northernbook #283 - The wicked complain first
#283 - The wicked complain first
Liang Jin and Mu Mu both stepped down from the carriage, exchanging a glance and a slight nod.
Afterward, Liang Jin looked at the palace-like building before him, lost in thought.
The building was adorned with carved beams and painted rafters, with dougong brackets and a vermilion gate inlaid with huge copper rings that shimmered golden in the sunlight.
It exuded nobility, clearly not for commoners.
Cao Xian was already beckoning the two to enter the gate together.
Zhao Bao, however, was not qualified to enter and could only wait for Liang Jin outside.
As soon as the group entered the gate, guards approached to conduct a search.
Each guard wore a grim expression, their eyes sharp, scanning the group like hawks, confiscating any sharp weapons, iron objects, hard, pointed items, and even hairpins.
The search was somewhat crude and impolite.
However, Cao Xian's pleasant words continuously eased the tension.
Liang Jin didn't mind, leaving behind everything that was not allowed.
But Mu Mu was somewhat indignant.
The fact that his medicine chest was being confiscated angered him.
This made him retort:
"My medicine chest contains many medicinal herbs for treating illnesses."
"I can accept not being allowed to bring my acupuncture needles, but to not even allow me to bring the herbs? How am I supposed to treat any illnesses?"
Cao Xian could only explain:
"Divine Physician Mu, please calm down."
"Once you have made your diagnosis, you only need to write a prescription."
"To be honest, we have all kinds of precious medicinal materials here, so there's no need to worry."
"If there are some medicinal materials that require special refining, Divine Physician Mu only needs to provide the refining method, and we will naturally have renowned alchemists here to refine them."
Hearing this, Mu Mu could only helplessly snort and hand over his medicine chest to the guard.
After the search, Cao Xian led the two deeper into the building.
They passed through a long corridor and arrived at a large hall.
Inside the hall, there were several tables and chairs for resting, all made of sandalwood, emitting a faint fragrance.
The tables were filled with various fruits and snacks, and there were maids specially brewing tea, the tea steaming and fragrant.
Someone had already arrived and was waiting in the hall.
It was an old man in white robes.
He had white hair, a white beard, and white eyebrows, all reaching his chest, swaying gently in the breeze, looking at least seventy or eighty years old.
He was sitting cross-legged on a futon, eyes closed in meditation, holding a white horsetail whisk in his hand, the silk tassels as white as snow, swaying slightly with his breath.
The old man was chanting scriptures in a low, drawn-out voice, seemingly blending with the hall's tranquility.
"This is the leader of the White Robe Sect of Minzhou, True Man Jiugong."
"True Man Jiugong is skilled in treating illnesses with talisman water, relieving the suffering of the people, and his talisman water has been known to eliminate diseases wherever it goes, deeply loved by the people."
"This is the number one divine physician in the martial world, Mu Mu."
"Divine Physician Mu has countless people with his miraculous healing skills, and whether it is a difficult or complicated disease or a person on the verge of death, he can bring them back to life, highly respected in the martial world."
Speaking of this, Cao Xian paused slightly and introduced Liang Jin:
"This is the leader of the Way of Supreme Peace in Qingzhou, Great Virtuous Teacher."
"Coincidentally, the Great Virtuous Teacher is also skilled in treating illnesses with talisman water, dispelling epidemics and eliminating plagues. When he preached and distributed talisman water in Qingzhou, everyone flocked to him, all captivated by his miraculous Taoist techniques."
Liang Jin looked at this True Man Jiugong.
He really was a fellow practitioner!
But thinking about it, this was normal. Now that the plague was rampant, the Way of Supreme Peace was developing vigorously in Qingzhou.
This would inevitably attract imitation and reference.
After all, in this special period, doing such a thing could really earn a lot of wealth, fame, and even power.
True Man Jiugong also looked at Liang Jin.
But then, True Man Jiugong snorted coldly:
"Hmph! What Great Virtuous Teacher, just a plagiarist copying my White Robe Sect!"
"These shameless people stole talisman water from my White Robe Sect and took it to Qingzhou to treat illnesses."
"After using my White Robe Sect's talisman water, it would be fine if they didn't mention the name of my White Robe Sect, but they actually stole the name and reputation, saying that this talisman water was refined by their own Way of Supreme Peace?"
