Chapter 9: Moving Amidst Danger

Three apprentices, born in the same year, the same month, the same day, and at the same hour.

It was as if they had been chosen by fate simultaneously, bound by some peculiar arrangement.

Chen Ji associated this with Old Man Yao’s penchant for divination using the I Ching, as well as his "stone-carrying, pole-hugging" technique that could resist the flow of ice. He always felt that there were many secrets hidden within this master.

Could it be that in this world, the art of the I Ching truly possessed the mysterious power to inquire of the heavens above and the underworld below?

As he pondered, a middle-aged man in a dark blue long gown arrived at the door. Liu Quxing hurriedly greeted him with a smile: "Steward Wang, coming to the clinic so late?"

The middle-aged man bowed to Old Man Yao: "Imperial Physician Yao, my mistress has been suffering from vomiting and diarrhea since lunch today, and now she has fallen into a coma. My master sent me to invite you for a house call. If you are willing to come, you will be handsomely rewarded."

Old Man Yao glanced at him and casually tossed six copper coins onto the counter: "Earth-Fire Mingyi, Wind-Marsh Zhongfu... It is not a good night to go out. I won't go."

Chen Ji: "Huh?"

The steward looked troubled: "Old Master Yao, you are a doctor; you must have a benevolent heart. How can you disregard a human life because of some ethereal hexagram?"

"There are so many doctors in Luo City, why does it have to be me?" Old Man Yao glared at him. "Your Li family has always been stingy. Last time you came to beg for a visit at night, you also said there would be a handsome reward. In the end, after I went to treat his mother's headache with a single needle, your mistress thought my fee was too easy to earn and tried to welch on the so-called reward. When I left, you actually just gave me two smoked salted fish. Whoever wants to go, can go!"

Steward Wang was anxious: "Imperial Physician Yao, my mistress is of advanced age, please show some consideration..."

Old Man Yao stroked his beard: "Don't bring age into this. She is more than thirty years younger than me. No one in all of Luo City can play the 'elder' card with me."

Steward Wang: "..."

Old Man Yao waved his hand: "She Dengke, show him out!"

After She Dengke saw Steward Wang off and returned, he asked Old Man Yao: "Master, why don't you let us go on house calls? A single visit could earn us a tael of silver."

Old Man Yao scolded him in anger: "You've been with me for two years and still can't even take a pulse correctly. Sending you on a house call now is no different from sending an assassin!"

She Dengke’s breath hitched: "Master, I have been trying hard to learn..."

Old Man Yao raised a bamboo rod and struck She Dengke on the arm: "Get out and cook!"

She Dengke hurried toward the backyard, with Liu Quxing following behind him—one tall, sturdy, and as bulky as an iron tower, the other thin as a hemp stalk.

Once in the backyard, She Dengke said in a low voice: "You went too far today. We are fellow disciples; you shouldn't treat people like that."

Liu Quxing paused: "I went too far? How did I go too far? His family doesn't pay his tuition, is that my fault? Don't forget, the master only takes one personal disciple!"

She Dengke fell into deep thought. Only a personal disciple could inherit an official position in the Imperial Medical Academy; the three apprentices were inherently in competition.

...

...

The scent of food wafted from the kitchen. A low dining table and stools were set up in the courtyard. Old Man Yao held a bowl of millet porridge, slowly sipping from the edge.

On the table sat a dish of pickled vegetables and a dish of tofu. She Dengke and Liu Quxing sat upright on their small stools, only daring to pick up their chopsticks after the master had finished eating and wiped his mouth.

Chen Ji couldn't afford the tuition, so he didn't even have a place to sit; he could only stand to the side, gnawing on a coarse grain cake.

He didn't know what kind of wild vegetables were mixed into the coarse grain cake, but it was somewhat difficult to swallow. Chen Ji scooped a ladle of water from the vat, used it to wash the cake down, and then picked up a bucket and a rag to head toward the main hall.

