Merchant and doctor

Chapter 2228 Activation Code
Old Hou was particularly attentive to the Traditional Chinese Medicine Culture Studio. Of course, this also included a lot of his own significant personal interests. Even so, given how hard Bian Mu worked all day, he naturally treated them with great sincerity, ordering quite a lot of fresh lake shrimp. Old Hou ate to his heart's content.

"The old man showed me a draft, which looks like it was copied by hand. The calligraphy! Tsk! Tsk! Tsk... I haven't seen such powerful handwriting in years. If a charlatan could do that, I might actually believe it! But... this thing doesn't look like a prescription or medical formula!" As he spoke, Old Hou took out his phone from his pocket with his left hand, activated it with one hand, and swiped around for a while before pulling up the photo of the so-called secret formula draft that he had secretly taken during the day and handing it to Bian Mu.

...Looking outwards at its form, the form has no form; observing it from afar, the object has no object. Gathering the three flowers, once the three flowers are understood, only emptiness is seen...Observing emptiness is also emptiness, emptiness has nothing to be emptied...Since what is emptied is nothing, nothingness is also nothing; since nothingness is nothing, a serene and eternal stillness awakens the Black Tortoise, the four seasons gather and the hidden wind shifts its form, the sixty years of life change its substance and lock the sun and moon...

Old Hou was right; that uninvited guest was quite accomplished in calligraphy.

“You must have dealt with all sorts of strange people and seen a lot of bizarre old books and documents. Tell me, what do you think these words and those strange symbols below might be used for?” As he spoke, Bian Mu handed the phone back to Lao Hou.

"I don't have that skill! Tell me... what kind of rubbish is this?!" With a laugh, Old Hou put his phone on the table and casually asked for advice.

"I can't really say for sure. It looks like some kind of incantation. Don't get me wrong, it's not some kind of superstitious belief. It's more like a proper Taoist practice. It's suddenly showing up uninvited at this hour. I'm afraid it's after the medicine cauldron..." Bian Mu guessed with a smile.

Old Hou had drunk a few more cans of beer, so his mind wasn't as clear as it had been during the day. He listened to these words in a daze, his brain somewhat short-circuited.

"Taoism?! What does that mean?!" Old Hou asked, somewhat puzzled, as he put down his beer can.

"As you should know, some of the essential elements of traditional Chinese medicine originate directly from Taoist doctrines. Moreover, Taoist medicine is a very important branch of legitimate traditional Chinese medicine. However, due to various subjective and objective reasons, Taoist medicine is currently in decline and is no longer known to the general public. But... this does not mean that this kind of knowledge has disappeared. Perhaps, in some unknown and quiet place, some insightful people are either inheriting or developing it... just like a secluded orchid in a valley, quietly absorbing special medical essence in unknown places, silently seeking a special existence and development..."

"Ah?! That old man is a Taoist doctor?!"

"That's not necessarily true, I know at least a little bit..."

"Then... what are those strange words written in the photo?! What's their use? How come they're only worth over 60?!" "I don't know much about that kind of stuff. Judging from the words, they should be incantations for activating the cauldron, or at least one of them. They're like the 'activation codes' used in all sorts of industries nowadays. As for whether they're directly related to the medicine cauldron, the old man left us some room for interpretation. If we're destined to meet again, we'll meet again in the future; if not, then we'll part ways here, go our separate ways, and live our own lives, never to have anything to do with each other again! That's probably the gist of it..." Bian Mu replied with a smile.

"That sounds a bit confusing. Could you explain it in simpler terms?" Holding the beer can, Old Hou took a big gulp of beer and asked with a smile.

"Research related to the medicinal cauldron is actually an academic blind spot for new traditional Chinese medicine and new Chinese herbal medicine. In terms of clinical treatment, the medicinal cauldron has always been a technical vacuum. It's a very complex field. It's not simply about preparing a few secret formulas and using special processes according to ancient methods to gather high-quality medicinal materials together and repeatedly extract some 'medicinal essence.' During this process, complex medical chemical reactions constantly occur between the medicinal materials, and the resulting medicinal essence is repeatedly purified. The process is a hundred times more complex than techniques like water-milling! It has always been a very obscure area of ​​academic research in the fields of traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese herbal medicine. In practical application, it is extremely complex in many aspects, even exceeding the understanding of academics. In the past two years, the local traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese herbal medicine communities have been paying more attention to this area." "He's always been tight-lipped about it, and I'm just guessing, Uncle Pei! He must have suffered a lot of hidden losses in this area back then, which is why he's the way he is now. His Taoist medical background is quite obvious, and it has had a significant influence on me. The words in the photos are just a prelude; the old man naturally wouldn't easily reveal any of the truly practical information. If the rumors are true, once someone truly masters a similar formula, the actual medicinal value of the medicine cauldron might be unlocked. If the extracted 'medicinal essence' is used in the preparation of traditional Chinese medicine, it might really accelerate the research speed of new and special drugs, and the development cycle of highly effective traditional Chinese medicines would naturally be greatly shortened!" Bian Mu couldn't drink alcohol, so he drank a few sips of digestive soup and explained the basics that needed to be explained.

"That's incredible?! I've hardly ever heard anyone mention it in all these years..."

"Of course! Who would easily show off something truly valuable?! You're usually so knowledgeable, why don't you think about it from a different perspective? Aren't the workshops of major pharmaceutical companies like medicine cauldrons?! Their appearance, internal structure, and the connection between the main workshop and auxiliary workshops..." Bian Mu stopped there, picked up his chopsticks, and threw some lettuce into the pot.

"Huh?! It really is... Does that mean... the various production workshops built by modern pharmaceutical companies are actually a kind of development of ancient medicine cauldrons? A physical manifestation of them?!"

Hearing this, Bian Mu smiled and nodded gently. The lake shrimp were probably already overcooked. They had missed their best time and were probably a bit too old to eat now, which was a pity! He picked up a few pieces of shrimp meat at random, without any seasoning, to enjoy their original flavor. Bian Mu ate two or three of them.

"No wonder... So how should I give the old man a proper welcome when he comes again in the future?" Old Hou asked hurriedly.

All along, Lao Hou had been thinking about helping Bian Mu quickly develop a special Chinese medicine that would become a hit, so that he could make a fortune, buy a house, a car, get married, have children, and live a normal life. When he heard that he was getting closer and closer to developing a special Chinese medicine, Lao Hou was naturally very excited, and his enthusiasm for doing things suddenly increased several levels.

"Let nature take its course! I'll have them send you some good tea later, and a little bit of fine wine too. If that senior comes again, just treat him to some good tea and fruit, and give him a little push! When he leaves, take some good tea and old wine with you. Also, stick some magnolia bark on the tea box and some coptis root on the outside of the wine bottle. He definitely won't ask any questions, and you don't need to bother guessing. Right now, I can't explain what that stuff means yet, so you can act naturally. That senior won't see any flaws. Now I'm going to explain all the details clearly. You're very smart, so... it will show in your eyes. The old man has sharp eyes and can see right through you with just a couple of glances. In the end, we won't get anything!"

Upon hearing this, Old Hou felt his head suddenly become heavy, and it took him a long time to recover.