The Debate between Good and Evil
Doudou and Lantu passed by the door of the pharmacy. A dull "dong dong" sound came from inside, mixed with suppressed sobs. The two looked at each other.
"I'll go see Mu Jin." Dou Dou said in a low voice.
Lan Tu nodded: "Okay. I'll go tell Hongmao and the others about Miss Su's method." After that, she left in a hurry.
Doudou gently pushed open the pharmacy door. A strong, bitter smell of medicine hit her face. Mujin stood with her back to the door, facing the mortar, swinging the pestle with swift and fierce force, each blow producing a deafening, muffled thud.
The medicinal debris in the mortar flew everywhere, staining her pale yellow dress with tiny specks of dust. When she heard the door open, she didn't stop pounding the herbs; instead, she increased her strength, her shoulders heaving, her suppressed sobs choking in her throat.
"Mujin girl?" Doudou walked closer, deliberately making his voice lighter.
Mu Jin paused in her pounding at the sound, but she remained stiff-necked, refusing to turn around, her back straight. Her pouty lips trembled slightly, and tears welled in her eyes, threatening to fall.
Doudou blinked, didn't ask any more questions, took out a snow-white handkerchief from his sleeve, and held it in front of her eyes: "Here, wipe it. If your tears fall into the medicine, the medicinal properties will be impure, and all your hard work will be in vain."
Mu Jin's hand, holding the pestle high, froze in mid-air. Her neck remained erect, but her tense shoulders slumped slightly. After a few breaths, she grabbed the handkerchief and rubbed it roughly across her face, tears and snot swishing onto it, crumpling the once snow-white handkerchief into a ball.
Doudou felt relieved when she saw she was willing to take the gift. She moved closer and asked, "Why did you come to the pharmacy to argue with the mortar? Isn't the medicine boiled in the kitchen?"
"Uncle Li has already started frying it!" Mu Jin turned her head, her eyes red, her voice nasal, "She just wanted to get rid of me on purpose, afraid that I would expose her grievances! Humph! She said that others 'can't save themselves', but what about herself? She didn't say a word when someone pointed a sword at her, and she was still holding on even when her heart was broken into eight pieces!" She became more and more angry as she spoke, and she smashed the pestle in her hand against the stone mortar. With a dull "bang", medicine chips flew everywhere.
Doudou sat down on the stool next to her and advised, "Sally has a hot temper. But she has no idea how much suffering your young lady has endured and how much she has done behind the scenes. When Hongmao explains everything to her, she'll definitely regret it."
"What's the use!" Mu Jin's tears welled up again, her voice choked with sobs, "The wounds are still there... How can the wounds heal so easily? What about the wounds in my heart?"
Doudou saw her crying even harder and was at a loss for a moment. He scratched his head subconsciously: "Hey, don't cry... or... I can help you pound the medicine?" He stretched out his hand tentatively, but Mu Jin gripped the pestle even tighter and pounded it a few more times as if in a fit of anger.
Doudou's eyes rolled, as if he suddenly remembered something, and he fumbled in his sleeve pocket. After a while, he took out a few candies wrapped in oil paper and carefully tore open the wrapper of one of them.
The wax paper seemed a little sticky, and he fumbled with it for a while. Mu Jin heard the noise, took a quick glance, then quickly looked away. Finally tearing it open, he pinched the edge of the candy wrapper and handed the crystal-clear candy to Mu Jin: "Here, please have some candy. It's sweet."
Mu Jin looked at the candy being offered to her, then at Dou Dou's face, which was filled with sincerity. The resentment that had been pent up in her heart somehow loosened. She hesitantly took the candy and put it in her mouth. The sweetness melted on her tongue, diluting the bitterness in her throat and bringing a sense of relief to her heart.
"Why do you still have candy on you?" Mu Jin said with a candy in her mouth, her voice unclear.
Doudou breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her calm down a bit. He also peeled a candy and threw it into his mouth, saying with a smile, "It's used to treat children. Some children are very scared and cry incessantly, and no matter how you comfort them, it won't work. At this time, taking out a piece of candy is more effective than any panacea. If you encounter a crying little patient in your pharmacy, don't you use this method? What else do you do to comfort them?"
"As for me," Mu Jin's face was soft with memories, "I would play games with them or tell them some interesting stories. When they are happy and laughing, they will naturally not be afraid anymore."
She saw the sword on Doudou's back and felt confused. "Dr. Doudou, you're both a healer and a swordsman. How can the hand that saves also kill? Isn't that a contradiction?"
Doudou nudged the candy against his cheeks, his expression becoming slightly more serious. "Let me put it this way. With my hands, I use medicine to save the lives of those around me; with my sword, I protect the lives of all people. While they may seem like different paths, we actually lead to the same destination."
His voice was solemn. "If even a compassionate heart can't persuade a ghost determined to do evil, then the sword in my hand will be the final mercy that sends him to his doom. In the martial arts world, sometimes when you take a step back, what lies ahead isn't a vast ocean, but a cliff waiting to bite you in the back." He glanced at her with a puzzled look. "Why do you ask this suddenly?"
