Chapter 41: Luan Jingfu

Duan Rong untied his Escort Waist Token and handed it toward the old man.

The old man took it, examined it carefully by the light of the dusk lamp, raised his head, looked at Duan Rong, and said, "You are an Apprentice Escort?"

Duan Rong nodded.

The old man returned the Escort Waist Token to Duan Rong, chuckled, and said, "You're the first Apprentice Escort I've ever seen coming to decoct medicine!"

"One silver coin."

Duan Rong took out a piece of broken silver worth one coin and handed it to the old man.

The old man took it and handed Duan Rong a key; the key had the number of a furnace on it.

Duan Rong took the key, and the old man covered himself with his quilt and lay back down.

Duan Rong looked at that greasy, dirty quilt and shook his head slightly.

This old man was actually no ordinary person.

An ordinary person could not enter the Middle Courtyard to guard the medicine furnace room.

He was the elderly father of the current head of the Yuanshun Escort Agency, Luan Jingfu.

"To let his own father live like this—this Luan Jingfu is perhaps a bit unfilial!"

Duan Rong muttered to himself, took the key, carried the medicinal agent package, and entered the medicine furnace room.

As soon as Duan Rong entered the medicine furnace room, he stood at the doorway and was slightly stunned.

There were already two people inside the medicine furnace room; it seemed the medicinal agent was almost decocted, and the two were waiting.

These two were wearing standard-issue brocade robes with trimmed edges, but they were different from the ones worn by Zhao Mu and the other Escorts.

Duan Rong's mind stirred; those were the outfits of Escort Heads. These two were Escort Heads! This was the first time Duan Rong had ever seen an Escort Head!

Luan Jingfu, the head of the Yuanshun Escort Agency, oversaw all escort business and commanded six Escort Teams.

Each Escort Team had one Escort Head, who led several Escorts and Escort Runners.

Although Duan Rong guessed their identities based on their clothes, he did not know them.

What made Duan Rong even more awkward was that the two were clearly whispering about something, and Duan Rong had suddenly barged in.

As soon as Duan Rong stood at the doorway, the two immediately noticed him.

One of them, who had a long face, looked Duan Rong over. Seeing that Duan Rong was wearing brown short-garments and holding a dose of medicine in his hand, he glared at Duan Rong and asked, "Which courtyard are you from?"

"I am an Apprentice Escort from the Middle Courtyard," Duan Rong immediately replied truthfully.

The long-faced one was slightly stunned. He had originally thought it was someone from the Inner Courtyard who had sent a servant to decoct medicine; he hadn't expected it to be an Apprentice Escort, so he said sternly, "Let me see your Escort Waist Token!"

Duan Rong handed over the Escort Waist Token. The man glanced at it, returned it to Duan Rong, and said with a sinister expression, "There are no empty furnaces left, go."

Duan Rong glanced at the furnaces against the wall; there were clearly several empty ones, but he said nothing, took the Escort Waist Token, and walked out.

That long-faced Escort Head said behind Duan Rong, "Since when do even Apprentice Escorts start decocting medicinal agents?"

Duan Rong went out the door, woke the old man up again, and said, "The people inside said there are no empty furnaces."

The old man did not seem surprised; he directly fished out a piece of broken silver worth one coin, returned it to Duan Rong, and said, "Give me the key, come back tomorrow morning."

Duan Rong took the silver and returned to the dormitory, feeling somewhat depressed.

There was no help for it; he was currently just an Apprentice. In this Escort Agency's organizational structure, he didn't even count as an intern. Anyone could give him a cold shoulder, and he could only take it.

It is the same in every world; survival is not easy!

Duan Rong washed his body with well water and lay down on the bed, originally intending to read some miscellaneous books before sleeping.

However, he had been staying up all night for the past few days, and his mind was truly exhausted. He had only read a few lines of text when his eyelids drooped as if they were filled with lead.

As soon as Duan Rong closed his eyes, he fell into a deep sleep.

A night without dreams, sleep was heavy.

When Duan Rong woke up, the oil lamp had already gone out. He jumped off the bed, put on his clothes, opened the door, and looked outside; the hooked moon was sinking in the west.

