In the early spring of western Yunnan, the drizzle is hazy.

At dusk, Mo Yan was about to close the door, and suddenly saw three people in the rain, wearing hats and long swords hanging from their waists, leading horses and staring at the Bashan Medical Clinic.

"Are you here to see the sick?" asked Mo Yan.

The three men did not reply, but tied their horses and went straight to the door, and the rain dripped down the ground.

When Xia Bashan heard this, he came out of the self-examination room and looked at them suspiciously.

"Xia Bashan, do you still recognize the old man?" said one of the green-faced old men, who was about fifty years old and had a Central Plains accent.

Xia Bashan's face changed suddenly when he heard this: "You are the master of Miao Hall......

The old man sneered: "Back then, you killed the old gang leader, but I didn't expect to come to hide in this remote place in western Yunnan, and it would be easy to find the brothers in the gang." ”

"Mo Remnant, close the door. Shabashan commanded.

"No need. The old man's body did not move, his right hand slapped back silently, and the two doors closed by themselves with a "bang".

Mo Yan watched dumbfounded.

"The old gang leader suffered from stroke autism, and at that time, his pulse was full of fish, and his heart was dead, not that Xia had killed him, but that there was no cure at all. Shabashan hurriedly argued.

"Then the old man asks you, the Bashan Medical Clinic is famous, is it true that Xia Laolang cures the seven absolute veins?"

"This ......," said Shabasan, "just by chance, but the pharmacology is not very clear." ”

"Many terminally ill patients in Xia Laolangzhong's hands are cured, but the old gang leader has no medicine to cure?" the old man said hehehe.

Xia Bashan's face turned red: "If the Miao Hall Master doesn't believe it, then Xia has nothing to say, and if he wants to kill him, he will kill it." ”

The Miao Hall Master caught a glimpse of Mo Yan on the side, but he was just a child and ignored it.

But at this moment, Mo Yan was full of regret in his heart, if it weren't for his piece of old gastrodia, it would not have caused Mr. Xia to be killed, and he was thinking about whether to tell the truth.

At this time, the Miao Hall Master's face softened, and he smiled slightly: "Mr. Xia, the old man really wants your life, will he talk about these nonsense? Now that the young gang master also has the same disease, if he can be cured, the previous account will be written off, and there will be a lot of reward, what do you think?"

Xia Bashan was taken aback when he heard this, he had been hiding from the Wushan Gang for all these years, and he was always on the lookout for despair, when he was facing despair, he suddenly turned around and had the hope of survival, so he was naturally overjoyed, and hurriedly said: "Of course, of course, Xia should work." ”

The master of Miao Hall said: "This is very good, please ask Mr. Xia to leave for Padang immediately." ”

"Leaving tonight?" Shabashan looked at the rain outside.

"Don't worry, naturally you won't let the rain drench Mr. Xia," the Miao Hall Master instructed his entourage, "You two go and hire a carriage." The two men answered.

Xia Bashan beckoned Mo Yan to come close and instructed him: "You just watch the shop at home and wait for me to come back." ”

Mo Yan thought in his heart, if Mr. Xia didn't take Lao Tianma there, he would definitely not be able to heal the young gang leader, and the result would still be certain death. He was rejected by Xinglin Hall, it was Bashan Medical Center who took him in, and Mr. Xia has always taken good care of himself, if it wasn't for Lao Tianma causing trouble this time, Miao Hall Master They wouldn't be able to find it here. I can't die without help, but how to explain this to him.

"Where is Padang, far away?" Mo asked.

"Well, in Shennongjia, western Hubei Province, it takes more than a month to go back and forth. Shabashan replied.

Shennongjia ...... Mo Yan remembered that this place was mentioned in "The Essence of the Absolute Pulse", where there are no less than ten kinds of real medicines, if he can go along, he may encounter a few, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"I want to go with you, not only to serve Mr., but also to go out to the foreign minister for a long time, except for Dali City, I have never been anywhere. Mo Yan asked sincerely.

Mr. Xia thought that it would not be lonely to be accompanied by someone in the carriage during the journey, and that it would be a good thing to let the child go out to experience the experience, so he nodded and agreed and asked him to pack his bags.

Mo Yan ran back to the house, took off the remaining bag of old gastrodia tablets and a few pieces of clothing to make a baggage, and then wrapped the book "The Essence of the Absolute Pulse" and hid it back to the secret place on the beam, anyway, he had read it many times, and he could almost recite it.

The carriage was hired, there was an oilcloth canopy to shelter from the rain, and the groom was a lean man of taciturn words.

Mr. Xia personally prepared several packs of gastrodia soup herbs, handed them to Mo Remnant for collection, then locked the door, put the medicine box on his back and got into the carriage, and the group left Dali City overnight in the rain.

Since ancient times, there are two roads out of Yunnan, the east road passes through Guizhou into Hubei, the mountain high road is dangerous and rugged and difficult to travel, the north road can go directly out of Yunnan into Sichuan, change to a boat and boat in Xuzhou Mansion and go down the Sichuan River, it is more convenient, they take this road.

