Chapter 114 Met in Bitter Bamboo Grove
“He is Wang Fan, the guard of the outer courtyard. Last night, we all saw him when the servants came to put out the fire in Bitter Bamboo Grove. When he died, he was still wearing that set of armor he wore when putting out the fire.” At this time, Pu Gongying suddenly thought of something. She took out a hairpin inlaid with plum blossom from the sleeve and handed it to Mammy Li, “You are in charge of the lost and found. I picked up it in the atrium and hand it to you now.”
“Was it found near the zombie?” Nie Chun frowned and asked.
Pu Gongying waved, “It was found in Yuan Yang Pavilion, which is far away from the zombie.”
He Danggui was also interested in their talk. According to the crows last night and the zombie today, there must be a fiendish person in Luo’s Mansion which had always been peaceful, so that such terrible events would occur frequently. The latest residents Ning Yuan and the fake Feng Yang would be able to do these two things, especially Ning Yuan who also entered the Bitter Bamboo Grove yesterday, but he didn’t look so evil… Thinking of this, He Danggui looked up at Ning Yuan and imagined the scene that he brutally tore up crows all over the sky, while Ning Yuan were also staring at her. There was a familiar feeling in his eyes, which made her in a trance…
Then, a strange and cold smell of chrysanthemum came near.
“Ha-ha. Third Sister, it’s so nice that you wake up!” Luo Baishao grinned. Then she slowly climbed up the soft cough on her knees and took out a white silk handkerchief, “Oh, you sweat on your forehead. I’ll wipe it for you!”
He Danggui opened her eyes immediately. It was the smell of Diaoshanyao Powder on the handkerchief! Looking at Luo Baishao who was close to her with a smile, He Danggui was worried, but now her hands were held by Nie Chun and Ning Yuan. It was impossible to kick Luo Baishao away in public, so she sat up in a hurry and vomited on the ground between Nie Chun and Ning Yuan.
Madam Luo behind her asked anxiously, “Oh, Yi. What’s wrong with you?”
“I’m fine,” He Danggui replied and vomited. “All of a sudden I feel like vomiting. I’ll be fine after a while.” Nie Chun and Ning yuan, who were transmitting Zhenqi, felt very strange, so they squatted down together to see her. They saw that she just cried, but didn’t vomit anything.
Luo Baishao didn’t expect that He Danggui would dodge. The handkerchief was held in the air, and she was so stunned that she forgot to take the handkerchief back. However, Madam Luo sweated on her head due to anxiety, so she seized it to wipe her face. Luo Baishao called out to take back the handkerchief. There were a lot of “compound poison powders” on it! But it was too late. Madam Luo had wiped her forehead and cheeks with it. In order to repair her faults, Luo Baishao immediately got out of the couch and brought a basin of water in the fastest speed, “Grandma, your makeup is massed up. Please wash your face!” Then she splashed water on Madam Luo’s face, which wet Madam Luo’s clothes, making Madam Luo scream.
This immediately attracted the attention of all the people in the room. Luo Baiqian, Feng Jiugu, Mammy Tang, Mammy Hua and other mammies all swarmed in, which made the soft couch squeaky.
He Danggui just stopped vomiting at this time. She raised her head and asked Nie Chun and Ning yuan, “In order not to disturb others, can we go there for treatment?” Then she jumped out of the couch and led them to the tearoom. The fake Feng Yang, who had been protecting Ning Yuan, followed them like a tail.
And there was a new change around Madam Luo. Luo Baishao suddenly opened her eyes and screamed.
It turned out that before she directly contacted the external poison Diaoshanyao Powder, she would use the batter made of cassava powder, papaya powder and coptis powder to daub her hands, so that the three powders would isolate the poison. But just now she washed the batter in a panic. Then when she got the Anti-burping Pill in her arms, she caught that white silk handkerchief! When she got rid of the handkerchief, she also threw out the bottle of Anti-burping Pill. “Plop”! The whole bottle of pill was sprinkled in the basin which was full of water!
