26. Parade

"To catch a spy, one must learn to think like a spy."

"If I were the Chief of Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department, what kind of person would I turn into my spy in the Prince Mansion?"

Sitting on a common bed and propping up his chin, Chen Ji silently analyzed:

"Not a guard, guards are not allowed into the inner houses."

"…The Imperial Physician and apprentices from Taiping Medical Hall can not only meet people from the outside but are also authorized to enter the inner houses."

Chen Ji was shocked, "I couldn't really be a Jing Dynasty spy, could I?!"

He seriously analyzed this possibility:

He had appeared at Zhou Chengyi's household in the middle of the night, and when he first met the butler, the butler already knew he was an apprentice from the Medical Hall, indicating that his original self had visited Zhou Mansion more than once.

Alum was often used as a medicine, which was available at Taiping Medical Hall, so if he were a Jing Dynasty spy, the source of the alum in Zhou Chengyi's Mansion would be explained…

He gasped!

Wait, no, that's not right.

According to the intelligence transmitted by Zhou Chengyi, the spy must have already met with that important person in the Prince Mansion, and only after both sides confirmed their sincerity did the Chief of Military Intelligence Department plan to head south.

And previously, when he went to Late Star Garden for a consult and Chunrong planned to execute him, Consort Yun stood to leave and Princess Consort Jing silently let it happen; if he hadn't begged for his life, he might have died in Late Star Garden that day.

If he had been a Jing Dynasty spy, at least one of those important people should have protected him.

Chen Ji tiptoed up, quietly opened the wardrobe shared by three, and searched through everyone's clothes, not sparing collars or cuffs, looking for any hidden items.

However, he found no clues.

Chen Ji then squatted down, in the dimness, and felt with his fingers along the bricks of the common bed, carefully gliding over each one.

Ah.

He actually felt that one brick protruded about two millimeters, and the surrounding clay was also loose.

Chen Ji used his index fingers and thumbs to pinch the brick's edge, painstakingly pulling it out bit by bit. Hidden behind the brick, set in a hollow someone had created, were five silver ingots!

Ah?!

A silver ingot weighed ten taels, certainly beyond what a Medical Hall apprentice could possess unless funded by the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department.

Previously when Chen Ji suspected a spy in the Medical Hall, he mocked himself for being paranoid, but now seeing the actual 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 brick back, quietly returned to bed, and fell asleep.

…

…

In the early morning, before the crowing of roosters, Old Yao, who was sleeping on the bed, was woken by a noise in the courtyard.

He put on his white shoes with black cloth, walked out leisurely with hands behind his back, and in the courtyard, Chen Ji gently poured the freshly fetched water into the water vat.

Old Yao looked at Liu Quxing, who was sleeping on the stove in the kitchen, and then at a spirited Chen Ji, frowning, he said, "…did you tire him to death?"

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

Old Yao curled his lip, "The rooster hasn't even crowed yet, and you're making a noise waking me up, why not just replace the rooster's crowing yourself from now on."

Chen Ji smiled, not taking his master's harsh words to heart; he was slowly getting used to his master's biting tongue, "Master, I'm going to fetch water, I'll fill it up before the rooster crows, so it won't delay our morning lessons."

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

However, before Chen Ji could reach the door, suddenly, the sound of bell rang from afar, melodious and drawing closer.

Old Yao furrowed his brow and quickly walked forward, pulling Chen Ji back into the house just before he stepped out.

Chen Ji involuntarily took two steps back, his shoulder pole and buckets swaying unstably.

The next moment, a procession carrying a majestic Buddha statue passed through Anxi Street in the dawn's twilight.

Thirty-two monks, wearing grey robes and bare-chested, carried the massive Sumeru Base steadily.

Beside the Sumeru Base, a monk held a copper bell in the left hand and incense in the right. Occasionally, as the hands met, the incense and bell collided, creating splendid sparks and clear sounds.

The incense burned continuously, sparks soaring into the sky like silver flowers on a fiery tree with fish and dragons splendidly unfolding.

Chen Ji whispered, "Master, you pulled me back..."

Old Yao responded emotionlessly, "Don't ask."

Chen Ji and Old Yao stood shoulder to shoulder in silence, watching the monk procession slowly pass by the front of Taiping Medical Hall.

While observing, he suddenly took a step back.

Just then, it seemed like the statue of the Buddha had looked at him, its gaze indifferent yet tinged with a hint of compassion.

