Chapter 2 Brewing Medicinal Cuisine

While brewing the medicinal cuisine, Qu Zhenzhen felt like she was sitting on pins and needles. She suddenly felt like she had willingly walked into a wolf's den surrounded by wolves.

Here,

There was an unfathomable Taoist priest,

In a room diagonally opposite hers on the second floor,

And a zombie taking a bath!

No matter how hard she tried to calm herself down, Qu Zhenzhen found it difficult to remain composed. It almost made her mess up the timing of adding the medicine.

Finally, the last step of the medicinal cuisine was completed, and it was ready.

She breathed a long sigh of relief, turned off the heat, and ran downstairs as if fleeing.

The old Taoist was still downstairs mixing cocktails. Seeing the girl running down, he immediately called out:

"Is it ready?"

"Yes."

Qu Zhenzhen responded as she quickly walked towards the bookstore entrance.

The bookstore was as deep as the sea.

She wanted to go home,

To find her brother!

"Hey!"

The old Taoist called after her,

But the girl was determined to leave, and couldn't be stopped.

The old Taoist shook his head and sighed, took the cocktail he had originally intended to prepare for the girl and took a sip, then grinned and ran upstairs to the kitchen to sneak a taste.

At the front desk of the internet cafe,

Qu Mingming was sitting there drinking tea. He had just received another call from his family asking him to go back, but he had brushed it off. He was really annoyed with his family.

There were a large number of relatives in his family, but in this generation, very few truly mastered the artistic inheritance of the Qu family.

After all, times were changing, and the market share and demand for traditional Chinese medicine was constantly shrinking. People were still used to going to the hospital for injections and medicine when they got sick.

However, in terms of health preservation, the market for traditional Chinese medicine had been booming since a few years ago.

Therefore, the family members, including those of the same generation and many of the older generation, basically ran off to the health product industry under the Qu family's traditional Chinese medicine name.

Taking advantage of the Chinese people's mysterious superstition about traditional Chinese medicine naturally led to huge profits.

At a family gathering the year before last, they were still laughing at the martial arts industry, which was encountering a crackdown on fake masters. Who would have thought that the tables would turn, and this year the traditional Chinese medicine supplement industry also experienced a scandal, and the market began to fluctuate. His family wanted to invite him back to hold the fort, but he didn't want to go back.

Just thinking about the insoles that could cure all diseases and the nourishing sanitary napkins that his family members were producing,

Qu Mingming felt disgusted. He would rather run his internet cafe here and study his bugs at night than go home.

"Brother! Brother!"

His sister's voice interrupted Qu Mingming's thoughts.

"What's wrong? Did you deliver the medicinal cuisine?"

"I delivered it, but they, they over there..."

Qu Zhenzhen pointed in the direction of the bookstore,

"They over there are too scary. They're even raising a zombie."

"A zombie?"

Qu Mingming said, somewhat amused, "Really?"

"It's true, in a bathtub.

The zombie is taking a bath!"

Qu Zhenzhen said with a serious face,

Her face read, "If you don't believe me, I'll bite you!"

"Uh... wait, let me sort this out."

Qu Mingming was really amused. He took out a silver needle and pricked his sister's fingertip, then began to gently rotate it.

Qu Zhenzhen's agitated emotions slowly calmed down, and she entered a peaceful state.

"Thank you, brother."

"Heh, it's nothing. Come on, let's sort this out. You said there's a zombie in their store, and that zombie is taking a bath?"

"Yes, the bugs in my body sensed it. I can't be wrong. When I got close to that person, the bugs in my body started to get scared. They usually get excited when they see living people, but this time they were afraid!"

"I think there might be some misunderstanding."

Qu Mingming was still not convinced.

He came from a family of doctors with a long history. Of course, it wasn't the kind of ancient family that was common in fantasy novels. In fact, it was just a lineage of doctors, but Qu Mingming was a special case. Although medicine and gu (poisonous insects) were related, very few traditional Chinese medicine practitioners played with this anymore. This caused people to only associate gu insects with the Miao region.

He was a special case. He liked to study this.

So, he was still an ordinary person, unable to see ghosts or spirits, unaware of hell. Oh, he forgot that he had joined the Party when he was in college. In theory, he was a staunch atheist.

"Hey."

Someone called from behind.

Qu Mingming turned around and saw Zhou Ze and the girl. She was so frightened that she almost jumped up and immediately hid behind her brother.

The last time Zhou Ze came, Qu Zhenzhen dared to be angry with him and give him a cold shoulder, but this time, having just experienced a half-day tour of the bookstore, she really didn't dare to treat Zhou Ze like that again.

You know,

That unfathomable and terrifying old Taoist priest,

Was just this young man's subordinate!

"Here, the Dragon Boat Festival is here, so we went to the market to buy some zongzi (sticky rice dumplings)."

As he spoke, Zhou Ze had Bai Yingying bring the zongzi to the counter.

"Thank you."

Qu Mingming responded.

"You're welcome."

As he said this, Zhou Ze prepared to go back with Bai Yingying. This exchange of gifts was just a gesture because they had treated him to medicinal cuisine last time. Zhou Ze hadn't returned to the bookstore yet, so he didn't know that they had sent another serving of medicinal cuisine today.

The old Taoist was only focused on sneaking a taste, so he didn't even call Zhou Ze to inform him.

"Did you buy these?"