"It's truly laughable and shameful to the extreme, a disgrace to the world!"
Hearing this, Liang Jin frowned slightly.
This True Man Jiugong was really good at making false accusations first.
It is said that fellow practitioners are enemies.
But this True Man Jiugong slandered people as soon as he came up, which was really disgusting.
The next second.
True Man Jiugong suddenly stood up from the futon.
Although his figure was slightly hunched, his movements were extremely agile.
He pointed at Liang Jin and roared:
"Hey! How dare such a deceitful and fame-stealing person appear before this True Man?!"
"If you still have any sense of shame, quickly apologize to this True Man and withdraw!"
"Otherwise, beat him out with sticks!"
Cao Xian watched the situation with interest, as if watching a play, a faint smile on his lips, his eyes shifting back and forth between the two.
Mu Mu looked like it was none of his business, standing aside. He crossed his arms, raised his head slightly, and looked at the ceiling of the hall, seemingly admiring the caisson pattern above.
Liang Jin raised his head and laughed loudly, the laughter echoing in the hall.
He laughed for a while, and just as everyone was puzzled, his face suddenly sank, and he pointed at True Man Jiugong and roared:
"You villain, stop making false accusations!"
"You consider yourself a rat stealing pearls, engaging in thieving and disgraceful acts, but you shamelessly slander me as deceitful and fame-stealing? You are truly a shameless, black-and-white-reversing person!"
"Your evil deeds are like the goblins and monsters of the dark night, unable to see the light, only daring to stir up trouble in the gutters, attempting to trap me in injustice with this filthy means. But the principles of heaven are clear, and justice resides in the hearts of the people. Your actions are nothing more than a clown's farce, adding to the laughter!"
"Your usual behavior has been shameless and unscrupulous, often plagiarizing the talisman water of others, but now you are making false accusations, truly the ultimate in shamelessness. You are like a maggot in the latrine, unable to satisfy your desires even in a foul place, yet you want to defile the good name of my Way of Supreme Peace."
"You should quickly shut your stinking mouth and stop doing such despicable things, otherwise, divine retribution will befall you, making you despised by all and leaving a stench for ten thousand years!"
Since this True Man Jiugong was reversing black and white and unreasonable.
Then Liang Jin naturally didn't need to reason with him.
It was useless to reason with this kind of guy who was deliberately trying to harm people.
Just scold him!
When it came to cursing, Liang Jin wouldn't hold back.
He went all out, cursing the Nine Palace Master until his old face turned red.
His curses were infused with internal force, even causing the Nine Palace Master's head to buzz and making it difficult for him to breathe, hindering his ability to think clearly for a moment.
The Nine Palace Master felt as if thunder was exploding in his ears, his blood rushing to his head, and his body swaying slightly.
By the time Liang Jin finished cursing, the Nine Palace Master was already trembling with anger, almost as if he was about to spit out blood.
Clearly, the Nine Palace Master held a high position in Minzhou City and was highly respected, and no one had ever scolded him like this before.
Just as the Nine Palace Master regained his senses and was about to retaliate.
Suddenly!
A group of people walked in from outside the hall.
The appearance of these people interrupted the cursing match between Liang Jin and the Nine Palace Master.
These people were all dressed in official robes, obviously all major officials of Minzhou.
Among them were the Prefect of the Prefecture, the Garrison Commander of the military camp, and the Commander of the Six Doors, and so on.
After this group of officials entered the hall and met with everyone.
The Prefect, as their representative, hoped that the three would do their best to cure the patient's illness.
It was clear that these officials attached great importance to this treatment.
Although they didn't say who the patient was, they knew that the patient's identity must be very noble and inconvenient to reveal.
Especially the faint worry and anxiety in their eyes, as if the patient's safety was related to their fate.
The officials finished speaking briefly and turned to leave.
Mu Mu finally couldn't help but ask Cao Xian:
"Eunuch Cao, may I ask when we can start treating the patient?"
“I still have very important things to deal with.”
Liang Jin also said:
"I must also leave before tonight."
Liang Jin still had a duel with someone tomorrow.
If he didn't get on the boat and return before dark, he would miss the time.
