said, "It was so cold my lips turned blue. I don't remember whether there was any wind. I was just cold."

It might have been a wind-cold, Jian Mo decided after a quick assessment. He asked, "Do you have any wounds? Does anything hurt?"

Jian Mo carefully asked a whole string of questions, then gave Hong Qiu a physical examination.

Hong Qiu was a little impatient, but he still cooperated with him.

After a cautious examination, Jian Mo said, "It might be a wind-cold. I don't have any medicine on hand, so if we're going to treat it, we might have to try gua sha."

Wu Jiong asked, "What's gua sha?"

Jian Mo picked up a bowl beside him. "You scrape along the meridians with a hard object to unblock them."

Many of those terms didn't exist here, and Jian Mo didn't know how to explain the unfamiliar concepts.

In the end, he could only say, "It's hard to explain. You'll understand when you see it. Aside from being a little painful, this treatment is basically risk-free. If you want me to treat him, it's the only method I can think of right now."

Wu Jiong and the others discussed it and ultimately decided to let Jian Mo try.

Jian Mo asked Hong Qiu to sit on a chair and bare his back, then took some of the freshly rendered beast fat and spread it evenly over his skin.

The beast fat smelled wonderful. Seeing Hong Qiu's back glisten with it, the beastmen couldn't help whispering among themselves.

Jian Mo ignored them. After carefully applying the fat, he began scraping gently, checking with Hong Qiu about the pressure.

He hadn't learned gua sha in college, but he had lived with his grandfather as a child and often helped him with it.

Even now, he remembered which meridians to scrape for different ailments.

He just didn't know whether beastmen's meridians were much the same, or whether scraping them would work.

Jian Mo scraped along the meridians, lightly at first, then harder. Purplish-red spots of blood slowly surfaced on the skin.

Ban Ming reached out and touched one. "It's hot," he said in surprise. "Hong Qiu, does it hurt?"

Hong Qiu kept his head lowered. "It hurts when he scrapes, not when you touch it. Keep your hands to yourself."

Ban Ming didn't listen. He took the opportunity to touch it again, making Hong Qiu so angry that he kicked his foot.

Jian Mo ignored their horseplay and carefully finished the gua sha. After checking that the skin hadn't broken, he took the bowl away, panting slightly, and said to Hong Qiu, "That's it. Go back and get some rest, and make sure you stay warm. You should feel a little better tomorrow."

Hong Qiu rolled his shoulders. "After you did that, I really do

feel

a little better."

Jian Mo said, "Wrap yourself in a beast hide. Don't catch another chill."

Wu Jiong said to Hong Qiu, "Go back and get a good night's sleep."

Then he turned to the others. "That goes for you too. Stop fooling around."

Once Wu Jiong had spoken, the others visibly toned it down. They said goodbye and headed out.

Jian Mo wasn't very familiar with them, so he said nothing and silently tidied up at the side.

Wu Jiong took the things from his hands. "Go upstairs and rest. You've done so much work, you must be tired."

Jian Mo shook his head. "I'm not that tired."

Wu Jiong took the things away. "I can handle it. Go on."

Jian Mo had no choice but to stop arguing with him.

"Oh, right." As Jian Mo was leaving, Wu Jiong called him back. "The food today was delicious. Thanks for the effort you put into Hong Qiu's gua sha too."

Jian Mo felt relieved and looked at Wu Jiong. "You're welcome. It's what I should do. And thank you for taking me in and looking after me all this time."

Chapter 3: Sour-Sour Fruit

The next morning, it wasn't quite light yet.

Jian Mo lay in the warm, soft beast hides, half asleep as he heard quiet voices outside.

"Why are you here so early?"

"Hahaha, when I got up this morning, my whole body felt so much better. I took my beast form and went for a run outside. I didn't expect to be so lucky—I happened to spot this Purple Bird. Give it to Jian Mo to eat, as thanks for helping me with the gua sha."

"I'll tell him when he wakes up."

"All right, I'll head back first..."

After listening for a while, Jian Mo realized that the people outside were probably Wu Jiong and Hong Qiu.

Was Hong Qiu over his illness?

Jian Mo woke up considerably. He threw off the beast hide covering him and decided to go downstairs and take a look.

To his surprise, by the time he got downstairs, Hong Qiu had already left.

He poked his head out for a look.

Wu Jiong was heating water by the hearth. When he saw Jian Mo come down, he pointed outside. "Hong Qiu just came by. He brought you a Purple Bird and said to thank you for the gua sha."

"I heard it upstairs," Jian Mo said. "Has he recovered?"

Wu Jiong put firewood into the hearth and nodded. "He said he was all right now."

Jian Mo breathed a sigh of relief. "That's wonderful."

Gua sha worked on beastmen too. That was wonderful.

Wu Jiong said, "The Purple Bird is by the door. Take a look."

Jian Mo nodded happily and went over to inspect it.

Beside the door lay a large blue-purple bird Jian Mo had never seen before. It was bigger than an ordinary duck and looked quite plump.

Jian Mo examined it and found that the Purple Bird's neck had been broken, though its body was still warm.