In the afternoon on North Street, where Medicine King Hall was located, the street housed both shops and residents. The residents generally lived in the backyards of the shops.
It was now time for the afternoon meal, and kitchens in the backyards of various shops were emitting plumes of cooking smoke one after another.
In this cold winter, the smoke from cooking grains and food always managed to dispel much of the chill.
The apprentices and attendants of Medicine King Hall, who had been busy all day, were also waiting for a bowl of hot stewed vegetable and meat soup to replenish the vital energy and heat their bodies had consumed.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Outside the Pill Room where Chen Ku and Shang Yunfang were, a guard delivered two meal boxes.
Shang Yunfang did not disturb Chen Ku's alchemy.
She went outside, brought in the two meal boxes, gave one to Chen Ku, and said, "Eat something when it's time for the Literature Fire. Pill Formation takes at least a whole night."
