Chapter 85

Disciple Education

"How long has it been since you regained consciousness, and you're talking about following him there!"

Shaken by the roar of Grandfather, who is the Poison King, I trembled as I straightened the paper on the window.

It seemed that Father, who had never raised his voice before, was now shouting at Yingying's absurd request.

If I were her parents, I would have definitely slapped her.

'You can say anything, can't you? Where do you think you're going? Slap!'

She needed a good lesson to stop her from making such unreasonable and absurd statements. Clearly, the education in this household was flawed.

Of course, if Grandfather, the Poison King, were to really slap her, she would probably collapse and spit blood, so he couldn't do that.

As Grandfather's roar echoed, everyone was startled and looked at him. But Yingying, who seemed to have a prepared plan, didn't flinch and strongly argued her case to Father.

"Is it because I've only been awake for a short time after being afflicted by the strange illness?"

"Of course it is!"

"Grandfather, if I were to faint again, who would treat me?"

At Yingying's question, everyone looked at me, and Grandfather, who had never raised his voice, shouted at her and then turned to me with a smile, asking cautiously.

The rapid change in his expression was like watching a skilled actor.

"About fainting again, what exactly do you mean!? Haven't you already treated her, Qingyun?"

At Grandfather's question and Yingying's words, I recalled something I had forgotten.

When I arrived, Yingying woke up, and my wife mistakenly thought I had treated her, which led to the misunderstanding that I had indeed treated her.

In reality, I had no idea if she was still sick or had fully recovered.

To get Yingying to leave, I would have to say she was fully recovered, but if she fainted again as she claimed, it would put me in a very difficult position.

Honestly, since I hadn't done anything and had no idea about her current state, I couldn't say she was fully recovered, so I hastily made an excuse.

"Well, she's not completely recovered yet. We should observe her recovery slowly."

'So, once you start lying, you need a bigger lie! It's not like I have Ripley syndrome...'

I could only lament in my heart about the situation where I had to lie.

Just as I was thinking this, Father's reprimand continued.

"Then it's even more impossible for you to go! How can a sick person go anywhere? And if you faint again, Qingyun will naturally have to take care of you, won't he?"

"Grandfather, but if I faint again while you're deep in Yunnan, what will happen then?"

"That's a given. But, but..."

Grandfather, who was cornered by Yingying's argument, was at a loss for words.

It seemed Yingying had a plan.

The Poison King, Grandfather, was being pushed into a corner.

'No, wait a minute?'

But then I thought, something seemed very suspicious.

Was Yingying originally that smart? No, thinking about it, she definitely wasn't.

Yingying was a bit of a troublemaker, a free-spirited character.

Honestly, she suited the Dan family more than the Tang family.

Like a pumpkin or pickled radish, something like that.

She was the embodiment of simplicity, the type to act without thinking, not the type to think things through.

If we were playing a game, and I had a character with intelligence and dexterity, my wife would be a character with max strength, and Yingying would be a character with max agility.

For such a Yingying to think? A kid who acts before thinking?

This was an impossible change unless she had been reborn.

'Reborn? Hmm, maybe...'

The situation where she had seemingly died from the strange illness and come back to life.

Suddenly, Yingying had become smart.

A familiar sense of déjà vu crept over me.

'Could it be that Yingying...?'

A rational suspicion arose.

I couldn't help but think that Yingying might be in a similar situation to mine.

Feeling this sense of déjà vu, I decided I would have to subtly investigate Yingying at some point.

Just as I was thinking this, Father, who noticed my troubled expression, shouted again, startling me.

A roar so loud that I worried he might collapse from high blood pressure.

"Absolutely not! Qingyun, take care of Yingying until she fully recovers. I'll send out the warriors to find where the Medicine King is in Yunnan. Understand?"

"Uh?!"

Yingying's unreasonable request had put Grandfather in a difficult position, and to avoid it, he was now putting me in a difficult position.

I couldn't just take care of Yingying indefinitely, not knowing when she would recover, but the idea of finding the Medicine King was also appealing.

Even if they sent people to help, it would take a long time to find him, and wandering aimlessly in the Yunnan jungle would be worse.

