Qingshan Chapter 6 : Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Colleagues

“There are at least twenty shops selling rice paper in Luocheng, all backed by powerful officials. Which one do I go to?” Jiaotu rolled her eyes.

I said: “That’s a question for Lord Zhou.”

Jiaotu leapt off Zhou Chengyi’s back and flipped him over: “Lord Zhou?”

“Hey, Lord Zhou?!”

But Zhou Chengyi’s face was ashen, his eyes wide open—he was dead.

“Jiaotu, you killed him by mistake!” Yunyang exclaid.

Jiaotu rolled her eyes again: “Don’t pin this on . He was poisoned.”

Yunyang frowned: “I removed the poison sac from his mouth.”

“He must’ve hidden poison sowhere else on his body. Pretending to attack this kid was a ruse to take the poison,” Jiaotu said.

“Then it’s still your fault—you were watching him.”

“If you keep blaming , I’m done with you.”

Yunyang: “Sorry, reflex…”

Jiaotu turned to : “Going shop by shop is too slow. Drag it out, and we’ll lose this big fish. Got any ideas?”

I stood slowly and walked to the table, my palm gently tracing the texture of the rice paper: “Rice paper is handmade, and every craftsman has their habits. So use more sandalwood bark, others more straw. So grind the pulp finer with a stone mill, others are lazy and grind it coarse. The craftsmanship determines the price… Find paper with the sa texture, and you’ll find the shop.”

Jiaotu leaned in, closely examining the paper’s texture. Until now, all rice paper had looked the sa to her…

…

…

At that mont, a knock ca from outside the courtyard. Soone grasped the copper ring on the Zhou residence’s gate, striking it rhythmically.

A hoarse, weathered voice asked from outside: “Lord Zhou, is Chen Ji at your residence?”

In an instant, Yunyang, Jiaotu, all the black-clad n, and I turned toward the sound.

Knock, knock, knock.

The knocking ca again, the beast-head ring on the red-lacquered gate striking with a steady, unhurried rhythm, carrying an inexplicable pressure.

In the dead of night, the sound was jarringly abrupt.

The black-clad n in the courtyard silently drew their waist knives, making no sound, awaiting Yunyang’s orders.

These were elite among elites. I recalled that since I transmigrated, not one of them had spoken a single unnecessary word.

Knock, knock, knock.

With no response, the hoarse voice asked again: “Chen Ji, are you inside?”

I was bewildered.

Who would co looking for ?

I looked at Yunyang, whose expression flickered uncertainly. After a mont’s thought, he signaled a black-clad man: “Drag the bodies inside.”

Jiaotu asked Yunyang: “Who’s here?”

“No need to worry. I know who it is,” Yunyang said, lifting the gate’s latch.

The gate opened, revealing an old man in the dark night, hunched over, dressed in a gray robe and black cloth shoes with white soles. His wrinkled face was like the cracked earth of a dry riverbed.

His beard reached his chest, and his white hair was tied up with a green hairpin. He was as old as one could be.

The old man was surprised to see Yunyang, who put on a smile: “Physician Yao, it’s been a while. Still in good health?”

The old man paused: “It’s you. Shouldn’t you be in the capital? Why are you in Luocheng?”

Yunyang explained: “Ca for so business. Happened to run into Chen Ji while visiting Lord Zhou tonight, so I kept him to chat.”

The old man asked: “Has the Inner Minister’s leg condition improved?”

“Much better, much better. He called you a miracle doctor, said you finally cured the chills he caught years ago at the Firewood Bureau,” Yunyang said with a smile. “Pity you didn’t stay in the capital, or the Emperor would’ve summoned you to the palace by now.”

“I can’t cure the Emperor’s illness,” the old man said, shifting the topic. “Where’s Chen Ji? The dicine’s delivered; it’s ti to go back.”

Yunyang thought for a mont: “Chen Ji, go back with your master. Look how much Physician Yao cares, coming all this way at his age to fetch you.”

I hadn’t expected Yunyang to let go… perhaps because the old man ntioned the ‘Inner Minister’?

I quickly walked out, passing Jiaotu, who grabbed : “Don’t talk nonsense when you get back. We’ll co find you.”

I said nothing, hurrying out the gate: “Master, let’s go.”

“Hm.”

Physician Yao, hands behind his hunched back, shuffled slowly down the quiet street, not asking a single question.

I felt two gazes like hooks on my back. Turning, I saw Yunyang and Jiaotu at the gate, watching with faint smiles.

Both dressed in black, their striking looks and upright postures made them the kind of people who’d catch your eye on the street.

Yet these two killed without blinking, as if human lives were the cheapest thing in the world.

Venomous snakes—that was my deepest impression of them.

I jogged to catch up with the old man. With a clang, the Zhou residence’s gate shut behind us.

I let out a breath.

This seed to be a world where lives were as cheap as grass.

