Chapter 103: Nine Out of Eleven

Chapter 103: Nine Eleven

Boom.

Booming.

After enduring the scorching heat of early June and July, a long-awaited downpour finally burst forth.

The already parched city of Spicy Zhou was instantly washed clean of the heatwaves, and even the lingering warmth on the stone slabs rapidly dissipated.

The cool, refreshing breeze allowed the people in the city to finally slow their pace.

Even the workers who labored all day, the clerks who rushed all day, and the city guards could leisurely stroll the streets and alleys.

But in the heavy rain, many street craftsmen couldn’t help but frown. After all, no one would watch a chest with a large stone embedded in it in such weather.

On the eastern street, outside the East Market, the Salvation Pharmacy.

Inside the pharmacy, which had rekindled its business through Bai’s Herbal Hall tea drinks, people had already filled the place.

The vast majority were not patients, but craftsmen from the East Market.

There were those of imposing build skilled in the millet planting method, those who performed acrobatics, and others who cast lots to divine love and career prospects.

Gathered in small groups inside the pharmacy, both to escape the rain and to sip a cup of tea.

Though they earned little from their daily labor, the two-fen Wang Ji tea was affordable enough for them.

“I wonder what formula Bai’s Herbal Hall uses. This tea tastes neither like tea nor unlike it; one sip and it’s refreshing and cool.”

“Even in the height of the sun, it can make you feel cool for half a day.”

A man in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts made of hemp cloth held a porcelain bottle, sipping it sparingly, clearly reluctant to finish it all at once.

Beside him, a fortune-teller carrying a bag emblazoned with “Divination of Marriage and Future” shook his head and mumbled, “Does that other guy’s money tree tell you that?”

“I just sigh and sigh.”

“Why do you worry about such things? A person who earns less than fifty fen a day wouldn’t care about Bai’s Herbal Hall’s silver and gold that can be hauled by cart?”

“Pulling silver money in a cart? Bai’s Herbal Hall’s tea is that profitable?”

“It’s inevitable. Not only Bai’s Herbal Hall, but even this Salvation Pharmacy—before, the pharmacy’s business was as quiet as a mousehole, but now…”

Before he could finish, Liu Quan, who’d grown tired of these craftsmen, slammed his abacus shut, “Just drink the tea, why all this talk?”

The fortune-teller’s words faltered, glanced at him without resentment, and instead looked toward Chen Yidao sitting beside the physician: “Master Chen, your ledger’s a bit… fierce, isn’t it?”

Liu Quan’s eyes widened, but mindful of Chen Yidao’s presence, he swallowed his retort: “Master, you see them…”

Chen Yidao, who was watching the new physician’s acupuncture, turned his head and smiled: “There’s nothing wrong with speaking to people. Especially since the Salvation Pharmacy’s recent success is due to Bai’s Herbal Hall.”

Liu Quan shut his mouth, lowered his gaze to the ledger, and clicked his abacus.

The fortune-teller huffed: “Not bad for a famous scholar of Spicy Zhou, your words are indeed soothing.”

Chen Yidao shook his head: “Whether one reads or not, the principles are the same.”

“Just so, today the Salvation Pharmacy is in your favor. If it doesn’t remain this prosperous, I hope you’ll look after it a bit.”

These craftsmen, skilled at reading people’s expressions, naturally nodded in agreement.

The fortune-teller, in the spirit of the times, immediately offered Chen Yidao a free divination.

“Master, I see your face is rosy, as if the purple light is coming from the east; you’ll surely be rich and prosperous someday.”

Chen Yidao glanced at him, a faint glimmer in his eyes, but smiled: “Whether I’m rich or not, let’s not discuss that. If you don’t come to me for pulse diagnosis, you won’t have many days left to live.”

“Ah…”

The fortune-teller’s face darkened: “Did you curse me, Master?”

Chen Yidao didn’t answer, gestured for him to sit, “If I’m wrong, I’ll give you a bottle of divine cow tea.”

The pharmacy erupted in laughter.

The fortune-teller, after all, accepted it. A bottle of divine cow tea sold for thirty fen in the pharmacy, but a hundred fen in the southern flower street.

Even if he didn’t drink it, selling it would cover half a month’s expenses.

The fortune-teller sat down.

Chen Yidao asked the new limping physician, Ma Liangcai, to examine his pulse.

Ma Liangcai, as instructed, sincerely extended three fingers to the fortune-teller’s wrist, focusing intently.

After a breath, he paused.

Then he pressed slightly, feeling the pulse.

After three breaths, Ma Liangcai sighed: “Master, you’re right. Your illness has entered the Gouzhu stage.”

The fortune-teller looked doubtful: “Are you sure?”

He was young, only forty, in his prime.

He’d traveled south and north without ever noticing any issues.

Hearing this now, he naturally didn’t believe it.

“I ask you, do you usually avoid drinking cold things?”

“I think so…”

“In rainy weather, do you fear the cold?”

“Yes.”

“And…”

As Ma Liangcai asked more questions, the details he’d overlooked all came to light. The fortune-teller’s face turned ashen: “Me, can I still be saved?”

“Yes.”

Before Ma Liangcai could speak, Chen Yidao handed him a bottle of divine cow tea: “One bottle a day, and your illness will be cured. Today’s is on the house.”

The fortune-teller looked at the tea, then at Chen Yidao, then at Ma Liangcai suppressing a smile, and finally exclaimed: “Hey, you clever Master!”

