"An empty coffin?"
"Truly empty," Jiao Tu said. "I opened the coffin myself, there were no garments or burial goods inside. Old Master Liu might still be alive, perhaps even now at the Liu Family Mansion."
The Liu Family Mansion was located on Longmen Mountain in the south of Luocheng City, covering several hundred acres. People in Luocheng often joked that if an ordinary family's daughter married into the Liu's tall-walled, gray-tiled compound, she would likely never leave it and would die inside.
Jiao Tu removed the blindfold from Chen Ji, and the three sat on the ground atop Zhuangyuan Mountain. "Let's discuss what we should do next."
Yun Yang hesitated for a long time. "The Liu Family dares to defy the entire world by faking that old man's death to pressure the Spy Department? Does that mean that from top to bottom, the Liu Family is siding with the enemy, just like Liu Shenyu?"
Jiao Tu raised her arms and tied her hair up. "The Liu Family has controlled the Central Plains for a long time, holding eighty percent of the land and officials, even the court must look to them when levying grains and taxes. Families like the Liu, Xu, Hu, Chen, Qi, and Yang have long placed their family interests above those of the nation. It's not strange that they collude."
"But the Emperor's Longevity Army is stationed right at the border of Henan Province; how dare they?" Yun Yang was astonished.
After a moment of thought, Jiao Tu said, "What if Prince Jing Mansion is colluding with the Liu Family? I will soon send a message via carrier pigeon to Lord Prime Minister. This matter is beyond you and me; we must have troops dispatched here!"
"Yes, deploy troops to surround the Liu Family immediately!"
Chen Ji interrupted, "Two lords..."
Yun Yang's eyes lit up. "What, you have another idea? Speak up, you always have good thoughts!"
Chen Ji said, "Could you two lords please settle the payment? The last fifty taels from Lord Jiao Tu have not been given yet; the total should be 150 taels."
Jiao Tu's face darkened. "Always about money, money, money."
Chen Ji urgently needed money. He had roughly estimated the amount of Ice Flow in his body, and this time, it would need more than a dozen ginseng roots to resolve. There were still many Ice Flows in the inner prison of Luocheng, and going back and forth might cost up to a thousand silver taels to settle everything.
His cultivation path was really burning through money!
He said with a smile, "Two lords, just discovering an empty coffin is already a mighty achievement. I'm sure the Prime Minister will be very pleased. Compared to this, what's a hundred silver taels?"
Reluctantly, Jiao Tu took off a purple sandalwood bead bracelet from her wrist. "Here, a Buddhist Treasure, it can be taken to Tuoluo Temple to get a hundred silver taels."
Chen Ji was taken aback as he examined the bracelet; each bead inscribed with densely packed text, dazzling to the observer.
"Can this be used to withdraw money?" he asked curiously.
"You've never seen Buddhist Treasure?" Jiao Tu explained. "These beads have their own secret code, just take it to their Xiangji Kitchen and naturally someone will pay according to the code; they can understand it."
Chen Ji grew more curious. "What if I carve a bracelet exactly like this one myself? Can't I also exchange it for money?"
Jiao Tu chuckled lightly. "I advise you to abandon that thought. Many in Jianghu have thought about targeting the Buddhist Sect; in the end, they were all 'delivered.'"
Meanwhile, Yun Yang took out five small silver ingots. "Here."
Chen Ji's smile was sincere. "Thanks for your patronage. I have been out too long today, please send me back, and as for how to handle the Liu Family situation, it's not something I can get involved in."
His savings totaled to two hundred silver taels, plus, 173 copper coins.
Not counting the fifty silver taels under the bed.
...
...
It was 1 AM by the time the carriage dropped Chen Ji off at the doorstep of Taiping Medical Hall.
Jiao Tu and Yun Yang had just lost a sum of money, and even the joy of gaining a reward was diluted. Without any exchange of pleasantries, they drove off.
As the carriage left, Wu Yun jumped from the roof into Chen Ji's arms. "I've memorized the location of the inner prison now... ah, you're so cold."
"I brought too much Ice Flow in the inner prison. Did you see Jiao Tu's cultivation method?" Chen Ji asked, holding copper coins in his left hand and embracing Wu Yun with his right as they walked towards the medical hall.
"I saw it. A Yin God burst out from between her brows, fierce!" Wu Yun said.
Chen Ji pushed open the door of the medical hall, but at that moment, exactly at 1:45 AM, the Ice Flow surged as expected.
It was a peculiar time when the dormant Ice Flow always surged forth, unyielding.
Chen Ji struggled towards the medicine cabinet; a medicine merchant had visited in the morning, so his master should have replenished the ginseng.
However, before he even reached the cabinet, he was already struggling to move.
Chen Ji struggled to say, "Wu Yun... ginseng."
Inside the medical hall, Wu Yun leapt from Chen Ji's arms, skillfully jumped onto the medicine cabinet, pulled open the drawer, and brought back a new ginseng to touch Chen Ji.
Cling-clang, the ginseng transformed into ten transparent beads that hit the floor and bounced; Wu Yun ran around chasing the beads, swallowing them one by one.
The returning Molten Flow instantly ignited the Taiyin acupoints on the left and right sides outside Dantian!
Exhausted, Chen Ji leaned against the counter, stroking Wu Yun's head. "Thank you."
