Chapter 216: Residence

Actually, if Patrol Lieutenant Yang were to find someone to cooperate with on his own, he would still lean more toward Doctor Yun.

A person like Doctor Tang is too maverick and prone to slipping out of control.

Compared to Doctor Yun, this Doctor Tang just doesn't look upright. Whether he is expressionless or smiling, that feeling... it cannot be called evil, but rather that faint, cold, professional aura that makes one feel physically uncomfortable!

Patrol Lieutenant Yang has stayed in Shenyi Gu for a long time and has seen much of Doctor Tang's daily conduct, so he said: "Although this person is a doctor, he has no heart to save the dying and heal the wounded." He does not have even a shred of a healer's benevolent heart!

Patrol Lieutenant Yang weighed his words, but decided to be direct, saying: "Doctor Tang can sometimes be overly cold, making people feel he lacks a bit of humanity." Wen Gu was not surprised: "It doesn't matter, I can be the part of him that is human."

Patrol Lieutenant Yang: ………

A sudden silence. Everything he wanted to continue saying was swallowed back down.

Wen Gu raised his eyes: "What?"

Patrol Lieutenant Yang revealed a slightly stiff smile: "Deputy Envoy, your insight is brilliant!"

After settling the matter of Doctor Tang, Wen Gu went out for a stroll in the surroundings to look at the layout of the Town and familiarize himself with the new environment.

Here, there is no need to worry about his true identity being discovered.

Few people in Xinzhou could recognize Wen Gu, let alone people from other places; they would recognize him even less.

Each merchant caravan generally only runs fixed routes. In these chaotic times, the personnel composition and routes of the caravans are only more fixed, and none have been to Xinzhou. As for the few caravans that might come from Xinzhou, the Patrol Guard Division collects information, so they can be avoided when necessary.

Moreover, Wen Gu has now changed his disguise and temperament; he is no longer the elegant scholar type from before, but more like a local reader from Xinzhou—seven parts scholarly, three parts martial. Unless one looks closely at a very short distance, it is truly not certain they could recognize him.

At the same time, on the other side.

As soon as Doctor Tang returned, he immediately had people tidy up a residence.

It was a newly built, spacious small courtyard; he had originally intended to take in more medicine workers and stuff them all inside, but now it seemed it had a greater use! Subsequently, he went to inquire about the identity and background of that prospective apprentice.

Patrol Lieutenant Yang had said it was someone from the Rong Family of Xinzhou.

The Rong Family of Xinzhou—Doctor Tang had never heard of them.

But he knew that for Patrol Lieutenant Yang to personally come forward, this Rong Family of Xinzhou must have some capability.

As a famous doctor, Doctor Tang naturally had his own channels for information. Soon, the information gathered from various places was summarized. It was not detailed, but it was enough. The Rong Family of Xinzhou claims to be descendants of Rong Chengzi.

"Descendants of Rong Chengzi? Then shouldn't they go learn longevity arts and bedroom arts?"

This old man doesn't know those!

No wonder the first person they wanted to find was Yun Tuo; that person indeed has higher attainments in longevity, and used to frequently enter and exit the mansions of imperial relatives and nobles. However, Doctor Tang thought again—how many generations has the Rong family been passed down to now?

The current Rong family must have other ideas; coming to Shenyi Gu is likely to pursue advanced studies, perform some meritorious service, and go back to arrange a key position in the Patrol Guard Division. There are even rumors of the Rong family engaging in black-on-black dealings outside the passes.

No wonder they were spotted by the Patrol Guard Division!

The Xinzhou Xunweis doesn't have a good reputation either!

Doctor Tang felt he had already seen through the plans of Patrol Lieutenant Yang and the Rong family.

Having made full preparations, Doctor Tang arrived at that small building again the next day at the agreed time.

"The Dong Clan has already completely intercepted the Doctor Yun you were eyeing, so don't even think about it!"

He offered a few words of persuasion to Patrol Lieutenant Yang.

"Alright, that's it. I've already tidied up the courtyard; that apprentice can move in immediately."

Move in with just a bag—that's enough sincerity, right?

Patrol Lieutenant Yang hesitated: "This... the assessment hasn't happened yet... move in as an apprentice now?"

Whether they are pre-selected or candidates, everyone must go through an assessment. This is the rule set by the old imperial physician, Doctor Zhan.

Everyone is clear on the tricks inside; it is just a matter of going through the motions.

"There is no rule saying one cannot move in directly," Doctor Tang said indifferently.

Rules are rules, but as long as it is not written in black and white, one can act flexibly.

Even if it were written down, there are plenty of ways to bypass it.

There are even some famous doctors and "apprentices" who have long since hooked up; what does it matter that he hooked up two days early?

Doctor Tang was now in a hurry to finalize the matter and get the item into his hands, so he forcibly suppressed his temper and continued to persuade:

"The inn is small, and there are many people coming and going; it's very noisy. It's better to move to a quiet place to live first. Don't hesitate, hurry up and decide; I still have to spend effort to pull strings for the matters that follow." After pulling back and forth for a few more sentences, an agreement was finally reached.

Both sides were very satisfied.

Doctor Tang gripped the wooden box containing the Microscope tightly in his hand and finally met his new apprentice.

He looked at Wen Gu.

Having finally obtained the divine object he had been longing for, Doctor Tang's usually sharp temper became mellow, and he said to Wen Gu:

"Your master is Tang Xiuyao; from today on, you are an apprentice under my tutelage!"

