Chapter 396: Chapter 362: Mr. Dongguo
Is that girl Yuyao really that capable?
Si Miaoxue felt that she might not be able to sleep tonight; how could she continue playing in the future...
Si Miaoxue had Lin Miao’s clothes here, and even if he hadn’t mentioned it, she would have prepared them for him—at least not less than two sets.
When the mood strikes, if there are no clothes to change into, what should one do?
All these were personally prepared by Si Miaoxue, not entrusted to others.
After Lin Miao had changed out of Shen An’s clothes, he took a hot bath, then put on clean clothes, left "Lin" Records, and continued heading towards the Western City.
...
The embroidery shop, Baili Yuyao returned.
Although the pain had lessened, walking was still somewhat uncomfortable, and Lin Miao didn’t carry any medicine. Besides, he couldn’t easily ask Si Miaoxue to send her medicine.
"Yuyao, why did you take so long?" Mrs. Mei saw Baili Yuyao returning and frowned slightly, stepping forward to ask.
"I went skiing and accidentally sprained my ankle..." Baili Yuyao’s cheeks reddened; she agreed to ski with Shen An out of a sudden bout of competitiveness and ended up losing her first experience. Luckily, it was with him; otherwise, she wouldn’t know how to live the rest of her life.
But this incident couldn’t be known; instinctively, she used an excuse to hide it.
"A sprained ankle? You’ve been skiing since you were three, and I’ve never heard of you spraining your ankle skiing." Mrs. Mei expressed deep skepticism with a sound.
Baili Yuyao replied, "I was distracted while skiing and just accidentally..."
"Distracted?" Mrs. Mei didn’t doubt this explanation; as the girl grew up, she had more thoughts than before, especially at the critical time of ’betrothal’; thinking more was inevitable.
"Your mother was waiting for you to return for lunch, and now it’s this time already; she almost sent people to find you." Mrs. Mei said.
"Got it, I’ll go back to my room and change clothes first."
"Okay."
Mrs. Mei watched as Baili Yuyao limped towards her lodge, frowning: "She sprained her ankle, why change clothes?"
"Someone, check who Miss Yuyao went skiing with at the ski resort this morning?"
"Yes."
...
West Sixth Street, Huichun Hall.
The signboard was very old; presumably, it hadn’t been changed since the day it was put up, and all the paint on it had peeled off.
The facade was small, facing north, and though the door was open, a thick curtain hung over it to block the cold air from washing in.
Before even getting close, a medicinal smell wafted through the air; many of the herbs were quite familiar, showing that this small clinic indeed had decent regular business.
He lifted the curtain and went inside.
He saw a young lad of seventeen or eighteen dozing on the counter in front of the medicine cabinet; it was indeed the afternoon, fewer people came to see the doctor.
"Hey, is Mr. Dongguo in?" Lin Miao stepped forward, silently knocked on the counter a few times, and asked.
The lad neither raised his head nor opened his eyes, just pointed inside: "Seeing a doctor, go inside."
"Thanks."
No matter what, as the lad pointed the way, Lin Miao was obliged to thank him.
He lifted another soft curtain inside and entered; it was a consultation room, with a consultation desk and a rattan chair; in the southeastern corner, three saints’ portraits were honored, all dust-covered, and incense wasn’t likely burning strongly.
An old man with gray hair on the rattan chair, his clothes washed to slight whiteness, looked quite clean though, a goatee, asleep with occasional lip smacks, evidently dreaming of something delicious.
He carefully surveyed the room’s walls; the property was old, with smoke-stained black on the beams, likely caused by the oil lamp on the table.
Cheap lamp oil was used.
"Mr. Dongguo, Mr. Dongguo..." Lin Miao bent down, about a foot away from the old man, and called out.
"Ouch, who’s calling me, I just got to Miss Xiaoru’s plump bosom in my dream..."
Old lecher!
Lin Miao instantly labeled the old man with this judgment in his mind.
Suddenly seeing Lin Miao, Dongguo Sun sat upright with dignity, an air of righteous nobility: "Is Young Master here for medical consultation or fortune-telling?"
"You can tell fortunes?" Lin Miao was somewhat surprised.
"A bit, seeing a doctor translates to diagnosis, fortune-telling is another saying; is Young Master seeking consultation or fortune-telling?"
"Do I look like someone who needs a doctor?" Lin Miao smiled slightly, asking back.
"Young master’s complexion is rosy, with abundant vitality, tsk tsk, this body could withstand ten women at night without fatigue, what a great physique!" Dongguo Sun opened his eyes, took a careful look at Lin Miao, and said.
"Am I really that impressive?"
"It’s more than impressive. Young master’s star of fortune shines brightly, a full forehead, with brilliance emanating naturally..." Dongguo Sun started waxing eloquent.
To put it simply, Lin Miao is blessed with good fortune and a flourishing love life.
Moreover, his facial features are one in ten thousand of the people I have seen.
"Mr. Dongguo, let’s take a look at this first." Lin Miao took out the note and placed it on the table. When it comes to fate, he believes more in "I control my own destiny, not heaven."
As soon as Dongguo Sun saw the note, his expression immediately became serious.
"Are you Lin Miao?"
