31. Recovery Through Medicine

The main hall was brightly lit.

Master Lü of Meilan County had handed all affairs over to Zhao Jia, preferring to keep himself in leisure. County Bailiff Lei Ji sat upright, while the assistant busied himself, laying out dossiers and maps, and the scribe nearby recorded everything diligently.

Gao Qingzhi leafed through Zhao Jia’s official ledger.

Every constable from the Earth Office possessed such a book. Previously, Zhao Jia had not broken through and was only considered a candidate. Now, with true energy refined and twenty years of martial practice, he could finally become a full-fledged constable of the Six Gates.

This ledger did not record people, but rather mountain spirits and monsters.

After re-examining Monk Yujing and Liu Hong, the information gleaned was largely consistent. The lists of households who had lost wives or whose women lay sick in bed had also been compiled.

Gao Qingzhi looked down at the three men below the dais.

They were the Sturdy One, Big Mouth, and the Short One.

These three had survived a fight with the Five-Tongued God last night.

Gao Qingzhi stepped before the Sturdy One, raising his fist. “How did he hit you?”

The Sturdy One recalled, “I charged in with my blade, didn’t see how he struck—felt like being rammed by a wild bull. I was sent flying, and my insides felt as if they were churned together. The pain kept me down.”

He quickly added, “If I’d been in heavy armor then, I wouldn’t have been so useless.”

Gao Qingzhi patted his shoulder. The young man had a sturdy build. An ordinary person would have lost half their life from such a blow, yet this one merely failed to get up for a while. A promising talent. With true energy, he could become a candidate for the Six Gates.

Gao Qingzhi’s face showed doubt. The Five-Tongued God shouldn’t have been so weak—after such a commotion, not a single death. If things were as County Bailiff Lei Ji described—a monster able to subdue hundreds—then not three, but thirty constables in formation would all have perished.

His doubts were soon answered.

First, the Three-Legged had held off the Five-Tongued God.

Second, the Short One’s distress arrow had summoned a mass of torch-bearing constables and night patrol soldiers, frightening the monster away.

“Three-Legged?” Gao Qingzhi glanced at Zhao Jia.

Zhao Jia pointed to the black old cat crouched on the eaves.

“Impossible.”

Gao Qingzhi laughed.

His years of monster-taming made it clear at a glance—the three-legged old cat was merely a minor spirit, at best able to confuse weak women with cat urine. Not even a grown man was needed; a half-grown child could club it to death. Such a frail spirit could not possibly stand against a great monster.

Zhao Jia whispered something in his ear.

Gao Qingzhi was taken aback and ceased to dwell on the matter.

After a few more questions, seeing night fall, Gao Qingzhi declined the assistant’s prepared guest room, intending to rest in the office barracks.

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How could Zhao Jia allow his master to spend a night in the county office barracks?

The barracks were crude, with many yamen runners sleeping on communal beds, snoring and breaking wind at night—hardly conducive to rest. Zhao Jia invited his master to stay with him; his second courtyard had spare guest rooms.

Gao Qingzhi nodded in agreement.

Upon returning to the courtyard, Wang Ruo greeted Zhao Jia’s master and prepared wine and dishes for the pair.

At the table, Gao Qingzhi analyzed, “The monster is indeed proud.”

Black cat Lu Xun had a seat at the table as well.

He mostly kept his eyes on the leopard-faced, round-eyed Gao Qingzhi.

“What’s his story?” Gao Qingzhi followed his gaze.

“Master, it’s like this…” Zhao Jia explained in detail his encounter with the black cat and the rescue at the temple.

Gao Qingzhi was half skeptical. “Can it really turn into a tiger?”

“Brother Cat.” Zhao Jia clasped his hands and smiled, hoping Three-Legged would demonstrate.

Lu Xun turned his head aside.

Zhao Jia nearly begged him in desperation.

The black cat Lu Xun leapt, his body rapidly expanding, dark fur turning into a dazzling pattern, cat eyes becoming golden tiger pupils.

In an instant, a giant tiger with white forehead and hanging eyes, over thirteen feet long, stepped onto the blue bricks, covered in scars and visibly exhausted, as if fresh from an incomprehensible battle.

