Chapter 12: House Call

Dawn, the world still swathed in a hazy gray light.

Chen Ji slowly rose from his bed, his hand instinctively reaching for the mobile phone usually beside his pillow. But there was nothing.

In that moment, he understood. The world he once inhabited was no longer a place within reach, but a distant hometown.

"Wait, shouldn't I be in the courtyard?" Chen Ji's last memory was of standing beside the apricot tree, practicing the Stone Embrace stance. Yet upon waking, he found himself back in the west wing room, still clad in the tattered clothes he wore last night.

Had Master sent him back? Or perhaps his two senior brothers? Chen Ji couldn't be certain; he had no recollection of it at all.

At this time, the icy current within his dantian remained quiet, its ferocity of last night entirely absent.

Chen Ji mused, "Who caused this surge of icy current this time? The first time it appeared was after Zhou Chengyi's demise. The second time..."

During both instances of the icy current's appearance, several lives were lost. However, ordinary folk in Zhou Chengyi's manor did not trigger the current, nor did the deceased maid in Wanxing Garden.

Could it be… the fetus from Jingfei's recent miscarriage?!

Lost in thought, he was startled by She Dengke, who suddenly sat up at the foot of the bed, his eyes still closed. "Master, just beat me to death! Beat me to death, and there'll be no one to support you in your old age!"

Chen Ji turned his head, speechless. She Dengke finished his pronouncement, then thumped back down onto the bed. It was merely sleep talk.

The rooster had yet to crow.

Strangely, though Chen Ji had returned at the Hour of the Ox last night and slept for less than four hours, he felt invigorated, with no trace of weariness.

Were these changes due to the icy current and the Inverse Stone Embrace stance?

He sat on the bed, contemplating for a long while, before finally getting up to change his clothes. He then went to the courtyard, hoisted the shoulder pole, and with two wooden buckets, his young, slender frame headed towards Anxi Street, just outside the gate.

Yesterday, while waiting for his family to send his tuition silver, Chen Ji had observed a well there. The entire neighborhood used it for water, and going late meant a long wait in line.

As he stepped out, Chen Ji was slightly taken aback. He saw the black cat from Wanxing Garden perched on the eaves of the grain and oil shop opposite, quietly watching him.

So last night wasn't an illusion! This black cat truly was drawn by the bead in his sleeve, so much so it had even followed him secretly all the way outside the prince's mansion!

Chen Ji walked along the early morning blue stone path towards the well, the black cat silently following on the gray tiles of the eaves, its gaze never leaving him.

The long street held only him, the roof eaves only the cat.

Side by side they walked, passing through the thin mist of early autumn, as if traversing a long passage of time together.

He stopped, shouldered the pole, and looked at the black cat across the distance. He asked curiously, "Meow meow?"

The black cat merely looked at him coldly.

What proper cat of any household would be called "meow meow"?

Seeing its lack of reaction, Chen Ji tried, "Sang Biao?"

The black cat remained silent.

Chen Ji tentatively held the bead in his hand. "Do you want this?"

Though covered in injuries, the black cat still maintained a noble posture as it regarded Chen Ji, showing no reaction, as if waiting for the young man to actively offer the bead.

Chen Ji lifted his hand slightly.

This time, the black cat, standing on the gray tile eaves, leaned forward slightly, ready to leap down and snatch the bead. But the moment it stretched its neck, Chen Ji closed his palm again, putting the bead away.

The black cat was speechless.

It opened its mouth slightly, wanting to let out a meow, but ultimately maintained its composure.

Finally, it resumed its cold demeanor, silently gazing at the young man.

Chen Ji slipped the bead back into his sleeve and leisurely continued towards the well. The black cat also followed silently, its gaze cold, the fresh wound above its brow bone from last night making it look somewhat fierce.

Chen Ji stood at the well's edge, turned the wooden handle, and lowered one wooden bucket. Just as he was about to reel it up, he saw the black cat, having jumped down from the eaves at some point, standing by the well's edge, looking up at him.

"You..." Chen Ji thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, "You want this bead, right? Here, take it."

He opened his palm, holding the bead in the center, no longer deliberately teasing the small cat.

But the black cat merely stood on the well rim, the corner of its right mouth slightly hooked, appearing somewhat contemptuous. It was as if to say, "I won't fall for your dog tricks again!"

"Wait, is that expression you're making mocking me?" Chen Ji hadn't expected to see such a human-like expression on a cat. He looked around the unmanned long street, finally placing the bead on the ground and retreating three meters. "It's here. Go ahead and take it yourself."

Animals possessed instinct. They seemed to know naturally what to eat and what not to eat, even seeking out antidotes if poisoned.

Humans, however, lacked such instinct, daring to eat anything, even finding joy in consuming poisonous mushrooms.

Thus, Chen Ji wasn't worried about the black cat having an accident if it ate the bead. He wanted to know why the black cat was drawn to it and what would happen if the black cat swallowed the bead.

The answer to the icy current lay within this black cat.

Beside the well, the black cat cautiously approached, looking at the bead for a while, then vigilantly at Chen Ji. After a long time, it finally leaned in and lightly sniffed the bead from a distance.

