Chapter 4: Saving the World and Rescuing People

  The bright moonlight is like a layer of gauze sprinkled on the ground, and a quiet ripples like water in the entire night sky, only occasionally one or two wild beasts' calls are heard wandering in this desolate wilderness.

  In a dilapidated thatched cottage, from the outside of the door, one could see a heap of firelight flickering. The black smoke from the burning dead branches was suffocating the already dark cottage. Inside the temple, the broken statue seemed to be gazing down at the youth in green clothes who was absent-mindedly roasting a wild rabbit by the fire.

  This young man is Yu Feng, who set out from the mountains more than four months ago. He started from Jiujiang and traveled through De'an, Nanchang, Chongren, Taining to his current location in Nanping. His destination for this month is Fuzhou. More than four months of traveling alone have made the youthful appearance on Yu Feng's face disappear, replaced by a sense of weariness that he shouldn't have at his age.

  During this period, half of the time was spent camping in the suburbs, and only when encountering larger towns on the road would he go in to rest for a day or two, taking the opportunity to treat illnesses for some poor families who couldn't afford medical expenses. He himself now had only a few copper coins on him, and if he hadn't been reluctant to use them, he would have been penniless long ago. However, Yu Feng didn't care about this, because most of his nights were spent on the road, catching fish in rivers when he encountered water, and catching one or two wild beasts when he encountered mountains. If there was leftover meat, it could be made into dried rations.

  And Yu Feng never gave up his martial arts training, although Zhang Lao always called him a natural genius, he also knew that there was no such thing as true talent in this world, it all depended on whether one put their heart into it. If he were to become disheartened and give up now, within a few years, his martial skills would stagnate and decline.

  Since you have this talent, why not let yourself go further on this basis?

  Every day, despite being very tired from his training, he never spent more than an hour sleeping, and instead used meditation to regulate his breath and wash away fatigue. Although he hadn't made great progress, he could feel himself taking step by step towards another unknown path of martial arts cultivation.

  This feeling is hard to describe in words, it's not just progress in terms of touch, hearing, smell and vision, but also growth in spirit. It's like before I was facing a pond with ripples blown by the wind, now it's like facing a lake without any waves, reflecting all things in minute detail, a sight to behold.

  Yu Feng roasted the wild rabbit, tore off a thick and plump leg, and slowly swallowed it. In his heart, he thought that although his cultivation had made great progress, he was actually trapped in an unknown bottleneck, and it was very difficult to take another step forward.

  It's possible that it will be like this for another decade or so if there is no opportunity.

  .

  Although he didn't expect to make a rapid breakthrough, he couldn't find the direction of that breakthrough, so he felt confused and disheartened. Zhang Lao had already left, and no one could point out where his future direction lay. Moreover, even if Zhang Lao were still around, he might not have known the direction of his own cultivation, because his own attainments had surpassed Zhang Lao's more than a year ago, and Zhang Lao's experience in this regard was not applicable to him.

  Yu Feng's actual purpose of traveling far and wide was also to hope that while touring around, he could meet one or two legendary masters who could slightly point him in the right direction. Unfortunately, over the past four months, he had seen many people, including a few with martial arts skills, but compared to them, he seemed like a master playing games in the Jianghu, let alone letting someone guide him.

  In the distance, a haze of uncertainty, alas, I don't know where the road is. Tomorrow we can reach Nanping, hoping to gain something along the way. After finishing the roasted rabbit, Yu Feng slightly tidied himself up and began meditating again.

  The city wall of Nanping was built in the late Song and early Yuan dynasties. The city wall is long from east to west, short from south to north, with a circumference of nine miles, two feet five inches high, six feet thick, with more than 2,400 battlements, and ten gates, which were changed to nine in the Ming dynasty. There are East Gate, Jianxiao Gate, Yanshao Gate, Yangda Gate, South Gate, West Gate, North Gate, etc. On the bricks of the city wall, there is a relief inscription "Yangjun City Brick" in four characters.

  He glanced up at the city wall, which was already quite dilapidated. He remembered his grandfather teaching him a poem about Nanping, "Yanping City": "A solitary castle with stone steps, wine curtains swaying east and west. After a burst of white rain, the creek surged, and the green mountains on both banks cried out with bamboo and chickens." It was probably written by Liu Zhang of the Ming dynasty. Yu Feng smiled self-deprecatingly, adjusted the bundle on his shoulder, and entered the city.

  When passing by the city gate, Yu Feng saw a medical notice, which should be posted by a wealthy family in Nanping. Ordinary people can't post such a medical notice at the entrance of the city gate. Although he only took a glance while passing by, he remembered the address of the wealthy family. He thought to himself that he would go and take a look later, his money was running out soon, maybe he could even earn some travel expenses. Children and old people are most likely to get sick, it shouldn't be an ordinary illness, the notice had been there for quite some time and hadn't been torn down yet, it must be something tricky.

  At the restaurant not far from the city gate, he had a bowl of plain noodles for dinner and drank half a gourd of poor wine. After spending all the money on his body, Yu Feng finally got up, picked up his package, and walked towards the Li family's house that he had just seen on the bulletin board.

  It's indeed a wealthy family, and just by asking around, I found out where his house is. Yu Feng stopped in front of a mansion gate, which had a pair of stone lions at the entrance, a large red-painted door with a sign that read "Li Manor" in two big characters, and lanterns hung on either side.

