Madam Huang, ninety years old

In the south, fine horses were scarce. After searching for half the day, Luanyi and his party finally managed to buy a few short-legged mounts, and set out at a leisurely pace toward Changsha.

Fortunately, though the little horses were not swift, they were sturdy, and the road from Luo County to Changsha did not take much time.

Once they entered the city gate, Luanyi made inquiries all along the way about Huang Zhong’s residence. Luckily, Huang Zhong was already something of a local name in Changsha, and most people asked were able to point out the general direction of his home, so the search went smoothly.

When he reached the front of Huang Zhong’s house, Luanyi could not help feeling a pang in his heart. The dwelling looked utterly dilapidated. A rusted wooden door was set into a gate tower full of cracks, and the tiles above it were incomplete and broken. The courtyard wall was scarcely higher than seven feet; one could see over it by rising on tiptoe. The yard itself was not large, but the mistress had kept it remarkably neat, and that very neatness only heightened the house’s desolation. Such a lonely sight it was that, had the guide not sworn it was so, Luanyi would never have believed this was the home of one of the Five Tiger Generals of later ages, Huang Zhong.

He tapped gently on the door ring.

From within the courtyard came the mistress’s clear voice: “Who is it?” The gate opened at once, and through the crack in the door a lovely young woman showed her face, looking at Luanyi and the others with puzzlement. “And you are?”

“Lady Huang,” Luanyi said with a respectful bow, “I am Luanyi, styled Ziqi, from Yingchuan. These men are my elder brothers. We have come to Changsha to pay our respects to General Huang Hansheng.”

“Luanyi?” The mistress stared for a long moment, then cried in excitement, “Could you be Master Ziqi, the sage who saves the world?”

“I would not dare claim such a title. I am indeed Luanyi.”

“Oh?” The mistress was overjoyed. She covered her mouth, visibly shaken. “So it truly is Master Ziqi himself. If I have been rude, I beg your forgiveness. Please, come inside!” At once she invited Luanyi and Dian Wei and the others into the courtyard. But the house was too small to hold so many, so they sat instead on the stone stools and table outside.

Luanyi asked, “May I ask, madam, is General Hansheng at home?”

Lady Huang shook her head. “My husband went out on official business today and has not yet returned. Besides, he is not yet any general, only a mere commander.”

“Oh?” Luanyi understood at once. So at this time Huang Zhong was still only a minor officer, not yet the commandery officer under Liu Biao of later years. That made luring him to Jinan even easier. “When will General Hansheng return?”

Lady Huang replied, “He said he would be back after noon, so he should be soon. If Master Ziqi does not disdain it, please drink some tea and wait in the house. It will not be long before my husband returns.”

She had barely finished speaking when Zhang Fei bellowed in his rough, fearsome voice, “Woman, you do not know courtesy at all! Who is my fourth brother? A man of renown throughout the realm! Your husband is nothing more than a mere commander; how can you make my fourth brother wait for him? Like this: we will first find an inn and settle there. When your husband returns, send him to the inn to find us!”

His words were outrageously rude, yet Lady Huang did not grow angry in the slightest. Instead she looked properly apologetic, as though such treatment were only natural. “This strong gentleman speaks truly. I have been discourteous, discourteous indeed. I beg your understanding!”

Just then, before she had even finished speaking, Luanyi rebuked Zhang Fei. “Third brother, cease your nonsense. What does the scripture say? The Holy Mother said: all are equal. Even princes and beggars are no different, much less humble Luanyi and General Hansheng. I know General Hansheng’s great talent very well. We should wait here as is proper.”

Zhang Fei still wanted to argue, but Guan Yu stopped him. He shook his head at Zhang Fei and whispered, “Fourth Brother says this for a reason. Third Brother, do not speak further and spoil the matter.”

Only then did Zhang Fei relent.

Receiving the tea Lady Huang offered, Luanyi, Dian Wei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei chatted as they drank. Soon afterward, a violent fit of coughing came from inside the house.

Lady Huang’s face filled with worry. She rose and bowed gracefully. “Master Ziqi, honored warriors, I have a sick person in the house and must excuse myself for a while.”

Luanyi said, “Please wait, madam. Is it your son who is ill?”

Lady Huang paused, then asked, “How did Master Ziqi know my child is afflicted?”

Luanyi smiled faintly. “To tell the truth, I came to Changsha precisely for the sake of this illness.”

“Oh?” Lady Huang asked eagerly. “Then Master Ziqi also knows medicine?”

“I would not say I know it well. Only a little, a little.”

In the streets and lanes, people said Luanyi could go to heaven or descend into the earth, capable of anything, a true sage sent to save the world. If he could even save the world, what was a human life? Now that he had come in person to offer treatment, then was her son’s illness not... saved? Lady Huang was overjoyed, and tears of excitement spilled from her eyes. She dropped to her knees before Luanyi and sobbed, “Master Ziqi... my husband and I have only this one son, Xun’er. If you can cure his illness, my husband and I would be willing to be your ox and horse in repayment for such immense kindness.”

“What is this, Madam?” Luanyi hurried to help her up. “A human life outweighs the heavens. I came this time not for repayment, but for righteousness. I will do everything in my power for the son of General Hansheng and the lady.”

Lady Huang continued to offer thanks profusely, and led Luanyi, Dian Wei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei to the side room.

The humble chamber was filled with the pungent smell of Chinese medicine. The furnishings were exceedingly poor, and most of them were old. There were none of the tables, chairs, and benches Luanyi had introduced; the sleeping place remained an ancient, plain divan.

