Returning home
After Wen Wenhai checked the pulse of everyone, he smiled and said “there are no serious injuries among everyone here. There may be some internal congestion for the next few days, and the external injuries are quite severe. I have some common medicine here which is most suitable for treating such wounds; you can apply it after you reached home, and remember to take sufficient rest after that.” He then took out a small bottle and pa.s.sed it to Zhang Cai. “With regards to the fractures, I am unable to do anything about them. Here is some money, it should be enough for you to go see a doctor.” Again, he produced a bunch of coins from his breast, but this time, Zhang Cai wave his hands away immediately, 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 mean 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 men were so worried that they just gave everything they had to them.
At this moment, 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 me. Here, take this, that money was compensation from someone else, and this money is from me.”
Seeing that Zhang Xiaohu has received the silvers, he did not blame 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 come 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 some 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 some 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 grat.i.tude. 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 come 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 come 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 some unknown material. On the surface was some 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 me. 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 seemed 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 meeting, the lady in purple had yet to remove her veil nor introduce herself. Thus, Zhang Cai did not even know her surname or her appearance, and could only recognize her melodious voice.
When the two youths were far away, Zhang Cai and the group then regained their senses, and Zheng Xiaohua muttered “How could these people move so fast.”
Zhang Xiaohu replied “Don’t you understand, this is the supposed qinggong.”
Zhang Xiaohua asked “You have 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 grat.i.tude to uncle. If you had not arrive in time, 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, some people are going to pa.s.s by. Which village are you two from?”
The taller of the two said ”We live in Bali Gou. My name 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 time to go back. If you were to circle the town from its perimeters, the sky would be dark, and you may not even reach home after the sun has fully set. We live in Guo village, which is north of Lu town. Why don’t you come over to our abode to rest for a night, and I will bring you back home 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 home.
Thirty li was not a short distance, not to mention that they were all injured. Furthermore, they had to circ.u.mvent around the city from its east side, so by the time 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 time in Guo village was no different from the past. There are few people on the roads, and the occasional pa.s.serby would not pay much attention to them. Until they finally reached their home and saw the children’s mother waiting was 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 immediately 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 immediately 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 Yue 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 some 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 have lived in Guo village his entire life. His medical skills was not bad, not only did he treat livestock, but many people with headache and fever would come to him for a remedy. At this moment, 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 someone in the village has fallen sick again. Having no other choice, he put down his wine cup, and walked over to the door to welcome his guests. Seeing that it was Guo Sufei and her two sons, he smiled asking “Little sister, why have you come to visit late in the night? Has the youngest one eaten something wrong?”
Guo Sufei carefully supported Zhang Xialong through the door, and said with embarra.s.sment “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 came 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. Come in quickly!” then, he took them to a clean room which was reserved primarily for treating patients. At this moment, Chen’s wife also came 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 me for Xiaolong’s injuries.”
Old Chen’s wife was still unsettled and asked “Old man, you just had some 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 me.”
Actually, Guo Sufei already smelled 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 some wooden sticks that have been rubbed smooth, and a jar from the cupboard and opened its seal which cause a thick medicinal scent to waft about. Old Chen used his hands to straighten Zhang Xiaolong’s bones, and then dug out some of the medicine 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 treatment, Old Chen washed his hands and said to Guo Sufei “Little sister, take your son home to rest. In half a month’s time, bring him back so that I can reapply the medicine, and during these hundred days for the fracture to heal, do not allow him to do any heavy farmwork.
Guo Sufei was extremely grateful, and she left a few copper coins before bringing her two sons back home.