Chapter 35: The Disciple I Took Lives In Willow Forest Village
The Meng Family was not far from the medical hall, and the horse carriage arrived in less than a quarter of an hour.
The old butler, who had already received the news, was waiting at the door. Seeing the little old man get off the horse carriage, he hurried over and reached out to help him down: “Director Cui, you’ve finally come! Our young master’s fingers moved, they really moved, they just moved!”
“Let’s go take a look.” The little old man waved his hand directly and strode into the room.
“Hey, hey, little old man will lead the way for Director Cui.” The old butler trotted behind him.
“Hey! No one’s minding me again.” Meng Yichen poked his head out from the horse carriage, looking at the empty courtyard, shaking his head with a wry smile.
“How could that be! Here comes this little one!” A tall and sturdy young man in black clothes jumped out from the other side of the horse carriage, supporting his arm to help him down.
“No big ones or little ones, Brother Ling Qing, you’re teasing me again.” Meng Yichen adjusted the cloak on his body, coughed lightly with his fist against his lips, and said.
“Coughing again? Did you catch a wind on this trip out?” Ling Qing frowned as he looked at him.
“I’m fine,” Meng Yichen pursed his lips, suppressing the next wave of itchiness surging to his throat, and changed the subject: “I just heard Uncle Quan say something happened to my brother?”
“The general’s fingers just moved again. We talked to him, and he seemed to hear a little. I even saw his eyelids move, but they all said I was seeing things.” Ling Qing said.
“Old Cui got another century-old ginseng today. After making medicine for brother, maybe he can wake up soon.”
“Yeah, the general will wake up sooner or later, but look at you, so frail and weak. If the general wakes up and sees you like this, who knows how worried he’ll be!”
“Alright, alright, Brother Ling Qing, let’s go see my brother first! Don’t lecture me here.”
“Fine! Anyway, you have your own ideas and won’t listen to anyone. Let’s go!” Though his tone wasn’t great, he still carefully slowed his pace.
Meng Yichen walked beside him, the corners of his mouth slightly curving upward.
These were all his brother’s subordinates, who had followed his brother through life and death on the battlefield every day and had long been treated by his brother like family. They were also very good to him, truly loving him like a younger brother.
But his body was just not ambitious. Because he had been poisoned in his mother’s womb, his health had been extremely poor since birth, and he would fall ill from time to time, making everyone’s hearts ache. Even a slight headache or fever would make his brothers tense up.
Even now with his brother severely injured and in a coma, his brothers hadn’t slacked on caring for him. He was actually quite content.
“Careful!” Meng Yichen, who was walking and thinking at the same time, almost tripped over the step underfoot. Ling Qing caught him, and he patted his chest in lingering fear. “What are you thinking about! Not even walking properly.”
“Nothing, just thinking about what Old Cui said about finding me a little disciple.” For some inexplicable reason, Meng Yichen, who couldn’t think of an excuse, blurted it out without thinking.
“Old Cui found one?” Ling Qing thought for a moment. “Why don’t you give it a try? Let me tell you, your condition is from staying cooped up at home all day. Teach a little disciple, change your mood, maybe your health will improve too.”
“We’ll talk about it later. Let’s go see my brother first.” Meng Yichen paused, neither agreeing nor refusing.
“Alright, let’s go!” Ling Qing understood his temperament and knew that once he made a decision, no one could persuade him otherwise—it was better to save breath. So he dropped it, and the two walked side by side into the room of Meng Yichen’s brother, Meng Yixuan.
As soon as they entered the door, they heard a loud, booming voice speaking, “It moved, it moved again. Director Cui, quick, look, the general’s eyelids moved. Is he… is he about to open his eyes?”
“Quiet! You’re the noisiest one in this bunch. Keep yelling, and this old man will give you a needle to shut you up for at least half a year.” The little old man’s voice came from the middle of the group of tall, burly big men surrounding the bed, his tone clearly showing he was quite annoyed.
“Fine, I won’t talk. Do you have to threaten me all the time!” The tallest one with the darkest skin among them covered his mouth with his hand, retreated two steps, and muttered under his breath at a volume like normal speaking.
“Pfft!” Meng Yichen burst out laughing. “Brother Gao Yong is still so funny.”
Ling Qing couldn’t help but grin too. “Gao Yong’s voice is indeed loud. Sometimes it’s really headache-inducing.”
Suddenly, someone over there said, “Shh, quiet, the general seems like he’s about to speak.”
What?
Meng Yichen and Ling Qing exchanged a glance and walked toward the bedside, squeezing their heads through the circle of people to look at the bed.
They saw that Meng Yixuan’s originally pale and thin face in his coma now had a very faint flush. His brows were slightly furrowed, and his dry, dehydrated lips kept moving, but unfortunately, he had been in a coma too long and couldn’t make any sound.
“The general said… mountain?” Another big man, Chu Yu, whose height was second only to Gao Yong, widened his eyes and guessed while watching Meng Yixuan’s mouth.
“General Meng did say mountain, but the rest really can’t be made out.” The little old man looked for a long time, even leaning to Meng Yixuan’s mouth to listen for a while, but could only come to this conclusion.
“Mountain?” Gao Yong suddenly let out another shout, startling everyone. They all shot him dissatisfied looks, but he didn’t care and continued loudly: “We found the general on the back mountain of Willow Forest Village. Is the mountain he mentioned that one?”
Everyone rolled their eyes in unison. Seeing him staring with big eyes about to speak again, Chu Yu hooked his arm around his neck and whispered, “Who couldn’t think of that? Are you trying to yell the general awake with your big voice?”
“I…” Gao Yong swallowed, seeing everyone agreeing with Chu Yu’s expression, and sullenly lowered his head without speaking.
“The back mountain of Willow Forest Village…” The little old man stroked his beard thoughtfully. He had just returned from Willow Forest Village today, specifically from its back mountain, and hadn’t expected the Meng Family’s young man to have been found on that mountain.
“Old Cui, did you think of something?” The question came from Fu Jing, the most educated among this group of rough men and the one with the most meticulous thoughts.
“This old man just came back from the back mountain of Willow Forest Village today.” This matter could be checked easily, so there was no point hiding it, especially since the little old man had no intention of doing so.
“What were you doing up there, old timer?” Gao Yong posed another soul-searching question.
“My little disciple lives in Willow Forest Village. His older sister took me up the mountain to gather herbs!” The little old man rolled his eyes in response.
“Taking a disciple?” Fu Jing was stunned. How many people outside wanted to apprentice under this Old Cui, but he refused them all, offending quite a few and getting tripped up by others. He even had one disciple who betrayed him, so in a fit of anger, he swore never to take another and came to this town, living incognito and opening a medical hall.
If they hadn’t met him here, whether the general would still be alive was another story.
But how could his solemn vows from back then still ring in their ears, and now he had taken another disciple? Moreover, from his tone, the new one was not very old. Wasn’t he afraid of raising another ungrateful wolf?