Mo Yan sat in the carriage, and the scenery of mountains and rivers, markets and customs along the way were very different from those of Dali, which opened his eyes.

On the way, Mr. Xia recounted the process of his friendship with the Wushan Gang.

At that time, Xia Bashan was a Jianghu bell doctor, and when he was practicing medicine in Badong, he was invited to treat the head of the Min Lao Gang in Wushan. Most of the people who go to Fang Lang can speak well, such as "ancestral secret recipes, medicine to eliminate diseases" and so on, usually full of words. But when he saw the patient's pulse, he was immediately dumbfounded. The old gang leader suffered from stroke autism, his face was black, his eyes were red, his mouth was speechless, and his heart was dead, and his pulse was like a fish with seven unique pulses. Alas, at that time, he only blamed himself for being confused for a while, knowing that there was no cure but still gave him Huanghe Dan, but he died of anger the next day, and Xia Bashan quickly slipped away while the gang was in chaos. After hearing that the Wushan Gang was tracking down his whereabouts everywhere, it was determined that he had killed the old Min gang leader, and Xia Bashan did not dare to practice medicine in the Sichuan and Hubei generations anymore, so he had to leave the Central Plains to avoid western Yunnan.

"What is 'Yellow Crane Pill'?" Mo asked.

"This is our Lingyi ancestral prescription, called 'interception medicine', which means to 'intercept the disease', Huang Hedan for men, and green capsule pills for women, which can intercept all diseases. ”

"Can it really cure all diseases? Mo Yan didn't believe it.

Xia Bashan said with a wry smile: "The medicine is extremely heavy, in order to take it immediately after taking it, which is surprisingly convincing, and then the price of the remaining medicine is naturally high, and it doesn't matter whether the patient is cured or not, so the bell doctor only stays in each place for a day or two at most." ”

After Xia Bashan's narration, Mo Yan had a general understanding of the industry in the rivers and lakes.

There are clinics in all prefectures and counties, and it is easy to see a doctor and grab medicine, but the transportation in the countryside is inconvenient, so you can only rely on those Jianghu bell doctors who walk through the villages and alleys to see the disease. Bell doctor, named after the hand-cranked iron bell when practicing medicine, is also known as "walking Fang Langzhong", which originated from Bian Que and continued to be passed down in Huatuo to this day.

Go to the doctor three ** "top, string, interception", the top refers to the drug on the act of vomiting, the string is the drug under the laxative, interception is the method of sweating and vomiting to intercept the disease, a total of nine tops, thirteen strings, seventy-two interception secret methods. In short, the effect of taking medicine should be fast, the medicine is cheap and inexpensive, and it is convenient to pick it on the spot at any time.

Of course, the best thing is to extract teeth, point moles, remove pannus and catch insects, such as scattering teeth with bones, half a pillar of incense will fall in time, and moles will be taken off overnight.

After several days of turbulence, in the evening, they finally arrived in Xuzhou City.

Xuzhou, known as "Yuzhou" in ancient times, is an important land and water town at the junction of Sichuan and Yunnan. Entering the city, the market is bustling with people, and there is a faint smell of wine in the air.

Xia Bashan sniffed and smacked his lips: "This is Yibin Chen's 'multigrain wine', which is brewed with five kinds of grains: soybeans, rice, sorghum, glutinous rice and buckwheat. ”

Under the big camphor tree in front, there is a wine pretense, which is a time-honored inn.

The master of Miao Tang dismounted and said: "Everyone has been driving all the way, take a break here, and then change the boat and go down the Sichuan River to Badong." ”

After sending the carriage away, he instructed his entourage to go to the riverside wharf in the east of the city to hire a boat, and by the way, sell the horses on the spot, while he took Xia Bashan and Mo Yan into the inn lobby and sat down.

At this time, there was a rattle outside, and Xia Bashan pointed to Mo Yan: "This is the bell doctor's string of bells, also called 'tiger support', which is the signboard of Fang Lang." ”

The man was a thin old man in a gray robe, carrying a medicine box with a string of bells, holding a black and white flag signboard with the words "Ancestral Secret Recipe, Wish by the Thirteen Branches", and was followed by a little girl of seven or eight years old.

"The bell doctor rattle has a rule, put it in front of the chest and shake it, it is an ordinary Langzhong, and the medical skills that are shoulder level are higher, and the shaking above the head means that the medical skills are very high. Shabashan explained.

Mo Yan looked over, and the old man rattled the bell over the top, so he said, "His medical skills must be very clever." ”

"Not necessarily, there is no shortage of people on the rivers and lakes. Shabashan said disdainfully.

After a short time, the retinue sent by the Miao hall master came back and said, "Hall master, the boat has been hired, and it will leave early tomorrow morning, and we can go directly to Padang." ”

"Well, it seems that I will only leave tomorrow morning, and I will ask for two good rooms, and I will stay at this inn tonight. The Miao Hall Master commanded.

"Yes, Master. The man answered.

Xiao Er came over with two or three jars of wine, and said earnestly: "The guest officer is not a local, this is the famous 'multigrain wine' in this place, which is brewed from five kinds of grains.

