CHAPTER 45: CHAPTER 45 RED DATES

Leaving Centennial Fang.

After he walked out of Centennial Fang, Chen Ku looked at his shrinking assets and clenched his fists in private. One hundred and sixty Taels of silver! To think I spent the equivalent of one hundred and sixty thousand copper coins in a single day! That’s unimaginable from my previous life. It truly stings, it really does... As for the staff-shaped weapons, perhaps I’ll buy them later.

He had paid sixty Taels as a deposit to buy an ape and would have to spend another sixty Taels later. Including the cost of cultivating the second diagram, he had splurged one hundred and sixty Taels of silver in a single day. His funds had shrunk by nearly half.

He had heard that a good weapon could also be quite valuable. If he spent everything at once, it would leave him penniless, which made him feel far too insecure. Chen Ku felt a bitter pain in his heart, as half of his money had been hard-earned from gathering herbs in the dead of night. Although it was all for the sake of cultivation, he couldn’t help but feel the sting.

I am still too poor... I must quickly learn Prescriptions and Pill Prescriptions to expand my ways of earning money. Otherwise, how can I keep up with the increasing cost of living?

With this thought in mind, Chen Ku headed back to Medicine King Hall.

Prescriptions, Pill Prescriptions. These were the lifeline of Medicine King Hall, some even more valuable and important than the inheritance of Martial Arts. Martial Arts might be taught to students from other families, but the lifeblood of Medicine King Hall—its Prescriptions and Pill Prescriptions—would definitely not be easily divulged. Only Disciples could receive them.

What is a Disciple? They are like a master and son, the scions who inherit the skills and are destined to take over a portion of Medicine King Hall’s ancestral business. That’s why, although Medicine King Hall had many clerks and Apprentices, they rarely took in Disciples. A master was allowed to accept only one or two Disciples at most, not too many. In other words, becoming a Disciple of Medicine King Hall meant there was a sixty or seventy percent chance of naturally succeeding a master’s position.

「...」

At the entrance of Medicine King Hall, Wu Gui was, as usual, working in the main hall. He saw Chen Ku approaching from across the street and hurried over to greet him.

"Brother Chen, your family came to the hall looking for you and left some things. They’re under the counter in the front hall."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ku was slightly stunned. My family? Then, after listening to Wu Gui’s description, he knew who it was.

Was it my mother and sister-in-law who came? he quickly asked himself, then voiced his concern to Wu Gui, "Was it my mother and sister-in-law?" He immediately worried. The county town was forty or fifty li away from their village. How could two women dare to travel so far? Weren’t they afraid of encountering danger on the road?

Wu Gui seemed to understand Chen Ku’s concerns and hurriedly relayed, "Your mother and your sister-in-law were afraid you’d worry. They specifically asked me to tell you they came to the city with the cart that was buying timber in your village. They originally wanted to see you, but they were at the hall for only about seven or eight minutes. I said you’d be back soon, but they seemed to be in a hurry to catch the ox cart back to the village and couldn’t wait any longer, so they left early."

Chen Ku fell silent. The timber-buying cart... It was probably because Guo Xiangshen’s house needed repairs, so they had come to the county town to buy timber. His mother and sister-in-law hadn’t seen him in over a month, so they must have wanted to take the opportunity to visit. Yet, they had coincidentally missed him as he wasn’t at the hall. And so, they had missed each other.

"Did they leave any other message?" Chen Ku asked again.

"Yes, they left something for you, Brother Chen." Wu Gui promptly took out a large bundle from under the counter in the Medicine Hall, saying, "They said these are the dates and walnuts from the jujube trees on your family’s land this year. They brought two portions: one for you and another for your sister. They were in a hurry to catch the cart back and couldn’t wait, so they hope you can take your sister’s portion to her."

Chen Ku opened the package and looked at the red dates and walnuts inside. These had originally come from his family’s land. Later, when the land was no longer theirs, the few walnut and jujube trees on it had also fallen into Guo Xiangshen’s hands. Now that the land, and the trees on it, had been returned, they had thought of him and his sister in the county at the first opportunity. It was late September, almost October, the season when walnuts and red dates ripened and were harvested.

A slight pang touched Chen Ku’s heart. This kind of simple familial affection was an innate instinct in any world.

"Hmm, thank you, Brother Wu, for passing on the message," Chen Ku said sincerely, bowing to Wu Gui, who had relayed the message and delivered the items. "After work tonight, let’s go out and have dinner together. When I first joined the hall, I promised to treat you to a meal, Brother Wu."