“Hoh hoh…!”

Gao Qingzhi exclaimed in astonishment, utterly transfixed.

He had subdued countless monsters in his travels, but had never witnessed such a scene.

“Master, how come you aren’t at all…” Zhao Jia asked in surprise, his heart anxious like a child who’d picked up a stray puppy, afraid to let his parent know.

Gao Qingzhi chuckled and went on, “Common folk fear the unknown too much. In truth, there’s little difference between humans and monsters. I have many monster friends myself, often needing their help. For instance, the falcon that delivers your messages is a spirit trained by the office.”

“You’re in the profession now, you’ll have to get used to it.”

“Boy, you’re truly blessed,” Gao Qingzhi marveled, recalling, “I remember my first encounter was with a Tiger Auntie—a wicked monster who ran a shop in the wilds, dealing in human flesh. My master and I nearly ended up as her meal when we went to subdue her.”

He spoke while closely examining the tiger’s wounds.

“This is right—the monster should be this formidable.”

Gao Qingzhi, skilled and bold, said unafraid, “To beat a thirteen-foot-old tiger spirit into this state is extraordinary. Had you arrived any later, you’d have been burying the tiger.”

“A proud mountain spirit, indeed.”

“Daring enough to rob tax silver and break into the county town.”

Gao Qingzhi stroked his beard and squinted, deliberating, “Hotheads are easiest to handle—first, summon it with a ritual and see if it comes. Then gather all the clay idols from the households; if it doesn’t come, destroy them all, cut off its incense. Even with silver, it would be powerless.”

The bailiff opened his sword case.

Inside were a thick book, two thin booklets, a stack of talismans, some loose silver, and a sword forged from unknown materials.

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Most of the other items were bottles and jars, much of it concealed under green cloth and hard to discern.

He picked out several bottles, poured out pills and powders, gathered them in a heap, and looked at Zhao Jia with some pain in his eyes: “Let him take these.”

Zhao Jia carefully took the pile of medicine.

The tiger Lu Xun squinted his golden eyes, stretched out his tongue to sweep up the medicine; pills and powders melted instantly, needing no warm water. The aching ribs ceased to hurt, the wounds stitched by flesh became itchy as they healed, and even fatigue vanished.

The effects were immediate—far superior to the decoctions of any medical hall.

Miraculous.

If these medicines could be brought to modern times, they would surely make a fortune.

Of course, given the rarity of ingredients, mass production might not be feasible.

The improvement in the tiger’s spirit was visible to the naked eye. Zhao Jia rejoiced, “Master, this medicine works so fast!”

Gao Qingzhi’s bushy beard concealed a twitch at the corner of his mouth. “So long as it works. We’ll need your friend’s strength when fighting that monster.”

“Do you have any more, Master?”

“It’s not for eating like rice!”

Gao Qingzhi, packing up the case, took out a small booklet.

Zhao Jia picked it up. “Record of Official True Energy.”

Gao Qingzhi spoke earnestly, “I didn’t teach you before because you’d practiced the Martial Essentials for years, passed two of three gates. If I made you sense acupoints and inner energy, it’d only hinder you.”

“Now you’ve brought your external skills into the internal, accumulated martial prowess. After cultivating the True Energy Record, your solid foundation will let you progress by leaps and bounds—perhaps even surpass those who trained internally from childhood.”

“Come, I’ll help you strengthen your internal energy.”

Master and disciple moved into the courtyard.

The moon was bright.

Lu Xun also entered the yard, raising his head toward the moon.

When in cat form, he could absorb moonlight in this posture, replenishing his depleted magic.

After a while,

The tiger Lu Xun shifted position in confusion.

Still, he absorbed no moonlight.

He returned to cat form.

Moonlight entered him easily.

Lu Xun leapt onto the eaves, changed into a warty-headed toad, and absorbed moonlight again.

Any head with magic could absorb moonlight.

Lu Xun filled his scant magic to the brim. Hunting the Five-Tongued God would be a fierce battle; preparations had to be made in advance.