Chapter 9: Danger
Three apprentices, born at the same time, in the same year, month and day.

It was as if the fate of being chosen at the same time had some special arrangement.

Chen Ji thought of how Old Man Yao liked to tell fortunes with the art of Liu Yao, and his technique of carrying stones and holding stakes that could resist ice flows. He always felt that this master still had many secrets.

Could it be that in this world, the art of Liu Yao really has mysterious means to consult the heavens above and the underworld below?

Just as he was thinking, a middle-aged man in a navy blue gown came to the door. Liu Quxing hurriedly greeted him with a smile: "Butler Wang, why are you coming to the clinic so late?"

The middle-aged man bowed to Old Man Yao and said, "Doctor Yao, my old lady has been vomiting and having diarrhea since lunch. She is now unconscious in bed. My master sent me to invite you to come to her house for a consultation. If you are willing to come, I will reward you handsomely."

Old man Yao glanced at him and casually threw six coins on the counter: "Earth Fire Mingyi, Wind Ze Zhongfu... It's not suitable to go out tonight, so I won't go."

Chen Ji: Ah?

The housekeeper looked embarrassed: "Mr. Yao, you are a doctor, you should have a compassionate heart. How can you disregard human life just because of an illusory hexagram?"

"There are so many doctors in Luo City, why are you short of me?" Old Man Yao glared at him. "Your Li family has always been stingy. Last time I came to your house at night, you said you would reward me handsomely. But after I went to the house, I cured his mother's headache with just one injection. Your old lady thought I made money too easily, so she wanted to refuse the so-called thank-you gift. Before leaving, she actually gave me two smoked salted fish. Whoever wants to go can go!"

Steward Wang was anxious: "Doctor Yao, my old lady is very old, please be considerate..."

Old Man Yao stroked his beard and said, "Don't bring up age. She is more than 30 years younger than me. No one in Los Angeles can take advantage of my age."

Butler Wang: "..."

Old man Yao waved his hand and said, "She Dengke, show me around!"

After She Dengke sent Steward Wang away, he came back and said to Old Man Yao, "Master, why don't you let us go out to see patients? We can earn one or two taels of silver for each visit."

Old Man Yao cursed angrily: "You have been here for two years and you can't even feel my pulse. Now asking you to come and see me is no different from sending a killer over there."

She Dengke's breathing stagnated: "Master, I am trying hard to learn..."

Old man Yao raised his hand and hit She Dengke on the arm with a bamboo stick: "Go and cook!"

She Dengke hurried to the backyard, and Liu Quxing followed him. One was tall and strong like an iron tower, and the other was thin like a bamboo pole.

When they reached the backyard, She Dengke said in a deep voice, "You went too far today. We are all fellow disciples, and none of us treat others like this."

Liu Quxing was stunned for a moment: "I went too far? How did I go too far? His family didn't pay him tuition money, is it my fault? Don't forget, Master only accepts one disciple!"

She Dengke fell into deep thought. Only the direct disciples could take over the official position in the Imperial Medical Bureau. The three apprentices were in competition with each other.

……

……

The smell of rice wafted from the kitchen. A low dining table and low stools were set up in the yard. Old man Yao was holding a bowl of millet porridge and drinking it slowly.

There was a plate of pickles and a plate of tofu on the table. She Dengke and Liu Quxing sat on small stools and waited until the master finished eating and wiped his mouth before they dared to pick up their chopsticks.

Chen Ji couldn't afford the tuition, so he didn't even have a place to sit and could only stand aside and eat whole-grain cakes.

I don't know what wild vegetables were mixed into the multi-grain pancake, which was a bit hard to swallow. Chen Ji took a bucket of water from the water tank, swallowed the pancake with the water, and walked to the main hall with the bucket and rag.

Old Man Yao glanced at him and said, "You're still working when it's already dark?"

"I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to finish my work tomorrow, so I got up and mopped the floor first," Chen Ji explained.

Old man Yao scratched his eyebrows and said, "A self-torture trick? Don't try to use a self-torture trick on me. I won't be soft-hearted."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "No, Master, I will earn the tuition money as soon as possible and give it to you."

He really wanted to stay in the clinic. Whether it was the threat from Jiaotu and Yunyang, or the unsolved mystery of the ice flow in his body, he needed to stay here to find a solution.

His situation after coming to this world didn't seem to be very good... but there was nothing to complain about. The world gave him a chance to live again, which was already very good.

Pessimists are always right, but optimists always move forward.

Chen Ji put the bucket on the ground, wrung out the rag and wiped the floor. However, the moment he bent down, the icy current in his body suddenly surged out without any warning!
The bone-chilling coldness hit him, quickly draining away the warmth from his body.

In just a few breaths, his whole body began to tremble, as if he was in the cold winter with thin clothes.

"What exactly is this ice flow? Is it really the ghost of a dead person? Maybe we can observe it when Master beats one of our brothers to death..."

Chen Ji trembled and used the technique of carrying a stone and holding a stake to suppress the ice flow. Strangely, this time the ice flow did not retract into Dantian, but continued to rush around in the body, as if looking for something.

He felt the direction of the ice flow and looked behind the counter, where there were rows of vermilion medicine cabinets.

"What is attracting you?" Chen Ji moved towards the medicine cabinet step by step until he pulled out the drawer with the word 'Ginseng' written on it!

There is only one fifty-year-old ginseng in the drawer.

Chen Ji felt the guidance of the ice flow and tried to touch the whiskers of the fifty-year-old ginseng with his hand. However, he saw that the six whiskers of the ginseng melted into a transparent liquid flowing in the palm of his hand, and finally condensed into a bead the size of a thumb.

