Young hero, stay put and don't be reckless.

Chapter 40 Healing and Saving Lives

Jiang Xun was stunned.

The boy standing behind the old man—Yu Xiaoyi—was also stunned, his mouth agape enough to fit an egg.

Jiang Xun quickly went to help him up: "Grandpa, what are you doing? I'm here for a medical checkup, you've got the wrong person. Get up!"

Old Yu didn't get up, but instead looked up at him, his eyes reddening: "Young Master, do you really not know your own identity?"

Jiang Xun shook his head: "I'm just an orphan, I don't even know who my parents are, so what identity do I have?"

"But you're clearly practicing the Uncirculated Heavenly Guiding Technique..."

"What is the 'Uncircular Heavenly Guiding Technique'?"

Seeing that his expression didn't seem feigned, Old Yu's eyes flashed with a hint of doubt: "You don't know the origin of the internal energy within you?"

Jiang Xun shook his head again and answered honestly, "I don't know."

"When did you acquire this internal energy?"

Jiang Xun thought for a moment: "It's been more than half a year. At first I didn't know, but later a monk told me that I had a kind of internal energy in my body, and I had to practice to suppress it."

Old Yu paused for a moment, then asked, "Who taught you the martial arts?"

"Nobody taught me," Jiang Xun said. "It just came out of nowhere. Later, a girl in black taught me some breathing techniques, which helped me suppress it a little."

Old Yu looked at him, his gaze probing: "Has anyone told you anything? About your background, or the origin of this cultivation technique?"

"No." Jiang Xun said with absolute certainty.

He thought about it and felt there was nothing to hide, so he simply told his story—he was adopted by an old man, lived a life of leisure in Jiangzhou, and later the old man died, after which he wandered the world and inexplicably developed a set of internal martial arts skills.

Old Yu was silent for a moment, then asked, "What about the girl in black?"

"She didn't say anything more." Jiang Xun pursed his lips. "She hit me, stole my things, taught me breathing exercises, and then left. She just told me to come find you before she left."

After listening, Lao Yu suddenly sighed.

He stood up and looked at Jiang Xun, his eyes showing a hint of relief, and a little... disappointment?

"I see," he said in a low voice, as if talking to himself.

Standing behind him, Yu Xiaoyi couldn't help but ask, "Grandpa, what's wrong?"

Old Yu waved his hand, not answering, but just looking at Jiang Xun.

"I have mistaken you for someone else, please forgive me, young hero."

Jiang Xun didn't take it seriously, and simply asked, "You just said I'm practicing the Unbound Heaven Guiding Technique, what kind of technique is that?"

"Hehe." Old Yu chuckled, a rather unconvincing smile plastered on his face. "I was just saying, don't take it seriously."

"..." Jiang Xun was speechless.

"Knowing nothing..." Old Yu looked at Jiang Xun again, a hint of emotion in his eyes, "Knowing nothing, yet he survived."

Jiang Xun felt a chill run down his spine under that gaze: "What? Shouldn't I have survived?"

Old Yu shook his head, then suddenly smiled.

"You deserve it," he said. "You deserve to live."

Old Yu didn't continue explaining, but changed the subject: "The girl in black sent you to me because she wanted me to help you suppress the internal energy within you, right?"

Jiang Xun nodded: "Is there a way to cure it?"

Old Yu pondered for a moment: "There are two problems with your illness."

Which two?

"One issue is the chaotic flow of internal energy, which can be suppressed with acupuncture and medication first, and then gradually controlled."

Jiang asked, "And the second one?"

"The second is that true qi is increasing day by day."

"His internal energy is increasing daily?"

"Haven't you noticed that even without cultivation, the internal energy within your body will gradually increase?"

Jiang Xun was taken aback. It seemed to be true. No wonder his martial arts skills were getting better and better, and he could learn everything so quickly.

"Isn't this a good thing? Even if I do nothing, I can still become a martial arts master!"

"What if the internal energy exceeds the body's limit?" Old Yu asked solemnly. "For ordinary people practicing martial arts, the increase in internal energy is controllable. The amount of internal energy gained depends on how much they practice, and the body can gradually adapt."

