Kyushu · Endless Nagato

Chapter 5 Misfortune (1)
一
In August of the 17th year of Hongjing, Qingshi City, Wanzhou.

Qingshi City is one of the oldest cities in Wanzhou. It is adjacent to the Chu-Tang Plain and has developed transportation. The surrounding area is rich in yellow millet that is rough in taste but resistant to salt and alkali-not suitable for human consumption but very suitable as feed. All these conditions combined , making Qingshi the most important livestock trading market in Wanzhou and even the entire Kyushu.The livestock trade brought flowing money to the city, but it also created all kinds of problems, not least sanitation.For example, you can't teach a mule how to use the toilet, so the main roads used to transport livestock in Qingshi City are always covered with various kinds of excrement, which is very easy to cause epidemic diseases.For the residents of Qingshi City, they have to face different kinds of epidemics almost every year, which has become a part of their life.

In the summer of Hongjing's 17th year, a cholera attack hit Qingshi City.Although the local people have rich experience in fighting the disease, many people still get sick.Cholera is a very lethal disease, severe abdominal cramps, diarrhea, headache and fever, severe cases may even lead to death.Therefore, although the Yamen has adopted various countermeasures, it is still difficult to prevent the spread of the disease, and people with severe diseases die almost every day.

At this critical moment, several long-door monks who traveled here helped a lot.They wrote down several very effective prescriptions for cholera, taught people in the streets and alleys to set up large pots to cook soup, and called on people in the city who were not sick to volunteer, either to cook medicine or clean the city.For a time, almost every street in Qingshi City could see a cauldron of boiling medicine. The strong smell of medicine overwhelmed the stench of livestock, and gradually drove away the plague, restoring Qingshi City to its former vitality.

"Friar Nagato is amazing!" People praised.

In late August, the cholera epidemic was brought under control in most areas, including the south of the city where the situation was worst, but in the wilderness north of the city, there were still several large cauldrons boiling medicine.The north of the city is a relatively remote part of Qingshi City, where there are many abandoned brick kilns.There used to be many brick kilns in the history of Qingshi. Later, with the change of water quality and soil quality, the quality of the bricks produced in Qingshi gradually decreased, and the brick kilns were gradually abandoned, and became a shelter for homeless people.These cauldrons are used to boil medicine for these homeless vagrants.

"Pour in two or three cooked aconites, add half a handful of poria cocos, and a handful of perilla." A middle-aged man standing beside the cauldron directed.He was wearing half-sleeved coarse cloth clothes, a pair of old straw sandals on his feet, and a coarse linen belt conspicuously tied around his waist, which showed that he was a Nagato monk, and the person working in front of the cauldron was a handsome man in his early 20s young people.At this moment, he was vigorously stirring the soup in the pot. His white silk shirt was hanging on a branch beside him, and he was wearing a light blue fine cloth jacket. His clothes were much more luxurious than that of the long-monk monk. A piece of dark green jadeite must be worth a lot of money. It seems that it is a son of a wealthy family who came to help as a volunteer.Generally speaking, it is really rare for rich people to run out to work for the poor. When the epidemic was prevalent, almost all the rich people in the city who could escape to seek refuge ran away. The big shirtless man in front of him formed a sharp contrast, and even seemed very uncoordinated.

Soon after, the soup and medicine in the cauldron were boiled one after another, and the middle-aged monk led his assistants to pour the medicine into porcelain bowls one by one, and then distributed them to the patients.After a busy day, everyone else was sweating profusely, sitting on the floor and drinking cold cheap tea, but the young man didn't drink tea.It seemed that he was a little out of strength, leaning limply against the tree, his face pale.

"This weather... is really hot!" He said softly, and it seemed that if the ground wasn't too dirty, he would immediately use the ground as a bed and lie down on the spot.

"This young man's health is still a bit weak, why don't you go back and rest early," a volunteer kindly said to him, "Those of us who have been working hard all the year round to stir such a big pot of medicine are exhausted. The young master of the Qian family cannot do such tiring work."

Before the young master answered, the head monk had already sighed: "I told you a long time ago that you are not suitable for such heavy physical work... You should rest for a while, and if you are really tired, go back first." From the tone of voice, the two should be familiar with each other.

Hearing this sentence, the young gentleman shook his head first, then nodded: "I'm really sorry, it seems that I really can't help you here, so I'll go back and have a good sleep first."

"Go to sleep, that's your old profession," the head monk waved his hand, "Go."

The young man bowed his hands to the other volunteers around him, took off his robe from the branch, and slowly moved his feet to the south. Although he was tired, his walking posture was still steady and elegant.The head monk watched his back go away, although he kept shaking his head, his face looked very helpless, but there was still a smile on the corner of his mouth.It seems that he has a good friendship with this young man.

He turned around and continued to instruct the volunteers to boil down a batch of medicine. At this moment, a volunteer suddenly said, "Huh? Why is that young master back again?"

