30. Showdown
"Is there no one in the coffin?"
"There really is no one there," Jiaotu said. "I opened the coffin and saw no clothes or burial objects inside. Old Master Liu is not dead. Perhaps he is still in the Liu family compound."
The Liu Family Compound is located on Longmen Mountain in the south of Luocheng, covering hundreds of acres. People in Luocheng often joke that if a girl from an ordinary family marries into the Liu Family's high walls and gray tiles, she will probably never be able to get out and will die of old age inside.
Jiaotu pulled off Chen Ji's blindfold, and the three of them sat down on the ground at the top of Zhuangyuan Mountain. "Tell me, what should we do now?"
Yun Yang hesitated for a long time. "How dare the Liu family defy the will of the world and use that old man's fake death to put pressure on the Secret Service? Doesn't that mean that everyone in the Liu family is collaborating with the enemy, just like Liu Shiyu?"
Jiaotu raised her arms and tied her hair into a bun. "The Liu family has been managing the Central Plains for a long time, controlling 80% of the farmland and officials. Even the imperial court's grain and tax collection depends on their wishes. For example, aristocratic families like the Liu, Xu, Hu, Chen, Qi, and Yang have long prioritized family interests over the nation. It's not surprising that they collaborate with the enemy."
"But your majesty's Long Live Army is right on the border of Yuzhou. How dare they?" Yun Yang was surprised.
Jiaotu pondered for a moment. "What if Prince Jing's Mansion is in collusion with the Liu family? I'll send a pigeon to inform the Minister of Internal Affairs later. This matter is no longer up to you and me. We must mobilize troops!"
"Yes, immediately dispatch troops to surround the Liu family!"
Chen Ji interrupted: "My Lords..."
Yun Yang's eyes lit up: "Why, do you have any new ideas? Tell me quickly, you have a lot of ideas!"
Chen Ji said, "Please settle the remuneration with the two lords. I still haven't paid Lord Jiaotu the fifty taels from last time. The total is one hundred and fifty taels."
Jiaotu's face darkened: "All I care about is money, money, money."
Chen Ji was desperate for money. He roughly estimated the amount of ice flow in his body and realized that he would need more than ten ginseng roots to eliminate it. There was still a lot of ice flow left in the prison in Luocheng. It would probably cost him over a thousand taels of silver to stop it.
My way of practicing is too expensive!
He smiled and said, "My Lords, just finding out that there's no one inside the coffin is a truly remarkable achievement. I'm sure the Minister of Internal Affairs will be very pleased. Compared to this, what is a hundred taels of silver?"
Jiaotu reluctantly took off a red sandalwood bracelet from her wrist and said, "Here, it's the Buddhist Tongbao. You can go to Tuola Temple to get one hundred taels of silver."
Chen Ji was stunned for a moment. He looked at the bracelet and saw that each bead was covered with densely packed words, which was dazzling.
"Can I withdraw money from this?" he asked curiously.
"You've never seen a Buddhist Tongbao?" Jiaotu explained, "This bead has their own secret code. If you give it to their kitchen, someone will naturally give you the money according to the code. They understand it."
Chen Ji became even more curious: "What if I carve an identical bracelet myself? Can I also exchange it for money?"
Jiaotu chuckled softly, "I advise you to give up on this idea. There are many people in the martial arts world who have set their sights on Buddhism, but they were all saved in the end."
On the side, Yun Yang took out five small silver ingots and said, "Here."
Chen Ji smiled sincerely, "Thank you for your patronage. I've been out for too long today. Please take me back first. As for how to deal with the Liu family's affairs, it is not my place to get involved."
His savings amounted to two hundred taels of silver and one hundred and seventy-three copper coins.
Not counting the fifty taels of silver under the bed.
…
…
It was not until midnight that the carriage brought Chen Ji back to the entrance of Taiping Medical Clinic.
Yunyang and Jiaotu had just lost a sum of money, and even the joy of their achievement was diluted. They drove away without saying a word.
As the carriage drove away, Wu Yun jumped from the roof into his arms: "I've already memorized the location of the inner prison...ah, you're so cold."
"Too many ice flows have been attracted to the inner prison. Have you seen Jiaotu's way of cultivation?" Chen Ji walked towards the clinic with the copper coins in his left hand and Wuyun in his right hand.
"I saw it. A Yin God emerged from her brows, very fiercely!" said Wuyun.
Chen Ji pushed open the door of the clinic, but at the moment he opened the door, at three quarters past midnight, Bingliu arrived as promised.
This seems to be a special moment, when the dormant ice flow always surges up and fights endlessly.
Chen Ji walked towards the medicine cabinet with difficulty. A medicine dealer came to the door this morning, and the master should have replenished the medicine cabinet with new ginseng.
However, before he even reached the medicine cabinet, he was unable to move.
Chen Ji said with difficulty: "Dark cloud... ginseng."
In the clinic, Wuyun jumped out of Chen Ji's arms, jumped onto the medicine cabinet with ease, opened the drawer, took out the new ginseng and brought it back to touch Chen Ji.
Ding ding dang dang, the ginseng turned into ten transparent beads that fell to the ground and bounced up again. The dark clouds ran and jumped after the beads and swallowed them one by one into their mouths.
The molten flow fed back and instantly ignited the left Taiyixue and the right Taiyixue outside the Dantian!