So, I thought, maybe I could stay and make some tonics for Yingying until we found the Medicine King?

'But if she faints again as she said...'

I was truly in a dilemma, unable to decide what to do.

When I couldn't answer Grandfather's proposal and just looked troubled, Aunt, who noticed my discomfort, quietly asked Grandfather, the Poison King.

"Father, if it comes to that, would you really have Qingyun take care of Yingying for the rest of her life if she never recovers?"

"Ah?!"

At Aunt's question, Yingying seemed to realize something and exclaimed.

Then, Grandfather, Aunt, and Yingying started arguing.

"No, that's the thing. Now that I think about it, if we send Qingyun and Yingying faints again, that would be a problem too. But we can't just keep Qingyun here indefinitely..."

"Let's check if Qingyun has a solution. Maybe there's a medicine or something to do if she faints again."

"But if I cause Liu Jia to stay here and take care of me, and I can't share the mysterious medical skills with others, it would be best for me to follow Liu Jia, wouldn't it?"

"No, that's not possible!"

Just as they were arguing, my wife sent me a mental message.

[Old Master, just agree with Grandfather for now. I can't explain in detail, but you don't need to worry about Sister Tang's strange illness.]

She nodded slightly when I looked at her.

Deciding to hear the reason later, I nodded slightly and said to the three of them.

"I understand. Grandfather, I'll take care of Yingying until she recovers."

"Tsk!"

Yingying clicked her tongue in disappointment.

***

The next day, the warriors I had left at the inn, along with Galian, the servant, and Dukgu arrived.

Galian's face was much better than before, and she seemed more calm.

She blushed and flinched when she saw me, but she wasn't looking at me like a thirsty deer at a stream.

Dukgu, as expected, refused to enter the Tang family compound, sniffing the air at the gate.

Dukgu, who values his own safety above all.

"Dukgu, you need to listen to these seniors, understand?"

-Whap!

Following the plan, I tied Dukgu at the entrance and asked the warriors to take care of him, then brought Galian and the guards into the Tang family compound.

Thinking that this was my first disciple, I decided to introduce her to the elders of the family and headed to the Poison King Hall, where Grandfather was resting.

Just as we were about to meet Grandfather, Yingying, who was resting in the garden, noticed us and called out.

"Liu Jia, where are you going?"

"Oh, I'm going to introduce my first disciple to the family elders."

"So, this child has become Liu Jia's disciple?"

Yingying, who already knew me, pretended to be surprised.

Galian, noticing Yingying's act, greeted her first.

"Hello, Miss. Nice to see you again. My name is Galian."

"Yes, it's been a while. I hope we can get along well."

"Uh? Ah... Yes."

'I'm not her husband, and she's asking to get along well? What a joke.'

As Galian and Yingying exchanged greetings, people suddenly started gathering in the garden.

"What? Qingyun has taken a disciple?"

"Qingyun, is this your first disciple? So, this is the child?"

"Oh, Qingyun's disciple is such a cute child."

It seemed that Grandfather, Father, and Aunt had heard the news and rushed to the garden where we were talking.

The three of them immediately surrounded Galian and started asking her all sorts of questions, as if they were conducting a background check.

"Where do your parents work?"

"In, in Simou, we ran a small restaurant, but they both p, passed away!"

"Dear! So you're all alone in this vast land of Zhongyuan?"

"No! I have two younger brothers..."

"How old are you?"

"I, I'm nineteen this year!"

"Isn't that a bit old to take as a disciple?"

"Well, it's not martial arts, so it shouldn't matter, right? Qingyun must have had his reasons."

Galian seemed to be frozen in fear, as if she had just met the top gangsters of her neighborhood.

She answered the Tang family's questions like a private in the army, with a look of shock on her face.

"No!"

But then, the Tang family's questions started to turn to me.

"Qingyun, have you held an initiation ceremony?"

"Uh? An initiation ceremony?"

I asked, not knowing what it was, and the three of them gathered around me and Galian, starting to scold me.

"Qingyun, surely you didn't forget the initiation ceremony for your first disciple, did you?"

"Well, I didn't hold a separate ceremony. She bowed and..."

