There was silence in the house for a moment.
Xue Ren saw Jing Li coming in and shut up at the right time.
Qin Zhao pressed his eyebrows and finally understood what the man was saying: "Sir, you misunderstood. We didn't—"
"You don't need to say more, I understand." Xue Ren said considerately, "The medicine is still boiling on the stove. I'll go out first. You may feel a little sleepy after drinking this medicine. You can lie down for a while. If you don't have a fever tonight, the medicine will work. I will make the rest of the medicine into pills for you. You can take it for a month."
Qin Zhao's explanation was fruitless, so he could only stand up and said, "Thank you, sir."
After seeing Xue Ren out, he closed the door and turned to look at Jing Li who was standing by the door: "Mr. Xue... I misunderstood you, don't take it to heart."
"Ah?" Jing Li blinked and came back to his senses. "No, I didn't take it to heart."
"Don't walk around anymore. Go back and lie down. Doctor Xue said you need to rest more."
Jing Li went forward to help Qin Zhao up and walked to the bedroom. He helped him back to the bed and laid him down. Jing Li tucked the corners of the quilt tightly for him, thought for a moment, and said seriously: "Don't think too much. I like you no matter what. It doesn't matter."
Qin Zhao: “…”
Qin Zhao didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but the effect of the medicine soon made his head dizzy, so he had to give up explaining.
He fell asleep unknowingly, and when he woke up again, it was already dark.
The lights in the room were dim. Qin Zhao raised his hand and touched his forehead. It was no longer hot, and there was no obvious discomfort in his body.
He sat up and saw the figure sitting at the desk. Jing Li was leaning over the desk with a lot of books under him and had fallen asleep.
"..." Qin Zhao walked over and called softly, "Xiaoyu? Go back to bed. You'll catch a cold here."
The young boy was sleeping soundly. He didn't wake up even when Qin Zhao called him. He just moved around in a daze: "Don't make any noise..."
As he moved, his arm moved slightly, revealing the booklet that was resting on his head.
Qin Zhao saw a few lines of words: "... A monster will consume a lot of spiritual power when it transforms into a human form. If it consumes too much, it will reveal its original form from time to time... You must not relax your practice, otherwise your spiritual power will be exhausted and you will transform back to your original form and never recover..."
Is this what Xiaoyu brought back a few days ago
Qin Zhao frowned slightly and was about to pull it out to take a closer look when Jing Li suddenly yawned and opened his eyes.
"Hey, you're awake..." Jing Li rubbed his eyes sleepily, "Are you hungry? There's porridge cooking in the kitchen. I'll bring it to you."
Qin Zhao slept for the entire afternoon and night without drinking any water or eating anything, so he must be hungry now.
Jing Li was so sleepy that he couldn't even open his eyes. He stood up unsteadily, but sat back down again.
Qin Zhao smiled softly: "I'll be fine. Go wash your face and eat something with me."
Jing Li nodded: "Okay."
Qin Zhao slept too long, and now it was almost midnight. Mr. Xue and Ayi had already left, and the kitchen was full of unfinished pills. On the stove was a pot of porridge, still hot.
Qin Zhao took out two earthen bowls, beat an egg in one bowl, scooped the hot porridge in and stirred it evenly. The eggs in the village had no fishy smell, and there was only a rich egg aroma when they were put into the porridge.
After making the egg porridge, Qin Zhao picked up some pickled vegetables sent by the village chief and carried them back to the house.
Qin Zhao put the porridge on the table and glanced at the desk in the room.
The table was empty; the book had been put away.
Jing Li didn't show any abnormality. He had just washed his face, and his temples were slightly wet, with unwiped water drops sliding down his chin. He sat in the room waiting obediently, and his eyes lit up when he smelled the aroma of egg porridge.
"Didn't you eat dinner?" Qin Zhao asked with a smile.
"I've eaten." Jing Li bit the spoon and whispered, "But I'm hungry again after sleeping."
Qin Zhao was silent for a moment, then reminded: "Don't eat too much at night, or you'll have trouble sleeping."
"Yeah, I see..."
Jing Li agreed readily, and then... asked Qin Zhao to add more porridge to his bowl three times.
After finishing his meal, Jing Li rubbed his round belly and walked around the house.
"I told you to eat less," Qin Zhao was quite helpless. He really couldn't understand how the boy could eat so much with such a small body and not gain any weight. "Come and lie down for a while. Don't walk around."
But Jing Li shook his head: "No."
He paused and added, "I'm going to sleep outside today."
If we go outside, we will have to sleep in the pool.
Qin Zhao asked: "Why?"
"Hmm..." Jing Li's eyes were a little evasive, and he said guiltily, "You just took the medicine, you need to rest well, I'm afraid it will disturb your sleep."
Qin Zhao laughed: "Aren't you afraid that I will have another attack at night and no one will take care of me?"
Jing Li was stunned.
"Then wait for me!" Jing Li said, and ran quickly out to the yard.
