SOME OF THE UNKNOWN PLANTS HAD BEEN FOUND

Zhu Su then told him the problem about Wu Qi's hand, which was badly swollen, in detail. Different from before, this time he totally believed in the young Master's power. Well, we indeed shouldn't judge the people just by the surface.

The young Master got to his feet. At first, he saluted the altar behind him. After that, he approached the cupboard. From there, he brought out various kinds of leaves, sorted them carefully, then approached a furnace. It was clear that he wanted to boil the leaves.

"Wait!" Zhu Su shouted just when the Master almost put the herbal leaves into the furnace. The Master turned his head. "Before you boil it, can you show me the leaves first?"

"Oh, okay." The Master handed the leaves to Zhu Su.

Zhu Su had been astonished when he took a glance at the leaf, and after examining it more closely, he was even more astonished. He flipped through one of the leaves, looked at the front and back, and asked with great curiosity, "This leaf... I've never seen it before! What is the name of this leaf... and what is the efficacy it owns?..."

"It is called Jinjincai. Its flowers are purple in color and very beautiful. These leaves are effective to cure swelling and poison. This Sir's wound is caused by Toxic-Heat * since it is enormous and bright red."

"There must be something infectious in the trunk I hit," Wu Qi cursed.

"Oh, really? Wow, so interesting! So, this plant has flowers..." Zhu Su kept staring at Jinjincai leaf in amazement. He went on like this, as if forgetting that the Master was going to cook it to treat Wu Qi.

"Ah, if I am not wrong, the Zhou Wang of Kaifeng is so interested in medicine that he has written three well-known medicinal books... Apparently, it is true." The Master nid-nodded. "Well then, Your Highness, would you please return the Jinjincai to me right now? I want to decoct it. After that I will give another Jinjincai to you, complete with the flowers and roots."

"Ah, I'm sorry! I'm always like this every time I do something related to medical science." Ashamed, Zhu Su quickly handed the Jinjincai to the Master, who immediately prepared for it.

While waiting for the concoction, Zhu Su started a conversation with the Master. The type of conversation which he was so fascinated with.

"Where do you get Jinjincai?" Zhu Su asked.

"Jinjincai grows everywhere, Your Highness, very easy to find it."

"But why have I never found it in ancient books?"

"Lots of important facts have been overlooked to be noted. Or, it is not overlooked, but it is concealed from the public by design. Any important knowledge is always kept to one's own circle and taboo to be spread."

"I totally disagree with that idea. Any knowledge and science to help people must be spread out as widely as possible. If somebody knows the way to help people but conceal that information, that he is a real bad person!" Zhu Su grumbled. "But, Master is supposed to know a lot about plants?"

The Master nodded. "I store many others in the cupboard."

"Can you show me?"

"Sure." And a moment later, all the medicinal herbs in Master's cupboard had been neatly arranged on the table.

Once again, Zhu Su's eyes beamed as he looked at the medicinal herbs, his eyes sparkled even brighter than before. "I've seen this one... Oh! I've never seen this one!... Wow, neither this one... Hmmm, how interesting... What is this leaf called?"

"It is called Shijie." Thus the Master explained Shijie to Zhu Su.

The next moment, Zhu Su kept observing all medicinal herbs, he was so focused on what he was observing he did not notice that the Master was smiling strangely while keeping blinking his eyes.

Zhu Su did not figure out, but it did not mean that no one would see the odd expression the Master emitted. "That's the way Your Highness is, he loves medicine so much that his soul will be drifting and it's hard to bring it back to reality if he is really focused on the medicine topic. You should understand," said Hu Nayin.

The Master quickly changed his expression. "Ah... er... it's just rare for me to meet such kind of person like His Highness who is so interested in herbs... In our sect, there are so many people who research medicinal plants, but none of them are as focused as His Highness... or maybe because of their goal. Their goal is bad because they only aim at eternal life... While His Highness is very fond of medicine, a genuine passion from the deepest of his heart. And because of that, His Highness is really practicing the theory of Dao..."