Changmen Monk turned his head and saw that the young man came back, and he came back jogging all the way. It seemed that although the heavy physical work was too much for him, he ran vigorously, but he was really exhausted before, so this pass A little out of breath after a sprint.But he didn't care so much, put his hands on his knees, and said out of breath: "A few officers and soldiers... came this way... holding weapons... as if they were going to catch... Monk..."

"Officers and soldiers?" Nagato monk frowned.

"That's right...he's wearing a military uniform..." The young man gasped for breath.

"Officers and soldiers? Arrest the Nagato monk?" Everyone was surprised, as if they had heard extremely absurd and strange talks.Nagato monks have always been a loose organization that does not compete with the world. They have never had the ambition to fight for power and profit, and they have never used violence to change the ideal of the world. Knowledge, with a pious heart to cultivate themselves.The kings in history have declared war on Chenyue, killed Tianqi, expelled Tianluo, and searched Longyuan Pavilion, but no one has ever laid hands on Changmen monk.Who would go to great lengths to deal with a group of completely harmless people?

The head monk pondered for a moment, then said to the young master, "Go and sit for a while, I will take care of it here."

The young man nodded, found a tree, and sat down with his back against the trunk.Not long after, six soldiers came from a distance, their faces seemed to be covered with a layer of frost, and their expressions were not good.They looked around, and their eyes finally settled on Nagato Monk.

"Nagato monk Zhang Haoge," the longmen monk nodded to them, "I don't know what the military masters are here for."

One of the leading officers walked up to him, looked him up and down, then suddenly raised his fist and slapped the long-door monk named Zhang Haoge hard on the face.Zhang Haoge didn't seem to know martial arts. Facing the punch, he didn't dodge at all. He was knocked down to the ground, half of his face was swollen immediately, blood flowed from his nose, and his lips were broken.

The volunteers and patients exclaimed in unison, but everyone knew that the officers and soldiers were powerful and could not be offended, so no one stepped forward to stop him, and no one even dared to help him.

However, the Changmen monk had practiced hard all his life, and his ability to bear pain was far better than ordinary people. Although Zhang Haoge was seriously injured, he didn't appear to be in too much pain.He slowly got up, and still asked kindly: "Why did you hit me? Did I do something wrong?"

The officer waved his hand, and two sergeants rushed forward and tied Zhang Haoge up with ropes.Zhang Haoge didn't resist, and only waited until he was tied up firmly before continuing: "The court needs an explanation for arresting people. Why did you arrest me?"

The officer snorted through his nose: "On the order of the superior, arrest all long-door monks. If you want to speak the Dharma, go to the prison and take it slowly! Let's go!"

Following his order, the sergeants escorted Zhang Haoge and pushed forward.The head monk endured all this, and turned around and shouted to the volunteers: "I'm leaving, you continue to decoct the medicine according to the prescription, and each patient has to take another four to five times to get rid of the root cause of the disease!"

"Don't forget to add raw aconite, dried ginger, and pig bile for severe cases. The dosage is listed in the prescription. If you can't find pig bile, goat bile can be substituted!"

"If it is difficult to enter the soup for a while, you can..."

Before he finished speaking, he was kicked to the ground by the leading officer.The officer stretched out his right foot wearing military boots, stepped on Zhang Haoge's face on the ground, and said coldly, "Shut your mouth, or I'll cut your tongue off."

With a swipe, he really pulled out a sharp dagger from the boot.Among the people present, some who had seen the world a little bit immediately understood that the order to arrest these long monks must have included "shoot and kill anyone who resists", which is why this officer was so fierce and domineering.

This is even more puzzling.It is completely unimaginable to people what kind of rebellious and evil deeds Nagato Monk has done to be so cruelly arrested.Such a thing is simply unheard of in history.

"Master, please wait a moment!" A voice suddenly sounded.

Everyone followed the prestige and saw that the young son of the rich family, Shi Shiran, walked up to the officer, holding a bank note with a denomination of two hundred gold baht in his hand.

"What are you going to do?" the officer asked bluntly, but he didn't dare to make a move easily.Beating people also depends on the target. This person in front of him looks like a rich son. He might not be sure of any influence in the family. It is best not to offend.

"I would like to ask you to hold your hand high. It's better to let him go and act as if you've never seen him before." The young man's smile was very gentle, neither humble nor overbearing.He slipped the bank note into the officer's hand.The officer raised his hand, saw the amount on it clearly, smiled lightly, and put the banknote in his arms, suddenly his face changed: "Blaid bribes to the court officials, obstructing the country's official duties, take them all back and take them back!"

Except for the two sergeants who escorted Zhang Haoge, the remaining three ran towards the young master together, two of them twisted his left and right arms respectively, twisted his arms behind his back, and prepared to tie them up in the same way.

"Why bother? Isn't it good to take the money and leave?" The young man frowned slightly.Suddenly, the two sergeants who were pinching his arms screamed together, and hurriedly stepped aside. The wrists of both hands were in weird shapes, and they were dislocated together.