“Haha…”

Laughter erupted throughout the Salvation Pharmacy.

“Master Chen, you’ve got it all figured out. I thought old Ni wouldn’t live much longer and was already planning how to collect his body.”

“Haha… Old Ni’s always been tricking people, never thought today I’d be tricked by Master Chen.”

The fortune-teller, Ni, sighed and shook his head: “Forgive me for speaking out, Master Chen. Please don’t scare us like that next time.”

Chen Yidao smiled, chatted with those around him, and then instructed Liu Quan and others to look after the pharmacy properly before returning to the capital as usual.

The craftsmen smiled and departed, finding him rather interesting.

Stepping outside, Chen Yi glanced back at the Linglan Pavilion, seeing the shopkeeper Qian Kuang offering a strained smile in greeting. He merely nodded and set off toward the cart driven by Ge Lao San.

Qian Kuang watched him disappear into the rain, his gaze flicking toward the bustling Jishiyao Hall where laughter echoed. His expression grew increasingly grim.

Could this be how the Xiao family’s pharmacy regained its footing?

Bai Caotang!

Though Chen Yi had not witnessed that scene firsthand, his recent days within Jishiyao Hall had led him to notice certain things.

Like how Qian Kuang seemed to pay close attention to the hall.

Like how he kept track of the daily visitors and the silver flowing into the pharmacy’s coffers.

And the way Qian Kuang’s eyes lingered on him.

With the cultivation of his martial arts, Chen Yi had begun to perceive these subtleties.

Adding to this, the snippets of conversation he’d overheard painted a clear picture: Linglan Pavilion was indeed targeting the Xiao family’s pharmacy.

At first, these signs had been faint, but lately, as the Xiao family’s business flourished, Linglan Pavilion’s associates had grown restless.

Their words grew less cautious.

Chen Yi watched the torrential rain outside the cart, and in his mind, a single black stone settled upon a chessboard.

Tianyuan ten of ten.

And he placed this stone, named “Bai Caotang,” upon “nine of eleven.”

—The rise of Bai Caotang would inevitably draw certain individuals.

……

As night fell, the rain persisted.

Through the rain-soaked streets west of the city, nearing the western market district, lay the residences of Shu Zhou’s nobles and officials.

Unlike the northern part of the city, where the Duke of Dunguan resided, these western mansions were no more than three courtyards deep.

Such barriers were insurmountable for these aristocrats.

Within a courtyard not far from Bai Caotang, the main hall of the central courtyard blazed with light.

Around it, dozens of guards in raincoats, their waists sheathed in long blades, stood watch.

A thunderous crash echoed from within.

“Under these circumstances, how can the Xiao family’s pharmacy still survive? What have you been doing all this time?”

“My lord, we—we follow your commands regarding medicine, herbs, and treatments…”

“Then how do you explain this outcome?”

“My lord, it is not that we lack diligence. Rather, the Xiao family’s pharmacy only regained its footing through Bai Caotang.”

“Bai Caotang?”

The cold voice replied.

“The Bai Caotang notorious throughout the southern city’s Smoke and Flower Lane?”

“Indeed.”

After a pause.

“What connection do they have with the Xiao family?”

“The shopkeeper of Bai Caotang, Wang Ji, was once the Xiao family’s Jishiyao Hall shopkeeper—the very establishment now run by the Xiao family’s stepson.”

“Since Wang Ji departed Jishiyao Hall, he founded Bai Caotang with others. Rumor has it there’s a mastermind behind him, though we’ve found no proof.”

The cold voice spoke: “A mastermind? Of course there must be one. From whence does a shopkeeper obtain such secret recipes?”

“Old Three, have you visited Bai Caotang?”

“Reporting, my lord, I went there this afternoon. Yet only a clerk emerged; I never saw Wang Ji.”

A ceramic bottle shattered.

The cold voice turned even colder. “Truly ignorant of death and life!”

“Old Five, send word to the Huan Yin Sect—have them burn Bai Caotang to the ground!”

Another hesitated. “My lord, the Huan Yin Sect monks are still being hunted by the authorities and the Xiao family’s prison. If they appear now…”

“Hunted? We paid them vast sums of silver for this very moment. Otherwise, what use are they?”

“And ‘Blade Demon’—where is he now? If he’s still in Shu, let him act as well.”

“Reporting, my lord, ‘Blade Demon’ is said to have gone to the mountain clans.”

The cold voice paused. “He went to the mountain clans? No one there dares challenge him.”

“Master Xiao…”

The voice lingered, then smiled.

“Indeed, ‘Blade Demon’ is quite the fiend. Daring to provoke that mad woman, Xiao Shenghong. Can his blade match her long spear?”

“My lord, Black Ya warned him, yet he refused.”

In the main hall, silence fell like a shroud.

Under the flickering candlelight, a young man of refined features and purple robes stood.

“Leave him for now.”

“First, have the Huan Yin Sect deal with Bai Caotang. Uncover and eliminate those behind them.”

“And secure those tea recipes as well.”

No sooner had he spoken than five figures stepped forward.

“My lord, if the Xiao family becomes aware, how can we proceed?”

The young man rose, his tall frame casting a shadow. “There are others standing in the front.”

Soon, silence reigned in the courtyard. The hall’s occupants dispersed.

Amidst the hush, a black-clad figure slipped away, vanishing into the rain toward another mansion.

“If the Liu family acts again, they’ll surely draw the Xiao family’s prison guards.”

“It’s time to make them move as well…”

(Chapter Complete)