I Have Medicine

Chapter 585 - (Name) “How are we supposed to raise this child?!”

Hearing Gu Zuo’s words, Gongyi Tianheng’s body gave a slight tremble.

Ever since he had fallen for Ah Zuo, he had never once considered the idea of having descendants. Because once his heart held only Ah Zuo, he would never wrong himself by seeking closeness with another just for the sake of children. And since both he and Ah Zuo were men, they naturally couldn’t bear children—so the thought of them ever having a child together had never even occurred.

Yet who would have thought that from a single venture to seek out the stone egg, they would end up finding such a strange item—and that it would even give rise to a child?

Gongyi Tianheng’s gaze fell on the infant, and a sudden thought surfaced in his heart.

“Ah Zuo, that black and white qi from earlier… I suspect it was the legendary yin and yang qi.”

Heaven is yang, earth is yin. Yin and yang come together and give rise to life.

A man and woman unite, bearing children—also a result of yin and yang’s fusion.

What he and Gu Zuo had encountered was likely a stone egg that, for some unknown reason, had just so happened to absorb the yin and yang energies of heaven and earth. The egg was then drawn out by the blood of the two men, and moved by their deep bond, one stream of qi merged with Gu Zuo’s blood, the other with Gongyi Tianheng’s—thus forming the potential for creation and slowly developing a new consciousness.

Although both were men, neither being “yin,” the yin and yang within the egg were purer than what most men and women possessed. So their gender didn’t matter.

However, while the egg could be nourished by blood alone, its hatching would’ve required countless years of gestation. Until—one day, the two had joined in deep affection and their energies fused completely. This caused the yin and yang qi within the egg to accelerate in fusion, rapidly shortening the gestation. The life within absorbed the essence of both men’s blood, and thus—transformed into an infant.

In the end, wasn’t this child precisely the “son” of Gu Zuo and Gongyi Tianheng?

Having reasoned all this, both men found their emotions growing increasingly strange.

First, there was an overwhelming joy—after all, to unexpectedly gain a child when they’d long believed such a thing impossible… what man wouldn’t be thrilled?

Then, came a wave of awkwardness—given their age, and their lifelong devotion to the paths of pharmacy and martial arts, how were they supposed to raise a child properly?

Gu Zuo was especially conflicted.

He, too, had figured out the reason behind this son’s existence—and couldn’t help but recall that day with his big brother… Honestly, this child was the “crystallization of their love.”

But… it felt so surreal.

Even though Gu Zuo knew this newborn had an advanced cultivation and his skin probably wasn’t as tender as it looked—his body was surely strong—he still had this illusion that if he wasn’t careful and used a little too much strength, he might accidentally crush this little guy.

He was incredibly tense.

Fortunately, it was still Gongyi Tianheng holding the child. His movements were steady and practiced—none of that typical first-time father awkwardness.

Gu Zuo was a little curious.

Gongyi Tianheng chuckled, “When Tianyang, Mingxia, and Tianteng were born, I helped coax them plenty.”

Gu Zuo suddenly understood.

That’s true—his big brother was nothing like him, a complete newbie. His big brother had three younger siblings, after all, so he was definitely much more experienced. Still… so his big brother had already been a gentle, caring older brother even back then? Even when his body was still so frail…

Picturing that scene was honestly a little hard to imagine.

Gongyi Tianheng held the infant for a while, during which the baby grabbed a lock of his dangling hair and laughed adorably.

Gu Zuo watched affectionately for a moment, then suddenly remembered something and said, “Big brother, shouldn’t we give him a name?”

Upon hearing that, Gongyi Tianheng gave a gentle smile. “Naturally.” After thinking briefly, he said, “Why don’t one of us decide the surname, and the other choose the given name?”

Gu Zuo quickly nodded. “Great! You’re the elder, so you pick his surname. I’ll give him his name—how’s that?”

Gongyi Tianheng also nodded. “Very well.”

Neither of them suggested that the child should take either one of their surnames specifically—not for any special reason, but because surnames often carried implications of lineage. This child was born of them both, and if he were to bear only one person’s surname, it might leave the other feeling a bit regretful. Instead, letting one decide the surname and the other the given name made the child’s full name a joint creation—a symbol of their shared blessing.

With a smile, Gongyi Tianheng said, “This child was born from the yin and yang energies and emerged from a stone egg. Since the stone gave him life, he should bear the surname ‘ Shi ’.”

Gu Zuo thought that was fitting as well. After a bit of contemplation, he said, “His birth was so sudden and miraculous—it was a tremendous stroke of fortune. And from the way he’s cultivating already, his future is bound to be extraordinary. So I’ll name him ‘ Changsheng .’ First, it’s a wish for longevity. Second, only by reaching extraordinary heights in martial cultivation can one attain long life. This name is both a blessing and a goal. What do you think, big brother?”

Gongyi Tianheng smiled. “Very good.” He then added, “From now on, his name shall be Shi Changsheng.”

Gu Zuo also smiled, then leaned down and kissed the baby’s cheek. “Yes, Shi Changsheng… For a nickname, let’s go with Little Stone or Little Changsheng.”

After naming him, both Gongyi Tianheng and Gu Zuo felt even more attached to the infant, Shi Changsheng.

