Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 255: Crane Sect

It’s a good time to sleep in the hot summer.

It was rare that Mr. Zhang didn't think of Wang Heng and Xiaocai, and forgot to show up to teach them the seven-record and seven-burning reading method, urging them to stay up late at night and get up early in the morning. The two brothers then got tired of reading and fell into a deep sleep.

Under the night sky of the mountain temple, the evening wind is howling, and it is a bit scary to occasionally see the swaying shadows of the trees in the moonlight.

Xiaocai was sleeping under the paper window of a room under the shadow of a tree and had a dream. He dreamed that it was New Year's Eve, and he had a bag full of firecrackers, but he didn't know how to get home. On the way, he met several acquaintances, but none of them told him the way home. He got angry, so he stood under the city bridge and set off three firecrackers, bang bang, for fun.

In a daze, he heard three more noises. Xiaocai secretly wondered why three more firecrackers were set off and when they were set off?
Suddenly, he heard some rustling noises in the house, and Wang Heng asked in a low voice, "Who?"

Xiaocai woke up with a start. The room was completely dark. There were still three taps outside the paper window. A slightly stiff male voice said, "Open the door. I'm Xiaowu."

Xiao Wu?

Wang Heng fumbled to light the oil lamp and looked outside. It was drizzling during the day and it turned cloudy at night. There were no stars in the night sky. It seemed to be around midnight.

Wang Heng pulled out the bolt and opened the door with a creak.

"My two princes, Lord Jinyang invites you to come over and sit down." Xiao Wu's figure looked a little disheveled under the light, with his hair and clothes a little messy.

Xiaocai took off his shoes, rubbed his eyes and said, "Xiaowu, what's the urgent matter in the middle of the night?"

Xiao Wu looked reserved and said, "You two will know when you go over there."

Xiaocai leaned out and Wang Heng gently closed the door.

It was late at night, with only a few lights on in the corridor.

The two of them followed Xiao Wu with suspicion, walked through the corridor and came to the east wing.

The door was ajar, and a faint candlelight shone through.

The east wing is slightly larger than the west wing and has an extra entrance hall, but the rest of the layout is exactly the same.

Jinyang Jun Li Yan stood at the door with his hands behind his back. When he saw the visitors, he waved his hand, probably asking them to keep quiet, and took the two people into the inner room.

There was a person lying on Xiaowu's couch under the paper window. Wang Heng and Xiaocai didn't understand why. Li Wei picked up the oil lamp and a flash of light passed by the person's face. They were shocked at once. The person on the couch was actually Ruan Youhai, a Jiaozhi official student and his classmate from the Imperial College.

"Ruan Youhai." Wang Heng exclaimed in surprise.

Ruan Youhai's face was as pale as paper and he seemed to be unconscious.

Li Wei said, "Brother Ruan was injured and fainted on the side of the road. Xiao Wu and I found him, but we were unfamiliar with the area and didn't know where to find a clinic, so we had no choice but to take Brother Ruan back to Jubao Temple."

Wang Heng thought for a moment and said, "I heard that there is a monk in Jubao Temple who knows a little about medicine. I will ask him to take a look at Master Ruan and give him some medicine. But it's late at night and it may take some time. You wait."

Xiaocai looked at Ruan Youhai in the light of the lamp and saw that he was wearing a hemp Taoist robe with faint blood stains on it, most likely he had suffered external injuries.

Wang Heng went straight to the monks' dormitory in the other courtyard, knocked on the door and woke up the young monk, saying that there was a wandering Taoist who was seriously injured by criminals and needed medical treatment, so he asked the monk who knew some medical skills to come and treat him so as to establish a good relationship with him.

The young monk was sleepy and tried hard to keep his eyes open. After hearing the purpose of the visit, he did not ask any further questions and went out to call for help.

