Twenty-one: Thoughts on it all - Part Two
When Mingjin woke up, she saw the dark roof of the house in the middle of the night, but this was not the house she was familiar with.
She lay on the bed. The curtains by the window were drawn back, and she tilted her head slightly to look at the window opposite, where a pale blue light shone through and spilled onto the floor.
All around was silent, and she had no idea what time it was.
She bent her neck again and saw a tea set on a table not far from the bed. She pursed her lips, a dryness rising in her throat, so she threw off the covers and struggled to get out of bed. She was still wearing the clothes she had worn to Baicheng, only the dusty outer robe was gone.
Her hands were still trembling as she shakily turned the cup over. The cup, not quite standing, rolled across the wooden table, the sound of porcelain clattering against the table echoing through the room, giving Mingjin a headache. She unconsciously smacked her lips, picked up the kettle to pour water into the cup, but her hand slipped, the spout hitting the cup directly, water spilling onto the table. The cup, which had just regained its footing, rolled off the table and onto the floor.
Another, even louder bang dealt another heavy blow to Mingjin's fragile mind.
"You're awake."
Hearing voices, Mingjin looked up and saw a recliner on the other side of the table. Having been hidden in the darkness, Mingjin, whose intuition wasn't very sharp, hadn't noticed it at first, let alone that there was someone on the chair.
Thirsty?
Pang Ming, who was already a poor sleeper, was startled awake by the noise and quickly got up. He took the kettle from Ming Jin, touched the inside of the kettle and realized the water was cold, then glanced at the broken teacups on the floor: "You sit down first. I'll go outside and get some hot water. Don't worry about the cups, I'll clean them up in a bit."
"Where is this?" Pang Ming pulled Ming Jin's arm and made her sit down at the table.
"Raising the clouds".
Pang Ming took the kettle and went out.
Mingjin sat alone in the room, her arms propped on the table. She took a deep breath and gently rubbed the sides of her forehead with her fingers. She opened her eyes, staring blankly at the table, then noticed that the tea, which had been faintly glowing in the moonlight, suddenly began to roll, forming two characters on the table.
"beginning of autumn".
Mingjin silently repeated these two words to himself.
Then, the two words rolled back into the original puddle of water, leaving not even a trace.
Pang Ming pushed open the door and came in carrying a kettle. He poured a cup of water and placed it in Ming Jin's hand.
"What time is it?"
"It will be dawn soon."
Pang Ming placed the kettle on the tray, got up and closed the door, then returned to watch Ming Jin drink the water.
"How did we get here? Where's my master? Where's Master Ji? How did things go?"
"Don't worry, everyone is fine." Seeing that Ming Jin had finished drinking the water in a few gulps, Pang Ming quickly took the cup and poured another half cup. "The two masters worked together to capture that evil spirit alive. After you fainted, Elder Ji came over and stabilized your and Elder Ban's injuries. Just then, three cultivators from Juxia came to provide support and brought you to Juxia."
"Is Master Ji alright?" Mingjin's memory was disjointed, and he only remembered Ji Zhen after being reminded by Pang Mingyi.
"It's nothing," Pang Ming said, noticing Ming Jin's pale face and guessing that she had a terrible headache. He decided not to say anything more. "Never mind that for now. Go back and get some more sleep. Come on."
Pang Ming helped Ming Jin to the bedside, saw her lying on the bed, covered her with a quilt, and the two held hands tightly under the quilt.
He smiled and said, "Get some rest. I'll be right here."
After hearing Pang Ming say this, Ming Jin looked at his face, her eyelids drooped, and she quickly fell into a deep sleep.
The sleep was peaceful, as if it had never happened; it was just a matter of closing and opening one's eyes to find bright sunlight streaming through the window. Mingjin first heard the patter of rain outside the window, then opened his eyes and looked out, where a faint green hue filled the room through the window.
Although my mind is clear, the headache has not yet subsided.
