Dao Qi Wu Zang Guan Guan: I became a Daoist Master in the 1990s

Chapter 196 Come on, take a look!

Just as the setting sun pierced through the clouds, and the puddles on the bluestone slabs still reflected the sunlight, the sound of a gong abruptly broke the tranquility of Linxi County.

"Bang bang bang!"

"Come on, take a look! This is our family's secret magic pill, a cure-all! It's only three coins! You won't regret it!"

The shouts came from the east of the city.

Three traveling men chose a busy crossroads; one banged a gong, one shouted, and the other stood quietly to the side holding a wooden box.

The man banging the gong was a pockmarked man with an unusually loud voice; the one shouting was as thin as a monkey, with darting eyes; and the one carrying the box was a burly man with a blank expression.

After the rain, the streets were already bustling with pedestrians, but upon hearing this sound, many people stopped to watch.

Before long, a crowd had gathered around.

"It's another quack selling miracle pills!" A hunchbacked old man spat in the crowd. "Someone came selling them last month too. I bought some because I had a toothache, but they were completely useless! What a waste of three coins!"

As soon as he said this, a chorus of agreement immediately arose from all around.

"Yes, my mother's cough isn't getting better even after taking it!"

"I bought it to treat my child's stomachache, but it actually made the diarrhea worse!"

"That's a lie!"

The lean man remained calm and composed, cupping his hands in a gesture of respect to those around him: "Fellow villagers! You can't say that!"
There are indeed people in the martial arts world who swindle people using the name of "powerful pills," but our "Invincible Golden Spear Powerful Pill" is a family secret recipe, the real deal!

He winked at the burly man, who immediately put down the wooden box, rolled up his sleeves, and revealed his thick forearms.

The lean man drew a gleaming short knife from his waist and waved it in the sunlight.

"Everyone, watch closely! You'll find out if it's real or fake once you try!"

In the blink of an eye, the blade had already slashed a inch-long gash in the burly man's arm, and blood gushed out immediately, a few drops splashing onto the wet bluestone slab, spreading a faint red hue.

A gasp rippled through the crowd, and several women quickly covered their faces.

The lean man calmly opened the wooden box and took out a brown pill, about the size of a thumb.

He crushed the pill into powder in front of everyone and carefully sprinkled it on the wound.

Surprisingly, after only a few breaths, the bleeding actually stopped!
"Amazing! It really stopped!" someone exclaimed.

The lean man smugly cupped his hands in greeting to those around him: "That's not all!"

Our powerful pills can be taken internally or used externally! They can cure everything from backaches and pains to headaches, fevers, infertility, and poor sexual performance!
Even if you're not sick, eating this can strengthen your body and prolong your life!

To prove it, the burly man then performed a set of boxing techniques, which were powerful and impressive, drawing cheers from the onlookers.

Next, the lean man demonstrated how to treat various ailments such as back pain and eye diseases, each of which drew gasps of amazement.

Before long, someone took out copper coins to buy it.

Three coins isn't much, but what if it really comes in handy?

Among the crowd, a man wearing a patched short jacket hesitated for a long time before finally taking out three copper coins and squeezing forward to buy a pill.

His name is Wang Er. He works as a porter at the dock. He has an elderly mother who is seriously ill and has been bedridden for half a month.

"I hope this can cure Mother's illness," Wang Er muttered to himself, clutching the pill.

When Wang Er pushed open the creaking wooden door, his wife, Zhao, was squatting in front of the stove, starting a fire.

"Where have you been all this time? Coming back so late!" Zhao said without looking up, her tone sharp. "The rice jar is almost empty, and you haven't even managed to earn a few more copper coins!"

Wang Er awkwardly walked to her side, opened his palm, revealing the brown pill: "I bought this. I heard it can cure all diseases. I'm giving it to Mother to try."

Zhao suddenly stood up, grabbed the pill, and stared wide-eyed: "Three coins for this mud pill?"

Wang Er, are you blinded by lard or kicked in the head by a donkey?
You actually believed the nonsense of those charlatans!

“But the person selling the medicine demonstrated it on the spot, and it really could stop the bleeding and cure the disease,” Wang Er tried to argue.

"Bullshit! That's all a lie!" Zhao Shi became angrier as she spoke. "I told you long ago, your old mother is already eighty years old, living is just suffering!"

You still expect her to live to be a hundred?

We're starving ourselves, where would we get the spare money to buy her medicine?

Wang Er lowered his head, not daring to reply.

Zhao, caught up in her rant, slammed the pills on the ground: "All you do is waste money! You might as well have bought some wine to fill your pig brain!"

