pertwk Chapter 52 Nourishment
Chapter 52 Nourishment
Upon hearing what the two men said, Chen Ye's eyes were opened, and he cupped his hands and laughed, "So there are so many intricacies involved. If it weren't for your guidance, I'm afraid I would have taken many detours."
"It's not a big secret. You've been in the Cui family for a while, so you'll figure it out sooner or later," Zuo Dongxi said casually, waving his hand.
Chen Ye raised his glass and said with a smile, "Let's have a drink."
Several people raised their glasses and drank heartily.
Chen Ye put down his wine glass, took a bite of the dried meat that the girl next to him fed him, and said, "Brother Zuo, Brother Su, do you have any reliable ways to buy medicine? I want to start moving around from tomorrow and get my blood and energy back up."
"Would you like to buy Yi Jin Duan Gu Tang (a traditional Chinese medicine soup) and Jin Tang Yu Ye (another traditional Chinese medicine soup)?"
"Exactly."
"I do have a place I can recommend," Zuo Dongxi said after a moment's thought. "But soaking in that stuff will make you feel like you're going to die from the pain all over your body. You have to tough it out. You'd better be mentally prepared."
"Speaking of which, there used to be an old guy in the gang who, when he was young, spent half a year soaking in the Golden Soup and Jade Elixir and swallowing the Tendon-Changing and Bone-Forging Soup, but he was still stuck at the third stage of rebirth and suffered a great loss."
"What loss?" Chen Ye pressed.
"He was poor his whole life." Zuo Dongxi grinned, his eyes filled with the wisdom of someone who had been through it all, and sighed, "That stuff cost four ounces a pack, and he brewed and drank it every day for months on end, until he had spent all his savings."
"The poor study literature, the rich study martial arts; without some family wealth, you really can't afford to learn martial arts."
"Forget about that, let's drink!"
The group raised their glasses again and drank several cups in one go.
After getting tipsy, Zuo Dongxi pulled Bitao behind a screen in the private room.
Soon, soft, seductive music drifted out from behind the screen.
Su Guang and the other two girls seemed to be used to it, taking it as just entertainment at the banquet.
Chen Ye couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement at the openness of the Great Jing Kingdom.
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the two emerged from behind the screen, their clothes disheveled.
Little Peach's cheeks were flushed, like a ripe apple, very tempting.
Zuo Dongxi seemed to have been relieved of a heavy burden, and felt refreshed.
Chen Ye remembered that Zuo Dongxi was still single and had not remarried, so he asked curiously, "Brother Zuo, why don't you remarry to continue the Zuo family line?"
"My wife is still alive, why should I remarry?"
Chen Ye was taken aback.
He remembered Zuo Dongxi's ex-wife, wasn't she taken in as a concubine by Master Feng?
However, judging from Zuo Dongxi's appearance, what he said didn't seem like drunken talk.
Zuo Dongxi tilted his head back and gulped down a bowl of wine, then slammed the glass down on the table. Drunk and with a fierce expression, he said, "What I've lost, I will take back one day."
"Tonight, we're not leaving until we're completely drunk!"
The three of them argued until dawn, when Bitao and the others finally couldn't take it anymore and stopped.
That night, the three of them spent a total of thirteen taels of silver, which was equivalent to half a year's wages for a farmhand.
From this perspective, places like brothels are generally unaffordable for ordinary people.
All three were martial arts masters, full of energy, and even after a whole night of activity, they were still radiant.
Chen Ye was off today, so Zuo Dongxi and Su Guang simply took him to buy Yi Jin Duan Gu Tang (a traditional Chinese medicine formula) and Jin Tang Yu Ye (another traditional Chinese medicine formula) to support him and prevent him from being scammed.
Zuo Dongxi had been mingling in the streets for many years and was very familiar with these ways of doing things.
He led Chen Ye straight into an inconspicuous herbal medicine shop.
As soon as he entered, the owner of the pharmacy recognized Zuo Dongxi and quickly cupped his hands and said with a smile, "Chief Zuo, what brings you here today? Is one of our brothers injured and in need of medicine for bruises and sprains? I just happened to get a batch of top-quality Yunnan Baiyao."
"I'm not buying any liniment for sprains and bruises this time. I need Yi Jin Duan Gu Tang (a traditional Chinese medicine formula) and Jin Tang Yu Ye (another traditional Chinese medicine formula). Do you have any of those?"
The pharmacy owner glanced at the two people behind Zuo Dongxi and nodded, saying, "Of course we have some. How much does Chief Zuo need?"
Chen Ye had heard Zuo Dongxi mention on the way that this shop had some connections, was fair in its dealings, and would never ask questions unless you paid.
He stepped forward and said, "Let's each take ten sets first."
"That is, twenty doses of Yi Jin Duan Gu Tang and Jin Tang Yu Ye." The shopkeeper pulled out his ledger and made a note: "I don't have that many ready-made in my shop, it will take some time to prepare them."