"Eat it," Chen Ji watched expectantly.

But as the black cat opened its mouth to snatch the bead, the serpent-like gray fog within the bead surged violently, as if alive, and the black cat was shaken away by an invisible force!

"Eh?" Chen Ji was startled by this supernatural phenomenon. He was certain an invisible force had burst from the bead, pushing the black cat away!

The small black cat arched its back, assuming a fighting stance towards the bead, no longer daring to approach.

"Why is this happening?" Chen Ji was perplexed.

As his words fell, the urgent sound of horse hooves echoed from a distance.

Chen Ji turned to look. A carriage, from far to near, rushed towards the medical hall, cutting through the quiet mist. The carriage passed in front of him, the driver urging it with an anxious expression, likely on a very important matter.

"Seems like they're looking for Master. I must hurry back," Chen Ji said. "Right, you..."

When he turned his head back again, the black cat was gone without a trace, only the bead lying quietly on the ground.

...

...

By the time Chen Ji, shouldering the pole, swayed back to the medical hall, the carriage was stopped outside. The two horses were handsome and powerful, their muscles knotted, their manes neatly combed.

The wooden body of the carriage was carved with a golden silk bird pattern, the bird's tail extending to the rear of the carriage, intricate and exquisite.

Beside the carriage, She Dengke was helping the driver move some luggage onto it.

Chen Ji, carrying the shoulder pole, went over to ask, "What is this?"

At this moment, the joy in She Dengke's eyes was hard to suppress. "Master is going to see a patient."

"Why are you so happy...?"

"Of course I'm happy!" She Dengke lowered his voice. "Master will be gone for at least ten days to half a month. We won't be beaten, we won't be scolded, and we won't have to be tested on our studies. Aren't you happy? We can go to the East Market together then, go to Red Clothes Lane... If my third brother helps a noble hold a gathering, I can sneak you in to listen to a big opera. I even heard the Pear Garden Ma Family Troupe is coming back to sing at a gathering in a few days!"

"Who is he going to see for illness?" Chen Ji was curious.

She Dengke lowered his voice. "I heard the Inner Minister's Secret Spy Division was investigating Jing Dynasty spies and caught several young disciples of the Liu Family, locking them in the inner prison. One of them was tortured to death in prison. The old master of the Liu Family heard the news and was so angry he fainted. He's now on his deathbed."

Hearing this, Chen Ji suddenly recalled Yun Yang standing at the Zhou Mansion door with a half-smile, a sense of crisis he couldn't shake off. "Is the Secret Spy Division that powerful?"

"Perhaps," She Dengke said. "The old master Liu's daughter is the current empress dowager, and his son is the current Minister of Personnel. Even such a family, the Secret Spy Division still arrested without hesitation. It's said on the Jianghu that the Secret Spy Division can act first and report later, a special imperial decree."

Chen Ji vaguely felt something was off. Even if the Secret Spy Division was powerful, it shouldn't disregard the empress dowager and the Minister of Personnel, should it?

As the two chatted, they saw Old Man Yao walk out of the medical hall, accompanied by a dignified middle-aged man.

Old Man Yao instructed his three disciples, "While I'm away these few days, none of you are to diagnose patients privately. If patients bring prescriptions, just dispense the medicine according to the prescription. Don't misweigh the medicine and cause me loss. The first thing I'll do when I return is check the inventory. Whoever causes me loss will have to compensate the money!"

Chen Ji's heart skipped a beat. He still hadn't figured out how to handle that old ginseng. What would happen when Old Man Yao returned and checked the inventory?

The middle-aged man accompanying him said, "Old Mister Yao, let's hurry. My family at home probably can't wait. We must at least stall until my father rushes back from the capital to see the old master for the last time."

Old Man Yao nodded. "Let's go."

Liu Qu Xing stepped up to help Old Man Yao onto the carriage. The carriage then sped away, the sound of horse hooves echoing crisply on the blue stone path.

She Dengke exclaimed, "How much money would it cost to buy a carriage like that?!"

Liu Qu Xing laughed. "You have no experience. See the golden silk bird on that carriage? That pattern can only be used by imperial reward after my Liu Family had a current second-rank high official. In my Great Ning Dynasty, common people sitting in sedan chairs is considered overstepping. How many heads do you have to sit in this kind of carriage?"

She Dengke let out a cold laugh. "You talk as if you're really a member of the Liu Family!"

Liu Qu Xing glared. "How am I not a member of the Liu Family?"

"Even if your family is a branch of the Liu Family that's eight poles away, do they recognize you?" She Dengke retorted. "Our family, though poor, has backbone. We make a living at the dock by our own ability, never clinging to power."

Liu Qu Xing was angry. "I still went to Old Master Liu's ninetieth birthday banquet with my parents!"

"Right, sitting at the servants' table."

"You bastard!"

Chen Ji watched the two bicker as they entered the medical hall, speechless. Suddenly, he detected something unusual. He turned his head and saw that the small black cat hadn't actually left, but was hiding in the staggered shadows of the opposite roof eaves, secretly observing them.