Chapter 5

An Ping took a taxi home. Breakfast, prepared by the housekeeper, was laid out on the table: scallion-oil noodles topped with a soft-boiled egg, along with a bowl of glutinous rice and pumpkin porridge.

An Ping’s parents spent most of the year abroad handling their business, so he was already accustomed to living alone. He put his breakfast in the microwave to heat it up and calculated how much homework he had left.

Twenty-five test papers in one afternoon…

No matter how he looked at it, there was no way he could finish them all.

Forget it. He would just copy the answers.

An Ping was a conscientious person who rarely took shortcuts. This was the first time he had ever copied homework since starting high school. However, after everything he had been through the previous night, homework no longer seemed like such a big deal. After narrowly escaping death, taking it easy for once was only natural.

He still had Mu Gesheng on his mind. After all, what had happened was so utterly unbelievable that if he hadn’t read so many novels, he wouldn’t have known how to piece his shattered worldview back together.

Since he was taking a rare break from doing homework, An Ping thought for a moment and decided to find something else to occupy his mind. He turned on the home theater downstairs and picked out a historical film.

The subject matter was rather obscure. It was a partially fictionalized story built on historical facts. The synopsis was very short, and it was impossible to tell which dynasty it was about. It seemed to be set near the end of some chaotic era.

An Ping pressed play, and the screen gradually darkened.

A string of pearl curtains was lifted. Light and shadows flowed across the screen like faded, yellowed rice paper. Deep within a covered corridor stood a vermilion-red gate, and the faint, melodious strains of an opera could be heard.

“…May I hope that one day, a crow’s head and a horse’s horn will bring our rescue? I place this letter in your sleeve. I, too, have wandered for far too long…”

An Ping felt that he was probably dreaming.

He must have fallen asleep while watching the movie. Otherwise, there was no reason for him to open his eyes and find himself transported to the last century. Before him was a long street, and judging by the layout and scenery, it was probably sometime during the Republican era.

An Ping was the type of person who dreamed a lot. Based on his experience, this dream probably wouldn’t be frightening. At the very least, he seemed to have an omniscient perspective. As long as he wasn’t experiencing everything firsthand from a first-person perspective, the effect would be little different from watching a movie.

Besides, he had already made a scene at a ghost wedding. One more strange experience wouldn’t hurt.

Carriages and horses came and went, and the street was bustling with people. Suddenly, a commotion approached from a distance, growing louder and louder. A crisp shout rang out of nowhere.

“Make way! Please, make way! There’s a fight going on! Don’t get hurt by accident!”

A large group of people came running toward him from afar. Every one of them was covered in dust and looked utterly disheveled. Yet the shout had come from the very back of the crowd.

“Second Brother! We’ve reached Long-Eyebrow Bridge! Take them all out with one move!”

The person shouting was a young man with a spirited expression and nimble movements. Within just a few sentences, he had already leaped to the end of the long street.

A bridge stood there, separated from the opposite street by a shallow inlet.

The young man stood on the other side of the bridge and sent everyone attempting to cross tumbling into the water. Yet the crowd continued surging forward without end. Every person wore the desperate expression of someone fleeing for their life. It was as if they would rather charge headfirst into the young man guarding the bridge, even if they couldn’t defeat him, because something even more terrifying was chasing them from behind.

Seeing the bridge grow more and more crowded, a fierce gust of wind suddenly swept down the long street with a roaring rush, heading straight for the bridge.

The crowd on the bridge instantly scattered. People were flung into the air like flowers scattered by a celestial maiden, then crashed into the water one after another. The splashing sounds rose and fell in quick succession. Before long, the shallow inlet was filled with people, packed together like dumplings boiling in a pot.

“Draw your blade like the wind, and let the fallen flowers flow with the water.” The young man at the bridgehead clapped his hands and smiled. “Second Brother, if you’d drawn your blade a little earlier today, neither of us would have ended up injured. You wouldn’t have hurt your arm, and I wouldn’t have sprained my ankle.”

