Chapter 102: Eye Drops

Pan Yun became immersed in the Art of Observing Qi and the Art of Concealing Qi, and by the end of the day, her fingers were nearly cramping from chanting the hand seals.

But in the end, her fingers didn't cramp—her eyes did.

After the cramping, her vision turned hazy, as if her eyesight had instantly dropped from 5.0 to 2.0; Pan Yun was completely stunned.

She refused to admit it was caused by her bad luck, so she stumbled over to Xuanmiao, "Fourth Sister, the technique you taught me has side effects—I can't see anymore."

Xuanmiao glanced at her once, then went to Tao Ji and fetched a porcelain bottle, dripping two drops into her eyes; they were cool and refreshing, like a shard of ice sinking into still, warm water, the temperature plummeting instantly, and as the ripples spread, every impurity on the lake's surface was washed clean.

Xuanmiao: "Close your eyes and roll them around yourself—open them after thirty breaths, and you'll be fine."

Pan Yun obeyed; after thirty breaths, she opened her eyes, and the world was bright again.

She burst with excitement, asking, "Sister, what is this?"

"Eye drops," Xuanmiao handed her a bottle, "mixed by your eldest brother for your eldest nephew."

Pan Yun curiously pried off the stopper and sniffed—it had no scent at all. "Does your eldest nephew have bad eyesight?"

"He's fine now, but he won't be in a while, so we prepare in advance," Xuanmiao said. "Take this bottle. If your eyes tire from practicing techniques, drop two drops—it works wonders."

Pan Yun: "These eye drops are too effective—how are they made?"

Xuanmiao: "They're distilled. If you want to learn, go to your eldest brother—he'll be happy to teach you."

Wang Feiyin was, of course, happy to teach—he was just worried he couldn't find any helpers.

When he saw Pan Yun peering through the door with a cat in her arms, he waved her in. "You lent out three hundred taels—still not unlucky?"

Pan Yun felt herself carefully, then nodded. "Today I didn't have diarrhea or trip over anything."

"Then you're not unlucky—how much money do you have now?"

Pan Yun held up two fingers. "Two hundred and twenty taels."

Wang Feiyin frowned, deeply puzzled. "Why does your savings increase? Does the rule discriminate against us? The older you get, the more you can save, but whenever I have money, I'm cursed?"

Pan Yun was curious. "Elder Brother, how much money must you have before you get cursed?"

"Ten taels."

Pan Yun: "That's about what I started with."

She told Wang Feiyin her discovery: "My savings increased because I did good deeds and accumulated merit. The more merit, the luckier I become—that's the rule's approval. Elder Brother, you should do more good deeds."

Wang Feiyin raised an eyebrow. "Accumulating virtue, huh? That's like building popularity. If that's true, I should've changed too. All these years I've dared not cross the line—I'll give it a try."

The money was already there—he just had to ask his son.

Wang Feiyin made up his mind and told Pan Yun to get to work. "Come on, help me stoke the fire."

Wang Feiyin's eye drops were distilled from herbal steam, dripping through pipes into a large porcelain bottle, then cooled and portioned into smaller bottles.

They could be dropped into the eyes or used to rinse them—especially effective before sleep.

Wang Feiyin said: "After reading all day, your eyes ache and your vision blurs—first rinse them with this solution, then drop one drop in before sleeping. Not only will you sleep better, but when you wake, your eyes will be as good as new."

"Otherwise, you'll develop nearsightedness and end up a blind man who can't close his eyes—or worse, carry a magnifying glass everywhere."

Pan Yun couldn't help sighing. "If I'd had this when I was studying—I'd have avoided nearsightedness. Once you're nearsighted, even cultivation can't reverse it."

Wang Feiyin: "These eye drops only prevent and relieve—they have very little restorative power. To restore nearsightedness, you need acupuncture. As for cultivation, though it can't restore vision, using Yuan Qi to stimulate acupoints can effectively recover it."

Pan Yun's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Really," Wang Feiyin said. "You stoke the fire well and watch it closely—I'll teach you later. First, I'll teach you how to distill these eye drops, then acupuncture."

Wang Feiyin didn't hold back his teaching—he wished every child in the monastery could master everything, so he himself could do nothing but focus on cultivation.

So he was willing to teach them anything they wanted to learn.

Pan Yun spent one hour distilling the eye drops.

It wasn't hard at all—the ratios were right here: wash clearbright eyebright, antelope horn, and other herbs, blanch them quickly in boiling water, snatch them out immediately, drain them, wrap them in gauze, and place them in the steamer.

The steamer was specially made—divided into two parts; steam from the left side entered the right, carrying the herbal essence upward to the middle layer, where it condensed into droplets, then re-evaporated into vapor, rising to the third layer before sliding down into the large porcelain bottle.

This steamer was also invented by Wang Feiyin.

"I originally made it for steaming ointments," Wang Feiyin whispered. "While steaming, I thought the steamer was good, so I modified it—it works for eye drops now. But it can also be used to steam poison."

Pan Yun gasped, her eyes suddenly aching. "B-Brother, did this steamer steam poison?"

"You're stupid—I'm not so broke I can't afford a second steamer. Using the same steamer for poison and eye drops? That one's for poison."

