Baozhu Arrives
Early the next morning, the entrance of Huichuntang was already packed with people. A few had actually been carried in, and the people carrying them were in no better shape; the moment they set their burdens down, they collapsed headfirst onto the ground, gasping for huge breaths of air.
Inside Huichuntang, the atmosphere was just as grim. Before dawn had even broken, Liuzi and his wife had come pounding on the door with their child. They had three children, and overnight, all three had simultaneously come down with raging fevers that refused to break. By the time Xiaoyao saw them, the three children were already delirious with fever, their faces flushed bright red, completely unresponsive to any shouting. Liuzi's wife stood off to the side, wiping away tears. Liuzi's own eyes were bloodshot as he grabbed Xiao Liu and Asheng by the hands, demanding repeatedly:
"What should we do? What on earth are we supposed to do?"
"It's going to be fine!" Xiao Liu said in a tone of absolute calm. Hearing this, Liuzi felt a great deal of his anxiety settle.
Xiao Liu took the children's pulses one by one, rapidly scribbled out a prescription, and handed it to Old Mu.
"Old Mu, follow this prescription right away, brew the medicine, and make the children drink it. Asheng, come with me."
Xiao Liu pulled one of the children over, pointed to a spot on the arm, and said to Asheng:
"When dealing with delirious patients, use a needle on this spot. Children are harder to locate, so it's a bit different from what I taught you yesterday. Watch closely."
With a single thrust of Xiao Liu's needle, the child reacted a moment later. Vaguely, the little voice murmured, "Mother... Mother..." Then, while continuing to needle the other two children, Xiao Liu instructed Asheng on how to administer the needles and what precautions to take. Soon, all three children showed signs of improvement. Before long, Old Mu finished brewing the medicine, and the children drank it down. Xiao Liu then carefully took each of their pulses once again.
"They're going to be fine. Once they wake up from their sleep, the fever will break. It'll probably flare up again, but don't be scared. Just keep giving them the medicine on schedule. A few flare-ups are nothing to worry about; after a couple of days, they'll be completely better."
With a loud thud, Liuzi and his wife dropped to their knees, grabbing Xiao Liu's hands and shaking them desperately.
"Doctor Liu, you don't know—just last night, the child next door who usually plays with these kids of mine suddenly came down with a high fever just like this, passed out, and was gone in less than two hours." A big, burly man like Liuzi was now weeping openly, tears streaming down his face.
"What? Someone has already died?" Xiao Liu was deeply shocked.
Before the words had even faded, Huichuntang's front doors were hammered on violently. It wasn't yet time to open for the day, but clearly, the people outside could no longer wait.
Asheng hurried to open the doors, and was instantly overwhelmed by the situation before him. The moment Huichuntang's doors swung open, the room was instantly flooded by a surging crowd of people. Tumultuous shouts and the agonizing groans of patients mingled with the crying of adults and children, creating utter chaos. Xiao Liu gave Asheng a shove as the latter stood there dumbfounded, and said:
"Go examine the patients who can still move. The ones carried in from outside who can't move—leave them to me."
Then, calling over Liuzi:
"Go fetch your brothers, and have your wife watch the children. With things this chaotic outside, tell them to put their business aside for now and come help out at Huichuntang."
"Right, right, right!" Liuzi answered as he sprinted out the door.
In less time than it takes to drink a cup of tea, several family groups had arrived. For all his boasting, Liuzi was indeed the most capable among them. Without waiting for Xiao Liu to assign tasks, he divided the patients into two groups based on severity, and had them line up in the order of their arrival. He also assigned someone to take charge of dispensing the medicine. Fortunately, hearing that Huichuntang was short-handed, their former assistant had taken the initiative to return, which immediately relieved a great deal of the pressure.
Xiao Liu called Liuzi over once more and arranged for people to head to the back courtyard to prepare the decoctions. The severe cases lying outside could no longer wait; they needed to be administered medicine immediately. Throughout all this, Xiao Liu remained right outside Huichuntang's entrance, treating the patients who had been carried in. Regrettably, several patients passed away before they could be treated. Casting a fleeting glance at the wailing families beside them, Xiao Liu furrowed his brow deeply and hurried on to the next patient.
