Hearing their conversation and realizing the matter was settled, he spoke again. "Little Junior Sister, that small porcelain bottle you took out earlier… when you opened it, it smelled so fresh. It felt like it gave people new energy for life."
Zhu Yanyi nodded. "Yes. I call this Spirit Liquid." She looked at Gu Jingtian, thinking quickly about how to explain it away. "Senior Brother, you know I am called the 'Medical Buddha Girl' in my hometown, right?"
"I have heard of it. But do gods really exist in this world?" Gu Jingtian was a materialist, so he was still half-believing and half-doubting.
Zhu Yanyi glanced at her. "Senior Brother, I cannot prove to you if gods exist. But tell me, do you believe in Traditional Chinese Medicine?"
"Of course." Gu Jingtian did not understand why she asked. They were TCM doctors, after all.
Zhu Yanyi smiled lightly. "But Western doctors do not think so. They think TCM is all about idealism. How can you just feel a pulse or look at someone’s face to know what sickness they have? Why would they need machines then?"
"That is just their narrow-mindedness." Gu Jingtian seemed to understand suddenly.
Zhu Yanyi laughed. "Exactly. They are narrow-minded. Their environment influences them. It tells them that only scientific machines can diagnose illness. They forget that in ancient times, there were no machines. When people got sick, they still sought doctors. This is like 'one leaf blocking the eye.' They are so devoted to Western medicine that they cannot see the truth. So, do you still think there are no gods?"
Gu Jingtian paused. After a while, he said, "Little Junior Sister, you could have just said I was 'blocked by one leaf' all along." He laughed too. "But I cannot blame you. I have never seen a god, so it is hard to believe."
Zhu Yanyi raised an eyebrow. "If gods were easy to see, would they still be gods?" She changed the subject. "Anyway, let’s talk about my Spirit Liquid. I can communicate with gods to get Spirit Water to heal people. The Spirit Water works well. But over time, it condenses into one drop of Spirit Liquid. This drop is the pure essence of the water. These drops form because of people’s faith."
She remembered she had previously said she extracted it. She had to cover that up. Zhu Yanyi sighed inside. Indeed, one lie needs many more lies to cover it. "I said I extracted it, which is close enough. I could not explain the true origin, so I said 'extracted.' Actually, the Spirit Liquid condenses from the Spirit Water on its own. Every time I receive people’s respect and faith, one drop forms. Right now, I have no more than five drops left."
She dared not mention her Spirit Spring, which was full of this stuff. Such a thing was too powerful. Zhu Yanyi had not even told Zhu Shun Yao about it, so she certainly would not tell others. Fortunately, she had the identity of the Medical Buddha Girl. Whether others believed it or not, she could use this title to explain things openly.
If anyone questioned her, she could say: "Of course, Spirit Liquid exists. But it needs faith to condense. I am still a child, and not many people know me, so not much has formed. The drops I have are mostly for my family or given to my masters. That is why there are so few left."
This statement was half-true and half-false. It seemed to have big holes, but paradoxically, it made people believe her more.