There is a set of ritual procedures for a formal apprenticeship, but in the special situation caused by the current chaotic times, most of the temporary master-apprentice relationships in the valley are mixed with conflicts of interest, like paper—tearing at the slightest touch. Doctor Tang couldn't be bothered to be particular about those. Anyway, he did not treat this "Young Master Rong" as his formal Apprentice, nor did he intend to put on the airs of a formal master.

Mutual benefit, exchange of resources—that is all.

They are a cooperative relationship.

Doctor Tang's first impression of this "Young Master Rong": his background should be decent, like someone who would like a formal famous doctor like Yun Tuo. As for the guards and attendants beside "Young Master Rong," Doctor Tang's gaze swept over Li Sihu and lingered on Rong Yi for a few extra moments.

He thought again of the rumors that "the Rong Family of Xinzhou engages in black-on-black dealings outside the passes."

It didn't matter; he didn't care about the character of the Rong family.

Since he said he wanted to keep the person as soon as possible, he naturally had to hurry and take this new apprentice to his own territory.

Doctor Tang does not live in the Town, but on the nearby mountain.

Many famous doctors in the valley live on the mountain, which is more convenient for them to focus on research. Famous doctors have medicine boys and medicine workers under them to handle medicinal materials and chores for them. Doctor Tang is the same. It is just that this trip out was inconvenient to let people know, so he only brought one trusted apprentice as a carriage driver.

Two carriages arrived at the foot of the mountain one after the other.

They got off the carriages.

"There are several paths up the mountain, but only one can accommodate carriages."

Doctor Tang did not want to be too high-profile right now, so he wanted to take Wen Gu along a small path.

"We are taking a shortcut; you young people have nimble feet, and you will likely walk this path up and down the mountain more often in the future."

Looking at Doctor Tang from the outside, one truly could not tell he was a doctor; at most, he looked like a rural practitioner, not matching the temperament of a famous physician in the eyes of the public. In fact, many famous physicians have quite good physiques; gathering herbs, making medicine, and conducting research—in this era, one could not persist without a sufficiently sturdy physique. And Doctor Tang belonged to the category with an even better physique, easily mistaken for a hunter at first glance. Although his hair was already gray and he was advanced in age, his gait was powerful, and climbing a mountain was effortless for him. Deep experience, good physique...

Wen Gu was even more satisfied.

On the mountain in winter, the season of colorful foliage had already passed; now, there were only withered branches and fallen leaves everywhere, with only a few patches of evergreen species adding a touch of vitality. Not long after walking up the mountain, they passed a relatively flat area; it was not large, and a small courtyard was built there.

The courtyard walls, made of stone and earth, were only half a person's height, but a circle of bamboo was planted inside, forming a natural fence that could block threats from the outside and also block the view from the outside. Many gravel fragments were scattered on the surrounding ground, as if caused by human activity.

Inside the courtyard, there was a constant clinking sound of hammering.

Doctor Tang looked back from time to time, as if checking whether Wen Gu and the other two were keeping up, but in reality, he was observing the changes in the expressions on their faces. The courtyard gate was closed, so one could not see what the situation was like inside.

Wen Gu looked at the small courtyard and asked, "What is this place?"

Doctor Tang replied vaguely, "A... um, stone mason lives inside."

Wen Gu said, "One who carves steles?"

Doctor Tang's footsteps paused; he turned around to look at his new apprentice, and seeing no dissatisfaction on the new apprentice's face, he gave a "hmm" and continued walking up the mountain. Wen Gu did not have a big reaction, but Rong Yi and Li Sihu beside him had their expressions shift.

Carving steles? What kind of steles?

Without an intentional explanation, there was only one kind at the moment—tombstones!

In this era, most people were still quite superstitious about this aspect.

Doctor Tang's place of residence was not far from here, but there was a stele-carving courtyard halfway there?

What decent person would live in such a place?!

Rong Yi could not help but look at Wen Gu again.

With the capabilities of the Patrol Guard Division, it was impossible that they had not investigated these things. Was he actually indifferent?

As expected of someone who could be a Patrol Guard Division Vice Commissioner! His mentality was truly strong!

This small path was indeed much faster; after passing that stele-carving courtyard and walking up for a while longer, they saw a flat area.

Several courtyards were built there, varying in size, with no aesthetic sense of architecture; it was just a small building complex pieced together room by room according to the terrain. Judging by the style, they should also have different functions.

More than a dozen medicine boys and medicine workers were busy in various places.

Doctor Tang finally gained confidence at this moment, pointed to those courtyards, and said to Wen Gu:

"This whole area is my territory; that side is where you will live. I specifically picked the most spacious one with front and back courtyards for you; it has already been cleaned up, and you can move in directly." Wen Gu soon saw the residence his cheap master had prepared for him.

It was relatively simple, and one could tell it had been tidied up temporarily.

Looking at the valley in the front, and looking at the mountain in the back.

The back side was relatively steep, so there was no need to worry about being suddenly ambushed by a Plague Ghost.

As for the mountain seen from the back, one should not expect any beautiful scenery.

Looking out, that mountain opposite had a clearly bald area; the trees that originally grew there had long been felled, and in their place were stone steles of various colors, patterns, and sizes. The closer to the foot of the mountain, the smaller the steles; the higher up, the larger the steles, which also represented different statuses.

Stone steles were stacked one by one, arranged on the opposite mountain like an eye chart.

The Patrol Guard Division's information regarding Doctor Tang's residence mentioned that the mountain opposite was actually a graveyard.

Within the scope of Shenyi Gu, there were several concentrated graveyards, and the mountain opposite the back courtyard was just one of them.

What a "grave-view" room!