"Weren’t you the one who asked me to come?" Lin Miao countered, "The note says you have some information about the whereabouts of my master’s medical order."
"Did your master ever mention that he has an elder brother?" Dongguo Sun put away the note and looked up to ask.
Lin Miao frowned; he couldn’t recall this at all. Maybe the senior sister knew, but the master definitely hadn’t mentioned it to him.
Dongguo Sun revealed a trace of a lonely smile, "It seems he never mentioned me in front of you."
"Actually, I’m your master uncle. Your master and I studied medicine under our master. Although his talent was not as great as mine, he was very diligent. I’m three years older than him, but when I made mistakes as a child, it was always him who took the blame for me, getting scolded by our master..." Dongguo Sun recalled his childhood learning medicine, and a faint tear glistened at the corner of his eye.
Lin Miao was just a listener now, unsure whether this old man, named Dongguo Sun, was truly his master’s senior brother.
"Wait, who is my master? You still haven’t told me?"
"Sun Simiao, aren’t you that little boy Lin Miao, picked up by Sun Simiao, now known as Mr. Lin of Dongshan Prefecture?"
"You’re well-informed, but how can I believe you’re my master’s senior brother?" Lin Miao paused for a moment, then asked.
"Your master loves eating stir-fried bamboo shoots with meat, especially fatty meat. I taught him how to make this dish. Before taking it off the stove, drizzle a little sesame oil; the flavor is simply exquisite..."
Lin Miao recalled, and indeed, Sun Simiao loved bamboo shoots. Every spring and autumn when he went into the mountains to gather herbs, he would dig up some bamboo shoots to take home. The tender shoots would be sliced, and a bit of pork belly bought...
Every time they had stir-fried bamboo shoots with meat, he’d eat an extra bowl of rice, while the senior sister wouldn’t eat meat but would eat a lot of bamboo shoots, and the master would have a mouthful of fatty meat and a sip of wine. Such scenes would never occur again.
Thinking of this, Lin Miao’s eyes moistened slightly. Although he had taken over someone else’s body and life, the memories and emotions of this body were still profound.
"Anyone with intent could find out about my master’s eating habits, and besides, there’s nothing special about this way of preparing it." Lin Miao wouldn’t easily trust Dongguo Sun; this guy had sent him a message during Nie Tian’s Celestial Essence Banquet without being detected.
His cultivation must be formidable, while the master’s martial arts were quite ordinary. How could these two be senior brothers? It was too strange.
Dongguo Sun was stunned for a moment. This kid is only seventeen, yet he’s as cunning as an old fox, so difficult to gain trust from?
"I have a letter written to me by Mr. Sun, your master’s handwriting you should recognize, right?" Dongguo Sun said.
Lin Miao looked at him, but said nothing.
"Right, I should take it out for you to see..." Dongguo Sun smiled awkwardly, stood up, and entered through another door. After a while, he came back with a box that looked very old. Lin Miao squinted his eyes slightly; he had seen a box like this among Sun Simiao’s belongings.
"This box looks familiar to you, right? Back then, our master made one each for us. The one your master had should be in your hands now." Dongguo Sun chuckled, placing the box on the desk in front of him.
Lin Miao looked at the box, not confirming nor denying.
It was not yet the time for him to express an opinion.
Opening the box, there was indeed a stack of letters inside, and the handwriting on the envelopes immediately caught Lin Miao’s eyes—it was indeed his master’s handwriting.
This he was very familiar with, but still needed to verify carefully. After all, some people are adept at forging scripts, sometimes even more real than the real one.
"My junior brother and I would write one letter a year on average. The last letter was sent last summer. He must have been ill by then; his handwriting lacked its usual strength. Though I haven’t been clear about his health these years, it shouldn’t have been like this. He mentioned niece Youwei’s illness and your engagement to her. Yesterday at Nie Tian’s Celestial Essence Banquet, I saw the lady beside you resembling my junior brother a bit—isn’t that Youwei?"
Lin Miao nodded.
"Her illness is cured?" Dongguo Sun asked in surprise.
"Yes, it’s cured."
"How is that possible? Youwei’s illness originated from the evil energy her mother acquired during childbirth. She almost died shortly after birth. Only a Purple Gold Spirit Elixir could completely cure her. Where did you get a Purple Gold Spirit Elixir?" Dongguo Sun asked anxiously.
"I cured senior sister’s illness; I didn’t use any Purple Gold Spirit Elixir."
"No Purple Gold Spirit Elixir?!" Dongguo Sun was stunned to hear this.
"What is a Purple Gold Spirit Elixir?" Although Lin Miao studied medicine, he was not well-versed in the Alchemy Dao. After all, alchemy is a more mystical thing unlike herbal medicine, which can be understood and shown to be effective.
Alchemical medicines are not within his realm of knowledge.
But he knew that they could treat diseases and heal injuries, and some alchemical medicines are indeed processed, not made by refining with a furnace fire.
Some herbs couldn’t withstand high temperatures at all—a quick burn would turn them to charcoal, so how could they be made into pills?
This conversation wasn’t about the broad concept of alchemy medicine but the specific kind produced from an Alchemy Furnace. In his mind, these often had excessive heavy metals and were toxic things. Maybe they had some effect, but eating too much would certainly be fatal.
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