“To catch a spy, you must learn to think like one.”

“If I were the Chief of Jing Dynasty’s Military Intelligence Bureau, who in the Prince’s Manor would I try to turn into my spy?”

Chen Ji sat on the communal bed, chin in hand, silently analyzing: “Not a guard; guards are not allowed in the inner chambers.”

“…The imperial physicians and apprentices from Taiping Medical Clinic, they can not only interact with outsiders but also have access to the inner residence.”

Chen Ji froze, thinking, “I can’t really be a Jing Dynasty spy, can I?!”

He seriously considered this possibility: He had appeared at Zhou Chengyi’s residence in the middle of the night. The first time he met the steward, the steward already knew he was a medical apprentice, indicating that his original body had visited the Zhou manor more than once.

Alum was commonly used as medicine and available at Taiping Medical Clinic. If he were a Jing Dynasty spy, the alum found at Zhou Chengyi’s residence would also have a plausible source…

Chen Ji gasped.

Wait, no, that’s not right.

According to the intelligence Zhou Chengyi had conveyed, the spy must have already met the important figure in the Prince’s Manor, and only after both sides confirmed their sincerity did the Chief of the Military Intelligence Bureau plan to travel south.

Yet, when he had previously visited Wanxing Garden for a consultation, and Chunrong wanted to beat him to death, Consort Yun rose to leave, and Consort Jing remained silent, letting it happen. If he hadn’t actively fought for his life, he probably would have died in Wanxing Garden that very day.

If he were a Jing Dynasty spy, at least one of those important figures should have protected him.

Chen Ji quietly got up and softly opened the wardrobe shared by the three of them. He felt through everyone’s clothes, not even missing collars or cuffs, checking for hidden items.

However, he found no clues.

Chen Ji then crouched down, running his fingers along the bricks of the communal bed in the dim light, carefully tracing each one.

He noticed that one brick protruded slightly by about two millimeters, and the surrounding clay had loosened.

Chen Ji used the nails of his index fingers and thumbs to grip the edge of the brick and slowly pull it out. Behind it, he saw a small hollowed-out space, containing five silver ingots!

What?!

Each ingot weighed ten taels of silver—far more than a medical apprentice should possess, unless the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Bureau was providing funds.

Earlier, when Chen Ji suspected a spy was in the medical clinic, he had scoffed at his own overthinking. But when he actually saw the evidence, he couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

Were these silver ingots She Dengke’s? Or Liu Quxing’s?

…Or even his own?

Chen Ji put the silver ingots and the brick back in place and returned to his bed, pretending nothing had happened.

In the early morning, before the roosters crowed, Old Man Yao, who was sleeping on his bed, was awakened by noises in the courtyard.

He put on his white-soled black cloth shoes and walked slowly towards the door with his hands clasped behind his back. In the courtyard, Chen Ji was gently pouring the water he had just carried back into the water vat.

Old Man Yao looked at Liu Quxing, who was asleep on the stove in the kitchen, then at the energetic Chen Ji, and frowned, saying, “…Did you work him to death?”

Chen Ji replied, “…No, Senior Brother Liu is just sleeping.”

Old Man Yao pursed his lips. “The rooster hasn’t even crowed, and you’ve already made enough noise to wake me up. Why don’t you crow instead of the rooster from now on?”

Chen Ji smiled, not taking his master’s words to heart. He had gradually grown accustomed to the old man’s sharp tongue. “Master, I’m going to fetch water now. I’ll make sure the vat is full before the rooster crows, so we don’t delay our morning lessons.”

With that, he rolled up his sleeves to his wrists, picked up the carrying pole, and headed out.

However, before Chen Ji even reached the door, a copper bell suddenly chimed in the distance. The sound was clear and melodious, growing louder as it approached.

Old Man Yao frowned, then quickly stepped forward and pulled Chen Ji back inside before he could go out.

Chen Ji was pulled back two steps involuntarily, the carrying pole and wooden buckets on his shoulders swaying.

The next moment, a procession of people, carrying a solemn and majestic Buddha statue, passed through Anxi Street in the pre-dawn light.

Thirty-two monks, dressed in gray robes with one shoulder bare, steadily carried an enormous Sumeru pedestal.

Beside the Sumeru pedestal, other monks held copper bells in their left hands and incense in their right. Occasionally, their hands would strike together, causing the incense and bells to produce brilliant sparks and clear sounds.

The incense burned continuously, and sparks shot into the sky like fireworks, resembling a vibrant display of dragons and fish.

Chen Ji asked quietly, “Master, why did you pull me back…?”

Old Man Yao replied expressionlessly, “Don’t ask.”

Chen Ji and Old Man Yao stood side by side, silently watching the procession of monks slowly pass in front of Taiping Medical Clinic.

As he watched, he suddenly took a step back.

