Chapter 26: Tour

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

"If I were the head of the Jing Chao Military Intelligence Department, who in the Wang Fu would I try to subvert and turn into my spy?"

Chen Ji sat on the bunk bed, resting his chin in his hands, analyzing silently:

"Not guards, guards aren't allowed into the inner residence."

"...The imperial physicians and apprentices at Taiping Medical Hall, they can not only contact people outside but also have the qualification to enter the inner residence."

Chen Ji was stunned: "Could I actually be a Jing Chao spy?!"

He seriously considered this possibility:

He had appeared at Zhou Chengyi's home in the middle of the night. The first time he saw the steward, the steward already knew he was a medical hall apprentice, which meant the original body had been to Zhou Fu more than once.

Alum is often used as medicine and is available at Taiping Medical Hall. If he were a Jing Chao spy, the alum at Zhou Chengyi's mansion would also have come from there...

Hiss!

Chen Ji took a sharp breath.

Wait, no, no.

According to the intelligence passed on by Zhou Chengyi, the spy should have already met with that important figure in the Wang Fu, confirming their sincerity. The head of the Military Intelligence Department would then plan to go south.

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

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

Chen Ji got up lightly and carefully, quietly opening the wardrobe shared by the three of them. He felt through each person's clothing, even checking the collars and cuffs for hidden items.

However, he didn't find any clues.

Chen Ji then squatted down, using his fingers in the dim light to feel the bricks on the bunk bed platform, stroking each one carefully.

Huh.

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

Chen Ji used the fingernails of his index fingers and thumbs to pinch the edge of the brick and slowly pulled it out. He saw that behind the brick, someone had hollowed out a small hole, hiding five silver ingots!

Ah?!

Each silver ingot weighed ten taels, which was definitely not something a medical hall apprentice should possess, unless they were funded by the Jing Chao Military Intelligence Department.

Earlier, Chen Ji had suspected 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, returning to bed to sleep without changing his expression.

...

...

Early in the morning, before the rooster had crowed, Old Man Yao, who was sleeping on the bed, was awakened by the movements in the courtyard.

He put on his white-soled black cloth shoes and walked slowly towards the door with his hands behind his back. In the courtyard, Chen Ji lightly poured the water he had just fetched into the water jar.

Old Man Yao looked at Liu Quxing, who was sleeping on the stove inside the kitchen, and then looked at the energetic Chen Ji, frowning as he said, "...Did you boil him to death?"

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

Old Man Yao pursed his lips: "Before the rooster crows, you're making noise and waking me up. Or later, don't let the rooster crow, you can crow instead."

Chen Ji smiled and didn't take his master's words to heart. He had also slowly grown accustomed to the other party's sharp tongue: "Master, I'm going to fetch water. I'll fill it before the rooster crows so it doesn't delay your morning lesson for us."

Saying that, he rolled up his sleeves to his wrists and walked out with a carrying pole on his shoulder.

However, before Chen Ji reached the door, a copper bell suddenly began to ring in the distance outside. The sound of the bell was crisp and pleasant, coming from far away and getting closer.

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

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

The next moment, a procession of people carrying a solemnly beautiful Buddha statue passed through Anxi Street in the dawn light.

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

Beside the Sumeru seat, there were also monks holding a copper bell in their left hand and incense in their right. Occasionally, their left and right hands would strike together, creating brilliant sparks and crisp sounds where the incense and copper bell collided.

The incense burned continuously, and the sparks rushed towards the sky, like fiery trees and silver flowers, or winding fish and dragons.

Chen Ji quietly asked: "Master, you pulled me back..."

Old Man Yao said expressionlessly: "Don't ask."

Chen Ji and Old Man Yao stood side by side, silently watching this procession of monks slowly pass by the door of Taiping Medical Hall.

As he watched, he suddenly took a step back.

Just at that instant, the Buddha statue seemed to look at him, its gaze indifferent yet with a trace of compassion.

At this time, Liu Quxing, awakened by the sound of the copper bell, also came out. He looked at the procession in front of the door: "It's the monks from Tuoluosi Temple in the south of the city. Which family is so generous as to spend money during the Chongyang Festival to invite the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to patrol Luocheng?"

