Chapter 46: Jiwei Hall

After leaving the Colorful Cloud Pavilion, it was already nearly noon.

They found a noodle shop by the roadside, sat down, and ordered a bowl of plain noodles each, 3.3 pounds of beef, and a pot of yellow rice wine.

The small noodle shop was always quick to serve; no sooner had Xiao Yan and the Little Fairy Doctor sat down than the waiter brought the food and drink over.

At this moment, a light, drizzling rain began to fall from the sky, bringing with it a touch of coolness.

After finishing their meal, the two sat in the noodle shop, holding small wine cups in their hands, savoring the wine slowly while admiring the rainy scene; it was quite a unique experience.

However, it was only a light rain after all; although it had come at a perfect time, it was bound to end eventually.

"Where would you like to go next?" Xiao Yan asked after they stepped out of the noodle shop.

"Hmm, let's go look at the medicinal herbs in Wutan City." The Little Fairy Doctor tilted her head to think, then smiled at Xiao Yan.

Of the two people here, one was a pharmacist and the other an alchemist; both were individuals who dealt with medicinal herbs. Although a medicinal herb market didn't seem like a place for a date, it was truly very suitable for them.

Xiao Yan smiled knowingly, clearly having anticipated this.

There was a street in the south of the city where the entire street sold medicinal herbs. Although such large-scale medicinal herbs were mainly for ordinary people or those just beginning to cultivate Dou Qi, the two of them still watched with great interest.

"Xiao Yan, look, this century-old ginseng; one look and you can tell it grew on the snowy plains. It's just a pity that too much force was used when digging it up, and some of the rootlets were snapped off."

"It's fine, look, its main stem is still intact, and the drying technique is also perfect; it can be considered worthy of this ginseng."

Words like these flowed continuously from the two's mouths. Never mind the passersby, even those who had been in this trade for a long time couldn't understand how these two managed to turn the appraisal of medicinal herbs into an act of flirting.

This street was not large, but Xiao Yan and the Little Fairy Doctor walked and stopped, occasionally picking up a medicinal herb that either looked peculiar or was of full, high quality to appraise, imagining the environment where it grew—be it a snowy mountain, a meadow, or a desert. In less than a single afternoon, the two seemed to have traveled across the length and breadth of the land, both revealing expressions of satisfaction.

Emerging from the other end of the medicinal herb street, the time had already reached evening.

The Little Fairy Doctor hooked her hand back onto Xiao Yan's left arm, intending to return to the Xiao Clan with him, but was pulled to a stop by Xiao Yan. Looking back, the Little Fairy Doctor revealed an expression of confusion.

Xiao Yan smiled slightly, then led the Little Fairy Doctor to a building nearby that hung a sign reading "Jiwei Hall," which was clearly a medical clinic.

The building was not large, divided into two floors. The flow of people around it was heavy, though they were mostly mercenaries or other low-level laborers. Being right next to the medicinal herb street, it was indeed a good place to open a clinic.

It was just unclear whether the owner was away or why, but this clinic was not open. However, it likely hadn't been abandoned, as there were clear signs of cleaning on the clinic.

"Why did we come here?" the Little Fairy Doctor asked with some confusion.

Xiao Yan gave a mysterious smile, then, to the Little Fairy Doctor's astonishment, took out a key, opened the door to Jiwei Hall, and led her inside.

Because it was a clinic for ordinary people, the interior lacked illumination items like Moonstone, which were common among cultivators. Thus, Xiao Yan flicked his finger, igniting a red, fist-sized flame at his fingertip to light up the somewhat dim interior of the clinic.

The interior of the clinic was mainly divided into two parts by a counter. In front of the counter was a waiting area, with seats set up against the walls on both sides. Behind the counter was an entire wall of medicine cabinets. On the left side of the cabinets, near the corner of the wall, was a small door leading to the back, which contained a decoction room and a staircase leading to the upper floor, where the owner lived.

"This is?" the Little Fairy Doctor asked with anticipation as she toured the inside under Xiao Yan's guidance, a glimmer of light in her eyes.

Xiao Yan smiled slightly and said, "This is a clinic I had people purchase for me a few days ago. Haven't you always wanted to be a physician? How is this place?"

"Here? You're opening a clinic for me?" the Little Fairy Doctor said in disbelief. Her dream since childhood had been to be a physician who saves the world, but unfortunately, heaven gave her a constitution destined to be a poison master. She had originally given up on this dream, never expecting it to be brought up again by Xiao Yan today.

"But—" the Little Fairy Doctor's eyes dimmed after a brief moment of excitement: "I'm going to the Chu Yun Empire soon; this clinic is useless to me."

"Don't worry." Xiao Yan pulled the Little Fairy Doctor into his arms, lifted her chin with his left hand to look her in the eye, and said, "I have already arranged for a successor physician. After you leave, someone will come to take over."

"Then—what if we move to another place in the future?"

"Then we'll just keep opening them. If our footprints can cover the entire Dou Qi Continent, then we will open Jiwei Hall all over the Dou Qi Continent. By then, you will be the ancestor of physicians on the Dou Qi Continent!" Xiao Yan said with great spirit.

"Xiao Yan—thank you." The Little Fairy Doctor's eyes filled with moisture; she gave Xiao Yan a sweet smile and gradually leaned into his embrace.

"For these next few days, I will accompany you. You write the prescriptions, I will decoct the medicine, and we will work together!"

"Mm."

