Chapter 7 When the Gods Command
Over the next three days, Su Zhen worked in the forge with his father and brothers, fulfilling orders from the capital armory—arrowheads, spear tips, horseshoes. In the evenings, he climbed the hill behind the stables and practiced the internal form Eagle Glides Through the Sky with slow, focused breath, paying attention to every internal shift and strain. At times, it felt as if his body came alive from within—his organs seemed to pulse with their own rhythm, his fingertips tingled, his feet grew warm, and for a brief moment, his vision would clear. But he was still far from truly sensing the flow of Qi.
Meanwhile, Bai Xiao had not been idle. He first tested the pill on the smelter—the same man who had complained of back pain and fatigue. The very next morning, the man returned beaming: "It's like I've shed ten years, Doctor Bai! And I slept like a baby!"
Bai Xiao himself took the pill at the end of the day. He felt a surge of warmth in his lower abdomen, as if a long-blocked stream of Qi had suddenly broken through. After applying moxa to several key acupoints, the illness that had plagued him for years—a recurring blockage in his meridians, caused by elemental imbalance and the loss of Jing—seemed to vanish. For the first time in many years, he felt relief in meditation, a gentle stream of energy flowing along the kidney meridian. The illness might return, but for now, Bai Xiao was satisfied: no other method had ever brought such swift and profound effect.
Remembering the instructions regarding the boy, he didn't delay. At dawn on the fourth day, Bai Xiao went first to the local Daoist shrine. He lit fragrant incense before the statue of Yaowan—the patron of medicine—and bowed three times. Then he quietly placed a pouch of silver at the base of the statue, and only then did he set off for the house of the blacksmith Su to carry out the command that had come from the divine.
The sound of hammers rang out from afar. All the men of the Su household had been working since morning. The mother and the daughter were busy with household chores.
Bai Xiao approached the open gate, knocked politely on the gate frame, and called out:
"Master Su, I, Bai Xiao the healer, greet you."
A little girl—Su Wei—ran out of the house and dashed toward the forge.
The hammering stopped, and from the forge emerged the blacksmith himself, still wearing his leather apron—Su Jian'an.
"Dr. Bai?.." He instinctively wiped his hands on the apron and clasped his hands in greeting. "What brings you here so early in the morning?"
"Forgive the sudden visit, Mr. Su. But the matter is important. May I come in?"
"Of course, of course, no need to stand at the door." Mr. Su hastily removed his apron. "You honor us with your presence."
The boys in the forge exchanged glances.
"What are you staring at?" their father called out as he hung the apron on a nail. "We've still got a mountain of work. Keep forging those horseshoes until I get back."
Just then, the blacksmith's wife came out of the goat pen with a bucket of fresh milk.
"Oh, Dr. Bai! What a pleasure to see you. Please, come in. Would you like some fresh milk?"
"Oh, I must decline, Mrs. Su. In my homeland, people don't drink milk—and I have a terrible intolerance."
"What a pity. But we also have tea."
Once all the formalities were observed and the men were seated at the table sipping tea, Bai Xiao finally spoke.
"I would like to take your son, Su Zhen, as my apprentice."
Silence fell in the house. Su Wei batted her eyelashes at the guest from behind her mother's back.
"Are you feeling well, Dr. Bai? Forgive my bluntness. You want to take a blacksmith's son as your apprentice?" Mr. Su was stunned.
"Don't worry—I won't ask for payment."
"We all know you're a man of good heart, always helping those in need. But you must admit—this is highly unusual! Would you care to explain your motives? And I can't simply remove one of my sons from our family business, even if training comes free. I hoped he would become a smelter and take my brother Su Lin's place."
"I understand completely, but…" Bai Xiao's gaze fell on the family altar, which looked different than usual—more ornate and well-kept. "The god of medicine appeared to me and commanded that I take Su Zhen as my disciple. He left no room for objections—and warned of death should I disobey."
Mr. Su's jaw dropped. This time, the silence stretched longer than before.
Mrs. Su was the first to speak.
"Husband, didn't you say yourself that Su Zhen is like a fish out of water in the forge?"
"That's why I wanted him to smelt ore! It's not the same! What do you understand, woman?" the blacksmith snapped, slapping his thigh in frustration. "But… you don't joke with the gods. And if a man as respected as Dr. Bai makes this request… How can we refuse? If Zhen agrees, I let him go."
Blacksmith Su rose from the table, stepped onto the porch, and called out loudly toward the forge:
"Zhen, come here quickly!"
***
Su Zhen stood at the open gate of Dr. Bai Xiao's house, a hemp sack slung over his shoulder. Inside were a change of clothes and the bundle Uncle Lin had given him.
He vaguely remembered being here once as a child—around five years old—when he'd been brought to Doctor Bai for a severe cough. Back then, the small estate had seemed like an imperial palace. Even now, after a life spent in the attic of a village hut, it still looked impressive.
Bai Xiao stood beside him, gazing through the gate into the courtyard, silently wondering how he was supposed to live with a boy suddenly dropped on his hands.
"Well, at least I'll save on a maid," he told himself. But he immediately frowned. "But... if I have to teach him everything, when is he supposed to handle the chores? What a headache."
"You'll sleep in the room by the well," he said aloud. "It's full of junk—clean it out while you're at it. Come."
They stepped into the courtyard just as a plump elderly woman bustled out from the kitchen on the west side.
"You're back, Master Bai! And with a guest?"
"This is Su Zhen, my disciple. He'll be staying in the room next to the well. This is Auntie Sun—I hired her to help with the household. Come on."
Bai Xiao walked ahead, Su Zhen followed, and Auntie Sun trailed behind them in single file.
They passed a pavilion in the courtyard where patients usually waited, then stepped through a round moon gate into the garden.
"This is my garden."
The garden took up most of the estate.
"There's your room," he said, nodding toward a worn-down building in the northeast corner, near the well. "I live in that small house over there," he added, gesturing to a structure in the northwest.
Auntie Sun spoke up, clearly dissatisfied with Bai Xiao's brief explanations.
"It's all been rebuilt. There used to be more living quarters, but Master Bai tore them down and filled the place with his plants."
"Come on," he said.
They reached the building, and Auntie Sun unlocked the door with a key from the ring on her belt.
Inside, everything was thick with webs and dust. The room was cluttered with old furniture and wooden boards, likely left from the demolished buildings.
"Well then. Start cleaning. I've got work to do," Bai Xiao said, striding off toward his house, weaving between rows and flowerbeds filled with plants Su Zhen didn't recognize.
"Mr. Su Zhen, let me show you where to put the trash," Auntie Sun said warmly, her kind eyes scanning the scale of the job ahead.