"Master Wan, please wait a moment."
As Yao Xin led Wan Yunting to the residence of the old Daoist priest Zhang Yansong, Tan Zhiyuan, clad in a Daoist robe, first stopped him and said with a polite smile, "My master is meditating inside, which is something he does every day while refining medicine. Please wait here with me."
"Mm, alright."
Wan Yunting smiled and nodded in understanding. He then followed Yao Xin and her junior brother, along with Xiao Chuanzi, who was squatting by the kitchen door with a bowl of noodles. Xiao Chuanzi was looking at the snow on the ground, drawing diagrams with a twig, and eating his noodles absentmindedly.
Not knowing what to talk about with Tan Zhiyuan, Wan Yunting went and squatted beside Xiao Chuanzi. He watched him draw something in the snow with the twig, which looked like talismans or characters, and asked in surprise, "What are you drawing?"
Xiao Chuanzi realized he was squatting beside him and replied, "I'm drawing talismans."
"Drawing talismans."
Wan Yunting looked closely at the patterns he drew on the snow. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed a talisman. He smiled and said, "But your handwriting is too ugly. You need to practice your brush calligraphy."
Xiao Chuanzi, with his sturdy build, said, "Brush calligraphy is too difficult to practice. No matter how I try, I can't write it well."
"I'll teach you. Give me..."
With that, Wan Yunting took the twig from him, smoothed the snow on the ground with his hand, and said, "Brush calligraphy is very easy to write. You hold it like this, first practice the strokes..."
The two, one big and one small, squatted on the ground. Xiao Chuanzi watched attentively, his bowl of noodles growing cold. To pass the time, Wan Yunting very seriously and meticulously taught him how to write brush calligraphy. Xiao Chuanzi was eager to try and also gestured with the twig. With Wan Yunting's simple instruction, the characters he wrote were indeed much better than the talismans he had drawn earlier.
At this moment, Zhang Yansong emerged from his room, dressed in a clean, gray Daoist robe. Tan Zhiyuan turned and saw him, quickly bowing. Zhang Yansong's old eyes looked at Wan Yunting and Xiao Chuanzi squatting in the courtyard and asked, "What are they doing?"
Tan Zhiyuan smiled and replied, "Reporting to Master, Master Wan is teaching Xiao Chuanzi brush calligraphy."
Zhang Yansong stroked his white beard a few times, nodded, and chuckled. He then called out, "Master Wan."
Hearing the call, Wan Yunting stood up and turned. Seeing that Zhang Yansong was ready, he instructed Xiao Chuanzi to continue practicing as he had taught him. Then he quickly walked towards Zhang Yansong and cupped his fists, saying, "Daoist Priest Zhang..."
Zhang Yansong smiled and said, "You've been waiting, haven't you? Come in with me, and we'll prepare the medicinal ingredients to start refining the Ningxiang Pills."
"Good."
Wan Yunting nodded with a smile and followed Zhang Yansong into the main hall. The fire under the bronze medicine furnace was still burning. "Zhiyuan, take out the Heqi Pills from the medicine furnace first, and then clean the furnace. Master and Master Wan will prepare the medicinal ingredients."
"Understood, Master..."
Tan Zhiyuan nodded and called his junior sister Yao Xin to help. He opened the medicine furnace, and a burst of medicinal fragrance wafted out, making Wan Yunting, standing nearby, crane his neck to look and ask, "Daoist Priest Zhang, what is the effect of this Heqi Pill?"
Zhang Yansong prepared the medicinal ingredients in his hand and said with a smile, "This Heqi Pill is a tonic for vital energy. For example, if we suffer internal injuries, we can take Heqi Pills to replenish your internal energy and stabilize the injury yourself."
"Oh, I understand."
Although Wan Yunting had little experience with these medicinal pills, he understood the effect and preciousness of the Heqi Pill from its description. Zhang Yansong smiled and said, "I'll give you two to carry with you. They can save your life in critical moments."
Wan Yunting's expression stiffened slightly, and he said with a smile without being polite, "Thank you, Daoist Priest Zhang."
Zhang Yansong smiled and handed him a handful of herbs, saying, "Here, take this Huixiang grass and grind it into powder first."
"Alright."
Wan Yunting took the dried Huixiang grass. Beside it was a very old grinding trough made of cast iron, a common tool for processing Chinese medicine in ancient times. Wan Yunting had never really used it before. Tan Zhiyuan guided him a few times, and he quickly got the hang of it, grinding the Huixiang grass into powder. Then, he ground many other medicinal ingredients into powder. Those that could not be ground were directly pounded into powder with a pestle and mortar. The Ningxiang flowers were treated the same way.
"There aren't many Ningxiang flowers, but I hope we can succeed on our first try."
