Chapter 17: Winning Big

Thus it was that Li Changan followed in Lyu Changning's footsteps, beginning his journey to tend to the displaced and ailing commoners.

In the beginning, because all of Li Changan's knowledge was derived solely from texts and he possessed no actual experience in curing illness and saving lives, he could only manage the boiling of herbs and serve as an assistant, while Lyu Changning remained the primary healer.

Yet within a mere few days, Li Changan swiftly reversed their roles.

Ailments that Lyu Changning could not comprehend, Li Changan could diagnose.

People Lyu Changning could not cure, Li Changan could save.

Many afflictions that in Lyu Changning's eyes were undeniably fatal would, under Li Changan's miraculous touch, invariably yield a miracle.

One had to remember that Lyu Changning had studied Daoist arts under his master since childhood, and though medicine was not his primary discipline, his skills were by no means comparable to those of mere rustic village doctors.

Yet before Li Changan, it was as if he had suffered a strike from a higher dimension, rendered completely incapable of even standing as a peer.

Though they were in a time of exceptional crisis, every time he witnessed the terrifying efficiency of Li Changan when he opened a consultation, Lyu Changning could not help but feel a lingering sense of trepidation.

This junior brother of his was omniscient and omnipotent, truly like a celestial deity descended into the mortal realm.

That these plague-stricken commoners could encounter him at this juncture was perhaps the very last vestige of heaven's benevolent virtue.

...

In the process of healing and saving lives, the two witnessed once more scenes of utter misery, and Li Changan felt as though his chest had been struck heavily by a massive hammer, suffocating him into silence.

If it was so for him, it was even worse for Lyu Changning, who spent nearly night after night unable to sleep.

No wonder his eyes had been bloodshot during their last meeting, looking as though he suffered from ophthalmia.

A scene such as this, akin to a living purgatory on earth, would inevitably stir the heart of anyone possessing a normal moral conscience.

The two journeyed upstream along the river, and the closer they drew to the source where the river had breached its banks, the more severe the disaster in the villages became; at first they were deeply moved, but after seeing too much of it, a certain numbness began to set in.

Happy lives are always cast from the same mold.

Miserable lives are each wretched in their own way.

Upon reaching any village, Lyu Changning would set up a stove to boil medicinal decoctions, distributing them freely to the displaced commoners.

Meanwhile, Li Changan held the rear, responsible for formulating the specialized medicine, striving to completely eradicate the plague.

Yet even though they wore out all the medical texts they could currently find and tried every relevant prescription recorded within them, they still could not find a way to thoroughly resolve this pestilence.

They could only watch helplessly as commoner after commoner died in agony before their eyes.

To radically cure this plague, Li Changan began to pore over medical texts through entire nights, combining his modern knowledge of epidemic prevention with that sudden spark of inspiration brought by his heaven-defying comprehension...

Finally, after enduring an unknown number of failures, he formulated a prescription.

"With heaven-defying comprehension, you pore over medical texts tirelessly, and by combining them with the symptoms of the treated patients, you have successfully comprehended the prescription: Amrita Plague-Dispersing Decoction."

Beneath the faintly burning oil lamp, upon seeing the information displayed on his retina, Li Changan finally exhaled a heavy breath of turbid air and closed his long-wearied eyes.

This was the first time he had closed his eyes in three days.

Inside the village, commoners were dying with every passing minute, while outside, the corpses collapsed silently along both sides of the road were too numerous for even the flatbed carts to haul away.

Li Changan dared not delay for a single instant; the moment he obtained the prescription, he rushed out of the room, called out to Lyu Changning who was still holding consultations next door, and said in an urgent tone, "Senior Brother, this is a prescription I have just formulated. It should be effective in treating this plague. Let us divide our forces; I will deliver the formula to the government office, and you take the prescription to heal the sick and save lives!"

Looking at the small slip of paper in Li Changan's hand, a sudden wave of intense, ecstatic surprise erupted in Lyu Changning's eyes.