"Are you a disciple of Mao Shan Sect *, Master?" Wu Qi asked.

"Yes."

"What faction do you adhere to? Do you adhere to a faction that focuses on making medicine for immortality, or the other, which connects with demons and spirits and orders them to disturb mankind?"

"Well, that is the wrong perception of society about the Mao Shan Sect. They said that Mao Shan Sect consists of evil, it has followers of black magicians who control demons and evil spirits to harass humans, as the result, many people consider our sect as a cult. No. It all depends on the humans themselves. The knife is not at fault, the fault is at the human bad purpose of using it. It is the same with the Mao Shan Sect. If we have evil purposes, we will become evil. But if we have a good intention, it will end in good result. Just like me."

Wu Qi's mouth was twisted. Mao Shan Sect had bad reputation in Ming after all. Its power was feared, its practitioners were feared, and as soon as people heard the name of "Mao Shan Sect", they soon got negative prejudice and they quickly stayed away from it.

The Master now watched Zhu Su, who was still focused on the medicinal herbs. "His Highness is highly competent if he wants to follow the Mao Shan Sect. He can be a great disciple."

"Huh?! How can you say such words?!?"

"Mao Shan Sect was founded by Tao Hongjing * who was the senior in Chinese Medicine. His Highness is also a medic. So the principle they have is in line. His Highness is also very smart... even genius. Only a genius can focus on something as he does." Zhu Su indeed remained focused on the medicinal herbs and the sound of conversation did not enter his ears at all. "But well. Everything has its own yuanfen *. Not just marriage. Even including our profession, the location where should we live... all of them need yuanfen. Just wait, do we have yuanfen, or not."

After that, it was silent for about twenty minutes. Until finally the concoction was ready.

"Alright. Here is the concoction, please drink this, and also use the water to wash your wounds, it will be definitely cured soon." The Master handed Wu Qi a few bowls of Jinjincai concoction. Wu Qi soon opened one of them and consumed it.

Zhu Su finished his observation. He asked the Master. "What is your name, Master?"

"My name is Shao Rong."

"Master Shao Rong..." Zhu Su nodded. "Thank you very much for helping Wu Qi. And for giving a very interesting explanation about Jinjincai. We have disturbed your time to heal other patients. We'll offend them because we have forced them to wait too long. Please excuse us." He held out several large pieces of gold, after which he looked at Shao Rong, very seriously. "I will remember Master and your greatness."

Shao Rong replied, "If we have a strong yuanfen, we will meet again, Zhou Wang."

***

* Toxic-Heat = A condition when Heat Syndrome is very severe, the Heat has turned to be toxic. The symptoms often appear are inflammatory conditions of the face, mouth, head - sore throat, conjunctivitis, acne, swollen gums.

* Mao Shan Sect = one of the most mysterious Daoist schools, known as the inheritor of the Supreme Purity camp with its principles and cultivation methods explained in Sutra of Supreme Purity. Maoshan Sect is best known for its magic "spells", and their expertise in dealing with ghosts, evil spirits, demons and casting Black Magic. Whenever Chinese Folks think about Chinese Black Magic, the 1st thing that comes to mind is Mao Shan Sect.

* Tao Hongjing = a Chinese polymath writer, calligrapher, alchemist, pharmacologist, musician, and astronomer during the Northern and Southern dynasties. Wei Huacun (251-334) is regarded as the founder of the Shangqing School of Mao Shan Sect, but Tao Hongjing who compiled its scriptural canon and systematized its theory and practice is more usually considered to be its true founder, and his reputation as a spiritual master greatly contributed to the rapid development of the school that took place around 500 CE and afterward. He established his primary retreat and school-temple named Huayang-guan [Flourishing Yang Hall] at Mao-shan in 492. By the mid-500s and on into the 600s it flourished as a large and very diverse religious community close to the important cities Kaifeng and Nanjing. ( Wikipedia and http://www.san-shin.org/China-Maoshan.html)

* yuanfen = a concept in Chinese societies describing good and bad chances and potential relationships.