Chen Ye nodded and asked, "How much?"
The shopkeeper fiddled with the abacus a few times and announced a number: "One hundred and five taels, rounded down, I'll charge you one hundred taels."
Zuo Dongxi snorted coldly, held out a hand, flipped it over, then flipped it again: "Seventy taels, will you sell?"
"Seventy taels? Chief Zuo, you're trying to kill me!" The pharmacy owner looked pained, but seeing Zuo Dongxi's resolute attitude, he slammed his hand on the table and sighed, "Fine, fine, for Chief Zuo's sake, seventy taels it is. Next time the gang needs to buy medicine for bruises, you must buy it from me."
"If you decide to go ahead with it, pay a deposit of ten taels first, and come back tomorrow to collect it."
Chen Ye had anticipated that tonight would be a money pit, so he brought some silver with him when he went out, which came in handy.
He paid the deposit, received the receipt, and the three of them left the pharmacy.
Zuo Dongxi said, "We've had our fun and taken care of our business. Let's get together again in ten days."
"it is good."
Su Guang and Chen Ye nodded and agreed on the time and place for their next gathering.
Before leaving, Su Guang reminded Chen Ye that his horse was still with him and that he should practice his horsemanship more when he had time.
Chen Ye also felt that his legs were not very mobile, so he really needed to learn how to ride a horse.
So he agreed.
The next day.
Chen Ye was sent by Cheng Defu to do some heavy work in Cui Xijun's courtyard.
Taking advantage of his lunch break, he took some silver and went to the pharmacy again to retrieve two large bags of medicine.
Ten of the medicines had red paper pasted on them.
The pharmacy owner instructed, "This red patch is for Yi Jin Duan Gu Tang, taken internally; Jin Tang Yu Ye is for soaking, don't mix them up. Remember to soak the medicine and take it immediately."
Chen Ye noted it down, then remembered something and asked, "Shopkeeper, do you have any elixirs that can prolong life?"
"A miracle cure?" The pharmacy owner shook his head and chuckled, "Do you think this place is some kind of fairyland? We don't have such good things here."
Unwilling to give up, Chen Ye continued, "Then does the shopkeeper know where in the world it can be found?"
"They're definitely in the palace, and maybe some high-ranking families of the second rank have them too. Anyway, we common shops can forget about it."
Chen Ye understood, asked no further questions, and turned back to the Cui residence.
The Cui family mansion has a special pharmacy where medicine can be decocted and medicinal baths can be offered.
That evening, after the Cui family members had finished using their soups, Chen Ye prepared the Yi Jin Duan Gu Tang and Jin Tang Yu Ye separately.
He took off his shirt, tilted his head back and swallowed the tendon-strengthening and bone-strengthening soup. Without hesitation, he jumped into the tub and sank into the dark soup.
For the first few breaths, it was just stuffy and hot.
But soon, the heat turned into scalding, and the scalding turned into burning.
My skin felt like it was being rubbed inch by inch with coarse sandpaper. The medicine penetrated my flesh through my pores, exploded inside, and climbed up along my meridians.
Chen Ye felt as if he were immersed in a ball of fire, every inch of his skin and flesh was being burned and torn, and he gasped in pain.
He felt that all the meridians and flesh in his body were being dissolved by the medicinal power of the Yi Jin Duan Gu Tang, and then repaired by the medicinal power of the Jin Tang Yu Ye.
The alternating effects of the two medications caused him excruciating pain.
Just then, six rays of light burst forth from his flesh and blood.
The excruciating pain vanished in an instant, and he felt an unprecedented sense of comfort.
The flesh torn apart by the medicine healed rapidly under the nourishment of true yang energy, and the healed bones and muscles were even stronger and denser than before.
Chen Ye couldn't help but marvel.
Soon, the medicinal power of the Golden Broth and Jade Elixir was rapidly absorbed by the six True Yang granules, transforming into a warm current that slowly flowed along the circulation route of the Returning Origin Technique to the limbs and bones.
Chen Ye looked down at the bath tub. The dark medicinal soup had turned dark brown, and then it became visibly clearer, like a cup of strong tea being diluted with water.
The medicinal properties inside have been completely absorbed.
When ordinary people soak in the medicinal soup, the soup will still be dark brown, and they will only absorb about 30% to 40% of the medicinal power.
His true yang body was like a wrung-out sponge, quickly squeezing out every last bit of medicinal power.
Chen Ye estimated that the amount of essence he absorbed this time was more than the old ginseng and white medicine he had swallowed before, giving his body a long-lost sense of satisfaction.
Before long, the effects of the medicine wore off completely.
Chen Ye stood up from the bucket, looked down at his arm, and could feel that his knuckles were stronger than before when he clenched his fist.
Although it hasn't reached the limits of the body yet, it has undoubtedly taken a big step forward.
He had a premonition that after taking the medication a few more times, he should be able to reach the threshold of the fourth rebirth.
This transformation is going to be really powerful.