Chapter 947: Chapter 946: A Flicker Before Death

Luo Yirui was sincerely helping people with medical treatment and talisman making; it was his first time. Honestly, he was both excited and nervous, worried that the talisman he made wouldn’t work well, and concerned about wasting too many supplementary herbs, with various anxieties muddling his thoughts.

He knew this wouldn’t do, so he quickly calmed himself and recalled the scene when his mother created the Xuan Talisman for treating tuberculosis. His mother had done this treatment quite early on; it was said that viral pneumonia had spread through the village where his grandmother used to live, and it was even harder to treat than the current tuberculosis.

Thus, Luo Yirui was standing on the shoulders of giants, with Beisitian’s ready experience and methods at his disposal, while his task was to follow the talisman-making process to create his own talisman.

Spiritual Talisman was quite familiar to Luo Yirui. What he lacked was experience—experience in various aspects, including the speed and quantity of herb integration.

Currently, he could only integrate twenty or so kinds of herbs, which was the lowest speed in Qingyu.

Beisitian had said before that certain things are age-related, so it’s something that can’t be rushed.

Luo Yirui carefully recalled the process of his mother making talismans to ensure no mistakes, then pondered over the Xuan Talisman for treating tuberculosis and the supplementary herbs, aiming for a successful first attempt.

Once all this was done, Luo Yirui began talisman making. When his little face turned serious, it unexpectedly gave off a sense of reverence. His green light hue resembled a fine jade, shining with brilliance; the color wasn’t very deep but wasn’t translucent either.

Luo Yirui had done sufficient preparation work, so he succeeded in making the talisman in one go. He knew the talisman’s effect should be quite good, and using it twice consecutively should result in complete healing.

Additionally, he made some Xuan Talisman for boosting qi and blood, meant for the old man’s partner.

After completing these, he didn’t go to find the old man and the woman but took advantage of their absence to go to the north room.

Zhao Run Tian leaned against a stack of bedding, slightly red-faced, looking out at the courtyard in confusion. He used to go wherever he wanted and do whatever he pleased, but now he could only stay here. A slight movement would make him wheeze, leading to severe coughing, sometimes even producing blood when he coughed.

This state made Zhao Run Tian feel like he was a complete invalid, the kind that wouldn’t get better. In fact, he was well aware that he might truly never recover unless he went to a large hospital. But hospital fees often amounted to thousands or even tens of thousands, which was common; his family was struggling to even afford meals, let alone having the money to treat him.

Sometimes, Zhao Run Tian thought of drinking some pesticide to ease his suffering and no longer burden his family.

But when he thought about it, the ones who drank the bottles of medicine were those hopeless old women, making such a death seem sad and weak. Otherwise, he could just crash into something and end his life, but dying at home would unnecessarily bring bad luck to the family for years...

Zhao Run Tian laughed; considering so much about dying, he was indeed exhausted.

While he was lost in thought, he saw a child lift the curtain made of candy wrappers and come in. He knew it must be the little boy his benevolent father had rescued.

"Quickly, get out." Zhao Run Tian frowned slightly.

Luo Yirui was not going to listen to him and said, "Uncle, you have tuberculosis, right?"

Zhao Run Tian was somewhat stunned; the child was asking so seriously as if he really knew what tuberculosis was.

"Yes, it’s tuberculosis. It’s contagious. You should hurry and leave," Zhao Run Tian assumed his father had told him.

Luo Yirui glanced at the jar on the table and asked, "Uncle, is this used for holding water?"

"...Yes." As soon as Zhao Run Tian answered, he saw Luo Yirui pick up the jar and walk out. Through the curtain, he saw Luo Yirui pour out the water in the jar, then fetch fresh clear water from the water container and pull out a small package, pouring something into the jar.

Soon enough, he saw the child come back in holding the jar, which contained a shallow amount of water, only enough for two sips.

"What did you put inside?" Zhao Run Tian asked curiously.

Luo Yirui smiled and said, "It’s a medicine I made; it can cure uncle’s illness."

On hearing this, Zhao Run Tian fell silent. He wanted to laugh, but felt a bit sad; his illness seemed incurable.

"Thank you, uncle," Zhao Run Tian didn’t want to dampen the child’s spirits, "Why did you think of treating uncle’s illness?"

This question was only asked casually, as if the child were playing house with him.

Luo Yirui noticed that Zhao Run Tian clearly didn’t believe him but wasn’t in a hurry and said, "The old man saved me, and I want to repay him."

Zhao Run Tian was completely taken aback by this answer; he assumed the child’s response would be something like ’I’m the doctor, you’re the patient,’ but this unexpected answer made him momentarily speechless.

Previously, he might have been impatient talking to children like this, because he was busy with making a living. But now, only able to sit here, having this child to pass time with him made him hope the child would talk more to him.

"Uncle, do you want to try?" Luo Yirui pushed the jar forward, adding, "There’s no harm anyway."

Zhao Run Tian laughed; this child was quite amusing, "Alright, uncle is just thirsty." Saying this, he picked up the jar and drank it all, swallowing it like ordinary clear water, not sure what the child had put inside, but surely it wasn’t dirt.

He had seen village children play house, putting dirt in jars as pretend medicine, and the adults never cared since it wasn’t much, and drinking it didn’t matter.

Seeing Zhao Run Tian drink the talismanic water, Luo Yirui smiled, "Uncle, take a good rest. I’ll come again tomorrow morning." With that, he turned and left the north room.

Watching the child leave, Zhao Run Tian’s face rarely showed a hint of a smile, but soon that smile froze as he felt a refreshing sensation spread through his chest, relieving much of the earlier congestion and anxiety, suddenly feeling a long-lost sense of ease!

If the feeling was subtle, Zhao Run Tian might have thought it was psychological, but the sensation came so suddenly and intensely, making its presence unmistakably clear, ignoring it was impossible!

He didn’t understand why such a situation arose; was it truly the medicine that child gave him working?

But how was this possible? The child was only five or six years old; village children that age ran around naked and snot-nosed, trailing after adults to herd sheep!

Compared to attributing it to that child’s efforts, Zhao Run Tian thought the likelihood of a final burst of energy was greater, so his mood suddenly became heavy. What had to come would come sooner or later!

However, he soon came to terms with it; this way, it would spare his family further burden, and he would be freed.