Only the Nine Palace Master sat back on the futon and closed his eyes to meditate.
He lived in Minzhou City, so he was not in a hurry at all.
Cao Xian chuckled and said:
"I can understand your eagerness, but please wait here for a while."
"I'll go find out the situation and then talk to you in detail."
With that, Cao Xian was about to leave.
But after taking two steps, he seemed to remember something important and hurriedly returned to instruct the three:
"By the way, please wait quietly in this hall, and don't run around."
"There are many rules here, and trespassing will cause trouble."
After Cao Xian said this, he turned and left.
But who knew that once he left, he wouldn't appear again for half a day.
Time passed quickly.
A full two hours passed, and no one came to say hello.
Mu Mu became impatient, first walking back and forth in the hall, and finally had no choice but to find a chair to sit down and drink the tea brewed by the maid.
The Nine Palace Master was always meditating and chanting scriptures, occasionally opening his eyes to glare at Liang Jin.
Liang Jin came to the veranda alone and sat down on the ground.
With a wave of his hand, an ancient zither appeared in his hand.
Liang Jin placed the zither across his knees and gently played it.
The melodious sound of the zither immediately spread out.
Mu Mu, the Nine Palace Master, and the maids in the hall all looked over in surprise.
None of them could figure out where Liang Jin got an ancient zither from.
There was no such thing in the hall.
And the guards outside didn't allow anyone to bring a zither in.
Liang Jin didn't care about other people's opinions and played the zither on his own.
It wasn't that Liang Jin liked music.
Although he had already maxed out the 《Phoenix Dance Seven Strings》, he still lacked the degree of integration with the Demonic Celestial Zither and the Emerald Immortal Flute.
Therefore, whenever he had nothing to do, Liang Jin would take out the Demonic Celestial Zither to play or the Emerald Immortal Flute to blow.
As powerful weapons, Liang Jin could only use them more skillfully, so that their power would be greater when he used them.
As the saying goes, wasting other people's time is tantamount to murder for money.
Liang Jin had no intention of waiting bitterly.
As for playing the zither, Liang Jin's original level was just average.
But after 《Phoenix Dance Seven Strings》 was maxed out, Liang Jin became particularly sensitive to sound, and his zither skills also improved a lot.
In terms of zither skills alone, Liang Jin is probably a master in this world now.
It's just a pity that he doesn't know how to play the famous songs of this world, so he can only play some classic songs or pop music that he was familiar with in his previous life.
He just used it to practice, so he didn't care about the feelings of the audience.
But Liang Jin's zither skills were still good, and between the plucking, picking, wiping, and flicking, the sound of the zither flowed slowly like running water.
Soon.
The sound of the zither immediately attracted the attention of others.
Accompanied by a burst of footsteps, a girl walked over angrily.
"Bold!"
"Who allowed you to play the zither here?"
This girl looked quite pretty, her clothes were very thick, and the style of the clothes was very ordinary, but the materials used for sewing were very high-end.
She came to Liang Jin and looked at Liang Jin with a frosty face.
The girl had a strong smell of rouge and powder on her body, even to the point of being excessive, which made people able to smell it from a distance.
Liang Jin ignored the girl and played the zither on his own.
This made the girl's eyebrows stand on end, pointing at Liang Jin and shouting:
"Presumptuous!"
"Dare to ignore me?"
"Believe it or not, I'll dig out your eyes and cut off your ears?!"
Liang Jin still played the zither slowly, completely ignoring the girl.
The next moment.
The girl squatted down in front of Liang Jin with great interest, listening to Liang Jin, who was sitting on the ground, playing the zither.
While listening, she praised:
"But then again, you play the zither very well."
"It's different from all the music I've heard before. What kind of song is this?"
Liang Jin still didn't answer, and continued to play the zither.
The girl tilted her head and finally looked at Liang Jin seriously.
She then praised:
"You, you look quite good."
"More handsome than the men I've seen before."
Liang Jin didn't even lift his head and continued to play the zither on his own.
The girl's face changed instantly.
She suddenly stood up and shouted angrily:
"Let you play!"
"I'll let you ignore me!"
While she was scolding, she kicked towards Liang Jin's Demonic Celestial Zither.
She actually wanted to kick Liang Jin's Demonic Celestial Zither away!