When he regained consciousness, the faint shhh-shhh of a blade being whetted echoed in his ears.
Opening his eyes, he saw the youth beside the oil lamp sharpening a dagger to a bright shine on a small whetstone. The glint of the blade hurt his eyes. What was this kid trying to do?! Song Jiqing's heart trembled along with his legs.
"I already pulled the poisoned arrow out of your wound. The medicine is on the table; get up and drink it yourself."
Now that the youth mentioned it, his upper back truly throbbed with excruciating pain. Song Jiqing shifted his gaze to the left and saw a bowl on the table. Propping his elbows against the bedboard, he pushed himself up, moving as slowly as a ninety-year-old elder.
His legs felt weak. That knock-out drug was vicious—this kid had really held nothing back.
Finally sitting down on a stool, Song Jiqing breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He gave a complicated look to the bowl of medicine on the table, the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone laid out beside it, and the youth sitting opposite him, who was still wiping down the dagger.
A total underworld villain! If I don't agree, he'll chop me to pieces. I've provoked a terrifying character this time.
Plucking up his courage, Song Jiqing picked up the bowl of medicine and gulped it down. He asked, "Little brother, what is your honorable surname?"
"Lin Ze."
The two exchanged some basic information about each other, and then Song Jiqing said:
"If you want to learn my Guiwu Sect's inner sect techniques, you must join our sect and become an eighth-generation disciple of our Guiwu Sect..."
Song Jiqing blabbered on, the core message being that one had to selflessly dedicate their entire life to the sect.
Yet he didn't mention a single word about any benefits.
So Lin Yue asked about it. Song Jiqing's eyes darted away for a second before he said with firm conviction:
"Our Guiwu Sect's founder, Ye Guiwu, was once the illustrious personal disciple of the sect master of Guiwu Sect, the number one grand sect! The entire Mount Guiwu is under our sect's jurisdiction, the folks at the foot of the mountain are under our protection, and our sect's businesses extend thousands of li away..."
Finally, Song Jiqing said, "I came down the mountain this time under my master's orders to recruit disciples. Unfortunately, I haven't found a suitable candidate until now. Seeing that you have extraordinary innate talent, little brother, you are definitely a martial arts genius. Why not join my Guiwu Sect?"
Honest person Lin Yue still asked the very same question.
Song Jiqing picked at the wooden table with his fingernails. "Young man, don't just focus on petty, immediate gains. You must look to the future..."
By the end of his sentence, his gaze inadvertently caught sight of his own faded, washed-out sleeves, and his voice weakened by three degrees.
Lin Yue pushed the brush and paper forward, telling him to write down the technique first, and that everything else would await further notice.
Song Jiqing wrote down the technique and attached the sect's address.
"From now on, you are an eighth-generation disciple of our Guiwu Sect, Third Junior Brother. Drop by the sect to visit when you have time."
Holding up the dozen-plus pages covered in writing, he handed them to Lin Yue with a solemn face, as if handing over something of supreme importance.
Lin Yue didn't respond. She simply took the pages and flipped through them casually.
The technique was named the Guiwu Technique, encompassing both inner cultivation techniques and lightness skills. Like fallen leaves returning to their roots, or rain passing without a trace, mastering it to the pinnacle allowed one to blend into nature and return to nothingness.
Song Jiqing waited nervously for the verdict. Seeing the youth flip through the pages, he suddenly raised his eyes to look at him. That gaze contained so many unspoken words; though they had known each other for less than two hours, Song Jiqing understood every single word without missing a beat—simply because he had gone through the exact same thing back then.
"Third Junior Brother, you must believe your senior brother! This really is our Guiwu Sect's peerless sect-guarding technique..."
Lin Yue told him to demonstrate it. Song Jiqing showed a look of difficulty. "I'm still injured right now..."
Lin Yue told him, "Tomorrow, then."
Song Jiqing wanted to ask for another couple of days, but the unquestionable look in the youth's eyes gave him his answer. He had no choice but to nod. As he was pondering a strategy, he saw the youth pull out that redwood staff and point it at him. Song Jiqing's eyes widened.
"Wait, don't—"
With a crisp thud, Lin Yue dragged the collapsed man back onto the wooden board, tied him up, and then woke up the tall fellow for questioning. She obtained a technique and a confession from him that were largely consistent with Song Jiqing's account.
One was from Guiwu Sect, and the other from Qingshan Sect. Having met on the road, they traveled together. Seeing Qin Wenshou, a personal disciple of Hongwu Martial Arts Hall in the prefecture capital, bullying men and women, they couldn't stomach it and stepped in to teach him a lesson.
Playing the hero felt great for a moment, but as the fight went on, they regretted it. Their opponent genuinely possessed real martial skills. Outmatched, the two immediately bolted. Qin Wenshou led men in pursuit, and Song Jiqing accidentally took a poisoned arrow.
After shaking off their pursuers, they fled to this neighborhood. Seeing medicinal herbs drying in Lin Yue's courtyard, they intended to slip in and borrow some. Who knew that after Song Jiqing went inside, he didn't come out for a long time. The tall fellow waiting outside knew something had gone wrong inside and suspected the herbal fragrance.
Then he heard voices outside—the owner of the courtyard was back. He ambushed her inside the room, intending to capture Lin Yue and force her to hand over the antidote, and so...
"Brother, you prepared so thoroughly. Which underworld path are you from?" The tall fellow looked at her as if looking at a gangster.
"What jianghu people are around here?"