Duan Rong estimated the time, picked up the package of medicinal agent from the head of the bed, locked the door, and went to the medicine furnace room.

The medicine furnace room was open twelve hours a day.

The hook-like moon was dim and lusterless, and the few stars around it flickered like small eyes.

The entire Yuanshun Escort Agency was in complete silence. The lanterns hanging under the eaves illuminated the path ahead, and Duan Rong walked hurriedly to the medicine furnace room once again.

Duan Rong woke the sleeping old man, handed over the silver, took the key, and walked into the medicine furnace room.

There was no one in the room; only the large lantern on the wall emitted a tranquil yellow light.

There were a total of six medicine furnaces in the room, standing against the walls on three sides.

The east wall held high-quality charcoal and mountain spring water.

Duan Rong chose the medicine furnace closest to the mountain spring water.

The medicine furnace was made of pure copper, supported by a thick iron frame, and suspended over a large charcoal basin.

The mouth of the medicine furnace had a specialized spring mechanism; it could be locked tight with a twist and required the matching key to open.

Once the furnace mouth was locked, the entire furnace had only three needle-point-sized holes for venting.

This was to use high pressure and high temperature to stew the medicine, thoroughly squeezing out and stimulating the medicinal potency.

Duan Rong used the key in his hand to unlock the spring mechanism at the furnace mouth, twisted it in the opposite direction, and removed it.

Duan Rong studied the spring mechanism and felt it was quite ingenious.

It seemed that there were many skilled craftsmen in this world. This kind of copper furnace was likely not cheap; only charging them one silver coin was truly a benefit provided by the Escort Agency.

Duan Rong then studied the internal structure of the copper furnace.

The core of the copper furnace was a three-layered bamboo rack with a mesh; Duan Rong knew at a glance that this rack was where the herbs were placed.

The medicinal guide was placed at the very top, the main medicine at the very bottom, and the supplementary medicine in the middle.

Furthermore, this copper furnace had a layer of copper on the outside, but the inner lining was coated with a layer of grayish-white pottery clay.

Duan Rong opened his medicinal agent package, placed each ingredient in its proper place, and then put the three-layered rack back into the copper furnace.

Only then did he scoop a few ladles of mountain spring water, filling the medicine furnace to ninety percent capacity, before replacing the lid and tightening the spring mechanism.

Duan Rong finished all this, found some thin firewood from the woodpile and placed it in the charcoal brazier, then took a bundle of dried grass, lit it inside a lantern, and placed it into the brazier to ignite the thin firewood.

Only then did Duan Rong begin to add slightly thicker charcoal wood into the brazier bit by bit.

Before long, a raging fire had ignited in the brazier, scorching Duan Rong's cheeks until they stung!

Seeing that the fire was burning very vigorously, Duan Rong stopped adding wood.

This furnace needed to simmer for one hour, so there was quite a wait ahead.

Having nothing else to do, and since he was the only one in the medicine furnace room at the moment, Duan Rong held two slices of Blood Velvet Antler in his mouth and began his Standing Stake!

The copper furnace conducted heat well; after about a quarter of an hour, the contents inside were already boiling, and steam sprayed out from the pinhole-sized openings, making a strange sound.

Duan Rong stood in his stake, and every so often, he would add a few thick pieces of wood to the charcoal brazier!

The time of one hour passed quickly.

By now, the pinholes of the copper furnace were no longer spraying out steam!

Although the charcoal brazier beneath the copper furnace was full of glowing red charcoal, no flames were leaping up.

And the entire medicine furnace room was filled with a strange medicinal fragrance!

As Duan Rong stood in his stake, for some reason, he felt this medicinal scent made his heart race uncontrollably.

After one hour of Standing Stake, the two Deer Antler Slices in Duan Rong's mouth had long since dissolved.

Duan Rong let out a long breath and immediately dispersed his cultivation.

Over these past few days, he had only been practicing Standing Stake for one hour each day, yet the feeling of physical depletion was growing stronger and stronger.

Duan Rong opened his eyes, glanced at the copper furnace reflected in the red glow of the charcoal fire, and said with some excitement, "The medicine is finally ready!"

(End of chapter)