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

Song You walked among the elmwood shelves, tapping on the walls of several bronze medicine furnaces, listening to the sounds and feeling the materials as he went around. No strange phenomenon of the objects recognizing their owner occurred. There are no easy bargains in this world; he abandoned his thoughts of finding hidden gems later and focused on choosing furnaces based on his specific needs for brewing medicine.

He carefully selected items and walked to the back of the shelf, where a large medicine furnace, about half a person's height, was placed. The furnace had three layers, with movable copper partitions inside the furnace chamber. Several rough animal patterns were carved on the outer wall, and the furnace handles were thick. Song You reached out and grasped the handle of the copper partition, pulling it outwards smoothly without any jamming.

Based on his experience of brewing the lung-clearing powder, this layered structure allows for adjustment of the position of the medicinal materials, thereby controlling the heating distance and greatly saving the consumption of the outer flame. He is currently weak and lacks such labor-saving tools the most.

"Senior brother, I want this." Song You pointed to the multi-tiered medicine furnace.

Jiang Yangge stepped forward, took a good look at the furnace, and his eyelids twitched twice. He flicked his finger on the furnace wall, which produced a dull hum.

"Junior brother has a sharp eye," Jiang Yangge said in a low voice. "This is the best piece in the storeroom. It's a three-tiered warming furnace. Even if an outer disciple made great contributions, they usually couldn't get their hands on this item. It's only because you're a direct disciple of the elder that you were able to move it directly today."

Song You clasped his hands together, his gaze resolute as he bowed towards the inner hall: "I owe it all to Master's guidance."

While he was saying polite words, he was secretly planning that if he moved the stove back, he could increase his chances of making good medicine. With this good stove, he could save a lot of effort in brewing the medicinal dishes in the medicine bag.

Jiang Yangge turned and walked out of the warehouse to call for help from the outer courtyard.

Before long, he returned with two female disciples, one of whom was Shen Lu. Song You nodded to Shen Lu, and Shen Lu nodded quietly in return.

"Lift up the stove and come with me," Jiang Yangge ordered.

Shen Lu and another female disciple walked to either side of the medicine furnace. The two bent down, gripped the furnace handles with their hands, gritted their teeth, and strained their thin arms to lift the bronze medicine furnace, which was as tall as a person, off the ground. They staggered as they moved out along the passageway.

Song You followed behind, and Jiang Yangge said as they walked, "The elder just said in the inner hall that one needs to concentrate when brewing medicine, but actually, apart from the large furnace in the inner hall, the pharmacy has prepared private rooms for the disciples who brew medicine. With private rooms, they can be isolated from outside noise and avoid being disturbed by others."

As expected, Jia Chunfang had just been testing him, and Song You couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

After passing through two arched gates, a row of single-story brick houses appeared ahead. Jiang Yangge pushed open the courtyard gate, revealing five empty rooms lined up side by side inside.

Song You glanced around. The first house was closest to the courtyard gate and was the noisiest with people coming and going. The three middle houses had good lighting but no obstructions. He pointed to the one on the far right, right next to the low wall of the backyard: "I'll choose this one."

The house is located in a remote area next to the courtyard wall. If something goes wrong while brewing the medicine, or if enemies block the door, climbing over the wall is the most convenient way to escape.

Two female disciples carried the medicine furnace into the room and placed it on the stone slab in the center. They were panting heavily, and sweat was streaming down their faces.

Jiang Yangge turned to Song You and said, "Junior brother, this room needs to be cleaned every day, and the medicine furnace also needs to be cleaned of dregs and refilled with charcoal. Since you're short on time, why don't you choose someone to stay in the room and take care of these chores for you?"

Song You understood what Jiang Yangge meant: choosing a personal handyman would spare this person from the heavy manual labor in the outer courtyard. This job didn't require high cultivation; just obedience and following orders were sufficient. His gaze swept over the two female disciples; the other disciple looked up, a hint of expectation still lingering in her eyes.

"Shen Lu will stay." Song You gave the candidate, making no unexpected choices.

Compared to others, Shen Lu is more reliable to use, and she can handle these troublesome matters now, but when there are more secrets in the future, it will be better to do it myself.

The expectation in the eyes of another female disciple shattered, and she turned and left the room with her head hanging low.

Only three people remained in the room. Jiang Yangge stepped forward and stared at Shen Lu: "Listen carefully. From now on, you are only in charge of Junior Brother Song's room. Every morning, the first thing you must do is clean the room thoroughly and prepare enough coal. You are not allowed to return to the outer courtyard to rest until you have finished the tasks assigned by Junior Brother Song. If there is even the slightest mistake, I will hold you accountable."

Shen Lu knelt down and kowtowed to the blue bricks: "Thank you, Steward Jiang, thank you, Senior Brother Song. I will definitely tidy up the house properly and will not delay anything."

Jiang Yangge waved his hand, signaling Shen Lu to get up and get to work. Shen Lu got up, found a rag, went to the water vat, wet it, and began to wipe the dust off the surface of the medicine furnace. She worked quickly and efficiently, even cleaning the rust off the edges.

Song You glanced at the sky. Today's events were finally over. He needed to go back and recover from his overexertion. He and Jiang Yangge walked out of the room together.

"Senior brother, I'll go back and recuperate first," Song You said.

"Take care, junior brother." Jiang Yangge cupped his hands in farewell and turned to attend to his own accounts.

Song You returned to the inner hall and glanced around. The wooden bed was empty; Jia Chunfang had already left. Song You tucked the two packets of lung-clearing powder and the Tibetan meal into his pocket and stepped out of the pharmacy.

A cold wind swirled withered leaves along the path. Song You walked slowly along the stone path toward the bungalow area. After the effects of the Tibetan medicine wore off, his limbs and bones felt sore and weak, and the gaps in his body ached faintly. He planned to go to the World of Light as soon as possible to replenish his high-calorie food.

Reaching a fork in the road, Song You suddenly noticed something and stopped. Behind the bushes ahead, a furtive figure flashed by. It looked very familiar. Upon closer inspection, Song You realized it was Li Changxing.

He bumped into the kid at the party and he ran away as fast as he could. Now, instead of hiding to cultivate, he seems to be heading towards the back mountain via a side path.

The back mountain of Pozang Temple is mostly a desolate graveyard and a place where wild animals roam. Now that the gathering is over, what is he going to do in the back mountain?

Song You lowered his breath, slowed his pace, and followed along the low bushes. He was currently exhausted, but Li Changxing ahead of him was in an even worse state.

The boy's steps were unsteady; he would pant after every three steps and keep glancing back. Song You, using the cover of tree trunks and rocks, maintained a distance of ten zhang from Li Changxing.

The mountain path was rugged and overgrown with weeds. Li Changxing used both his hands and feet to climb up to the middle of the mountain, with Song You following behind.

After climbing for half an hour, Li Changxing stopped in a shady mountain hollow. There were several broken stone tablets in the hollow, surrounded by thorny brambles.

Song You crouched behind a boulder, peeking out half his head.

Li Changxing walked to a blank stele, looked around to make sure no one was there, stretched his face to reveal a row of teeth, and threw himself onto the muddy ground in front of the stele.

He had no tools, so he dug directly into the soil with his bare hands. His fingernails curled up, and blood mixed with the soil, but he was completely unaware and dug faster and faster.

Song You stared intently at the pit, pondering whether he should make a move to steal it later.