During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a crude medicine shop in Deping County, Guanzhong. The shopkeeper was Qin Dehai, who was in his forties and had a dark face. He had no wife or children, and was accompanied by a mute servant who had taken in a few years ago, and an apprentice, Shan Chun. This Shan Chun was his distant cousin, whose parents died, and he defected three years ago.

As soon as summer began, Qin Dehai's behavior became very strange. He was either sighing at the fish jumping ashore by the river or contemplating the water that suddenly rose and fell into the well. He also ordered Shan Chun to bring his mute servant to buy a large number of Zibaipi, Atractylodes, and raw toon skins, and the collected medicinal materials were piled up in several rooms.

The weather was unusually hot that night. Qin Dehai and the others slept in the yard. The mute servant slept soundly, and Qin Dehai tossed and turned and couldn't sleep. Shan Chun said, "Uncle, there are too many mosquitoes, let's go into the house to sleep. Our house has been turned over by thieves several times, what if thieves come in through the back window?"

Qin Dehai sighed: "I think there may be a disaster in the next few days!" Shan Chun was taken aback: "Is it our baby? Then hurry up and report to the official!" Qin Dehai shook his head: "I went to the yamen the day before yesterday to talk about this, but I was severely reprimanded. He said that if he dared to talk nonsense and disturb the hearts of the people, he would bring disaster to the nine clans! Alas, I don't blame them, the emperor just ascended the throne last month, who would dare to report disaster! Besides, I'm not 100% sure."

It turned out that the Qin family had a strange stone, but it was the size of a fist and could predict earthquakes. Shan Chun had never seen this treasure before.

Thirty years ago, Qin Dehai's father took in a disciple named Ma Defang, and the two of them got along very well, but they didn't expect that this disciple would steal the prescription of the Qin family's ancestral family and escape. After more than a year, there was a strange phenomenon in the Decheng mansion. Qin Dehai's father determined that there would be an earthquake, so he reported to the government that the people in the city did not dare to stay at home at night. After half a month, there was a false alarm, and the local officials were furious. They said that Qin Dehai's father lied to the people and took him to the yamen for a beating. Not long after, Qin Dehai's father died in prison.

As soon as Qin Dehai finished speaking, he saw a bright blue lightning streak across the sky in the west. Qin Dehai's master and apprentice jumped up together in fright, and there was a tsunami-like sound in his ears. Qin Dehai pulled up the mute servant and shouted, "Here we are!" The three of them hugged each other and shivered, seeing that the disaster was in front of them.

When the earth stopped shaking, the three of them looked around and saw rubble everywhere.

Early the next morning, Qin Dehai asked the mute servant to bring out the medicinal materials in the warehouse, and he himself initialized the purple stone pot in the yard and told Shan Chun to boil the medicine according to the ratio on the prescription. Shan Chun asked while busy, "Uncle, isn't it the four flavors of medicine?" Qin Dehai replied, "Just these three flavors, nothing else." A puzzled look flashed across Shan Chun's face.

After the medicine was boiled, Qin Dehai arranged for Shan Chun to call the people to drink the medicine. Shan Chun asked, "How much is a bowl of silver?"

Qin Dehai's face sank: "Doctor, it is your duty to hang a pot to help the world. After the catastrophe, there will be a plague. At this moment, what is there to talk about money or not?" Shan Chun couldn't help but blush.

Qin Dehai's tone softened, "Do you still remember that I told you about our deserted disciple Ma Defang? Because he has a bad heart and is greedy for money, his father is afraid that he will make a fortune for refugees if he passes on his prescription, so he hid his selfishness. In fact, what he stole was not the complete prescription. Remember, medical skills are important, but what is more valuable is the kindness of the doctor!"

Shan Chun nodded again and again, respectfully filled three bowls of medicine, and the three of them drank the medicine first. The soup was bitter and fishy in the mouth, but the effect was like a god, and all the people who had drunk the soup and the medicine were safe and sound. Many of the people who did not have time to drink the medicine were infected with the plague, their faces were serious and scarred, and they died in pain after a few days of panting. Qin Dehai was so worried that he cooked medicine day and night, but after all, he was old and soon ran out of strength.

Early that morning, many victims gathered in the yard to drink the soup and medicine, and consciously formed a long queue. Shan Chun scooped up a bowl of medicine soup and handed it to one of the victims as usual, but somehow his hand shook, and the whole bowl of medicine was splashed on Qin Dehai's face, who was bent over to collect the residue!

Everyone was taken aback. Although the decoction was not considered hot, it was still very uncomfortable to have a thick concoction on his face. Shan Chun hurriedly took out a handkerchief to help his uncle wipe it, but Qin Dehai dodged left and right. At that time, an unexpected thing happened. Qin Dehai's dark face turned red, just like those seriously ill patients! The onlookers were shocked and retreated one after another. Shan Chun exclaimed in surprise, "Uncle, uncle, you are sick!" Before Qin Dehai could speak, the villagers were chatting.