“Master said there’s nothing going on these days, so I’m only allowed to draw my blade once every three days.” Someone came walking down the long street. He was another young man of about the same age, carrying a long, vermilion-red saber in his arms.

From his observer’s perspective, An Ping was completely dumbfounded. He wondered whether his imagination had leveled up. Could he really dream up someone this good-looking?

No, good-looking wasn’t the right word. It was too bland to describe him. His beauty was in no way feminine; instead, it was sharp and breathtaking.

The young man had a pair of phoenix eyes. He carried a saber, and his temperament was like a saber as well. His features were stunning enough to take one’s breath away, while the structure of his face was so sharp that it seemed to overflow with murderous intent. His back was perfectly straight, as though wine had been splashed across a blade, leaving behind a fragrance that seared as it cut to the bone.

An Ping stared at him in a daze, but most of the passersby seemed accustomed to the sight.

“Young Master Song has come down from the mountain?”

“It’s the fifth day of the month today. The academy is closed.”

“As expected, these young masters love getting into fights as soon as they come down the mountain.”

“They’re young men, after all…”

The young man called Second Brother didn’t seem like an ordinary person, but when he opened his mouth, his words were surprisingly down-to-earth.

“Finally, that damn fight is over. Let’s find somewhere to drink.”

“Hold on.”

The young man on the opposite side of the bridge fished someone out of the water and said with a cheeky grin, “Big Brother, could you do me a favor and pass a message to your young master? This time, he got beaten up by me, so I made him call me Dad. Next time, he’ll have to call me Grandpa. And the time after that, he can bring his own father along to kowtow to me. As for illegally occupying someone else’s residence, I’ll beat him up every time I catch him doing it. Tell him to make sure his family’s ancestral graves haven’t been completely dug up before he tries anything again.”

Second Brother grew impatient listening to him. “Fourth Brother, what the hell are you going on about over there? Are you ever going to finish?”

“Coming, coming!” Fourth Brother waved his hand and threw the person back into the water. “You’re only allowed to draw your saber once every three days? Then how do you explain using it to slaughter a pig yesterday—”

He had just reached the middle of the bridge when a sharp cracking sound came from beneath his feet. A moment later, there was a tremendous rumble, and the entire bridge collapsed.

“…Second Brother, you’re too ruthless.” Fourth Brother surfaced from the water. “All I did was mention that you slaughtered a pig. Was there really any need to chop the bridge apart?”

“You have the nerve to say you didn’t eat any of it?” Second Brother snorted coldly. “Was I supposed to slaughter a pig just to feed the dogs?”

“Oh, are you angry?” Fourth Brother made a face at him. “Woof.”

“Woof your ancestors.” Second Brother pursed his lips and pulled him out of the water. “Look at the pathetic state you’re in. Forget about drinking. Find a doctor and get that arm of yours stitched up.”

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing! If we go any later, the first song at Guanshan Yue will already have started singing… Hey, why are you doing this again?!”

“Stop talking nonsense.” Second Brother simply lifted him by the waist and held him up by his belt. “We’re going to find a doctor first. Next time, I’ll book out all of Guanshan Yue.”

“Then I want Auntie Yue to play mahjong with me!”

“Do you fucking not know what it means to push your luck?”

An Ping watched the two of them bicker all the way down the street until they finally stopped in front of a grand residence. The estate had an imposing entrance and a sprawling courtyard, with two palace lanterns hanging before the vermilion-red main gates.

Second Brother didn’t use the main entrance. Instead, he turned into a narrow alley beside the residence and began pounding on the side gate.

“Chai! Are you there?”

“Are you knocking on the door or robbing the place?” Fourth Brother raised his eyelids. “Whose house is this? What kind of doctor is so rich?”

