A promissory note?

Everyone in the temple was immediately drawn by Cuicui’s words, with someone asking: “What promissory note?”

Cuicui said: “See for yourselves—carved on the wall, clear as day—”

Lu Tong suddenly raised her eyes.

The medical officials beside her were filled with curiosity, taking oil lamps and walking over to crouch beside Cuicui.

Sunan had overcast skies daily, and today with snow falling, not a hint of sunlight was visible. With half the pest house’s main door closed, the temple was as dark as night. The nearest medical official brought his oil lamp close to the wall, and there beneath the offering table, before the statue, indeed were deeply carved large characters:

“Today borrowed from Miss Seventeen two taels of silver with interest, to be returned at any time without delay. Fearing verbal agreements lack proof, this promissory note is established. Written in the thirty-fifth year of Yongchang during Great Cold. Borrower: Young Master Assassin.”

The characters carved into the wall were strong and sharp, quite beautiful.

It was just that “Young Master Assassin” and “Miss Seventeen” looked rather playful.

“Thirty-fifth year of Yongchang, Great Cold…” Cai Fang was stunned. “Six years ago?”

This was a promissory note from six years ago.

Six years ago during Great Cold, who had come here, who had carved a promissory note on the mottled wall surface, and carefully hidden it completely behind the offering table.

Lu Tong sat among the crowd, watching the surrounding people’s amazement, and couldn’t help feeling dazed.

Six years ago…

She still remembered that Great Cold day.

When she failed to get silver from the black-clothed man and instead received only a worthless silver ring, she remained unwilling to let it go, forcing the other party to write a promissory note on the wall.

At that time she hadn’t yet grown up, not as tall as now. When she bent down and crawled under the offering table to have the other party carve characters on the wall, he only looked at her with bemused laughter.

“So hidden?”

“Of course.” Young Lu Tong looked at him solemnly: “If written in a conspicuous place and seen by others who scribble over it, the promissory note would immediately become void. Naturally one must find a place not easily discovered.”

The black-clothed man reminded her: “But this is Sunan’s temple wall. When you next collect this debt from me, will you scrape off the wall plaster and take it to Shengjing?”

“Who says it must be scraped off?” Lu Tong retorted: “Perhaps in the future, you and I will circle around and return to this place. Then, with both human and material evidence present, I hope you won’t go back on your word.”

He snorted with laughter and cursed: “Small-minded.” Yet he complied, bowing down under the offering table, finding a sharp stone on the ground to carve it on the wall.

His calligraphy was beautiful, each stroke having character. Lu Tong watched him carve, thinking that if father were here, he would definitely ask him for a sample of his writing to force her to practice calligraphy.

When writing the borrower’s section, the black-clothed man paused and asked: “What’s your name?”

“Seventeen.”

“Seventeen?”

“What’s the problem,” she answered frankly, “I’m ranked seventeenth in my family.”

He glanced at her and said lazily: “Fine, Seventeen it is.”

The noisy clamor beside her brought her back to her senses. Lu Tong raised her eyes and across the crowd, met Pei Yunying’s gaze looking over.

He sat beside Chang Jin, surrounded by chattering crowds. The youth’s expression was calm, his black eyes looking over with dark depths flowing within.

That promissory note—that promissory note she had long forgotten. That encounter in Sunan years ago was merely a fleeting glimpse in this busy life. Six years had passed, the temple’s statue had become increasingly dilapidated, the temple’s doors had been repaired and torn down repeatedly, many people had come and gone to rest here. Yet that promissory note carved in the wall corner, after being carefully hidden for many years, had unexpectedly returned to light.

It was still there.

Clear, fresh, definite as if it were yesterday.

“Ah! Speaking of this, I suddenly remember something!” Li Wenhu sitting by the main door suddenly shouted, “Our temple here used to be haunted!”

With his words, everyone looked toward him. Cai Fang was bewildered: “What haunting?”

Li Wenhu scratched his head and spoke boldly: “The execution ground area is under my jurisdiction, so it’s natural you don’t know. About ten years ago, or maybe earlier—I don’t remember exactly—Sunan’s execution ground was often haunted.”

Cuicui crawled into her father’s arms, staring at him with wide eyes. Chang Jin asked doubtfully: “How was it haunted?”

“Cough,” Li Wenhu looked around, then lowered his voice and whispered: “In Sunan’s execution ground, there were ghosts stealing and eating corpses.”

With wind sounds coming from outside, everyone couldn’t help shivering at these words.

“I was responsible for watching over the execution ground then. Those executed criminals—if their families were still around, they’d spend some money to take the bodies away for burial. Those with no relatives, or whose crimes were so heinous that families didn’t want to deal with them, had their corpses left in the burial mounds behind the execution ground.”

“Later I discovered several times that those abandoned corpses had problems. Either missing hearts and lungs, or lacking livers and intestines.”

