jdhmnovel Chapter 542
Chapter 542
He unbuttoned the boy's shirt, revealing a chest so thin that his ribs were visible. The moment his fingertips touched the boy's pulse, his pupils contracted slightly—the pulse was as thin as a thread, yet carried an unusual restlessness, like a candle flame struggling in a storm before it was about to go out. Dongfang Wan'er took out a silver needle and carefully examined the boy's tongue under the oil lamp. She saw that the tongue was dark purple and covered with bruises, like a dried-up riverbed.
"What remedies have you tried?" she asked, turning to the child's father. The man rubbed his calloused hands, his voice hoarse, "Doctor Li prescribed medicine to clear heat and relieve exterior symptoms, and we also tried a calming and sedative formula, but the child vomits after drinking it, and can't even swallow water..." He suddenly turned away, his shoulders trembling slightly. Dongfang Wan'er and Ye Jiuchen exchanged glances, both seeing worry in each other's eyes—the symptoms were neither ordinary typhoid fever nor emotional distress, but rather seemed like...some kind of sealed-off poison.
For the next two hours, the two worked in perfect harmony, like precise gears. Ye Jiuchen used moxibustion to warm and unblock the meridians, while Dongfang Wan'er prepared a medicinal powder to open the mind and awaken the spirit, gently blowing it into the boy's nose. When the third moxa stick burned out, the boy suddenly let out a weak groan, his fingers twitched, but he still didn't open his eyes. The mother rushed to the bedside, grabbing Dongfang Wan'er's hand, her nails almost digging into her flesh: "Doctor, please, save him..."
As the moon passed over the willow branches, Dongfang Wan'er walked alone into the courtyard. The autumn wind swirled fallen leaves, piling them into small hills at her feet. She unbuttoned her robe, took out the Benevolent Heart Elixir, and the elixir shimmered with a soft, seven-colored glow in the moonlight, as if sensing her hesitation. Her fingertips gently traced the cloud-like patterns on the elixir, and she remembered her father's words before his illusory figure vanished: "Only the power of pure and benevolent will can activate it."
"What are you thinking about?" Ye Jiuchen's voice came from behind. He held a freshly brewed medicinal soup in his hands, and in the rising steam, the bloodshot veins in his eyes were clearly visible. Dongfang Wan'er pressed the sacred pill to her palm, feeling its faint pulse: "Tell me, if we use the sacred pill, are we fulfilling our vow, or... overdrawing this opportunity?"
Ye Jiuchen put down the medicine bowl, gently took her hand in his, and let the sacred pill be enveloped in both of their palms. His thumb caressed the faint scar on the back of her hand—a mark left by a patient's scratch while treating the plague: "Remember the boatman we saved in Jiangnan? He later brought his whole family to thank us, holding his newborn daughter. You said then that a doctor shouldn't be concerned with gains and losses, but only with whether it's right to do it."
Suddenly, the sound of shattering porcelain came from inside the room. When the two rushed in, they saw the boy convulsing violently, his pillow soaked with cold sweat. The mother knelt before the statue of the deity, her forehead hitting the blue bricks with a thud. Without hesitation, Dongfang Wan'er took out a jade mortar and pestle and gently crushed the sacred pill. The seven-colored powder drew a magnificent arc in the air, like a rainbow falling from the sky to earth.
The moment the medicine was fed to him, the boy suddenly quieted down. Dongfang Wan'er gazed at his face, noticing that his originally ashen lips were gradually regaining color, like a peach blossom bud breaking open in early spring. Even more astonishingly, the faint purple spots on his arms were rapidly fading, revealing the healthy skin of a child. Ye Jiuchen suddenly pointed out the window, where a pure white flower had bloomed on the evening primrose vine in the courtyard, swaying gently in the autumn breeze.
"Mother..." The boy's voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz, yet it froze the entire room. His mother paused for a moment, then rushed to embrace him, her cries mingling with laughter, startling the birds roosting under the eaves. When Dongfang Wan'er turned, she saw Ye Jiuchen staring at the empty jade mortar in his hand, moonlight casting a soft golden glow on his profile. He suddenly chuckled softly, "You see, the Sacred Pill is never a burden, but..."
"It is the good karma sown by healers and the world together." Dongfang Wan'er continued, putting the empty box of the Holy Pill back into her medicine pouch. Outside the window, the evening glory was unfolding its petals, dewdrops condensing on its stamens, refracting seven-colored light, just like a microcosm of the benevolent Holy Pill.
As they left the Li family home, their father chased after them, handing them several warm sweet potatoes. His rough hands still bore the scent of cooking firewood. Dongfang Wan'er took a bite, the sweet and sticky flavor spreading across her tongue. Suddenly, she noticed a ragged child staring at the food in their hands from the shadows of the street corner. Ye Jiuchen had already knelt down and handed the child another sweet potato. Surprise flashed in the child's eyes, followed by a shy smile.
Autumn winds swept up fallen leaves, but couldn't dispel the warmth that lingered in the air. The two walked side-by-side on the town's cobblestone path. Though one of the Benevolent Heart Pills in the medicine box had already been used, it seemed to shine even brighter than before. Suddenly, Dongfang Wan'er pointed to the distant mountains, where campfires flickered like scattered stars: "Next stop, shall we go there?"
Ye Jiuchen looked up and saw a vast starry sky, with the Big Dipper pointing north. He reached out to tuck a strand of her wind-blown hair behind his ear, his fingertips tracing the herbal pattern on her earring: "Wherever there is a need, that is our direction." Before he finished speaking, the medicine box in his arms suddenly trembled slightly, as if responding to a distant call. Behind them, warm light shone from the windows of the Li family's house, and the boy's laughter mingled with his mother's scolding, like the most moving song of a healer's compassion, echoing for a long time under the autumn night sky.