“The Chai family, the medicinal family,” Second Brother replied. “Neither of us brought any money when we left home. We can probably put it on credit here.”

“Fuck your mother, put me down already! Even if the Chai family doctor sold me, I still wouldn’t be able to afford the consultation!” Fourth Brother struggled as he hung from the other man’s grip on his belt. “When did you get to know a doctor from the Chai family? Don’t tell me you’ve been scammed!”

“I don’t know him, but the Chai residence has a charitable medical clinic. Anyone can seek treatment there, regardless of wealth or status.” Second Brother said, “That fight just now isn’t really over yet. That bastard definitely hasn’t given up. I’m going back to beat up his father too. You can stay here for the night and return to the mountain tomorrow.”

“You’re going to beat up his father? Put me down! I want to go too!”

While the two of them struggled with each other, the side gate creaked open. A servant dressed in a page’s outfit walked out.

“Are the two young masters knocking because they need medical treatment?”

“Treat him.” Second Brother waved his hand and tossed Fourth Brother straight through the gate. “I’ll come by tomorrow to pick up the goods.”

“Rest assured, Young Master.” The page cupped his hands in a respectful salute. “It is already rather late today. Please come to collect him tomorrow.”

“Second Brother, stop right there! I want to go too!” Before he could finish speaking, the other person had already kicked the gate shut.

The page smiled as though he had seen this sort of thing countless times before. Bowing slightly, he said, “This way, Young Master, please.”

The Chai residence was enormous, with deep, secluded courtyards. Fourth Brother seemed to be visiting for the first time as well. He followed the page into a medicine room, where a young boy who had been grinding medicinal herbs stood up.

“Good evening, Young Master. May I ask what kind of injury you need treated?”

“It’s just a minor scrape. I’ll trouble you, Little Physician.” Fourth Brother rolled up his sleeve.

An Ping was startled by what he saw. Half of the man’s arm was covered in blood, with the flesh mangled beyond recognition. No wonder Second Brother had insisted on dragging him here. An Ping had no idea what kind of material his clothes were made from, but the injury hadn’t been visible at all from the outside.

“There are fragments of a blade left inside the wound.” The young apprentice held up a lamp to examine it, then brought over a wooden tray containing tweezers, needles, and thread. “It will hurt quite a bit when I remove them. Would you like anesthesia, Young Master?”

“No need. Just stitch it up, Little Physician.” Fourth Brother waved his hand. “By the way, does the Chai residence provide meals? Do you have any wine?”

“The Chai residence prohibits meals after the hour of the Dog.” The apprentice worked quickly. Even as he spoke, he had already begun threading the needle. “After the wound is stitched, you must avoid alcohol and meat for seven days.”

Fourth Brother barely reacted to the injury itself, but the apprentice’s words immediately made his face fall.

“Seven days?”

“Your wound is very deep. Seven days is already the minimum. Please be sure to follow the doctor’s instructions.” The apprentice worked swiftly, removing the blade fragments, cleaning the wound, and bandaging it all in one smooth sequence. “Young Master, you are still quite young. You should take care of your health. That is the way to ensure your well-being in the long run.”

“Young Physician, you certainly have an interesting way of speaking.” Fourth Brother laughed. “Your medical skills are so impressive, yet you look even younger than I am. How come you speak as though you’re even older than my master?”

“Young Master, you flatter me. I am merely an outer-court apprentice and have not received the Chai family’s medical teachings.” The apprentice put away the medical tray and gave a proper, respectful bow. “As for medical skill, I am not even one ten-thousandth as capable as my family’s young master.”

“I’ve heard of your young master.” Fourth Brother immediately became interested. “Chai Shuxin of the Chai family. He began practicing medicine and helping the world at a young age, and his miraculous hands can bring the dead back to life. I’ve heard he’s quite an extraordinary person.”

“Our young master possesses a benevolent heart despite his youth and is a model physician.” The apprentice, however, refused to say anything more. He escorted Fourth Brother out of the room in a proper and orderly manner.

