Physician's Odyssey

Chapter 124 - Accepting a Ferocious General

Translator: Thyaeria

When they entered the bedroom, the Knife Demon sat with his legs crossed together. But he soon felt that it wasn’t appropriate, so he placed them down and saw Su Tao starting to brew tea. After a brief pondering, the Knife Demon made an action, which made Su Tao briefly stunned before passing the teapot to the Knife Demon. The latter’s tea brewing tea was a little surprising, so he explained while brewing, “When I was six, my Master taught me how to brew tea. Although I wasn’t paying attention, I still learned a thing or two from hearing him.”

Not long later, the tea was brewed. The first brew would always be faint green, with a soft taste that gave a fresh feeling in the mouth as the Knife Demon continued, “I like to drink the second brew, as the first brew is too light.”

Su Tao never expected that the Knife Demon would have such a peculiar feeling towards tea, so he asked, “What’s your real name?”

With a light flickering in his eyes, the Knife Demon replied, “My real name is Liu Jianwei, my Buddhist name is Yuan Guo.”

Su Tao was stunned for a long time before he asked in astonishment, “You were a monk in the past?”

Taking a sip of the tea, Liu Jianwei responded, “My home is a temple, the Huaiyuan Monastery. When I was 7, my father was arrested for robbery, and my mother abandoned me after that. My grandfather was already getting on his age, and he felt that he couldn’t afford to raise me so he handed me to a monk in the Huaiyuan Monastery. It wasn’t my choice, but fate arranged for me to become a monk.”

Su Tao felt that Liu Jianwei’s story was a little interesting as he asked, “Why did you come out from the monastery and become a famous expert, then?”

“Famous is out of the question, you mean infamous, right?” Liu Jianwei sighed. “There aren’t many monks in the Huaiyuan Monastery, and we weren’t doing good. When my Master passed away, my Martial Uncle decided to reform the monastery to generate more revenue.”

Su Tao smiled. “Monasteries nowadays are all after generating revenue. Isn’t that Shaolin Temple doing great?”

With a flash of self-ridicule in his eyes, Liu Wenjian replied, “They weren’t as honorable as the Shaolin Temple. The Huaiyuan Monastery always had a history of nurturing martial monks. So my Martial Uncle accepted disciples, accepting a fee in the process and passed them martial arts. As time passed, the disciples increased, and Martial Uncle had formed them into a group to serve as hired fighters.”

After a brief shock, Su Tao sighed, “Disciples of Buddhism into the triads, how weird.”

With a self-ridiculing smile, Liu Jianwei replied, “Because I have been practicing martial arts since young, I became the Chief Instructor of those disciples. I had a good life back then, but as time passed, we attracted the attention of police. They blacklisted and swept us out, and I ended up in prison for five years. When I came out, I tried returning to the Huaiyuan Monastery, but my Martial Uncle had rejected me. So I decided to go to Yuezhou and made a name for myself in the underground arena.”

Liu Jianwei was a person with a story and handled things in a casual manner. But he did have a foundation of a Buddism. Such as Qiao Bo hiring him to deal with Su Tao, which he could give up after numerous failures but he still kept his promise.

Su Tao smiled. “You’re actually someone with a Buddhist heart.”

Liu Jianwei was briefly stunned before he self-mocked, “After so many years, I have violated many monastic disciplines, how can I have a Buddhist heart?

Su Tao shook his head. “Advocating Buddhism is a form of spirit, a form of realm and enlightenment. Everyone can obtain enlightenment as they exist everything. It is also a realm that you enter Buddhism through killing. As the Buddism saying, ‘Lay down the butcher’s knife and become a Buddha.’ For you, when you comprehend a particular realm, then you would have become a Buddha yourself.”

Widening his mouth, Liu Jianwei faintly said, “Sounds pretty profound there.”

Su Tao also felt that he was slightly beating around the bush, so he spoke his thoughts directly, “In any way, I think you’re pretty good as a person. You’ll surely have a great prospect in the future.”

Liu Jianwei was stunned. He never expected such an evaluation coming from Su Tao. Due to his aggressive character, and his history as an ex-con, he couldn’t have a proper job. He would always see fear and ridicule in the eyes of others, but the sincerity in Su Tao’s eyes made him feel comfortable.

The two of them remained silent, then Su Tao fished out his phone and called Qiao Bo a brief moment later.

Qiao Bo was currently in a bar with two girls sitting beside him. With just a look, you could tell that those two chicks have joined the society the moment they graduated from high school, roaming a few bars daily. Seeing an unknown number calling him, Qiao Bo initially didn’t feel anything wrong, but when he heard Su Tao’s voice coming from the other side, he immediately stood up and asked in an anxious voice, “Is there anything I can do for you?”

Qiao Bo was truly afraid of Su Tao, since he had failed to deal with the latter several times. On the contrary, he had attracted trouble onto himself instead.

Hearing the noise coming from the other side, Su Tao knitted his brows. He knew that Qiao Bo must be fooling around. Thinking about Lu Shimiao, Su Tao felt a wave of anger rising in his chest before he said in a solemn voice, “I’m currently having tea with an acquaintance.”

As he had trauma from Su Tao the last time, Qiao Bo awkwardly smiled. “Having tea? Do you perhaps need me to pay the bill?” Qiao Bo had paid Su Tao ¥1,000,000 the other time, and even if it wasn’t his money, it still left a shadow in his heart.

“Pay the bill? No need for that. It’s mainly because the two of you know each other as well!” Su Tao continued, “Do you still remember the Knife Demon?”

