Early in the morning, Elder Yao got out of bed and slowly strolled into the courtyard. The water jar was already full, and the courtyard ground was swept clean, but there was no sign of Chen Ji yet. Elder Yao looked up at the crow in the apricot tree, and the crow used its wing to point outside the door. His gaze followed the corridor to the area outside the medical hall, and he saw Chen Ji holding a long bamboo broom, sweeping the stone slab road in front of the medical hall.

Yesterday was Double Ninth Festival, and Anxi Street was covered in dogwood and garbage, but only the area in front of Taiping Medical Hall was spotless. He asked in surprise, “What time did this boy get up?”

The crow cawed.

“Three quarters past Yin time? He really gets up earlier than the chickens,” Elder Yao looked around. “He did his work so neatly, it’s even hard to find a reason to hit him.”

The crow cawed.

Elder Yao nodded. “He is indeed sensible… you don’t need to keep praising him in different ways, I already know.”

He walked to the door, squinted at Chen Ji, and said, “Boy, your diligence makes me a little nervous. This isn’t even your work today, why did you do it all?”

Chen Ji propped himself up with the large bamboo broom and smiled, “I was idle anyway. It’s my own home after all, it’s refreshing to sweep it clean.”

Elder Yao looked Chen Ji up and down with suspicion. “Yesterday you were still being polite with me, why are you suddenly being so 친근한 [friendly/familiar] today?”

Chen Ji replied, “There always needs to be some new changes.”

Elder Yao was silent for a long time. “What are your plans regarding She Dengke?”

Chen Ji swept the ground as he replied, “I can’t really kill him, can I? … Master, do you think Senior Brother She is a bad person?”

“No.”

“Right, you also feel he’s not a bad person,” Chen Ji sighed. “Of course I will remember this matter, but to actually make me kill him, I might not be able to do it.”

Elder Yao said calmly, “You are not a good person, nor a bad person. A person like you might not live long in this jianghu. The inheritance of the Mountain Lord’s lineage could end with you.”

Just as he finished speaking, the sound of horse hooves came from the end of Anxi Street. Elder Yao and Chen Ji turned their heads to look, and suddenly saw a carriage driving quickly towards them.

When the carriage arrived at the medical hall’s door, the White Carp Princess, the little monk, and the World Son successively jumped out of the carriage. The World Son’s face still had several rouge marks and he reeked of alcohol.

The three of them bowed their heads and ran towards the inside of Taiping Medical Hall, not forgetting to greet Elder Yao as they ran: “Good morning, Imperial Physician Yao!”

“Good morning, Imperial Physician Yao!”

Halfway through her run, the White Carp Princess actually turned back and stuffed an oil paper package into Chen Ji’s hand. “Here, I promised you, go!”

They saw the three of them scrambling, stumbling into the backyard, and the World Son shouted, “Little monk, this time you help me up… Oh, no need!”

The World Son looked at the base of the wall and saw that a wooden ladder had been set up at some point. He muttered in a low voice, “The road toll wasn’t paid for nothing, this boy is quite decent, looks like he’s also a jianghu kid!”

The White Carp Princess turned her head to look at Chen Ji on the street, then turned back and climbed the ladder, flipping into the Prince Mansion. “Quick, quick, quick, Mister Wang’s early lesson is about to begin.”

Imperial Physician Yao watched these three people flip into the Prince Mansion in a daze, then turned to look at Chen Ji. “Did you put up the ladder?”

Chen Ji nodded. “I took their money and provided some convenience.”

Imperial Physician Yao’s face was expressionless. “With you at Taiping Medical Hall, it’s really becoming less and less peaceful.”

At this moment, they heard the sound of drunken scolding coming from the end of Anxi Street. “All the people in Red Clothes Alley are ungrateful ingrates. When they have money, they call me Dog Lord, when they don’t have money, they call me Liang Dog. They just drove me out after three times of not paying silver! Now that I brought the World Son, are they still not going to bow and scrape?”

Another voice said muffled, “Brother, your original name is Liang Dog Er, people didn’t call you wrong.”

“And the World Son, really, they rode back in the carriage, but they didn’t even take us along. Also, they didn’t even arrange a place for me to live.”