The monk who knew some medical skills was an old monk. Soon, the young monk came with him and the medicine box on his back. The old monk carefully checked Ruan Youhai's injuries and said with his hands together: "Dear donors, this young Taoist priest is seriously injured. There are many knife wounds on his hands, feet and back. I am only familiar with medical knowledge. I will apply some hemostatic herbs to him first. You can take him down the mountain to the county town to find a doctor tomorrow."

The old monk worked very slowly, and by the time he had finished applying the medicine and bandaging the wound, it was almost dawn.

The process of applying the medicine was probably very painful. The unconscious Ruan Youhai actually woke up, gritted his teeth to endure the pain, and hot sweat broke out on his forehead.

The old monk saw Ruan Youhai wake up, checked his eyes, nodded slightly and said: "Master Dao is conscious, this is a good thing. If you don't have a fever, you just need to stay in the other courtyard. I will come to give you medicine tomorrow. If you have a severe fever, it is best to send you to the county clinic as soon as possible."

Wang Heng thanked the old monk and personally sent him back to the monks' dormitory. Seeing that the door of the dining hall in the other courtyard was open, he went to get a bowl of rice porridge, picked up a few pickled yellow earth radishes, and brought them to the east wing for Ruan Youhai.

Xiao Wu and Ruan Youhai are more familiar with each other, so he was the one who fed him porridge.

Ruan Youhai ate a large bowl of rice in silence, and squeezed out two words in a hoarse voice: "Thank you."

Xiao Cai sneered and said, "Mr. Ruan, why did you appear on the Jubao Terrace and behave like a madman? And why did you dress up as a Taoist priest and get chased by people at the foot of Jubao Mountain?"

Everyone present had the same question in their mind, but they were too proud of their status to ask.

Li Fu and the other two did not know that Ruan Youhai had fled in a panic after being scolded by Zhang Xiru at Jubaotai, which added to their doubts.

Ruan Youhai sighed and said after a while: "You are all my benefactors. Youhai should tell you everything. I am originally a Taoist priest of Jiaozhi Xianhe Sect. I came here thousands of miles to find out a secret in the sect. Now is not the time to tell you. I will definitely give you an explanation later."

Seeing that everyone present had a worried look on their faces, Ruan Youhai continued, "I assure you that the secrets of my Xianhe Sect neither violate the laws of the Ming Dynasty nor go against morality, and have almost nothing to do with ordinary people."

Ruan Youhai spoke sincerely and was seriously injured, so the others stopped forcing him.

After noon, Ruan Youhai's injury relapsed and he had a lingering low-grade fever.

Wang Heng felt that something was not right, so he asked Wu Ming to arrange a carriage and servants to take Ruan Youhai to Jiangning County for treatment.

Ruan Youhai was delirious with fever and said incoherently: "Send me to the mountain people's home. The Li family has a famous doctor."

"In the home of Lishan people?" Wang Heng asked.

Ruan Youhai said weakly, "Yesterday, I and the servants of the Imperial Academy sent the mountain people back home. I was originally a guest at the Li family and was attacked when I was out."

This statement is confusing.

Unfortunately, Ruan Youhai is a patient, and we can't call him to tell everyone in detail.

"Where does Brother Li live?" Li Fu asked.

"The Li family in Cuihua Village is not too far from where I fainted. I should be able to recognize the direction when I get there." Ruan Youhai's face was flushed red, and it seemed that his wound had not healed well.

Cuihua Village is at the foot of the back mountain of Jubao Mountain, so a horse-drawn carriage is unnecessary. Wuming arranged four servants to carry Ruan Youhai down the mountain by carrying the door panels.

Seeing that Li Wei was hesitant, Xiaocai understood and said, "It would be inconvenient for Lord Jinyang to visit the homes of court officials at will. Let Xiaowu lead the way for us."

Li Fu had exactly this intention, so he gave Xiao Wu a few instructions and went to the Sutra Library to continue accumulating merit for Madam Jin.

A group of seven people went down the mountain, carrying Ruan Youhai, which inevitably looked very grand. Wang Heng ordered the servants in the temple not to whisper to each other, so as to avoid attracting attention with too many people talking.