Before the morning was even half over, Old Mu came running out from the back courtyard and grabbed Xiao Liu by the sleeve, saying:
"We're running out of medicine! What do we do?"
Xiao Liu went back to inspect the courtyard and found that several key medicinal ingredients were nearly exhausted. Returning to the room, Xiao Liu pulled out a large money pouch, placed it in Liuzi's hands, and said:
"Take a few people down to the town's apothecary and buy medicine immediately. If they try to price-gouging, don't argue—just buy it on the spot. Saving lives comes first, so you don't need to save money for me."
After Liuzi left, Xiao Liu pulled out the large bundle. Only then did Old Mu notice that the sack was completely packed with herbs. It looked like a certain kind of grass, but he didn't recognize what it was. Xiao Liu pulled out a single stalk and handed it to him.
"Old Mu, go boil this in water and drink it yourself."
"What is this?"
"Qingyu. It can neutralize this plague. There are too many patients here right now, and you're getting older, which makes you more susceptible to infection."
"Then why not take it outside and give it to the patients?" Old Mu asked, thoroughly puzzled.
"Human bodies can't process this herb. Once I'm done dealing with these patients right now, I'll go formulate preventive medicine to distribute to those who aren't sick. Besides, I doubt Liuzi and the others will be able to buy much medicine anyway, so don't worry. By tomorrow at the latest, a delivery of medicine will arrive."
Old Mu looked at Xiao Liu, even more baffled.
Without offering further explanation, Xiao Liu rushed back out to treat the patients. As long as a patient had not yet breathed their last, Doctor Liu always found a way to hold onto that final thread of life. In no time at all, the rumor that Huichuntang's Doctor Liu could perform miracles spread rapidly across Qingshui Town. Over the next few days, people from neighboring villages and towns even made special trips to come to Huichuntang.
It wasn't until the sun was dipping toward the west that the chaos at Huichuntang finally subsided for a moment. But the most urgent problem right now was the medicine. Just as Xiao Liu had anticipated, Liuzi hadn't been able to buy very much. To his credit, he had been efficient, running through every single apothecary in the neighboring villages and towns. Yet because of the plague, herbal ingredients were in short supply everywhere; the meager amount he had managed to acquire with great effort was instantly used up the moment it was portioned out. Inside and out, Huichuntang was filled with people holding prescriptions, waiting in anxious despair.
Xiao Liu was still hard at work, handling severe cases exclusively. Lacking medicine for the moment, and desperate to keep his patients alive, Xiao Liu secretly resorted to channeling his spiritual energy. Yet his spiritual power was already meager to begin with, and such reckless consumption quickly left him physically drained. Beads of fine sweat gradually beaded along his temples, and his face turned pale.
No sooner had Xiao Liu finished needling a patient and stood up from the ground than a wave of dizziness washed over him, turning his vision pitch black.
"Doctor Liu, watch out!" Asheng caught Xiao Liu just as he was about to collapse.
"Doctor Liu, are you alright? Did you get infected too?" Asheng asked anxiously, one hand resting on Xiao Liu's shoulder.
Before Xiao Liu even felt his head slip out of control onto Asheng's shoulder, he was scooped up into another embrace and pulled tightly against a chest...
"Asheng, I've brought some medicinal ingredients—not many, but enough to deal with the immediate emergency."
"Baozhu, you're back?"
"Yeah, go on! Leave Doctor Liu to me!"
Though Asheng hesitated slightly, the medicine was a matter of utmost importance, so he hastily called someone to handle it.
A familiar scent instantly enveloped Xiao Liu. Baozhu? Who was Baozhu? Dazed and dizzy, before Xiao Liu could even make out the newcomer's face, a surge of pure spiritual energy slowly flowed in from his back...
Xiao Liu instantly felt his mind clear completely. Regaining his energy, Xiao Liu slowly turned around from within Baozhu's embrace, his hand still resting against the man's waist...
Greeting his eyes was an unfamiliar face. With fair skin, sharp facial features, and handsome brows, a pair of profound eyes were looking at him with deep concern. Meeting that gaze—a look that blended stern intensity with lingering tenderness—Xiao Liu felt his heart skip a beat, as if his soul had been captured in an instant. Supported thus by the man's waist, she stared fixedly at him, and both remained silent...