By the time the medical clinic quieted down, it was already the hour of the Shen, and Lin Yue was tidying up medicinal ingredients with the other three medicine apprentices.
When she arrived at the prefecture capital, she heard that Ji Shi Hall was recruiting medicine apprentices, so she signed up. After studying medical books for a month, coupled with her five years of experience studying medicine, she stood out among more than two hundred applicants to become one of the four medicine apprentices.
She thought the matter was settled, but unexpectedly, there was a pulse-taking physical exam at the end. Ma Lin, the doctor who took her pulse, discovered her identity, but merely glanced at her without exposing her, ultimately taking her on as a medicine apprentice.
It was time to collect wages again. Lin Yue received her monthly pay of two taels. Leaving Ji Shi Hall, she walked south for about two quarters of an hour to return to the small rented courtyard. Just as she pulled out her key to open the door, the landlord emerged from around the corner, smiling and waving at her.
"Hey! Little Doctor Lin, you're back!"
The medical examination here was extremely rigorous. For those who qualified as medicine apprentices, each of them basically knew how to treat things like fevers and colds. With solid fundamentals, they could be considered half an amateur doctor, so calling her "Little Doctor" was not an exaggeration.
She was the only doctor living in Fengkou Alley. Whenever any family had a minor ailment, they would basically seek her out for treatment. A clinic doctor's consultation fee alone was twenty copper coins, and a single visit would cost at least fifty coins, whereas Lin Yue charged only five coins for a consultation. Adding some cheap medicinal ingredients, the whole thing came out to only around ten or so coins.
It was the difference between a small clinic and a hospital. More importantly, Lin Yue did not rip people off, and the medicine she prescribed was effective, so the local people were very polite to her.
Whenever the day came for her to receive her monthly wage, the landlord would show up right on time, calling out to her every single time just as she was pulling out her key. Lin Yue took out five mace of silver from her money pouch and handed it over to him. "Uncle Li, count and see if it's enough."
"Ah, Little Doctor Lin, put it back! You treated my daughter last time, and Uncle Li hasn't even thanked you yet..."
"Uncle Li, since you call me a doctor, this is my duty. Besides, I took payment for it."
After the two pushed back and forth for a bit, the landlord could not win against Lin Yue and finally accepted the money, dropping it straight into his large coin pouch with a pleasant clinking sound.
"Little Doctor Lin hasn't eaten yet, right? Your aunt is about finished cooking. Why not come eat at Uncle Li's place? Let Uncle Li thank you properly, and don't refuse this time."
Lin Yue lowered her eyes, her attitude turning somewhat firm. "Uncle Li, my medical skills are limited, and I am truly powerless to cure your daughter's illness. I am deeply ashamed, so Uncle Li had better invite someone else to treat her."
Landlord Li had an only daughter who suffered from madness and needed year-round medication. Now that she had reached marriageable age, he was scouting for a son-in-law, wanting to recruit a matrilocal husband. Lin Yue had come to the prefecture capital all alone, was studying medicine, and was unfamiliar with the place and people—making her easy for him to control.
When she went over last time, Lin Yue hadn't known this yet. But seeing the landlord act overly warm and pry into all sorts of things, she grew vigilant and kept her guard up, claiming she was already engaged. Even so, his enthusiasm didn't wane in the slightest, so she found an opportunity to take her leave.
After returning, she inquired around and learned about the situation. If she went, it would certainly be a Hongmen banquet.
"Ah, Uncle Li just wants to treat you to a meal, that's all. Could it be that you look down on your aunt's cooking?"
Lin Yue remained resolute in her attitude. "I have already eaten. Uncle Li, please go back quickly. Aunt has cooked the food and is waiting for you!"
Lin Yue entered the courtyard and closed the door.
Landlord Li called out several times outside the door. Seeing no movement inside, his face darkened, and he grumbled as he walked away. "What an arrogant brat! I, Li Da, lack for nothing. I don't believe I can't find someone willing to marry into my family..."
Hearing the footsteps fade into the distance, Lin Yue let out a sigh. It seemed she would have to move.
Glancing at the sky, she saw it was already late. Tomorrow, she would take a day off to look for a house.
Sweeping a glance forward, just as her hand touched the door, Lin Yue froze for a moment. The mark she had made was gone; someone had opened this door.
Smelling the faint scent of blood in the air, Lin Yue turned around and walked back.
After walking just a few steps, the door behind her was kicked open. Lin Yue immediately ran toward the courtyard gate when she suddenly saw a dark shadow streak rapidly across the ground. In the blink of an eye, a tall figure appeared right in front of her.
Lightness skill!
The tall fellow spun around. Just as his arm swung his broadsword back, he saw white powder tossed straight at his face. Cursing inwardly, he hastily held his breath and retreated.
Yet just as his foot took a step back, a gust of wind from a staff broke through the white powder and swung down toward his head. The tall fellow immediately raised his blade to block. With a sharp clang, the red staff vibrated, shaking out fine red powder that rained down on him like a fine red mist.
"Damn it!" the tall fellow cursed in his heart. Shoving the staff aside, he patted off the dust on his body and charged at her, but after only a few steps, his vision began to spin violently. Leaving behind a single cry of "Despicable!", he collapsed to the ground with a loud thud.
Lin Yue prodded the man with her staff. Receiving no reaction, she flipped him over and sprinkled another handful of medicinal powder to season him further.
