The Lost People of Teyvat

Chapter 10: Atractylodes macrocephala and Qiqi

Liyue Harbor is surrounded by mountains and the sea, and is a place where thousands of ships and merchants gather. Generally speaking, it can be divided into two areas, one large and one small, each with its own port.

The large nearby mountain is located in the northwest, with prosperous places such as Yujingtai and Feiyunpo.

Yujing Terrace is where the Liyue people hold the [Invitation to the Immortal Ceremony], and it is also the place where the Geo King descends every year. It is the highest point in Liyue Harbor. Although the housing prices in Yujing Terrace are high, most high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen still choose to buy properties near Yujing Terrace.

Feiyunpo is the most prosperous and bustling commercial district in Liyue Harbor. It is said that any goods from the seven kingdoms of Teyvat can be bought here. For some people in Liyue, owning a shop in Feiyunpo means having no worries about food and clothing for half a lifetime.

The smaller one is close to the sea, located in the southeast, and the most representative one is Chihuyan.

Compared with Feiyunpo, Chihuyan is more down-to-earth.

Here you can find cheap, affordable and delicious restaurants like Wanmintang, as well as push carts selling the fragrant Central Plains offal, or vendors selling fresh fruits, vegetables and meat.

Of course, the most peculiar thing is a porcelain shop called Chunxiang Kiln. The clerk, Miss Ying'er, always uses misleading words to introduce her products to customers. Combined with the name of the shop, it always makes people blush when they enter, full of expectations, and leave with shame and disappointment.

In addition to eating Tiger Rock, Liyue's Adventurer's Guild is also here. The guild's receptionist, Miss Catherine, always has a smile on her face, and day after day she listens to the "ding ding" sound of blacksmithing coming from the Hanfeng Ironware nearby.

Willow Street is near Chihuyan.

Coincidentally, Grandma Yuanmu also lives on Willow Street.

Chen Tianfeng changed into clean clothes, slung a knife over his shoulder, held a dictionary bought from Wanwenjishe in his hand, and sat under the big willow tree in front of Liushu Street, studying with a frown on his face.

Fortunately, although the Liyue characters are slightly different from modern simplified Chinese characters, they have the same origin and are not difficult to learn. Chen Tianfeng listened to the idle people chatting under the tree while reading the dictionary, and his progress was very fast.

Several neighbors on Liushu Street glanced at Chen Tianfeng. Seeing that he was carrying a knife and a book, looking out of place and not like a local resident, they ignored him. The occasional glances they gave him were of doubt and curiosity, as well as caution and vigilance.

"Hey, have you heard?"

"What did you hear?"

"Who else could it be? That liar! He cheated so many people, even the coffin money of an old man. Damn this liar!"

"Caught it?"

"No, I heard that the Qianyan Army arrived a little late, so the liar fled to Mondstadt."

Everyone sighed when they heard this.

Some cursed viciously, saying that the swindler had lost his conscience and would not have a good end; some made bitter faces, saying that they had known for a long time that the man was a swindler, but their wives did not believe them and insisted on giving it a try, thus losing tens of thousands of Mora in vain, and their three or two years of hard work were in vain; some were cautious and stopped in time, and instead earned hundreds or thousands of Mora. At this time, they also looked cheated and cursed the swindler loudly.

"We are still lucky. Although we have no money, at least we can still make a living." The middle-aged woman who first brought up the topic sighed, "The Yuan family at the end of the street is the most pitiful."

"I heard that I was defrauded of more than 100,000 yuan. I was so angry that I became ill again."

"Yeah, yeah, who says it's not true? It's not easy for an old man and a child to be together, and then there's this kind of thing."

"I heard that Yuanmu went out to collect herbs, but... well, we all know Yuanmu's situation. If something happened to him outside..."

"That stupid boy ran away before dawn! He just left a note!" The old man smoking a pipe was a little annoyed and tapped his pipe: "He is just like his father who refuses to listen to advice!"

Chen Tianfeng paused as he was turning the pages of the book.

Yuan Mu? Grandma Yuan?

He closed the dictionary, glanced around, bought some peanuts, melon seeds, and preserved fruits from a nearby shop, then turned back to the tree with a sincere and warm smile on his face, the same one he would have when visiting relatives during the New Year.

Soon, Chen Tianfeng successfully integrated into the intelligence team under the trees on the street.

With deliberate guidance, things gradually became clear.

About half a year ago, a wealthy Mond businessman came to Willow Street.

When the businessman first came to Liushu Street, he rented a storefront at twice the price for half a year. Then there were several days of renovations. The businessman personally carried gifts and knocked on every door of Liushu Street with great patience. He said he was a neighbor on the same street and was very embarrassed to disturb them, so he came to visit and asked everyone not to mind.

As a result, the neighbors had a good impression of this businessman, and on his opening day, they all went to support him, intending to buy some of the goods in his store if they were not too expensive.

Unexpectedly, this businessman did not sell goods, but said that he opened an investment company and wanted to make money with everyone.

Just invest money in him and he can bring nearly double the return to investors in as little as three months.

A very classic, yet somewhat crude [Ponzi scheme].

After obtaining enough "investment", the scammers fled to Mond with the money before people could react.

Granny Yuan believed the liar's words and wanted to leave more property for Yuan Mu. She gritted her teeth and took out the 170,000 Mora that her family had saved up with great difficulty, but she arrived just as the liar was about to run away.

Grandma Yuan was so angry that she vomited blood and fell ill. Yuan Mu went to Bubu Lu to seek medical treatment, but with limited money, he decided to take the risk and go out to collect herbs himself. In the end, he lost his life because of this difficult-to-collect herb.

Chen Tianfeng sighed in his heart and became more eager to earn Mora.

