A divine healer, a general, a young marquis! Who can rival them!

In the depths of winter, the cold is so intense that even your bones feel like they're breathing out a chill.

That afternoon, a boatman, supported by two men, stumbled into the clinic.

This man, surnamed Liu, was a porter who carried heavy loads and hauled goods in wooden boats at the docks. However, at this moment, his entire appearance, including the whites of his eyes, was yellowish, making him somewhat frightening to look at. Moreover, he was listless and lacked any energy, needing to be carried to walk.

"Dr. Yang, could you take a look?" another said. "For the past two weeks, his skin has been getting yellower day by day. At first, only his eyes were yellow, but later his skin and flesh turned yellow. His urine is like tea, he has no appetite, and he has no energy. The doctor in the city said it's a jaundice disease, and that at this level, it means the jaundice has entered his internal organs and is incurable. He told me to prepare for his death... This man is not even thirty years old!"

After saying this, the man burst into tears, his eyes red and swollen. "And his old mother and two children, they all depend on him to make a living by hauling goods and doing business at this dock. If he loses these children, how will his mother and children survive... Doctor Yang, the doctors in the city say they can't cure him. You're the miracle doctor in the east of the city, please take a look."

Yang Hu walked over and first looked at Bai and his tongue, then touched his fingernails and skin color, and took his pulse. Finally, he asked him if he felt bloated under his right rib, couldn't eat greasy food, and felt tired and sleepy.

The man weakly agreed, and with each word he said, his two companions' faces grew paler.

I have already made up my mind.

This isn't some sudden, severe jaundice; it's caused by damp heat accumulating in the liver and gallbladder, which boils the bile and causes it to overflow, resulting in yellowing of the whole body and urine resembling tea. The ancients called this jaundice. If this jaundice develops so quickly and is so intensely yellow, it's called acute jaundice, which is dangerous, but as long as the stagnant damp heat is cleared and the bile ducts are unblocked, the jaundice will gradually subside.

Having already made up his mind, Yang Hu straightened up.

"It's not some incurable jaundice," Yang Hu said. "It's damp heat accumulating in the liver and gallbladder, forcing bile out and causing the whole body to turn yellow. As long as this damp heat is cleared and the bile channels are unblocked, the jaundice will disappear."

The people gathered around were all incredulous. His face was a yellowish-brown, even the whites of his eyes were yellow. Two doctors in the city said they couldn't cure him, but this young man said he could. It was hard to believe.

"Really? Is it really possible to get a refund?" The companion couldn't believe it.

"Yes!" Yang Hu said. "However, there's one thing you need to do as I say: from today onwards, you must not eat anything fatty or greasy, drink plenty of water, rest well, and avoid any strenuous activity."

He took out a piece of paper and wrote down a prescription for relieving dampness and clearing jaundice. Then he explained in detail how to prepare the medicine—the first and second decoctions should be mixed together and taken in two doses. The decoction should be dark brown and very bitter.

"Drinking this bitter, dark soup can cure jaundice?" someone who had gathered around asked. "The doctors in the city say it requires some expensive tonics!"

"You shouldn't use tonics," Yang Hu said. "His condition is caused by damp heat, which is exactly what needs to be cleared and drained, so that the damp heat can be expelled through urination. Using tonics at this time would only add fuel to the fire, making the damp heat even more congested and the yellowing even deeper."

Aji, who had come to help, was fascinated by what he heard. When he returned, he kept asking, "Master, where did this yellow thing come from?"

"Take a look at that ditch," Yang Hu said. "The water in the ditch should flow smoothly. But if it's blocked by something dirty, the water can't drain away and it stagnates inside. Over time, the whole ditch turns yellow and smells bad. His liver and gallbladder are just like that blocked ditch—the bile passage is blocked, the bile can't drain out, it stagnates in his body, and when it overflows, the person turns yellow. Once the ditch is cleared, the water flows down and the yellowing naturally subsides."