Chen Ji leaned against the counter tiredly and patted Wu Yun's head: "Thank you."
Wuyun raised his head and said, "You don't need to thank me anymore... What if your master finds out that the ginseng is missing?"
Chen Ji was embarrassed: "I have to buy a new one before Master finds out."
Wu Yun thought for a moment and said, "How about I go beat up that fat white cat and settle the score for you?"
Chen Ji was in awe: "...Good idea!"
At this moment, the dull voice of Old Man Yao came from behind him: "I asked you to deliver some medicine, but you delivered it from morning to evening."
Chen Ji subconsciously turned around, blocking the medicine cabinet drawer behind him, which hadn't been closed yet. "Master? How come you walk without making any sound?"
Not to mention Chen Ji, even Wu Yun didn't notice the other party approaching!
Old man Yao stood in the main hall of the clinic with his hands behind his back, a look of sarcasm on his face: "You still remember to come back? What are you standing there for? Come here!"
Chen Ji didn't dare to move because the drawer of the medicine cabinet behind him was not closed yet!
Just as he was thinking quickly about how to deal with the situation, he saw Wuyun jump out of his arms, run to Old Man Yao and leap up.
Old man Yao was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously reached out to catch the dark cloud. The furry little black cat meowed in his hands and blinked its golden vertical pupils.
But Old Man Yao was silent for a long time. Finally, he took Wuyun into his arms, stroked its furry head, and sneered at Chen Ji: "It is much more sensible than you... Come on, Wuyun, grandpa will take you to have some snacks."
Chen Ji: Ah?
Because of the commotion caused by the dark clouds, Old Man Yao actually forgot to scold himself.
While Old Man Yao turned around, Chen Ji quickly closed the medicine cabinet.
Just as he closed it, he heard Old Man Yao's light voice: "What are you hiding? Go buy me a replacement tomorrow. Keep an eye on the account book, and don't miss a single whisker."
Chen Ji awkwardly followed him to the backyard and changed the subject, "Master, where are the two brothers?"
Old man Yao said indifferently
He said, "She Dengke's third brother is hosting a party for a wealthy family. She Dengke took Liu Quxing in to watch the opera and will be back tomorrow morning. He was going to take you with him, but you didn't come back."
He took out the purple wooden box from the house. The first drawer contained snacks and the second drawer contained candied fruits.
Wuyun hadn't eaten for a day and his mouth was stuffed full.
Chen Ji just took a look into the drawer and was glared at by Old Man Yao.
"If you want to eat, go to the kitchen and cook for yourself," said Old Man Yao coldly.
"oh."
Chen Ji took a multi-grain pancake from the kitchen and asked while chewing on it, "Master, does the time of 12:30 am have any special meaning?"
As Old Man Yao fed Wuyun some snacks, he frowned and thought, "Three quarters past three in the morning...that's the time you were born."
"Huh?" Chen Ji was surprised. The ice flow always surged at this time. Was it because the third quarter of the first lunar month was his birthday?
Strange, does it mean that the great consciousness in the battlefield has to wait until the moment of my birthday to take over my body?
Chen Ji hesitated for a long time, and finally asked frankly: "Master, what is a Xingguan?"
Old Man Yao glanced at him and said, "Why should I tell you? You can sell intelligence for money, but you want to get information from me for free?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Wuyun stopped eating the snacks and just used its furry head to nudge the palm of Old Man Yao's hand.
Seeing this, Old Man Yao said angrily, "You look cute, little thing, but you have so many tricks up your sleeve."
He said slowly, "Xingguan is a general term for people who practice cultivation. There are many different ways of practicing cultivation, and they do all kinds of things."
Chen Ji wondered, "Why don't the people know of their existence?"
Old Man Yao touched Wuyun's head and said, "It's just that most people don't know. Most officials have to hide their cultivation methods, otherwise they will be coveted by people of the same path."
"Why?"
"Because the path each spiritual path seeks is like a bowl of water. There's only so much water in the bowl, and the more people share it, the less each person can drink. And if you want to embark on the final path to heaven, you must drink this bowl of water alone; no one else can share it."
Chen Ji was stunned. Energy conservation?
Only then did he realize why Yun Yang said that there was only life and death on the path of cultivation. Under such a natural law, people who practiced the same path were natural enemies.
Chen Ji asked calmly, "Master, are you an official?"
Old man Yao smiled and waved towards the sky, but suddenly there was a sound of flapping wings in the dark night, and a huge crow landed!
Chen Ji stood up suddenly, it turned out that this crow belonged to his master!
When I was attacked by the ice flow and went to Liu Shiyu's house to investigate the case, the other party was there!
"Master, you know everything," Chen Ji said hesitantly.
"I know how, and what does it matter if I don't know," Old Man Yao gently stroked the crow's wings, and the crow looked at Chen Ji, opened its mouth and smiled silently, as if mocking his ignorance of the world.
Master, this crow, is just as mean as the master.
At this time, the crow looked at the dark cloud that was showing off its food with its head down, then looked at Old Man Yao, and made a cackling sound with its mouth.
Old Man Yao said to it patiently: "Meet me, this is a new friend."
The next second, Crow looked at Chen Ji, and then at Old Man Yao.
Old Man Yao continued patiently: "This is not it yet."
Chen Ji: “…”
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