Treating the Ailment 3

The grey-haired, clean-shaven man had no choice but to agree to his argument, just as Huangfu Yun had expected that he would. If he had been the sort that insisted on having his way, he would not have bothered to ask him to stop earlier. Instead, he would have simply taken the pill out of his hands.

But that was not the task that he had been given. No, Huang Tiancheng had only asked him to look after Huang Fuyun, and to guard his interests. So there was no danger of him taking action like that.

So the former eunuch now trapped in the flabby body of a worthless fellow reached down swiftly, and pushed the pill into the mouth of the currently unconscious Yang Xiaochun. Something that had his sister thanking him amidst her sobs.

Which was enough to prompt him to lay his hands on the boy's body again.

It would work a lot better, if there was someone to guide the medicinal effects of the pill to the sites which needed it most. Which was exactly what Huangfu Yun was trying to do.

Something that had certainly surprised the old man again. That was obvious. Elder Ling was staring at him as though he was some sort of monster! Or, at the least, some sort of creature that he had never before seen in his life.

Which was, Huangfu Yun admitted, strangely true. Huang Fuyun would have never dared to try this on his own. For that matter, he would have never used that secret life-saving Eight Medicinal Herbs Life-Saving Pill on someone other than himself! Too bad he was gone, and Huangfu Yun was now in his body!

Still, he had to admit that the fat youth had something to his advantage. The meridians in his body were clear, and the flow of qi through them far smoother than he had expected to find. Not to mention the fact that he was able to control a higher amount of qi than most youths in his age group. That was something to be proud of.

The moment that thought crossed his mind, Huangfu Yun was suddenly flooded with a deluge of memories of the young boy's life; he saw all his training in alchemy and all the pills and medicines that his father had force-fed him as nothing more than torture! And he certainly had no inkling of just what sort of an advantage that those pills and herbs were going to grant him! In fact, he had even tried to run away, every time that he was faced with them!

Huangfu Yun gave out a soft groan the moment that those memories crossed his mind. He had never come across anyone as idiotic as this fat pig! He could tolerate Huang Fuyun's desire for someone of his own sex - it was something that he was born with, so that was not really his fault. But throwing aside a wonderful opportunity like this? What sort of a fool was he? And did he really have to live in this idiot's body now? And repair his reputation?

For a moment, Huangfu Yun was tempted to just throw it all aside. But he held himself under control, and forced down his own anger at the body that he was inhabiting.

He was in the middle of treating someone now. So it wouldn't do for him to let his emotions get away from him. Especially not like this!

So he bit down on the anger that he was feeling, and concentrated on focusing the medicine in Yang Xiaochun's body instead. The pill only held a small amount of Healing energy and he had to shift that to work on the boy's internal organs first. And whatever was left over would have to go into the bones of his two legs!

After all, Huangfu Yun was more than just an expert in the use of such medicines. Back in his other life, he had once been in charge of the Medicine Formulation Pavilion in the Old Palace, and dealt with numerous strange and difficult to handle injuries in his day. And since he had promised Yang Xiaoli to take good care of her younger brother, he was not about to break his word!

Not that it was very challenging, to tell the truth. His weak internal strength hampered him a little, but that weakness was not sufficient to make things too difficult for him. After all, the magical Eight Medicinal Herbs Life-Saving Pill, or to give it the old name back in his day, the Returning Spring Pill, was only a Sixth Rank pill. And guiding its medicinal properties was a simple matter for him, even using the meagre qi that was available in this fat pig's body.

It didn't take him very long to put the medicinal properties in the pill to good use. The bleeding in the boy's internal organs had been stopped, and while his intestines would give him trouble for the next two or three days, it wasn't going to be a major issue. And there bones in his legs and his right arm was properly aligned now, and should be well on their way to recovery within the same period of time.

Not to mention the fact that he had also fixed and cleansed the blood vessels in the boy's limbs, so that he would not have any difficulty handling even the most complex tasks later on. If he wasn't afraid of being called a braggart, he would even boast that he had improved the boy's fine motor skills.

That is, if this Yang Xiaochun were to train according to his guidance in the future.

Still, Huangfu Yun had to admit that there was a limit to what he could do, with the medicinal properties of that Returning Spring Pill that he had just fed Yang Xiaochun. Especially with his limited internal strength and a barely passable Sixth Rank Pill.

And dealing with the boy's injuries had been enough to exhaust him, and leave him covered in a heavy coat of perspiration! His inner garments, and a good bit of his outer one, was soaked in his own sweat. Which was enough to make him feel rather uncomfortable.

Yet, when he pulled his consciousness out of the young boy's body and opened his eyes, he could not help but grin at the attention that he was getting: Yang Xiaoli must have felt touched upon seeing how much effort he was putting into taking care of her younger brother's injuries, and was anxiously dabbing away at the bead of sweat that had started dripping down his brow.

And Protector Ling seemed somewhat anxious as well, as he stared at what Huangfu Yun had done with his limited qi. Or rather, at the way that he had run the same through Yang Xiaochun's body.

"How ... How did you do that? I have never witnessed anything like this before! Did you really focus the pill's effects on his internal organs? How is that possible?"

The old man's words woke Huangfu Yun to the situation that he was in, and he laughed quickly, as if he was disparaging the Elder's awe. "There are ways to make the medicinal effects work better, if one is able to understand the effects of the pill, as you well know," he sniffed, as he tilted his head up, and started to get up.

To be accurate, it was more 'try to get up'. He was a little unused to dealing with what was now his body-weight, and wobbled as soon as he was fully upright, and almost felt his vision leaving him because of the exhaustion that he felt. But he managed to push himself to the chair to the side of the room.

It was only after he had sank down into the same, before he grinned at the old man again. "Of course, that takes up a good bit of my internal strength, so it's not something that I would do normally. But I think you can see that this is not a normal situation."

He pointed at the girl as he said that, which made her look up at him, from her quick check of her younger brother. Yang Xiaoli was blushing furiously as the meaning of her words sank in. But she came over to his side shortly after that, all the same.

* * *