He pursed his lips and did not go directly to Grandma Yuan's house, but turned around and went to Bubulu. The old lady was in poor health and might not be able to bear the bad news, so it was better to bring a doctor with her.

···
···
Bubulu is the most famous medicine house in Liyue, and its owner, Bai Shu, is a well-known doctor with profound medical skills and a good reputation for saving the world with a kind heart. It is said that Mr. Bai's original surname was not Bai, but the title "Mr. Bai" is widely known, and its origin can be traced back to Qiqi, an apprentice of Bubulu.

Qiqi is a cute little zombie girl with a bad memory. When she first arrived at Bubu Lu, she could not remember Baizhu's name and often used "that person" and "that snake" to replace Baizhu and the white snake called "Changsheng" that was coiled around Baizhu's neck and could speak human language.

Bai Zhu prescribed the right medicine for her condition and prepared a notebook for her to take notes and read whenever she had time. Finally, one morning, Qi Qi saw Bai Zhu. Instead of tilting her head to ask who he was, she bit her fingers, blinked her eyes, and greeted him for the first time: "Morning, good morning. Bai... Bai... Mr. Bai."

Bai Zhu smiled and nodded, tacitly agreeing to the title "Mr. Bai".

In the days that followed, Qiqi often said "Mr. Bai said" and "Mr. Bai wouldn't let me"... There was an endless stream of customers coming in and out to ask for medicine, and this name was brought out of Bubu Lu and spread throughout Liyue Harbor. Over time, the name "Mr. Bai" had already been deeply rooted in people's hearts and could not be changed.

When Chen Tianfeng walked into Bubu Lu, he did not see Bai Zhu or Qiqi.

It was afternoon, and there were no patients coming to Bubulu for consultation, nor were there any customers taking prescriptions to get medicine. Pharmacist Agui stood behind the counter, yawned slightly, and saw Chen Tianfeng crossing the threshold, and stood up straight: "Sir, do you want to get medicine? Then please give me the prescription."

Chen Tianfeng looked around and said, "Isn't Mr. Bai here to get medicine?"

"Mr. Bai is resting. Is there anything urgent?"

"Rest... It's not urgent. I would like to ask Mr. Bai to go out for a consultation. When is Mr. Bai free?"

"Sir, would you like to invite Mr. Bai to make an outpatient visit?"

Pharmacist Agui was a little hesitant. Everyone knew that Mr. Bai was a skilled doctor, but few knew that Mr. Bai himself was weak. Going out for a consultation was not an easy task for Mr. Bai. "Sir, could you please tell me the patient's symptoms? Perhaps I can help."

"That's it..."

Chen Tianfeng remembered the text description of Baizhu's weak body in the game and did not refuse: "The patient is an elderly woman. A few days ago, her family came to Bubulu to ask Mr. Bai for a prescription. The prescription used some strange but cheap medicinal materials..."

"Has the old man's condition worsened?" Ah Gui frowned and said, "Mr. Bai does sometimes prescribe some strange-looking prescriptions, but as long as you follow the prescriptions, there won't be any problems."

"No, it's not the prescription that's wrong."

"That is···?"

"Something went wrong with the herb collector." Chen Tianfeng lowered his eyes. "His name is Yuan Mu. He is the only relative of the old man. He died while collecting herbs... He asked me to bring the herbs back to Liyue Harbor."

“···” Agui opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.

"I'm worried that if I tell the old lady the news directly, she won't be able to bear it, so I want to ask Mr. Bai to go there."

Chen Tianfeng unwrapped the package, took out the box of herbs, and placed it on the counter: "Here are the herbs. May I ask if Bubu Lu still has the prescription? If possible, I would like to boil the herbs and take them with me."

"Yes, I still remember it."

"Mr. Bai, how are you..."

"It's okay. I've had enough rest."

Bai Shu waved his hand, signaling Ah Gui not to worry, and looked at Chen Tianfeng with Bai She Chang Sheng: "What is your name, sir?"

"Mr. Bai." Chen Tianfeng bowed: "Chen Tianfeng, Tian means sky, Feng means maple leaf."

"It turned out to be Mr. Chen."

Baizhu nodded slightly, opened the wooden box, took out the herbs, looked at them, and his golden brown eyes were filled with ripples.

He still remembered the young man who rushed into Bubu Lu that day. He could not speak clearly, but kept repeating "My mother-in-law vomited blood" and "Please save my mother-in-law" over and over again, holding Agui's hand tightly. It took them a lot of effort to understand what the young man was going to do.

Bai Zhu immediately followed the young man with the medicine box to treat his mother-in-law.

It was not until he left that he learned the boy's name: Yuan Mu.

"This is actually a prescription for nourishing and strengthening the body." Bai Zhu picked up a pen and wrote down the prescription, handed the herbs and prescription to A Gui, and asked him to boil the medicine as soon as possible. Then he sighed and said, "The old man was so angry that he hurt his body. After the old man wakes up and confirms that there will be no major problems, I will leave this tonic prescription for Yuan Mu."

"I thought I could make up for it a little bit... Who would have thought..."

He pursed his lips and asked, "How did Yuan Mu die?"

Nourishing recipes...

Chen Tianfeng inexplicably felt that it was absurd. It wasn't even a life-saving medicine, but Yuan Mu lost his life because of it... Chen Tianfeng sighed inwardly and said, "My family had no money, so I took the risk to go out and collect herbs, and ran into a group of treasure robbers. I was a step too late and failed to save him."

"···"

Bai Zhu didn't ask any more questions, feeling a sense of powerlessness rising in his heart.

Human beings are too fragile. Natural disasters or illness can easily take a person's life. He is just a doctor. There is really very little he can do...
If humans could achieve immortality, could they be free from the pain and suffering of illness?

(End of this chapter)