At the start of my transmigration, I hadn’t had much desire to survive, observing everything like a bystander. Whether I lived or died didn’t seem to matter much.

But if I could be reborn once, could my parents be reborn too? That was crucial to .

I had to stay alive.

“Master, thank you for coming to get ,” I said sincerely.

The old man sighed: “If I’d known it was the Secret Spy Division here tonight, I wouldn’t have co.”

I: “…”

What did that an?

Just abandoning your apprentice?

The old man muttered to himself: “Strange. The divination before I left showed great fortune. I thought I’d find a gold ingot… Fortune, my foot.”

His words confused : “Master, aren’t you going to ask about tonight…?”

The old man, walking ahead, raised a hand to cut off: “Wait, don’t tell . I don’t want to know about this kind of trouble. Knowing ans bad news. I’ve lived to ninety-two by staying out of other people’s business.”

I: “You’re pretty good at dodging trouble…”

The old man stopped: “The dicine was delivered. Where’s the paynt?”

I froze. How was I supposed to know about paynt? “Forgot to ask Lord Zhou for it…”

The old man turned, displeased: “Go back and get it.”

I was firm: “I’m not going.”

The old man mulled it over: “Then you cover the cost.”

I changed the subject: “…You seem familiar with them?”

The old man said: “t them back in the capital years ago. They’re ruthless, always doing things that outrage heaven and man. If you see them on the street, pretend you don’t know them. Or, if you’d rather, pretend you don’t know .”

I: “…”

The old man muttered: “The Secret Spy Division’s big shots are here in person. Luocheng’s about to get ssy.”

The long street was quiet, as if Luocheng were asleep. Even the usually bustling East Market was silent, with many lights extinguished.

A watchman, carrying a white lantern under his arm, passed us, lazily banging his gong for the third watch, calling out about dry weather and fire safety.

At a crossroad, I saw my master pull three copper coins from his sleeve.

The next second, he glanced at the stars, squatted, and tossed the coins six tis on the bluestone road: “Hm… take the left.”

“Master, is there danger on the right?” I asked curiously.

“No danger. The divination suggests we might et a beggar. I’ve gotten soft-hearted in my old age—might toss him so coins if I see him. So we’ll take the detour,” the old man explained calmly.

I: “…”

…

…

Inside the Zhou residence, Jiaotu crouched on the armchair, chin in hand, gazing at the night sky: “You just let him go? Because his master knows the Inner Minister?”

“No way. The Inner Minister’s a ruthless snake who doesn’t care about connections. If Physician Yao got in his way, even he’d be done for,” Yunyang said.

Jiaotu sighed: “Alright, do you think that kid’s a Jing Dynasty spy?”

“Definitely,” Yunyang said confidently. “An ordinary apprentice wouldn’t withstand my needles—they’d have passed out from pain. And his quick thinking? No way he’s just a clinic apprentice.”

Jiaotu frowned: “Then why let him go?”

Yunyang smiled: “If he’s a spy, he ca to et Zhou Chengyi to pass ssages. The Jing Dynasty’s Military Intelligence Division must know about this. After Zhou Chengyi disappears tonight and he’s still alive, they’ll assu he betrayed Zhou. They’re harsh on traitors and will send soone to kill him. When they do, we grab the assassin and claim another rit!”

Jiaotu’s eyes lit up: “Brilliant!”

“Exactly!”

After a while, a black-clad man returned to report: “Sirs, we traced the rice paper’s texture and found two matching shops. Their owners and clerks are being taken to Luocheng’s Inner Prison.”

Jiaotu stood: “I’m off to interrogate them overnight!”

Yunyang stretched lazily: “I’ll handle the bodies, then head back to rest.”

“First, let’s settle how we split the credit!”

“Fifty-fifty, of course.”

“No way.”

Yunyang raised an eyebrow: “Why not?”

Jiaotu: “I killed nine people tonight, you only got six, and I took down Zhou Chengyi. Sixty-forty, or don’t invite to work with you again.”

Yunyang sighed: “Colleague relationships are harder to handle than corpses. Fine, sixty-forty.”

Jiaotu jumped off the armchair, gleefully leading the black-clad n away, leaving Yunyang to clean up.

When everyone was gone, Yunyang pulled a dozen palm-sized… shadow puppets from his sleeve.

He pierced each corpse’s wrist with his silver needle, squeezing out drops of blood.

Then, he dabbed the blood onto the needle to dot the eyes of each shadow puppet.

The blood seeped into the puppets’ eyes, turning them red, making the figures seem alive.

“Done!”

The next mont, all the corpses in the courtyard stood up, expressionless, following Yunyang out of the Zhou residence.

They walked in a line down the long street for who knows how long. Yunyang suddenly noticed a small beggar curled up under a straw mat by the roadside, shivering in the cold.

He stared at the beggar for a long ti before tossing a string of copper coins from his sleeve onto the ground, then led the dozen corpses into the night.