Zhang Yansong and Wan Yunting, along with Tan Zhiyuan and the others, worked for over two hours before finally preparing all the medicinal ingredients. The washed medicine furnace was placed back on the hearth, and Xiao Chuanzi was adding firewood.
"The key to refining medicine is the heat and the state of mind..."
Zhang Yansong rolled up his sleeves and held a bamboo tool resembling a spatula. He began to scrape the water and impurities from the medicine furnace.
Yao Xin brought in two handfuls of clean snow from outside. Zhang Yansong had her put it into the medicine furnace and said with a smile to Wan Yunting, who was watching from the side, "This refining must use water without roots, which means rainwater or snowmelt, and dew. Then, add the main ingredient and start stirring it into a paste..."
As he spoke, he poured the ground Ningxiang flower powder into the medicine furnace. Zhang Yansong immediately began stirring with the bamboo spatula. Tan Zhiyuan quickly pulled Xiao Chuanzi aside and began to control the size of the firewood in the hearth.
Zhang Yansong also constantly instructed him to adjust the heat, emphasizing that there could be no mistakes. If the heat was too high, the medicine in the furnace would burn; if the heat was too low, the temperature would not be sufficient to activate the medicinal properties of the ingredients to their optimal state.
"Master Wan, pour in those two companion herbs..."
Zhang Yansong said quickly. Wan Yunting took the Huixiang grass and Jinwu silk grass, which had also been ground into powder, and poured them into the medicine furnace. Zhang Yansong kept stirring, and the medicinal paste in the furnace bubbled, emitting a strong medicinal fragrance.
Then, Zhang Yansong had Wan Yunting add the other dozens of medicinal ingredients. A total of thirty-nine types of medicinal ingredients were ground into powder and stirred together, emitting a unique medicinal aroma.
At the same time, the medicinal paste in the furnace began to thicken and resist stirring. Zhang Yansong kept stirring with the bamboo spatula, allowing the medicinal powder to blend thoroughly. However, Wan Yunting noticed that it seemed to lack water and asked, "Do we need to add more water?"
"No, it's time to add honey!"
Zhang Yansong wiped the sweat from his forehead. He commented that the first step of refining medicine was the most tiring but not the most critical. As he spoke, Yao Xin brought out a jar of honey. Wan Yunting saw that the honey had already melted into a white, beeswax-like substance, indicating that it was indeed natural and pure honey. "This honey is produced by the bees we raise ourselves on the mountain..."
As Zhang Yansong instructed Yao Xin on how much honey to add, he did not dare to relax for a moment, continuously stirring to blend the medicinal paste in the furnace together, much like kneading dough. The addition of honey caused the medicinal paste to coagulate. Zhang Yansong immediately used a spatula to take out this mass of medicine.
Tan Zhiyuan brought over a small square table with a clean cutting board placed on it. Zhang Yansong placed the medicinal mass on it. While it was still warm, he directly used his hands, unafraid of the heat, to knead the mass of medicine, thoroughly mixing the thirty-nine types of medicinal ingredients together.
Wan Yunting stood by and watched attentively. At this moment, Ouyang Shenhe also entered from outside. Zhang Yansong was not afraid of his refining process being seen, as seeing it was one thing, but replicating it was not that simple.
"Done."
After kneading the mass of medicine for a full half hour until it had completely solidified, Zhang Yansong had Tan Zhiyuan begin dividing the medicine and weighing it. The weight of each pill had to be consistent, with no deviation. The pills were about the size of a girl's thumb, and a total of twenty-nine pills were made.
"The next step is the most crucial part of refining the elixir!"
Zhang Yansong turned to Wan Yunting and said, "Baking the medicine!"
With that, Yao Xin placed a special tool for arranging the pills into the medicine furnace, placed the twenty-nine pills on it, and then covered the furnace lid. Zhang Yansong said to Tan Zhiyuan, "Low heat for six continuous hours!"
"Understood."
Tan Zhiyuan nodded and took control of the heat. He knew that this step was the most critical for the elixir to take shape and for its medicinal properties and quality to be activated.
Zhang Yansong washed his hands, wiped them with a cloth, and came out. He looked at Wan Yunting and Ouyang Shenhe and said with a smile, "It will take another six hours for the elixir to form. Master Wan, Patriarch Ouyang, why don't you go out for a stroll?"
Wan Yunting and Ouyang Shenhe nodded. They were just about to visit the previous generation's patriarch of the Kong family, Kong Liancheng.
"Xiao Chuanzi, take them to Pingshou Mountain."
Zhang Yansong asked Xiao Chuanzi to lead them. Wan Yunting and Ouyang Shenhe nodded and left with Xiao Chuanzi. Zhang Yansong naturally had to stay by the medicine furnace to watch the medicine and ensure no mistakes were made.