Enlightenment: Beginning as a Disposable Warrior-Chapter 49 - 47: Suspicions About Gu Poison, Counterfeit Pill
The person behind him seems to have stepped out from Pharmacist Lin’s painting that day, his appearance unchanged, but the meaning in his words shocked Su Mu, allowing him to recognize the person’s identity.
A few days ago, Su Mu met a Medicinal Farmer in Qingshui Town, but their earliest encounter dates back to the dense forest behind Black Mountain Rebel Army.
At first, Su Mu denied his identity during their meeting in Qingshui Town to avoid unnecessary trouble. Su Mu carefully observed the Medicinal Farmer back then and was sure that he didn’t see anything amiss; everything seemed normal on the farmer’s face, at least no flaws were visible to him.
With Su Mu’s exceptionally keen vision, he couldn’t see any signs up close, and ordinary people certainly couldn’t see anything at all.
Disguise Technique?
"What a masterful disguise technique!"
Su Mu thought to himself, feeling another layer of suspicion. How did Pharmacist Lin, after having only one face-to-face encounter while masked, recognize him so easily?
The world is indeed full of wonders, and Pharmacist Lin is a remarkable person.
Noticing Su Mu’s eyes flicker, Pharmacist Lin realized Su Mu had recognized him, and after musing for a while, called out.
"Xiaoyue, Xiaoyue."
Light footsteps could be heard approaching.
"Xiaoyue, go and bring some patients outside the courtyard into the medical hall first, then hang a wooden plaque saying the master is unwell and closing the hall for a day."
"Young friend, come with me."
The pharmacist gave an instruction, and as the Little Doctor responded and was about to leave, she showed a puzzled expression, muttering the word "young friend." She hadn’t yet introduced the young man to her master, and the young man shouldn’t have met the master, yet they seemed to already know each other?
She paused in her tracks, turned around, and spoke.
"Master, this young man is..."
"Hmm, I know. I’ve met the young friend several times."
The Little Doctor was even more confused now; her master clearly said upon returning that he’d never met him, yet today he’s changed his words. While puzzled, she decided to complete the tasks given by the master first and find an opportunity to ask later.
The Little Doctor jogged ahead to the study, while Su Mu followed the old doctor. As Su Mu passed by, he saw the Little Doctor writing ’Closed Today’ on a wooden plaque with elegant yet practiced strokes.
Su Mu was slightly surprised; he had thought it was Pharmacist Lin’s handwriting, but it was actually written by the Little Doctor.
"Xiaoyue is not very interested in medical skills, but her calligraphy and painting are quite good."
The two arrived at the sickroom, and Pharmacist Lin asked Su Mu to lie down, "Young friend, I need to see the Gu poison within you myself first."
Pharmacist Lin spread out the silver needle roll, and his previously gentle demeanor changed to fully exhibit the poise of a healer, making Su Mu hopeful about the detoxification.
Although his needle work seemed slow, it was precise and swift, clean and efficient with no excess, showcasing his medical skill.
Su Mu was a bit taken aback. If Pharmacist Lin had been administering the needles rather than the Little Doctor, even given half a month or longer, he might not have been able to learn the basics.
"The Little Doctor... might have intentionally slowed down her movements?"
At this moment, Su Mu couldn’t help but entertain the thought, but then reconsidered that it probably wasn’t the case. Perhaps it was just good fortune, like a blind cat meeting a dead mouse.
Soon, Su Mu noticed that the acupoints where the pharmacist administered the needles differed slightly from the Little Doctor’s few days ago, but those subtle changes in a few acupoints made Su Mu’s chest suddenly feel tight.
This feeling was not unfamiliar to Su Mu, but earlier it required the Little Doctor to press before it appeared, while today Pharmacist Lin achieved it directly through the silver needle.
"Medical skill, like the Martial Dao, is boundless... Perhaps what I learned in those few days is merely the tip of the iceberg!"
The young man mused to himself, and instead of being discouraged, his eyes shone brightly with a growing interest in medical skills.
"Young friend, please sit up. I will first help you expel some of the poisonous blood."
"Alright."
Su Mu followed the instructions, and soon the poisonous blood flowed steadily into the stone basin, another silver needle was rendered useless. Pharmacist Lin had heard from Xiaoyue that Su Mu’s Gu poison could corrode silver needles, but witnessing it still made the pharmacist’s expression change involuntarily.
"Such fierce toxicity... is truly the most intense I’ve seen in my life."
The pharmacist collected the poisonous blood, "I will now examine the young friend’s body further."
After checking the pulse, the pharmacist showed a mix of frown and shock; he had just discerned Su Mu’s bone age, about fourteen or fifteen years old.
That day, as Su Mu dared to venture alone into the fray of two armies, the pharmacist had some guesses about Su Mu’s martial prowess.
Fourteen or fifteen years old, in the Eighth Grade Bone Forging Realm!