“Thank you, Little Physician.” Fourth Brother smiled and returned the salute. Then he reached out and ruffled the boy’s hair. “You look pretty young. Go to bed early. That’s how you’ll grow taller.”

The young apprentice froze for a moment, and a trace of anger suddenly appeared on his face. “There’s no need for Young Master to concern himself with that.”

Before he could finish speaking, the medicine room door slammed shut with a bang. Fourth Brother hadn’t even had time to ask where he was supposed to stay, so he could only stare at the closed door.

“Did he get angry?” He rubbed his nose. “Did he take offense because I called him young? Or because I said he wasn’t tall enough?”

Fourth Brother knocked on the door, but there was no further response. This was rather interesting. His curiosity was piqued, and he had just found himself an excuse to wander around the Chai residence.

The young man leaped onto the roof and looked around. “These days, everyone in the city is building Western-style mansions. It’s rare to see a garden this old-fashioned. What a treasure.”

The Chai residence was a classic landscape garden, with dense flowers and trees and winding covered corridors. Fourth Brother plucked a lantern from a roof beam, then somehow found a box of pastries in some room or other. He wandered around munching on sunflower seeds.

“Medicine room, study, tea room, medicine room, medicine room…”

After visiting more than a dozen rooms in succession, he finally couldn’t help complaining, “Is the Chai residence one giant pharmacy? Why are there medicine rooms everywhere?”

He had never been fond of taking medicine. As he wandered around, he wasn’t actually looking for medicine rooms but for the kitchen. He and Second Brother had been fighting all day, and he was already so hungry that his stomach felt as though it had stuck to his backbone.

“Are all the people in the Chai residence medicine jars? Do they take medicine every day instead of eating? …There it is!”

He finally found the kitchen. Pots, bowls, and pans were all present and accounted for. Fourth Brother peered into the vegetable basket.

“No way… Where’s the meat?!”

He turned the kitchen upside down, searching every corner, and finally confirmed that the Chai residence’s kitchen contained nothing but vegetables.

This wasn’t a residence full of doctors. It was a nest of monks!

Fourth Brother thought for a moment, then left the kitchen and turned left. A pond lay not far away. In just a few moves, he caught a fish, washed it, scraped off its scales, added seasonings, and put it in a pot.

He then went to the neighboring medicine room and took several medicinal herbs, mixing them into the fish soup to make it more nourishing and flavorful. While he was at it, he also grabbed a bottle of medicinal wine, knocked off the sealing clay, and soon the entire room was filled with the wine’s clean, refreshing fragrance.

Before long, the fish was cooked. Fourth Brother took the clay pot off the stove, grabbed a pair of chopsticks, and tossed them toward the outside.

“Brother, you’ve been standing there watching for ages. The fish has absorbed all the flavor. How about a bowl of soup?”

A figure appeared outside the kitchen.

“The Chai residence is heavily guarded. How did you get in? You even made it past the Nine-Bend Corridor.”

“That wasn’t difficult. By the way, your family’s sunflower seeds are pretty good.” Fourth Brother held a spoon between his teeth. “Don’t be nervous. I’m just being kept here temporarily. Someone will come to collect me first thing tomorrow morning.”

With a beaming smile, he held the clay pot up in front of the other person. He acted as though they were old friends, showing not the slightest awareness that he had practically broken into someone’s home and stolen their things.

“Your Chai residence probably doesn’t eat much meat, does it? My cooking is pretty good. Want to give it a try?”

“…What is this?”

“Red Date, Onion, and Koi Soup.” Fourth Brother looked rather pleased with himself. “I just caught the fish from your pond. I specially picked one with beautiful coloring. Look at all the red and green in this pot. Isn’t it gorgeous?”

