Chapter 228: Secrets of the Ancestral Village

“It’s nothing, I just think you look really good today,” he said casually, but it made Fang Meng’s heart race.

Lin Zheng Ran: “So, shall we go? Right now?”

“Okay.”

They didn’t waste a single moment.

Fang Meng drove her car, taking Lin Zheng Ran straight to her rural hometown.

On the way, Fang Meng gripped the steering wheel, her eyes occasionally glancing at Lin Zheng Ran, who stared out the window lost in thought, until they hit a red light.

Fang Meng hit the brakes, shifted into neutral, and reached out to take Lin Zheng Ran’s wrist, checking his pulse.

Lin Zheng Ran noticed her delicate hand on his wrist and turned to look at her.

Through his pulse, Fang Meng sensed nothing wrong with Lin Zheng Ran’s body—at least, based on her experience. Though Lin’s pulse had always been a bit odd; in modern society, most people were in a sub-healthy state due to their environment, no matter how they tried to maintain it.

But Lin Zheng Ran not only had healthy meridians and pulse, they were much stronger than the average person’s. She had no idea how he managed it.

She asked with concern:

“You aren’t sick, are you? If you feel unwell, I can take you to a private hospital. That’s where the Eldest Miss and Qian Qian go when they’re ill—the doctors there are the best.”

Lin Zheng Ran looked at her and smiled.

“Sick? From your pulse reading, you can tell I’m perfectly healthy. I’m just curious about something, and since I’m curious, I need to figure it out.”

Fang Meng pulled her hand back, relieved, and as the light turned green, she focused on the road ahead, driving carefully. “I don’t get you, but as long as you’re not sick, that’s what matters.”

“Are you on vacation today? Ever since you and Jiang Qian made up, you two seem inseparable again. I haven’t seen you at my place as often.”

Lin Zheng Ran often spoke without much thought, but to Fang Meng, it sounded like… maybe he missed her a little?

Of course, Fang Meng knew about the saying that life has three great illusions.

Still, when someone you like speaks, it always makes a girl overthink:

“I took the day off last night. Yesterday, my mom was chatting with Lin’s Aunt on the phone, and I heard you’d been at home reading medical books for the past couple of days, so I requested the leave to check on you.”

Fang Meng paused before continuing: “Seeing you’re fine today puts my mind at ease.”

After a long drive,

Lin Zheng Ran and Fang Meng finally arrived at a village on the outskirts of Ziteng City.

Since Ziteng City sits in a plain area, even the rural roads on the edges were easier to navigate than expected. They left the city district and passed through a narrow stretch lined with rows of trees.

And there was Fang Meng’s home village.

Named Fang Zhuang Village.

Most people in the village shared the surname Fang, and as they drove, Fang Meng explained the origin of that book collection:

“My grandfather used to be the village accountant and got along well with many of the old men. Though he wasn’t much of a doctor himself, he was really interested in the field. Once he knew I loved it, he’d take me to visit those elderly doctors during holidays to see if I could learn something.

Though it might sound like I’m bragging a bit in front of you, those old doctors thought I had a good talent for it—a real natural. I picked things up quickly,

so they all shared their knowledge with me freely. I couldn’t master everything, but over the years, I learned a lot. Of course, the doctors in the village were mostly traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, which is why I’m better at TCM than Western medicine—by a long shot.”

Fang Meng parked the car outside what looked like an ancestral hall.

“Later, after several of those grandfathers passed away, the remaining ones called me over a few years ago and gave me the key to an old book collection. It’s inside here.”

“Your village has a lot of doctors?” Lin Zheng Ran asked curiously, since doctors were rare in rural areas—usually just a few per village, or they’d compete for business.

Fang Meng replied:

“According to my grandfather, centuries ago, our village was known as the Village of Medical Sages. Everyone learned medicine, but with the changes in eras and wars, it faded away in just two or three generations. Now, hardly anyone in the village knows traditional Chinese medicine anymore.

The young people don’t study it, so only those dozen or so elders keep it going. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been passed to me.”

Lin Zheng Ran and Fang Meng got out of the car and gazed at the old but dignified ancestral hall gate: “An ancestral hall? Can outsiders just go in?”

Fang Meng:

“We’re not going into the hall itself. As for the book collection, it’s fine. I asked those grandfathers before—they said these things were treasures not to be shared in the past, but now that their generation is gone, even if others get the books, they probably won’t bother with them. As long as the knowledge lives on, they’re happy.”

Fang Meng pointed to a path in the distance: “This way.”

She led Lin Zheng Ran down a narrow path, barely wide enough for two people side by side. They went through it and entered a locked old house, located to the left of the ancestral hall.

Fang Meng pulled a key from her pocket and unlocked the door.

As the wooden door swung open, they saw shelves packed with books.

Lin Zheng Ran was surprised.

He could tell this place was anything but ordinary.

Fang Meng went inside and continued: “These books are pretty standard, but the old ones you’re looking for should be here.”

She walked to a bookshelf on the right and fished another key from her pocket, fumbling in a corner.

Until she inserted it into an unseen gap and heard a click.

Fang Meng smiled and tried to push the bookshelf aside; Lin Zheng Ran stepped in to help.

Once they moved the bookshelf, Lin Zheng Ran spotted a hidden door.

Fang Meng pushed it open, revealing a secret room about a third the size of the main house, filled with an old book collection.

Every book inside looked incredibly aged.

Lin Zheng Ran stepped in and carefully examined them.

Fang Meng said:

“I’ve skimmed through these before. It’s no surprise they’re lost to time—the content is so outdated and not all original.

Many treatments are vague and mystical, with no real use for modern diseases, though there are some odd case studies.”

Lin Zheng Ran flipped through a few and agreed that much of it was hard to understand:

“Yeah, it’s pretty complex, and clearly a lot of it was recopied by later people.”

But amazingly, his Level 2 All-Encompassing Mastery let him grasp most of it.

Ancient books like these had little use now, but if someone could one day blend them with modern theories, they’d be invaluable.

Lin Zheng Ran found the books he needed on cardiovascular diseases and carefully read through them.

Fang Meng watched him focus intently and pointed to the side: “There are stools over there. You can sit and read; I’ll keep you company.”

“No need, I’ll just stand here. Thanks a lot, Fang Meng—you’ve really helped me out this time.”

Fang Meng felt happy hearing that: “It’s nothing.”