Han Li knit his brows dark and spoke never a word.
He had but now felt the pulse, and looked upon the tongue and the pupils; and in his first judgment this poison was — like the Entangling Incense Threads he himself had once employed — a compound venom. To pick out and uproot each of its several poisons by degrees, one by one, Han Li had by no means the strength; and so he could but put his trust in the Clear Spirit Powder, and in one or two of the other unorthodox artifices of his craft.
Even as this thought came to him, Han Li cursed in his heart those other physicians who, not daring to undo the poison, had shuffled the hard task off upon himself; yet on the surface he made a great show of deep and studious pondering.
After a while, the Elder Zhao could hold back no longer, and broke out: "You brat! Can you save Elder Li back to life, or can you not? Say something!"
"Elder Zhao, your haste is too great. Do you not see the Physician Han is even now casting about for the way? Have patience!" Before Han Li could make answer, the Vice Sect Leader Ma once again put on the mask of the well-wisher, and twitted the Elder Zhao.
The Elder Zhao rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to speak; but Han Li, giving him no time, first coughed a little and so cut short what he had meant to say. That cough drew the astonished regard of all the room upon him; and only then did Han Li bethink himself that a brat of a bare ten-odd years, aping the cough of a graybeard, must look somewhat ridiculous. Yet it was no great matter, for the end had been served, and he had no wish to hear the two quarrel further.
"This poison is a compound venom, and to undo it is in truth no light task. I dare not swear to have full and certain mastery over it, but I may make the attempt. In the undoing there will be some peril, and it may well prove the death of Elder Li. I ask then whether you still would have me set my hand to it?" Han Li spoke these words with an air of studied reluctance. For his own part, were he not called upon to undo the poison, so much the better; his confidence in it was truly not great.
These words of Han Li's left the kinsfolk staring each upon the other, none daring to consent that he should straightway begin; but besides Han Li, none of the other physicians seemed any more fit for the task.
After a good long pause, the Madam Li, that lawful wife of Elder Li, suddenly broke silence: "I would ask how much hope the Physician Han reckons to have of bringing my husband back to health?"
"Five parts in ten," Han Li answered without the least hesitation.
"That being so, let the physician betake himself boldly to the work of saving him. Should any ill fortune befall my husband, I shall by no means bear the Physician Han any grudge; it will be but the decree of Heaven." The Madam Li wore an air of fixed resolve, and to Han Li's surprise she made up her mind on the instant.
"Sister-in-law, will you not ponder it a while longer? This little physician is so young, and I make some doubt the matter is dubious." The Elder Zhao, growing somewhat angry, made haste to dissuade her from her rash impulse.
"I have thought upon it with great care. Were the Physician Han not to undo the poison, my husband could not, I fear, outlast this very night; better then to make the bold attempt, and win a half a chance of rescue." The Madam Li spoke low and soft, with some grief weighing down her head.
"This…" The Elder Zhao was rendered speechless.
Han Li cast his eye over the others; none seemed to gainsay the Madam Li's decree. Then, from the medicine-pouch he carried about him, he drew a green porcelain vial, and out of it poured a single red pill. "Let someone go and fetch a bowl of warm water, dissolve this pill in it, and give it to Elder Li to drink."
"I will!" Scarcely had the words left Han Li's lips than a clear, bright voice answered. The maiden Zhang Xiuer, who had all along been standing by with reddened eyes, answered and made her way out of the room.
Li Feiyu gave a slight start, and in the next instant followed her out as well — for which Han Li could not keep from pouring out a goodly share of contempt upon him in his secret heart.
In a little while Zhang Xiuer came back with an air of helpless vexation, her two hands empty. Li Feiyu, by contrast, came carefully bearing a white porcelain bowl, close upon her heels. The company within the room, seeing this sight, could not keep the laughter from their hearts, and let it show upon their faces, wearing the look of those who wait upon a fine jest; which brought a rosy flush to Zhang Xiuer's cheeks, and she stood all at a loss, with her hands and feet not knowing what to do with themselves, showing plainly the whole demeanour of a little maid.
Yet by this means the tension within the room was in some measure eased, and the hearts of more than one were lightened.
Li Feiyu handed the bowl in all submission to the Madam Li.
"Physician Han, will this bowl of water serve?" The Madam Li turned to seek his opinion.
"It will do." Han Li glanced at the white bowl and nodded; then, taking it up in one hand, he dropped the pill into the water, and in the twinkling of an eye the whole bowl was turned a deep red. "Merely pour it into Elder Li's mouth. Your womenfolk are the more careful-handed, and it is best that you be the one to do it." So saying, he stretched forth his hand and gave the bowl back to her.
The Madam Li made haste to assent without demur. For her part, at such a time each word that fell from Han Li's lips touched the very life of her husband; how then could she not heed him?
"Of what medicine is this, after all?" As the Madam Li poured the great bowl of red potion, little by little, down into Elder Li's mouth, the Elder Zhao could hold his peace no longer, and asked that very question which all in the room longed to have answered.
"A detaining powder of my own devising; let us hope it will prove of some service." Han Li made light of it. He wished no man to know the name of the Clear Spirit Powder; for who could say whether this remedy-wondrous poison-queller might not draw trouble upon him? Far better to keep the matter close and lowly.
Once the medicine had been poured down, in about the space of a full meal the black miasma upon Elder Li's face began gradually to pale, and the poison-spots upon his body likewise changed from the deep to the shallow hue and began to shrink. This change, so plain to see, told even the ignorant that the venom upon Elder Li was by degrees abating, and that matters were turning for the better.
At the sight of all this, the folk within the room broke into smiles of joy, and looked upon Han Li with wholly other eyes than at the first; only the Elder Zhao could not so readily lay aside his pride, and let fall a light snort through his nose; yet his countenance too had softened by no small degree.
Han Li himself was not a little astonished to see the poison already receding, before he had yet taken any other step. That the Clear Spirit Powder should prove so potent lay far beyond his expectation; perhaps, he could not help but think, this venom was not so deadly after all as it had seemed.
Yet with matters turning thus for the better, Han Li found himself in some vexation, and for two causes. The first: he had but just now said that the undoing of the poison would carry peril, and had the venom now be so lightly purged, would it not be as though he dealt himself a box on his own ear, and made men think he had sought to deceive them? And the second: this Clear Spirit Powder worked so well upon the poison of others — why then would it not avail against his own? For it was still the cause of much fretting and concern to him, that he went about pierced with a hidden yin-poison whose cure he knew not.