Chapter 1069 - 1068: What a Book Reveals

The events in Los Angeles, of course, had nothing to do with Lu Zheng and the others.

After Lin Wan spoke for a while, she took the thread-bound book from Lu Zheng’s hand, flipped through it casually, and curiously remarked, "This doesn’t seem like the ’Barefoot Doctor’s Manual’?"

"This is the Otherworld version of the ’Barefoot Doctor’s Manual’ which Qingyan compiled based on the original version, adding her own medical experience and the common herbs from the Great Jing side," Lu Zheng said.

Lin Wan flipped through it and saw that the language used in the book was easy to understand. After reading it, she felt as though she could treat others, "Impressive!"

"I’ll make an electronic version first, then go to the printing house tomorrow."

"Alright." Lin Wan nodded, "Anyway, I’m free recently. I’ll take a day off tomorrow, and we’ll go together."

...

To save time, Lu Zheng found two printing houses and got ten thousand copies of the ’Barefoot Doctor’s Manual’ printed in just one day. He also procured a thousand acoustic stethoscopes, and then he and Si Lingxi crossed back over.

However, what they didn’t know was that half a day after they left the printing house, the photocopy version of the new ’Barefoot Doctor’s Manual’ had already reached the Ancient Culture Research and Analysis Archival Room in Beidu.

"’Barefoot Doctor’s Manual’?"

"It’s not our ’Barefoot Doctor’s Manual’. There are significant changes inside. All procedures requiring equipment assessments have been removed. Only a portion of the content remains, with many diseases deleted, and some others, along with lots of pulse diagnosis and traditional medicine prescriptions, are added. Strictly speaking, it’s already another book."

"The language style is very ancient."

"The script resembles traditional characters, but there are many differences."

"Sanqi, Baizhu, Huang Qi, and Licorice are all the same as our traditional medicines, but..."

"Xinghu Grass, Siluo Root, Moryo, and Kunlong Root, what are these? Are they different names, or entirely different herbs?"

"The symptoms and pathology are quite similar, and so are the medical terms and internal organ names."

"So..."

"From this book, as well as the grains, seeds, and herbs from last time..."

"Could the world over there be very similar to our ancient times?"

"A parallel world? Another Blue Star? Otherwise, it’s hard to explain why even the script is so similar. It can’t be a mere coincidence, and judging from the script format, maybe changes started occurring from...the Han Dynasty?"

"Wow, your imagination is quite vivid!"

"Then how would you explain it?"

"I don’t explain it, but how would you explain Si Lingxi and her people, and the parallel world with Phoenixes?"

"Perhaps it’s not Phoenixes, but...similar cultivation techniques?"

"You’ve read too many novels!"

"Haha, speaking of which, who has been reading Xianxia novels on Qidian every day recently?"

"This isn’t about authors casually setting up a world view; it’s about the evolution of history spanning tens of thousands of years from the appearance of humans to the emergence of civilization and various technologies, which is related to astronomy, geography, and even to some particular individuals!"

"The same script, the same herbal names, the same medical skill inheritance, if not a parallel world..."

"There’s another possibility, like historical transmigrators? Either someone from here went over there in history, or someone from there came over here, and the same origin branched out into two similar yet different lineages, not necessarily a parallel world."

"Yes, now that Lu Zheng exists, who knows if there are others in history."

"Makes sense, maybe during the Han Dynasty."

"Wang Mang? Liu Xiu? You know, those two really do give off that vibe."

"Ahem, that’s all history. Let’s focus on what’s in front of us. Judging by these two incidents, I’d estimate the difference at the common people level between the two worlds isn’t much, perhaps even less than ours."

"Thus, their world resembles a world of immortals as recorded in our ancient texts, with undeveloped industry, ordinary people, and a scarcity of daily necessities; otherwise, they wouldn’t need grains, herbs, or this ’Barefoot Doctor’s Manual’."

"Yes, I’m inclined to agree."

"Document it, create a record."

"Yes!"

"Continue with subsequent analysis through this ’Barefoot Doctor’s Manual’ to study the cultural and human landscape over there as much as possible."

"Yes!"

"Also, after translating it into simplified characters, have a few seasoned traditional doctors take a look."

"Yes!"

"Liu Qingyan..."

...

Lu Zheng anticipated that the ’Barefoot Doctor’s Manual’ would spread, but he didn’t mind. After all, much information from last year’s batch of grains, seeds, and herbs had already leaked out.

However, this time, more information was revealed, regarding the script, culture, history, leading the Ancient Culture Research and Analysis Archival Room’s people to make conjectures in another direction.

This was inevitable, as after confirming the crossing event, they no longer thought of the Blue Star myths, without realizing that The Three Pristine Ones, Tathagata, and Erlang God might actually exist.

...

Avoiding the speculation by the people in Beidu, who were trying to understand Si Lingxi and the others’ living environment better to minimize misunderstandings before contact, Lu Zheng had already traveled back to Phoenix Mountain with the medical books and stethoscopes.

"Lu Lang, Sister Lingxi, you’re back so soon?"

It was early morning again when they crossed back, and Liu Qingyan had just finished her morning wash, preparing to set out.

"It was mainly the thousand stethoscopes that delayed us. If it were just those books, we could have returned yesterday," Lu Zheng laughed.

Liu Qingyan’s eyes brightened, "A thousand?"

Lu Zheng nodded, "You’ve underestimated the manufacturing and logistics power of the world’s factory. So, should I give them to you, or let Lingxi distribute them?"

Liu Qingyan looked at Si Lingxi with a smile and said, "I won’t interfere. Let Sister Lingxi distribute them to avoid sending duplicates."

Si Lingxi chuckled and shook her head but didn’t refuse. She simply took out another book and handed it to Liu Qingyan, "This is the first book printed after Lu Lang’s calibration. You keep it as a memento."

"Thank you for your thoughtfulness, sister." Liu Qingyan smiled as she accepted it, raising her hand to see "Barefoot Doctor’s Manual" written in large characters on the cover and "Written by Liu Qingyan" in small characters on the side.

"Lu Lang~" Liu Qingyan’s face flushed slightly as she coyly said, "Qingyan is not worthy of such an honor. Many sections are from the original text!"

Si Lingxi laughed, "Lu Lang is just being thoughtful of you. Look at the preface."

Liu Qingyan hurriedly opened it and saw a line written on the preface page:

[I could not bear to see the suffering of the people and have studied medicine extensively, traveling through mountains and waters, diagnosing and treating illnesses, and being loved by the people. Called Lady Qingyi, I feel deeply ashamed, aware of my unworthiness. Thus, I perused medical books and consulted renowned doctors, recording the most common ailments among the people, the easiest diagnostic methods, and prescriptions suited for consultation into a book, with no profound techniques, thinking it may spread through villages and fields. Hence its name, ’Barefoot Doctor’s Manual’, with the wish that all patients could be treated, and that would fulfill my wish.]