Chapter 204 — A Youth's Embarrassing Past

Doubt in his heart, Shen Mu smiled and said, "The Imperial Preceptor Jingping came all this way only to borrow money? The Imperial Preceptor of the great state of Jingping, and short of coin?"

The Imperial Preceptor Jingping was silent a moment. "I was away on campaign, and my household fell prey to thieves, who stripped it clean. My purse is thin now, and I must go to the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion to offer condolences. Matters are indeed a little straitened."

Something stirred in Shen Mu's heart. "Could Grandpa Lame have cleaned out the Imperial Preceptor Jingping's mansion and left him not a single coin? Grandpa Lame may be short a leg, but he is far nimbler than I am."

He smiled. "Imperial Preceptor Jingping, how much do you need?"

The Imperial Preceptor Jingping reckoned for a moment. "My monthly stipend is eight hundred Dafeng coins. I will borrow one month's stipend, enough to tide me through."

Shen Mu said to Snow Fox, "Ling'er, bring a thousand Dafeng coins and give them to the Imperial Preceptor Jingping."

Snow Fox answered and slipped into the room.

Shen Mu smiled. "How has the Imperial Preceptor Jingping come to such poverty?"

The Imperial Preceptor Jingping shook his head. "Too many external things hinder cultivation and wisdom. When desires are few, money ceases to matter so much."

Suddenly his gaze flickered, and he smiled. "There are others in your room — a very powerful being, like a Tathagata seated there, firm and unmoving... no, two people. That one's body is merged with heaven and earth, drifting and uncertain, as though he might slip away at any moment. A most excellent body art — it nearly made me overlook him! Doctor, why not invite me in to sit awhile?"

Shen Mu shook his head. "Imperial Preceptor Jingping, I had best not invite you in. My elder has come, and he is wounded. It is not convenient for him to receive visitors."

The Imperial Preceptor Jingping said, "So there is a wound. No wonder there are so many efficacious medicines in the courtyard. I too am injured. Indeed, it would not do to intrude."

Snow Fox came up carrying a great purse of money. Shen Mu took it, handed it to the Imperial Preceptor Jingping, and smiled. "If the Imperial Preceptor Jingping is short, there is no need to repay it. Imperial Preceptor, a gentleman may abide in poverty, but he need not be poor. Poverty is not required of one who would be a gentleman."

The Imperial Preceptor Jingping said, "I will repay it. In a few days, when the emperor's rewards come down, I can pay you back. For now I need only get through these few days."

He thanked him and took his leave.

Shen Mu waited until he was far off, then set Snow Fox and the Dragon Qilin to watch outside, and went into the main hall. "Grandpa Lame, did you empty out the Imperial Preceptor Jingping's mansion?"

"Empty out what?"

The lame old man shook his head. "His mansion never had much money to begin with. Not one piece of furniture worth anything. The most valuable thing there was probably the deaf old man's painting — a treasure beyond price."

Shen Mu was baffled. Was the Imperial Preceptor Jingping truly so poor? He was a weighty minister whose power leaned over the whole court. How could he have no property at all?

Some officials of Jingping bought up mines and set up smelters and foundries; their family fortunes were past counting. As the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, how could he be so impoverished?

The lame old man produced a scroll from somewhere and unrolled it. "This Portrait of the Sword God Carrying His Sword — that should be the village head. The village head as a young man. That deaf fellow must have seen the village head in his youth. Tsk, tsk. This painting cannot be looked at. One glance and your eyes will go blind..."

He rolled the portrait up and tossed it to Shen Mu. "It's yours. Use it to ward off evil. If a village head painted by the deaf old man is used to ward off evil, ghosts and gods alike will keep their distance. Don't open it. At your cultivation, one look and your eyes will go blind, and you will die. The deaf old man's way of painting had not yet reached the divine realm then, but the man he painted was too strong. You must not look at it yet."

Half believing, half doubting, Shen Mu put the scroll away in his Taotie pouch.

Old Huo said, "The deaf old man did indeed see the village head. But he revered and admired him. In the village he was closest of all to the Mute Artisan. The Mute Artisan left without a word, and I reckon the deaf old man could not sit still either. He will surely come out to look for him."

Shen Mu was moved. Ever since he left the village, the people of Hidden Cripple Village had been leaving it one after another. These old men and old women said they did not miss him, but every one of them had walked out of the village for his sake.

He gave himself wholly to identifying the efficacious medicines the lame old man had "borrowed" from the imperial palace, thinking, "The imperial palace's ingredients truly are all rare treasures — only a shade inferior to those in Grandpa Pill Master's herb garden. Hard-won efficacious medicines indeed!"

With these medicines in hand, he already had in mind a prescription to nourish Old Huo's arm and the lame old man's divine leg. He need only go to the Taixue Academy's storehouse and purchase a few supplementary ingredients.