Zhao cursed again: "In the end, it was bought with copper coins!"
Pick it up and give it to your old hag mother to eat!
So that people won't say we're unfilial!

She spat and continued cursing, "The old man knew his children were having a hard time, so he went on a hunger strike and died at sixty!"

Who lives to eighty and still refuses to die? Isn't that just dragging young people down?
"When has our Linxi County ever produced such a long-lived person? It's like they're dragging their whole family to their graves!"

Wang Er gritted his teeth and picked up the pills without saying a word.

Composing himself, Wang Er went into the inner room.

The room was dimly lit and filled with the distinctive scent of an old person. His elderly mother lay on the bed, so thin she was just skin and bones, her breathing weak.

"Mother," Wang Er called softly, "your son has brought you medicine." The old woman slowly opened her eyes, her cloudy pupils darting around, and she uttered a single word with difficulty: "Son."

Wang Er helped his mother up, fed her the pills, and gave her some water.

The elderly man had difficulty swallowing, but he still managed to swallow it.

"Go to sleep, you'll be fine tomorrow."

Wang Er tucked the blanket around his mother, but he didn't hold out much hope.

The next morning, Wang Er was awakened by a noise outside.

He got up, put on his clothes, and was surprised to find that his mother was not in bed.

When he stepped outside, he could hardly believe his eyes.

The elderly mother was sweeping the yard; her movements were slow, but steady.

Upon seeing Wang Er, she actually smiled and said, "My son, I feel much better today."

Wang Er stood there stunned for a long time before he reacted: "Mother, you...you can get out of bed?"

The old woman nodded: "I don't know why, but I felt energetic when I woke up this morning. I'm very hungry and want to eat some porridge."

Wang Er quickly woke up Zhao Shi to cook porridge.

When Zhao saw her mother-in-law recover, she was stunned, but she didn't say anything. She just silently went to start a fire and cook.

On the way to the dock, Wang Er was still muttering about this miracle.

The workers were also discussing it.

"Have you heard? That super-strength pill from yesterday was real!"

"The butcher's child had a fever, but one pill cured him!"

"Old Li's rheumatic leg pain is gone! He was able to get out of bed and work this morning!"

"The whole county is looking for those three medicine sellers, but unfortunately they left before dawn!"

Wang Er listened, feeling both happy and regretful.

I'm happy that my mother is better, but I regret that I couldn't buy more pills.

That night, Wang Er fell into a deep sleep.

He was awakened by a faint sound after an unknown amount of time.

He quietly got up and discovered that the sound was coming from his mother's room.

Through the crack in the door, he saw his elderly mother tossing and turning in bed, her hands pressed tightly against her abdomen, her face full of pain.

"Mother, what's wrong?" Wang Er pushed open the door and entered.

The old woman was startled and quickly tried to remain calm: "N-nothing, I'm just a little hungry and can't sleep."

Wang Er found it strange: "Didn't we have porridge for dinner?"

"I have eaten, but... I'm hungry again." The old woman's eyes flickered. "Son, go to sleep, I'm fine."

Wang Er returned to his room, full of doubts, but did not go to sleep.

He peeked through the crack in the door and saw his mother curl up again, cold sweat beading on her forehead, her jaw clenched, as if she were enduring immense pain.

Her stomach even made a slight rumbling sound, which was particularly clear in the quiet night.

What alarmed Wang Er even more was that he saw his mother secretly take something out from under her pillow and put it in her mouth.

That was clearly a small clod of dirt!

The old woman chewed the soil greedily, as if she were enjoying a delicacy. However, after a short while, she suddenly covered her mouth, trying her best not to vomit.

Wang Er suddenly understood something.

He retreated to bed, keeping his eyes open until dawn, his wife's words from the previous day echoing in his ears: "When other elderly people know the difficulties their children face, they starve themselves to death at sixty! Who lives to eighty and still refuses to die?"

My mother recovered from her illness. Was it really because of that miraculous pill, or...?
Wang Er dared not think any further.

The next day, he got up early and saw his mother already busy in the yard, looking energetic, as if everything from the previous night was just a dream.

"My son, I made you some pancakes today."

The old woman smiled and handed him a multigrain pancake.

Wang Er took the pancake, took a bite, but felt a lump in his throat.

He looked at his mother's wrinkled but smiling face and suddenly noticed that there was still some dirt under her fingernails.

"Mother," Wang Er began, but didn't know what to ask.

The old woman seemed to notice his gaze, and quietly pulled her hand back into her sleeve, still smiling: "Eat quickly, so you can go to work."

Wang Er lowered his head and ate the pancake in large bites, but salty tears silently dripped into the bowl.

(End of this chapter)