"Hey, have you heard? A new clinic opened in the south of the city recently, called Jiwei Hall. I heard the physician there is not only skilled in medicine and able to bring the dead back to life, but also has a good temper, is as gentle as jade, and most importantly, is a beauty like a celestial being!"

"Oh, you mean Jiwei Hall! I've heard of it, but isn't it said that the physician always wears a veil? How do you know she's a beauty?"

"Hey! You're wrong there. So what if she wears a veil? I've seen that physician. Just that figure, those eyes, that skin—she's definitely a beauty! It's just that the man next to her is a bit scary; he threw me out just because I took a couple of extra looks. I don't know what kind of strength he has; I'm a Dou Zhe and I couldn't put up any resistance at all."

"Oh, so she's a married woman. No wonder you're so attentive; it's a wonder her man didn't beat you up! Tell me, how long did you stare at her?"

"Uh—about half a—"

"Half a stick of incense?"

————

"Half an hour."

"————You deserved it!"

Inside Jiwei Hall, today was already the tenth day since Xiao Yan and the Little Fairy Doctor opened for business.

Because of the presence of a beautiful physician who was highly skilled, good-looking, and gentle, they had made a name for themselves within a few days of opening, and business had become booming.

In the waiting area in front of the counter, many people had gathered to seek treatment. The elderly and children mostly sat on the seats on both sides, while the adults lined up in a long queue in front of the Little Fairy Doctor, stretching more than ten meters outside.

"Auntie Han, this of yours is simply a deficiency of cold in the spleen and stomach; just drink more of our Yang Water here," the Little Fairy Doctor said gently to a woman who looked to be in her early fifties who had come for treatment.

"Ah, so that's it. I was wondering why I've been feeling nauseous when eating these past few days; I thought I had accidentally eaten something bad! Thank you, miss." Hearing the Little Fairy Doctor's words, a smile immediately appeared on Auntie Han's previously troubled face.

For poor families like Auntie Han's, they could not easily come to see a doctor because they usually couldn't afford the medical expenses. Thus, even if they saw a doctor and knew what their problem was, it was of no use.

It wasn't until these past few days when she couldn't eat anything and vomited everything she ate that she couldn't go on and came to Jiwei Hall to try her luck.

As for the Yang Water the Little Fairy Doctor mentioned, it actually referred to plain boiled water that had been boiled by Xiao Yan's Heavenly Flame.

Previously, in the process of Xiao Yan helping the Little Fairy Doctor decoct medicine, there was always a problem where the medicinal properties of Yin-nourishing drugs were lost, while the properties of Yang-nourishing drugs surged. After investigation, it was discovered that this was caused by the powerful Yang energy of the Heavenly Flame being integrated during the boiling process.

Coupled with the fact that many poor people during the first few days of consultations lacked firewood and could only eat cold water and cold food, leading to many cold-related illnesses, they came up with this Yang Water. Since the raw material was just water, they didn't charge much—just one wen per bowl.

The reason they still charged was to prevent people from drinking it uncontrollably just because it was free, which would eventually lead to a state of excessive Yang and deficient Yin.

This was also the reason why Auntie Han was so happy, because she could afford this treatment.

Under the Little Fairy Doctor's guidance, Auntie Han walked to a water vat on the side, scooped up a full pot, and took it back.

Then, a new person sat in front of the Little Fairy Doctor.

This time, it was a mercenary suffering from very common bruises and injuries. Considering that this person's financial situation was much better than Auntie Han's, after prescribing the Golden Sore Medicine for the injuries, the Little Fairy Doctor also prescribed some tonics to accelerate the body's recovery.

"Hiss~" Because the Golden Sore Medicine was a bit irritating to the wound, the mercenary couldn't help but cry out.

"Are you alright? I'll be a little gentler, just bear with it," the Little Fairy Doctor said gently, then said a few more words to distract the person in front of her.

Little Fairy Doctor's movements were very fast; by the time the mercenary reacted, the medicine had already been applied.

At this moment, Xiao Yan also walked out from the medicine-brewing room in the back, looking at the person before him with an unkind expression.

"Your medicine, take it." Xiao Yan said in a stiff tone; although he was the one who brought Little Fairy Doctor to this place, he still felt very unhappy every time he saw such scenes, and he didn't know if he would ever get used to it in the future.

"Ah! Right, thank you, then I'll be going first." The mercenary felt a chill down his spine from Xiao Yan's gaze, hurriedly paid the money, took the medicine, and left.

"You, don't always be like this, you'll scare the customers." Little Fairy Doctor looked at Xiao Yan with some helplessness.

"Hmph! That won't do; you have no idea what you've been rumored to be like among the mercenaries now. I heard that the mercenaries of Wutan City privately ranked the wives they most want to marry, and our Xian'er is high at the top of the list! They really move fast!" Xiao Yan said quite unhappily.

Originally, Xiao Yan could turn a blind eye to the mercenaries coming for medical treatment, but ever since he found out about this, he would rather kill the wrong person than let one go. Any young mercenary would be driven away by him the moment they finished their consultation.

This was the first time Little Fairy Doctor had heard about the matter Xiao Yan mentioned; after a slight surprise, she looked at Xiao Yan with a trace of a smile: "What? Is our Young Master Xiao jealous?"

"Hmph!" Xiao Yan snorted, turned his head, and went back into the medicine-brewing room.

At this time, a new patient had already sat down and was looking at Little Fairy Doctor with an awkward expression.

Little Fairy Doctor's small face flushed red, she composed herself, and said: "May I ask where you are feeling uncomfortable?"