Li Wenhu said eerily: “At first I thought wild dogs from the mountains had eaten them into this state, but later I felt something was wrong. Which wild dogs are so picky? Taking only a bit of heart and liver each time, and those wounds didn’t look like dog bites either!”

A medical official cautiously asked: “Could it have been man-made?”

“Let me finish.” Li Wenhu was displeased, took a sip of hot soup to moisten his throat, then continued: “Later one day, I encountered a little girl at the execution ground. She was very young, about eleven or twelve, looking extremely frightened. When I asked what happened, she told me—”

“The execution ground was haunted—she personally saw hungry ghosts eating the corpses of death row prisoners!”

Hearing this, the patients exclaimed in shock, their faces showing fear.

The medical officials, however, remained calm.

“Then what?” Chang Jin asked.

“Then I left!” Li Wenhu spread his hands: “I’m not a Taoist priest—ghost hunting isn’t my responsibility.”

Ji Xun frowned: “Why didn’t you suspect that little girl? A little girl suddenly appearing at an execution ground is strange in itself. Perhaps she was lying, or perhaps the corpses’ abnormalities were her doing.”

Li Wenhu was stunned.

The surrounding medical officials looked at him seriously.

He began stuttering: “I… I didn’t think that much. She was so small, looking weak and frail, said she was lost. I even gave her candy… and I… I was also afraid of ghosts!”

Upon hearing about ghosts, he was so panicked he didn’t dare look twice, let alone calmly analyze the situation and notice suspicious points about the other party.

However, having started this ghost story before everyone, it was best to tell it to the end. He reluctantly continued: “Later I heard that the temple’s offering fruits were often stolen, and someone had seen a white-clothed female ghost entering and leaving at night, so no one dared come here anymore.”

Silence surrounded them.

The medical officials were somewhat disappointed.

This story had begun vividly and held people’s attention, but after the medical officials’ analysis, all terror vanished, instead revealing Li Wenhu’s negligence back then.

Lu Tong was speechless.

Pei Yunying’s eyes moved slightly. After a while, he lowered his head and smiled faintly.

No matter how frightening a story, when chatted about in a crowded group, courage increased greatly. Someone laughed: “Even if there really are hungry ghosts, there’s no need to fear. We have so many people gathered here, and if worst comes to worst, there’s Young Lord Pei.”

“They say fierce ghosts fear blade aura. No matter how vicious a female ghost, seeing Young Lord Pei’s silver blade she’d flee in terror. With my lord’s blade protecting us, no mountain spirits or wild monsters are worth fearing!”

The patients all began flattering him.

Pei Yunying smiled faintly without speaking.

A more enthusiastic woman, seeing his approachable manner and smiling eyes, not like the arrogance of noble sons, boldly smiled and asked: “Young Lord Pei is young—I wonder if you’re married yet? If not yet married, after the plague ends, let County Deputy Cai arrange a good marriage for you.”

This woman had been Sunan’s most famous matchmaker before coming to the pest house. Cai Fang coughed lightly, but the woman didn’t hear.

Pei Yunying’s lips curved up: “I have someone I love.”

Lu Tong’s fingertips trembled.

But the woman was delighted: “Who? Has there been matchmaking? Is the engagement set?”

He played with the medicine pouch in his hands, his tone neither light nor heavy: “Unfortunately, she doesn’t like me.”

“…”

The surrounding people fell silent for a moment.

Li Wenhu looked at Cai Fang and silently mouthed to him: “Impressive.”

The woman looked at him, somewhat puzzled: “Doesn’t like my lord? That young lady has such high standards… But my lord needn’t worry. There are fish in every sea. Tell me what kind of woman you like, and this old woman, having been a matchmaker for years, will definitely arrange a good marriage for you.”

Another person laughed: “Lord Pei is from a noble family and has a bright future himself. If he’s looking for a wife, it should be a well-matched noble lady. What are you, Matchmaker Hong, blindly worrying about?”

The woman retorted: “Who says I can’t arrange noble ladies? In Sunan city, if I’m second at matchmaking, no one dares claim first. Young Lord Pei,” she asked Pei Yunying, “what kind of woman do you like? Quiet or lively, gentle and dignified or talented and outstanding? Or perhaps clever and spirited, bold and forthright—surely there’s one type you prefer.”

Everyone looked at him teasingly.

The youth smiled slightly, seeming to ponder. After a moment he raised his head, his gaze seemingly casually sweeping over the crowded people, speaking as if joking.

“Family background doesn’t matter.”

“I’m shallow—I like beautiful ones.”

The surrounding cheers grew louder, accompanied by good-natured jokes. Lu Tong placed her empty bowl on the ground, rose, and left.

Seeing this, Ji Xun thought for a moment and followed her out.

Outside it was still snowing, heavier than in the morning. Looking toward the execution ground direction, Falling Plum Peak was a sheet of silver white.

Large snowflakes fell on her body, quickly melting, leaving only patches of cold.

Footsteps came from behind.