Before Qin Dehai could say anything, Shan Chunlang said, "Don't worry, although my uncle is terminally ill, this soup will always be distributed to everyone." Then he turned around and said to Qin Dehai, "Uncle, if you have any unfinished business, just explain it quickly. I'm afraid it will be too late..."

Beads of sweat the size of a bean rolled down Qin Dehai's face, and he reached into his arms trembling, as if he wanted to take something out. Shan Chun was in a hurry. Suddenly, a hoarse voice shouted, "No, I can't give him the prescription!" Everyone saw that he was a mute servant. I saw him pounce on Shan Chun's face and pull it, and a black mole the size of a bean suddenly fell next to Shan Chun's eyebrows! Shan Chun was taken aback, and for a while he covered the corners of his eyes and was so panicked that he could not speak.

Qin Dehai was shocked and looked at Shan Chun: "You, you are not my cousin! Who are you?"

The mute servant said coldly, "He is naturally not your cousin nephew, he is a wolf who wants to take your prescription!"

Shan Chun looked at Qin Dehai who was panting, his panicked expression gradually calmed down, and he saluted: "Yes, I am not your distant nephew at all, but I grew up with him. Three years ago, he wanted to come to join you, but before leaving, he happened to contract typhoid fever and died. He said that he only met you when he was three years old, so I came to study medicine with you in his name. I have been subservient for three whole years, with no credit and hard work. Now that you are dying, this prescription cannot be brought into the coffin. As long as my uncle promises to pass me the prescription, I will take care of my uncle's death!" After saying that, he fell to his knees and kowtowed three times. Qin Dehai fell to the ground with a plop and nodded slowly: "That's right, the prescription always has to be passed on, but which one of you is the one who killed me?"

Shan Chun suddenly turned around and twisted the mute servant, and said sharply, "The person who killed you is here! He disguised himself as deaf and mute, not for the prescription! Say, who are you?"

The mute servant laughed wildly: "Haha! Who am I? I'm the one who deserves the prescription!" He slowly revealed a secret.

Who do you think this mute servant is? It's actually Ma Defang's son!

Back then, Ma Defang stole the ancestral prescription of the Qin family, thinking that he could make a fortune. More than 20 years ago, there was a plague in Guangping County, and he boasted to the prefect, but the medicine soup did not work. The prefect was angry and lost his home.

The mute servant sneered and said, "My father was angry but was deceived and fooled. He used his means near your house to concoct the illusion of an earthquake. Your father believed it and finally got killed! Although your father was killed, my father was always angry about the prescription, and he died of depression soon after. He left his last words, and he must get the real formula!"

The mute servant was still laughing wildly, "You must be wondering why you still get poisoned when you take the soup every day?" I put the black thread lotus in your soup bowl. Black thread lotus is the nemesis of Atractylodes.

Qin Dehai trembled and said, "Waiting for death? Well, it's time to die! What do people who are going to die keep secrets for?" He stood up slowly and stretched out his hand. Everyone thought he was going to take out the prescription, but he didn't expect him to raise his hand and wipe his face. The red was gone, and it was still the dark skin of the past! Shan Chun was shocked, and Qin Dehai told the reason. In fact, he had long noticed that there was something wrong with the soup, so he became suspicious of his cousin and mute servant. In order to find out the truth, he kept pretending to be sick and tolerant.

At this time, the villagers had already reported the case to the yamen, and the catchers rushed over like wolves and tigers. The mute servant jumped into the room, but was shot to the ground by an arrow by a catcher. His face was gray and he was full of hatred: "There is nothing to say about the winner or the loser. Now I just want to know, where is the precious stone that predicts earthquakes in your house? What kind of medicine is missing in this soup? I obviously made the same medicine for you as in my father's fake prescription, but why does it have the ability to detoxify?"

Qin Dehai gently tapped on the big stone pot and said with a smile: "This is the biggest secret, but it is not a secret. This last medicinal material is called purple fluorite, and my cauldron is made of purple fluorite. Back then, my father spent his whole life trying to find this treasure, just to encounter the plague and detoxify it. As for the treasure that predicted the earthquake, it was just a rumor that my father deliberately released in order to make people believe his prediction."

Shan Chun and the mute servant looked at each other and hung their heads in hatred. Qin Dehai said again, "You will do anything for a prescription. Okay, I will give you the prescription if I satisfy your wishes."

Qin Dehai went into the house and took out a thick pile of paper, and everyone in the yard handed out one. Shan Chun and the mute servant hurriedly grabbed the paper and saw that the small letters on the paper were transcribed in small letters. It was the complete secret recipe for detoxification soup, and even the amount of preparation was not different.