Qu Mingming pointed to the two large bags that Bai Yingying was carrying. He clearly smelled the scent of Chinese medicine.

"Oh, a friend of mine is sick, so I'm buying some medicine to help him recover." Zhou Ze replied.

"What's wrong?" Qu Mingming asked, then smiled and said, "As you know, since you're using traditional Chinese medicine, and I'm a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, why don't you let me take a look?"

Zhou Ze pursed his lips and said, "I'm afraid this illness won't be easy for you to cure."

"It doesn't hurt to say it."

"He's poisoned."

"What kind of poison?"

"Corpse poison."

Hearing this, Qu Mingming deliberately turned his head to look at his sister behind him. He thought his sister must have been mistaken.

Since the other party was in the tomb raiding business, it was normal to be poisoned by corpse poison in a tomb. Besides, there was no way there was a real zombie taking a bath. The person poisoned by corpse poison must be using the bathtub to detoxify.

"I can give it a try." Qu Mingming said confidently.

"Alright, then I'll have to trouble you."

As soon as Zhou Ze pushed open the door and walked into the bookstore, he saw the old Taoist rushing out, shouting at Zhou Ze as if he had found a savior:

"Boss, you're finally back! This poor Taoist is going out to pick up a package!"

As he said this,

Without waiting for Zhou Ze to answer,

The old Taoist ran directly out of the bookstore.

But the way he was running was a bit awkward, as if he had a third leg between his legs.

"Hehe, the atmosphere in our store is always quite relaxed." Zhou Ze explained.

Qu Mingming smiled without saying a word. When the old Taoist passed by him, he smelled a scent of medicinal cuisine. It seemed that this employee had secretly drunk the medicinal cuisine he had brewed, and the effect was remarkable.

But he remembered that the last time he gave Zhou Ze the same medicinal cuisine to drink,

Zhou Ze had finished it with a calm expression,

And left very calmly,

Without any reaction at all.

Qu Mingming had even thought that his medicinal cuisine wasn't potent enough.

Now, comparing the two,

He realized that Zhou Ze was a bit... terminally ill.

"Please."

Zhou Ze invited Qu Mingming and his sister to the second floor. Qu Zhenzhen was very scared, but she still followed her brother. She was worried that something might happen to her brother here.

Pushing open Xu Qinglang's door, Xu Qinglang, who was originally sleeping, opened his eyes. Seeing strangers come in, he complained with some dissatisfaction:

"Are you treating me like a tourist attraction and inviting people to come and see me?"

"That's fine, I'll split the ticket money with you. Although there are few men who are prettier than women, it's not like there aren't any. But zombies who are prettier than women are really rare."

Qu Zhenzhen walked to the side of the bathtub and observed Xu Qinglang's condition. She frowned and said, "This isn't just exposure to ordinary corpse poison. This is the kind that's really contagious..."

Ordinary corpse poison wouldn't cause such changes in the body.

"Can it be cured?" Zhou Ze asked. He only cared about the result.

"I've only seen this kind of situation in ancient books. There are ways, but your method is actually very ineffective."

Qu Mingming reached into the bathtub and scooped up some water,

Then put his hand to his nose and smelled it.

He seemed to have discovered something and looked a bit strange.

He immediately stuck out his tongue and licked the bathwater on Xu Qinglang's palm.

Xu Qinglang's face turned red.

"There's a sour, musty smell in this water. What is it? This is an excellent tonic for relaxing the muscles, promoting blood circulation, and treating internal and external injuries."

Zhou Ze thought for a moment and understood. Mingming was talking about monkey urine mixed with mud.

"Let's talk about how to treat him first. What do you need to prepare?"

"My method is to quickly cultivate a special gu insect, and then use this gu insect to enter the patient's body and absorb the corpse poison, thereby fundamentally solving the problem of corpse poison.

But the problem is,

I have the right kind of gu insect here,

But I'm lacking something to cultivate the gu insect."

"What is it?"

"This requires you to go to that tomb again. And it will be very dangerous."

"Tomb?" Xu Qinglang looked confused. How did it involve a tomb again?

"Which tomb?" Zhou Ze couldn't remember what he meant either.

"The place where he was poisoned by corpse poison. Find a zongzi (a zombie or corpse that is still intact after burial)."

"Zongzi?"

"Huh? Aren't zombies in tombs supposed to be called zongzi in your jargon?" Qu Mingming asked curiously.

"You're the zongzi! Your whole family are zongzi!" Bai Yingying immediately scolded.

"Yingying, don't be rude." Zhou Ze reminded her.

"Aww."

She instantly became well-behaved.

"Okay, we'll find that zong... zi. Then what?"

"I need a strand of his hair as a guide. Zombie hair, added with some specific medicinal materials, can be used to cultivate the gu insect. This way, the cultivated gu insect will naturally have a craving for the components of corpse poison. It's the best thing to use for detoxification."

"Oh, is that so? You should have said so earlier." As he said this, Zhou Ze turned to look at Yingying: "Hair."

"Alright, Boss."

Bai Yingying pinched off a strand of her hair with her fingernails and handed it to Qu Mingming.

"Don't be polite, use it." Bai Yingying said heroically. "Ask me for more if it's not enough."

Qu Mingming looked at the hair in his hand,

Feeling a bit amused,

He said:

"I don't need your hair, I need..."

As he said this,

Qu Mingming seemed to suddenly realize something,

And his face turned pale.

"Shit!"