Phoenix Reborn: the Prime Minister’s Scheming Daughter - Chapter 333

After so many days of preparation, numerous camps for the refugees had already been set up around Zhou City. With Zhou City as the center, it extended all the way to the foot of the mountain in the northwest direction.

After Zhou Ziqing knew about this matter, his expression became gloomy for a while, but there was nothing he could do. The northwest mountain range was surrounded by people. It was impossible to move the things inside out.

He had a bad feeling about this, but after sending people to investigate for a long time, he did not find anything unusual.

It was Zhou Da who chose the location of the camp and arranged the refugees. Zhou Ziqing was the only one who knew about the secret in the mountain, so he felt that it was just a coincidence rather than a deliberate arrangement.

In the range of Zhou City, there were more and more refugees. The doctors’ hands were full, so many apprentices of medical clinics and pharmacies had to attend to the sick refugees. However, there were still people who were sick. Screams and painful moaning echoed across the vast camps, and some were even seriously ill and dying.

Just when everyone thought that the situation might be worse, a Daoist priest who was known as Qingxu suddenly came to Zhou City. When he saw the situation of the refugees, he hurriedly ordered his underlings around him to distribute the pills to help the seriously ill refugees. In the beginning, no one believed him at all. They all thought that this person was a liar. How could a small pill cure their diseases?

He gave the same pill to a patient who caught a cold, a patient with a high fever, and a patient with diarrhea. Was it an elixir?

Many people raised doubts and suspicion, but Daoist Qingxu kept smiling without saying a word. He was not angry when others suspected him. When he was being chased away, he went to other places to continue to distribute the medicine. He remained his ground with his actions. With a white robe, he did look like a skillful master.

However, the doctors were really too busy as the number of patients was increasing day by day, and they were getting sicker. In the end, they were so desperate that they gave Daoist Qingxu’s pill to the patients. Remarkably, not long after the patients took Daoist Qingxu’s pill, they slowly recovered. Many people who were not very serious were almost cured.

This time, Daoist Qingxu became a master in the eyes of the refugees. There was no need for him to distribute the pill. The people knelt down before him and asked for the magical pill. His underlings followed their master’s command and gave it to whoever was picked by their master. No one could take it if Daoist Qingxu didn’t give his consent.

The refugees soon realized that the people who got the pill from Daoist Qingxu were relatively ill and weak, and those who tried to trick him didn’t get the pill.

Soon, his reputation was spread to the public. Some of Zhou City’s people had suffered from serious illnesses and came to ask for medicine. As long as Daoist Qingxu was sure that this person was very ill, he would give the pill for free, as if he had no idea how precious the pill in his hand was.

For seven days in a row, more and more people received the pill. More and more people were grateful to Daoist Qingxu. Many people even worshipped him as a god. A pill could cure all diseases. If he was not a god, what was he?

After Zhou Ziqing heard about Daoist Qingxu, he began to ask his men to pay close attention to him, but the man was very mysterious. His men who were following Daoist Qingxu for seven days couldn’t find out where he came from and where he went at night. They could not find out what his purpose was.

On this day, after Daoist Qingxu had the underlings finish distributing the pills, he was going to take them away. The refugees were puzzled.

“Why did you leave so early today? Don’t you usually wait until dusk before leaving?”

Daoist Qingxu looked at the underling next to him. The underling bowed respectfully and then said, “Sir, my Master said that he has finished distributing all of his pills and cannot continue to help you, so we have to leave this place.”

“Leave? How can you leave? There are thousands of people here, and there are constantly people who are sick. When the master arrived, the situation was relieved. How can you leave at this moment? Are you going to abandon us?”

“Please, master! My child is seriously ill and needs your elixir!”

Daoist Qingxu looked over when he heard this. He frowned slightly and went forward to check on the child’s condition. He closed his eyes slightly, took out a gourd from his sleeve, and poured out the only pill inside.

The boy next to him quickly rushed over. “Master, you can’t give it to him. This is the last life-saving pill you left for yourself. If your illness flares up again, it will be dangerous.”

“Master, you have already violated a great taboo by helping the refugees here. You’ve already lost your voice because of this. How can you risk your own life?”

Daoist Qingxu ignored the crying underling beside him. He took out a pill and put it into the child’s mouth. After a while, the child woke up. The child’s parents were so happy that they knelt down and kowtowed to thank him.

Hearing the words of the two underlings, the refugees were a little confused. After thinking carefully, they remembered some abnormalities. “Yes, I remember that when Daoist Qingxu first came, he did say something, but other than the first day, he never spoke again.”

“Is it possible that Daoist Qingxu really violated nature’s taboo by saving us, who should have perished or become ill, which is why he was punished to block the disaster for us?”

“Oh? I-If so, we are really ashamed!”

“Yes, little boy, what exactly is going on? Tell us quickly!”