But soon after, a whole new set of problems began to emerge.

Gu Zuo grew a bit anxious. “Now that we have a son, we can’t just keep it hidden, right? We should probably let our parents know…”

When it came to his own family—his father and dad—there’d be no issue. They’d long known about his relationship with Gongyi Tianheng. But Tianheng’s parents and relatives… they didn’t know anything.

Of course, there was no urgency about coming out to the Gongyi family before. But now they had a child! Martial cultivators lived long lives—what, were they supposed to wait until their son was all grown up before letting the other side of the family know? That really would be something to be scolded for.

Hearing this, Gongyi Tianheng fell into brief thought, then said, “Though this child’s origins are extraordinary, he is indeed our son. Naturally, we must inform our parents and master.”

Gu Zuo nodded. “So what does big brother plan to…”

Gongyi Tianheng smiled. “Originally, I didn’t tell my family simply because the time wasn’t right. But now, why not take this opportunity to let them know?”

Gu Zuo had another concern. “But we’re stationed here for three years—and there’s still more than two and a half left…”

Gongyi Tianheng replied, “We came to defend this place against the foreign tribes. But now, all three enemy tribes have been completely wiped out, and the remnants are barely hanging on. They’re no longer a threat to Eight Desolations City. I imagine it won’t be long before we can return—there’s no need to remain here for much longer.”

Gu Zuo suddenly understood. “That’s true.”

With no more trials or training objectives left, the sect surely wouldn’t keep its top geniuses wasting time guarding an empty battlefield.

Once that issue was set aside for now, the next problem quickly came up.

Gu Zuo fell silent for three seconds, then reached out and gently pinched Little Changsheng’s cheek:

“…Big brother, now that Little Changsheng’s been born, we have to raise him properly. But… what are we supposed to feed him?”

Sure, the kid had a congenital cultivation level—but still, how exactly were they supposed to raise him? At such a young age, there was no way feeding him things like primordial beast meat was appropriate. And what’s more, the very first thing he consumed after birth had been Xiantian Shi milk essence—that seriously raised the standard! So what were they supposed to give him afterward?

Gongyi Tianheng also paused before responding, “I’m afraid… this will require careful thought on our part.”

Gu Zuo agreed wholeheartedly: “All things considered, we’ll need to give him something high-quality. Otherwise, I worry it might affect his development.”

And with that, the two of them resumed their brainstorming session.

For example, back in the modern world, they both knew infants needed milk—but that was because babies didn’t have teeth and had weak digestive systems. Little Changsheng didn’t have that problem. So maybe it’d be okay to give him minced essence meat from primordial beasts? Or maybe, since Xiantian Shi milk essence was so pure and beneficial, Gu Zuo could concoct a refined medicinal broth to serve as a kind of “porridge”? Or how about capturing some freshly postpartum female primordial beasts and extracting their milk, which Gu Zuo could then refine into something nourishing? They even considered gathering rare heavenly and earthly treasures and refining the juices into “beverages”…

In short, Gu Zuo and Gongyi Tianheng were completely racking their brains.

As two guys who had never raised a child before—no matter how quick-witted Gongyi Tianheng normally was—this truly tested their limits.

After a long discussion, Gu Zuo made a decision:

“No matter what, let’s try everything we came up with just now. Whatever Little Changsheng likes best, that’s what we’ll go with.”

Gongyi Tianheng nodded. “We’ll do as Ah Zuo says.”

There was no denying it—ever since Shi Changsheng came into their lives, the two of them had shouldered a whole new weight of responsibility. Especially Gu Zuo. While he’d always been helping out Tianheng, most of the actual power and management had been in Tianheng’s hands—Gu Zuo just had to focus on pharmacy. But now that they had a son, it felt very different.

So Gu Zuo became even more motivated to improve himself, to become a true Dan Wang as soon as possible, and earn more money to support their home, his big brother… and their son.

Put another way: previously, Gu Zuo had felt that his relationship with his big brother was still in the engagement phase—marriage seemed far off, and they were mostly relying on each other while still in the “dating” stage. But now, it felt more like they were “secretly married.” He felt the two of them were already like a married couple. And from now on, no matter what unforeseen troubles might arise, he would crush them before they could even sprout.

At the same time, even if Gu Zuo himself didn’t notice a change in his attitude toward Gongyi Tianheng, the latter could clearly sense it. His Ah Zuo had become more at ease, more natural… but also slightly more possessive in a subtle, almost imperceptible way.

This change amused Gongyi Tianheng—and made him all the more fond of him.

Naturally, where before he had cared for Shi Changsheng because of their blood connection and because the child was their shared offspring, now there was an added layer of affection stemming from love for the person who loved him.

Afterward, Gu Zuo, under the pretense of entering seclusion, remained in the Medicine Hall to study how to refine Earth-Level Medicine—but in truth, it was mostly so he could stay close to Little Changsheng. Meanwhile, Gongyi Tianheng left the hall and traveled deep into the borderlands to hunt primordial beasts and gather their essence beads for Gu Zuo.

To Gongyi Tianheng, while high-grade essence beads would eventually need to be purchased, the initial Wei Yuan pills that Ah Zuo was going to craft… those ought to be made from beasts he hunted personally.