Da Zaojun

Chapter 23: The Fire of the Stove
Doctors from various departments of the Medical Bureau soon arrived and studied the plague here.

Fortunately, they all belonged to the City God Medical Bureau, which was in charge of epidemics. They quickly developed the "Five-Spice Plague-Preventing Pills" using cloves, agarwood, frankincense, cypress incense, and myrrh.

But spices are expensive and are only used by high-ranking officials. They can prevent plague but not cure it.

They used the prescription for treating plague in previous years, which was "Da Qinglong Decoction".

Although Daqinglong Decoction is useful, many patients are disaster victims and their bodies cannot tolerate these decoctions. Moreover, there are not many herbal medicines in the city.

Song Wuji couldn't bear to watch any longer and said to Doctor Wu, "Doctor Wu, you taught me before that although toads are poisonous, their meat can detoxify them, and although they are ugly, their skin can nourish your complexion."

"I see these giant rats spreading the plague. When they die, they dissipate into black air, leaving behind only a fleshy tail. It's strange. Since this fleshy tail doesn't dissipate, it must have a purpose. Maybe it's the trigger for curing the plague."

"Although there must be an antidote within three steps of a poisonous snake, rats themselves are evil creatures that spread the plague." Doctor Wu was hesitating.

Doctor Li said, "The giant rat's tail was originally intended to be used for medicinal purposes, but we're worried about the demonic poison. Now that there's a plague ahead, we can't let any of it go."

"Steam this rat tail and let me taste it myself."

"Elder Li!"

Doctor Wu still needs to give some more advice.

Doctor Li said, "A great doctor who treats illnesses must calm his mind and heart, be free of desires and demands, and first develop a heart of great compassion and sympathy, vowing to save all living beings from suffering."

"If someone comes seeking help for illness or distress, we should not ask about their status, wealth, age, beauty, enemies, friends, Chinese or foreign, wise or foolish, but treat them all equally, as if they were our closest relatives..."

"You don't need to persuade me."

Then he turned to Song Wuji and said, "Xiao Song, I remember you said you were blessed by the Kitchen God. Although the Kitchen God is not the god of medicine, he has the ability to eliminate filth and avoid plague. Do you see anything?"

Song Wuji nodded: "When I touched the rat tail, the idea of ​​how to process the food came to my mind. I guess it is a kind of ability brought by processing the five insects."

"But I don't know if this is right or wrong, so it's just a suggestion and I can't guarantee it."

"Good boy!" said Doctor Li. "Go ahead and do it. Didn't I tell you that you belong to the Medical Department? We're not the kind of people who envy talented people."

Seeing that Dr. Li was still on the front line treating patients at the age of over 80, Song Wuji did not hide the recipe of Xiangji Poyi Shuwei Soup and told it to Dr. Li.

"No ordinary fire will work. Only the fire obtained after offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God and sending him sugar will be useful."

Doctor Li listened and nodded directly: "These are all trivial matters, just follow me."

Then he took Song Wuji to Lu Han and Chen Xiu.

Chen Xiu was applying activating oil because of a muscle strain, and Lu Han was discussing the situation of demons with his henchman Sun Xiucai.

Song Wuji felt uncomfortable when he saw these civil and military henchmen, after all, they were two leading monsters.

Doctor Li said directly to Lu Han, "Teacher Lu, let's talk further."

Lu Han and Song Wuji had just met last night. He only knew that Song Wuji was blessed by the Kitchen God and should be a culinary practitioner.

At this time, I heard that Song Wuji had acquired the ability to "identify things" by processing food ingredients. Although it was reasonable, it was also a pleasant surprise, not to mention that there was a way to cure the plague.

"Respecting the Kitchen God means respecting food. Since ancient times, food has been the most important thing for people, so giving Kitchen God candy is a proper gesture."

Lu Han whispered, "The six departments' edicts don't seem to be official rituals. Punishing evil requires beheading, investigating requires eating eyes raw, and investigating requires opening eyes, sewing ears, and inserting noses..."

“But when I offer sacrifices to the Confucian sages in the county school, simply by offering them with the rites of a teacher, I have gained the seeds of magnanimity, and can become a magnanimous Confucian scholar and cultivate a literary mind.”

