7. Parents
The long street is silent, with gray-eaved buildings scattered at different heights. The curved eaves are like waves in the black ocean at night, frozen in time.
Old man Yao walked slowly in front with his hands behind his back, and Chen Ji followed silently behind. He had a lot of questions to ask, such as where is the Northern Continent, do you know a young man named Li Qingniao, and what is the Forty-Ninth Heaven.
But he knew he couldn't ask, so he could only bury those questions in his heart.
Old Man Yao was puzzled: "You usually talk as much as a piece of rag, why are you so quiet today?"
Chen Ji's heart tightened: "It's because of the things in Zhou Mansion that you don't let me mention."
Old Man Yao suddenly asked, "Did you kill someone?"
Chen Ji was silent for a long time: "No."
Old man Yao chuckled and asked no more questions.
During this journey, the old man never asked about what happened tonight, as if nothing had happened.
After walking for about an hour, Chen Ji finally saw the broad vermilion-lacquered gate of Prince Jing's Mansion from afar. Guards stood in front of the gate, holding spears and wearing iron armor. The stone lions on both sides of the gate were mighty and domineering.
Two white lanterns with the words "Prince Jing's Mansion" written on them hung under the gray tile eaves. There was a plaque on the door with the words "Upright and Open" written in gold.
Doctor Yao did not enter through the main gate, but led Chen Ji to the side of the palace, where there was a clinic called "Taiping" which was close to the palace.
There was a plaque on the door with four big characters written on it: "No Credit".
Old man Yao pushed open the door of the clinic and stepped over the high threshold. Inside the room, a kerosene lamp was lit on the long counter.
Outside was a dark long street and the night, while inside the house was filled with warm orange-red light, as if the world was black and white, and only this clinic had color.
It also seems that as long as Chen Ji walks in, he can shelter from the wind and rain and find peace.
Old Man Yao stood inside the door and glanced at Chen Ji: "Throw away what you have in your hand. The clinic doesn't need this stuff."
Chen Ji was startled and threw away the broken porcelain pieces still in his hand, which were still stained with blood.
He looked at the high threshold of the clinic and the hunched back of Old Man Yao, and finally stepped inside, closed the door, and kept the darkness outside.
…
…
This clinic is a small courtyard, separated from the palace by only a wall, with a gnarled apricot tree in the middle of the courtyard.
A majestic crow stood on the top of the branch, and flew away when it saw someone coming.
Old Man Yao seemed tired and waved his hand, saying, "Go to bed."
Chen Ji stood still... Where to sleep? There were three rooms in the back of the courtyard, and he didn't know which one to go to. If he went to the wrong one, it might arouse suspicion.
Seeing that he didn't move, Old Man Yao turned back suspiciously: "Why don't you go to bed?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a tall and thin young man in a long gown emerged from the west wing. He looked at Chen Ji with disdain and said, "Chen Ji, you've only been delivering medicine and it took you so long. I even bothered Master to find you... Master, you must be tired from walking. I'll boil some water for you so you can soak your feet and then rest."
Chen Ji looked at this...senior brother silently.
How can one flatter someone so specifically?
Old Man Yao said, "Everyone, go to bed and don't delay tomorrow's morning class."
"Okay," the tall and thin young man went back to the west wing decisively.
Chen Ji followed him in. There was a large bunk bed in the room. In the innermost part of the bed was a burly figure who was fast asleep.
Completely unaware of what had just happened in the outside world, the tall and thin senior brother slept in the middle of the dormitory, with his bed next to the door.
The wooden windows in the apprentice's dormitory were dilapidated, and there was no other furniture except some pots and pans.
In the dim room, the tall and thin senior brother sat on the bunk bed, covered with a quilt. He stared at Chen Ji with sparkling eyes and asked in a low voice, "What happened? Why did you take so long?"
"Nothing happened," Chen Ji shook his head, climbed into the bed tiredly, and looked quietly at the wooden beams on the roof and the long-caught spider webs.
The tall and thin senior brother turned over and lay down, muttering, "Forget it!"
The room became quiet again, with only the sound of breathing remaining.
Only at this moment could Chen Ji stop and think carefully about his situation: Would Jiaotu and Yunyang let him go? Definitely not.
The abilities I demonstrated tonight were definitely not something an apprentice in a medical clinic possessed, and I happened to appear in the home of a Jingchao spy. How could those two vicious people not be suspicious?
But why would they let him go? Was it because of his master's status, or did they have other plans?
No matter what the reason is, Chen Ji's best choice now is to stay in the clinic. This clinic is adjacent to the royal palace, and the other party may be hesitant about what they want to do.
While he was thinking, Chen Ji's pupils suddenly contracted.
A cold breath in his dantian was spreading throughout his body, devouring the warmth in his muscles, bones, and blood.
That was... a stream of ice that penetrated into Zhou Chengyi's body when he died. At that time, it only felt cold, as if it was an illusion, but now it was like a ferocious beast trapped in Chen Ji's body, angrily looking for an exit, but it could never break out of Chen Ji's body.
Bang.
Chen Ji heard the sound of his blood flowing like an avalanche, as if what was flowing in his veins was no longer blood, but ice cream.