Mingjin sat up and turned her head to find that the person on the recliner was gone, with only a clean outer robe placed beside Mingjin's bed.
She put on her clothes and shoes and got up.
The broken cups on the floor had been cleaned up, and the missing cups had been replaced. Mingjin poured herself another cup of tea, this time it was still hot, and she drank it heartily. She poured another cup, and just as she picked it up, a girl of about sixteen or seventeen years old pushed open the door and walked in carrying a basin of water. Seeing Mingjin get up, she smiled and placed the basin on the shelf next to the door: "Senior, you're awake."
"Who are you?"
“My surname is Xi, and my given name is Xiangfeng,” Xi Xiangfeng said to Mingjin with a smile. “I am a disciple of Juxia. Our sect leader asked me to take care of you.”
"Thank you for your trouble."
"It's alright. Please wait a moment, there's still some food warming in the kitchen, I'll go get it. Please wash your face first." With that, Xi Xiangfeng trotted out.
Mingjin washed her face and dried it with a towel. The water was cold, but fortunately, she had recovered and, since Juxia was hotter than Kongyun Mountain and summer was just around the corner, washing with this cool water was actually quite comfortable and refreshing.
"Please use it."
Xi Xiangfeng quickly brought out a lunchbox containing a bowl of porridge, a small dish of side dishes, and three steamed buns. After thanking her, Mingjin watched Xi Xiangfeng pack up the lunchbox and invited her to sit down first.
“Senior, please eat first. Mr. Pang came yesterday evening and left this morning. He said he still had to go to the academy to give a lecture and would come over again tonight if he had time.” Xi Xiangfeng was a talkative person. Ming Jin was busy eating and didn’t say anything, so Xi Xiangfeng sat next to her and started talking to himself. “When I brought you here yesterday, my master told me to let you rest well.”
"Your master?"
"It's Master Wan from Juxia."
“I can’t quite remember. Did it happen yesterday?” Mingjin wasn’t sure about the timing. “I remember Jingyun came to help us.”
"What happened yesterday," Xi Xiangfeng recalled, "Yesterday morning, after Jing Yun finished practicing his skills, he went back and found that the class elder had not yet returned from Huicheng. He guessed that the class elder had gone off to do something on his own. But he didn't dare to go by himself, so he dragged Senior Brother Chai and Jing Xun, namely Senior Brother Chai Wang and Senior Brother Duan Shuxuan, along with him. Jing Yun knew that the class elder had been to Baicheng before, and he happened to meet your messenger bird on the way, so he rushed over."
"Did you see the class elder? How is he?"
“Elder Ban has been unconscious and hasn’t woken up yet,” Xi Xiangfeng’s tone lowered slightly when he heard Ming Jin mention Ban Rui. “But you and Elder Ban were both injured and unconscious. Elder Ji from Kongyun Mountain rushed over and stabilized your injuries. Then she and Elder Du dealt with that evil spirit and captured it alive. After the sect leader arrived, he set up a magic array nearby and imprisoned the evil spirit there.”
"Do you know Elder Du and Elder Ji? Are they alright?" Ming Jin was still worried about Ji Zhen's poisoning and hurriedly asked.
“I went there with the sect leader yesterday. When we arrived, the evil spirit had already been captured. Elder Du did not have any fatal injuries, but he injured his eyes because he stayed in the fire circle for too long. Elder Ji has already treated him, but he insisted on not leaving and is still near that magic array. Elder Ji is currently at Elder Ban's residence, watching over his injuries. She is fine.”
"Where do the squad leaders live? I'd like to go and see them."
"Senior, the sect leader said you should rest well. You were injured and fainted yesterday." Xi Xiangfeng couldn't help but feel nervous upon hearing Ming Jin's request.
"I wasn't injured yesterday?" Ming Jin asked, somewhat puzzled. "I'm just a little tired, and my body is a bit sore now."