Ji Xun walked to her side, following her gaze toward Falling Plum Peak, asking: “Why not stay inside?”

“Too many people felt stuffy, came out for fresh air.”

Ji Xun nodded. Lu Tong asked: “Why did you come out too?”

“I have something to discuss with you.”

Lu Tong looked at him.

“Yesterday County Deputy Cai said that since throwing plague-prevention medicine into wells, newly infected people in Sunan have decreased.” Ji Xun said: “This also includes the effects of plague-prevention incense and medicine pouches, but at least the plague hasn’t continued spreading wildly.”

Lu Tong: “That’s good.”

“For Sunan’s other common people, yes. For them, no.” Ji Xun looked toward the pest house. Through the half-open door, lively laughter and hot soup aromas faintly drifted out, showing a boiling warmth in this world of ice and snow.

“Not one patient with the plague has recovered.”

Lu Tong remained silent.

Ji Xun sighed: “Though the death rate has slowed, they’ll still die in the end. Medical Director Chang asked me earlier—perhaps we should try new medicine.”

Lu Tong frowned: “New medicine?”

For treating plague in Sunan, the medical officials’ prescriptions all came from the nine-transmission treatment methods in the Liang Dynasty’s “Treatise on Seasonal Epidemics.” Patients already infected with seasonal epidemics had weak bodies. Blindly switching to new medicine without certainty would stimulate patients’ conditions—who knows what consequences might result.

“The Medical Director is considering this but hasn’t had time to discuss it with you. But this isn’t without merit now—otherwise, without finding the right prescription, all patients in the pest house will die.”

“Cuicui’s father heard the Medical Director and me discussing this yesterday and is willing to voluntarily be the first to try the new medicine.”

Lu Tong suddenly looked at him: “You’re having him test medicine?”

Her gaze became sharp. Ji Xun was startled, not understanding why she was so agitated, only saying: “This is also an opportunity for him—Cuicui’s father volunteered. Besides, we won’t use medicine blindly…”

Lu Tong interrupted him: “Testing medicine is different.”

“An untried medicine acting on a human body—setting aside whether the results will truly be effective—might bring deeper pain. Moreover, he’s already a patient. I don’t approve.”

Her opposition was very firm.

Ji Xun paused.

In the medical academy, he had always considered Lu Tong’s medicine use bold and domineering, her prescriptions extremely daring. He had thought Lu Tong would unhesitatingly approve of testing medicine, never expecting her to oppose it so intensely.

“If he could successfully test new medicine, Cuicui might have a chance at life in the future. Without doing this, everyone in the pest house will ultimately escape death. Medical Official Lu, we’ve been in Sunan so long and haven’t cured a single patient yet. You’re a physician—you clearly know this action isn’t entirely harmful. Why aren’t you clear-headed about this?”

Lu Tong looked at him. After a moment of silence, she said: “Because being a test subject is very painful.”

Ji Xun was stunned.

“Setting aside physical pain, fear of the unknown destroys everything.”

She said: “I know what you say makes sense, but I cannot agree.”

Having said this, she said no more to him and turned to leave.

Just as she turned around, she saw someone standing at the pest house entrance.

Pei Yunying stood before the pest house. Wearing black-scaled guard uniform without his cloak, large snowflakes scattered down on him. Deeper wind and snow blurred vision, making it difficult to see his expression clearly—unknown how long he had been standing there.

In the sky full of silver white flakes, with Ji Xun wanting to speak but hesitating on one side, and Pei Yunying quietly watching her on the other, Lu Tong remained silent for a moment, then changed direction, walking toward the medicine baskets in front of the pest house.

Having taken only two steps, someone came running from afar.

It was a man wearing clerk’s clothing, holding a small basket, who said to Lu Tong: “Medical Official Lu, these are today’s medicine pouches to be changed. Please take a look.”

The medicine pouches for pest house patients needed replacing every few days. Lu Tong took the medicine pouch to check for damage inside. The clerk stood waiting nearby.

While examining the medicine pouches, she casually asked: “These medicine pouches have been used for ten days. After today’s use, they should all be destroyed and completely replaced along with the pouches.”

Clerk: “Yes.”

She glanced at the clerk.

Cai Fang’s people in Sunan county office totaled only about ten. Lu Tong had seen most of them when changing plague-prevention incense daily. This person looked ordinary, wouldn’t stand out in a crowd, but for some reason, Lu Tong’s alarm bells rang loudly, her intuition making her stop.

She asked: “I don’t think I’ve seen you before?”

The clerk was startled and answered: “This lowly official previously followed County Lieutenant Li maintaining city security and citizens, so the medical official hasn’t seen me.”

Lu Tong stared at him intently: “What’s your name?”

“Replying to the medical official, I’m called…”

The man’s lips trembled slightly. The next moment, a flash of cold light appeared—a dagger tip suddenly emerged from the clerk’s sleeve, mercilessly stabbing straight toward Lu Tong’s chest!