But your technique is different; your internal strength will grow on its own, getting stronger day by day and year by year.

Your body is like a water tank, and your internal strength is the water.

"The water keeps increasing, but the tank is only so big, sooner or later—"

He didn't finish speaking, but his meaning was already very clear.

"It will..." Jiang Xun swallowed hard, panic finally showing on his face, "It will explode and kill us?"

He knew he had a health problem, but he didn't realize it was this serious.

"That's right." Old Yu nodded. "But you don't need to worry for now. As it stands, your life is not in danger."

"You almost scared me to death." Jiang Xun breathed a sigh of relief, but the thought of his incurable disease still made him feel uneasy.

However, being naturally optimistic, he quickly regained his composure: "Let's solve the first problem first."

Old Yu nodded: "Okay. However..." He paused, "It will require a lot of expensive medicinal herbs, so it will be quite costly."

Jiang Xun touched his waist, remembering the silver he had just "borrowed" from a few unscrupulous merchants, and gritted his teeth: "How much?"

"The initial treatment will require at least two hundred taels."

Jiang Xun winced in pain—two hundred taels of silver, that was the hard-earned money he had saved up over several nights!

But seeing Old Yu's serious expression, he knew he wasn't joking, so he reluctantly nodded: "Fine, two hundred taels it is."

He took out a stack of silver notes from his pocket and handed them all over.

Old Yu took the silver note and instructed Yu Xiaoyi to prepare the medicinal herbs.

Yu Xiaoyi glanced at Jiang Xun, her eyes still showing some resentment, but she still obediently went.

Jiang Xun stayed at Guangji Medical Center.

It was supposed to be a place to live, but it was actually just a storage room in the backyard where medicinal herbs were stored.

A wooden bed, an old desk, several medicine baskets piled in the corner, and a faint smell of herbs permeated the air.

Jiang Xun felt inexplicably at ease as he smelled the aroma.

He grew up in a dilapidated temple; what hardships hadn't he endured? Having a bed to sleep in and shelter from the wind and rain was already a blessing.

The next morning, before dawn, Jiang Xun was woken up by Yu Xiaoyi.

"Get up." Yu Xiaoyi stood at the door, his face still grumpy. "Grandpa wants you to go help out in the front hall."

Jiang Xun yawned as he got up, quickly washed his face, and followed Yu Xiaoyi to the front hall.

Last night, Lao Yu talked to him, saying that treating the illness requires money, and the money he "borrowed" from the unscrupulous merchant was definitely not enough. He suggested that he help out at the clinic, where he could earn money and learn some medical skills at the same time, killing two birds with one stone.

Jiang Xun thought it made sense, so he agreed.

"You, help out here." Yu Xiaoyi pointed to the corner behind the counter, "Grinding medicine."

Jiang Xun looked down and saw a round, cast-iron medicine grinder in the corner, next to which was a pile of dark medicinal herbs.

He swallowed hard.

"Um... could I find another job?"

Yu Xiaoyi glanced at him: "Do you know how to dispense medicine?"

"Won't."

"Do you know how to treat patients?"

"Won't."

Yu Xiaoyi looked disgusted: "That settles it then. Grind the herbs."

After saying that, he turned around and went to the back of the counter to get medicine for people.

Jiang Xun squatted down, looked at the medicine grinder, and sighed.

He reached out and gripped the handle, then pushed forward—

The medicine grinder rolled around once.

It doesn't seem that difficult?

He pushed it a few more times and it felt quite easy to use.

While pushing the cart, I watched Yu Xiaoyi busily grabbing, weighing, and wrapping the medicine, her movements quick and efficient.

There were quite a few people coming to see the doctor, queuing up. There were old and young, men and women. Some were coughing, some were clutching their stomachs, and some were being helped in, their faces pale.

As Jiang Xun ground the herbs, he watched the process, and suddenly felt a pang of emotion.

He grew up in the streets, witnessing all sorts of petty theft, swindling, and fraud. This was the first time he'd ever been properly at a clinic.

So this is what healing and saving lives is all about.