Wu Yun raised his head. "You don't have to thank me in the future... What if your master finds out the ginseng is missing?"
Chen Ji was troubled. "I need to quickly buy a new one before master notices, to replace it."
Wu Yun pondered for a moment. "Or, should I go beat up that fat white cat again to balance your accounts?"
Chen Ji solemnly agreed. "…Good idea!"
At that moment, the sparse voice of Old Yao came from behind him, "To think that you took from morning till evening just to deliver some medicine."
Chen Ji instinctively turned around, blocking the still-open drawer of the medicine cabinet behind him. "Master? How is it that you make no sound at all when you walk?"
Not to mention Chen Ji, even Wu Yun had not noticed the other's approach!
Old Yao stood in the main hall of the medical hall with his hands behind his back, a mocking expression on his face. "You know how to come back? Why are you standing there not moving, come here!"
Chen Ji dared not move, for the drawer of the medicine cabinet behind him was still open!
Just as he was rapidly thinking of a strategy, he saw Wu Yun jump down from his embrace and run to Old Yao, leaping up in front of him.
Old Yao was startled for a moment, instinctively reaching out to catch Wu Yun; the fluffy little black cat meowed in his hands, blinking its golden vertical pupils.
Only to see Old Yao silent for a long time, finally embracing Wu Yun says to Chen Ji with a cold laugh, "It seems to understand more than you… Come, Wu Yun, let's go have some pastries."
Chen Ji: What?
With this diversion caused by Wu Yun, Old Yao actually forgot to scold him.
Taking advantage of the moment Old Yao turned around, Chen Ji quickly and quietly closed the medicine cabinet.
Just as it closed, he heard the light voice of Old Yao, "What else are you hiding? Buy a replacement for me tomorrow, check the ledgers thoroughly, not even a hair can be missing."
Chen Ji awkwardly followed to the backyard and diverted the topic, "Master, where are my two senior brothers?"
Old Yao said indifferently, "She Dengke, his third brother is holding a banquet for a rich family and took Liu Quxing to sneak in to watch the opera; they'll be back tomorrow morning. I was going to take you too, but you kept delaying your return."
He picked up a purple wooden box from the house, the first drawer filled with pastries, the second with candied fruit.
Wu Yun, having not eaten all day, stuffed its mouth full.
Chen Ji just glanced into the drawer and was glared at by Old Yao.
"If you're hungry, go cook something for yourself in the kitchen," Old Yao said coldly.
"Okay."
Chen Ji took a multigrain cake from the kitchen, and while nibbling on it, he asked, "Master, this time of 1:45 AM, does it hold any special meaning?"
Old Yao, while feeding Wu Yun the pastries in his hand, frowned and pondered, "1:45 AM… That's the time you were born."
"Hmm?" Chen Ji astonished, pondered the surging of the Ice Flow at that time, was it because 1:45 AM was his own birth hour?
Odd, was the grand consciousness in that battlefield intending to seize his body specifically at the moment of his birth?
Chen Ji hesitated for a long time, finally earnestly asking, "Master, what is an Executive Officer?"
Old Yao glanced at him and said, "Why should I tell you? You can sell intelligence for money, yet you seek free information from me?"
As soon as the words fell, Wu Yun stopped eating the pastries and just nuzzled Old Yao's hand with its fluffy head.
Seeing this, Old Yao spoke up irritably, "You sly creature, appearing obedient but quite scheming."
He slowly continued, "An Executive Officer refers to people on the Cultivation Path, encompassing a wide variety of practices and walks of life."
Chen Ji puzzled asked, "Why aren't they known to the common folk?"
Old Yao, stroking Wu Yun's head, replied, "It's only that most people are unaware; most Executive Officers need to conceal their Cultivation Paths well, otherwise they attract the covetousness of their peers."
"Why?"
"Because the Dao that each Cultivation Path seeks to attain is like a bowl of water. There is only so much water in the bowl; the more people share it, the less each person can drink. And if you wish to walk the final heavenly path, you need to drink that bowl alone; sharing is not an option."
Chen Ji, taken aback, realized, conservation of energy?
He now understood why Yun Yang had said that on the Cultivation Path, there were only life and death; under such a heavenly rule, those practicing the same path naturally became adversaries.
Chen Ji calmly asked, "So, Master, are you an Executive Officer…?"
Old Yao smiled, and summoning toward the sky, suddenly there were sounds of flapping wings and a large crow descended!
Chen Ji immediately rose to his feet, realizing this crow belonged to his master!
Whether it was when Ice Flow was troubling him or when he visited Liu Shenyu's house to investigate, this entity had been present!
"Master, you knew all along," Chen Ji hesitated.
"What difference does it make whether I knew or not," Old Yao gently stroked the crow's feathers, while the crow looked at Chen Ji, its beak curling into a silent laugh as if mocking his ignorance of the world.
The Master's crow, just as sarcastically as the Master himself.
At that moment, the crow looked at Wu Yun, who was still busily eating, then at Old Yao, its beak making a 'gah gah gah' sound.
Old Yao patiently said to it, "Meet your new friend."
In the next second, the crow glanced at Chen Ji, then back at Old Yao.
Old Yao continued patiently, "This one, not yet."
Chen Ji: "…"