Chapter 34
Chapter 34
Even the most skilled cook cannot make a meal without rice, and no matter how miraculous a physician’s touch, he is helpless without medicine.
The Old Physician wiped the greasy sweat from his face, looking troubled.
A great plague inevitably follows a great disaster. All the doctors in the city had been conscripted by the Commandery Governor’s Mansion to treat the residents of the Commandery.
He had been working non-stop for some time now; his hair was clumped together, and his face was dark with exhaustion.
Before Wu Er or Wang Chang could speak, Han Lie stepped forward and gave the Old Physician a deep, respectful bow.
“Thank you for your hard work, sir. May I ask which specific medicine you are lacking? Is it not even in the Commandery… storehouse?”
After the County Governor’s death, his private storehouse had fallen into Han Lie’s hands.
Han Lie was not a selfish or greedy man.
When he saw the mountains of rare curios and treasures piled in the County Governor’s private storehouse, he only felt it was absurd and ridiculous; he had no intention of claiming any of it for himself.
He had opened the County Governor’s private storehouse, using all the silver and grain to provide relief to the disaster victims.
As for the medicines, they were supplied to the critically ill commoners.
The Old Physician knew exactly which storehouse he was referring to, and the two tacitly moved past the subject.
The Old Physician shook his head. “No!”
No matter how greedy the County Governor was, a local rat like him could never gather the treasures of the world like the nobles in the capital.
“To neutralize the poison of the Fei Yi, one needs a rare treasure of the world!”
Under the watchful gaze of Wu Er and the others, the Old Physician held up his index finger. “One needs Toad Venom!”
Before he could even finish his sentence, Wang Chang was already beating his chest and stomping his feet in despair. “Toad Venom?”
“Where ghosts wail and sob, the Toad delights in shadows.”
Perhaps because the impression of the creature was so deep, this scarred ruffian actually managed to recite a line of poetry.
“It is not that the Toad enjoys living where the dead are numerous.”
“It is that where this ancient Monstrous Beast dwells, bones must inevitably pile up like mountains!”
Everyone’s expression soured. Wang Chang slumped down against a pillar.
“Not to mention, only those with backs full of pustules can produce Toad Venom.”
“A Toad with a back full of pustules is called a Ten-Thousand-Year Flesh Fungus.”
“Only if the old commander of the Jade Balance Army personally set out could one or two be captured.”
“Where are we supposed to find that! It’s over, it’s over, it’s over!”
After wailing that it was over three times, Wang Chang added, “Commandant Lin, what a miserable way to die!”
He knelt with his legs curled, slapping the ground like a young widow crying at a grave.
Wu Er had also been feeling disheartened, but Wang Chang’s mourning annoyed him so much that he kicked him from behind. “Get lost!”
Han Lie lowered his foot, which he had slightly raised to do the same, and turned back to the Old Physician.
“Can anything else substitute for it?”
Back in Luoyang, Han Lie had received much care and protection from Commandant Lin.
He asked with a glimmer of hope, “Would Yao Grass be effective?”
The most precious items in the County Governor’s private storehouse were a few stalks of Yao Grass. Han Lie had offered most of them to Qin Ying, keeping only one on hand just in case.
The Old Physician did not immediately dismiss the idea. He stroked his sparse beard, squinting in thought for a moment before shaking his head regretfully.
“Yao Grass dispels a hundred illnesses and beautifies the countenance, but to neutralize the Fei Yi’s snake venom, one needs Toad Venom to extract the toxin and strengthen the heart’s vessels.”
His eyebrows suddenly jumped as a thought occurred to him. “If we had the Monstrous Beast known as the Ear Rat, that might also work.”
The Monstrous Beast Ear Rat is shaped like a rat with the head of a rabbit and the body of an elk. It flies using its tail, and consuming it grants immunity to all poisons.
Compared to the Toad Venom from the pustules of an ancient Monstrous Beast, catching a rare little creature like an Ear Rat seemed as simple as drinking cold water.
Wang Chang scrambled up from the ground. “An Ear Rat? We could actually try to-”
His voice gradually trailed off.
Looking around at Han Lie, Wu Er, and the others, two pea-sized tears squeezed out from the corners of his eyes.
“It’s July in the Hexi Region! Where are we supposed to find an Ear Rat!”
Setting aside the fact that Monstrous Beasts were gathering outside Yunwu City and Ear Rats were rare to begin with, the timing was completely wrong.
Ear Rats were only ever active in the winter.
