Returning ho
After Wen Wenhai checked the pulse of everyone, he smiled and said, “There are no serious injuries among everyone here. There may be so internal congestion for the next few days, and the external injuries are quite severe. I have so common dicine here which is most suitable for treating such wounds; you can apply it after you reached ho, and rember to take sufficient rest after that.” He then took out a small bottle and passed it to Zhang Cai. “With regards to the fractures, I am unable to do anything about them. Here is so money, it should be enough for you to go see a doctor.” Again, he produced a bunch of coins from his breast, but this ti, Zhang Cai wave his hands away imdiately, saying, “I cannot accept this money.”
The black-eyed Zhang Xiaohu quipped, “Just take it dad, this is a little token of sincerity from our benefactor, and the amount of money does not an anything to him anyway, so we should just accept it gratefully.”
Zhang Cai turned his head towards Zhang Xiaohu and scolded, “We just took money from those people, how can we accept any more from our benefactor?” He then took out the checks that he received earlier from the bullies earlier, and was shocked to see that each check was worth ten silvers, and there were a total of fifty-four such checks, probably because the two fat short n were so worried that they just gave everything they had to them.
At this mont, Wen Wenhai placed the silvers that he took out onto Zhang Xiaohu’s palms and said, “This lad sure has a straightforward personality just like . Here, take this, that money was compensation from soone else, and this money is from .”
Seeing that Zhang Xiaohu has received the silvers, he did not bla his son any further and instead told Wen Wenhai about the excess compensation which he dared not carry. Furthermore, money was not the main problem. Rather, he was afraid that the people from before would co back to get the excess from them. Seeing the large sum of money, Wen Wenhai smiled bitterly. He initially thought that several tens of silvers will be sufficient compensation, but due to his junior sister’s intervention, they may have brought so trouble to this family in the future. Not daring to make a decision by himself, he walked over to his junior sister to discuss the matter.
Zhang Xiaohua accompanied his eldest brother, but his heart was not the least bit settled, and his face was still numb and hurt. Being bullied and look down on had given him so emotional scars. He would never have expected Wen Wenahi to appear from the sky, so he stared at the sword in Wen Wenhai’s hands, while the seed of desire for more power was planted in his heart.
The two village girls were standing behind Zhang Cai, not knowing how to express their gratitude. Even though they wanted to express their thanks to the lady in purple, they could feel her unapproachable aura, and thus would only look at her from afar.
The discussion between Wen Wenhai and his junior sister ended quickly, his junior sister causally took out a small plaque from her bosom but Wen Wenhai refused to take it, saying a few more sentences but seemingly unable to convince her. Left with no other choice, he accepted the plaque and walked towards Zhang Cai saying, “Uncle, it is better if you keep the money for yourself. Even if we took it away with us, if they ever co back to demand the rest of the money you would have no way to return it to them. This is a token from our sect which my junior sister has gifted to you, if they ever co back to ask for any silvers from you, you should just return the excess to them. However, if they have any ideas, then you can bring this token to the Lotus Escort gathering point in town and find their manager, saying that the owner of this plaque asked you to find him if you ever face any problem resulting from this matter.”
Saying which, he took the plaque from his hands and gave it to Zhang Cai, who carefully accepted and examined it. It was about three cun* large, was black and heavy, and made from so unknown material. On the surface was so engraving but Zhang Cai was illiterate. Beside the words were several patterns adorned, and behind the plaque was a word that Zhang Cai could recognize “Azure”, and he thought that it should be Wen Wenhai junior sister’s mark. Zhang Cai then carefully kept the plaque in his breast.
Wen Wenhai advised Zhang Cai to take good care of the plaque, and cupped his fists, “Everyone, we still have urgent matters to attend to, so we will not be sending you back to your village. If you have the chance to visit Pingyang city then please feel free to find . We shall be on our way then.” Then, without waiting for a reply, he turned around and followed the lady in purple as they departed. Seeing their disappearing silhouette, it seed that they were moving very fast, and before long, they completely vanished from their sights.
Since their encounter in Lu town up to the end of their eting, the lady in purple had yet to remove her veil nor introduce herself. Thus, Zhang Cai did not even know her surna or her appearance, and could only recognize her lodious voice.
When the two youths were far away, Zhang Cai and the group then regained their senses, and Zhang Xiaohua muttered, “How could these people move so fast.”
Zhang Xiaohu replied, “Don’t you understand, this is the supposed qinggong**.”
Zhang Xiaohua asked, “Have you seen it before?”
Zhang Xiaohu replied, “No, but I could guess. You do not see them running, but they were moving faster than the normal running speed. They also had a sword in their hands, so that must have been qinggong.” Zhang Xiaohua blinked his eyes and did not ask any further.
The two village girls walked over before bidding Zhang Cai goodbye. “We like to express our sincere gratitude to uncle. If you had not arrive in ti, we…” as the two girls spoke, their eyes began to water and shift uncomfortably. Zhang Cai waved his hands and said, “It is nothing, we are all village people here, and we should be helping each other out. Do not talk about those unnecessary things, we have to leave soon. If not, so people are going to pass by. Which village are you two from?”