In just a moment, the icy flow in the body was completely drained away!

Ok?
What is this thing used for?
Chen Ji picked up the bead and looked at it carefully. There seemed to be a snake-like thin mist constantly moving inside the transparent bead.

He wondered in his mind whether he should eat the bead, but then he thought, if he ate it, wouldn't the ice flow return to his body?
Don’t rush to eat it. The bead won’t run away anyway. Check if there is any information about it in any books.

Chen Ji stuffed the beads into his sleeves and looked down at the old ginseng. The roots that were originally quite dense were now half bald...

"Will Master find out something is wrong? With his stingy personality, if he finds out that the old ginseng is bad, how much money will I have to pay? Will he kick me out of the clinic?" Chen Ji was shocked when he thought of this. He immediately found the inventory account of the clinic and turned to the page about old ginseng: "One 50-year-old ginseng, three coins, fourteen roots."

One qian weighs about 3 grams. The account is recorded too carefully. As long as Old Man Yao counts the inventory, he will definitely find the problem with this old ginseng.

He frowned and closed the drawer. The already poor family was in even worse trouble. He didn't know how often Old Man Yao checked the inventory. He had to solve this problem before the next time he checked the inventory.

However, what he needed to solve more was the problem at hand: tomorrow's school exams.

After mopping the floor, Chen Ji did not go back to sleep, but found the "General Principles of Medical Skills" to read. Although it was a bit too late to study it from the beginning now, he still had to learn it.

The sooner you learn, the less beatings you will receive.

At this time, there were slight footsteps coming from the backyard, and Chen Ji put the General Outline of Medical Skills under the counter.

He turned around and saw Liu Quxing wearing a coat, peeking at him curiously.

"Brother, why are you awake?"

"I got up to pee at night and came to see you," Liu Quxing approached slyly, "I have to tell you something, otherwise I will feel guilty."

"what's up?"

Liu Quxing said, "I asked you to help me with the work today because I really wanted to help you. Otherwise, if you can't pay the tuition, you will really be sent back home by your master. Don't listen to She Dengke's nonsense. I have no ill intentions."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Don't worry, Senior Brother Liu, I know your good intentions."

"Okay, as long as you know my good intentions," Liu Quxing returned to the house wearing his coat. She Dengke was still snoring.

He shook Shedenko: "Wake up! Wake up!"

No response.

Liu Quxing said again: "Wake up, Chen Ji is secretly reviewing his studies!"

With a bang, She Dengke sat up: "What?!"

Liu Quxing quickly changed the subject: "I just got up to pee, and thought about going to see why Chen Ji hadn't come back to sleep yet, but I found out that he was secretly reading a book while we were sleeping!"

She Dengke was shocked: "So despicable?!"

"Really? Why don't we learn it too!"

She Dengke was impatient: "Why are you studying so late at night? Go to sleep! You are not allowed to study either!"

"Well! No need to study! Go to sleep!"

In the middle of the night, She Dengke was awakened by the urge to urinate. He got up and saw that he was the only one left in the room.

The tall and strong young man stood up suspiciously, put on a long gown and walked towards the yard, only to find an orange-red fire in the kitchen.

When I pushed the door open, I saw Liu Quxing wearing a coat, sitting on a small stool next to the stove, lighting an oil residue lamp, holding a book on typhoid pathology in his hand...

"You bastard!" She Dengke covered Liu Quxing's mouth and beat him. Even Chen Ji didn't expect that he would bring the evil spirit of involution into the clinic.

While he was beating her, a girl holding a lantern came to the door of the clinic in a hurry and shouted loudly: "Dr. Yao, Dr. Yao!"

There were three words written on the white paper lantern: "Prince Jing's Mansion".

The girl's screams attracted the attention of everyone in the clinic. She Dengke stopped beating Liu Quxing and ran out.

He came to the main hall and opened the door: "Chunhua, why are you here in the middle of the night?"

Miss Chunhua looked to be about eighteen or nineteen years old. She was wearing a bright green skirt and had a beautiful face. She asked anxiously, "She Dengke, where is Imperial Doctor Yao?"

At this time, Old Man Yao finally arrived, with his hands behind his back, and asked slowly, "What's wrong?"

Chunhua hurriedly said, "My wife is in trouble, please go and see her."

Everyone looked at Old Man Yao, but saw that he was silent for a moment: "It's not appropriate to go out tonight, so I won't go."

Chen Ji: Ah?

Isn’t this the imperial medical clinic specially assigned to Prince Jing’s Mansion?
Chunhua was so anxious that sweat broke out on her forehead. She quickly winked at She Dengke, signaling him to help speak up.

She Dengke hurriedly said, "Master, it's past midnight and a new day has arrived. Do you want to tell another fortune?"

Old Man Yao glanced at him and said, "Then let's do another fortune telling."

As he spoke, he took out a copper coin from his sleeve and threw it six times, muttering to himself: "Heaven created the grass, it is difficult for the hard and soft to be born, it moves in danger, and the mines gather..."

Old Man Yao's face changed drastically: "This is terrible! I won't go, I won't go at all, I can't go now!"

Chunhua was so anxious that she was about to cry: "Doctor Yao, if I can't get a doctor in the middle of the night, I will die if I go back. And I came here with the royal palace badge, so you must come to see the doctor."

She Dengke took a step forward: "Master, if you really don't want to go, I will go!"

Old Man Yao pondered for a moment: "...Chen Ji, you go."

Chen Ji: "Ah? Me?"

(End of this chapter)