Chapter 441: Chapter 161 Gold_2
"Eating a roasted egg is tastier than a boiled one," Lin Danqing handed her one, "Do you want it?"
Lu Tong shook her head, so Lin Danqing took a bite herself, her eyes lighting up: "Delicious!"
Lu Tong quietly waited for her.
After eating a bite of the roasted egg, Lin Danqing said, "I am looking for an antidote for ’She Muzi’."
"She Muzi?"
Lin Danqing sighed.
She said, "As you know, the poisons of the Southern Borderlands are fierce. I have never been there, and I don’t even know what this ’She Muzi’ poison herb looks like. Chief Physician Chang said that the Medical Officer Institute’s library has the most comprehensive collection of medical texts, but I couldn’t find any records of ’She Muzi’. I’ve asked the Envoy and Chief Physician, and they haven’t heard of this poison herb either."
The girl gave a bitter smile: "I’ve almost begun to doubt if ’She Muzi’ even exists, or if it’s just a made-up name."
She usually appeared carefree and unguarded, but at this moment, she seemed somewhat downcast, sitting on the ground, eating the egg bite by bite, with a touch of bitterness in her expression.
Lu Tong thought for a moment and said, "’She Muzi’, is it the one that causes one’s vision to blur gradually until they go blind after ingestion?"
"Cough cough cough—"
Lin Danqing began to cough violently.
"You, you, you... cough cough—"
Lu Tong handed her the water flask, and Lin Danqing gulped down half of it, looking at her in shock: "How do you know?"
The poisons of the Southern Borderlands were hard enough for people from the Central Plains to encounter. Just like Lin Danqing, who had been searching everywhere for any records of this herb, she had found nothing over the years. Not only in the Medical Officer Institute, but even the respected, experienced doctors in the Shengjing Pharmacy hadn’t heard of this poison. Lin Danqing had almost given up hope and yet, here was Lu Tong, correctly naming it offhand.
"How do you, how do you know of this poison?!"
She was so agitated that she crushed the half egg she was holding, smearing her hand with yolk.
Lu Tong passed her the damp cloth that was covering the medicine jar handle.
"I once saw a record of it in my master’s notes."
Lady Yun’s medical books were all piled up in Luomei Peak, more precisely, there were few medical texts but many Poison Scriptures. Sometimes, Lu Tong didn’t even know where Lady Yun found these bizarre poisons, which ranged from the Central Plains to alien races, from mountains to seas. Some were natural poisonous herbs found in places rarely tread by humans, and some were new poisons concocted by Lady Yun herself, whose toxicity was even fiercer and more ruthless.
Lu Tong had read them all.
During the days on the peak, she just wished she had read more.
Lin Danqing abruptly grabbed Lu Tong’s hand, her eyes flickering: "Younger Sister Lu, where is your master, can you take me to meet her..."
"My master has passed away."
"Then, the notes, could I see the notes?"
Lu Tong looked down: "The notes were burned alongside my master when she was buried."
Lin Danqing paused, showing a look of disappointment.
However, she quickly recovered and asked Lu Tong, "Younger Sister Lu, since you have read your teacher’s notes, what were the records regarding ’She Muzi’? What does it look like, is there an antidote?"
Lu Tong shook her head: "No."
Lady Yun enjoyed collecting the world’s poisons but did not take pleasure in curing them. Many of the poisons in the Poison Scriptures were incurable. If the poison was easily neutralized, it wasn’t worth Lady Yun’s effort to note it down.
"She Muzi" only had its name and effects recorded, with no antidote.
"The notes said, if a person ingests ’She Muzi’ poison, their vision gradually blurs, as if in the pain of being struck in the eyes with an arrow. In as short as three to five years, at most twenty years, they will go blind."
Lin Danqing was stunned, murmuring: "Yes, as if struck in the eyes with an arrow..."
After a long silence, she gave a bitter laugh: "It seems the records of ’She Muzi’ are still insufficient."
She listlessly picked up an egg and tapped it on the ground twice, seemingly very irritated.
Lu Tong glanced at the medicine jars in the house and suddenly spoke, "Are you working on the antidote for ’She Muzi’ right now?"
Lin Danqing nodded, then shook her head.
"I’ve used many antidotal herbs, but the finished medicine turned out quite ordinary, no different from common detoxifying drugs."
"Why not try fighting poison with poison," Lu Tong suggested.
Lin Danqing looked at her with surprise, then firmly refused: "When I first joined the Imperial Medical Bureau, my teacher said that in prescriptions, it’s better to be light than heavy, better to be kind than poisonous, better to be small than large. ’She Muzi’ is extremely toxic as is. To use poison against poison, those taking the medicine won’t be able to withstand it."
The Medical Officers at the Medical Officer Institute were known for their mild medications, also to avoid accidents. Lu Tong usually appeared gentle and frail, but surprisingly advocated such a radical method of preparation, startling Lin Danqing as well.
"Medicine has its own ’seven emotions’, and the compatibility of mutual antipathy and mutual promotion is the king’s way in medicine. The Imperial Medical Bureau only teaches students to use harmonious and supportive combinations. Although safe, it leaves too little choice. It’s better to explore other avenues," Lu Tong said calmly. "Some poisons harm only when regarded individually, but if countered with other adjuvants, their toxicity can be offset and they can be used in medicine. Some ingredients may seem inconspicuous alone, good agents for causing illness, but if contained in special vessels or combined with other substances, good medicine can become dangerous..."