The taller of the two said, “We live in Bali Gou. My na is Liu Qing, and my cousin is Liu Yueyue.”
Zhang Cai pondered, “Bali Gou is at the west of Lu town, you will have to return to the town but now would not be a good ti to go back. If you were to circle the town from its periters, the sky would be dark, and you may not even reach ho after the sun has fully set. We live in Guo village, which is north of Lu town. Why don’t you co over to our abode to rest for a night, and I will bring you back ho tomorrow?”
Liu Qing looked up at the sky, and said, “We will be bothering uncle then.”
Everyone eventually got up and dragged their injured and battered bodies back ho.
Thirty li was not a short distance, not to ntion that they were all injured. Furthermore, they had to circumvent around the city from its east side, so by the ti they returned to Guo village, the sky was already pitch dark. Zhang Cai originally wanted to cross the bamboo forest to enter the village to avoid attention, but looking at the sky, he thought that it was no longer necessary.
Night ti in Guo village was no different from the past. There are few people on the roads, and the occasional passerby would not pay much attention to them. Until they finally reached their ho and saw the children’s mother waiting under the lamp, Zhang Cai was constantly in fear of being seen and questioned by his fellow villagers.”
When everyone finally crossed the fence and went into the house, Guo Sufei was horrified and she imdiately grasped Zhang Cai hands to support him. She then asked, “What on earth has happened to our family?”
After she supported Zhang Cai to the chair, she imdiately switched to attend to her sons, “Children, are you alright?”
Finally, she turned her attention to the two unfamiliar ladies, but did not dare to ask any questions. Instead, she turned a suspicious eye towards her husband. Zhang Cai smiled bitterly, “The children’s mother, it was no big deal. It was a long story but for now, this is Liu Qing and that is Liu Yueyue from Bali Gou. Why don’t you follow Xiaohua and take Xialong to Old Chen for a checkup, and we can continue the story later. Oh right, first take them to wash their faces, and later you can say that their injuries were from falling off a tree.”
Guo Sufei was suspicious, but she quickly prepared so hot water to let her two sons wash up, and as she was about to draw more water for her husband, she was stopped by him who persuaded her to first take care of their sons’ injuries. Liu Qing wanted to help, but was stopped from doing so.”
Old Chen was Guo village old animal doctor who has lived in Guo village his entire life. His dical skills were not bad, not only did he treat livestock, but also treated many people with headache and fever who would co to him for a redy. At this mont, Old Chen was idling in his own little hut, enjoying a kettle of hot wine that his children’s mother prepared, when he heard urgent knockings on his door, as though soone in the village has fallen sick again. Having no other choice, he put down his wine cup, and walked over to the door to welco his guests. Seeing that it was Guo Sufei and her two sons, he smiled asking, “Little sister, why have you co to visit late in the night? Has the youngest one eaten sothing wrong?”
Guo Sufei carefully supported Zhang Xialong through the door, and said with embarrassnt, “The children’s uncle brought them up to the hills to play, and they accidentally fell from the tree. His arm is now fractured, which is why I ca over to disturb your rest.”
Hearing that Zhang Xialong has fractured his arm, his face turned straight and he said sharply, “If such a serious accident happened, then no matter how late it is I will still have to get up. Co in quickly!” Then, he took them to a clean room which was reserved primarily for treating patients. At this mont, Chen’s wife also ca over, and Old Chen instructed her to light up the oil lamp before asking Xiaolong to remove his shirt to examine the affected arm. Using his hands to press on certain areas, he asked Zhang Xialong if he felt pain in those areas, and then sighed in relief. “It is okay, little sister. It is just a fracture, those horses and bulls have had more severe injuries before and I still managed to treat them. You can count on for Xiaolong’s injuries.”
Old Chen’s wife was still unsettled and asked, “Old man, you just had so wine. Are you sure it is okay?”
Old Chen thumped on his chest and said, “I have been treating patients for half my life, what does this count as? Furthermore, I have not started drinking yet, you can check the wine kettle if you do not believe .”
Actually, Guo Sufei already slled the odor of alcohol on Old Chen, but because there was only one doctor in the village, she could only rely on him. Hearing that he has not drunk much yet, she heaved a sigh in relief. Old Chen took out so wooden sticks that have been rubbed smooth, and a jar from the cupboard and opened its seal which caused a thick dicinal scent to waft about. Old Chen used his hands to straighten Zhang Xiaolong’s bones, and then dug out so of the dicine to apply on his arm, before using a white cloth to tie it to the stick. The whole process was so painful that Xiaolong kept sweating while his mother tenderly wiped his sweat away.
After finishing the treatnt, Old Chen washed his hands and said to Guo Sufei, “Little sister, take your son ho to rest. In half a month’s ti, bring him back so that I can reapply the dicine, and during these hundred days for the fracture to heal, do not allow him to do any heavy farmwork.”
Guo Sufei was extrely grateful, and she left a few copper coins before bringing her two sons back ho.
*TN: cun- 3.33 centiter
**TN: qinggong- literally “light martial technique”, makes the body lighter, faster, jump higher, fly around…
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