Pan Yun turned and saw, in the corner beside the alchemy furnace stand, another large rack holding a set of steamers.

Pan Yun exhaled in relief. "Good, good. Brother, what poison do you usually steam?"

Wang Feiyin: "Plenty—intestine-rotting, death within three steps, brain-burning, mind-destroying poisons."

Pan Yun looked at him differently. "Elder Brother, who are you giving these poisons to?"

"To demons and monsters—for your brothers, sisters, and nephews to defend themselves," Wang Feiyin said. "If you can't beat them, poison them. When your skills fall short, poison makes up the difference—it's a last resort."

Pan Yun: "Are there many demons and monsters in the world?"

"Not many—but if you cultivate the Dao, you'll inevitably meet them."

Pan Yun: "If they're rare, the probability should be low—why must you meet them?"

"Because you practice Dao arts," Wang Feiyin said. "Constables always encounter injustice; coroners always see corpses. That's also a rule."

"Isn't that because of your job duties?"

Wang Feiyin: "You're a Daoist Priest—a Daoist Priest who practices Dao arts. Subduing demons and eliminating monsters is your natural duty."

Pan Yun pondered. "Is that so?"

!. Read

Wang Feiyin taught her to control the fire. "These eye drops can't use strong fire or weak fire."

"Weak fire won't release the essence; strong fire, even with slow evaporation, still causes the herbal heat to surge upward and ruin the efficacy," Wang Feiyin said. "Remember, fire itself is an herb, and the steamer's materials are too."

"Extending from this, alchemy is the same—fire is vital, and the alchemy furnace is vital," Wang Feiyin said. "A good furnace, the right fire—these greatly increase the chance of successful pills and enhance their effects."

Pan Yun memorized every word.

After the autumn harvest ended, Mount Sanqing entered its study season; Wang Cong immersed himself in cultivation and learning, having decided to take the examination in Guangxin Prefecture next June.

He had only this one chance; if he missed it, next time he took the exam, he would be beaten with a cane.

Wang Cong had no desire at all to be beaten, so he rose before dawn each day to perform morning rituals, practice martial arts, and cultivate; after daylight came, he began reading books, took a break at noon, taught them for half an hour in the afternoon, then returned to his own studies.

That's right—Master Nephew must not only prepare for his own exam but also teach them to read.

Their main studies were the Classics, Histories, Philosophers, and Collections; he taught unlike the Mr. below the mountain, who started with the Three-Character Classic or the Analects—he began with the Records of the Grand Historian, saying, "We aren't taking the imperial examinations; there's no need to follow the Confucian order of the Three Books and Five Classics."

He said: "What we must know is where we come from, so we study history."

To study history, begin with the simplest: the Records of the Grand Historian.

Indeed, Master Nephew considered the Records of the Grand Historian the simplest historical text, adding, "Don't take it all as truth; just skim it to understand how scholars generally perceive history. To grasp true history—that requires deep study."

Pan Yun pitied him, turning to the more idle Tao Ji: "Third Brother, can't you teach us in place of Master Nephew?"

Tao Ji said: "Me? Don't you know this is how he relaxes? Little Sister, you're too cruel—Master Nephew only gets half an hour to rest each day."

Pan Yun was astonished: "This is relaxation?"

"Yes. Go see what he's reading now—teaching you the Records of the Grand Historian is as easy as telling you a bedtime story. What else could this be but relaxation?"

Tao Ji pointed to Tao Yan Bai, who wore a pained expression: "Do you know why he can only learn basic medical skills and will become a Physician when he leaves the mountain, instead of cultivating with us?"

Pan Yun: "Why?"

"Because even reading the Records of the Grand Historian requires effort for him to understand."

Pan Yun fell silent.

Tao Ji: "Is reading the Records of the Grand Historian hard for you?"

Pan Yun found it hard: "It's just listening to stories—what's hard about that?"

"Exactly—just listening to stories, what's hard about that?" Tao Ji looked at Tao Yan Bai.

Tao Yan Bai looked like he might cry: "Third Uncle…"

Tao Ji grunted: "After the New Year, you'll study the Spring and Autumn Annals, the Book of Changes, and the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government—it'll get even harder."

Pan Yun: "Is the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government harder than the Records of the Grand Historian?"

Tao Ji said with deep meaning: "Both are stories, but the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government covers events that came after those in the Records of the Grand Historian. What later generations did after seeing what earlier ones had done is far richer than what the ancients experienced. To understand the hidden struggles behind the stories, to truly comprehend them—that's difficult."

Pan Yun fell silent.

Tao Ji reached out and patted Pan Yun: "Isn't it hard? But cultivation means seeing essence—seeing the essence of people, the essence of things, the essence of this world, and the essence of the universe."

"The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name. Nameless, it is the beginning of heaven and earth; named, it is the mother of all things. Our entire lives are spent contemplating these two sentences—the five thousand characters after the Dao De Jing elaborate this truth."

Tao Ji rose and clapped his hands: "I've thought about this for years and found nothing useful—I leave it to you now."

Today's lucky number is any number ending in 1.

(End of Chapter)