Chapter 121 — Wei Zhao Is a Divine Physician [Begging for Monthly Tickets, Begging for Monthly Tickets — Please Spare No Effort in Casting Your Monthly Tickets, Old Fish Is Infinitely Grateful — Third Update]

"No, nothing of the sort..." Guan Xuewen shook his head. "Traditional Chinese medicine is truly profound and vast. Today I have well and truly broadened my horizons. A few ordinary herbs, when put together, produce such wondrous effects... Though I still do not understand the pharmacology behind it, the fact that it works for you proves the prescription is no sham."

"Then I can take it without worry?" Yang Huaijun had previously taken the medicine without the slightest scruple, purely out of his trust in Wei Zhao. On the battlefield, a man to whom you could entrust your back—what was there left that you could not trust him with? How could he possibly do you harm?

But now, hearing Guan Xuewen's affirmation of the prescription, Yang Huaijun was astonished beyond measure. Even Guan Xuewen said so—that in itself proved how miraculous the prescription was.

"Of course you can. The one who gave you this prescription must be a master of the traditional Chinese medical world..." Guan Xuewen sighed. "Naturally, I am not fishing for his name. It is only that, if the chance arises, I should like to meet him and consult him on a few questions..."

"That... Grandpa Guan, if I see him again, I will pass your words on to him... but..." Here Yang Huaijun hesitated, somewhat put on the spot.

"I understand. If he will not see me, that is no matter either. Heh heh... I still have that much self-awareness. Divine physicians are all rather busy, after all..." Guan Xuewen said understandingly.

Divine physician? Yang Huaijun was thrown into a whirl. Wei Zhao, a divine physician? All he knew was that on the battlefield Wei Zhao was a god of war; he had never known him to be a divine physician too... True, the wound medicine he had brought from his hometown was remarkably effective, but "divine physician"... that image was a far cry from the man.

"All right... I will pass it on..." Yang Huaijun nodded. He could hardly say more.

"Good, then. Little Yang, you look to be in fine spirits—clearly this prescription has done its work. In that case, so long as your body does not develop a tolerance to it, keeping on like this should pose no problem at all." Guan Xuewen had been observing Yang Huaijun ever since he entered the room. Traditional Chinese medicine set great store by "observation"—the inspection of the patient's spirit, complexion, form, bearing, and tongue, conducted with purpose, so as to infer the disorders of the internal organs. Through a vast accumulation of clinical practice, Chinese physicians had gradually come to recognize that the exterior of the body—especially the face, the tongue proper, and the tongue coating—stood in the closest relation to the internal organs.

If there were changes in the yin and yang, the qi and blood of the internal organs, they were bound to be reflected on the body's surface. As the "Spiritual Pivot — Root of the Organs" chapter says: "Observe the outward signs to know the inward organs, and the disease will be known."

And Bian Que, that peerless divine physician of old, determined the illness of Duke Huan of Cai precisely through such "observation." Bian Que looked upon Lord Huan and turned away without a word—showing that a single glance told him the man was beyond saving, whereupon he simply took his leave.

Though Guan Xuewen had not yet attained Bian Que's level, Yang Huaijun's complexion was plainly much better than before—that much he could see—and it was clearly the result of taking that Chinese herbal prescription.

"Then the painkillers can be stopped?" This was good news indeed. Yang Huaijun had not expected that his miraculous captain would hand him yet another great surprise.

"Of course they can be stopped—even the acupuncture is no longer needed," Guan Xuewen said. "The acupuncture before was merely to rouse your spirits, stimulate the nerves, and ease the damage the painkillers were doing to them. But now there is no need. You are glowing with vigor from head to toe, so you have no more need of me..."

"Grandpa Guan... that is not what I meant..." Yang Huaijun grew flustered at once. "My friend's prescription... I..."

Yang Huaijun truly found it hard to explain. He feared Guan Xuewen might take offense. After all, he had been coming to Guan Xuewen for treatment all along, and then midway he had suddenly taken a prescription given by someone else without a word of notice beforehand—which more or less implied a lack of trust in the old man. Yet the one who had given him the prescription was someone Yang Huaijun truly could not refuse.

Compared with Guan Xuewen, Yang Huaijun's bond with Wei Zhao was the closer one.

"Heh heh, look at you, little Yang—what are you so nervous about? That you have found a more formidable divine physician to treat you is something I can only be glad of. That I no longer give you acupuncture is simply because there truly is no need." Guan Xuewen saw through Yang Huaijun's worry and explained with a smile. "Besides, as I said, to meet such a personage even once would make me happy enough. Beside him, I could at most call myself an apprentice. Why would I be displeased over such a thing?"

"So that is how it is—I was overthinking it..." Yang Huaijun breathed a sigh of relief. "Grandpa Guan, I will certainly pass your meaning on to him. But whether he will agree to meet... that I cannot decide..."

"Naturally." Guan Xuewen nodded. "Little Yang, even after the acupuncture stops, come and see this old man from time to time. We have kept each other company so long—if you suddenly stopped coming, I would rather miss you."

"Rest assured, Grandpa Guan. I will come by whenever I have time." Yang Huaijun agreed.

Leaving Guan Xuewen's villa, Yang Huaijun decided to go and find Wei Zhao, to tell him about Guan Xuewen and about the prescription—after all, he had taken it upon himself to show it to Guan Xuewen.

That morning, Wei Zhao took the leftovers he had packed up from Gu Pengzhan's family banquet the day before and made a mixed fried rice. He took a bite himself and left the rest for Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu.

Then he returned to his room, gathered up the Chinese herbal medicine he had brewed for Yang Huaijun, and prepared to deliver it if he had time that day...

As the saying goes, a man who takes a gift is beholden, and one who eats another's food is soft-spoken. Having eaten the fried rice Wei Zhao made, Gu Mengyao, oddly enough, did not give him any sour looks today; instead her little face was flushed pink. Surprised, Wei Zhao thought to himself: Has this girl changed her tactics? Seeing that she cannot drive me off, is she preparing to torment me some other way?

After all, he had once had a little misunderstanding with Gu Mengyao... She had drunk the soda that had his saliva on it. To him it was nothing much, but for a rather conservative girl who had never had a boyfriend, it was a somewhat serious matter...

So Wei Zhao could understand why Gu Mengyao glared at him so; it was no big deal. As for Shen Yushu, she looked at things entirely from the standpoint of a bystander, so his relationship with her was different again.

"Wei Zhao? You're not eating?" Gu Mengyao glanced at Wei Zhao as he came out of the room and asked.

"I've already eaten. You two go ahead." Wei Zhao had changed back into that school uniform.

"Oh, why are you wearing the school uniform again? What about the clothes I bought you yesterday?" Gu Mengyao looked at the uniform on Wei Zhao and frowned. The school did not force students to wear uniforms; this was high school, not as strict as elementary school. Students whose families were a little better off would not wear uniforms all day long...

Of course, Tang Zhi was the exception, her family being truly badly off, yet even the uniform could not hide her beauty... The title of the school beauty from an ordinary family had long been ringing in the ears of Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, this school beauty who was named alongside the two of them...