Entering the room, Lin Miao saw a frail little boy lying on the bed, with a yellow paper talisman stuck on his forehead. He stepped forward, tore off the talisman, then bent down to carefully examine the pupils and also checked the tongue. The tongue was yellow and dry with a black coating in the center, and the pulse was thin, slippery, and rapid.

Very dangerous.

"Xia Zhu, quickly, rhinoceros horn powder, immediately!" Lin Miao shouted towards the outside of the door, knowing that he had seen Xia Zhu as he came in, who should have brought the medicine back.

"Yes, Mr. Lin."

Three parts of rhinoceros horn powder, directly administered to the child with warm water.

"Immediately decoct the medicine as per my instructions, five qian each of honeysuckle and raw rehmannia, four qian of scrophulariaceae, three qian each of red peony root, tree peony bark, and ophiopogon japonicus, two qian of licorice, one liang of white grass root, one liang of raw ash mud, and three qian of rhubarb, added later, quickly!"

Lin Miao then applied acupuncture on the child to stimulate his body’s own vital energy.

Half an hour later, the medicinal decoction was ready and brought to the bedside. Once it was cool enough to be taken, they pried open the child’s mouth and administered it directly.

Now it was a matter of waiting.

The medicine had been given, but the reaction would take time.

However, one thing quickly became apparent: the pained expression on the child’s face slowly faded, and his forehead was no longer as burning hot as before.

The fever had reduced, thanks to the rhinoceros horn.

His breathing also steadied—he had fallen asleep.

"Mom, I want to go to the bathroom..." The child suddenly opened his eyes and weakly called out.

"Quick, take the child over." Lin Miao’s eyes snapped open, and he immediately ordered, knowing that taking the medicine would definitely cause diarrhea.

Sure enough, the little boy had diarrhea three times in a row, passing dark red, watery stool that filled the bathroom with a stench.

But after this, although the little boy looked extremely weak, his complexion was much better, and the purple bruises on his neck had lightened significantly.

His nose was no longer bleeding.

Feeling his pulse, it had improved; the child’s life had been pulled back from the Ghost Gate.

A miracle!

The man from the family kneeled in front of Lin Miao, raised his hand, and slapped himself hard seven or eight times until his cheeks were swollen.

"I’m sorry, Mr. Lin, I’m not a human, I’m just an animal. If it weren’t for you today, my son would be gone..." The five-foot-tall man cried while slapping and cursing himself.

"Alright, alright, get up now. If someone saw this, they’d think I did something to you!" Lin Miao was quite helpless.

This was a matter of understanding, and couldn’t be considered wrong; it was just ignorance. As a father, he wanted to save his child but believed the wrong person and used the wrong method.

Pitiful people often have something detestable about them.

Luckily, I hadn’t left today, or this child would surely have died.

Saving one life is more meritorious than building a seven-tier pagoda; as a physician, it is my duty to do my best to treat patients.

"Xia Zhu, stay here and observe a bit more. Also, I’ll write another prescription; continue the medication, and come back for a follow-up in three days."

"Yes, Mr. Lin." Xia Zhu nodded. She was becoming more and more admiring of Lin Miao, who managed to bring a child back from death’s door, especially with this illness, which she had only read about in books—extremely dangerous, with the slightest mistake leading to death. She couldn’t believe Lin Miao actually saved the child.

Moreover, his composed demeanor provided a sense of reassurance and calm, which also comforted the child’s parents.

Such a person, Xia Zhu had neither seen nor heard of before. She now felt immensely fortunate for her decision to apprentice with him. Studying under such a teacher was incredibly lucky.

Over the past three months of study, she felt she had made great progress; not only had she learned much medical knowledge different from before, but she had also witnessed many difficult cases—more than she had gained in the past three years.

Even when sitting in consultations with her father at the Benefit People Pharmacy, it was not as exciting and fulfilling as these three months with Lin Miao.

She felt her medical skills were advancing rapidly, almost at a breakneck pace.

...

"You’re back; why did you take so long? The patients from the morning have all left." Sun Youwei approached with concern as Lin Miao returned to their temporary lodging at the inn.

"Emergency, and there were some minor complications. I had to wait until the patient was stable before coming back. Xia Zhu is still there and will stay until the afternoon for observation." Lin Miao explained.

"What was the illness?" 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"A severe bleeding disorder; one step later, and the family might have been arranging a funeral. Sigh!" Lin Miao recalled the morning’s thrilling events and couldn’t help but sigh.

He had also helped Han Chunyang catch a "deceptive charlatan"; Han Chunyang should treat him to a meal for helping him meet his KPI.

"Then I’ll go with you for consultations in the afternoon. We might have to add more numbers?"

"No choice, had an emergency, so the morning patients couldn’t be seen. If we don’t add more numbers, what can we do?" Lin Miao nodded.

"With Xia Zhu not around, isn’t Lien Yurou with us; let her lend a hand..."

"But Yurou isn’t part of our team. Are you really okay with asking her for help?" Lin Miao said. Lien Yurou was Guan Biyun’s disciple. Although Guan Biyun did not oppose it, she supervised him, and having her disciple help out in the consultation area could cause a rumor, even if it wasn’t technically against the rules.

"But she’s helped us before; we can’t just tell her not to now, can we?"

