The village chief's house was not far from the Yun Family's, just past two small hills.
Recently, Yun Sheng's physical strength had increased, and it took her only 15 minutes to see the stone house of the village chief.
When she went there, the village chief was not at home, but his wife, Granny Liu, was. She told Yun Sheng that the village chief had gone to the Magic Temple to welcome a new mage.
"Great Magic Director? Isn't Banana Leaf Village always had only magicians?" Yun Sheng saw Granny Liu was busy with farming, so she helped her with the farm work while asking about the new mage.
Although unable to sense Magic Elements, Yun Sheng had entered the Magic Temple many times and knew a thing or two about the Magic System.
In remote small villages like Banana Leaf Village, the ones stationed in the village-level Magic Temple were mostly magicians. It was a rare occurrence for a Great Magic Director to come this time, no wonder Yun Sheng was curious.
Granny Liu smiled kindly, "According to national regulations, it's good enough for our Magic Temple to have a magician who possesses basic medical skills. We are fortunate as a magician from the town level happened to transfer from Shui'an City, a Great Mage Yang. He enjoys scenic and beautiful places, so he chose our village. It's said that he also knows Light Magic."
Upon hearing this, Yun Sheng was startled.
On the Wuji Continent, magic is divided into the Four Natural Magic — Earth, Wind, Fire, Water. Above these, there are other secondary magic types, among which Light Magic is one of the most obscure and difficult variant magic.
It is also called Holy Magic, a miraculous healing technique beyond the understanding of modern medical skills.
Even though Light Magic sounds contradictory to modern medicine, its allure to Yun Sheng was the greatest.
It seems she must find a way to earn the position of Medicine Gathering Boy. Knowing the other party was a powerful Great Magic Director, Yun Sheng became even more determined to become one.
Yun Sheng wanted to ask more about the new Great Magic Director, but before she could ask, Granny Liu suddenly turned pale, and her short stature staggered forward.
Luckily, Yun Sheng was quick-witted and caught her in time.
Granny Liu wasn't even sixty years old, a robust mountain woman, why would she suddenly faint?
"Granny Liu, what happened?" Yun Sheng saw Granny Liu's complexion was ashen, her face pallid, sweating profusely, and her lips slightly purple.
She quickly helped Granny Liu sit by a tree and checked her tongue coating and pupils.
The tongue coating looked normal, pupils showing slight dilation; Granny Liu was becoming somewhat delirious.
This symptom looked like poisoning, but not exactly.
Upon closer inspection, Yun Sheng noticed a small wound on Granny Liu's ankle, the blood on it not yet dried, and the color was red.
She laid Granny Liu down in the cool shade and noted that the wound was fresh and the blood was bright red. It wasn't a sting from a venomous snake or bee, she must figure out the exact cause of the wound in order to treat it properly.
Yun Sheng searched around in the direction where Granny Liu had been standing before, and found the culprit responsible for Granny Liu's poisoning.
A cluster of small wildflowers, with needle-shaped leaves, stems full of barbs, each plant bearing small lotus-shaped flowers.
"Three-petal Mandala Lotus?" As Yun Sheng identified the poisonous flower, a hint of joy also appeared on her face.
Three-petal Mandala Lotus, a rare medicinal herb, is unknown to most on the Wuji Continent.
However, Yun Sheng's knowledge of medicine from her previous life told her that this flower had been used by ancient nomadic tribes to make an excellent raw material for anesthetic concoctions.
Granny Liu must have accidentally pricked herself with a thorn from the heavily thorned stem of the Mandala Lotus while clearing weeds, causing the anesthetic poison to enter her body and make her dizzy.
Treating the anesthetic effects of the Mandala Lotus is not difficult, its petals contain the anesthetic poison, but its leaves are the best antidote.
Yun Sheng carefully picked the leaves and squeezed the juice onto Granny Liu's wound.
After cleaning Granny Liu's wound, Yun Sheng dug up the clump of Mandala Lotus root and all, this herb being of great use to her.
After a while, Granny Liu regained consciousness. Yun Sheng knew some unconventional medical knowledge which sometimes turned out to be more effective than the magic of Magicians from the Magic Temple.
Ignoring Yun Sheng's repeated refusals, Granny Liu fetched a pair of finely made straw sandals from her home, "Sheng, these were originally made for your sister Xiu Xiu, but they turned out too small. It seems they would fit you perfectly, you should take them."
Xiu Xiu is the granddaughter of the village chief, a few years older than Yun Sheng.
Yun Sheng looked at the sandals and did not refuse further, accepting them. Right then, the village chief also arrived home, and upon hearing about Yun Sheng's upcoming visit to the Magic Temple, he immediately asked Yun Sheng to meet him at the entrance of the Magic Temple in five days.
Yun Sheng thanked the couple and, taking the sandals and the clump of freshly dug Mandala Lotus, headed toward one end of the village.
Yun Canghai had left five copper coins for Yun Sheng to buy sandals, and since she got the sandals for free, it was as if she had saved five copper coins. In the small mountainous village with low prices, five copper coins were not a small sum. With these coins, Yun Sheng could expedite her development of a hemostatic agent.
After seeing the small Mandala Lotus anesthetizing the strong Granny Liu, Yun Sheng conceived an idea.
The appearance of Lei Hu and the mysterious young man made her realize that, in a land dominated by magic and martial arts, relying solely on bone needles for self-protection was impractical, and she needed to find more effective ways to protect herself.
The village featured a blacksmith shop at its entrance, and as she approached, she could hear the sound of hammering.
Clad in a rough apron, muscles bulging like small hills, a blacksmith was vigorously swinging a large hammer, continuously striking a red-hot iron; it was Tie Gang, the only blacksmith of Banana Leaf Village.
The blacksmith, Tie Gang, was a drinking buddy of Yun Canghai. Ping'er often visited Yun Sheng's home for a few drinks. He had a mischievous son and had always been envious that Yun Canghai had such a well-behaved and sensible daughter.
Seeing Yun Sheng visiting alone, Tie Gang opened his mouth wide and shouted, "Sheng, are you here for the bone needles?"
"Yes, Uncle Tie, have you finished making the bone needles I asked for last time?" In her previous life, Yun Sheng used gold and silver needles for acupuncture, but in Wuji Continent, the metallurgical technology of this era was far behind the modern day, not to mention in a small mountain village like Banana Leaf Village.
Even the best blacksmith in the village, Tie Gang, struggled to produce acupuncture needles of such high purity. Fortunately, in this era, there was something called bone needles, made from beast bones, while not as refined as gold or silver needles, they were very sturdy and durable.
Most villagers used them to mend clothes, but Yun Sheng had other uses for them.
Yun Sheng took the bone needles, examined them, and found ten of various sizes. Tie Gang's craftsmanship was excellent; the bone needles were smooth and durable.
Just as Yun Sheng was about to thank Tie Gang, she suddenly caught sight of an inconspicuous knife on the ironing table beside him.
Seeing the shape of the knife, Yun Sheng's brow twitched, and she almost blurted out: "Scalpel!"