"Tsk. That's just a simplified version. This won't do! This is a serious issue that we can't overlook. If a Tang family descendant takes a disciple without a proper initiation ceremony, what will people think? We have our reputation to uphold!"

Although I'm not a martial artist, I'm still a descendant of a martial family, so they insisted on a proper initiation ceremony.

And with the added concern for reputation?

'Wait, an initiation ceremony?'

Suddenly, I felt a sense of unease about the Tang family's initiation ceremony.

In my past life, the initiation ceremony for gangsters involved pouring a cup of alcohol, dropping a few drops of blood, and sharing it. I wondered if the Tang family did something similar.

Out of caution, I decided to ask.

"By the way, does the initiation ceremony involve drinking alcohol and sharing blood?"

The three of them looked at me as if I was saying something ridiculous.

"Why would anyone drink someone else's blood? Don't worry, Qingyun. We don't do such barbaric things in the Tang family."

"Right, right. How could a person drink another person's blood? Your body is a precious gift from your parents, and hurting yourself is out of the question. Some sword schools might do that, but the Tang family absolutely does not."

'Oh... I see.'

It seemed they didn't do such barbaric things.

Feeling somewhat relieved by their answers, I asked about the process.

"So, what does the initiation ceremony involve?"

"The disciple bows to the family's ancestral tablets and drinks a poison given by the family, and that's it."

"Oh! I see? Just bow once and drink a cup of poison..."

I laughed and nodded, thinking it was just like drinking a cup of medicinal wine, but then I suddenly realized and asked again.

"What do you drink?"

"Poison, of course."

"No, why..."

The Tang family was really beyond my imagination.

***

Although it wasn't a poison that would kill us, I had to calm down the three of them, who were determined to make us drink poison. Since we weren't officially joining the Tang family, we agreed to have Galian eat the food I prepared as a substitute for the initiation ceremony.

That evening,

For some reason, following the tradition of the Confucian Taliban, Galian bowed to the Tang family's ancestral tablets and was treated to a dinner of the food I prepared, and the initiation ceremony was completed simply.

I wondered why they were so concerned about reputation when no one was watching. It was a truly baffling culture of face.

After Galian's tense initiation ceremony, while the Tang family was searching for the Medicine King, I started her education the next day to pass the time.

Early in the morning, Galian's voice came from outside.

"Master, did you cough?"

"Yes, wait a moment. I'll be out soon."

Looking to the side, my wife was still deeply asleep, and my arm was numb.

Using my experience as a chef from my past life, I lifted her head slightly and quickly pulled my arm out, like removing a tablecloth from a table without disturbing the dishes.

-Swoosh

My wife was completely asleep and didn't even notice her head was lifted.

I gently placed her head back on the bed.

'Why didn't I think of this before...'

Recalling the memory of almost getting my arm paralyzed because I couldn't think of this trick, I rubbed my arm and covered my wife with a blanket.

Then, I washed my face with the water left by the servants in the early morning, got dressed, and went outside.

"Master, good morning (wanfu)."

Galian greeted me with a red face.

Galian placed her left hand on her left waist as if holding an egg, and her right hand on the back of her left hand, slightly bending her knees in a bow.

It was like a salute with her hand on her waist.

'What is this? Galian, are you being cute?'

Blinking at the unfamiliar greeting, Galian explained.

"Miss Zhuge taught me this. She said it's a popular greeting among women in Dongjing..."

"Oh!"

Thinking about it, I remembered seeing women in Dongjing doing something similar when I passed by.

I hadn't noticed it because I was focused on my wife, but it seemed she had learned it.

Recalling, I thought I had seen it a few times in Chinese historical dramas.

"If it's strange, should I not do it?"

Galian's question made me realize that the salute was a greeting used by gangsters in Zhongyuan.

If you didn't accept the salute, they might threaten you with a punch or say, "I don't have a knife on me right now."

"No, it's fine. It's better than a salute. Let's use this greeting from now on."

As I took Galian outside, she cautiously asked.

"Master, are we going to the kitchen?"

I smiled at her question.

'Is this what it feels like to have a first disciple?'

"Kitchen? We should, but not yet. Maybe in three years?"

"Uh?!"

Galian's eyes widened in surprise at my answer.