CHAPTER 384: CHAPTER 384: MEDICAL BOOK

Gu Jinli smiled in response, "Indeed, I figured it out myself after studying medicine books on my own, without anyone teaching me."

Upon hearing this, a trace of... mockery flashed across the cold face of Master Hu: "You figured it out yourself after reading medical books? Which medical book did you read? Did you bring it? Let me have a look."

Although Gu Jinli felt that Master Hu had many secrets, and that he had other reasons for selling her the barren land outside the Gate Tower,

she should have been wary of Master Hu, but after two interactions, she was sure that Master Hu would not harm her. She took out the medical book given by Grandpa Bai from the cloth bag she carried and handed it to Master Hu: "Please have a look, master, it’s this one."

What Gu Jinli handed over was not just a medical book, but also her sincerity. It remained to be seen whether Master Hu would only take the medical book or also accept her sincerity along with it.

Master Hu glanced at her and took the medical book: "You’s Medical Book? Never heard of it."

Master Hu flipped through the medical book, which mostly contained methods for identifying herbs. As for the prescriptions, there were only a few, and the records about white rod daisy only mentioned that it was cold in nature, could clear heat and cool blood, and treat carbuncles, but there was nothing about burning dried white rod daisy to kill mosquitoes.

Master Hu put away the medical book and asked her, "Where did you get this You’s Medical Book from?"

Gu Jinli did not hide anything and told the truth: "I helped an old man named Bai during my escape from famine. He gave it to me before he passed away."

After listening, Master Hu nodded and said to Gu Jinli, "Wait here for a while; I will go get some things for you."

With that, he had already stood up and walked out of the courtyard, and who knows where he went next?

Master Xiao Han said, "Little donor, please sit. The temple master will be back soon."

While speaking, he stretched his neck towards the basket next to him, sniffing the aroma emitted by the bean products.

Gu Jinli asked curiously, "Master Xiao Han, where has the temple master gone? Doesn’t she live in this courtyard?"

Why did the temple master always leave this courtyard to fetch items every time she came here?

Master Xiao Han sat on the steps of the main room, propped up his chin with both hands, and said, "The temple master does live here, but she went to the courtyard where the very old temple masters are enshrined. Some of our Hu Yun Temple’s items are kept in the courtyard where the ancestral temple masters’ spirit tablets are."

However, they could not enter that courtyard; only the successive temple masters could go in to clean, offer incense, and worship.

Gu Jinli frowned deeply and asked Master Xiao Han, "Do all the patients who come to Hu Yun Temple for treatment know about this?"

Or is it just told to her alone?

If it’s only told to her, then her guess is very likely to be true.

However, Master Xiao Han said, "Anyone who wants to know can know; it’s not a secret."

Hearing this ambiguous response, Gu Jinli wanted to ask further, but Master Xiao Han had already run to a small plot of land on the right side of the courtyard, pointing at the Dendrobium there, "Little donor, would you like this? I heard it’s quite valuable. The temple master cleared out those that weren’t growing well, and I picked them up and planted them in the courtyard where I live with my fellow sister. There are more than a dozen plants. If you like, I can give you five... But next time you come, remember to bring me bean cakes specifically."

Bean cakes taste so good, having eaten boiled greens for so many years, she was incredibly delighted to taste such a fragrant thing for the first time.

Gu Jinli smiled, turned around, and walked to the basket where she picked up a small cloth bag and handed it to Master Xiao Han, "I brought this especially for you. I was in such a hurry to see the temple master that I forgot about it."

Last time she was here, she noticed that Master Xiao Han enjoyed eating, so this time, she prepared a bag of bean dregs cakes and two servings of Fried Five-Spice Tofu for her to eat more.

"These are fried with vegetable oil, so you can eat them without worry."

Master Xiao Han’s eyes lit up as she joyfully took the small cloth bag, but instead of eating immediately, she stored the cloth bag away and tied it around her waist: "I will eat it after completing the evening classes."

If she ate it now and the temple master saw, she would be scolded.

Just as Master Xiao Han had secured the cloth bag, Master Hu returned and handed Gu Jinli a thick book with yellow pages and no cover: "Take this, consider it a repayment for the gifts you brought to Hu Yun Temple."

Gu Jinli took the book and flipped through it, growing increasingly astonished... It turned out to be a medical book, a book that recorded various medicinal materials, numerous prescriptions, and methods of preparing medicine.

A rare treasure indeed!

Hu Yun Temple indeed harbored hidden depths, as they casually bestowed such a medical book on her.

Holding this thick medical book, Gu Jinli felt it was almost too hot to handle: "Temple master, is this medical book really for me? Isn’t it too precious?"

It was precious, but she wanted it!

The temple master said, "It’s just an ordinary medical book, nothing remarkable. Moreover, this book is only a manuscript copy, not the original. It’s no big deal to give it to you."

Gu Jinli felt that even though the book was only a manuscript copy, given its contents, it shouldn’t be casually handed out to others.

And it had no cover, clearly, the temple master had intentionally removed it, aiming to prevent her, or anyone else, from knowing the name of this medical book.

What was the surname of this medical book? Was it Hu, or Lu?

The Lu Family was a noble family from the former dynasty, not a medical family... However, noble families from the former dynasty were equivalent to a small dynasty; as long as it was a noteworthy noble family, each had flourished for hundreds, even thousands of years, likely possessing more treasures than the Great Chu Imperial Family.

Therefore, Gu Jinli felt that both this Hu Yun Temple and the coverless medical book probably belonged to the Lu Family.

The temple master knew that Gu Jinli had many questions but did not enlighten her, instead saying, "Bind this medical book with You’s Medical Book, and from now on, let it be a part of You’s Medical Book."

The Grandpa Bai she had met on the road fleeing famine had given her a medical book, from which she learned and made mosquito incense – to put it bluntly, it was taking advantage of the chaos during famine, beyond others’ scrutiny.

Otherwise, those with a bit of ability wouldn’t believe her words.

Hu Yun Temple had secluded itself for many years, having just gone through decades of peaceful times... Recently, Great Chu had been unstable, and that new Emperor was a ruthless man, capable of annihilating the clans of Founding Heroes who had helped secure the territory for Great Chu. If it continued this way, Great Chu might descend into chaos again.

Who knows what the Emperor of Great Chu might do in his madness, wanting to settle old scores with the people of the former dynasty, seizing their possessions to fill the state treasury. Thus, the temple master thought it best to wait, not letting Gu Jinli know too much or get too involved with Hu Yun Temple.

"Junior is very grateful to the temple master for the bestowed book," Gu Jinli expressed her gratitude, stuffing the thick book, almost as heavy as two green bricks, into her cloth bag, looking at the temple master and tentatively asking, "Temple master, as a junior with limited talents, if there are any parts I don’t understand, may I come often to seek your guidance?"