The Recluse Had No Love for Conventional Wisdom

"Advisor Chu, Mr. Advisor, Brother Chu, Elder Brother Chu!"

Fang Jun stood outside the car, gently tapping on the window, slowly and softly, "Wake up."

Chu Tianshu opened his eyes and turned to look out the window. "Have we arrived?"

We've been here for a while.

Fang Jun said, "He said his house is messy and he needs to go back and tidy up first. I thought you hadn't slept since you got off the plane, so I'll let you sleep a little longer in the car."

Chu Tianshu opened the car door and found that the area resembled a fishing village.

Not far from the cement road is a gravel area, and there are many houses made from converted shipping containers along the roadside.

I'm sorry.

Yin Fengxin opened the door to his home. "A few years ago, my family rented a government-subsidized apartment. Later, because I found a job, we had to move out."

"After comparing, this container house is pretty good, so I'll stay here for now."

The container itself is not small.

But you need to put in a bed, a folding table, and a wooden box with a clothesline on top for storing and hanging clothes.

There was also a gas stove and a gas canister in the corner.

Entering a house like this requires extreme caution; even the slightest movement could cause you to bump into something.

There were several nails under the window, on which hung a portrait of a middle-aged woman, and three nails were used to fix a small incense burner.

"This is my mom."

Yin Fengxin took out a packet of incense sticks from the bedside table, lit three sticks with a lighter, bowed three times, and then put them into the incense burner.

Fang Jun said bluntly, "This place is definitely not suitable for recuperation. You should move to another place soon."

Chu Tianshu observed carefully inside the room for a while.

"You said you came home one day and slept very soundly, but when you woke up you felt very energetic."

Chu Tianshu pointed to the bed, "You slept here that day, didn't you?"

Yin Fengxin nodded.

Fang Jun looked at Chu Tianshu, recalling what Chu Tianshu had told him: it was extremely unlikely that Yin Fengxin could remain conscious despite being so deeply entangled with the Evil Spirit.

Is there something special about this room?

The wind and water here were calm, and apart from Yin Fengxin's body, he couldn't sense anything unusual anywhere else.

Do you have trouble sleeping in a particular bed?

Chu Tianshu said with a smile, "Don't have trouble adjusting if you move to another place."

"You'll be away for at least ten days this time. And this place doesn't seem particularly safe. If you have anything important, you should take it with you."

Yin Fengxin looked at his mother's portrait.

This is very important to him, but no one would steal something like this.

He thought for a moment, then pulled a small box out from under the bed.

Inside the box was an old-fashioned makeup box, a longevity lock, a string of silver and copper coins for children to wear as a blessing, and a scroll painting.

"If I had to pick something important, these are the things I left behind. They're not worth a lot of money, but they were all left to me by my mom. Hmm?"

Yin Fengxin rummaged through the box in surprise. "Strange, there was supposed to be a piece of jade here, where did it go?"

He searched and searched but couldn't find it, so he angrily pulled out his phone and made a call.

"Dad, did you take the jade that Mom left behind?"

"It really wasn't you?"

"Alright, stop staying at your coworkers' places all the time. Come back to live here. Our company has a perk program, and I'm going to stay somewhere else for a while."

After hanging up the phone, Yin Fengxin looked somewhat dejected.

Fang Jun didn't say anything, but handed him two pieces of chewing gum.

"Thanks."

Yin Fengxin took the chewing gum. "You've all seen this funny. My parents used to run a shoe business for a while, and we were quite well-off."

"Later, I don't know how my dad got into gambling, he racked up a huge debt, and we sold everything else of value in the house. Even this little bit of stuff we had, he almost sold too."

Yin Fengxin sat on the ground, pressing his stomach, as if he was under a sudden, unbearable pressure and needed to talk to someone.

Looking at him, Chu Tianshu couldn't help but think to himself.

Yin Fengxin did maintain a clear mind. So, wouldn't a clear-headed person know that drinking so much pure milk every day is abnormal?

There is also a sudden surge in sexual urges.

Perhaps he suspected something, but he was too afraid to go to the hospital for a checkup and worked overtime like crazy.

He only went along with it when others, including his superiors, insisted that he inspect it.

So, after leaving that building, he didn't ask about the medical report like someone else would do for a normal medical check-up.

"Especially that piece of jade."

Yin Fengxin picked up the scroll from the box. "My mother told me that she bought that jade and this painting together when she was pregnant."

"The seller claimed it was a family heirloom from the Ming Dynasty, but the paper used for this painting looks brand new; it doesn't resemble an antique at all."

"My mom mainly wanted the jade; she just wanted this painting as a bonus."

"She loved to say that men should wear jade and women should wear silver. If she found a piece of jade she liked while pregnant, it was as if it were specially prepared for the child."

"When my dad's debts were exposed, the only thing he did when he tried to take this jade was to get a beating from my mom, who then hung the jade around my neck."

"For several years, my mother supported my schooling while forcing my father to quit gambling."