The officer was taken aback, and pulled out his waist knife with a swipe with his right hand.But before he could raise the saber, the young master had already approached him like a ghost, and he slapped out his right palm lightly.The palm seemed weak, but he could not avoid it. He was hit on the forehead, and immediately fell limply to the ground, passing out.

The two sergeants escorting Zhang Haoge knew that they had encountered a strong enemy, so they quickly pushed Zhang Haoge away, and drew their swords forward together with the remaining sergeant.But even though the young man in front of him looked like a young master from a wealthy family with no strength to restrain his hands, his footsteps were surprisingly quick, and his moves were even weirder.He easily avoided the blades of the three soldiers, twisting or holding his hands seemingly at will. After a few strokes, he dislocated all the right arms of the three sergeants swinging the blades.

This seemingly gentle and delicate young man turned out to be a master of joint skills.Several sergeants knew how bad it was, so they had to help the officer who was still unconscious and fled quickly.

"Everyone, please stay, I still have questions to ask," the young gentleman shouted, "If you don't stop, I will have to wring all of you, including your hands and feet."

This threat was obviously very effective, and the five people were forced to stop.They either dislocated their wrists or dislocated their arms, sweating profusely from the pain, but they had to endure the pain to accept the interrogation of this damn young man.

"I just want to ask two questions," the young master said, "First, is the arrest of the long-door monk only in Qingshi City, or in the whole country?"

"The order came only this morning. The emperor is going to hunt down monk Nagato throughout the territory." A sergeant replied.

"Thank you," said the young prince very politely, "then the next question is, why did the emperor do this?"

"We don't know, really don't know," the sergeant replied, "We only know that orders have been issued not only to the garrisons in various places, but also to the Yamen. Changmen monk, none of them can run away."

"Thank you, everyone can go now. The dislocated joints can be reset by a bruise doctor. I guarantee that there will be no sequelae." The young man said, "As for this one, please take out the silver ticket and return it to me. It's wrong to take people's money and not help them eliminate disasters, I have to get the money back."

The sergeants hurriedly took out the banknotes and put them on the ground, then carried the officer away quickly, but after walking two steps, the unconscious officer woke up, gritted his teeth, and asked feebly, "Boy, what are you?" people?"

"My surname is An, and my name is An Xingmian. If this military master wants to seek revenge on me in the future, don't mistake him." The young man replied politely.

"I remember your name, but what I'm asking is, who are you!" The officer stared at him.

"I'm a long-door monk," An Xingmian said slowly, "I'm a monk who follows the master you want to arrest to practice."

"What did you say?" The officer was stunned.

"I know I don't look like a long monk...but I really am." An Xingmian spread her hands.

I am a long monk.

After the soldiers left, everyone present turned their attention to this young man named An Xingmian. It was hard to believe for a while that such a guy with luxurious clothes, decisive actions and hurting people could be a Changmen monk.Everyone thought of the Nagato monk in poor clothes and rough clothes they had come into contact with in their lives, especially comparing him with Zhang Haoge in front of them, they all felt that apart from being modest and easy, this person was really different from ordinary Nagato monks Far.But no matter what, An Xingmian's skill is extraordinary, and he defeated six soldiers by himself, so everyone admired him very much.

Volunteers and homeless people who were not sick had already stepped forward to help Zhang Haoge up.Half of his face was swollen, two teeth were missing, and the wound on his lip was bleeding all the time, but he didn't seem to feel any pain at all.He looked around the crowd and sighed: "I'm sorry everyone, you have heard and seen that those officers and soldiers may come back at any time. From this moment on, I must start running for my life. I can only leave this place to you."

"Master Zhang, take care." People said one after another.Master is the respectful name people give to a well-cultivated Nagato monk.

He briefly explained some precautions for brewing medicine to the volunteers, then turned around and looked at An Xingmian: "How long have we known each other?"

"Two or three years? Three or four years? Four or five years? Probably." An Xingmian smiled.

"For such a long time, you have been hiding it from me. If it weren't for today's incident, I would have thought you were just a rich young master with no power to restrain a chicken. I didn't expect your martial arts to be so profound." Zhang Hao Song said, but there was no complaining tone.

"I never said that I can't beat people," An Xingmian said with a smile, "It's just that when you first met me, you thought I couldn't when you saw my clothes, just like All the gentlemen here, none of them can recognize that I am a long door monk."

Everyone laughed, and Zhang Haoge also laughed: "You don't just keep silent, every time you encounter heavy work, you will pretend to be so tired that you are dying."

"You've wronged me, I didn't pretend, and I really don't have much strength. The articulation of joints relies on ingenuity rather than brute force," An Xingmian said very sincerely, "This kind of big pot of medicine Work is indeed not my specialty, and it is definitely far better to sleep more comfortably."

(End of this chapter)