Catch the sea: start with a sand shovel and take over the entire beach

As he boarded the train that had come specifically to pick him up, the old Taoist priest began counting down the days in his mind.

In about ten days it will be the Dragon Boat Festival, and then it will be Ah Xue's delivery time. This time Ah Xue won't have any major problems, so it doesn't matter whether he's by her side or not.

But during holidays, it's better to be with family.

So he thought he would stay in the capital for a maximum of ten days.

There are no high-speed trains now, but there are bullet trains. However, there is no direct line from Zhao Qin's city to Beijing, so he was arranged to take a special express train.

The entire journey is exactly 2000 kilometers. If you were to take a regular express train, including stops along the way, it would take at least 30 hours.

Fortunately, this is a special train with only five carriages, so the speed can be increased, and there are no stops along the way.

After a journey of thirteen hours, the old Taoist priest arrived in the capital at around 10:30 p.m.

Lu An personally led a group to pick him up.

The trip to western Sichuan had taken a toll on the old Taoist priest. Even though he had commuted the entire journey by sleeper berth, he still seemed unsteady on his feet when he got off the train. His fourth disciple, Huang Yue, quickly stepped forward to help him.

Seeing this, Lu An's eyes welled up with tears. He jogged forward and took the old Taoist's other arm, saying, "Master, you've worked hard."

The old Taoist priest smiled faintly, "You can't deny getting old. It's nothing serious, a little exercise will do."

"Let's go home first and get a good night's sleep." Lu An said, greeting his fourth senior brother, and then looking at Chen Kun, who was following behind carrying luggage, he said, "Brother Kun, you've worked hard."

Chen Kun grinned, which could be considered a response.

The old Taoist waved his hand, "Let's go to the hospital first and see how your grandfather is."

We got in the car and headed straight to the hospital.

Inside the intensive care unit, a renowned traditional Chinese medicine doctor was taking Grandpa Lu's pulse. When the old Taoist priest and his companions burst in, the doctor frowned slightly, but upon seeing Lu An, he swallowed his question.

"The old gentleman needs to take care of his health. I'll prescribe a medicine later; let's see if it works..."

The old Taoist priest glanced at the man, smiled calmly, and said, "Alright, you can get out of here now."

That traditional Chinese medicine doctor was flattered wherever he went. Even when he came to treat Grandpa Lu this time, the Lu family treated him with great courtesy. However, the old Taoist priest's words made him a little defensive, "Who are you? Where are you from?"

"Elder Qin, this is my master."

Old Qin was taken aback, his brows furrowed slightly, and his eyes were fixed on the old Taoist priest. "You're the one who cured Miss Lu's illness?"

The old Taoist priest, seemingly unrelated to the question, pointed at Old Qin's hand and said, "Pulse-taking with a delicate pinky finger, only your Shifang school would do such fancy things. You can't take a proper pulse without sticking out your little finger? Your school is actually quite good at treating typhoid fever and regulating the internal organs."

However, it falls short in terms of replenishing qi and supporting yang.

After saying that, ignoring Old Master Qin's wide eyes in shock, he looked at Old Master Lu and asked, "Brother, how does it feel?"

“Grandpa, this is my master, the only Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain. It was my master who cured my old illness.”

Although Grandpa Lu had fallen quite hard, he was still quite lucid. He struggled to get up and express his gratitude, "Oh, thank you so much! We've consulted all the famous doctors for my granddaughter's illness, but none of them could diagnose it..."

The old Taoist priest pressed him down, saying, "Your condition isn't good, so let's not hold back and fuss over you. Are you in pain?"

"Sigh, don't even mention it. I took some of the ginseng that you asked Xiao An to get last time, and I feel much better now, but the pain just won't go away. The doctor is too afraid to prescribe painkillers for me, so I haven't slept much for the past two nights."

The old Taoist priest nodded slightly and looked at Huang Yue, "Take out the needles."

A box of silver needles was placed to the side, opened, and after being sterilized, the old Taoist priest picked up one needle to begin the acupuncture.

"Hey, you haven't even taken my pulse yet, how can you presume to know..." Old Qin couldn't finish his sentence before he found himself unable to speak, which frightened him greatly.