It seemed as if there was a sword hidden in the thin body, or as if there was a dragon that existed thousands of years ago. Chen Ji seemed to be in a dark pool, and was desperately dragged to the bottom of the pool by a hand.
Ice cold.
Chen Ji struggled to turn his head and look at the other people in the room, but found that they were sleeping soundly and hadn't noticed anything. He wrapped himself tightly in the quilt, but the cold was coming from the inside out, and even if he covered himself completely in the quilt, it didn't help.
Could it be that he is haunted by Zhou Chengyi's wronged spirit?
Gradually, before he could figure things out, he curled up into a ball and fell into a state of confusion.
I don’t know how long it took, but the loud crowing of a rooster came from the distant horizon. The sound seemed to penetrate the layers of mist and tear the mist apart.
Chen Ji woke up from the bed and sat up, breathing greedily as if he had just been pulled out of the water.
His hands and feet were cold. What had just happened was not a dream. The ice flow was still raging.
…
…
Outside the window, the meager sunlight was blocked by the white paper window, and the room was dim.
There were two fellow disciples sleeping side by side with their heads covered. The crowing of the roosters did not seem to affect them and they were still snoring.
Just as Chen Ji was stunned, the door was pushed open with a creak.
But his master, "Old Man Yao," stood at the door holding a bamboo stick, his face full of disdain as he said, "You didn't get up even after the rooster crowed. People who know you know you're apprentices, but those who don't think you're the eldest son of some aristocratic family."
As he spoke, he swung the bamboo stick and hit him.
Chen Ji struggled to get up, put on his clothes, and hid aside: "Master, I
Already up!"
Seeing this, Old Man Yao went to beat the others, but heard a series of wailing. Two of his fellow apprentices were beaten with bamboo sticks and fled in panic, "Master, stop beating me! Get up!"
But no matter how the two brothers dodged, the bamboo sticks always fell on them accurately. The old man with a hunched back was obviously 92 years old, but he was extremely agile.
Old Man Yao waved a bamboo stick and drove the three people into the yard, saying coldly, "Stand still!"
Chen Ji originally thought that the morning class at the Imperial Medical Clinic would be reciting medical books, but he didn't expect it to be standing still?
He turned his head and saw that his two brothers were in a strange posture at the same time. It was not a horse stance, but more like a posture of climbing a ridge with huge rocks on their shoulders.
Before he could learn it secretly, the bamboo stick fell on him with a crisp sound. The moment the bamboo stick touched his body, it was like a pain exploding from the cracks in his bones.
The piercing pain, coupled with a feeling of cold and weakness, almost made Chen Ji faint. He imitated his two fellow disciples and stood up, while Old Man Yao sneered, "Don't act weak in front of me, it won't work. And don't think that I won't beat you up just because you flatter me."
As he spoke, the bamboo stick fell on the tall and thin senior brother again: "Liu Quxing, wasn't I talking about you? What the hell are you standing on?"
Liu Quxing cried, "Master, aren't we studying medicine? Why do we have to study this every day?"
Old Man Yao sneered and lashed out with the bamboo stick again: "You dare to talk back? The sky has three treasures: the sun, the moon, and the stars. Man has three treasures: spirit! Without spirit, energy, and spirit, you can't learn anything!"
In just a quarter of an hour, the three brothers were beaten with bamboo sticks until they screamed in pain. It was also the first time that Chen Ji was physically punished. Moreover, he was the one who was beaten with the most bamboo sticks among the three brothers because he was the least familiar with this posture.
only.
At a certain moment while standing in the stance, a warm current surged out from behind Chen Ji's waist, slowly offsetting the coldness of last night.
This warm current appears and disappears...or in other words, if the posture is correct, it will grow, but if the posture is incorrect, it will disappear.
Chen Ji followed his instincts and changed his posture. When he felt a warm current flowing from his waist, he held the position without moving. It was as if someone had prepared the answer for him, and he just had to follow it.
Old Man Yao walked over to him at this moment, intending to casually hit him with a bamboo stick, but he found that Chen Ji's posture was completely correct, and there was no reason for him to hit him with his raised hand...
Later, Old Man Yao simply stopped looking at him and only beat his other two brothers.
Chen Ji didn't know what was so special about this posture that could actually offset the ice flow. He silently observed the appearance of his other fellow disciples, and they didn't seem to think there was any benefit to standing in this posture.
Is he the only one who can feel this warm current?
Half an hour later, the ice flow in Chen Ji's body was suppressed and returned to his dantian, motionless. He breathed a sigh of relief. If the ice flow continued to rage, it would be hard to say whether he could survive the day.
Old man Yao sneered: "Okay, today's morning class is over, Chen Ji has made progress."
The three brothers rubbed their wounds with grimace in their eyes. If they took off their clothes now, they would surely be covered in bruises.
"Hurry up and get out of here and wait for your family at the main hall. Today is the day to pay your tuition money. If I don't see the money, you'll pack up and go home immediately!" Old Man Yao said coldly, "Chen Ji, remember to ask for the money when your family comes later. You can't lose a single cent of the money you lost for the medicine last night."
Chen Ji was stunned for a moment.
family……
Do I have any family in this world?
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