After spending so much time together, he had naturally long since come to admire Li Changan's character and capabilities with utter reverence, and he likewise knew that although Li Changan was still young in years, he never spoke without aim.

If he said this prescription was effective, then it must truly be effective.

Therefore, without the slightest doubt, he took the prescription and went to compound the medicine.

Li Changan himself could not spare time for rest, hurrying through the darkness toward the Sanhuang County Yamen with the prescription in hand.

Yet when he reached the gates of the county yamen, he discovered that its great doors were already tightly shut; he sought out a half-dead beggar lying by the roadside and inquired, "Why is there no one here? Where is Magistrate Chai?"

That beggar, drained of strength by hunger, rasped hoarsely, "The magistrate lord long ago fled to seek refuge with his wives and concubines. If you have grievances or hardships, wait for your next life to cry out for justice!"

Li Changan was left speechless.

He looked up at the towering, majestic county yamen, then looked at the snow-white funeral banners hanging along both sides of the county seat; saying nothing, he turned and walked away.

Since the power of the government was unreliable, he could only rely on personal strength.

Li Changan and Lyu Changning split into two routes, beginning to set up cauldrons and boil medicine in several heavily afflicted townships.

Upon hearing the news, many surrounding commoners came to the medical stalls holding onto a final shred of hope, originally believing they would almost certainly fail to escape death, yet they did not expect that after pouring down a few bowls of the decoction, a great number of people were actually cured.

With this, the entire lower reaches of the Sanhuang River erupted into a frenzy.

The commoners were exhilarated, and people continuously sang praises of Li Changan and Lyu Changning as divine physicians.

Li Changan remained composed, but Lyu Changning was thoroughly ashamed, waving his hands repeatedly to say that this decoction was not formulated by him, but was a prescription his junior brother had poured his heart and soul into creating.

But no matter what, the news that someone could cure the plague spread swiftly, and more and more commoners suffering under the pestilence in the lower reaches of the Sanhuang River arrived upon hearing the word.

Of course, those who could travel thousands of miles just to seek a single strand of survival were basically all impoverished commoners with nowhere else to turn.

Ordinary wealthy households mostly possessed their own private doctors, and would never run over to squeeze together with a crowd of mud-legged peasants for the sake of a rumored piece of news.

That would be an insult to refinement.

And Li Changan did not hoard his knowledge; he not only boiled medicine for these commoners, but also distributed the prescription free of charge, letting them return home to gather the herbs and take it themselves, wishing only to save more people.

In the blink of an eye, three whole months passed, and the plague in the lower reaches of the Sanhuang River was finally effectively contained; Li Changan had already become a divine figure who delivered people from suffering in the hearts of the surrounding populace.

As for Li Changan himself, though he was exhausted to the limit because of this, his harvest was also exceedingly bountiful.

"Defying fate successfully."

"At the age of six, through a single Amrita Plague-Dispersing Decoction, you saved tens of thousands of people from fire and water, successfully rewriting the fates of countless commoners in the lower reaches of the Sanhuang River."

"Reincarnation evaluation has risen; rewarded with one thousand reincarnation points."

"Defying fate successfully."

"At the age of six, through practicing martial arts, you rewrote the fate of being killed by a hound demon, and through healing the sick and saving lives, you earned renown in the county seat where you reside."

"Reincarnation evaluation has risen; rewarded with two thousand reincarnation points."

Looking at the information on his retina, Li Changan let out a long breath of relief; in this defiance of fate, he had not only rewritten his own destiny but also the destinies of many people, and most importantly, he had garnered a significant wave of prestige along with it.

It was truly a case of the First Emperor eating Sichuan peppercorns—completely victorious and numb with success.

However, just when Li Changan thought the matter of the plague had come to a close and he could finally halt his steps to rest for a period of time, the appearance of a group of fully armed officials and soldiers caused his heart to sink straight to the very bottom.

...