Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 91 Gift from an Acquaintance

"Brother, someone is coming."

Tian Zili pushed open the door and made way for someone, and then someone walked in.

Several people in the room stopped plotting and looked up. Except for Taozi, Yao Xiong and Kou Liu were all startled.

I saw an extremely ugly man standing at the door. His face was full of pits, his teeth were exposed, his left eye was big and his right eye was small. Just this appearance was enough to scare the children in Cheng'anli so much that they dared not cry.

Yao Xiong was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Kou Liu beside him, and his expression suddenly softened.

"You look better this way."

"What did you say?!"

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Tian Zili stopped the two men, then smiled and pulled the ugly man to Taozi's front, pointed at Taozi and said, "This is my brother, Cheng'an Youjiao Liu Gong."

The ugly man looked up, and even a little conceited, he saluted Liu Taozi, "Greetings, Liu Youjiao."

Seeing his attitude, Yao Xiong was about to stand up, but Liu Taozi motioned him to sit down.

"Are you good at medicine?"

"I have been learning medicine from Ma Gong since I was young, and I have made great achievements. I wonder who you want me to treat? I charge a lot. It's one price to come to Cheng'an, but it's just the price for the journey, and it's another price to treat the disease."

Yao Xiong was furious.

"I'm telling you, here, there's one price for curing you, and another price for not curing you. If you can't be cured, I'll throw you into the pot and boil you!"

The man was not afraid at all, "Sure, sure."

Tian Zili said helplessly: "Brother, this man is called Chu Jiande, and he is the most famous doctor in Linzhang."

He walked a few steps to Taozi's side and lowered his voice, "Brother, if it was an official, I could go on his behalf, but for the county lieutenant, you still have to go in person."

"The tiger talisman of the county soldiers is in his hands. Even if he doesn't start a rebellion, he can mobilize the county soldiers to do some ordinary things. It will be of great help. What's more, the county magistrate has bad intentions. The county magistrate is close to us, so he will definitely win over the county lieutenant. We must make the two of them get along so that the county magistrate can't do anything bad."

"I see."

Liu Taozi nodded. Tian Zili was about to continue persuading her, but when he heard this, he smiled.

Although my brother looks cold, he is still very receptive to advice.

Liu Taozi stood up, motioned the doctor to follow her, and quickly left.

Tian Zili watched them leave with a smile, then looked at Yao Xiong and Kou Liu. He shook his head helplessly, "When will you two become useful people?"

"Who said we are useless? The county lieutenant got sick because of me yelling that day, and the bandits pretending to be ghosts."

"Shut up."

Tian Zili scolded him and looked around vigilantly, "You'd better forget about this matter. If I hear you mention it again, I will let my brother drive you away."

Yao Xiong snorted coldly, "Drive him away? When I met Brother Taozi in the studio, you didn't even know where he was!"

A few people looked at each other and left unhappily.

Taozi took Chu Jiande to the county lieutenant's residence. The two of them did not say a word or talk to each other.

Chu Jiande looked at Liu Taozi from time to time, marveling at her.

After Taozi reported, the servants at the door quickly let them in.

Taozi led the doctor into the house, and County Lieutenant Changsun limped out to greet the two.

Chu Jiande was stunned. He stared at the lame man in front of him for a moment and shook his head. "I can't cure this."

“It’s not a leg treatment.”

Liu Taozi bowed to the confused Changsun and said, "This is the famous doctor I found from Linzhang. The county lieutenant has not been in good health recently, so I wanted him to take a look."

The eldest grandson suddenly realized, "Oh, it's just a small matter, but I still bothered you to find someone from Linzhang."

Chang Sun's face was not very good, and he looked a little tired. Before he took charge of Murong Mansion, his health was not very good. The day after he encountered the black dragon, he became seriously ill, always weak, unable to sleep, and increasingly weak.
Liu Taozi looked at the ugly man beside her and said, "Then I'll trouble you."

Chu Jiande nodded, Liu Taozi saluted the county lieutenant again, then turned and left without stopping.

The county lieutenant wanted to say something, but before he could even open his mouth, Liu Taozi had already left. Changsun smiled bitterly. Was this considered a gesture of goodwill to him? ? This was too blunt, wasn't it? ?

He was still very polite to the doctor, especially after seeing the doctor's strange appearance, he believed it very much. The two sat down and Chu Jiande began to ask about the patient's condition.

The eldest grandson talked about his own situation, and he had never forgotten the incident with the black dragon that day. Chu Jiande then stepped forward to feel his pulse, looked at his tongue, and almost felt his whole body.

Chu Jiande hesitated for a moment, then suddenly said, "Oh no, Lord Changsun, you are not sick, you are possessed by an evil dragon!"