"No worries, don’t stress over it. People can say whatever they want. Picking bones out of an egg, anyone can do that." Lin Miao chuckled.

An afternoon spent seeing forty patients was indeed exhausting.

Almost had to sprint to the restroom, couldn’t even drink much water, afraid that drinking more would mean more trips to the restroom.

Luckily, no particularly tricky conditions were encountered, otherwise it would have taken more time.

I need to train Xia Zhu quickly, so once the "trial" is over, she can help share the workload.

And there’s the physician’s exam, which will still take another year and a half, at least.

Senior apprentice’s skills are solid, there’s no problem with her taking next year’s exam, and if we count Xu Qixi...

In the future, he’ll handle the specialist consultation, while Xia Zhu, Senior Apprentice and Xu Qixi will handle general cases...

"Junior apprentice, it’s about time. We should head back." Sun Youwei packed up her belongings, ready to head home, calling out to Lin Miao.

"Let’s wait for Xia Zhu, I think she should be back soon." Lin Miao responded.

"Oh."

Speak of Xia Zhu, and there she was.

"Mr. Lin, Mrs. Lin, the child took another dose, and has improved significantly. The fever has basically subsided, and the bruising has lightened considerably. I advised them as per your medical instructions, so there shouldn’t be much to worry about now."

"Alright, let’s go back. Tonight’s small lecture will discuss this case. Xia Zhu, you’ll give a brief introduction first." Lin Miao instructed.

"Okay." Xia Zhu nodded.

...

Back at the inn, he saw Xia Yuan there, still helping coach Lin Mao and the other youngsters in reciting the "Medical Three Character Classics," realizing Xia Zhu must have sent word to her father again.

The case today would surely intrigue Xia Yuan, so him coming for the lecture was inevitable.

Fortunately, Xu Qixi didn’t come today, otherwise Mr. Xu An would probably be here too.

Can’t think too much about these people, they just crossed his mind when the sound of carriage wheels came from the door, identifiable even with his eyes closed.

Then came Guan Biyun and Lin Yurou, the mentor-disciple duo.

"Did you inform Mr. Jia?"

"No, the old venom went out of town today, took ’Hui’ with him, probably hasn’t returned yet." Guan Biyun said, "I didn’t plan to come for dinner, But Yurou said she’d help you and forgot to cook dinner, so I’m blaming you, and here we are to eat."

"That’s fine, as long as Mr. Guan is willing, you’re welcome to eat here every day." Lin Miao chuckled.

"That’s great. I’m okay with handling medicinal herbs, but cooking—I’m worse than Yurou, and her cooking is only average, far below the quality here. So my apprentice and I’ll just eat with you, but we won’t eat for free; we’ll pay."

"Mr. Guan, you must be kidding. How can I accept money from you and Yurou for eating at my place?" Sun Youwei said.

"Money must be paid; we can’t eat for free!" Mr. Guan insisted.

"Mr. Guan..." Sun Youwei started to speak, but Lin Miao gestured for her to stop. Paying for the meal signified a separation from Lin Miao, as she was supposed to be overseeing him now, eating from his plate would imply taking a favor.

Paying ensured a transaction, no personal ties.

Xia Yuan and Mr. Xu were savvy enough to understand the situation, but it didn’t stop them—they were there simply for the meal, never mentioning payment.

After eating and taking a short break, the small lecture began.

Tonight’s focus: Discussion on Blood Disorders.

...

"Lin, there’s something we’d like to discuss with you." After class, Guan Biyun, Xia Yuan, and Xu An lingered, approaching Lin Miao.

"The three of you are seniors; feel free to speak directly. Your formal demeanor has me a bit anxious." Seeing their serious faces, Lin Miao couldn’t help but feel tense.

"The three of us discussed and thought, considering the medical case collections published by the Medicine King Sect’s Sun He and Reclining Buddha Temple’s Xu Mituo, and since you are also one of the ’Saint Path’ trialists, should we also publish a medical case collection?" Guan Biyun suggested.

"Indeed, Mr. Lin, this affects your trial ranking. The other two are tirelessly promoting themselves, and yet you’re just sitting quietly diagnosing, outside Dongshan Prefecture, who knows the remarkable skills of Mr. Lin?" Xia Yuan agreed.

"Even good wine fears a deep alley. We all know you dislike fame, but sometimes a reputation serves as protection, deterring some from harming you easily..."

"I’m afraid if my medical cases are published, the criticism will escalate further. You three know well that I approach prescriptions boldly, and sometimes extraordinarily..." Lin Miao considered it. Although the collection could help other doctors, he wasn’t one to hoard knowledge. However, the unconventional materials he used for difficult cases were not typical, often beyond the scope of the "Hundred Herbs Scripture."

This kind of non-standard practice would likely lead to overwhelming criticism and slander, not only in Da Li, but more so from the medicinal community within Dongshan Prefecture, most of whom disagreed with him. Were it not for his healed patients posing irrefutable evidence, preventing detractors from finding faults, he wouldn’t want to invite trouble or place himself under scrutiny.

He simply wished for quiet completion of the "trial," allowing peace of mind.

"We could start compiling and decide on a release date later. How about that?" Xia Yuan asked hopefully.

"That sounds fine, but let’s limit its circulation within our group for now, not distribute externally." After thinking it over, Lin Miao nodded.

It’s advantageous to have assistance with summarizing the work, why not?