"When Mom was critically ill, she held my hand and said that I should work hard and earn money, not have any bad thoughts, get married, have a home, and have someone to rely on when I get old."

Yin Fengxin gave a self-deprecating laugh as he said this.

"But once I joined the company, I had to wear a name tag and a jade pendant around my neck. The jade was quite large, and my supervisor said it was too ostentatious. I had no choice but to leave the jade at home."

Fang Jun comforted you, saying, "That piece of jade might really have saved your life."

Chu Tianshu looked at the box and said, "Could I borrow this painting to take a look?"

Yin Fengxin handed over the scroll, then popped a piece of chewing gum into his mouth and chewed it absentmindedly, seemingly lost in thought.

Chu Tianshu untied the ribbon on the painting and carefully unfolded it for a closer look.

This drawing paper is indeed quite strong and durable, unlike the old, worn-out drawing paper that most people imagine.

The painting depicts a clump of grass and an old man leaning on a wooden cane, bending over to examine the grass.

The old man's expression was lifelike; the way he looked at the plants and trees was as if he were looking at a vast treasure trove that was inexhaustible and would benefit future generations.

A single blade of grass is a rare and precious treasure.

"Really!"

Chu Tianshu thought to himself, "This outfit is just like the one I saw in my dream."

The entire image is very simple, consisting of an old man, a clump of grass, and a red stamp in the lower right corner.

"By the lake, the mountain, and the people."

Chu Tianshu recognized the four characters, and a flash of inspiration struck him.

"The Binh Mountain Recluse... Li Shizhen?!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Jun looked over curiously.

"You mean the person in this portrait is Li Shizhen?"

Fang Jun asked, "The Li Shizhen who wrote the Compendium of Materia Medica?"

Chu Tianshu nodded and said, "It's very possible. 'Binh Mountain Recluse' is Li Shizhen's nickname."

Many things were on his mind.

Li Shizhen actually wrote more than just "Compendium of Materia Medica". He also wrote "An Examination of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians", "An Examination of the Gate of Life", "Questions on the Triple Burner", "Treatise on the Heavenly Puppet", and so on.

There was also a book called "Illustrated Treatise on the Five Viscera," but most of it has been lost.

The Dragon Flower Cult Leader was active during the Wanli era, as was Li Shizhen.

If what the person selling the painting said was true, both the painting and the Longhua Kidney Jade were family heirlooms.

Could there be some connection between Li Shizhen and the Dragon Flower Cult?

Considering what Li Shizhen said in the dream, it's unlikely that there's any positive connection between the two sides.

Fang Jun also thought of this, took out his phone, typed quickly, and showed it to Chu Tianshu.

"If this painting truly has an extraordinary origin, could it contain a method to subdue the Evil Spirit of the Dragon Flower Cult?"

"Then he can be saved."

Chu Tianshu nodded slightly, circulating his Mind Power to see if the portrait would react in any way.

But as soon as his Mind Power touched the portrait, it vanished without a trace, like a clay ox sinking into the sea.

Chu Tianshu simply channeled his Mind Power into the image, but after more than ten seconds, the speed at which the image absorbed the energy remained unchanged.

A thin sheet of drawing paper, yet it's like a bottomless pit.

Chu Tianshu frowned and mouthed "help" to Fang Jun.

Fang Jun also released his Mind Power and threw it at the drawing paper.

In Chu Tianshu's vision, his Mind Power spread out from his fingertips, like a light red Yanxia, which looked to be of very good quality.

To everyone's surprise, when this Mind Power landed on the surface of the portrait, it simply slid off and couldn't penetrate at all.

Fang Jun flicked his finger, manipulated his Mind Power to bring it down again, only to have it slide away once more, and then typed again.

"Perhaps you are a healer, and this painting only recognizes your kind of Mind Power; or perhaps it's because you infused your Mind Power first, causing it to reject others; or perhaps it's a combination of both."

"You said he can suppress Evil Spirit, is it because of this painting?"

Chu Tianshu shook his head instead.

This painting has been sealed away for a long time and has received no response from the outside world.

In other words, Yin Fengxin truly withstood the influence of the Evil Spirit through his own will, and even distorted the Evil Spirit's desires.

He was someone who had died suddenly.

His will was like a candle flickering in the wind, like a single strand of hair.

The entire system is built on a single line.

But he held on.

How can someone be so honest?

Chu Tianshu said softly, "Even in this situation, he's still only thinking about working overtime. Could he be interpreting his mother's dying words as meaning he should earn money by working overtime?"

Fang Jun said regretfully, "It's a pity that honest people can't make a lot of money."

"Snort!"

Chu Tianshu strongly disliked this kind of "common sense".

"Back then, I thought that if I had some spare money, I would open a pharmacy. Only when I had a real business nearby would I feel at ease."

"Look, not only will I separate him from Evil Spirit, but I'll also mentor people like him in business and help them achieve great things!!"