At that moment, Liu Quxing, too, was startled by the sound of copper bells and hurried over. He looked at the procession in front of the gate, "It's the monks from South City Tuoluo Temple. Who has the financial power to afford inviting Buddha and Bodhisattva to parade around Luocheng City on the Double Ninth Festival?"

Chen Ji hesitated briefly before asking, "Master, do gods and Buddhas really exist in this world?"

Liu Quxing hurried to answer, "Of course they do. The year before last, at Liu Family Village in the suburbs, a man's mother was gravely ill. He knelt before the Buddha during its parade and prayed, and his mother's illness was cured on the spot!"

Chen Ji was skeptical, aware that religions often use miracles to attract followers.

But then Liu Quxing continued, "Also, I remember three years ago, there was a filial son in west Luocheng whose parents both died of an epidemic. He went to South City Tuoluo Temple and asked Master Yun to hold a water and land dharma assembly by donating his entire fortune, land deeds, and ancestral estate to sponsor the Ten Directions Buddha and Bodhisattva."

"What was the result?"

"His parents were revived, and the epidemic vanished, though they could only lie in bed," Liu Quxing replied.

Chen Ji frowned and turned to Old Yao, "Master, is what Senior Brother Liu said true?"

Old Yao, with his hands behind his back, answered nonchalantly, "When his parents were brought to me, they were already at death's door. I told him to take his parents away so they wouldn't die in the Medical Hall and tarnish my reputation."

Liu Quxing murmured softly, "Master, back then you said they were beyond saving and we might as well save the money for the living…"

Old Yao ignored him, continuing, "His parents drew their last breaths in front of me, so when I heard they were revived, I went to verify it myself. Indeed, the old couple had come back to life but were lying in their sickbeds unconscious, though their pulses, heartbeats, and breathing were normal."

Chen Ji was stunned—what about his own parents…

But then Old Yao sneered, "But what's the point of living like that? It's better to let them depart peacefully."

Chen Ji suddenly pursued further, "Master, is there a way to completely revive the deceased?"

Old Yao glanced at him, "There's a rumor that the Cabinet Minister Xu Gong, whose only son died in an accident, spent a large sum of money to have the abbot of Yuanjue Temple revive him using a Seven Treasures Lotus Lamp to mold a new body for his son, bringing him back to life."

"Is his son still alive?"

"He is, the current Deputy Director of the Observatory, Xu Shu."

Chen Ji felt as if an axe had cleared the smoke and chaos in his mind, instantly gaining clarity.

He had been revived once himself. If truly there were people in this world who could revive the deceased, could he possibly find a way home one day and revive his own parents?

Make money.

Cultivate.

Passion surged within Chen Ji's heart.

To cultivate, he couldn't keep avoiding Ice Flow anymore; he needed to figure out what exactly it was, how it came into existence, and how to obtain it!

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

Neighbors, no longer sleepy, had taken their door panels down early and cheerfully greeted each other, setting up their stalls on the street ahead of time.

Chen Ji didn't return to the backyard; he picked up a carrying pole and headed toward the well.

A young man carrying dry firewood approached, calling out for buyers. As they brushed shoulders, Chen Ji stopped him, "Tell Lord Yun Yang I need to make a trip to the inner prison."

The young man looked shocked, "What is Doctor Chen saying? I don't understand."

Chen Ji spoke calmly, "A wood seller who roams the streets in wind and sun wouldn't have such a fair complexion like a spy. Moreover, a wood seller wouldn't just linger on this one street failing to sell a single bundle of firewood from dawn till dusk. If you were a Jing Dynasty spy, your expressions wouldn't contain arrogance but caution. Go tell Lord Yun Yang that I want to check out the prisoners and records in the inner prison; I might be able to help him find new accomplishments."

With that, he picked up water without looking back.

Chen Ji hadn't just noticed the abnormality of this firewood-selling young man today. He had known ever since his parents sent tuition fees and he sat in front of the Medical Hall threshold all day.

And the reason he wanted to visit the inner prison, a place others dread...

Where do the most wrongful deaths occur?

The Spy Department's Inner Prison.

The firewood seller slowly withdrew his smile, watching Chen Ji's receding figure. He had thought his disguise was perfect, but it appeared that the other had long noticed something amiss and was simply watching his clumsy performance in silence.

The next moment, the firewood seller dropped his firewood and carrying pole and swiftly walked away.