Chapter 125 – The Mysterious Red Lotus
The sage apothecary was in the courtyard exercising when he coincidentally heard her last sentence, teasing, “Little girl, you’re trying to coax your grandfather by using my name?”
After coming back from selling medicine and handing a hundred silvers and five hundred silvers worth of banknotes to him, the sage apothecary held in his shock. Thankfully, he wasn’t exposed. He was confused when he heard his precious disciple talking about selling some sort of instant heart-reliever pills.
After Gu Xiao left the money with them, his disciple explained the entire event to him. It was then that he realized his disciple used his “name” again. Of course, he wouldn’t miss the opportunity to see the effect of the “instant heart-reliever pills.”
Gu Ye had stocked “instant reliever pills” in his storage and it was a purely traditional Chinese medicine prescription. It was of superior quality and even the sage apothecary praised it. He was more and more curious towards his discipline’s Hua Tuo-like medicinal skills and manufacturing skills. He promised the Hall Master of Hidden Soul that he wouldn’t press about her past. He acted blind towards the “surprise” she gave him from time to time.
“Master, can you give me a few bottles of the ointment you produced in a bit?” Gu Ye shouted loudly at the sage apothecary, her back towards her grandfather’s room as she gave her master a look.
The sage apothecary finished his last move and then tapped the girl smiling mischievously. Moodily, “Don’t you have all my medicines? Just take whatever you need.”
“I know that master adores me!” Gu Ye revealed a splendid smile seeing her master’s cooperation. She stuck her tongue out at him and then made a cute ugly face.
“You cheeky girl. Stop flattering this master. Didn’t you say you want to learn how to make Golden Sore Ointment? Get over here.” The sage apothecary was really satisfied with his disciple’s talent in medicine. Even his carefully chosen senior disciple who took after him was inferior to her. In just a month, she learned how to concoct the majority of the medicinal ingredients there were. Of course, she was also hardworking. It was time to teach her how to make some drugs.
Gu Ye walked a few steps towards her master and prepared the ingredients to make the Golden Sore Ointment. The sage apothecary looked at her and said, “Look carefully. I’m only explaining once. It’s up to you how much you comprehend from this.”
The sage apothecary went over the process slowly. While making the ointment, he explained in detail to his disciple. When they approached crucial steps, he would even ask the girl if she understood. Just like this. One carefully taught while the other paid attention. Up until lunchtime. They finally created a superior quality Golden Sore Ointment through the sage apothecary’s hands.
All of the sage apothecary’s medicinal ingredients and drugs had their own distinctiveness. Those that were familiar with his style could tell with one glance. The effect of his medicine was much better than ordinary apothecaries. This was also one of the reasons why he was fawned upon.
“Here, talk to this master. How much did you retain?” Through this interaction, the sage apothecary knew that his disciple was smart. But he didn’t expect Gu Ye to perfectly explain the process of the Golden Sore Ointment. Even the parts he emphasized with her.
“Good, good!” The sage apothecary was reassured. He looked at his disciple in satisfaction and exclaimed, “Here, create the ointment for this master to see.”
“Old brother Zheng, rest first. We can finish lunch and then start.” Because the sage apothecary didn’t want to reveal his identity, Gu Xiao called him “old brother.”
“Ah, it’s already lunchtime! Girl, you haven’t even eaten breakfast yet did you? You must be hungry. Look at you. Don’t you know that your body can’t withstand hunger? You didn’t even remind this master. Your brother and grandfather would fight me to death if I starved you!” In private, the sage apothecary was just a child in an old man’s body who liked to joke around.
Gu Ye smiled and exclaimed, “Master, you’re just great at teaching. This disciple was drawn into your explanation and I don’t feel hungry at all.”
Gu Xiao made lunch today. It was pheasant stewed with mushroom and stir-fried julienne potato. He got his cooking skills from the soldiers back then. The dishes were indeed good but after it went through his hands, the food was barely edible.