Lin Yue asked. The tall fellow listed a few gang names—without exception, they were backed by gambling dens or brothels, involved in human trafficking, though there were also orthodox figures whose martial skills were about the same as theirs.
Hearing this, Lin Yue said nothing, simply swinging her staff.
The tall fellow went to sleep.
The next morning, Lin Yue went to Ji Shi Hall with sleepy eyes to do her odd jobs.
Near noon, just as Lin Yue finished bandaging a fractured arm for the last patient in the clinic, footsteps echoed from the entrance.
Lin Yue looked up and saw a gentle-featured young lady step across the threshold, walking toward the doctor wearing a peach wood hairpin.
She wore a light white silk blouse on top, a plain pleated skirt below, and a pale green gauze short-sleeved beizi jacket over it. With a tassel bun pinned with a red bean hairpin, her features were soft and gentle. Lightly powdered, she looked bright yet possessed the charm of a modest young lady.
This was Yun Ling, the legitimate daughter of the prefecture capital's Yun family. A month ago, Lin Yue had accompanied Ma Lin to the Yun family to attend to the old lady of the Yun family and met her. She originally had a child engagement with Ma Lin, but for unknown reasons, he broke off the betrothal after that visit. Yun Ling came to ask why, but he stubbornly refused to explain.
Ma Lin paused his brush and looked up. Seeing the visitor, he lowered his eyes and asked, "Miss Yun, are you here to see a doctor?"
Yun Ling nodded and waved behind her. A servant holding his right arm hurried forward, bowing in greeting.
"Doctor Ma."
"He accidentally fell and hurt his arm while pruning branches up in a tree. Please take a look at it for him!"
Ma Lin glanced at the servant.
Seeing this, the servant hurriedly recounted what happened, insisting it was an absolute accident and that the young lady, moved by pity, had brought him all this way to seek medical treatment, which touched him deeply.
Ma Lin stood up, grabbed the servant's arm with a pull and a release, setting the dislocated arm back into place.
"Just be careful in the future."
"Yes, yes!" The servant immediately stepped back.
Ma Lin sat back down, straightened his robes, dipped his brush in ink, and continued writing in the ledger. "Miss Yun, is there anything else?"
Yun Ling extended her hand and placed it on the pulse pillow. "I didn't have much of an appetite yesterday. Please check my pulse."
Ma Lin took out a silk handkerchief, took her pulse, and withdrew his hand a moment later, simply offering medical advice: "No need for medicine. Just eat less cold food."
After a moment, Yun Ling looked up at Ma Lin, her vermilion lips pressing together slightly. "Doctor Ma, Hanxiang has also reached marriageable age. I've scouted a few families for her and currently have a candidate in mind. I'd like Doctor Ma to help take a look."
Seeing that he didn't respond, she continued, "What do you think of Lin Ze? He's learning medicine under you, and he seems like a good person to me..."
"Miss Yun may go ask her." Ma Lin didn't even raise his head.
"Lin Ze, come here for a moment!" Yun Ling waved to Lin Yue.
Lin Yue, who had been watching the drama from the side, raised an eyebrow and walked over pretending to be confused.
Yun Ling smiled, her lips pursed. "Lin Ze, what do you think of Hanxiang?"
Lin Yue looked up at the maid standing beside Yun Ling. The maid tilted her head and winked at her. Lin Yue understood in an instant and nodded.
"Miss Hanxiang is very good—smart, virtuous, and well-educated."
"I wonder if you're interested in her?"
"Naturally."
"Then are you willing to take her as your wife?"
Lin Yue fell silent. After a long moment, she said, "I cannot."
Yun Ling looked at Ma Lin, who was writing with his head lowered in front of her, and asked, "Lin Ze, why is that?"
The scene instantly fell silent, leaving only the rustling sound of ink-dipped brush on paper.
"Lin Ze, do you have some unspoken trouble?"
"Miss Yun." Ma Lin put down his brush and looked up at her. "Since she's unwilling, why press so hard?"
Yun Ling bit her lip and smiled. "Perhaps she just wanted an answer."
Ma Lin shifted his gaze back to the blank paper without answering. Yun Ling sat for a while longer, left behind a remark about her family choosing a husband for her, and departed.
The presiding doctor held his brush, lost in thought, as ink dripped from the tip onto the Xuan paper, staining a large patch black.
"Doctor Ma."
Awakened by the voice, Ma Lin set the brush aside and removed the stained sheets of paper one by one.
"No need to ask me."
Lin Yue shook her head. "That is your business. I'd like to request half a day off."
"To do what?"
Receiving no answer, Ma Lin snapped back to reality. "Go ahead."
Just as Lin Yue walked out of Ji Shi Hall's entrance, she spotted a martial artist wearing a bright red short outfit trotting through the doorway. The characters for Hongwu were embroidered on his chest, and his shouting echoed behind her.
"Give me ten bottles of bone-setting liniment! Hurry up! Damn it all, why are there so many fools coming to throw their lives away? Idiots..."
Lin Yue went to a broker to rent a slightly larger courtyard at the very end of an alley. The courtyard featured a bare scholar-tree, with a stone table and three stone stools underneath. When free, she could sit there drinking scholar-tree tea, admiring the tree, and smelling its subtle fragrance—comfortable and fitting.
A monthly rent of one tael of silver equaled half a month of her wages. The house was farther away, making her daily commute tiring. If not for the lack of affordable housing nearby, she truly wouldn't have wanted to live somewhere so expensive.
Rate on N.U.