For a brief moment, the Buddha statue seemed to glance at him, its gaze indifferent yet tinged with compassion.

Just then, Liu Quxing, startled by the sound of the bell, also came out. He looked at the procession outside the door. “Those are monks from Tuoluo Temple in the south of the city! Who has so much money to spend on the Double Ninth Festival, to invite the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to parade through Luocheng?”

Chen Ji hesitated for a moment, then asked, “Master, are there really gods and Buddhas in this world?”

Liu Quxing eagerly replied, “Of course there are! The year before last, a man’s mother in Liujia Village outside the city was gravely ill. He knelt before the Buddha statue during the parade and prayed, and his mother’s illness immediately disappeared!”

Chen Ji was skeptical. He knew that many religions used the display of miracles to attract followers.

But then he heard Liu Quxing continue, “Also, I remember three years ago, in the west of Luocheng, there was a filial son whose parents both died of a plague. He went to Tuoluo Temple in the south of the city to pray to Buddha, donating all his possessions, land deeds, and ancestral property to invite Abbot Yun to hold a Water-Land Dharma Assembly, making offerings to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions.”

“What was the result?”

“His parents were resurrected, and the plague disappeared,” Liu Quxing answered. “They just lay in bed, unable to move.”

Chen Ji frowned, turning to look at Old Man Yao. “Master, is what Senior Brother Liu said true?”

Old Man Yao, with his hands behind his back, casually hummed in affirmation. “When his parents were brought to me, they were already at death’s door. I told him to take them away so they wouldn’t die in my clinic and ruin my reputation.”

Liu Quxing muttered softly, “Master, what you actually said then was that the people couldn’t be saved, and it would be better to save some money for the living…”

Old Man Yao ignored him and continued, “His parents died right before my eyes, so when the news of their resurrection came, I personally visited to verify. The old couple were indeed alive again, but they lay in bed unconscious, though their pulses, heartbeats, and breathing were all present.”

Chen Ji froze. Then his own parents…

But then he heard Old Man Yao sneer, “But what’s the point of living like that? It would be better to let them pass peacefully.”

Chen Ji suddenly pressed, “Master, has anyone ever truly brought the deceased back to life?”

Old Man Yao glanced at him. “Rumor has it that the current Grand Secretary, Xu Gong, spent a fortune to invite the abbot of Yuanjue Temple to intervene after his only son died in an accident. The abbot used a Seven-Treasure Lotus Lamp to reshape his son’s physical body, allowing him to live a new life.”

“Is his son still alive now?”

“Alive, and he is the current Deputy Director of the Imperial Observatory, Xu Shu.”

A massive axe seemed to cleave through the fog and chaos in Chen Ji’s mind, bringing instant clarity.

He had already been reborn into this life. If there truly were people in this world who could revive the deceased, then perhaps one day he could find his way home and even revive his own parents?

Earn money.

Cultivate.

Chen Ji’s heart burned with fervor.

To cultivate, he could no longer hide from the ‘ice flow.’ He had to figure out what the ‘ice flow’ truly was, how it was generated, and how to acquire it!

By the time the procession of monks disappeared at the end of Anxi Street, the sky was gradually brightening.

The neighbors had all lost their sleepiness. They removed their shop boards early, cheerfully greeted each other, and set up their stalls on the street ahead of time.

Chen Ji did not return to the backyard. He picked up his carrying pole and walked towards the well.

A young man carrying firewood approached, calling out his wares. As they passed, Chen Ji stopped and pulled the man back. “Tell Lord Yunyang I need to visit the Inner Prison.”

The young man looked astonished. “What is Young Doctor Chen talking about? I don’t understand.”

Chen Ji calmly said, “A firewood seller walks through streets and alleys, exposed to wind and sun, so he wouldn’t have a clean face like a secret agent. And a firewood seller wouldn’t just linger on this one street, unable to sell even a single load of firewood from morning till night. If you were a Jing Dynasty spy, you wouldn’t show arrogance, but caution. Go tell Lord Yunyang that I want to inspect the prisoners and files in the Inner Prison. Perhaps I can help him find new merits.”

With that, he turned and went to fetch water without looking back.

Chen Ji hadn’t just noticed the strange behavior of the firewood seller today; he had known about it ever since he spent a day sitting on the medical clinic’s threshold, waiting for his parents to deliver his tuition money.

And the reason he wanted to go to the Inner Prison, a place others avoided at all costs, was simply because…

Where would the most wrongly deceased people be?

The Military Intelligence Bureau’s Inner Prison.

The firewood seller slowly dropped his smile, gazing at Chen Ji’s retreating back. He had thought his disguise was perfect, but now it seemed the other person had long detected his abnormality, merely observing his clumsy performance in silence.

The next moment, the firewood seller dropped his dry firewood and carrying pole, then turned and strode away.