Wang Chang wiped his tears and squatted back down to mourn. “Commandant Lin!”
He wept with such genuine sincerity that it somehow made one want to hit him.
Wu Er gritted his teeth as he stared at the top of the man’s head, his fists clenching and unclenching several times.
Finally, he gave an indignant wave of his hand, turning his head away as he shed a few manly tears of his own.
Han Lie, however, pursed his lips and sought out Chief Clerk Li.
“Mr. Li, there are many prominent families in the commandery capital. Is it possible to obtain an Ear Rat from any of them?”
As for Toad Venom, that was something only the royal treasury in Luoyang or the most prestigious noble houses would possess.
It was better to focus on the more practical option of the Ear Rat.
Chief Clerk Li counted the bamboo slips in his hand, his mind racing through possibilities before he spoke. “The Duan Clan might have one.”
Fearing that Han Lie, an outsider, might not be familiar with the local situation, he explained, “The Duan Clan is the head of the Nine Surnames of Yunwu.”
Their ancestors had produced a Grand Commandant with a salary of ten thousand dan; they were local magnates.
If one were to ask who had the pedigree to raise a medicinal Monstrous Beast like the Ear Rat, it would likely be the Duan family!
Chief Clerk Li might seem eccentric and nonsensical when talking about the Supreme Deity, but when matters were unrelated to the god, he remained very rational and professional.
Having received a lead, Han Lie felt a sense of relief. He thanked Chief Clerk Li and prepared to leave.
But Chief Clerk Li’s voice came from behind him: “Although the Duan Clan has declined somewhat, their arrogance remains unchanged.”
“Squad Leader Han, if you go to their door merely as a Squad Leader, I’m afraid they won’t be very friendly.”
These semi-declined great families were the most arrogant of all. When they looked at a person, they looked at the official cap on their head and their family background.
Chief Clerk Li didn’t know Han Lie’s full background, but he guessed his social standing wasn’t particularly high.
When dealing with a powerful clan like the Duan Clan, a low status was a major disadvantage.
Chief Clerk Li glanced sideways at the pile of Rubber Bands in the Front Courtyard.
As if speaking casually, he said, “Since the famine began, the Duan Clan moved to a Fortified Manor fifty li south of Yunwu City.”
“If they could obtain some Tendon Ropes to manufacture crossbows for self-defense, I imagine… they would be willing to make a deal.”
Han Lie followed the man’s gaze, his eyes sweeping over the yard full of Rubber Bands that Qin Ying had provided.
He suddenly shook his head and turned to leave without hesitation. “These are vital instruments of city defense. How can they be allowed to fall into other hands?”
These local magnates were like bedbugs, crouching and sucking the blood of the people.
Han Lie would never violate his principles by using vital defense resources to strike a deal with anyone.
He walked with long strides, letting out a sharp whistle to signal his soldiers to assemble.
When the other party wasn’t someone who could be persuaded with kind words, force was also a viable option.
Chief Clerk Li raised an eyebrow slightly, shaking his head as he returned to counting the precious Tendon Ropes.
A mysterious smile played at the corners of his lips. “Young people… they’re always so full of fire.”
He then chuckled softly. “Being full of fire is good. If he wasn’t, how would he be worthy of the Supreme Deity’s favor?”
Han Lie went straight to the backyard and gave Wu Er and the others a brief explanation.
Wu Er and the rest knew the nature of these aristocratic families all too well. Hearing that he was going to the Duan Clan to ‘request’ medicine, they were all worried.
Wu Er cautioned him uneasily, “These families are deeply entrenched and interconnected. Be careful.”
Han Lie replied, “I know.”
After a pause, he suddenly looked at Wang Chang.
Wu Er looked at Wang Chang as well.
Wang Chang was bewildered. “What are you looking at me for?”
Han Lie and Wu Er exchanged a knowing glance.
Wu Er said, “You go along with him.”
A loud-mouthed idiot could sometimes be put to good use.
Wang Chang didn’t mind. Hearing that he was to go, he scurried off to find someone to ask for water and rice balls; he couldn’t let himself go hungry, after all.
Han Lie, meanwhile, entered the room filled with the smell of medicine.
Commandant Lin lay on a straw mat, while a Medicine Boy used dried mugwort boiled in rice water to wipe down his body.
Han Lie took one look at the unconscious Commandant Lin and turned to leave.
Leading Wang Chang and about twenty mounted soldiers, he headed straight out of Yunwu City toward the Duan Clan’s Fortified Manor.