The pharmacist was startled; he previously remarked he had never seen such a monstrous talent, and now he encounters it. The only lament is that Su Mu’s extraordinary talent is in the Martial Dao.
"Young friend, do you know when you were poisoned?"
"About two years ago."
Since you know you were poisoned two years ago, why wait until now to seek help?
This peculiarity made the pharmacist even more suspicious. He vaguely felt that this young man, Su Mu, had many secrets. However, everyone has secrets in this world, so the pharmacist did not pursue the matter further.
"I heard Xiaoyue mention that you feel like there are insects gnawing inside you on rainy days, and your hands and feet become icy cold, is that correct?"
"Spot on."
After speaking, Su Mu took out the last pill he had on him. "This is a medicine given to me by a wandering traveler. I take one whenever the poison acts up."
"Oh? Could you let me take a look, young friend?"
"Of course."
Su Mu handed over the antidote. The pharmacist gently pinched it, placed it under his nose, and took a sniff with his eyes closed. "Blood Ginseng... Danggui... White Spoon..."
Su Mu felt nothing when the first medicinal ingredient was mentioned, but as the pharmacist listed six or seven more, Su Mu was shocked. These ingredients matched those distinguished by Doctor Xiao in the village back then.
After smelling it carefully, the pharmacist furrowed his brows further. He hesitated before speaking, "May I take a bit to test, young friend?"
"Please do, pharmacist."
The pharmacist, in front of Su Mu, used his fingernail to take a small bit of the pill, placed it into a vessel, and crushed it into powder. He then dabbed his finger in it and tasted it. After a moment, the pharmacist looked directly at Su Mu.
"Could you recall if there were any other unique occurrences over these two years?"
"Pharmacist, is there something wrong with the pill?"
The pharmacist quickly shook his head, "There’s nothing unusual about this medicine. It’s made of tonic ingredients, and they are quite premium, close to fifty years old."
"If such a tonic can alleviate the Gu poison... the Gu poison in your body might be more troublesome than imagined." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶
Su Mu was startled by these words. Back then, Doctor Xiao in the village mentioned twenty or thirty years, but Pharmacist Lin said fifty years. Su Mu trusted Pharmacist Lin more.
"That wandering traveler might have had good intentions... but did a bad deed. This pill is not for alleviation; it might even nourish and grow the Gu insect inside you."
"And the relief of the poison after taking the pill is only an illusion. Perhaps it only causes the Gu insect to fall into a temporary slumber due to the ample nourishment."
Upon hearing this, Su Mu’s heart trembled, as if the clouds had parted to reveal the clear sky!
He had speculated before when he discovered that the antidote was full of tonic components. Now, after hearing the pharmacist’s words, he suddenly had an epiphany and a hypothesis.
Back then, the rescued condemned prisoners were divided into four batches: A, B, C, and D. The A and B batches were the first to be taken away by some lavishly dressed people. Looking back now, with Su Mu’s current perspective, those people were Grade-Entering Martial Artists, and their realm was by no means low!
After A and B came C, and finally, their D batch of condemned prisoners.
"My initial guess was wrong... Not all condemned prisoners were qualified to be cultivated as Death Warriors."
"After identifying their bone quality, the four batches had different arrangements... The D batch with the poorest bone quality might have been abandoned from the start. The person in charge didn’t meet with an accident but acted according to a predetermined plan."
"Under normal circumstances, I should already be dead by now; that’s what they wanted. After my death, what would happen... what do those people want to do, and what kind of Gu worm is in my body?"
The pharmacist waited quietly. In his view, even though Su Mu had an extraordinary aptitude in Martial Dao, he was still only a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy. Learning about this would naturally take time to digest.
For Su Mu to remain calm and thoughtful surprised the pharmacist. This steadiness was equally remarkable!
After a long while, Su Mu spoke in a deep voice.
"Any special occurrences... Pharmacist, give me a moment to think."
The study fell silent, and the pharmacist began researching the poisonous blood. He took a small amount of black poisonous blood with a stone vessel and added medicinal ingredients to test the poison.
After a long time, Su Mu snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head. He recalled carefully but found nothing else unusual.
"No problem. If you can’t remember now, it’s alright. Everything in the world has something that counteracts it. The method to detoxify the Gu poison lies in this principle, but the challenge is also in it. Detoxification requires continuous testing to eventually find the antidote, which takes considerable time. Young friend, if you remember anything, please inform the medical hall; it’s critical for detoxification."
"Okay."
Hearing about the considerable time needed, Su Mu furrowed his brows slightly, but for now, that’s all that could be done.
At dusk, Su Mu interrupted the pharmacist’s trials.
"May I ask if the pharmacist can replicate that pill?"
The pharmacist frowned, then he understood Su Mu’s intention. He did not approve of this method, but after pondering for a moment, he nodded.
"Replicating that pill shouldn’t be too difficult. I’m about seventy to eighty percent sure I can replicate it, but..."
...