  He went up and explained the situation to the servant, who looked at Yu Feng with a skeptical eye, seemingly not believing that Li Feng could cure the young master's illness at such a young age. However, he didn't dare say much and told Yu Feng to wait for a moment while he went to inform the old master. After all, he also knew that the young master had been ill for almost ten days, and every famous doctor in the city had seen him, but none of them could cure him. At this time, it was not up to him to drive the doctor away.

  "This young man has come to treat my son's illness, please come in! Come in! Li Yi, hurry up and serve tea!" Along with the servant from that family came a middle-aged man, his face full of anxiety, these days he had been feeling unwell at heart.

  Although there are many wives and concubines in the mansion, there is only one son. Eight or nine days ago, he returned from outside on the same night and fell ill. Until now, it's unknown how many skilled doctors have been invited, but the illness has become more severe instead. Fortunately, a traveling doctor came from afar, although he looks a bit young, who can guarantee that he doesn't have extraordinary medical skills?

  Even an ordinary person can see that his son's life is not long, so this middle-aged man shows such urgency. Even if Yu Feng is a swindler, he has accepted it, as long as he can cure his son's illness, with a glimmer of hope, he does not want to let go.

  Old Master Li invited Yu Feng into the house and immediately had a servant bring in two cups of high-quality Yunwu tea.

  "What's your honorable surname, young man? I don't know which famous doctor you studied under. My humble name is Li, and it would be a great honor if you could call me Elder Li." Old Master Li was holding a cup of tea in his heart, but he had no mind to drink tea and chat.

  "My surname is Yu, Mr. Li, you don't have to be so polite, just call me Yufeng. I learned medicine from my late grandfather since I was a child, although he wasn't famous, his medical skills were exceptional. If you trust me, let's go take a look at the patient first. After all, treating the illness is what matters most."

  "Alright, alright, you're a polite young man. Let's go take a look at my son first, he's still lying in bed, it's been over ten days now. Don't laugh at me, I'm worried sick about him. If you can cure my son's illness, I'll definitely reward you well." Li Lao Ye heard that Yu Feng was going to treat his son right away and felt a surge of joy in his heart. Because of this, the young man in front of him seemed even more extraordinary. Who would reveal their skills so early if they didn't have something up their sleeve? Li Lao Ye had dealt with many people in his life and was skilled at reading people's intentions.

  Yu Feng followed Li Lao Ye to the room in the east wing and saw a fourteen or fifteen year old boy lying asleep on the carved wooden bed.

  When he saw him, the young man was pale. Li Feng lifted the quilt and took the boy's hand to take his pulse, and then looked at his face and eyes. But soon, Yu Feng seemed to have found something, and pulled down a part of the boy's clothes, only to find that there were indeed some red swellings on his body as expected.

  "Li Bo, when did he start getting sick? Did he say anything before he got sick, and had he gone anywhere before he got sick?" Yu Feng put down the young man's hand and asked Li Lao Ye with narrowed eyes.

  "This child came back 17 or 18 days ago in the afternoon, that day at noon he went out to play with some friends, and when he came back he was fine, but at night he suddenly fell ill, when he came back he didn't say anything, just said he was a bit tired, after dinner he went to sleep, but that night he cried out in pain." Mr. Li said thoughtfully.

  "For these past ten or so days, I don't even know how many doctors I've asked to come and take a look, but this child's illness just hasn't gotten any better. Just the other day he was still able to get out of bed and eat some things, but for the past couple of days, when he wakes up he can only drink a little water, and everything he eats he throws right back up. Young master, please take a close look at this child's illness - is it even curable?" Old Master Li said, his eyes brimming with tears."

  "Li Bo, don't worry, he didn't come back that night with itching, fever, headache, and nausea. The next day, his skin turned red and swollen, and the nausea got worse over the past three or four days, and he started to show signs of vomiting. Yesterday and today, no matter what he ate, he vomited?" Yu Feng habitually touched his nose and asked.

  "Yes, yes, this child had a headache that night and was itchy all over. The next day, he found that his whole body was swollen. These days, he often vomits after eating." Mr. Li heard Yu Feng accurately describe these symptoms with some delight.

  "It's a good thing it's only been over ten days, if it had exceeded twenty-five days, it would have been troublesome. I can cure him, but this isn't an illness, he was poisoned, bitten by a red-backed centipede, look at this, the wound is very small, and when this centipede bites, it doesn't hurt much at first, just a slight numbness or itchiness, but later on, the symptoms are the same as your son's." Yu Feng thought for a moment before saying, then muttered to himself. "It's just that these red-backed centipedes rarely appear around here, they're mostly found in the south."

  "Great, you can cure it! My son's illness is finally going to be saved. You're really the savior of our family!" Mr. Li heard that Yufeng could cure the disease and also changed his address from "little brother" to "young doctor".

  "Fortunately, it didn't take too long. If it had taken a few more days, by the time this place turns blue, even gods would find it hard to save him. For the next few days, you should prepare some nourishing food for him to eat. I'll give you two prescriptions later, one to expel the poison and another to tonify his body. Let your servants follow the prescription to buy medicine in town. First, I'll use a silver needle to clear out some of the poison; otherwise, he'll still vomit even after taking the medicine." Yu Feng said to Li Laoye, pointing at the swollen red spot where he was bitten.

  "Alright, alright, everything will be fine with Dr. Xiao's help. It's truly a blessing for my son to have met Dr. Xiao! Xiaochun, bring paper, pen and ink, let Dr. Xiao write the prescription." Mr. Li's mood also brightened up after hearing Yu Feng speak so confidently.

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