"what!!"

The eldest grandson was horrified. "No wonder. No wonder I always dream about that monster. It turns out that I am haunted. What should I do? What should I do?"

Chu Jiande raised his head and said, "Don't worry. I have been learning Taoism from Master Ma since I was young, and I also know some methods to deal with ghosts and gods. This evil dragon is just a remnant. If it were two hundred years ago, I would still be afraid of it, but now, there is no need to worry at all!"

"I will cast a spell to expel you now!"

The eldest grandson pursed his lips and said, "But I believe in Buddhism."

Chu Jiande was stunned for a moment, took off his clothes, and then put them on himself backwards. The clothes turned black. "In fact, I have also learned Buddhism from Ma Gong, and I know a little about the method of chanting scriptures to exorcise ghosts. Since you believe in Buddhism, I will chant Buddhist scriptures for you to help this evil dragon transcend. How about that?"

"well."

"Lord Changsun, you can lie down and sleep now. I will be watching over you. I will kill the evil dragon today."

Then Chu Jiande took out many magical instruments from the package. He let his eldest grandson lie down and began to whisper Buddhist scriptures.

County Lieutenant Changsun lay on the bed and soon began to snore.

Chu Jiande did not stop chanting, but kept muttering to himself.

The next day, at dawn, Changsun took Chu Jiande to Liu Taozi's room.

“Hahahaha, Living Buddha! Living Buddha!!”

"That evil dragon was truly saved by you!!"

The eldest grandson took his hand and led him into the Youjiao Mansion. Liu Taozi and others hurried forward.

The eldest grandson excitedly stepped forward and grabbed Liu Taozi's hand, "Thank you so much this time, thanks to the living Buddha you found, the Buddhist Dharma is really powerful! I am healed!"

"what??"

Yao Xiong looked at Kou Liu in astonishment, and the two looked at each other, confused.

Not a doctor? What does Living Buddha mean?
The eldest grandson admired this man highly and praised him for a long time. He also thanked Taozi several times before turning around and leaving.

Chu Jiande stood in front of them proudly with a smile on his face.

Tian Zili was a little curious, "What's going on? What disease does the county lieutenant have?"

"What disease? He is not sick at all! His pulse is as strong as a bull. He is just afraid of ghosts and gods. He frightened himself and was afraid to sleep, which caused him to be weak and tired. I made up a reason and said that I was exorcising the ghost for him, and he got better."

Chu Jiande finished speaking and added: "However, I still have to collect the medical expenses."

Tian Zili hurriedly whispered to Taozi, "Brother, I think this man is amazing and very talented. There are so many dead people gathered inside and outside the city. When there are too many people, it is easy to breed diseases. The doctors in the county are all mediocre. It is better to keep him."

Chu Jiande seemed to have heard his words. He said disdainfully, "Leave me here? I have a big house in Linzhang, many wives and concubines, and countless people who come to me for treatment, including princes and nobles. What am I going to do in this small Cheng'an?"

Liu Taozi looked at Kou Liu who was standing aside. Kou Liu nodded, turned around and walked into the house. Soon, he came out with a package and handed the heavy package to Chu Jiande.

Chu Jiande lowered his head and took a peek, his eyes radiant with light.

He quickly covered it up, raised his head, and looked very solemn. "When I first followed Ma Gong to study, I also heard him say that he wanted to save the world and save people. I have a kind heart. Liu Gong thinks highly of me, so I will stay here in Cheng'an!"

Yao Xiong was very curious, "What about your wives and concubines, and your house?"

"Those are all external things. So, I gave them up a long time ago."

“I guess you don’t have any.”

Liu Taozi called Tian Zili, and the two walked into the inner room together. "Zili, I still have some money here. I'll give it to you today. I can't always let you pay."

Tian Zili smiled and said, "No need, brother. Although my family is broke, my grandfather hid a lot of things for me. I have enough money here, so you don't have to worry about this problem."

Liu Taozi had no choice but to take him into the inner room, took out several packages from the wooden box and placed them in front of Tian Zili. When Liu Taozi opened the package, the shining golden light froze the smile on Tian Zili's face.

He picked up the gold and jewelry in front of him in astonishment and looked at Liu Taozi in disbelief, "Brother, you didn't go digging..."

"Don't overthink it. I found these in Zhang Village."

"An acquaintance who owns a restaurant asked someone to give it to me."

ps: Ma Siming was from Yewang, Henei. He was well versed in traditional Chinese medicine and was good at diagnosing pulses. When Yang Yin suffered from back swelling, Siming rubbed it with lye and it got better. Therefore, Yang Yin highly valued him. ——"Book of Northern Qi·Biographies of Prescription Doctors"

(End of this chapter)