"I have heard the name of Xuzhou's 'miscellaneous grain wine' for a long time, so I will drink it well today, and it will not be in vain. The master of Miao Hall patted open the mud seal, and a strong aroma of wine came to his nose.

"Good wine. Everyone praised.

Xia Bashan took a deep breath, couldn't wait to pick up the bowl and drank it all, smacking his lips incessantly, closing his eyes as if he was having an endless aftertaste.

Mo Yan didn't know how to drink, so he sat on the side after eating alone, looking bored, so he got up and said to go outside on the street, and Xia Bashan told him not to go far and come back early.

Twilight falls, people come and go on the street, there is a burst of spicy aroma in the air, that is the stall of the famous local snack "Xufu Burning Noodles", the noodles are loose and red in color, spicy and spicy, the oil is heavy and waterless, and it burns when it encounters fire, so it is called "Burning Noodles".

Mo had no intention of enjoying the scenery, and looked around, trying to find the old bell doctor who passed by on the street.

At the corner of the street, he saw the old man and the little girl sitting in front of a stall eating noodles, with a cloth sign standing next to the table and a medicine box at his feet.

Mo Remnant is generally not good at interacting with strangers, and when he walked up to him and was hesitating how to speak, it happened that the old man put down the dishes and chopsticks and raised his head, and his eyes met Mo Remnant unexpectedly.

The old man stared at Mo Yan, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes, and said, "This little brother's Pikan shoulder is very chic, is it rabbit fur?"

"I don't know. Mo Yan shook his head.

"Can you take a look at it from the old man?" the old man smiled kindly.

Mo Yan took off his shoulder and handed it over.

The old man held the shoulder and looked at it over and over, pulled the soft gray hair in his hand, and sent it to his nose to smell it, his face became more and more solemn, and finally said, "Where did you buy this shoulder?"

"My mother sewed it. Mo Yan felt that this old man was very funny.

The old man looked at Mo Yan with a puzzled gaze: "Listen to the accent, the little brother is from Yunnan and Western Yunnan." ”

"Dali. Mo replied.

"Oh," the old man asked, "and where does this fur come from?"

"Home. ”

The old man nodded, handed the shoulder back to Mo Yan, and said with a slight smile: "Little brother, you seem to have something to look for me." ”

Mo Yan said "um" and said, "Uncle, I saw that your string of bells was held high above the top, and your medical skills must be very clever." ”

The old man was happy when he heard this: "The medical skills are so-so, it's okay, what's the matter, is anyone sick?"

"No," Mo Yan said hesitantly, "Uncle, do you know Shennongjia?"

The old man was stunned for a moment and said, "I went to collect medicine once when I was young. ”

Mo Yan then asked about the situation in Shennongjia, and said that he wanted to go there to collect medicine.

"Shennongjia is thousands of miles in circumference, the mountains are high and the forests are dense, the people are sparsely populated, and the medicinal materials are everywhere, which is the treasure house of traditional Chinese medicine that people dream of from doctors. Not only are there many precious Chinese herbs such as Ganoderma lucidum, Panax notoginseng, Gastrodia, Chuanbei and Dendrobium nobile nobilis, but also a bowl of water by the river, a seven-leaf flower and a long whip Rhodiola are unique there. In short, there are countless good medicinal materials in that place, and after so many years, the old man still dreams of it from time to time. The old man sighed.

"Can you pick herbs that have grown for thousands of years there?"

The old man looked at Mo Yan in surprise: "There must be thousand-year-old medicinal herbs, but they are by no means available to ordinary people, not to mention poisonous insects and beasts, if you encounter a mountain ghost, there will definitely be no bones." Back then, the old man was just walking around the edge of Shennongjia, picking some ordinary herbs, and never dared to step into the deep mountains and old forests. ”

"'Mountain ghost', what is that?" Mo Yan had never heard of.

"It is said to resemble a human form, tall and tall, with a black face and a back-to-back foot, fierce and unusually fond of cannibalism. The old man explained to him.

Mo Yan couldn't help but feel a little timid when he heard this, but after thinking about it, it was precisely because it was too difficult to collect "real medicine" that the world could be preserved.

Mo Yan sat down and talked with the old man, the old man's name is Shi Yuhe, a person from Langzhou in Shuzhong, the little girl was picked up by the side of the road, born speechless, and when she saw her pity, she kept it with her, named Yu'er, and it has been six or seven years. Shi Yuhe asked about the situation at home, and Mo Yan also told the truth, and the two talked very closely.

Two of the Miao Hall Master's entourage found Mo Yan and told him to go back to the inn.

"I have to go, and I'm going to take a boat to Patong early tomorrow morning. Mo reluctantly got up and said goodbye.

When parting, Shi Yuhe lowered his voice and said: "Little brother Mo Yan, this shoulder of yours is not an ordinary fur, don't take it off when you wear it when you go into the mountains to collect medicine, it can avoid poisonous insects and miasma, remember." ”

Seeing Mo Yan walking away, Shi Yuhe raised his eyes and looked at the night sky, pondered for a long time, bowed his head and said to Yu'er: "It seems that I am going to go to western Yunnan." ”

;