"Don't be nervous. I put a needle into your mute point. You've been too noisy. Take a rest for a bit."

Old Qin's expression showed even greater shock. As a renowned master of traditional Chinese medicine, he certainly knew where the Yamen acupoint was, but he also knew the danger of this acupoint and that it couldn't be needled randomly.

Furthermore, he didn't even see when the old Taoist priest had put the needles on him.

"Don't move, the needle is still spinning. Judging from your voice just now, you sounded hoarse and breathless. Remove the needle after a cup of tea, and you'll feel better."

The old Taoist priest's words didn't stop him from administering acupuncture to Old Master Lu; in the blink of an eye, he had already inserted seven or eight needles.

After he finished, he counted the minutes and, in just a minute or two, he removed all the needles. "How does it feel?"

"Wow, amazing! The pain really is gone!" Old Master Lu was overjoyed and unconsciously increased the intensity of his movements.

"Don't move. This injection will last until noon tomorrow. I'll come back to give you another injection then."

The old Taoist priest didn't stand on ceremony. He told Huang Yue to put away her needles and get up to leave. Lu An gave his grandfather a few words of advice and then quickly caught up with the old Taoist priest.

As a result, the old Taoist priest took two steps and then turned back to the ward, removing the needle from the back of Qin's head, saying, "I almost forgot."

Old Qin watched the old Taoist's figure disappear again, feeling quite bored, and then he left as well.

"Master, can my grandfather's health be restored?"

"It's difficult. I remember a recipe, I'll think about it carefully when I get back."

The next day, upon learning that the old Taoist priest had come to Beijing, Yu Fake and his son, along with Li Gang, Feng Ruonan, Hua Lin, and others in Beijing, all rushed over to pay their respects to the old Taoist priest.

"Sir, you must give me a chance to show you hospitality," Mr. Yu earnestly invited.

The old Taoist priest had previously come with Zhao Qin and eaten at the Yu family's house, but it wasn't a separate banquet.

The old Taoist waved his hand, "Wait a couple of days, not now. I have to abstain from alcohol for the next couple of days."

After sending all the visitors away, the old Taoist priest went back to his room to meditate. Around noon, he went to the hospital to give Old Master Lu acupuncture. By evening, he had finally figured out the prescription. He told Lu An about it and also called Zhao Qin to go fishing.

For the next few days, he only went to the hospital once a day.

It had been six days since they arrived in the capital. Early in the morning, the old Taoist saw the fish that Zhao Qin had brought and smiled at Lu An, saying, "See? Your junior brother is still the most reliable. I asked for one fish and he gave me three."

"Master, can this be used?"

"This fish lives for about seven years. Those that reach four feet in length are nearing the end of their lives. In order to still be able to hunt, they will store all their energy in their bones." As he said this, he called Chen Kun over. "Xiao Kun, remove the meat and keep it for lunch. Wrap the bones in cloth and crush them."

Then I asked Lu An, "What about that century-old ginseng? Cut off another slice, grind it into powder, mix the two together, add some other auxiliary medicines, and knead it with egg white into pills the size of sheep droppings. Have your grandfather take three pills every day, and he should be able to get out of bed in less than a month."

"Really? That's great!"

After the medicine was prepared, the old Taoist priest divided it in two, giving one half to Lu An and having Chen Kun keep the other half for Zhao Qin's maternal grandfather to use when they returned.

The medicine has just been administered, and the old Taoist priest cannot leave immediately; he needs to observe the patient for two days.

Two days later, he came to the hospital again. "Brother, how are you feeling?"

"Okay, okay, I feel warm all over and have more strength. When can I get out of bed?"

"Haha, I'm a Taoist priest, not a real immortal. Wait another half month, and you'll be able to get out of bed and move around a bit. Keep taking this medicine until you finish it. I can't guarantee anything else, but I'll be able to extend your lifespan by another fifteen years without much trouble."

"Really?" The old man was even more delighted. He was 86 this year; in another 15 years, he'd be over 100!

After this fall, he thought that even if he could hold on for a while, it would only be two or three years at most, and he would have to stay in bed every day, with no quality of life.

……

P.S.: I just finished typing this and haven't checked for typos yet. I have to go out right away, so please forgive any typos.