The “compound poison powders” meant the combination of Diaoshanyao Powder, burping powder, yawning powder and sneezing powder. That was a gift that Luo Baishao prepared for He Danggui. Among the four powders, only the burping powder had an antidote. As for the other three powders, whether it touched the skin or was absorbed into the nasal cavity, the effect was the same. Moreover, the effect would last from six hours to four days. What made Luo Baishao crazy was that the whole bottle of antidote for burping powder, whose effect was longest-lasting, had fallen into a basin of dirty water!
“Shao! What’s wrong with you?”
Madam Luo felt that everyone was abnormal today, so she was very angry. Dong Xinlan, who was gentle before, became a shrew. Wei was holding a mouse as a treasure. Zhu didn’t eat the poisonous jujube pit and cubilose soup, but he was poisoned. Yi had a headache and vomited. Now, Shao was as mad as a loony, robbing the handkerchief from her first, then splashing the water on her face, and finally, shaking hands and shouting out.
Before Luo Baishao answered, the effect of Diaoshanyao Powder first broke out. Madam Luo began to scratch her face. The more she scratched, the redder and itchier her face became. Moreover, Madam Luo was served by others all the year round, so she had long nails, which were hard and glossy. Only a few times, there were terrible scratches on her cheeks. Mammy Tang suddenly understood, and immediately pressed her hands, “Don’t scratch, Madam! You are poisoned by Diaoshanyao Powder! Never scratch with your nails. Otherwise, you will be disfigured!”
Madam Luo opened her eyes in surprise, “Diaoshanyao Powder? Hic! Is that the itching powder? Ho-hum! It’s impossible! Achoo!”
At the same time, Luo Baishao also yawned and sneezed, crying loudly, “Achoo! Ho-hum! Please forgive me, Grandma. I’m just playing with Third Sister. Hic! But I haven’t expected that you took the handkerchief suddenly. Ho-hum! I also don’t know that the powder is so powerful. What should we do now? I’m poisoned too! Achoo!”
The handkerchief was poisoned, and it was used to wipe He Danggui’s face! Ning Yuan frowned and looked at He Danggui’s calm face. He couldn’t help asking, “Aren’t you angry?” Why didn’t she dodge when the wicked woman was about to hit her? Why didn’t she get angry when the child pushed her down the rockery? Why didn’t she fight for herself? Why did she look so calm as if nothing happened?
At this time, the three people who transmitted Zhenqi and the fake Feng Yang had moved to the tearoom.
He Danggui didn’t answer Ning Yuan’s question, but turned to look at Nie Chun, “Uncle Nie, are you very concerned about that zombie? You have been staring out of the window since you heard about it.” It was very rare that the cries of Madam Luo and Luo Baishao couldn’t attract Nie Chun’s attention. As He Danggui knew, Nie Chun and her grandfather Luo Duzhong reached an agreement. One item in the agreement was that if he lived in Luo’s Family for ten years, he would share Madam Luo’s worries for ten years.
Nie Chun nodded absently, but his attention already shifted. Wang Fan’s blood was sucked up by Geng Bingxiu with Miao Shi Arts. He didn’t know whether Geng Bingxiu was still healing in the cave of Bitter Bamboo Grove. What should he do about it? It was not hard for him to kill Geng Bingxiu who was injured. But Geng Bingxiu actually had saved his life and helped him before. He thought of the elder senior fellow apprentice who had carried him to the temple fair through mountain road of 200 miles, and the words of his Master before he died… But if he missed the chance, he wouldn’t have such a chance to kill Geng Bingxiu, a demon for Wulin, because his kung fu was not as good as Geng Bingxiu’s. Should he seize this opportunity?
The fake Feng Yang saw that his Childe Ning Yuan was talking to He Danggui, but was ignored completely, so he wanted to solve the embarrassment for him. He said courteously, “Childe… Oh, Brother Ning, what tea do you want? I’ll make it for you.”
Ning Yuan waved impatiently, “No, go away! Oh… please go to have a rest first. I don’t want to drink tea.”
“If you don’t want to drink, what would you like to have, Brother Ning? I ask the chef to make it for you. How can you starve when you are still ill?” The fake Feng Yang bowed and stared at where He Danggui was. He thought, “My Childe had suffered from internal injuries, and he haven’t recovered yet. But this little girl pesters him. After healing her yesterday, Childe vomited two mouthfuls of blood and recuperated for a whole night. Today, she is always holding his hands to transmit Zhenqi.”