"Elder Ji said you didn't suffer any external injuries, because the damage from ghost magic is all withstood by one's cultivation. So you are currently weak internally and must rest. Also, your hands."
Hearing Xi Xiangfeng's words, Mingjin carefully examined her hands and noticed the varying shades of light on them—marks left by the healing technique. She had pulled Banrui from the scorching ashes yesterday, leaving some wounds on her hands.
Mingjin tested the dexterity of his fingers.
“Yesterday, Master also took your pulse and said that the injury you suffered before may have affected your senses, making you feel injured and tired without realizing it. Elder Ji was also very worried about this, so the two of them asked me to take care of you.”
"I really don't feel anything, even my eyes are fine..."
At this point, Mingjin suddenly remembered Daoxin's words.
Nothing serious will happen, but you might get a minor injury.
beginning of autumn.
The Daoist mind is something that cannot be expressed in words.
"Don't worry, I'm just going over to take a look," she said, realizing that her situation had become somewhat chaotic due to Dao Xin's intervention, so she didn't intend to trouble others with it. "Does the class elder live far away?"
“It’s not far,” Xi Xiangfeng said. “If you insist on going, I have to go with you, otherwise Master will scold me. But you have to wait until I’m done with my work and have lunch, then we can go together.”
"good."
After speaking, Mingjin focused on eating. After finishing, Xi Xiangfeng cleared away the dishes and told Mingjin to go back to bed for a while. After all, venturing into the evil spirit's formation yesterday must have cost him a considerable amount of his cultivation.
The rain outside got heavier.
Mingjin pushed the window open a little. Nearby was a large garden with a pavilion. Beyond that were two rows of willow trees, with the clinic's wall sandwiched between them.
The willows are broad and green, stretching to the horizon. With the addition of the rain, the whole world is bathed in a faint bluish-green hue.
Rain was blown in by the wind, so Mingjin quickly closed the window and went back to bed. But she woke up and couldn't stay in bed, so she decided to go out for a walk around the clinic. Xi Xiangfeng was a little worried when he saw her come out, but Mingjin said she just wanted to look around, so his worries subsided.
Mingjin didn't want Xi Xiangfeng to worry, so she wandered around the area within Xi Xiangfeng's sight. However, in doing so, she also found the round doorway leading to the courtyard outside the window.
She had no umbrella in her hand, but simply stood under the eaves watching the rain fall. It seemed there was no one else in the clinic besides the two of them; all was quiet, as if time had stopped, frozen only in the moment of the falling rain.
She stood there until the rain intensified, the wind shifted, and raindrops blew onto Mingjin before turning back.
A young man of about fifteen or sixteen years old walked in from outside, carrying a larger lunchbox. Hearing the footsteps, Xi Xiangfeng put down what he was doing cutting medicinal herbs and went over to check on him: "Thank you for your help."
Juxia's clinic didn't have a kitchen, so she had to trouble someone to cook and deliver the food.
Mingjin and Xixiangfeng sat facing each other in the room, preparing to have lunch.
"This is really troublesome."
"Don't worry about it," Xi Xiangfeng said while setting out the dishes. "You risked your life to save the squad leader, and we are all very grateful to you."
"By the way, what happened after the evil spirits set fire to that area yesterday? Did it catch fire? Also, there's a house nearby that's said to be a gathering place for evil spirits. What happened to it after that?"
“Master said that was just the fire magic of a ghost. When the ghost was gone, the fire was gone, and no plants or trees were harmed. But the woodcutter who went up the mountain saw the ghost's fire magic. My senior brothers came down the mountain and said that it was the Taoist priests who had performed the magic and fooled him.”
Xi Xiangfeng held a bowl in one hand and used chopsticks to pick up food with the other.