"When County Magistrate Chen offered sacrifice to Marquis Fei, he also first bestowed the Dharma, and then he had to personally hunt the demon skull to offer as a sacrifice to the martial arts."

"The Kitchen God is truly divine. He only asks for these, which is not a big deal. He doesn't ask for blood or food, nor does he ask for gold or silver."

When Lu Han said this, Song Wuji remembered that Aunt Liu donated two taels of silver to the City God Temple and got a bag of incense ash.

"Go ahead, go ahead boldly. It's not a bad thing." After hearing what Lu Han said, Song Wuji bowed and thanked him.

Not long after, the sky became completely bright and the city gates were opened. Song Wuji was arranged by Lu Han to enter the city to pay respects to the Kitchen God and give him candy.

Those who assisted Song Wuji in offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God were all wealthy people in the city.

These wealthy families were all large and powerful, so they separated their families but not their households, integrating them into a single entity. Those with the ability could start their own businesses, while the more mediocre ones still lived together in one large house.

When Song Wuji arrived at these wealthy families, he sighed inwardly, "These mansions have at least dozens of rooms, and I'm afraid there are at least a hundred."

Even in this chaotic world of demons and demons, when the outside world is in turmoil, these wealthy families are still relatively stable internally.

However, they also understood that they had taken root too deeply and could only live and die with the city, and were not as comfortable as ordinary people.

Song Wuji is currently at the Lu family where Instructor Lu lives.

The head of the Lu family was Lu Han's uncle. He looked to be in his fifties or sixties, with a worried look on his face. He took the manuscript written by Lu Han and read it over and over again, then looked at Song Wuji.

The head of the Lu family said, "Brother Song, what's going on outside the city?"

"Last night, a rat demon attacked the city, but was driven back by Instructor Lu and County Magistrate Chen. However, it left behind the plague."

"And I have been blessed by the Kitchen God. According to what Instructor Lu said about the City God and the Six Officials walking around, I should be the one walking around with the Kitchen God, and I have a way to cure the plague."

The head of the Lu family nodded. He was not thinking about the candies and offerings needed for the Kitchen God ceremony, but was considering which side to join.

Should I seek refuge with the City God or the County Magistrate?

He didn't think for too long before instructing his son, "Mo Xuan, take Brother Song to the kitchen to prepare for the Kitchen God offering. I will personally talk to the neighbors and gather ten households."

The head of the Lu family said, "In a poor family, the stove fire is not very strong. Only in a prosperous family, the stove fire is always bright at all times, and the smoke is kept burning for 360 days a year."

However, he did Song Wuji a favor.

Song Wuji quickly thanked him: "Thank you very much, Master Lu."

"It's just a small matter. Han'er will have to go out of the city to fight the monsters sooner or later. Let's not talk about those empty words, family and country. As long as you have the ability, Xiao Song, and can make a good meal for him on the way to fight the monsters, and make sure he has enough to eat, then it's my duty to do this."

Song Wuji remained silent after hearing this, and only said: "Everyone will definitely be able to eat the new grain this year."

The Lu family's kitchen is large, and they prepare many kinds of stove candies for Song Wuji during the stove worship. In addition to ordinary malt sugar, there are also preserved fruits, dates, and sesame balls.

A large table of food was prepared, a total of sixteen pieces, for the Kitchen God worship.

Anyway, it’s not like you can’t eat it after the sacrifice.

He even called all the members of the three branches of the Lu family to come and pay homage to the stove together.

For them, the stove fire not only represents "eating", but also represents "a prosperous family". The more prosperous the stove fire is, the more prosperous the family is, which in turn leads to the meaning of "a harmonious family brings prosperity".

The "basic plating" that Song Wuji had just learned included the method of arranging offerings.

Song Wujiji skillfully used plating to arrange the dishes and candies in various ways.

[The stove fire is prosperous]

Hey, this is actually a plating with special effects?

Just as he was thinking that he had completed the Kitchen God worship ceremony by offering the Kitchen God candy, he saw a ball of flame fly out of the Kitchen God statue and enter Song Wuji's body.

[Sacrifice stove incense*10]

(End of this chapter)