Chapter 18: The Mysterious Prescription

“Alright! Remember what you said today…”

Wang Yong paused for a moment, suddenly shook his head, and in an instant transformed into a terrifying demon that viciously bit Shui Miao on the neck…

An intense pain surged through him. Shui Miao jolted from the pain and suddenly opened his eyes!

“Huh?”

“What’s going on here?”

Shui Miao opened his eyes and found himself lying on the bed. He touched his neck and felt some blood and the corpse of a mosquito…

“What’s happening? Was all of that just a dream?” Shui Miao sat up in disbelief. He recalled clearly that he hadn’t turned off the light before sleeping, and the bedroom door had been locked with the safety bolt. Now it was properly closed—where was that female ghost, Shen Hui?

Could it have been a dream within a dream!?

Still uneasy, Shui Miao opened the door and quietly pushed open the door to the adjacent room. The light in that room had always been on, and at this moment, Wang Yong was fast asleep while his grandfather was practicing his breathing exercises. Everything seemed perfectly normal. In Shui Miao’s memory, his grandfather had been smashed violently against the wall by Wang Yong, causing the antique shelves in the room to collapse in a mess. Yet now, the room was neat and orderly, without any signs of a struggle.

“I guess I’m just too tired and thinking too much,” Shui Miao shook his head and gently closed the door to Wang Yong’s room. As he was about to return to his room to sleep, he suddenly heard a loud “bang” from downstairs, as if a door had been slammed shut!

This villa was Wang Yong’s private residence, with no other occupants.

There were no cats or dogs in the house either. There were only two possible explanations for the sound: either the door hadn’t been properly closed and the wind had slammed it shut, or someone had broken in and accidentally closed the door. But thinking carefully, Shui Miao found the second scenario unlikely—who would be so clumsy as to make such a loud noise? That would be practically asking for trouble. For safety, Shui Miao quickly tiptoed into his room. From the window, he could see the main gate of the villa—if someone had broken in, the gate must be open. The walls were high, and the tops were densely lined with shards of broken glass, making it impossible for anyone to climb over.

The main gate was tightly shut, and everything outside was quiet and normal.

Shui Miao grabbed an ashtray, turned on the light in the stairwell, and cautiously tiptoed downstairs. When he reached the bottom, he immediately saw that the main entrance was wide open. Not daring to be careless, Shui Miao hurried to the kitchen to grab a cleaver and carefully checked every corner of the house. But he found no one. The gate was open, yet there was no wind in the courtyard, which puzzled him—where had that sound come from?

Shui Miao even pinched his thigh to test if he was still dreaming. It hurt.

Still confused, Shui Miao returned upstairs.

He tossed and turned in his room for a long time without falling asleep. The dream had been too strange, leaving him reluctant to fall asleep again.

It wasn’t until nearly four o’clock in the morning that he finally dozed off.

But no sooner had he fallen asleep than his grandfather woke him up. Opening his eyes, he saw that it was still barely light outside. His grandfather, holding his chest with one hand, sat slowly on the edge of the bed, his face full of pain…

“Grandpa, what’s wrong?” Shui Miao rubbed his eyes, his sleep-deprived eyes burning with discomfort.

Xiong Ying shook his head softly, whispering, “It must be the excessive yin spirit energy. My old bones can’t take it anymore…”

As he spoke, Xiong Ying slowly lay down on the bed.

Seeing his grandfather’s condition, Shui Miao quickly helped him lie down properly and covered him with a blanket. “Grandpa, what should we do? Should we go to the hospital?”

“No need…” Xiong Ying gently waved his hand, scoffing slightly. “This is caused by lingering yin spirits—hospitals can’t treat this. But don’t worry, I should be fine by tomorrow morning. However, I won’t be able to help the Sun Jijun family with their feng shui today. Please go tell them to reschedule for tomorrow noon. Also, I need to regulate the yin spirit energy in my body here in this room today. Unless there’s an emergency, don’t let anyone come in, and I won’t need any meals.”

After saying this, Xiong Ying waved his hand at Shui Miao, indicating that he could leave.

Shui Miao blinked, not knowing what else to say, and reluctantly got dressed and left.

As soon as Shui Miao stepped out of his room, he heard Wang Yong yawning from the adjacent room. The door wasn’t closed, so Shui Miao peeked inside. “Uncle, are you okay?”

Wang Yong was sitting on the bed. Due to the yin spirits, his hangover had worn off, but his whole body felt unbearably cold. Seeing Shui Miao, he quickly waved his hand. “I’m fine, fine. Just wait for me outside for a moment while I change clothes and come out.”

“Okay…”

Seeing that Wang Yong seemed fine, Shui Miao felt puzzled. How could this be? His grandfather was a master who had cultivated the five elements of yin and yang, yet he was suffering terribly from the yin spirits. But Wang Yong seemed barely affected. Why?

Shui Miao didn’t walk far, waiting near the staircase.

Wang Yong quickly got up, first closing the door securely, then hastily checking the valuables in the room, the safe, and the key around his neck. Seeing everything was normal, he finally relaxed and hurriedly changed clothes and went out. With a “click,” he opened the door. Shui Miao turned around and whispered, “Uncle, my master isn’t feeling well today and can’t go to the Sun Jijun family’s house for the feng shui consultation. He says he just needs a day to rest and will be fine by tomorrow noon.”

“The master is sick?”

