George Bolton said cautiously, "No one asked me."

William Clark was so angry he was about to leave. Seeing their displeased faces, George Bolton quickly took out a brocade box and offered it to them.

When the lid was opened, a medicinal fragrance wafted out. Inside were two thumb-sized, withered-wood colored pills.

George Bolton cupped his hands and said, "Gentlemen, not only did you solve a big problem for our clinic this time, but you also avenged my young grandson. I have nothing to repay you with, so I can only offer each of you a Great Tonic Pill."

David Bennett exclaimed in surprise, "Nine-Herb Great Tonic Pill? The legendary imperial supplement?"

George Bolton nodded and said, "Yes, our Zhang family ancestors really did serve in the imperial palace during the previous dynasty, but not as imperial physicians, rather as pharmacists. This Nine-Herb Great Tonic Pill is made from a secret ancestral recipe, using nine top-grade herbs such as ginseng, ambergris, fleeceflower root, and snow lotus. After taking it, it can invigorate the blood, dissolve stasis, replenish qi, and strengthen yang, with endless benefits!"

David Bennett exchanged a glance with William Clark, and hurried to take the pills.

They didn't care about the strengthening yang part; what they valued was the blood-invigorating effect.

After all, working at the Astronomical Bureau often led to bumps and bruises.

Back at the post station, Charles Foster was not there, so William Clark returned to his room, intending to take out the Nine-Herb Great Tonic Pill and stash it away, but when he reached for it, it was gone!

This time, with experience, he sat down cross-legged and searched his sea of consciousness for the Creation Furnace.

Sure enough, flames were boiling beneath the Creation Furnace, and a white pill was slowly rolling at the mouth of the furnace.

Once the pill was refined, it automatically fell in front of him. This time, the pill was a size larger than before, pure white in color, and four small characters appeared on it: "Heavenly Official's Blessing."

The rich medicinal scent turned into a fresh herbal aroma. William Clark thought for a moment and put it in his mouth.

The big pill began to dissolve as soon as it touched his saliva.

As he swallowed, a warm current flowed from his mouth into his dantian, then spread from the dantian throughout his limbs and bones.

Aha?

Hey hey!

Oh ho!!

Chapter 007: Ghost Hunt at the Post Station

No need to refine it—the Heavenly Official's Blessing Pill turned into true qi and flowed into his eight extraordinary meridians.

William Clark immediately knew this pill was a treasure.

He was just enjoying the internal warmth when suddenly a breeze blew in, bringing a chill from outside.

A window suddenly swung open.

Staring at the half-open window, William Clark's expression grew grave.

There's something fishy about this post station!

So he went to find David Bennett to ask about the post station's history.

David Bennett was in the courtyard playing with a stone lock, which must have weighed forty or fifty jin, spinning it around with ease, just like a mule pulling a millstone.

William Clark couldn't help but applaud, "Nice!"

David Bennett was a show-off; seeing he had an audience, he performed with even more gusto. The huge stone lock moved from fist to shoulder, leaped over his head, passed between his legs, sometimes behind his head, sometimes in front of his eyes—he played all sorts of tricks with it.

Finally, he tossed the stone lock high into the air, then, with one hand on his waist and the other raised above his head, caught the falling stone lock, shouting, "Heavenly King Holds the Pagoda!"

William Clark had always wanted to see him mess up, but it never happened.

Disappointed!

David Bennett wanted to keep performing, but William Clark stopped him, saying, "Stop practicing for now, I need to talk to you. I think there might be a ghost in this post station..."

"A penniless ghost?"

"No."

"A lecherous ghost?" David Bennett raised his eyebrows at him with a grin.

William Clark said impatiently, "Stop joking, I'm serious. There really is a ghost. Yesterday the archive room and today the bedroom windows opened by themselves, just like the mortuary door closed by itself last night."

David Bennett looked skeptical. "Really?"

William Clark let the facts speak.

He went and closed all the doors and windows in the post station, then took David Bennett up to the gate tower to secretly watch from above.

But the space atop the gate tower was small, and David Bennett was tall and burly, so the two of them had to squeeze together.

Gradually, David Bennett's breathing grew heavy, and waves of hot air blew onto William Clark's face.

William Clark turned his head and glared at him warily. "What are you doing?"

David Bennett said, "You're making it hard for me to breathe."

William Clark shifted to the side, trying to make more space.

But David Bennett liked to take advantage—when William Clark moved aside, he sprawled out even more to claim the space.

William Clark was helpless and had to bend his legs to brace against David Bennett's waist.

David Bennett was unhappy again. "You're hurting me with your knee."

William Clark snapped, "Why are you so troublesome?"

David Bennett got angry too. "If you move your leg, I won't have a problem!"

The two were about to start fighting when a window in the archive room was slowly pushed open from the inside...

They stared intently, but saw no sign of anyone behind the window!

Seeing this, William Clark drew in a sharp breath. "Did you see that?"

David Bennett stopped fooling around. He opened his mouth wide and sucked in cold air, like he was holding a fan in his mouth.

Then a tabby cat nimbly jumped out from behind the window.

David Bennett immediately deflated and shouted, "Hey, look at your nerves! That's my beloved pet, named Tiger-skin. So it was the cat opening the window."

William Clark realized he'd made a fuss over nothing and complained, "How is it my fault for being jumpy? You've been at the post station for a year and didn't even know Tiger-skin could open windows?"

David Bennett retorted confidently, "Who cares about these trivial things? You startled me so much I'm hungry now. How about you treat me to a bowl of braised lamb for lunch?"