Old Man Yao glanced at him: "It's already dark, and you're still working?"

"I'm afraid I won't finish tomorrow's tasks, so I got up to mop the floor first," Chen Ji explained.

Old Man Yao scratched his eyebrow: "A 'bitter meat' ploy? Don't try to use a 'bitter meat' ploy on me; I won't soften my heart."

Chen Ji smiled: "I wouldn't, Master. I will earn the tuition and give it to you as soon as possible."

He truly wanted to stay at the clinic. Whether it was the threat from the White Rabbit and Cloud Sheep, or the unsolved mystery of the ice flow within his body, he needed to stay here to find a solution.

His situation after arriving in this world seemed less than ideal... but there was nothing to complain about. The world had given him a chance to live again; that was already quite good.

Pessimists are always right, but only optimists can always move forward.

Chen Ji placed the bucket on the ground and wrung out the rag to wipe the floor. However, the moment he bent over, that flow of ice within his body surged forth without warning!

A bone-chilling cold struck, rapidly draining the warmth from Chen Ji's body.

In just a few breaths, he began to tremble all over, as if he were standing in the dead of winter wearing only thin clothes.

"What exactly is this ice flow? Is it really the vengeful spirit of the dead? Perhaps I can observe it when Master beats one of the senior brothers to death..."

Chen Ji tremblingly assumed the "stone-carrying, pole-hugging" posture to suppress the ice flow. Strangely, this time the ice flow did not retreat into his dantian, but continued to rampage through his body, as if searching for something.

Feeling the direction the ice flow was surging, he looked behind the counter at the rows of vermilion medicine cabinets.

"What is attracting you?" Chen Ji shuffled toward the medicine cabinets step by step, until he pulled open the drawer labeled 'Ginseng'!

A fifty-year-old ginseng—there was only one in the drawer.

Chen Ji felt the guidance of the ice flow and tried to touch the whiskers of the fifty-year-old ginseng with his hand. To his surprise, the six whiskers of the ginseng melted into a transparent liquid that flowed into his palm, eventually condensing into a bead the size of a thumb.

In an instant, the ice flow in his body was drained away—completely gone!

Hmm?

What is this thing for?

Chen Ji pinched the bead and examined it closely. Inside the transparent bead, a thin, snake-like mist seemed to be constantly swimming.

He wondered whether he should eat this bead, but then he thought, if he ate it, wouldn't the ice flow return to his body?

Better not rush to eat it; the bead wasn't going anywhere. He would check the books to see if there was any information on it first.

Chen Ji tucked the bead into his sleeve and looked down at the old ginseng. The once-lush roots were now missing a small half...

"Will Master discover the anomaly? With his stingy personality, if he finds out the quality of the old ginseng is ruined, how much will I have to pay in damages?! Will he kick me out of the clinic directly?!"

Chen Ji felt a jolt of fear. He immediately found the clinic's inventory ledger and flipped to the page for old ginseng: "One fifty-year-old ginseng, three qian, fourteen whiskers."

One qian was about 3 grams; the ledger was kept too meticulously. As soon as Old Man Yao checked the inventory, he would definitely discover the problem with this ginseng.

He frowned and closed the drawer. His already impoverished household had just suffered another blow. He didn't know how often Old Man Yao checked the inventory, but he had to solve this trouble before the next check.

However, what he needed to solve even more urgently was the trouble right in front of him: tomorrow's academic examination.

Chen Ji didn't go back to sleep after mopping the floor; instead, he found the "General Outline of Medical Arts" to read. Although it was a bit late to start learning from scratch, he had to learn it anyway.

The sooner he learned, the fewer beatings he would take.

At this moment, light footsteps came from the backyard. Chen Ji tucked the medical outline under the counter.

He turned his head to see Liu Quxing, wrapped in a padded jacket, peeking at him.

"Senior Brother, why are you awake?"

