Skill and the Dao

Early in the morning, Old Yao rose from his bed and strolled into the courtyard.

The water vat had already been filled and the courtyard floor swept clean, but Chen Ji was nowhere to be seen.

Old Yao looked up at the crow in the apricot tree, and the crow pointed a wing toward the gate.

His gaze passed through the corridor to the street outside the medical hall, where he saw Chen Ji sweeping the stone-paved road in front of it with a long bamboo broom.

The Double Ninth Festival had been celebrated the day before, leaving Anxi Street littered with cornel sprigs and rubbish. Only the area in front of Taiping Medical Hall was spotless.

He asked in puzzlement, "What time did that boy get up?"

The crow cawed.

"The third quarter of the tiger hour? He really did get up before the chickens." Old Yao looked around. "He's done the work so neatly that it's hard to find a reason to give him a thrashing."

The crow cawed.

Old Yao nodded. "He is a sensible lad... You don't have to keep finding different ways to praise him. I know."

He walked to the entrance and eyed Chen Ji sidelong. "You're so hardworking it's making me a little uneasy. It wasn't your turn to work today, so why did you do it all?"

Chen Ji leaned on the enormous bamboo broom and said with a smile, "I had nothing else to do. This is my home too, after all, and it's nicer when it's clean."

Old Yao studied Chen Ji in puzzlement. "You were still being so polite and distant with me yesterday. Why are you suddenly trying to get close to me today?"

Chen Ji replied, "Things have to change sometime."

Old Yao was silent for a long time. "What are you planning to do about She Dengke?"

Chen Ji kept sweeping as he answered, "I can't really kill him, can I?... Master, do you think Senior Brother She is a bad person?"

"No."

"Right, you don't think he's a bad person either." Chen Ji sighed. "Of course I'll remember what happened, but if I had to actually kill him, I might not be able to bring myself to do it."

Old Yao said calmly, "You're neither a good person nor a bad person. Someone like you might not live long in this jianghu. The Mountain Lord's inheritance may well end with you."

As they spoke, the sound of hooves came from the end of Anxi Street.

Old Yao and Chen Ji turned and saw a carriage speeding toward them.

The carriage pulled up outside the medical hall, and Commandery Princess Bai Li, the little monk, and the heir jumped down one after another. There were still several rouge marks on the heir's face, and he reeked of wine.

The three lowered their heads and ran into Taiping Medical Hall, though they didn't forget to greet Old Yao as they passed. "Good morning, Imperial Physician Yao!"

"Good morning, Imperial Physician Yao!"

Halfway inside, Commandery Princess Bai Li doubled back and shoved an oilpaper packet into Chen Ji's hand. "Here, I promised you this. I'm off!"

The three hurried and stumbled their way into the back courtyard, where the heir called out, "Little monk, this time you can step on me to get up... Huh? Never mind!"

The heir looked at the wall. A wooden ladder had appeared beneath it at some point.

He muttered, "That toll wasn't paid for nothing. The lad's pretty decent. Looks like he's one of us children of the jianghu too!"

Commandery Princess Bai Li glanced back at Chen Ji in the street, then turned and climbed the ladder to get over the wall into the prince's residence. "Quick, quick! Mr. Wang's morning lesson is about to start."

Imperial Physician Yao stared blankly as the three climbed into the prince's residence, then turned to Chen Ji. "You put the ladder there?"

Chen Ji nodded. "I took their money, so I made things a little easier for them."

Imperial Physician Yao's face was expressionless. "With you here, Great Peace Medical Hall is getting less and less peaceful."

Just then, drunken cursing came from the end of Anxi Street. "Red Clothes Alley is full of white-eyed wolves! When I had money, they called me Master Gou. When I didn't, they called me Liang Gou. I only failed to pay three times, and they threw me out! Now that I've brought the heir over, aren't they all nodding and bowing again?"

Another voice said dully, "Brother, your name is Liang Gou'er in the first place. They weren't wrong."

"The heir, honestly. They took a carriage back and didn't even think to give us a ride. And he didn't even find me a place to stay."