Wu Gui’s face showed a hint of pleasure. He hadn’t expected Chen Ku, now an Apprentice with a higher status in Medicine King Hall, to still be willing to befriend him. It made his decision to welcome that elderly mother, when the other clerks had been reluctant, feel worthwhile.

That evening, after finishing work, Chen Ku treated Wu Gui, his ’guide’ into Medicine King Hall, to a generous feast.

With their bellies full and spirits slightly elevated by the wine, Wu Gui, looking a bit tipsy, said to Chen Ku, "Brother Chen, I have a good eye for people. One day, you will surely become a great master in our hall. But I don’t have much hope for myself; I’ll probably just be a clerk for the rest of my life."

"Wait for me to promote you," Chen Ku said honestly and earnestly, not putting on any airs in front of Wu Gui.

Their cups clinked together. Since they had to work the next day, neither Chen Ku nor Wu Gui drank too much.

After Chen Ku and Wu Gui returned to Medicine King Hall, Chen Ku looked at the two bags of red dates and walnuts, thinking of his mother’s instructions. The next day, during the midday work break, he finally divided them into two portions, wrapped them carefully, and left Medicine King Hall. He bought several boxes of pastries along the way and, with his hands full, headed toward his sister and brother-in-law’s house. He had to deliver his mother’s heartfelt gifts and message.

Li Yuancheng’s home was in the Inner City. After all, as a constable who had served as Deputy Constable for three years, he possessed some assets; otherwise, his sister wouldn’t have been able to secretly support their family in the past. In a small alley of the Inner City, where over twenty families resided, one of the Siheyuan courtyards contained his sister’s home. However, it wasn’t just her family living there; other people resided in the courtyard as well.

When Chen Ku arrived in this courtyard, a loud-voiced woman asked him who he was looking for. After Chen Ku revealed his identity, the woman’s shout soon echoed throughout the entire courtyard, "Sister of Constable Li, your younger brother is here to see you! Come out quickly and greet him!"

Hearing the call, a woman in plain blue clothing walked out from the kitchen of a three-roomed, tile-roofed house on the east side of the courtyard. She appeared to be in her late twenties and was even prettier than his sister-in-law.

"Sister," Chen Ku called out.

As the woman emerged from the kitchen, she saw the tall, handsome young man in the courtyard calling to her. Her eyes immediately reddened. She hurried forward, lightly patting Chen Ku, her voice filled with excitement, "You came without saying a word! What brings you to the city, child? Did you walk all the way? Aren’t you tired from the journey...?" After her barrage of questions, she suddenly felt something was amiss and looked at her brother’s clothes.

"Sister, I’m living in the city now." For some reason, a trace of guilt surfaced in Chen Ku’s heart; he hadn’t visited his sister all this time. He slowly explained how he had found Treasure Herb and changed their family’s fate, how they now had over twenty mu of land, and that he was currently an Apprentice at Medicine King Hall in the county.

His elder sister instantly covered her mouth, tears welling in her eyes, and asked, "Really? Medicine King Hall? An Apprentice? You’re not deceiving me, are you, little brother?"

"Yes, it’s true. Mother came to the city from the countryside today, but I missed her. She went to Medicine King Hall and asked me to bring you some things..." Chen Ku took out the red dates and walnuts.

Seeing the pastries in addition to the walnuts and red dates, his sister’s heart ached even more. She patted her brother’s shoulder again, saying, "You’re an Apprentice; you don’t even have a salary! Why did you buy these things?"

With that, she pulled Chen Ku into the house, her voice choking up again as she said, "Your brother-in-law is on duty at the Yamen. He suffered a knife wound a couple of days ago. I told him to rest, but he refused. He won’t be back until evening..."

Chen Ku couldn’t help but recall the scene he had witnessed from Skinny Dog’s perspective: Li Yuancheng fighting Ni Kun. It seemed that, in addition to the effects of the Knockout Drug, there had indeed been a bloody gash on Li Yuancheng’s chest.

"Brother-in-law, it’s not serious, is it...?" Chen Ku started to ask.

Just then, a line of text appeared in his mind:

[A person by the name of Ni Kun harbors ill intentions towards the Diagram Master...]

Seeing this line, he subconsciously activated Skinny Dog Transformation, and his expression changed drastically. Ni Kun... nearby?!