"That house is big, and only the steward is a normal person. The steward said he knows that the family members are all abnormal, but the head of the family, that guy named Yu Dayou, is very generous and has given him a lot of money to do things, so he pretends to be blind to it. He said there are three people in the house who have the final say: one man named Yu Dayou, and two women. One usually wears red and is named Dangen, and the other is dressed in black and red, the one we arrested, named Pinghe. Besides these three, there are three other people who do things, but they don't usually talk to him. This morning they went out with Yu Dayou, and none of them have come back."
"After the incident, the butler didn't say anything?"
“No,” Xi Xiangfeng shook his head. “His family used to be quite wealthy. That house used to belong to them, but they couldn’t keep it, so they sold it to Yu Dayou. Now that Yu Dayou has disappeared, he’s taken the house back. He also told his fellow disciples that he would keep his mouth shut and that they shouldn’t bother him. If anyone asks, he’ll say that Yu Dayou went to do business elsewhere. Anyway, merchants travel all over the place, and many starve to death on the road.”
"You've got guts," Mingjin murmured.
"My master said the same thing, so he was interested in hiring him. But he said he was greedy and afraid of death, and only planned to spend the rest of his life guarding the gold in Yu Dayou's house, and then die after he spent it all. Then he closed his doors to visitors."
“There might be a lot of things worth investigating in this house.” Mingjin carefully picked through the rice in his bowl with his chopsticks.
“That kid said he wanted the masters to spend money to buy things from the house,” Xi Xiangfeng said, rolling his eyes. “Uncle Zhang couldn’t stand his behavior, so he knocked him unconscious with a chop to the neck, and then everyone took the opportunity to turn the house upside down. But they didn’t touch his money.”
Although the two ate at the same table, Xi Xiangfeng ate faster than Ming Jin and then rushed over to continue working. When Ming Jin didn't have an appetite, she ate slowly and in small amounts. By the time the food had gotten cold, she had almost finished eating and then got up to clear the table.
Just then, someone knocked on the door and came in.
"Senior Sister Ming."
The newcomer was Duan Shuxuan. He was carrying a dripping umbrella, shaking off the water as he walked.
Are you alright?
“It’s nothing,” Mingjin shook his head. “Where did you come from?”
“It’s a ghost,” Uncle Duan turned around, “The masters want us to come back and change shifts. I came here to get some things from Xiangfeng.”
"She's been busy since this morning, and I haven't seen her since she finished eating."
Speaking of which, Ming Jin hadn't even seen Xi Xiangfeng. Just as Duan Shuxuan finished speaking, Xi Xiangfeng came out carrying a basket of medicine: "I haven't finished yet."
"What should I do?" Duan Shuxuan panicked upon hearing this. "They're going to inspect my medicinal herbs this afternoon, and if the sect leader finds out, I'll get scolded again. Good sister, please help me. You know the sect leader will just smile and say nice things, and then punish me with some deadly tasks."
“Who told you to go out drinking with Senior Brother Chai?” Xi Xiangfeng frowned at him. “He can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, but you started talking nonsense after just a couple of sips and even tried to outdrink him. You had a hangover and a headache all day. Learn your lesson.”
"I'll work with you, let's finish this quickly."
"No. I need to take Senior Ming to the class elder in a bit. You can continue doing it yourself."
As she spoke, Xi Xiangfeng threw the basket into Duan Shuxuan's arms, and Duan Shuxuan grabbed her arm, begging for her help. But when she heard Xi Xiangfeng say that she was going to take Mingjin to Banrui's place, Duan Shuxuan thought for a moment and said, "Senior Sister Ming, I'll find someone else to take you there. If Xiangfeng doesn't help me, I'll get scolded again."
This was no big deal for Mingjin, and Xi Xiangfeng seemed unwilling to let the unserious Duan Shuxuan suffer, so Mingjin nodded.
A voice calling for someone came from outside the door.
"Duan Jingxun, are you coming or not?"
The gate was never closed.
Mingjin walked towards the gate and came face to face with Chai Wang standing in the rain with an umbrella.
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