Qin Zhao instinctively realized that something was wrong, and sure enough, Jing Li came back soon with a small wooden bucket full of water in his hand.
This is the wooden barrel that Jing Li used to live in. Since moving here, this small wooden barrel has never been used again.
Jing Li said: "I will sleep here tonight, call me if you feel uncomfortable."
"…" Qin Zhao was silent for a moment, then asked, "So why do you want to—"
Before he could finish his words, a red light suddenly flashed in the room, Jing Li's clothes fell off, and a bright red koi fell into the small wooden barrel.
Qin Zhao: “…”
The little koi fish wagged its tail in the water, raised its head and spoke in human language: "What did you want to tell me just now?"
Qin Zhao picked up the clothes scattered on the ground without complaint: "...Nothing."
It was already late at night, Qin Zhao blew out the oil lamp in the room and lay back on the bed. The wooden barrel containing Jing Li was placed on the table not far away. The little koi floated to the surface of the water, and a pair of eyes appeared from the edge of the barrel, secretly looking at him.
The effect of the medicine seemed not to have worn off yet, and Qin Zhao's breathing had stabilized again.
While waiting for Qin Zhao to wake up, Jing Li took out the book "Monster Records" he had bought earlier and read it.
He still has some difficulty in recognizing words now, so referring to the primers he had learned before, and by guessing, Jing Li read out a lot of useful information from the books.
For example, after a monster transforms into a human, it occasionally reveals its true form. That's because it lacks spiritual power and needs to practice to replenish it.
For example, every moment a monster transforms into a human form consumes spiritual energy, so they have to practice day and night. If they want to become a stable human, they need at least hundreds of years of practice.
But Jing Li has not practiced for even a single day since he traveled through time.
He didn't know whether his original Koi body had practiced before he traveled here, and whether it was because of that that he had enough spiritual power to transform into a human form.
He only knew that he did not have any methods or memories about cultivation in his mind.
The book says that the spiritual power in a monster's body is like an hourglass. If it is not replenished in time, it will be used up and gone, and the monster may never be able to transform into a human form again.
If this is the case... Jing Li can't continue to consume it.
That's why he suggested sleeping in the water at night.
Spending the night in the form of a koi fish would at least reduce the consumption of spiritual energy, right
The book does not discuss specific methods of cultivation, but it does discuss some ways to replenish spiritual energy.
It was what Ayi read to him that day... dual cultivation of essence and energy.
The complete meaning of that paragraph is roughly this: When a monster first cultivates into a human form, its spiritual power is unstable, so it can practice dual cultivation with humans to replenish its spiritual power. In addition, close contact with humans can also absorb a small amount of essence to replenish spiritual power, but the effect is far less than dual cultivation.
Jing Li certainly knew what dual cultivation and cultivation meant, but...
Mr. Xue said Qin Zhao's health is not good.
Not only that, he couldn't get too close to Qin Zhao until he recovered. Otherwise, what if he sucked away his energy and made his condition worse
And he couldn't tell Qin Zhao the truth.
He will definitely be sad.
In fact, before reading this book, Jing Li was skeptical about it. But the book was written in such a way that it was so impressive that people had to believe it.
Moreover, he transformed from a human into a koi carp, and then from a koi carp back into a human. Of course, it is better to believe it than not.
The little koi blew a bubble in the water and sank silently to the bottom.
"—Done!" Xue Ren put the last rolled pill into the winnowing basket.
Dozens of pills were neatly stacked in the winnowing basket. Ayi and Jingli carried the basket to the bamboo wall of the yard. Xue Ren instructed, "Dry it in the shade for two more days and place it in a medicine jar away from light. Take one pill a day. These pills will be enough for you for more than a month. After you finish them, see if you need to increase or decrease the dosage."
Qin Zhao bowed to him and said, "Thank you for your help these days, sir."
"You're welcome." Xue Ren waved his hand. "If you can really get better, my efforts these days will not be in vain."
Qin Zhao asked: "Sir, are you leaving soon?"
"Yes." Xue Ren looked in the direction of Ayi and sighed, "It's been nearly half a month since I came here. My good grandson has to go back to look after the medicine shop. I can't stop doing business."
They could afford to rent a horse-drawn carriage, which was much faster than an ox-drawn carriage. By setting out from Linxi Village in the afternoon, they could return to the county town before sunset.
Qin Zhao said: "In that case, Qin has something else that I would like to show you, sir."
Xue Ren followed Qin Zhao into the house.
Qin Zhao took out a few books from the bookshelf. He put bamboo leaves in the books as marks and wrote a lot of small words next to the pages.
Xue Ren flipped through a few pages and his face changed: "This—"
"These are some herbs I have found based on pharmacology these days. I have recorded the details, you can look them up slowly." Qin Zhao said, "These herbs are more common in ordinary households, and may be able to replace the rare herbs you used in the antidote."