Upon the divan lay a pale youth who coughed without stopping. His cheekbones stood sharply out, a pair of yellowed, lifeless eyes bulged from their sockets, and there was not a scrap of extra flesh anywhere upon him.

“Xun’er! Master Luanyi Ziqi has come to save you!” Although Lady Huang saw her son every day, she still could not restrain the tears of pain when she saw Huang Xu in that moment. “Xun’er, it truly is Master Ziqi. Didn’t you always love reading the Master’s books, always wish to meet him? He has come to see you!”

At those words, light suddenly flared in Huang Xu’s dull eyes. He struggled to lift his eyelids and look toward the door. “It really is the Master? It really is the Master!” he murmured. Then he fought to sit up. “Mother, quickly help me up. Since the Master has come, how can I be rude?”

Luanyi strode to the bedside and pressed Huang Xu back down. “Young friend, you are ill and must rest well. Let me take your pulse first.” As he spoke, he laid his hand upon Huang Xu’s wrist.

Though Luanyi was not at all skilled in medicine and had little contact with it in his former life, he had read a few medical texts in this one. Moreover, he had taken a keen interest in the art and, after consulting many physicians around him, could in fact discern the illness fairly well.

He narrowed his eyes and carefully felt Huang Xu’s pulse. Indeed... from the pulse, Huang Xu had caught a chill; the infection had reached the lungs, and he was suffering from severe pneumonia. By Eastern Han medical standards, pneumonia could be counted as a death sentence, and every year countless children died from it. Fortunately, Huang Xu had met him.

After examining the pulse, Luanyi went outside with Lady Huang.

Seeing Luanyi frown, Lady Huang asked worriedly, “Master Ziqi, is there a cure for Xun’er?”

“Your son’s condition can still be treated.”

“Oh?” Lady Huang was ecstatic.

“However...” Luanyi’s turn of phrase plunged her once more into stupefaction.

“However, what?”

“However...” Luanyi thought for a moment and said, “My medical skill is lacking. I can only make a good prescription to ease your son’s suffering; I truly cannot resolve the root of the ailment.”

“What? Then what are we to do? My son’s life is over!” Lady Huang burst into tears.

“Do not be anxious, Madam.” Luanyi consoled her. “I know one man, named Hua Tuo, from Qiao County, a renowned physician of our day. If he were invited to treat your son, the right medicine would surely cure him.”

Lady Huang said sorrowfully, “I also know of this man. Yet the divine doctor Hua travels everywhere, and his whereabouts are truly hard to find!”

“Do not worry, Madam. I have already sent men to search everywhere. I believe we shall soon learn the divine doctor’s trail.”

“In that case... Xun’er is fortunate, and the Huang family is fortunate indeed!” Lady Huang smiled through her tears.

“But...” Luanyi’s tone shifted again. “The divine doctor has long dwelt north of the river and will certainly not wish to come south. If you wish him to treat your son, it would be better for you to take the child north with me to Jinan!”

“Jinan Kingdom?” Lady Huang was startled. “A move north is no small matter. I must discuss it with the head of the house.”

“Of course.” Luanyi nodded in agreement.

Then he went back inside, swept his brush, and at once completed a prescription, which he handed to Lady Huang. “Prepare this and give it to your son three times a day. It should ease his coughing somewhat.”

Lady Huang took the paper and looked at it. It said that fritillaria with pear, steamed and taken; and radish, scallion whites, and brown sugar, steamed and cooked, could treat her son’s condition. She was half skeptical, half hopeful, and thought to herself: so many famous physicians of Jing and Xiang had been invited to examine him before, and so many costly medicinal ingredients had failed to cure Huang Xu’s illness. Could these ordinary household things, merely cooked as Luanyi wrote, really relieve the root of the problem?

Still, doubt was doubt. Since the things Luanyi had written down were not expensive anyway, she might as well treat a dead horse as though it were alive and try it.

She immediately took her leave, carried a basket out to buy supplies, and before long returned with snow pears, radishes, and the like, which she cooked as Luanyi had instructed. She brought them to Huang Xu and fed him.

To her surprise, after eating, Huang Xu’s coughing truly eased a great deal, and he also seemed more vigorous than before. He even took the initiative to sit up and speak with Luanyi.

When he spoke, his voice no longer sounded as weak as usual, but clear and bright, like that of a healthy person.

Lady Huang was greatly astonished, thinking that it was entirely the effect of the medicine Luanyi had prescribed.

What she did not know was that Huang Xu’s reduced coughing was due to the expectorant effect of the fritillaria, radish, and pear. And the reason he seemed so spirited had nothing to do with medicine at all, but came from the excitement of seeing his idol, Luanyi.

Once the medicinal treatment was finished, Luanyi began building Huang Xu’s spiritual support. He gave Huang Xu a picture-book edition of the Holy Mother Scripture, and told him what the Holy Mother Faith was and the stories contained in the scripture.

He also told Huang Xu that it was the Holy Mother who had appeared to him in a dream, and that was why he had traveled thousands of miles, crossing the great river from Jinan to Changsha to diagnose him. The Holy Mother had further told him that she entrusted Huang Xu with an extremely important task.

Huang Xu had long lain in sickness, and over the years had come to believe himself a useless person, his hope for life nearly extinguished. Yet today he heard Luanyi say that the supreme goddess high above had not only heard his name, but had also assigned him a task. How could he not be delighted? Hope of survival blazed up in him once more, his excitement beyond measure. Trembling, he asked, “Though I have long been sickly, what could I possibly do for the Holy Mother?”

“Proclaim the gospel of our God, the Holy Mother!”