Liang Mao'er bottled up his frustration. "Brother, can't you just settle down and work for the Liu Family? They're paying you plenty."

"No... There are three kinds of people I don't help: those who drink and shirk their work, the Eunuch Faction, and those who go against the Eunuch Faction... Those old bastards have black hearts and even blacker hands. I can't beat them."

Chen Ji turned and saw the plump Liang Mao'er carrying Liang Gou'er on his back.

"Master, do you know Liang Gou'er?" Chen Ji asked curiously.

"I do." Old Yao snorted. "He's known in the jianghu as the Autumn Wind Saber Swordsman-Liang Gou'er himself."

"The Autumn Wind Saber Swordsman? Because he practices the Autumn Wind Saber Technique?"

"No, because he likes to go around sponging off people, riding the autumn wind."

Chen Ji: Huh?

"Master, is Liang Gou'er a roving official?" Chen Ji asked curiously. "Why does he depend on the Liu Family?"

"Cultivation depends on wealth, companions, techniques, and a suitable place. Just as you need ginseng for your cultivation, martial artists need medicines to temper their bodies," Old Yao said calmly. "Most paths of cultivation under heaven are the same. They burn through money like running water. Without someone to rely on, you can't amount to much through training alone."

"Liang Gou'er is already so formidable. Why doesn't he rob the Liu Family?" Chen Ji asked.

Old Yao scoffed. "The resources under heaven are all in the hands of the authorities, the great families, the Daoists, and the Buddhists. A small portion is scattered among sects like the Luo Heaven Sect. No matter how formidable Liang Gou'er is, he couldn't withstand a single charge from three thousand elite cavalry. The Liu Family maintains over forty thousand elite troops at the Yuzhou Grand Camp, and they answer to Grand Secretary Liu alone... How many heads would Liang Gou'er need to dare rob the Liu Family?"

Liang Mao'er had drawn near with Liang Gou'er on his back.

Liang Gou'er drunkenly opened his eyes and pointed at Taiping Medical Hall. "We'll stay here. It's close to the heir, and he'll definitely take me along when he goes out to have fun!"

Liang Mao'er looked sheepishly at Old Yao. "Sorry, my brother's talking nonsense."

"I'm not talking nonsense!" His clothes in disarray, Liang Gou'er jumped off Liang Mao'er's back and brazenly tried to barge into the medical hall.

Old Yao raised a hand to stop him. "Wait."

Liang Gou'er opened his eyes and swayed as he studied Old Yao. After a long moment, he said in surprise, "Imperial Physician Yao... An old acquaintance! Even better. We'll stay at your place!"

Old Yao said nothing.

Chen Ji was a little nervous. He had seen Liang Gou'er draw his saber: that strike had split Lin Chaoqing's bamboo hat with exquisite precision, not a fraction too much or too little.

He was worried that a roving official like Liang Gou'er might make a scene after being turned away by his master. It would be bad if his master got hurt.

But before he could decide what to do, Old Yao glanced at Chen Ji, then slowly said to Liang Gou'er, "It's not impossible for you to stay at the medical hall, but you have to teach my disciple the saber. Teach him well, and Taiping Medical Hall will not only put you up, but feed you too."

Chen Ji froze.

Was this really his stingy master?

Liang Gou'er grinned and teased, "Imperial Physician Yao, you run a medical hall. What does your disciple want to learn the saber for? Has business been slow lately, and you want to make yourself some patients?"

Old Yao said unhurriedly, "Just teach him. You don't need to concern yourself with anything else."

Liang Gou'er suddenly grew serious. "Old man, I've had too much to drink, but I'm not drunk stupid. The Liang Family's Saber Dao isn't taught to outsiders."

Imperial Physician Yao said calmly, "I'm asking you to teach him saber skills, not your family's Saber Dao."

Liang Gou'er looked thoughtful, then burst out laughing. "Deal! Come on, come on, Liang Mao'er, we've got a place to stay! Let's go in and find something to eat first! It's just teaching a few saber techniques. There isn't a saber technique under heaven that I, Liang Gou'er, can't teach!"