The dust on the redwood staff was a mixed knock-out drug she had specially prepared. One of the toxic ingredients, red-tongue poison vine, was something she had accidentally discovered deep in the mountains. Its potency was extremely strong, taking effect as fast as an anesthetic, able to cause brief unconsciousness.
Lin Yue looked toward the wide-open house door. She had smeared a fine layer of medicinal powder along the crack of the door, as subtle as dust under a beam of light. Opening the door would stir it into a swirl. It had strong concealment and would not be easily discovered, serving to prevent anyone with ill intent from breaking into her home.
In addition, she had placed several strong-smelling medicinal herbs inside the room. The mixed fragrance of the herbs blended with the knock-out incense she had prepared; once inhaled, it would leave a person completely powerless within minutes before falling unconscious. The scent was so faint that even she could barely smell it, let alone these outsiders.
This tall fellow hadn't passed out inside, likely because he had inhaled only a small amount, or perhaps he had noticed something strange about his companion and held his breath. There was at least one more person here.
Lin Yue held her staff and stepped cautiously into the room. The furnishings inside were somewhat messy, and the medicinal herbs on the shelves had been rummaged through. Scanning the room, apart from those two rows of medicine shelves, everything was visible at a glance with no place to hide. Lin Yue fixed her gaze behind the medicine shelf.
The sky was dark, but one could vaguely make out something lying there. Lin Yue sprinkled a handful of knock-out powder in that direction and tapped with her staff. Crisp thuds echoed; judging by the sound, his head seemed quite solid.
Lin Yue lit a fire striker. Bringing the firelight closer to take a look, she saw he bore a seventy percent resemblance to a middle-aged Scholar Lu. An arrowhead was embedded in his upper back, and his clothes, like the tall fellow's, were a washed-out pale blue cotton short jacket.
Checking the courtyard thoroughly, she found no one else, discovering only a few drops of blood beneath the back courtyard wall—likely dripped when they jumped down. After wiping them away, Lin Yue climbed over the wall, hopped back after a moment, bound the two up, searched them, and threw them into the cellar.
Lin Yue stared at the fire striker she had searched out and fell silent. She decisively put away her one mace of silver, picked up a basin of water, and splashed it onto the two. With a splashing sound, the injured man was the first to awaken.
As the water seeped into his wound, the pain made him gasp repeatedly.
Opening his eyes, he saw a youth with dark, dead eyes staring coldly down at him in the flickering firelight, completely motionless as if a dead person.
A cold voice spilled from the "dead person's" mouth. "Who are you?"
A raspy, breathless middle-aged male voice replied, "People of the jianghu."
"What are you doing here?"
"Passing through to look for medicine."
Lin Yue frowned. The risks of being a doctor were actually this high! Medical disputes were one thing, but even random passersby would drop in for a look. Who knew if she might just lose her life like this one day? She would definitely have to switch professions in the future.
"Brat! You'd better untie the two of us quick! When my brothers arrive, we might still leave you a whole corpse..." the tall fellow shouted.
Hearing this, murder intent surged within Lin Yue. Tightening her grip on the red staff, she gave an insincere smile.
"This is my territory. Do you think your brothers will arrive faster, or that the two of you will die faster?"
"Young brother, please forgive him. This brother of mine is a bit reckless. We came here only to look for medicine and will not harm you."
Lin Yue didn't buy it. "Hmph. As soon as he saw me, he rushed over with his saber drawn."
The tall fellow was equally unyielding. "Who told you brat to mess with knock-out drugs? If not for that stuff, I would have left long ago!"
"Not much capability, yet quite a temper. Go back to sleep!"
With a heavy thud, the tall fellow fell fast asleep, snoring like thunder.
Lin Yue pointed her red staff at the injured man. "I'll give you one chance."
The man in blue succinctly recounted what had happened.
"We were being pursued by enemies and fled here."
"Rest assured, we've already shaken them off. They won't track us here."
The man in blue had hazy eyes, half-opening them as he said, "Young brother, this arrowhead is poisoned. Could you apply some medicine for me? I would be boundlessly grateful!"
Lin Yue nodded. "Applying medicine is fine, but how will you express your gratitude? Surely not just with a thank-you?"
The man in blue fell silent. "May I ask what you need me to do, young brother?"
"What can you offer?"
In the flickering firelight, the expressions on both faces shifted between light and shadow. After a moment of heavy silence, he spoke.
"A single promise from me, Song Jiqing..."
"I want your cultivation technique."
"What I practice are inner sect techniques not transmitted to outsiders, but I can give you other ones."
"Are they better than yours?"
"Slightly inferior."
Seeing the youth's dissatisfaction, he advised, "All martial arts under heaven progress from simple to complex, and from complex to simple, adapting to changes through combat. There is no such thing as the best technique in the world, nor is there the worst. What is good is not necessarily suitable, and what is suitable is not necessarily good..."
"So, which is more important: your life or your technique?"
Song Jiqing looked at the stern youth before him and lapsed into silence.
Seeing the youth raise the red staff and position it above his head—with more powder seemingly falling onto his face—his eyes grew heavier and heavier. Just as he was about to lose consciousness completely, he finally thought of a compromise.
"I can teach you the technique, but—"
Before he could finish his sentence, his eyes closed completely.
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