Chapter 67: The Medicinal Herb "Narcissus Fairy"

"Fine, you treat him, I'll leave." Lu Feng glanced at Zhou Luyang as he spoke.

"You—!"

"Enough, everyone leave except one," Zhou Zhengqian said sternly.

"Then I must stay," Zhou Luyang insisted, still wanting to argue.

At that moment, the elderly man lying on the bed suddenly spoke, his voice weak, "Everyone go... let Fuqu stay..."

Zhou Fuqu hurried over, grasped the old man's hand, and whispered, "Grandfather, Fuqu is here."

Zhou Luyang could only turn away angrily and leave the room, followed by the others who moved into the living room.

When everyone had left, Zhou Fuqu quietly asked Lu Feng, "How is my grandfather? Why does his illness keep recurring?"

Lu Feng did not answer directly. Instead, he looked at the old man on the bed and asked, "Sir, have you noticed anything unusual?"

The old man struggled to open his eyes, glanced at Zhou Fuqu, then at Lu Feng, and nodded weakly.

"Since you have sensed something, I'll speak plainly in front of you," Lu Feng said.

Zhou Fuqu frowned and pressed, "What do you mean?"

"If I'm not mistaken, someone has deliberately cast a spell on your grandfather," Lu Feng replied gravely, his expression solemn.

"A spell?" Zhou Fuqu was astonished.

She had heard the term before—in movies and television—but only vaguely, without understanding what it truly entailed.

"Yes, spell-casting is inherently sinister, so its symptoms are much like being invaded by evil forces. When I visited last time, I assumed the old gentleman had accidentally come into contact with some foul energy. I prescribed medicine to dispel it and used restorative remedies. I thought the illness would be cured, but it seems things are not so simple," Lu Feng explained, nodding.

"You're saying someone is intentionally harming my grandfather?" Zhou Fuqu pressed, shocked.

Lu Feng nodded.

Zhou Fuqu quickly looked at the old man and asked, "Grandfather, do you know who did this?"

The old man shook his head and said with difficulty, "I don't know who, but I can sense someone tampering around me."

"Who? Could it be family? Impossible—who would want to harm grandfather?" Zhou Fuqu exclaimed in disbelief.

After her surprise faded, she swiftly regained her composure, grasped Lu Feng's hand and asked, "What should we do now?"

"The most important thing is to find out how the spell was cast. Otherwise, no matter how we treat him, the illness will keep coming back."

"Tell me what to do, I'll do it," Zhou Fuqu replied, nodding.

"I don't think the person who cast the spell is very skilled. It's likely something was done to the food, so let's start by checking what he eats," Lu Feng suggested.

Zhou Fuqu frowned. "We've always been careful with food. It's either prepared by my mother or under her supervision, rarely by servants, and nothing seems amiss. Besides, everyone eats the same meals, yet none of us are ill."

"Then let's look for something only your grandfather eats," Lu Feng emphasized.

Zhou Fuqu thought carefully. "Grandfather and I eat the same dishes, except for the bird's nest porridge he takes for his health."

"Anything else? Bring it for me to see," Lu Feng requested.

Zhou Fuqu nodded, got up, and walked to the door, but paused.

If she went out now, the family waiting outside would surely stop her with questions, making it hard to slip away.

After considering, she opened the door and called, "Mother, could you help me?"

Madam Zhou hurried over and asked, "What is it?"

"Grandfather is weak and wants to finish his porridge. There should be some bird's nest left in the kitchen—bring a bowl," Zhou Fuqu said.

Madam Zhou nodded and went to the kitchen.

Standing at the door, Zhou Fuqu swept her gaze over the family in the hall, wondering who could possibly want to harm her grandfather.

The old patriarch was the pillar of the Zhou family. If he fell, the house itself would be at risk.

Soon, Madam Zhou returned with a bowl of steaming bird's nest porridge.

Lu Feng picked up the bowl, sniffed it, and said, "It's not this."

Madam Zhou felt puzzled and asked, "What are you looking for?"

Zhou Fuqu glanced at her grandfather, then rose to escort Madam Zhou out, saying as they walked, "Nothing, the doctor is going to continue treatment with acupuncture. I'll explain later."

After seeing Madam Zhou off, Zhou Fuqu hurried back to the bedside and asked urgently, "Aside from the bird's nest, everything else grandfather eats, we all eat too. Could it not be the food?"

Lu Feng shook his head. "What about medicine? Surely you don't taste every medicine your grandfather takes."

Zhou Fuqu froze—she had fallen into a fixed mindset, thinking medicine was only for healing and hadn't considered it.

When medicine was mentioned, Zhou Fuqu became troubled and frowned. "Grandfather has taken a lot of medicine—some he finished, some were discarded."

"Look for those taken between the time I treated him and when his symptoms began recurring. I assume after my prescription, you didn't let him take anything else?" Lu Feng asked.

Zhou Fuqu understood at once. "Wait, I'll check the medicine room."

Medicines weren't kept in the kitchen, so the Zhou family had set aside a special room for the old patriarch's medicine.

As Zhou Fuqu left the room, the family in the hall crowded around her. "Niece, how is the old man?"

"The doctor is treating him. I'm just fetching some medicines," Zhou Fuqu replied casually, and went to the medicine room.

She gathered several medicines her grandfather had recently taken and showed them to Lu Feng.

Lu Feng examined them all and shook his head.

"Take me to the medicine room, I'll look for myself," Lu Feng said, rising.

Zhou Fuqu called Madam Zhou to care for the old man, then led Lu Feng to the medicine room.

The medicine room was on the first floor of the villa, not far from the old man's sickroom.

Upon entering, Lu Feng found most of the room filled not with medicinal herbs but with health supplements, likely gifts from friends and acquaintances after hearing of the old man's illness.

The shelves were lined with bright red boxes, giving the room a festive air.

These unopened supplements needed no inspection—most were still sealed, and the Zhou family probably wouldn't let the old patriarch take them.

Along the wall, there were shelves with containers holding prepared herbal medicines, each wrapped in yellowish paper.

Lu Feng opened the containers, unwrapped each parcel, sniffed the contents, and found only herbs for clearing heat and detoxification—nothing suspicious.

Until his gaze fell on a glass jar in the corner of a shelf, also stored in a container. Inside were pale yellow dried worms—just by appearance, a common medicinal ingredient known as "Water Fairy."

Seeing Lu Feng focus on the jar, Zhou Fuqu explained, "That's also a medicinal ingredient—its scientific name is Water Fairy, actually maggots. At first I found it quite disgusting, but the herbalist told me it has detoxifying properties."