“Young Master Carter, don’t worry. Sam’s life is already hanging by a thread. If that quack can’t cure her... there’s nothing else to be done. Either way, she’s unlikely to survive. Just do your best. If anything happens... then it’s fate.”

The newcomer was David Thompson. His steps were even slower than Henry Carter’s, and he had only just arrived. The fisherman surnamed Zhang was still behind, already running out of breath. Hearing Doctor Howard’s words, David Thompson feared that Henry Carter might hesitate to save the girl, so he spoke up to reassure him. But when it came to the taboo word “death,” he changed his phrasing in the end.

Henry Carter didn’t look at Doctor Howard, but nodded slightly to David Thompson, then turned to the crowd and said, “Could someone please boil a pot of water?”

One person, apparently a neighbor of the medicine hall, said, “I’ll go boil the water.”

Henry Carter nodded, and as if by chance noticed the kettle beside him. He picked it up and said, “It might take too long to fetch water now. I have a pot here—take it and boil it.”

The kind person took the kettle and went home to start a fire.

Henry Carter let out a slight sigh of relief. To save the girl, he relied on acupuncture and, secondly, on extraordinary herbs. Since there were no herbs at hand, this spiritual water was the only hope for survival. But he dared not let anyone know, so he made a show of sending someone to boil water.

“That’s still not enough.”

Henry Carter said to himself, then walked toward the medicine hall, thinking to prepare a set of herbs. That way, everyone would assume it was the herbs that worked, not knowing the water was the real miracle.

“What do you want to do?”

Doctor Howard shifted slightly to block his way and said, “Want herbs? Pay up!”

Henry Carter paused and said, “I want to buy medicine to save a life. I’ll pay you every coin you’re owed.”

Doctor Howard looked him up and down.

Henry Carter wore a blue Daoist robe, faded from many washings. Though his features were refined and he had an air of otherworldliness, he still looked rather down-and-out.

Doctor Howard sneered, his eyes full of disdain. “You don’t look like you have half a tael of silver. That little girl barely had enough for the consultation fee when she came in. If you want to save her, pay for the medicine first. If you have no money and still want my herbs, get lost!”

The onlookers were all displeased, but most of them struggled to make ends meet themselves. Even if they wanted to help, they didn’t have the means, so they just muttered a few curses at the doctor.

Henry Carter was silent for a moment, looked the man up and down, then stepped back a couple of paces and glanced at the medicine hall.

Above the hall hung a large signboard reading “Great Virtue Medicine Hall.”

Doctor Howard, in his gray robe and with a mocking sneer, stood right beneath the sign.

Henry Carter looked at the sign, then at Doctor Howard, shook his head slightly, and murmured, “Medical ethics?”

He only said two words, his tone calm and voice low.

But everyone heard him clearly.

The renowned physician’s face immediately darkened, and he opened his mouth to curse.

“Money?”

Henry Carter shook his head and laughed, a trace of anger in his voice. Suddenly, he pulled out a handful of silver from his robe, spread it out in his palm for Doctor Howard to see, and then... hurled it at him.

Over ten taels of silver struck Doctor Howard’s face and chest.

The doctor was instantly enraged, but when he saw the silver scattered on the ground—not just small ingots, but large silver sycees—he was shocked.

Everyone present was astonished.

Over ten taels of silver—that was a fortune!

Henry Carter remained calm and listed more than ten kinds of herbs, specifying the amounts, then pointed inside and said, “I only want these thirteen kinds of herbs!”

Doctor Howard did a quick calculation and realized the total price was only about 120 copper coins, just over a tael of silver. Here were more than ten taels—enough to cover over twenty days’ worth of business. Though angry, he couldn’t refuse such a windfall. He just grunted and said, “Follow me inside.”

“No need,” Henry Carter said coolly. “I won’t enter such a filthy place. Bring the herbs out to me.”

After a pause, Henry Carter added, “Don’t try anything funny. If there’s anything wrong with the herbs and I end up killing someone, I’ll go to jail, but you—tampering with the medicine—will lose your head.”

Doctor Howard shuddered and abandoned any ill intent, then turned back into the medicine hall.

Before long, the herbs were brought out.

Henry Carter took them, then asked someone to lead the way to the kind person’s house. There, he put the herbs into the boiling water one by one.

Judging that the time was right, and that the acupuncture on Sam was almost finished, he asked for a bowl and poured out half a bowl of the medicinal decoction.

There wasn’t much water in the kettle. To Henry Carter, this spiritual water was more precious than gold or silver, so he only filled about two bowls. After boiling and decocting the herbs, a little more than one bowl remained.

He first pried open the girl’s mouth and poured in half a bowl, then poured out the rest of the medicine.

At first, the girl’s mouth was tightly shut and hard to open. David Thompson had struggled quite a bit. But Henry Carter simply propped her chin and pressed an acupoint, and the girl opened her mouth, astonishing the onlookers, who all praised him.

“Wait a moment. I’ll have Sam take the rest after I remove the needles.”

Henry Carter instructed, then looked at Doctor Howard and said coolly, “Give me my change.”

Doctor Howard was taken aback.