Never Let You Go, Again

27: Pure Blood, Pure Heart, Pure Soul

Jiang Cheng was back in Gusu by the next morning.

"Xichen! Xichen!" He ran to the Sect Leader's study. Lan Xichen looked up from his book. Who was shouting his name like this?

Jiang Cheng flung open the doors and ran into the room. "Xichen, there you are!"

"Wanyin? Wanyin, why are you running?"

"I FOUND IT!"

"Really?"

"Yes, here's our Doctor, my cousin, Jiang Yunxi. You might know him from old days," he pointed to a cheery-looking young man in light and plain, violet robes, comfortable compared to his sect leader's adorned ones. Lan Xichen and Jiang Yunxi bowed to each other.

"And this is our Head Cook, Zheng Yue. Auntie Yue, this is the Lan Sect Leader," he introduced the two to each other.

"Auntie Yue," Xichen bowed to the Head Cook, who, amazed by this young man's courtesy, bowed back. The Chief Cultivator bowing to a Cook? Now this was one excellent young man.

"Auntie Yue, Doctor Jiang, you know the recipe?" Xichen asked.

Auntie Yue nodded. "Yes, Chief Cultivator. It's very simple, actually, just taking in some day-to-day meals in slightly different ways."

"Oh? That simple?"

"Indeed, Chief Cultivator. The medicine is present in three well-available foods: pheasant, legumes and sunflower seeds. We need to feed Master Wei as much legumes as possible, I suppose Second Master Lan will have to do that," the doctor described.

"We all from Lotus Pier know how much Young Master Wei hates legumes," Auntie Yue chuckled.

Xichen nodded, smiling. "And the pheasant? Of course, no issue, he'll eat that more than willingly," Xichen said grinning.

"True, we'll make it a soup. Greens and pheasant meat. The taste of the meat in the soup will make him willingly swallow too," Auntie Yue suggested.

"But he's still unconscious," Jiang Cheng reminded.

"Well, we'll have to liquify the whole thing, even mince the meat, because Master Wei is still entirely insensate. All of it is cooked in such a way that it activates instantly inside the body, so we can heal him quicker. Cooking the meat with pineapples to make it tender but also not heating too much to sustain the medicine. There's a way to cook each thing, right Auntie Yue?" Jiang Yunxi turned to the Cook.

The old lady nodded. "Yes, here's the recipe. I wrote it myself. Chief Cultivator, if you could pass this to your kitchen and Doctor Lan?"

Lan Xichen nodded. "Sure, Auntie Yue. Erm... Auntie Yue?"

"Yes?"

"What about the sunflower seeds?"

"We've got it right here!" Jiang Cheng brought out a pouch from his sleeve and shoved it in Lan Xichen's hands. Xichen opened the pouch and indeed, there were enough sunflower seeds to plant an acres-long field. "What do we do with this?" He asked, turning to the Doctor.

Jiang Yunxi answered, "I'll discuss with Doctor Lan. I think we can apply it with other bleed-reducing herbs to the bandage by his wound."

"Perfect! I'll send for the Doctor right away. We'll meet at the Jingshi," Lan Xichen walked out of his study with the three. As they marched out, Jiang Cheng looked back.

Lan Xichen's study table was loaded with books. On top of it, on either side of it, above and below, all around his seating mat. Books and books and more books. Rolls, scripts. Jiang Cheng turned to his friend with large eyes.