bookcurios Chapter 1901 Little novice monk
Chapter 1901 Little novice monk
Cheng Kui was stunned at first, then burst into uncontrollable joy and excitement.
He truly understood.
Li Xiangnan was not giving them charity, but rather accepting Cheng Kui and the entire Hongxing Gangfang's kindness in a more profound way.
This made him feel more respected and understood than accepting a red envelope, or even directly accepting the loyalty of the Red Star Gang Room.
"Dr. Li, you...you..." Cheng Kui's voice choked with emotion. This tough guy, who had never blinked when he fought, was now somewhat incoherent. He clasped his hands tightly, everything was understood without words.
Li Xiangnan finally relented and accepted Cheng Kui and Gangfang's promise, acknowledging his feelings and fulfilling Cheng Kui's desire to repay the debt of gratitude.
"Take it back!" Seeing the look of surprise on Cheng Kui's face, Li Xiangnan pushed the red envelope back at the opportune moment.
"Alright!" Having said that, it would be impolite to insist that Li Xiangnan accept the red envelope any longer. Cheng Kui obediently accepted the red envelope, breathed a heavy sigh of relief, and smiled with a sense of relief: "Dr. Li, I've decided to be your brother. If you ever need anything in the future, just let me know! I mean what I say!"
Li Xiangnan smiled and raised his glass as well: "Let's have a toast!"
"Okay! Hahaha!"
The dispute over compensation finally subsided, and the atmosphere became relaxed and familiar during the meal.
The group continued drinking and eating. The dishes at Hongbinlou were indeed delicious and full of local flavor, which to some extent eased the tension and solemnity of treating and saving lives earlier.
Cheng Kui kept toasting, expressing his gratitude, fully demonstrating the generosity and magnanimity of a江湖人 (jianghu person, a person of the martial arts world).
After a satisfying meal, the conversation naturally returned to the previous predicament.
Li Xiangnan took a sip of tea and asked casually, "Cheng Gangtou, although things have been stabilized for now, the root of the problem still lies with that little Buddha! He's been so scheming, I'm afraid he won't let this go easily! You mentioned before that the little novice monk is elusive and extremely mysterious. I wonder when he'll reappear... We can't keep being on the defensive forever, that's not my style!"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Kui put down his teacup, and his face darkened.
"Dr. Li is right. This little Buddha is like a venomous snake, hiding in its hole, ready to pounce and bite us at any moment! I myself wish I could drag him out!"
At this point, he got up and poured Li Xiangnan and Song Ziming a cup of tea. He sighed and said frankly, "It's a pity that the little novice monk's whereabouts are unpredictable. I've had several encounters with him and tried to find a way to follow him. I even sent no less than twenty of my men to follow him. It's really amazing. Every time I lost him, it was as if half of him disappeared into thin air. He just vanished like that!"
Li Xiangnan seemed lost in thought, tapping the rim of his teacup lightly with his fingers, and frowned, saying, "Disappeared into thin air? How could that be?"
Song Ziming was also speechless: "What feedback did you give to the people from the past?"
Cheng Kui recalled: "For example, the last time he appeared under the archway and asked my father to meet him at a deserted temple outside the city, I was on guard and had Gouzi follow him..."
At this point, he pointed to the dog poking at the charcoal fire beside him, "Dog, tell Dr. Li, what happened that day?"
Upon hearing this, Gouzi quickly stood up and said respectfully, "Dr. Li, Brother Song, it's strange, that day I led about ten brothers and followed that little monk out of the city. When we reached the city gate, a group of refugees entered the city. The little monk just walked into the crowd, and we scattered and rushed into the crowd to look for him. He just disappeared, right under our noses..."
"Right under our noses?" Li Xiangnan repeated.
The dog nodded again: "Right under my nose!"
"Hey, this is really strange! It's like a knife pulling on a butt, it's eye-opening!" Song Ziming exclaimed in surprise.
“Everyone leaves a trace! He must have some special ability that we don’t know about! Does he have any fixed location or time when he appears? Or any special habits? What about his accent? Is he a local of Yanjing?” Li Xiangnan pondered.
"The location doesn't seem to be fixed. Sometimes it's in the coffin room, sometimes it's on the roadside when we come back from the funeral. There really isn't any particular custom..."
Li Xiangnan frowned.
This person is truly as formless as water, just like him.
"If you're asking if there's anything special about it..." Cheng Kui shook his head, "I really don't remember anything..."
"Gangtou, I remember that little novice monk always carried a faint... like incense from the temple... yes, and a strange smell mixed with medicine!" Gouzi suddenly said, then emphasized, "Yes, it was the smell of medicine, it smelled particularly pungent and cool, and a bit bitter!"
The smell of medicine?
A glint flashed in Li Xiangnan's eyes; this was a very important clue!
"What exactly does it smell like?" Song Ziming suddenly became interested.
"Now that you mention it, I do remember!" Cheng Kui patted Gouzi on the shoulder and excitedly recalled, "Yes, every time I saw him, I did feel something was off. I never noticed before, but now that you mention it, I realize he smelled of medicine!"
Gouzi said, "Dr. Li, it's understandable that you, as a doctor, would smell of medicine, but would a monk smell of medicine too?"
Li Xiangnan shook his head and pressed on, "Besides the pungent and bitter taste, are there any more specific sensations? Think back carefully, for example, is there anything special? How do the surrounding animals react? Birds? Do dogs and cats resist? And what kind of plant smells are they like?"
He was trying to determine the specific personality traits of the other person so that he could determine their exact location within Yanjing City.
A young novice monk, who delivers messages, appears and disappears mysteriously, carrying a unique medicinal scent that is distinctly different from that of the temple. This in itself is an extremely strange yet very important clue!
The young novice's identity is currently unknown, making this the only direction worth paying attention to!
The smell of medicine is very likely closely related to the identity of the young master, his stronghold, or some kind of business they are currently engaged in.
Snapped!
Upon hearing this, Cheng Kui and Gouzi lit cigarettes, put down their teacups, frowned, and fell into deep thought.
Inside the hall, only the occasional crackling of the charcoal fire remained.
"The smell of medicine... specifically..." Cheng Kui puffed on his cigarette, exhaling smoke, "Now that you ask... thinking about it carefully, the smell... it doesn't quite smell like the medicine in a pharmacy, but it's somewhat similar..."
"What does it resemble?" Song Ziming quickly pressed, "Think about it carefully!"
"It's a bit like the smell of certain herbs rotting in the mountains after a summer rain, but with a hint of... like cinnabar, or realgar? Yes, yes, it's a bit like the smell of metal or minerals!"
A strange medicinal smell, a mixture of minerals and rotting herbs?
This description made Li Xiangnan's heart skip a beat.
This doesn't smell like ordinary typhoid and cold medicine; it smells more like a rare, unusual medicine that might be used in strange prescriptions involving magic or alchemy!
He suppressed the turmoil in his heart and was about to ask if they knew any similar Chinese medicines when he suddenly noticed Cheng Kui's furrowed brows as if he had thought of something. He immediately asked, "Cheng Gangtou, have you thought of something?"
Cheng Kui closed his eyes, but his brows were furrowed as he said, "Doctor Li, I feel like I've smelled this scent on the young novice somewhere before..."
"what?!"
Upon hearing this, Li Xiangnan immediately stood up and grabbed the other man's arm. "Gangtou, think quickly, where else have you smelled this scent? This could very well be where the little novice monk is hiding!"
"..."