Still hoarding supplies in the apocalypse? I'll just go on a killing spree and looting!

The old Taoist priest didn't press the matter further. He withdrew his hand, tucked it back into his sleeve, and leaned back in his chair.

Lin You stood up, tucked the mantis knife back into her waistband, glanced at the herbs spread out on the table, and turned to walk towards the door.

The old Taoist priest didn't try to persuade him any further; for him, he had already done what he wanted.

As for the outcome, he no longer cares.

As Lin You walked to the door, she caught a glimpse of him taking two celadon bottles out of his sleeve, placing them on the table, and pushing them toward the door.

Lin You, who had noticed the strange movements of the Taoist priest earlier, stopped in her tracks.

Turning my head to the side, I saw the two small porcelain bottles on the table.

"What is it?"

"Medicine," the old Taoist priest said, squinting. It seemed that taking the medicine out, placing it on the table, and pushing it to the opposite side was merely a formality.

Whether Lin You accepts these gifts or not is none of his business.

Lin You frowned as she looked at the strangely behaving Taoist priest before her. "This medicine can heal my hidden injuries?"

"This is medicine for wounds. Your condition is quite complicated, and many things can't be rushed. I need to think about it carefully," the old Taoist priest said, squinting his eyes. "The thing is here. Take it if you want, otherwise I'll take it back."

That expression seemed to be telling Lin You, "I gave you the gift, but you didn't accept it, so it's none of my business anymore."

What a strange person.

Lin You paused for two seconds, then walked back to the table. She picked up a bottle, unsealed it, glanced at it, and then smelled it.

"What's in your medicine?"

"Bletilla striata, dragon's blood, Panax notoginseng, and dragon bone."

Lin You stuffed the wax seal back in and put both bottles into her waist bag.

Thanks.

"No need." The old Taoist priest opened the thread-bound medical book on the table. "Go northeast after you leave the house; the road there is easier to travel. Don't try to cross the tunnel; the things inside are not easy to deal with."

Lin You didn't ask anything more and turned to walk out.

Mu Xue, holding a shotgun, stood at the door and followed behind her.

After the two got into the car and drove quite a distance, Mu Xue finally spoke, "Is that strange man's medicine usable?"

Lin You tossed a bottle of medicine to Mu Xue, shrugged, and said, "I don't know, but it should work."

Mu Xue caught the bottle, unsealed it, smelled it, and then put the seal back on. "The legendary wound medicine?"

"He said yes, he has no reason to lie to us."

Looking at the powder that had been poured out, Mu Xue said with great curiosity, "Well, I've heard that this stuff has amazing healing properties. It's said that it can stop bleeding when applied to wounds. I wonder if that's true or not."

"Anyway, I haven't seen it, but your suspicion is valid. You saw the corpses of those seven strange beasts. I initially thought it was several people, if that Taoist priest wasn't lying. An old Taoist priest who can kill eight strange beasts single-handedly wouldn't need to poison a passerby in his medicine. There's no need for that."

Mu Xue clutched the bottle in her hand, seemingly lost in thought.

The carriage was quiet for a while, with only the crunching sound of tires rolling over the gravel on the road.

The cement roads in rural towns are like this; they're not as good as the newly built highways in big cities.

"Are you going to keep it?" Lin You asked as she drove.

"Should we just throw it away? If this thing is really as good as the legends say, then those corrupt leaders sitting in their positions should be dragged out and shot."

Lin You knew that traditional Chinese medicine had played an indispensable role in the Chinese nation's ability to be passed down from generation to generation.

Even Chairman Mao once severely criticized the idea of ​​looking down on traditional Chinese medicine, saying, "Looking down on our own country's things and traditional Chinese medicine is a very bad and vile way of thinking." He even said, "If no one in the Ministry of Health is going to do this job, I will do it."

In just a few years, things have changed beyond recognition.

It seems that only modern Western medicine is considered medicine, while the treasures passed down for thousands of years have all become worthless.

It must be admitted that the whole world believes in traditional Chinese medicine, but the Chinese people alone do not.

Is it sad? It certainly is.

After the apocalypse, the very foundations needed for those expensive Western medical systems will be completely severed.

Even if some exist, their prices are beyond the reach of the average survivor.

Traditional Chinese medicine, however, has become a life-saving remedy, without those so-called qualifications and licenses, and without those seemingly reasonable data.

Faced with the extreme difficulty of survival, those flowers and plants became the hope for people to live.

Just find some flowers and herbs, boil them together, drink the liquid, and you'll most likely get better.

Of course, some people don't make it through, but before the end of the world, can all diseases be cured by Western medicine?

Lin You is a pragmatist; she uses whatever is useful.

They are not driven by self-interest, but serve only their own interests.

Lin You was only so polite to the Taoist priest because of her post-apocalyptic habits.

Although they were mostly cautious, they didn't reveal their strength. After all, in this terrible post-apocalyptic world, it's best not to offend doctors if possible.

Lin You casually remarked, "It is indeed recorded in ancient medical books, and its effects are certainly exceptionally good. However, before it was listed as a protected cultural relic, it was almost completely unearthed and sold off. Those that have been passed down have become the collections of wealthy people, and even fewer have been used by traditional Chinese medicine practitioners."

Lin You shook her head, unable to understand why, with such advanced technology, they didn't research alternatives.

Instead, it cut them all off with a single stroke.

"This is a real treasure, I have to keep it safe, it might save my life someday," Mu Xue thought for a moment and took the bottle out of her bag.

I kept it close to her body so that she would feel at ease.

A stranger living alone gives you two bottles of genuine stuff on your first meeting, the ingredients of which are taboo. Either this person is genuinely indifferent, or he has ulterior motives.

The current information is insufficient to determine which one it is.

Lin You turned her gaze back to the road ahead and increased the car's speed slightly.

Although the road was very bumpy, the road conditions were better than expected.

Although the country road is narrow, the road surface is relatively intact, except for the occasional stones placed on the roadside that seem to be used to separate areas for drying crops.

Aside from needing to take a detour, there aren't any major obstacles.

The fields on both sides of the road were a vibrant green in the afternoon sun, with one or two lone fruit trees standing on the ridges.

"Which way do we go at that fork in the road ahead?" Mu Xue asked.

Lin You thought for a moment about the map in her mind before saying, "There's a tunnel ahead."

"Didn't that old Taoist priest just say there was danger in the tunnel?"

Lin You didn't take it seriously. "That's what he said. If I hadn't seen for myself what the danger was, I wouldn't have taken an extra day's detour."

They were pressed for time and needed to reach the military base as soon as possible.

With each day of delay, Lin You felt uneasy and regretted not bringing Shunzi and An'an along.

Although the base was definitely much safer than the road ahead, Lin You still had a sense of unease.

Lin You remained silent for a few seconds.

His fingers loosened their grip on the steering wheel, then tightened again. "Have you ever considered why that jerk is spying on us?"

"That strange crow he was talking about," Mu Xue said, "is definitely a birdman, but who knows what he's thinking?"

"Z City isn't that big, but it's not small either. Why are they targeting us specifically?"

"Who knows what he wants? Sister Lin, if you hadn't used the drone to spot him that day, would that guy still be secretly spying on us?"

As she spoke, Mu Xue shuddered.

After all, no one likes being spied on, especially by someone with extraordinary powers.

The car rounded a bend, and ahead appeared a highway bridge that had collapsed halfway.