“If you want to catch spies, you have to learn to think like them.”

“If I were the Director of the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department, what kind of people would I try to recruit in the Prince’s Estate to be my spies?”

Chen Ji sat on the kang, propping his chin, silently analyzing:

“Not guards, guards aren’t allowed in the inner residence.”

“…The imperial physicians and apprentices at Taiping Medical Hall can not only contact people from outside, but also have permission to enter the inner residence.”

Chen Ji was startled: “Could I really be a Jing Dynasty spy?!”

He seriously analyzed this possibility:

He had appeared at Zhou Chengyi’s family home in the middle of the night. The first time he saw that steward, the steward already knew he was a medical hall apprentice, indicating the original body had been to the Zhou Estate more than once.

Alum is often used in medicine, Taiping Medical Hall has it. If he were a Jing Dynasty spy, the alum at Zhou Chengyi’s mansion would also have a source…

Hiss!

Chen Ji inhaled sharply.

Wait, no, no.

According to the intelligence Zhou Chengyi delivered, the spy should have already met that important figure in the Prince’s Estate, and both sides had confirmed their sincerity. Only then would the Director of the Military Intelligence Department plan to go south.

And when he previously went to Wanxing Garden for a consultation, Chunrong wanted to beat him to death, Yunfei stood up and prepared to leave, and Jingfei silently allowed it. If he hadn’t actively sought survival, he probably would have died in Wanxing Garden that day.

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

Chen Ji carefully and lightly got up, quietly opened the shared wardrobe for the three people, feeling each person’s clothes, not missing the collars or cuffs, to see if anything was hidden inside.

However, he found no clues.

Chen Ji then squatted down, and in the dim light, with his fingers tracing the laid bricks of the kang, he carefully slid over every brick.

Eh.

He actually felt a brick slightly protruding by about two millimeters, and the surrounding clay was also loose.

Chen Ji pinched the edge of the brick with the fingernails of his index fingers and thumbs and pulled it out bit by bit. Behind the brick, someone had hollowed out a small hole, hiding five silver ingots!

Ah?!

One silver ingot weighs ten taels, which was absolutely not something a medical hall apprentice could own, unless the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department provided funding.

Previously, Chen Ji suspected there was a spy in the medical hall and mocked himself for being overly suspicious, 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 his own?

Chen Ji put the silver ingots and the brick back, and returned to bed without any change to sleep.

…

…

Early morning, before the chickens crowed, Old Man Yao, who was sleeping on the kang, was awakened by movements in the courtyard.

He put on his white-soled black cloth shoes, walked leisurely towards the outer door with his hands behind his back. In the courtyard, Chen Ji was gently pouring the water he had just fetched into the water jar.

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

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

Old Man Yao pursed his lips: “The chickens haven’t even crowed, and you’re making noise to wake me up. You might as well not let the chickens crow in the future, and you can do the crowing.”

Chen Ji smiled and didn’t take his master’s words to heart. He was also slowly getting used to the other party’s sharp tongue: “Master, I’m going to fetch water. If I fill it before the chickens crow, I won’t delay you giving us our morning lesson.”

Saying that, he rolled up his sleeves to his wrists, shouldered the carrying pole, and went out.

However, before Chen Ji reached the door, a copper bell suddenly rang in the distance. The bell sound was crisp and pleasant, coming from far to near.

Old Man Yao frowned slightly and actually walked forward quickly, pulling Chen Ji back into the room before he went out.

Chen Ji was pulled back two steps involuntarily, and the carrying pole and wooden buckets on his shoulders shook non-stop.

The next moment, a team of people carrying a majestic Buddha statue passed through Anxi Street in the dawn.

Thirty-two monks wearing gray monk robes, with one shoulder bare, steadily carried the huge Sumeru pedestal.

Beside the Sumeru pedestal, there were also monks holding a copper bell in their left hand and incense in their right. Occasionally, their left and right hands would clap together, and the incense and copper bell would collide, producing splendid sparks and crisp sounds.

The incense burned endlessly, and the sparks soared into the sky, like fire trees and silver flowers, or winding fish and dragons.

Chen Ji asked softly: “Master, you pulled me back…”

Old Man Yao said expressionlessly: “Don’t ask.”

Chen Ji and Old Man Yao stood side by side, just watching this team of monks slowly pass in front of Taiping Medical Hall.

As he watched, he suddenly took a step back.

At that instant, the Buddha statue seemed to look at him. That gaze was indifferent yet contained a hint of compassion.