The little boys retreated in fear. They closed their mouths and did not speak. Daoist Qingxu brought them to leave, but they were surrounded by the refugees and the people who heard the news. They could not leave at all.

Daoist Qingxu frowned. He suddenly covered his chest and spat out a mouthful of blood. “Pfft!”

“Ah, Master?”

The little boy beside him saw his condition and cried out, “Master, are you alright?”

“Little boy, don’t cry. Tell us, what exactly is going on?”

The little boy wiped away his tears and sobbed, “My master predicted that there would be a disaster here. He prepared all kinds of medicinal herbs half a year in advance and set up a furnace to refine medicine in a place with outstanding environments. It took him forty-nine days to refine the pills that were distributed before. However, Master was injured because of this, and his vitality was severely deprived.”

“Forty-nine days?”

“Oh my god, this is divine medicine!”

“Master said that all the good people are honest and humble, but they have to bear this disaster. Master felt sad if he couldn’t save you, so we traveled thousands of miles to this place. Along the way, he was reluctant to take the pills to heal his injuries. He said that he could save one more person if he ate one less.”

“The master is righteous. We are grateful!”

“Thank you for saving my life, Master.”

“Little boy, what else do you have? Just say it. We can’t let Daoist Qingxu bear all of this by himself!”

Daoist Qingxu frowned and tried to pull the boy back, but the boy dodged. “Master, just let me say it. Master is responsible for the cause and effect of rescuing you. He suddenly couldn’t speak overnight. Moreover, haven’t you noticed that Master’s hair is white!”

When everyone heard this, they looked at the top of Daoist Qingxu’s head and immediately exclaimed, “Heavens, in just a short period of time, the master’s hair has all turned white!”

“Master, how can we repay your great kindness!”

Daoist Qingxu stepped forward to help the old man who was kneeling in front of him up and gently shook his head. His eyes were kind and tolerant, without any haze.

Such a kind and humble look made the people want to cry out loud. He was so righteous and honorable to sacrifice himself to help others.

“Little boy, do you know the solution?”

“Yes, if there is anything we can help with, we will definitely do it.”

The little boy wiped his tears and said, “The pills have already been distributed. I don’t know if we can gather the herbs and refine another batch. If we can’t, Master will die.”

“Then let’s refine it. We will definitely help find the herbs you need.”

“Those herbs are very precious, and some of them are particularly rare. However, in order to refine the pills, there are still some herbs that Master prepared. There are not many that are lacking. If we can find all of the needed herbs, we might be able to refine the medicine. At that time, not only will Master be saved, but we will also be able to save more patients.”

“Alright, what are we waiting for? Hurry up and tell us what herbs you need. We will help find them.”

The little boy took out a prescription. “What is written on it is the missing medicinal herbs.”

“Good, very good. We will go find the medicinal herbs immediately.”

The little boy suddenly called out to everyone, “Everyone, there is no need to be anxious. To refine medicine pills, the time, place, and person are both indispensables. Other than medicinal herbs, the location of refining medicinal herbs is also particularly important. I will take out the compass to take a look and see if there is any suitable place around.”

Daoist Qingxu, who was at the side, sighed slightly and took out a Bagua compass from his sleeve. The pointer on it moved randomly for a moment and slowly stopped in the northwest direction.

“Northwest direction, that is the mountain range. Is that mountain range suitable?”

“I heard that the mountain range is inaccessible and it is easy to gather spiritual energy. Maybe it is suitable.”

Daoist Qingxu used his fingers to carefully calculate something. After observing the compass for a long time, he finally nodded at the little boy.

The little boy immediately smiled. “My master said that the mountain range in the northwest is suitable. It just so happens that it can set up a furnace to refine medicine. Master can be saved, everyone can be saved.”

When these words came out, they immediately attracted cheers from everyone.

“Prefectural Prince Yi is here!”

A trace of indignation flashed through everyone’s eyes. What was this person doing here? They had heard that he and the benevolent Zhou Family had a particularly fierce fight!

Behind Baili Junyi was Shen Ninghua.

Ignoring everyone’s hostile gazes, Shen Ninghua walked straight to Daoist Qingxu, took out a bottle of pills, and handed it over. “Daoist Qingxu, you suffered internal injuries. This bottle of medicine has a very good effect on recuperation. Please accept it.”

Daoist Qingxu took the bottle and smelled it. Then, his expression changed, and he bowed deeply to Shen Ninghua.

The little boy at the side also hurriedly bowed. “Thank you very much. Master said that he will repay your life-saving grace dearly.”

“It’s nothing. It’s only natural for me to help you Master who helped the victims.”

Baili Junyi looked at the stunned people around them and raised his voice slightly as he spoke, “I will have Huajun Pharmacy deliver the medicinal herbs that Daoist Qingxu needs. Please be at ease and refine the medicinal herbs. No matter how much you need, Huajun Pharmacy will provide it for free!”