Chen Ji hesitated for a moment and asked: "Master, are there really gods and Buddhas in this world?"

Liu Quxing eagerly answered: "Of course there are! Last year, a person in Liu Family Village outside the suburbs had a mother who was seriously ill. He knelt before the Buddha statue and prayed during the time the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas were patrolling, and as a result, his mother's illness got better on the spot!"

Chen Ji was half-believing, half-doubting. He knew that many religions used the display of miracles to attract followers.

Then he heard Liu Quxing continue: "Also, I remember three years ago, a filial son in the west of Luocheng had parents who both died of the plague. He went to Tuoluosi Temple in the south of the city to seek the Buddha, donated all his family property, land deeds, and ancestral property, and invited Abbot Yun to hold a water and land dharma assembly to provide for the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions."

"What was the result?"

"His parents revived, and the plague also disappeared, but they were just lying on the bed unable to move," Liu Quxing answered.

Chen Ji frowned and turned his head to look at Old Man Yao: "Master, are the things Senior Brother Liu said true?"

Old Man Yao, with his hands behind his back, lightly grunted: "Initially, his parents were already dying when they were sent to me. I told him to carry his parents away so they wouldn't die in the medical hall and ruin my reputation."

Liu Quxing quietly mumbled: "Master, at that time you said that people couldn't be saved anymore, it would be better to save some money for the living..."

Old Man Yao didn't pay attention to him and continued: "His parents took their last breath in front of me, so when the news of their revival came, I went personally to verify it. The old couple indeed lived again, but they were lying in bed without consciousness, though their pulse, heartbeat, and breathing were all present."

Chen Ji was stunned, his own parents...

Then he heard Old Man Yao sneer: "But what's the meaning of living like that? It's better to let them go peacefully."

Chen Ji suddenly asked: "Master, are there things that can make deceased people completely live again?"

Old Man Yao glanced at him: "According to rumors on the streets, the only son of the current dynasty's chief minister, Xu Gong, died in an accident. Xu Gong then spent a large sum of money to invite the abbot of Yuanjue Temple to act, using the seven treasures lotus lamp to mold a physical body for his son, so that his son could live another life."

"Is his son still alive now?"

"He's alive, he's the current Vice Supervisor of the Qintianjian, Xu Shu."

Chen Ji's mind was like a giant axe splitting through haze and chaos, becoming instantly clear.

He had already lived another life. If there really were people in this world who could revive the deceased, then couldn't he one day find a way to go back home and also revive his own parents?

Earn money.

Cultivate.

Chen Ji's heart was burning.

To cultivate, he could no longer avoid the ice flow. He had to figure out exactly what the ice flow was, how it was produced, and how to obtain it!

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

The neighbors on the street were all no longer sleepy, having already removed their door boards early and greeting each other happily, setting up their stalls on the street.

Chen Ji didn't go back to the backyard. He carried the pole and walked towards the water well.

A little brother carrying dry firewood came face to face, selling it. As they brushed shoulders, Chen Ji stopped and pulled the other person: "Tell Lord Yun Yang that I need to make a trip to the inner prison."

The little brother showed astonishment: "Little Doctor Chen, what are you talking about? I don't understand."

Chen Ji calmly said: "People selling firewood walk through streets and alleys, exposed to wind and sun, so their faces wouldn't be as pale and clean as a secret spy's. Moreover, people selling firewood don't just wander on this one street. If they can't sell a load of firewood from morning to evening, and they were a Jing Chao spy, they wouldn't have arrogance in their expression, they should be cautious. Go tell Lord Yun Yang that I want to go to the inner prison to look at the prisoners and files, perhaps I can help him find new achievements."

Saying that, he carried the water without looking back.

Chen Ji hadn't just discovered the abnormality of this little brother selling firewood today. He had sat at the medical hall doorstep one day while waiting for his parents to send school money, and he had known then.

And the reason he wanted to go to the inner prison, a place others avoided like the plague, was simply because...

Where were the most wrongful deaths?

The secret spy department's inner prison.

The little brother selling firewood slowly restrained his smile, gazing at Chen Ji's receding back. He originally thought he had disguised himself very well, but now it seemed the other party had already discovered his problem and was just quietly watching his clumsy performance.

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