The Immortal of Plague begins by establishing the root of lung fire.

The stall owner raised his sallow face, his eyes darting around the wooden sign at Song You's waist.

"Are you from the pharmacy?" the stall owner asked.

Song You nodded: "Exactly."

Before he could ask for the price again, Brother Jiang took half a step forward and pointed to Song You's wooden sign.

"Watch your eyes, and stop spouting those deceptive tricks. This is Elder Jia's newly accepted disciple from the pharmacy. If you're going to try and swindle people with worthless herbs, you should first consider whether you can even walk out of the pharmacy's door."

The stall owner stiffened, leaned forward slightly, and pushed the pile of muddy snake-eating grass half a foot towards Song You, his face scrunched up.

"So you're Elder Jia's disciple. I'm so blind, I didn't recognize you." The stall owner rubbed his hands together on his knees. "If you like these snake-head grasses, senior brother, take them all. I won't charge you any copper coins."

Song You didn't reach out to take it: "What do you want?"

"Senior brother is so generous." The stall owner lowered his voice. "I only ask for a way out. As an elder disciple, you will surely be able to brew the Lung-Clearing Powder in the future. I'll give all these herbs to you, just asking that you leave me a portion after you start brewing the Lung-Clearing Powder. At that time, I'll bring enough wild herbs and exchange them for that portion of medicine according to the rules."

Song You's mind raced. Although he studied pharmacology every day at the pharmacy, actually brewing medicine and dealing with the waste of medicinal materials through the public accounts was still quite troublesome. This person offered him free practice materials, with the only condition being priority access to transactions in the future and the establishment of stable downstream channels.

"Okay." Song You tied the whole bunch of snake-eating grass, roots and all, into a bundle and picked it up. "If I make it for the next gathering, bring ten portions of snake-eating grass, and I'll save you a portion of lung-clearing powder."

The stall owner slapped his thigh hard: "It's a deal!"

The two didn't try to hide their conversation, and several disciples from the outer sect who were setting up stalls and looking for medicine overheard it. The lower-level disciples were suffering in the early stages of the firewood-making process, their internal organs being burned day and night by lesions in their bodies. Lung-clearing powder was a life-saving commodity, and the pharmacy rarely made it, so they couldn't get a chance to order it.

Several thin disciples immediately surrounded him.

"Senior Brother Song! I have three dried, withered tree bark pieces here!"

"Senior brother, I'm going to dig up some yellow soil on the back mountain tomorrow. Could you please leave me a share, following the same rule?"

Seven or eight withered hands stretched forward, almost hitting Song You's chest.

Song You steadied the herbs and took a half-step back.

"As long as the medicinal properties haven't dissipated and the impurities are still usable, bring it to the next gathering. We'll exchange it according to the quantity, but you'll have to wait in line after him," Song You said.

The crowd tried to push forward, but Jiang Yangge stepped forward, his suppressed anger radiating from his chest through his mouth and nose, his aura pressing down on the faces of the disciples around him.

The heat wave, mixed with the stench of blood, swept over them. The outer disciples who had surrounded them felt a tightness in their chests and retreated repeatedly, eventually dispersing back to their respective dark corners.

"Let's go, don't get entangled with these people." Brother Jiang led the way.

The two continued deeper into the canyon, the loose stones under their feet crunching underfoot. Song You stopped when he passed a protruding, dark blue-green rock.

In a sheltered depression on the rock, a dirty straw mat was laid out. A person sat cross-legged on it, his fine cloth robe tattered, the sleeves torn at the base, and several large tears on the front and back revealing purplish-black welts beneath.

It was the very day he entered the sect that the young man was accepted as a disciple by Elder Zhongzao.

The once arrogant young man had lost a lot of weight in just a few days; his cheeks were sunken and his eyes were dark. In front of him were only two ordinary flints and half a discarded animal bone.

Li Changxing raised his eyes and met Song You's gaze.

He bounced on the grass mat, reached out and stuffed the broken animal bones on the ground into his clothes. He didn't even bother to take the grass mat. He scrambled into the crevice of the rocks next to him and ran wildly out of the valley along the path.

Song You watched the disheveled figure flee without saying a word.

"That kid's done for." Following the gaze, Brother Jiang explained, "I've found out the details these past few days. His name is Li Changxing. The other day, Mei Chong and Liu Chengquan got into trouble at our pharmacy and were sent back to Elder Zhongzao's place looking disheveled. The elder doesn't support useless people, so he deducted most of their monthly resources."

Jiang Yangge sneered twice: "The two of them didn't dare to mess with Elder Jia, so they turned around and treated this new junior brother as a fat sheep. The medicine powder and rewards that Li Changxing distributed were all snatched away by Mei Chong and the others in the room, and even his good clothes were stripped off to exchange for medicine."

"Those who do many unrighteous deeds will surely perish." Song You sneered inwardly, uttering a bland comment without lingering.

He glanced at the stalls a few times and asked Brother Jiang, "Didn't you see what you wanted, Senior Brother?"

"These outside are all defective goods; you won't find anything good there." Brother Jiang shook his head. "Come with me; you can exchange my things inside."

Jiang Yangge led Song You around two piles of rocks and stopped in front of a natural cave deep in the mountainside.

As soon as you step into the cave, a stuffy and humid atmosphere hits you. The smell here is even more complicated than outside. In addition to the strong smell of herbs, there is also a kind of rotten and fishy smell of flesh growing.

The cave was about the size of two disciples' quarters, with more than a dozen torches stuck in the surrounding stone walls. There were about a dozen people standing inside, their faces noticeably more rosy than those of the lower-ranking disciples outside the valley.

The crowd gathered in the middle of the cave, and Song You squeezed through the gaps in the crowd to look ahead.

A thick black cowhide was spread on the ground, and a shirtless man lay prone on it. The man's back was an unnatural bluish-black, and along both sides of his spine were seven or eight fist-sized growths. The blood vessels on the surface of the growths were bulging, rising and falling with the man's breathing.

Several disciples were squatting on the ground around him, pointing at the tumor on his back and bargaining in low voices.

This was the first time Song You had ever seen such a scene, so he couldn't help but take a second look.

Jiang Yangge pushed aside the two people in front of him and squatted down directly beside the man's head.

"Miyahachi, is the thing you promised last time properly 'cooked'?"

Lying prone on the cowhide, Gong Ba barely managed to lift his chin, revealing his neck with bulging veins: "Did you bring what I asked for?"

Jiang Yangge reached into his robes and pulled out a palm-sized, dark red sachet wrapped in layers of oiled paper. As soon as the sachet was taken out, the temperature of the surrounding air seemed to drop a degree.

"Winter Return Medicine Pouch." Brother Jiang placed the sachet beside Gong Ba. "Mixed with semi-yin herbs, it can suppress the cold water in your brother's body for three months by purging the external yin and internal yin."

Gong Ba grabbed the sachet, took a deep breath of the cool air emanating from it, and let out a comfortable groan: "Correct, third row, second from the left."

Without wasting any words, Brother Jiang pulled out a half-inch-long boning knife.

He pressed his left hand against the designated tumor on Miyabi's back, and with a flick of his right wrist, the sharp knife precisely sliced ​​through the flesh on the surface of the tumor.

Can you do this?

Song You stood at the back and truly learned a lot.