Garrett’s surgical teaching, compared to his usual speed, was slowed down by half. As he operated, he explained:

"Do not use brute force when performing such surgeries. Follow the direction of the skin and muscles. Cut slowly, don’t rush…"

"Next to this red area, there’s whitened, turned-up skin that looks a bit rotten, all of that needs to be removed. Draw a circle around it, and then lift the surrounding flaps…"

"Anatomical structures must be memorized. For the foot, once the skin is opened, right below the big toe is mostly the fibrous sheath. Use a small hook to gently pull it apart, clamp the blood vessels, and then cut through…"

"When you encounter adhesions, follow the trend bit by bit to separate them. Don’t pull randomly, and certainly don’t cut straight through... Ah, I nicked the fibrous sheath a bit here; it will have to grow back..."

"First use a tourniquet, then follow with the clamping of the blood vessels, there won’t be much bleeding. No need to rush with a healing spell, sometimes it can cause adhesions; just press down with a gauze..."

His movements were deft and precise, cutting, lifting, loosening, clamping, severing—each detail was distinctly clear. Priests Anthony and little John on either side, handed him tools, pulled hooks, and pressed with gauze to absorb blood, all the while watching intently:

"Ah, I don’t think I could do this after watching..."

"The eyes understand, but the hands don’t seem to..."

"Mainly because when you cut down, you completely don’t know what’s underneath..."

"That’s why I told you to memorize the diagrams!" Garrett didn’t stop his hands and lightly scolded them:

"Did you memorize all the diagrams I gave you before I left?—You did? That’s good, I’ll give you another batch..."

"No, please no!"

The two priests screamed in unison.

Garrett completed the surgery in less than half an hour as expected. He removed a hemangioma, repaired a previously damaged fibrous sheath, and guided the regeneration of the skin flap.

Once the 【Alleviate Pain】spell was removed, the patient bounced off the operating table, his feet as good as new.

Sir Robert, immensely grateful, left with his son. Little John escorted them out of the hospital, and in less than half an hour, the bald bishop arrived in a fury.

"Heard you’ve got new spells to teach?"

The bald bishop slammed his hand on the table... and at the last moment eased off, merely causing a few blank sheets of paper to flutter. Close call, Garrett was writing spell scrolls; had those been messed up, Garrett would’ve chased him down!

"Yes, lots of them." Garrett looked up from the broad sheepskin paper, smiling at him:

"I’ve been out for four years and came up with a bunch of stuff. Ultrasound scanning, localized anesthesia, electrocardiograms, blood tests, blood transfusions... so many spells to teach. You better have people ready for me!"

Each word, like a hammer, thudded onto the bishop’s forehead. That shiny bald head sparkled even brighter, almost sparking.

Ultrasound scanning! Just what he saw yesterday, little Garrett using it to observe a girl’s heart, able to see the blood flow inside;

Localized anesthesia! Using a first-level spell instead of a third-level tranquility spell! Although the effect is slightly less, sometimes, especially for limb surgeries, such a strong spell isn’t necessary;

Electrocardiograms... little Garrett used it a couple of days ago, directly showing the heartbeat;

Blood tests, blood transfusions... Anemia has always been a weak point in divine healing, filling this gap could have immediate effects on combat power restoration!

He rubbed his hands, his shoes scuffing the floor back and forth, back and forth, somewhat impatient. Finally, after Garrett finished copying a scroll, he asked in a suppressed voice:

"When do we start teaching?"

"In a couple of days?" Garrett rolled up the sheepskin, pushing it towards him:

"I’m going with my teacher tomorrow to see a group of patients, the journey is quite long, probably can’t return the same day. After we come back, I’ll start teaching, which gives you time to memorize the spells and learn them!"

"Uh..."

Four divine spells. Even if they’re just four first-level divine spells, to learn them in two days...

The bald bishop weighed his options, feeling it was a bit much. As for the younger priests below him, if they could learn one divine spell in two days, that would be very fortunate. No, wait, better to stay with little Garrett all the time, and whenever they don’t understand something, ask him to teach!

"I’ll go with you!"

"No need." Garrett shook his head rapidly:

"I plan to hold a free clinic in the city, incidentally, letting healers practice with these patients. First for the neighbors who watched me grow up, and if manageable, then extend it to other poor people. This task... how about I leave it to you?"

"Who’s coming? Are there any restrictions?"

"Anyone can come!" Garrett started writing a second scroll rapidly:

"The priests from the Spring Temple can come too, anyone! As long as they’re willing to help me treat these poor people for free, why wouldn’t I teach them?"

A first-level spell, at the council’s exchange rate, is at most 100 gold coins. The standard casting fee for a first-level divine spell is 50 gold coins, for a third-level spell, 750 gold coins...