The other person took two steps back. The lantern light beneath the corridor illuminated his figure. He was a young man about the same age as Fourth Brother, with cool, refined features. Lowering his eyes, he stared at the clay pot in Fourth Brother’s hands.

After a moment of silence, he raised his eyes to look at Fourth Brother.

“Koi are not edible.”

“Huh?”

“Food should not be consumed after the hour of the Dog.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You must not trespass in the kitchen.”

“How did we get onto this topic?”

“You must not tamper with medicinal herbs.”

“Why are you so stingy?”

“The contents of that pot must not be eaten.”

“Hey, if you don’t want any, that’s fine.” Fourth Brother waved his hand and took a spoonful of fish soup himself. “I think it tastes pretty good. It’s your loss if you don’t get to try it… Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?!”

Several flashes of silver shot toward the clay pot in his hands. Fourth Brother barely managed to dodge them.

“What does this pot have against you?”

The other person didn’t answer. Instead, he flicked his wrist and sent several more silver needles flying.

Fourth Brother leaped up and down all over the kitchen.

“Seriously, if you want some, just say so! There’s no need to be embarrassed. What’s the point of taking your anger out on the pot? Hey, you can control silver needles with your bare hands? Are you a member of the main Chai family?”

The man dodged while continuing to eat. His movements were incredibly agile, and before long, he had finished the entire pot of soup.

“Stop throwing those needles! I’ve finished eating!”

The other person paused when he heard that.

“…You finished it?”

Fourth Brother burped.

Red Date, Onion, and Koi Soup.

An Ping was utterly floored. The man had actually managed to finish the entire pot. What kind of tongue and stomach did he have?

“Strenuous activity isn’t good right after a meal. You’re a physician, so you should have a benevolent heart. Let’s take a breather first.”

Fourth Brother made a time-out gesture, but another silver needle immediately whizzed past his temple.

“Why are you still attacking me?! A guest is a guest, no matter who they are. Is this how the Chai residence treats its guests?”

“You’re being unreasonable.”

“How about this? How much does that fish cost? I’ll compensate you for it, all right?”

“A red-crowned koi is worth as much as an entire restaurant.”

Fourth Brother felt his breath catch in his throat. After struggling to swallow for a while, he said sincerely, “…In that case, you’d better just treat me as a thief.”

The other person frowned and said nothing more.

Seeing that he couldn’t reason with him, Fourth Brother immediately jumped out through the window and fled. One ran while the other chased.

“I say, why are you so rigid? I’m an injured patient, too. Where’s your physician’s benevolent heart? Or do you have some ulterior motive? What, are you planning to take advantage of the dark and rob me of my innocence? Who would’ve thought that someone as young as you could already be so scheming—Holy shit! Someone save me!”

Fourth Brother had spent years fighting, and his skills had been honed through countless brawls. His first weapon was his tongue, which he used to attack people psychologically; his second was his fists and feet.

Thus, as he ran for his life, he kept talking incessantly, waiting for the other person to become so angry that he would expose a weakness.

The more proper a person was, the thinner their skin tended to be. And judging by this young man’s refined and noble bearing, he certainly seemed like someone who wouldn’t be able to withstand such provocation.

Sure enough, an angry shout came from behind him.

“Shut up!”

Silver needles rained down from the sky, covering the space around him. Fourth Brother had been waiting for precisely this moment. He flicked his wrist and threw out a handful of copper coins, knocking the needles out of the air.

Then, instead of retreating, he rushed forward. Taking advantage of the other person’s momentary astonishment, he swept out a horizontal kick and sent him straight into the lake.

“That kick just now was a move I learned from an old soldier in the military camp. It’s crude but practical, perfect for dealing with someone like you. Your fighting style is too proper and orthodox. You can’t defend against it.”

Fourth Brother sat on the roof, somehow producing another handful of sunflower seeds from who knew where.

“Listen, brother. You can’t outtalk me, and you can’t beat me either. How about we just call it quits and go our separate ways? What do you say?”