Xue Ren carefully looked at the content marked by Qin Zhao and asked, "Xiao Yuer said that you have been reading medical books these days. Is it for this?"
Qin Zhao: “Yes.”
At first, he was just worried that the herbs in the prescription given by Xue Ren were too rare, and wanted to try to find more common alternative herbs in medical books.
Later, when Xue Ren asked him to help promote this prescription, he became even more determined.
Xue Ren was an imperial physician, so he naturally chose the best medicines, regardless of their value and rarity. However, judging from the herbs used in this prescription, it would be difficult for ordinary people to find them, let alone use this prescription.
What Qin Zhao wants is for everyone who needs it to be able to use this medicine, so that no one will encounter the same predicament as him.
Xue Ren closed the medical book in his hand and said leisurely: "You know, if ordinary herbs are used instead, the efficacy of this antidote will inevitably be affected."
"I understand." Qin Zhao said, "It's just that a prescription that can only save a few people but makes the majority of people want it but can't get it, compared with a soup medicine with a slightly weaker effect but can be taken by everyone, I believe that the latter is definitely easier to promote."
Xue Ren was stunned for a moment, then smiled softly.
Qin Zhao: "What are you laughing at, sir?"
"I am laughing because I finally understand why the imperial court would promote such a prescription for drug withdrawal." Xue Ren sighed, "In fact, the higher-ups may not be unaware of the hidden dangers of the medicine, but they have no choice."
"It's not difficult to promote a more precise decoction, but the difficult part is how to make sure that everyone who needs it can take it."
He sneered: "... It seems that I have wronged him all these years."
Qin Zhao asked: "Sir, are you talking about the current emperor?"
"Your Majesty? No." Xue Ren said, "I mean the person who promoted this recipe back then."
Qin Zhao frowned slightly: "Isn't this prescription promoted by the emperor?"
"Him?" Xue Ren seemed to have heard a joke. "The current emperor just came of age last year, so he is only a few years older than my grandson. Ten years ago, he was still a brat!"
Qin Zhao: "Then these ten years..."
"The new emperor is still young, so the late emperor ordered a prince of a different surname in the capital to be regent before his death. He was the one who destroyed Chen Huan, promoted the antidote, and sentenced the imperial hospital to death." Xue Ren snorted coldly and said, "Even if the regent did nothing wrong in promoting the antidote, he can't clear himself from what he did in those years. The late emperor mistakenly trusted the bad guys back then!"
Qin Zhao suddenly felt a dull pain in his head, and his voice became hoarse: "He...what else did he do?"
"Are you asking him what else he did? He did a lot!" Xue Ren said, "The regent was ambitious. He eliminated dissidents, controlled the government, and accepted bribes. He did everything! I was not in the capital during those years, but I heard that the regent had spies all over the capital. Anyone who dared to be dissatisfied with him would be beheaded on the spot by the shadow guards in the dark. Even the dignitaries were like this, let alone the common people?"
"It is said that in those years, blood flowed like a river in the capital, corpses piled up like mountains outside the city, and the people were in constant fear. It was all thanks to the regent."
The stabbing pain in his head became more and more obvious. Qin Zhao staggered and barely stood up by holding on to the desk.
"… What's wrong with you? Why do you look so bad?" Xue Ren hurriedly helped him sit down. "Why am I telling you this? Things are different now. That was ten years ago."
He poured Qin Zhao a glass of water, and Qin Zhao drank it, and his mood calmed down a little: "It's okay, it's an old problem."
Xue Ren said: "Shen Huan Powder has caused great damage to your brain. You must stay calm and not be too happy or too sad. Otherwise, if the damage is further aggravated, I am afraid you will never recover."
Qin Zhao: "I understand."
Just then, Ayi's voice came from outside the door: "Grandpa Xue, it's time for us to leave. We still have to go home and pack some things."
"Got it." Xue Ren put away the medical books Qin Zhao gave him and said with a smile, "I will read these books carefully. Don't worry, I have been practicing medicine for decades and I will never develop a half-medicine and half-poisonous decoction like the Regent. You never know, the medicine delivered next month may be a new medicine."
Qin Zhao stood up and saw him out, saying gently, "I will wait for good news from you, sir."
Xue Ren: "But you still have to use my old recipe. It will work faster and save you from having to wait any longer."
"It's okay, I—" Qin Zhao was about to answer, but he felt that there seemed to be some deeper meaning in Xue Ren's words.
He paused and looked up at the other person, who patted his shoulder and said earnestly, "My grandson said that Xiao Yuer has been sleeping in a separate bed from you these past two days."
"Don't worry, I will definitely cure you as soon as possible without any sequelae!"
Qin Zhao was silent for a moment, then looked at Jing Li who was standing in the courtyard and secretly watching him. He remembered that this little guy had been avoiding him intentionally or unintentionally since the night before yesterday.
He pressed his brow helplessly and gave up explaining: "You'd better go back quickly."