Helping with a few days of free clinic work, without charge, would save Garrett a substantial amount of hiring fees! No matter how you calculate, it’s a win!

Although, admittedly, the money wouldn’t end up in his own pocket...

They briefly discussed. The bald bishop took up the responsibility for organizing the free clinic without hesitation:

He was experienced in such matters. Watching the neighbors who saw Garrett grow up, mostly family members of the city guards, was precisely within the sphere of influence of the War God’s Temple. Manpower, venue, notification, everything was convenient.

And Garrett, early the next morning, along with Elder Elwin, Seraina, and Bernard, set off for the Valley of Illness.

Hooves clattering, traversing mountains and rivers. Garrett and Elder Elwin, Seraina, each on a shadow steed, lined up one after the other. Departing early in the morning, by around noon, they reached the valley mentioned by Viscount Joane.

Bernard rode Apa, sometimes sprinting to the front of the group, sometimes to the back, running here and there, even detouring a few steps to nibble some grass. By the looks of it, he was the most relaxed and comfortable member of the group.

However, outside the valley, Apa suddenly snorted loudly, its large nostrils flaring as it sniffed vigorously. Then, its four legs firmly rooted to the ground, it refused to move forward.

"Apa? What’s wrong, let’s go!"

Bernard patted its head forcefully. The silver moon deer shook its huge antlers but didn’t move, instead stepping back a few steps. Garrett dismounted his shadow steed, ran over, and hugged the giant deer’s head, rubbing it:

"Apa, what’s wrong? You don’t want to go forward? Is there danger ahead?"

He closed his eyes slightly, tapping into the memories passed down by the oak staff, activating animal communication. After a moment, his brows gradually furrowed:

"Apa says, it really dislikes what’s ahead. Very much so." He turned to Elder Elwin, puzzled:

"Apa says, the soil, the water, and the vegetation ahead are all wrong. Nature itself is injured, withered... It doesn’t want to step there..."

"Apa is very sensitive indeed." Elder Elwin stopped his shadow steed, admiringly. He then glanced at Garrett:

"You didn’t feel it?"

Garrett chuckled sheepishly, feigning ignorance with his teacher. Nature injured? Withered? Where? The grass around here looked quite green to him...

Feeling nature? Communicating with nature? What is that? To this day, his skill in communicating with animals was only half-learned, and his ability to communicate with plants, sorry, he could only command seeds to grow into vines.

"You child..."

The elder sighed. Ah well, whatever about a divinely inspired, naturally born priest, it was known from the start to be false. But this lack of communication skills and sensitivity, they had to find a way to supplement his education...

In the midst of Garrett’s sheepish grins, the old man bent down, touched the roadside grass, grabbed a handful of soil to twirl it, then scooped up some stream water. His long white eyebrows tightly knotted:

"How could it have worsened so quickly... it wasn’t like this last time..."

While he sensed, Garrett, on the other hand, plucked grass, shoveled soil, and guided water into a bottle. Sensing didn’t exist, testing maybe lacked reagents, but sampling still had to be done...

After finishing the task, Garrett coaxed Apa for a while, finally persuading it to continue forward. The group entered the valley, stepping into the village, and Garrett’s expression darkened.

"Teacher," he murmured, "the people here seem to be quite ill..."

Everywhere he looked, young and old, men and women, all hunched over, moving slowly. Often coughing, their bodies weak, some even pressing their kidney area as they walked, seemingly in

unending pain.

In a tall wooden house at the village entrance, the only man dressed finely hurried out to meet them. He sized up Garrett and his companions’ appearance and clothing, quickly approaching and bowing deeply:

"Are you the esteemed persons from the Church of Nature? The lord of the city sent a message yesterday, saying you were entrusted to come here to treat the villagers—"

Seeing Garrett nod slightly, he bent even lower, nodding and bowing as he invited everyone inside. Then he went outside and shouted loudly:

"Come over! Come over! The lord of the city has shown great mercy, inviting the priests from the Church of Nature to treat you! Why are you waiting? Bring the sick from your homes!"

After shouting twice, there was rustling outside, and soon there was movement. The man quickly returned, picking up a teapot to pour tea for each of the masters and disciples:

"Please rest assured and drink, this water is from a spring twenty li outside the mountain, especially sweet. After the city lord sent the message, I went out last night to fetch water..."

"So, you also know the water in this valley is off?"

Elder Elwin suddenly asked softly. Meanwhile, Garrett stood up and went behind the house, finding a well and casually casting a spell. A stream of crystal-clear well water fell into the cup, and just one look made Garrett frown deeply:

"Teacher, this water... it’s actually blue!"

---------------

• Your invaluable feedback and ratings mean the world to me. Please take a moment to rate this novel at Novelupdate.

• If you come across any mistakes within this chapter, kindly notify me in the comments below, so that I can make the necessary corrections.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay