31. Mountain Lord, Dragon Swallowing

In the small courtyard, the crow flapped its wings, looking left and right at Wu Yun.

Wu Yun, having eaten and drunk his fill, wanted to pounce on it but was easily dodged every time, the crow's caws brimming with mockery.

For some reason, Chen Ji suddenly felt that the crow and the cat, the youth and the old man, appeared particularly harmonious and peaceful in this courtyard.

And tonight, it was one of the few peaceful nights since he had come to this world.

No one scheming, no one fighting.

The mysterious veil of the world was finally lifting slowly before his eyes.

"Master," Chen Ji asked the most perplexing question, "do all Executive Officers need to kill like us..."

Old Yao asked in confusion, "Kill what, kill patients?"

"Huh?" Chen Ji was even more puzzled, "Master, how do you cultivate?"

Old Yao spoke lightly, "Heal the patients, and their sickness can be used by me."

Chen Ji was taken aback. The same Cultivation Path, yet even the method of cultivation was different?

However, just as he thought this, the crow actually stood on the apricot tree, its feathers like fingers, pointing at Chen Ji and cawing with laughter, laughing nearly to the point of falling off the branch.

Chen Ji said, "...Master, there's no fun in lying!"

Old Yao snorted coldly, "After all, you're still too naive, your brains are there, but not in abundance. Just remember, Jianghu and this world are even more arduous than you imagine, apart from yourself and that 'cat', you can't trust anyone."

"Can't even trust you?"

"Right, not even me," Old Yao said, shaking the leftover pastry crumbs into his mouth without wasting any, "Our Cultivation Path is the most secretive in the world, the moment it's revealed, the Spy Department will want to kill you, the Criminal Justice Department will want to kill you, Prince Jing will want to kill you, the Emperor will want to kill you, all the officials in the world will want to kill you. This path is not one you can cultivate without brains."

"Master, are there other Executive Officers who are cultivating our Cultivation Path?" Chen Ji asked curiously.

Old Yao reminisced, "Killed a few, but I don't know if I killed them all."

Chen Ji: "..."

After finishing his pastry, which nearly choked him, he went to the kitchen to pour himself a cup of water before continuing, "Master, what is our Cultivation Path called?"

Old Yao stroked his beard, "I have answered enough, I don't want to answer anymore..."

Before he finished speaking, Wu Yun had already burrowed into his embrace, rubbing against him in a frenzy.

Old Yao thought for a moment and answered, "Some say it's called 'Mountain Lord'."

Chen Ji pondered, "Mountain Lord?"

"Others call it 'Dragon Swallowing'."

Chen Ji became solemn all at once. Mountain Lord was an enigmatic name, but Dragon Swallowing seemed even more to the point!

He curiously asked, "Master, can you increase your cultivation by killing me?"

"No," Old Yao glanced at him, "But if you kill me, your cultivation could progress a bit faster. Why don't you try it?"

Chen Ji: "...Master, there's no need to be so polite."

Old Yao continued to explain, "If you are the only person in the world cultivating 'Mountain Lord,' then your cultivation progress will be one hundred percent. If there are two people cultivating, then your progress will be fifty percent. How about it, does this make you more tempted?"

Chen Ji frowned and candidly said, "I think many people would be tempted."

"That's why, all the Executive Officers in this world will not take disciples unless absolutely necessary."

"What counts as absolutely necessary?"

"Either one is grievously injured and on the brink of death, or one's life is drawing to an end due to old age, or one realizes there is no hope left to explore the great path," Old Yao said with a sense of lament, "I've seen masters teaching disciples, and the disciples then wanting to kill their masters. I've seen fathers passing on to their sons, and the sons then wanting to harm their fathers."

Chen Ji sensed the desolation in the old man's tone, "Master, besides She Dengke and Liu Quxing, do I have any other brothers?"

Old Yao scoffed, "Yes, dead, killed by me."

Chen Ji hesitated for a moment, "Do you have children?"

Old Yao was silent for a long while, "I've already answered that. When you live long enough, you will understand one thing: don't easily form attachments with people, as they are destined to be farewells and disappointments."

At this moment, Chen Ji finally understood why Old Yao was so indifferent. The sparse stories behind him couldn't just be told in a sentence or two.

Old Yao must have truly wanted to teach his son. Otherwise, he could have waited until death before passing on the Cultivation Path, but his son seemed to have had ill intentions.

No wonder there were so few Executive Officers in the world. It was because those who held the Cultivation Path would never easily transmit it to others and would even undermine each other. Not every son in the world wished to harm his father, but there were no lack of sons who wanted to.

Chen Ji questioned, "Why would you choose to take disciples, and three at a time at that?"

Old Yao looked at him, then back at the crow still toying with Wu Yun, "I have no father-son affection for you. I just don't want this Cultivation Path to end with me. So don't have too many expectations for me. You give the tuition fee, I teach the skills, that's all."

Chen Ji felt that Old Yao's reason was not sufficient, but he did not dwell on it, instead he said sincerely, "Although I say this you may not believe it, but I will definitely not harm you..."

"Don't say that so soon," Old Yao sneered, "I've told you everything I should, I told you all this for fear you'd die without understanding. There are things I can't tell you yet, maybe someday if I'm in a good mood, I might tell you some."

Chen Ji: "...When are you ever in a good mood?"

"You return my ginseng to me, then I might feel a little better."

Chen Ji quickly said, "I'll go to the medicine dealer as soon as I wake up tomorrow..."