Mu Jin lowered her head, her fingers stroking the patterns on the pestle. "That day, the Blue Rabbit Palace Master was entangled by a bad guy and was in critical condition. The young lady..." Her fingers suddenly tightened, and her voice became hoarse. "She shot through the man's eyes with a silver needle..." She looked up, her eyes full of confusion. "I understand that the young lady was trying to save people, but... such a method..." Her voice trembled. "The young lady at that moment was so unfamiliar that it scared me..."
Doudou's expression straightened up, his joking expression faded, and his voice became steady: "Xiao Mujin, the Jianghu isn't a school. Just reasoning won't work. If everyone had a heart as kind as your young lady, there wouldn't be any need for these tactics."
He sighed, his voice deepening. "But you have to understand, when facing those black-hearted villains, if you retreat an inch, they'll dare advance another mile. Sometimes, if you want to protect something clean, you can't avoid getting your hands dirty." His gaze grew penetrating. "I'm sure your young lady must have felt incredibly bad when she took action. It's this feeling of 'having to' that's so frustrating and heartbreaking."
Hibiscus was silent for a long time, and the only sound in the pharmacy was the tapping of candies between teeth.
"Then... what about Young Master Tiaotiao?" She hesitated and spoke again. "I heard he's been undercover in the Demonic Cult for ten years. In a place like that," she gripped the pestle tightly, "did he... have to do some terrible things?"
Doudou sighed deeply, his gaze darting out the window as if piercing through time. "That's right. In that damned place, even taking a breath has to be calculated. The hardships and dangers of reaching the high position of guardian are terrifying to even begin with. Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit often say privately that the Seven Swords were nearly wiped out several times in the past, and it was only because of him secretly maneuvering and passing on information that they were able to escape death. Otherwise..."
His voice grew heavier. "He truly is 'black on the outside, white on the inside.' In order to finally poke a hole in that damn place and see the light of day, he had no choice but to immerse himself in inkwells and even learn to use their methods. The pain and struggle he endured were far deeper and more painful than we imagine. It's precisely because of this that his choice is so admirable, yet also so...heartbreaking."
Mu Jin's brows knitted together, confusion deepening in her eyes. "Then... what exactly is 'righteous' and what is 'evil'? The young lady draws heart blood every month to feed the Gu in order to save those medicine men. This should be a great act of kindness, but the medicine men then become the weapons of the Demon Cult. This... seems like a sin. Hall Master Su's medical practice is good, but the mind-controlling Gu he created has harmed countless people. Young Master Tiao Tiao has been in the Demon Cult for ten years. He's openly doing bad things, but deep down he's doing good things..."
Her voice trailed off. "They... don't seem to be able to be simply categorized as 'good' or 'evil'."
"That hits the nail on the head!" Doudou clapped his hands lightly, his eyes full of admiration. "Why did Sally draw her sword against your young lady today? It's because she only saw Miss Su's connection to the Demon Cult, but didn't see the hardships she endured and the righteousness hidden in her heart. She was too concerned and let her anger blind her."
Mu Jin stared blankly at the crushed coptis root in the mortar. As she paused, the scene at the mass grave came flooding back to her mind—those so-called "honorable families" tearing at each other like wild beasts over the mineral veins, their greedy, ferocious faces exposed. She couldn't help but mutter, "So... when judging people and things, we can't just look at the surface. Someone who's pretending to be 'righteous' now might turn around and do something evil. Someone who's being called 'evil' now might one day be vindicated."
Doudou nodded and softened his tone, "Take Sally, who just pissed you off, for example. Tell me, is she good or evil?"
Mu Jin's grip on the pestle tightened as she blurted out, "She hurt my young lady, so I think she's a villain!" But as soon as she said that, she recalled the widely circulated stories of the Seven Swordsmen, and her momentum subsided, her voice becoming much softer. "But... when it comes to righteousness in the martial arts world, she is indeed a heroine respected by everyone..."
Doudou looked at her gradually clearing eyes with a look of relief, and nodded, "That's right! For example, Hall Master Su's Heart Control Gu, originally a life-saving treasure, became a life-threatening talisman in the hands of the Demon Cult. This Gu, like the Seven-Leaf Heartbreak Grass, can prolong life, but it can also hasten it. Miss Su and Tiaotiao also took such a dangerous path. Whether it's a good medicine or a poison doesn't depend solely on the prescription, but on the person who prescribes it and what path he has in mind."
He stared out the window, his tone filled with genuine admiration. "Those two, wallowing in the deepest quagmire, held a bright light in their hearts, desperately trying to keep it from extinguishing. In that pitch-black, filthy place, their hearts remained untouched. Knowing that the next step would lead to a sea of fire and swords, they still gritted their teeth and stiffened their necks to press forward. This determination and perseverance alone is far more remarkable than those of us who mostly live in the sun."
The setting sun shone through the window paper, casting mottled shadows on the medicine cabinet. Mu Jin looked at the tiny spots of light, as if understanding something, and nodded gently.
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