Gu Xiao and Gu Ming enjoyed the food but poor sage apothecary and Gu Ye. Wherever the sage apothecary went, everyone served and waited upon him well because of his reputation. In the beginning, eating food from a pot was quite refreshing and new but then he’d gradually feel sick of it, okay? As for Gu Ye, she had sharp senses so whenever something smelled off, the scent would be magnified in her mouth and be so bitter that couldn’t be described in words.
The master and disciples looked at each other. They saw tolerance and helplessness through each other’s eyes. Gu Xiao thought that the pheasant was a good fish so he put this dish in front of the sage apothecary, the noble guest. He urged his granddaughter to eat some more, claiming she was too skinny.
Gu Ye tried her best to eat but all she tasted was salt as well as faint fishy taste. She lowered her head, afraid her grandfather would see her resistance to eating the chicken.
After lunch, the grandfather and grandson pair went up the mountains to chop wood. Gu Ye ladled some warm water to rinse off the fishy taste in her mouth and then sighed heavily. “If only we could hire a chef!”
“Then learn after your master to create medicine. Don’t mention chefs in the future but you can hire as many maids and servants as you like.” The sage apothecary glanced at his disciple’s bitter expression and laughed. People say that children who experienced harsh days were never picky. However, his disciple had the tongue of a wealthy person. She was even more picky than him, a glutton.
“Right! I have to earn a lot of money so I can live in a huge mansion in the future and have servants help me downstairs.” Gu Ye waved her hands energetically.
The sage apothecary flicked her forehead and smiled. “Are you disabled? And you want someone to support you huh? You’re so lazy! Hurry up. I just taught you how to make the Golden Sore Ointment. Show this master what you’ve learned.”
Gu Ye touched her head and suddenly, her gaze turned blank. “Oh no. It’s only been a lunch’s worth of time and I’ve forgotten how to make the Golden Sore Ointment…Master, can you teach me again?”
When the sage apothecary heard this, his expression changed. He was about to flip out when he saw his disciple’s smile out of the corner of his eyes. He hmphed and flicked her forehead. “You’re playing around again, huh? Careful, this master might hit your hands with a ruler.”
“Master, if I become dumb due to your flicking, where else are you going to find such a smart, clever, quick-witted and capable disciple?” Gu Ye said this only to see her master reaching for her forehead again. She hurriedly jumped to the side and then ran to the storage room. That was her temporary medicine manufacturing room.
In theory, it was one matter but actually experimenting was another matter. Even though Gu Ye memorized the steps to making the Golden Sore Ointment, she still failed twice before making a successful product. But her first product was placed on par with the sage apothecary’s own Golden Sore Ointment and given an awfully great praise.
After dinner, Gu Ye returned to her room early on and closed the door, going into her storage. The medicinal ingredients in the storage were still growing vigorously. Lately, in order to practice concocting medicinal ingredients, she picked out lots of medicinal ingredients from the storage space. There were many herbal seeds sprinkled on the storage ground and they turned into lush green sprouts with dark green leaves.
In the pond, there was a mysterious red lotus growing and swaying lightly. There were sparkling and translucent dewdrops on the lotus petals which had a strange glow sparkling, seemingly summoning her. For some reason, Gu Ye felt like she was being guided by someone to come to the red lotus. She extended her slender fingers and gently touched the drewdrop. She placed the finger that was dripping into her mouth and she felt an essential power spreading in her tongue. This sort of power…seemed to be the power she was researching in her past life to strengthen the effect of medicine!
Joy flashed in Gu Ye’s eyes. With this power, she could create even better medicines and drugs! She took over a jade bottle from her laboratory and carefully collected the dewdrop.
Just where did the red lotus that appeared in her storage after she was reborn come from? The dewdrop that was produced on the petal had such a magical effect. If she used the red lotus in her medicine, would she be able to bring the dead alive?”
Detecting her thought, the red lotus trembled slightly as if it was a child about to fall into the hands of a monster. Gu Ye clearly captured the red lotus’s fearful emotion.