Qiao Bo’s face instantly collapsed as he stuttered, “W-why are you t-together with him?!”

With a weak smile, Su Tao sighed, “My relationship with him is a little awkward. It seems that he still wants to kill me. After all, he took your money.”

Hearing Su Tao’s words, Qiao Bo was instantly drenched in cold sweat. He swiftly replied, “I have been trying to contact him, it’s just that I couldn’t get to him. My deal with him has already ended. That money is considered my respects to him. The mission has ended! Mission has ended!”

Right now, Qiao Bo didn’t wish to have anything to do with Su Tao. After all, he still needed to live, and after suffering a lesson from Su Tao, he didn't even dare to go into public toilets right now. Whenever he saw the basin, he would taste the unforgettable taste of the toilet bowl in his throat.

“You tell him.” Su Tao handed the phone over the Liu Jianwei.

“The mission has ended?” Liu Jianwei sighed. Actually, he did not wish for the mission to end so hastily, since it would make him look like a joke.

“Yeah, I can’t afford to offend that fellow. You can return to Yuezhou, consider the money I gave you as traveling fees. You’ve had it tough.” Qiao Bo said nervously.

That’s a pretty expensive traveling fee, which Liu Jianwei could come back and forth at least a hundred times. When Liu Jianwei handed the phone back to Su Tao, Su Tao cast a glance at the screen, which Qiao Bo had already hung up the call. It looked like this husband of Lu Shimiao was terrified of him now.

Qiao Bo belonged to the kind that would only pick on the kind people and fear the wicked, and Su Tao had become his greatest nightmare now. The great writer, Lu Xun, had once explained the principle of beating a dog while it's down. If you didn’t deal with your enemies ruthlessly, they might come back and give you a bite.

Liu Jianwei gently sighed, then he laughed with self-ridicule, “Now that this matter is done, I’m a little confused on what to do next. In the past, I have always been thinking about how I should get close to you, and how to deal with that Old Goat Yan. However, I never expected that you could deal with this matter with one call, should I thank you or continue to bother you?”

Humans would encounter many difficult problems. Many times, those problems weren’t that complicated, and they just needed a knocking. Whoever started it should end it, and Su Tao knew that Qiao Bo was required for him to resolve his matter with Liu Jianwei. However, Liu Jianwei was surprised that despite how he planned to kill Su Tao, his employer had actually forgotten about this matter.

Waving his hand, Su Tao sighed, “Please don’t bother me. From today on, we will mind our own business.”

Seeing that the expression on Su Tao’s face wasn’t fake, Liu Jianwei grinned. “You have other things to tell me, right?”

Su Tao nodded his head. It turned out that Liu Jianwei’s brain wasn’t completely made of muscle; his thinking was pretty quick as well. With a smile, Su Tao said, “If you don’t have any work to do, for the time being, I can provide you one.”

After a brief shock, Liu Jianwei asked in puzzlement, “A Physician like yourself needs a hired fighter?”

With a smile, Su Tao replied, “Strictly speaking, a bodyguard.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Liu Jianwei said, “You think that the man named Tian Ya will continue to look for you? He’s pretty good, but with a grandmaster like Yan Wujin helping you, there’s no need for you to be afraid of him.”

Sweeping his glance on Liu Jianwei’s face, Su Tao responded, “The reason why Yan Wujin is willing to help me is because of someone else. I would rather depend on myself than someone else, so I need a companion that I can trust.”

Holding onto his chin, Liu Jianwei smiled. “You’re pretty interesting. You actually want to hire someone that has once aimed for your life to protect you? Aren’t you insane?”

After a brief thought, Su Tao replied, “We won’t get to know each other if we’ve never fought. That has always been my style.”

Right now, aside from Cai Yan and his three disciples, Xia Yu, Chu Huilin and even Golden Tooth had once gone against him. Naturally, the reason why Su Tao chose them was that their potential and ability had caught his eye, they would be helpful to him. At the same time, Su Tao has also tested their characters. They weren’t the type that would betray so easily, especially someone like Liu Jianwei. Although Liu Jianwei was a little domineering in the way he handled things, he had a strong principle as well, and this sort of person was loyal.

Letting Liu Jianwei join the Three Flavour Hall was something that he had thought about for a long time. As an enemy, Liu Jianwei was terrifying, but from another angle, and if Liu Jianwei became his companion, he could bring a sufficient sense of security and bring about sleepless nights to his enemies.

With Su Tao’s ambitions, he might encounter powerful enemies in the future, and with such a ferocious general like Liu Jianwei, it would be safer for him.

Although his relationship with the Poisonous Widow, Yan Jing, was pretty good, they’re not a family, after all. Who knew when they might turn against each other in the future? Although Su Tao had the potential to be a gigolo, he was a hot-blooded man deep in his bones. So how embarrassing would it be that he had to look for a woman’s help every time he encountered a problem?

If Liu Jianwei could join the Three Flavour Hall, he could pair up with Xia Yu. With both the brains and muscle in this couple, they would be able to complement each other.

A light flickered in Liu Jianwei’s eyes as he said, “I am not an employee that listens to orders obediently. Furthermore, if the Three Flavour Hall is willing to accept me, it might bring you a lot of trouble in the future.”

Su Tao faintly smiled. “Since I have given out my invitation to you, I am naturally prepared to face those troubles with you.”

Seeing Su Tao slowly stretching his hand out, Liu Jianwei bitterly smiled and shook Su Tao’s hand, forming an agreement.