Aji seemed to be listening but not really, but he kept the phrase "dredging ditches and removing yellow soil" in mind.

On the way back, he went over again how his master had observed the whites of the eyes, how he had examined the tongue, and how he had diagnosed the throbbing pain in his right rib as damp-heat in the liver and gallbladder. During his time with Dr. Yang, he increasingly realized the vast amount of knowledge involved.

"This illness will show results in three to five days, but it will take one or two months to fully recover. You can't rush it." Yang Hu instructed him, "His liver and gallbladder have been congested for so many days. It can't be cleaned up with just one dose of medicine. If you are patient, you can save his life."

After taking the medicine and recuperating for a few days, Liu's yellowing skin gradually faded. First, the yellowing in the whites of his eyes subsided, and then the yellowing on his face and neck also faded. His urine was no longer as concentrated as before, and he regained his energy to eat.

More than half a month later, he came to the clinic to express his gratitude. His face had regained its rosy color, and there was no trace of the sallow complexion he had before. "My life was given to me by Doctor Yang," he said with a simple smile, pulling Yang Hu's hand, repeating the same sentence over and over again.

Yang Hu took his pulse again and told him to avoid cold foods and overwork, and that he needed to rest for a while to fully recover. Liu, the boatman, was a poor laborer who worked on boats. He had an elderly mother to support and a bunch of children to raise. Yang Hu couldn't bear to take his money and only charged him for a few doses of medicine. He didn't charge him a penny for the time spent on consultations, recuperation, and follow-up visits.

The man's mother, leaning on a cane, came over to kowtow and express her gratitude, but Yang Hu snatched her away.

Those doctors who had pronounced him "hopeless due to poisoning" and told his family to prepare for his funeral, didn't dare to leave their homes for many days after hearing about this.

The group of porters and boatmen at the dock, some of whom had also suffered from jaundice and had been killed by Dr. Lang, heard that Dr. Yang's bitter soup had cured their jaundice after a few doses, and they all came to him for treatment.

Those doctors in the city who used to say "There's no hope!" and "Just accept your fate!" all give a thumbs up when they mention Yang's clinic in the east of the city.

Evening, in the backyard. The charcoal fire is burning just right.

Lu Yan poured Yang Hu another cup of hot tea. When he told her about his sallow complexion during the day, her eyes crinkled into crescent moons with laughter: "You were so sallow it was frightening! Young Master, you've saved him again!"

"Go to where the disease is and find the root cause." Yang Hu took a sip of her tea and said, "Others are afraid of the reputation of 'yellow poison' and have long since gone all out. In fact, as long as the stagnant damp heat is removed, the yellowing will not be yellow anymore."

Lu Rou was tidying up the accounts, while Qin Ying sat by the window, cleaning the worn-out dagger by the light. Liu Ye, however, returned through the snow, shivering with cold. She put down her vegetable basket and whispered something in Yang Hu's ear.

Yang Hu's hand, which was holding a cup of tea, trembled slightly.

"What's wrong?" Lu Yan sensed that something was wrong with his expression and quickly asked him.

"No, it's nothing." Yang Hu put down his cup and smiled. "You guys should get some rest. Liu Ye, Qin Ying, and I still have something to talk about."

Lu Yan was a woman who was very good at reading people. She could tell from his expression that something had happened in the west end of the city. However, she did not ask any questions. She silently turned the charcoal brazier up a little more, poured another cup of hot tea, and then quietly left the room.

The light was warm, but something seemed to be hidden between his brows and eyes. The faces in the east of the city, their yellowing and swelling subsiding, were his duty as a doctor, the foundation upon which his clinic depended for survival. But tonight, the sinister hand that had always reached out from the west of the city had moved a little further outward.

That path, which we've been exploring for months, stretching deeper and deeper, has finally reached its end today.

Unfortunately, it's still unknown whether this road leads to the exposure of the mastermind or to an even more dangerous place.