Liang Cat Er held back his frustration. “Brother, wasn’t it good to just steadily work for the Liu family? They give you a lot already.”

“That’s not… I have three things I don’t help with: I don’t help with drinking, stealing, or cheating; I don’t help the eunuch party; and I don’t help those who oppose the eunuch party… Those old boys are black-hearted and even blacker-handed, I can’t deal with them.”

Chen Ji turned his head to look and saw the stout Liang Cat Er carrying Liang Dog Er.

“Master, do you know Liang Dog Er?” Chen Ji asked curiously.

“I know,” Elder Yao scoffed. “The jianghu people call him Autumn Wind Blade Guest, and that’s Liang Dog Er.”

“Autumn Wind Blade Guest? Is it because he practices the Autumn Wind Blade Method?”

“No, it’s because he likes to ‘hit the autumn wind’ everywhere [exploit people].”

Chen Ji: Huh?

“Master, is Liang Dog Er an official runner?” Chen Ji asked curiously. “Why would he want to attach himself to the Liu family?”

“Cultivation emphasizes wealth, companion, law, and ground. Just as your cultivation needs ginseng, martial artists’ cultivation also needs medicine to temper their bodies,” Elder Yao said calmly. “Most cultivation paths under heaven are the same, they burn money like flowing water. Without backing, self-practice cannot become powerful.”

“Liang Dog Er is already so powerful, why not rob the Liu family?” Chen Ji asked.

Elder Yao scoffed, “All the resources under heaven are in the hands of official families, aristocratic families, Daoist families, and Buddhist families, with a minority scattered in the hands of sects like Luotian Sect. No matter how powerful Liang Dog Er is, he can’t withstand a charge of three thousand elite cavalry. The Liu family has forty thousand plus elites raised in the Yuzhou camp, and they only listen to the command of Cabinet Elder Liu… How many heads does Liang Dog Er have to dare to rob the Liu family?”

Liang Cat Er was already carrying Liang Dog Er closer. Liang Dog Er opened his eyes drunkenly, pointed to Taiping Medical Hall, and said, “We’ll just live here. It’s close to the World Son, he’ll definitely have to bring me when he goes out to play!”

Liang Cat Er looked at Elder Yao sheepishly. “Sorry, my brother is talking nonsense.”

“I’m not talking nonsense!” The dishevelled Liang Dog Er jumped down from Liang Cat Er’s back and swaggered as if to barge into the medical hall.

Elder Yao raised his hand to stop him. “Wait.”

Liang Dog Er opened his eyes, swayed, and looked Elder Yao up and down. After a long time, he said in surprise, “Imperial Physician Yao… An old acquaintance, that’s even better, we’ll live at Imperial Physician Yao’s house!”

Elder Yao remained silent.

Chen Ji was a little nervous. He had seen Liang Dog Er draw his blade; that one blade was so exquisite it cut open Lin Zhaoqing’s hat, not a bit more, not a bit less. He was a little worried that such an official runner would cause trouble after being refused by his Master. If his Master got hurt, it wouldn’t be good.

However, before he could figure out what to do, he saw Elder Yao glance at Chen Ji, then slowly said to Liang Dog Er, “It’s not impossible to live in the medical hall, but you must teach my disciple how to practice the blade. Teach him well, and Taiping Medical Hall will not only let you live here but also take care of your meals.”

Chen Ji was stunned. Was this still the stingy Master he knew?

Liang Dog Er smiled teasingly, “Imperial Physician Yao, you run a medical hall, why does your disciple need to learn the blade? Could it be that business has been bad recently and you want to manufacture some injuries?”

Elder Yao said slowly and methodically, “You just teach, don’t worry about anything else.”

Liang Dog Er suddenly became serious. “Old man, I’ve just had too much to drink, I’m not drunk stupid. My Liang family’s blade path is not passed down outside.”

Imperial Physician Yao said calmly, “What I’m letting you teach is blade skill, not your family’s blade path.”

Liang Dog Er seemed to understand, then burst into laughter. “Deal! Let’s go, Liang Cat Er, we have a place to live, let’s go in and find some food first! It’s just teaching some blade methods, there’s no blade I, Liang Dog Er, can’t teach well under this heaven!”