Old Yao, hunched over, stopped at the entrance of the main house, a crow flapping down to land on his shoulder: "Don't overthink it. Since you've helped the Spy Department, you've stepped one foot into this Jianghu. From now on, fate will decide life and death. Just don't regret it."

Chen Ji asked, "Master, what is Jianghu?"

Old Yao said indifferently, "Jianghu, oh, it's a place where every day is the same, lacking novelty."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because human nature is also like this, every day is the same, lacking novelty."

Chen Ji suddenly asked, "Master, what kind of person is the Prime Minister in charge of the Spy Department?"

"The most vicious person in the world; otherwise, why would everyone secretly call him the Poison Minister?" Old Yao pushed the door open and entered the house: "In the coming days, you will miss the good times now when you didn't know him."

Chen Ji watched the old man and the crow on his shoulder, and suddenly it was as if he saw the dark clouds over himself and Luocheng City that night in the streets.

But from inside the house, Old Yao suddenly hummed a song with a strange melody: "Law-abiders worry every morning, strongmen sing every night. Selfish gainers ride horses and mules, the just and fair go hungry. Those fixing bridges and roads go blind, children commit murder and arson. I went to Western Heaven to ask my Buddha, but even Buddha said there's nothing he could do..."

Chen Ji returned to the house, lay flat on the common bed, resting his head on his arm, as the song his master just hummed echoed in his mind. Wu Yun was lying on his chest.

"Wu Yun, don't lie on my chest, I can't sleep like that."

Wu Yun looked up at him, "It's not me. Would your master have told you so much? For such great merit, it'd be reasonable even to sleep on your head."

Chen Ji was silent for a moment: "You have a point!"

...

...

Early in the morning, before the chickens crowed, Wu Yun had already vanished without a trace.

Chen Ji carried a yoke to fill the water tank, then cleaned the courtyard ground.

He saw the crow perched on the branch of the apricot tree watching him and greeted it with a smile. The crow only glanced at him sideways, continuing to perch on the branch, sleeping.

When everything was in order, Chen Ji wore the Buddhist Treasure on his wrist and took all his silver ingots to head out.

The medicine dealer was in East Market, where traders coming from the north and the south would rest, where scholars on their way to exams would linger, and where officials en route to their posts would socialize; it was the hub of all under the heavens.

However, they were all just passers-by in Luocheng City; after the bustle, they would depart.

Leaving from Taiping Medical Hall, it took Chen Ji about one two-hour period to faintly hear the lively noise of East Market. The brothels had already closed for the night, but the fishermen had just returned from the rivers, seen carrying baskets of fish ashore while the porters walked towards the canal carrying their ropes.

Chen Ji looked up, his eyes searching for a sign, and finally stopped at "Bailu Pavilion"—Luocheng City's largest medicine dealer. Sixty percent of the medicinal herbs in the city relied on it for wholesale and transport from the north and south herb markets.

This was also where Taiping Medical Hall usually procured its medicinal materials; all three of his fellow disciples had been there.

Stepping over the threshold, a chubby shopkeeper greeted him with a beaming smile: "Oh, why has Dr. Chen graced us with his presence today? Didn't one of my boys just deliver supplies to Taiping Medical Hall yesterday?"

Chen Ji replied with a smile, "My master sent me to look for some old ginseng. It is needed at the Prince Mansion. Does Bailu Pavilion have any in stock right now?"

The shopkeeper said awkwardly, "I should let you know, Dr. Chen, that this aged old ginseng is quite pricey, and when we purchase it, it is by pre-ordered quantities. Your master specified one tael a month, and we don't have any surplus to provide to Taiping Medical Hall."

Chen Ji turned to leave: "Then I'll go ask elsewhere."

But the shopkeeper hurriedly pulled him back, still smiling, "Dr. Chen, don't rush off. Why not let me finish speaking? As it happens, several doses of ginseng that were pre-ordered by Fangping Pharmacy have not yet been delivered. We have a longstanding relationship with Doctor Yao, so if the Prince Mansion needs it, we could prioritize you."

Chen Ji noncommittally replied, "Then let's take a look."

"This way, please. The valuable herbs are stored in the back courtyard."

Leading Chen Ji to the rear of Bailu Pavilion, the shopkeeper pushed open a wooden door to a storeroom: "Please."

Chen Ji entered and looked around at the dozens of boxes of medicinal materials but then heard the door closing behind him.

Strange, just looking at ginseng, what's the need to close the door!?

Not right!

Chen Ji dropped and rolled forward, and when he stood up, he saw the shopkeeper lunging at him with a dagger, his face terrifyingly fierce.

Yet Chen Ji, acting later but arriving first, kicked the shopkeeper's rotund belly.

The shopkeeper had not expected Chen Ji to be faster, not only avoiding the assassination but also swiftly countering. After taking the kick, he fell backwards, shouting, "Help me!"

Chen Ji wanted to seize the opportunity to finish off the shopkeeper, but unexpectedly, the sound of another attack came from behind as someone emerged from behind a box of herbs, pressing a dagger against the back of his neck.

This time, the assailant was so fast that Chen Ji had only seen such speed with Lin Chaoqing, Yun Yang, and Jiao Tu; he was unable to react in time.

Feeling the cold of the dagger, the hairs on Chen Ji's neck stood on end, but he could only calmly retort, "What's this about?"

The person behind him said calmly, "You have renounced your surname, your identity, and betrayed Zhou Chengyi. Don't you deserve to die?"

Chen Ji was speechless... Whatever he feared, it had come to pass!