At this time, Liu Quxing was also awakened by the copper bell and came out. He looked at the team in front of the door: “These are the monks from Tuoluo Temple in the south of the city. Which family is so generous to spend money to invite Buddha Bodhisattva to patrol Luocheng during the Chongyang Festival?”

Chen Ji hesitated for a moment and asked: “Master, do gods and Buddhas really exist in this world?”

Liu Quxing rushed to answer: “Of course they do. Last year, a person in Liu Family Village in the suburbs had a seriously ill mother. He knelt in front of the Buddha statue and prayed when the Buddha Bodhisattva was patrolling, and his mother’s illness immediately got better!”

Chen Ji was half-convinced. He knew that many religions used the display of miracles to attract believers.

Yet, he heard Liu Quxing continue: “Also, I remember three years ago, a filial son in the west of Luocheng had both parents die from the plague. He went to Tuoluo Temple in the south of the city to seek Buddha, donated all his family property, land deeds, and ancestral property, and invited Abbot Yun to hold a Water Land Dharma Assembly to make offerings to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions.”

“What was the result?”

“His parents were revived, and the plague also disappeared. They were just lying on the bed unable to move,” Liu Quxing answered.

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

Old Man Yao, with his hands behind his back, lightly hummed: “When his parents were sent to me, they were already dying. I told him to carry his parents away so they wouldn’t die in the medical hall and ruin my reputation.”

Liu Quxing softly muttered: “Master, at that time you said that people couldn’t be saved anyway, might as well save some money for the living…”

Old Man Yao didn’t pay attention to him, just continued: “His parents died in front of me, so when the news of their revival came, I personally went to verify. The old couple did indeed live again, but they were lying on their sickbed without consciousness, their pulse, heartbeat, and breathing were all present.”

Chen Ji was startled, his own parents…

Yet, he heard Old Man Yao sneer: “But what’s the meaning of living like that? It’s better to let them pass away peacefully.”

Chen Ji suddenly asked: “Master, is it possible to completely revive the deceased?”

Old Man Yao glanced at him: “Rumor has it in the streets that the only son of Grand Secretariat Chief Minister Xu Gong of the current dynasty died in an accident. Xu Gong then spent a large sum of money to invite the abbot of Yuanjue Temple to act, using a seven-treasures lotus lamp to mold a physical body for his son, allowing his son to live another life.”

“Is his son still alive now?”

“Alive. He is now the Vice Supervisor of the Qintianjian, Xu Shu.”

Chen Ji’s mind was like a giant axe chopping through smoke and chaos, instantly clear.

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

Make money.

Cultivate.

Chen Ji’s heart was fervent.

If he wanted to cultivate, he couldn’t hide from Ice Flow anymore. He had to figure out what Ice Flow was, how it was produced, and how to obtain it!

By the time the team of monks disappeared at the end of Anxi Street, the sky had already gradually brightened.

The neighbors on the street were all sleepless. They unloaded their door boards early, greeting each other joyfully, and their stalls were all advanced to the street.

Chen Ji did not return to the backyard. He shouldered his carrying pole and went towards the water well.

A younger brother carrying dry firewood came face to face, calling out to sell. When they passed shoulder to shoulder, Chen Ji stopped and pulled the other: “Tell Master Yunyang that I need to go to the Inner Prison once.”

The younger brother showed astonishment: “What is Little Doctor Chen saying? How do I not understand?”

Chen Ji said calmly: “People who sell firewood walk the streets and alleys, exposed to wind and sun. They won’t have faces as white and clean as secret agents. Moreover, people who sell firewood won’t just wander on this one street. If they don’t sell a load of firewood from morning to evening, and if they are a Jing Dynasty spy, their expression won’t be arrogant, they should be cautious. Go tell Master Yunyang that I want to go to the Inner Prison to look at prisoners and files. Perhaps I can help him find new merits.”

Saying that, he went to fetch water without looking back.

Chen Ji didn’t just discover the abnormality of this firewood-selling younger brother today. He knew back when he waited on the medical hall threshold for his parents to send school money one day.

And the reason he went to the Inner Prison, a place others avoided like the plague, was only because…

Where were the most wrongful deaths?

The Secret Agents Department Inner Prison.

The firewood-selling younger brother slowly restrained his smile and gazed at Chen Ji’s departing back. He had originally thought he was disguised very well, but now it seemed the other person had already discovered his problem and was just quietly watching his clumsy performance.

The next moment, the firewood-selling younger brother threw down the dry firewood and the carrying pole, turned around, and strode away.