Ning Yuan saw He Danggui’s expression and thought that she had probably guessed that this Feng Yang was his subordinate according to his attitude. Then he angrily pushed away the fake Feng Yang, and snorted discontentedly, “I don’t want to eat! Don’t talk to me!”
Ning Yuan didn’t accept his kindness. However, the fake Feng Yang not only didn’t get angry, but also bowed subconsciously, and then quietly retreated to the corner to sit down.
He Danggui suddenly realized that they were the master-servant relationship. She remembered that in the gharry before, in addition to the two menservants of Feng Yang, there was another manservant who called Ning Yuan “Master”. But when they arrived at Luo’s Mansion, Feng Yang was replaced by another person. Feng Yang’s menservants who named “Feng Yan” and “Feng Yu” were all there, but Ning Yuan’s manservant disappeared. It turned out that he pretended to be Feng Yang, and the real Feng Yang disappeared. Feng Yang sent his friend to Luo’s Mansion, but didn’t show up and made a face that looked exactly like himself. It was not reasonable. Therefore, he must conceal something.
He Danggui frowned and shook her head. As far as she knew, although there were many people proficient in disguise skill (for example, she was one of them), only Bai Yangbai could do this wonderful and magical thing of imitating a real face and making a fake skin so similar. For example, although Ning yuan wanted to pretend to be Lu Jiangbei, he could only make half the similarity of a face. Now, there were three possibilities. First, there was another person who was as good as Bai Yangbai in disguise skill. That person helped them to make a fake face of Feng Yang. Second, Ning Yuan and Feng Yang knew Bai Yangbai and asked him to make it. This was the most possible because Bai Yangbai appeared in Tu’er Town a few days ago, and it was not surprising that he came to Yangzhou City now. Third, the real Feng Yang’s face was also fake. He just needed to take it off and give it to the fake Feng Yang. They didn’t need to make a new one at all.
Ning Yuan was uneasy and stared at the girl in a meditative mood. He was unhappy and said, “Hey, what are you thinking of? I’m asking you!”
He Danggui still ignored him. She smiled at Nie Chun and said, “Uncle Nie, since you care about that zombie, I shouldn’t delay you. Let’s go on another day.” Now, there were so many noises from Madam Luo that they couldn’t focus on transmitting Zhenqi anymore. He Danggui thought that even if they were not affected by the noise, they should leave after a while because there were so many people here. It was better to finish first and continue another day.
Nie Chun still nodded absently. He withdrew his hands and adjusted his breath. He had figured out that Geng Bingxiu was not his elder senior fellow apprentice anymore. That person should be responsible for his crime! Therefore, Nie Chun decided to avenge Wang Fan’s death.
He Danggui was worried that it would be hard to find him next time, so she made an appointment with him, “After ten days, I will wait for you outside the Bitter Bamboo Grove at noon!”
“Bitter Bamboo Grove?” Nie Chun came to his sense immediately and looked at her.
“Yes.” He Danggui nodded, “I’ve heard that it’s necessary to be absolutely quiet when you transmit Zhenqi. Otherwise, it will not only affect the quality of Zhenqi output, but also increase the transmission risk. The quietest place in Luo’s Mansion is Bitter Bamboo Grove, so it’s right to go there.” Then, she said with a smile, “The crows died last night outside the Bitter Bamboo Grove. Wang Fan, who died miserably today, once went to the Bitter Bamboo Grove to put out the fire. It seems that it is a very dangerous place. At ordinary times, I don’t dare to go there, but if there are two seniors with me, I will be brave. What do you think, Uncle Nie?”
“As you wish.” Nie Chun stood up, shook his clothes, pushed the window and jumped away.
After he went far away, Ning Yuan immediately stared at He Danggui and said, “Hum! What’s the meaning of ‘two seniors with me’? I haven’t promised to accompany you to Bitter Bamboo Grove! What’s the name of the man in red? Who is he in Luo’s Mansion? Is he also a senior in Jianghu? Is he also from Qiyanggong Sect?”
He Danggui touched her chin idly, “I heard that the Taoist Sage Bai Yangbai came to Yangzhou City. Childe Ning and this manservant, have you ever seen him?”
“What? What are you talking about?!” Ning Yuan and the fake Feng Yang stood up from their seats.
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