Wang Yong’s face immediately showed surprise. He quickly opened the door to the neighboring room and saw Xiong Ying sitting cross-legged on the bed meditating. At this moment, Xiong Ying hadn’t yet entered deep meditation and opened his eyes upon hearing Wang Yong’s voice. “Ah! Getting old, not as strong anymore…”

“What happened, Master?”

Wang Yong sat beside Xiong Ying and touched his hand, immediately exclaiming in shock, “Why are you so cold?”

Of course, Wang Yong couldn’t possibly know that Xiong Ying had absorbed a large amount of yin spirit energy through his breathing exercises.

“All because of this little apprentice of mine, Shui Miao!” Xiong Ying glanced at Shui Miao, sighing in frustration. “This kid snores like a pig when he sleeps. I couldn’t stand it, so I went to your room to meditate and rest. But halfway through the night, I nearly froze to death.”

At this point, Xiong Ying had no choice but to make up this excuse, or else the truth would be exposed.

Shui Miao was stunned, not expecting his grandfather to be so quick-witted. If Wang Yong had asked him directly, he wouldn’t have known what to say.

Hearing this, Wang Yong finally understood. He slapped his thigh and said, “Ah! It’s all because of the alcohol. I really shouldn’t drink like that anymore. But don’t worry, Master. I’ll prepare some medicine for you. I have a special prescription for this kind of illness.”

“Brother, don’t rush to make the medicine yet. First, tell me exactly what illness this is?” Xiong Ying pretended to be anxious and tightly grabbed Wang Yong’s arm.

Wang Yong hesitated for a moment, looking reluctant to explain, but considering the situation, he had no choice. He made up a story to fool Xiong Ying: “It’s like this—I suffered from a strange illness when I was young, one that made me extremely sensitive to heat, so I preferred cold. To treat it, my parents found me a very yin and evil object that emits cold yin energy. It’s harmless to me, but extremely dangerous for ordinary people. I placed this object under my bed, and since you didn’t know about it and I was drunk, this situation occurred. But don’t worry, Master. I know a special prescription, and I already have the ingredients at home. You just need to rest for a while. I’ll go make the medicine right now.”

“…”

Xiong Ying loosened his grip, stunned for a moment, but inwardly relieved that the lie had worked.

Wang Yong quickly went downstairs. Not wanting Shui Miao to see the medicine, he gave him a hundred yuan to buy breakfast. As soon as Shui Miao left, he took down an ancient flower vase covered in dried mud, poured out a black bundle from inside, and carried it to the kitchen. He unwrapped the cloth around the bundle and revealed an oval-shaped iron box. The surface of the box was bumpy like a toad’s skin. Wang Yong pressed on the box, and it opened, revealing a red, stone-like object. He quickly used a knife to scrape off some red powder from the stone and placed it into a pot, added water, and started boiling it.

After finishing this, he quickly put the red stone back into the box, rewrapped it in cloth, and placed it back into the ancient flower vase.

Then, he added some herbal ingredients to the pot and boiled a large bowl of dark red medicine before preparing to carry it upstairs.

Just then, he heard, “I’m back!” coincidentally, Shui Miao had returned. He was holding a plastic bag with ten pancakes inside. Seeing Wang Yong carrying the medicine upstairs, Shui Miao casually asked, “Uncle, did you make porridge? If not, I can cook some.”

“Sure, go ahead and make it yourself,” Wang Yong replied, not having time to deal with him. After all, Shui Miao was a twenty-year-old adult who surely knew how to make porridge.

Shui Miao entered the kitchen and smelled a dry, spicy aroma. Looking into the pot, he saw that the liquid was red, almost blood-like in color.

“Huh? What kind of medicine is Uncle Wang making for my grandfather? Why is it this color? Could it possibly be blood?”

He moved closer to smell it and even tasted a little with his tongue. It wasn’t spicy at all—it felt warm and comforting.

“That’s strange. What kind of medicine is this? No, I need to go upstairs and check.”

Driven by strong curiosity, Shui Miao immediately put down the pot and rushed upstairs. When he entered the room, his grandfather was just finishing the medicine.

After drinking it, his grandfather’s eyes darted around, saying nothing, and immediately began meditating.

Seeing Xiong Ying practicing his breathing, Wang Yong, acting as if nothing were wrong, chuckled and said, “Don’t worry. This is a family secret recipe. For common rheumatism or joint pain, just a few sips and it’ll cure it instantly.”

Wang Yong picked up the empty medicine bowl and left the room.

Seeing his grandfather begin his meditation, Shui Miao followed Wang Yong downstairs. “Uncle, what kind of medicine is this? Is it really that effective? A friend’s father has severe rheumatism. Could you give me some too?”

“Well, sure! I can prepare some for you later,” Wang Yong replied cheerfully.

“Really! Thank you so much, Uncle!”

Shui Miao was overjoyed. If the medicine was really as effective as Wang Yong claimed, he could take some back to Shanghai and find a wealthy person with rheumatism, and he’d make a fortune!

As Shui Miao was feeling happy, upstairs in the room, Xiong Ying, who had been meditating, suddenly opened his eyes…

“What’s going on? What kind of medicine is this?”

Xiong Ying’s face showed extreme shock and panic.

“Uncle, I’ll go check on Grandpa first,” Shui Miao suddenly said, stopping in his tracks, turning around, and rushing upstairs. A thought flashed through his mind: Could there be something wrong with the medicine?