"I got up to pee and came to check on you," Liu Quxing crept over sneakily. "I have to tell you something, otherwise my conscience won't be at ease."

"What is it?"

Liu Quxing said: "I let you help with the chores today because I really wanted to help you out. Otherwise, if you can't pay the tuition, you really will be kicked home by Master. Don't listen to She Dengke's nonsense; I have no ill intentions."

Chen Ji smiled and said: "Don't worry, Senior Brother Liu, I know your good intentions."

"Alright, as long as you know my good intentions." Liu Quxing returned to the room wrapped in his jacket. She Dengke was still snoring.

He shook She Dengke: "Wake up! Wake up!"

No response.

Liu Quxing said again: "Wake up! Chen Ji is secretly reviewing his studies!"

With a "thump," She Dengke sat up: "What?!"

Liu Quxing hurriedly changed the subject: "I just got up to pee and thought I'd see why Chen Ji hadn't come back to sleep, and I found him secretly reading while we were asleep!"

She Dengke was shocked: "How despicable!"

"Right? Why don't we start studying too!"

She Dengke was impatient: "What is there to study in the middle of the night? Go to sleep! And you, damn it, you aren't allowed to study either!"

"Mm! Not studying! Sleeping!"

In the middle of the night, She Dengke woke up needing to pee. He got up and saw that, at some point, he was the only one left in the room.

The tall, sturdy youth got up suspiciously, wrapped in a long gown, and walked toward the courtyard, only to find orange-red firelight in the kitchen.

He pushed the door open and saw Liu Quxing, wrapped in his padded jacket, sitting on a small stool by the stove, lighting an oil-dregs lamp, holding a book on typhoid pathology in his hands...

"You damn bastard!" She Dengke covered Liu Quxing's mouth and started beating him. Even Chen Ji hadn't expected that he would bring the twisted trend of "involution" into the medical clinic.

Just as they were fighting, a girl carrying a lantern arrived at the clinic door with a hurried expression and shouted loudly: "Imperial Physician Yao, Imperial Physician Yao!"

The white paper lantern had three characters written on it: "Jing Prince's Mansion."

The girl's shouting drew everyone's attention to the clinic. She Dengke stopped beating Liu Quxing and ran outside.

He came to the main hall and opened the door: "Chunhua, why are you here in the middle of the night?"

Chunhua looked to be about eighteen or nineteen, dressed in a bright green ru skirt, with a beautiful and clear appearance. She said urgently: "She Dengke, where is Imperial Physician Yao?"

At this moment, Old Man Yao arrived late, asking slowly with his hands behind his back: "What's the matter?"

Chunhua hurriedly said: "My mistress has had an accident, please come and take a look."

Everyone looked at Old Man Yao, only to see him remain silent for a moment: "It is not a good night to go out. I won't go."

Chen Ji: "Huh?"

Isn't this the medical clinic specifically assigned to the Jing Prince's Mansion?

Chunhua was sweating with anxiety. She hurriedly winked at She Dengke, signaling him to help speak up.

She Dengke hurriedly said: "Master, it's already past the Zi hour, it's a new day. Why don't you cast another hexagram?"

Old Man Yao glanced at him: "Then I'll cast another one."

As he spoke, he took the copper coins from his sleeve and tossed them six times, muttering to himself: "Heaven creates the grass, the hard and soft begin to intersect but difficulty arises, moving within danger, Water-Thunder Tun..."

Old Man Yao's expression changed drastically: "Great misfortune! I won't go, I won't go! This is even more reason not to go!"

Chunhua was so anxious she was about to cry: "Imperial Physician Yao, if I can't invite a doctor in the middle of the night, I will die when I return. And I brought the Prince's Mansion token; your medical clinic must provide a house call."

She Dengke stepped forward: "Master, if you really don't want to go, I'll go!"

Old Man Yao pondered for a moment: "...Chen Ji, you go."

Chen Ji: "Huh? Me?"