Healing Wounds

"What a pity about that Ghost-Head Saber."

"And all that scattered silver."

The Zuo Family's young master was no pushover. Now that he had seen through Chen Mu's true abilities, the consequences were impossible to predict. Chen Mu could only flee in haste.

"I can't go back to that residence anymore."

Chen Mu lamented, "Not only have I lost a bodyguard, I also wasted three months' rent."

He had lived there for less than three months, yet he had paid rent for half a year.

"Forget it, forget it. The more I think about it, the more it hurts."

"Better take a look at the spoils."

He had already buried the two bodies in the abandoned residence north of the city, where they could keep Sheng Hong company.

He had even scattered corrosion-accelerating powder over them. They would soon return to dust.

"Three and a half taels of broken silver, fifty-two copper coins, and two twenty-tael silver notes from Datong Money House."

Chen Mu picked up the gleaming white flexible sword and swung it a few times. It nearly sliced the back of his hand, and he hurriedly set it back on the table.

A strange flexible sword. It probably required some special technique. Ordinary people could not use it.

"The material is good. Maybe I can sell it for a decent price."

He had gained quite a bit from the disciple, and Chen Mu found himself looking forward to seeing the round-faced Daoist's collection.

The man had only carried a bulging crimson leather pouch the size of a palm.

Though made of leather, the pouch was as soft and thin as cloth.

Five tiny figures were embroidered on its front in gold thread.

The little figures formed a circle around a small black mountain in the center.

A Black Cord threaded through several holes around the opening. Pulling it tight narrowed the mouth of the pouch, and it had been tied into a bow.

"It's quite pretty."

Chen Mu studied it for a moment, then untied the bow and pulled the opening apart with both hands... but it would not budge!

He tried several more times.

The opening seemed welded shut. No matter how hard he pulled, it simply would not open!

What the hell?

Even seriously injured, he was still a Bone Strengthening expert.

An ordinary leather pouch would have been torn apart long ago.

Yet now, he could not even open a bag.

Chen Mu fiddled with it for half an hour, but the pouch remained completely unmoved.

He stared at it and inspected it carefully.

Then he suddenly noticed that one of the little figures looked especially familiar.

Upon closer examination, it was fifty percent similar to that Red Paper Effigy.

Chen Mu's heart skipped a beat, and he nearly threw it away.

That blood-sucking Paper Man had been far too bizarre.

When he had retrieved his Short Sword last night, he had discovered that the Paper Man he had pierced through and pinned inside the wall had vanished into thin air.

He had thought the strange thing had escaped.

But now, it had most likely returned to the leather pouch.

Staring at the pouch on the Stone Table, Chen Mu's expression kept shifting.

"This is a treasure."

"A dangerous treasure."

After studying it for a long while, he found nothing.

"I'll put it away for now."

Throwing it away was out of the question.

He could study it slowly later.

Chen Mu grew increasingly unwilling to stay in Qingshan County.

But the next day, his injuries suddenly worsened. Even his face swelled up a full size.

Every part of his body hurt, inside and out.

"Three Yang Six Gentlemen Pill, ten taels per bottle." Beneath the Pavilion, Jie Jia placed a Porcelain Bottle the size of a duck egg on the Stone Table.

Chen Mu took out broken silver and handed it to Jie Jia, feeling as though his body hurt even more.

The Three Yang Six Gentlemen Pill was Zhu Yi Pavilion's secret medicine for treating injuries.

It could rapidly restore his wounds.

"Have you decided to leave?" Jie Jia stared at Chen Mu for confirmation.

"I'm leaving." Chen Mu gritted his teeth. "I'll leave once I've recovered."

Qingshan County was a place of endless trouble. He could not remain here.

"Your injuries are serious." Jie Jia frowned slightly.

Chen Mu was frustrated as well.

As expected of an expert who had cultivated Soul Force.

The round-faced Daoist had merely slapped him once, yet his internal organs had suffered varying degrees of damage.

An ordinary person would have died from that blow.

Fortunately, he had pushed the Body Tempering Technique to Tier 3, and it was slowly strengthening his internal organs.

"Wait for now. I don't want to travel far while sick and injured," Chen Mu said helplessly.

Jie Jia nodded, glanced at Chen Mu, and estimated, "Then let's set it for three months from now."

Chen Mu agreed.

By his own estimate, with active treatment, he would mostly recover in three months.

It took a hundred days to recover from damaged muscles and bones, let alone injuries to the internal organs.

"Can you make it cheaper?" Chen Mu asked unwillingly, clutching the Porcelain Bottle.

The medicine really was good, but it was expensive!

To ensure its effects, he would need plenty of it over the next three months.

Just thinking of the expense made Chen Mu's heart ache.

Jie Jia merely smiled at him without saying a word.

"You're not going to raise the price on me, are you?" Chen Mu asked suspiciously.

That cheerful expression made him easy to suspect.

Jie Jia immediately returned to a calm expression. "You're overthinking it."

Chen Mu: "..."

If your face hadn't changed so quickly, I would have fucking believed you!

This old man would stop at nothing to make money!

But despite earning so much, he never seemed to spend any of it.

He mooched all three meals off Chen Mu, then used the money he saved to rub beads.

With a sour expression, Chen Mu waved his hand and chased off Jie Jia, that middleman.

What could he do? The man had connections.

Since he could not leave anytime soon, he had to consider his safety.

The Malevolent Spirit incidents in Qingshan County were completely random and disorderly.

It was like flipping cards. Whoever got picked was unlucky.

He could not go near the Zuo Family residence. Jie Jia was unreliable too; he had to go out in the middle of the night to take assassination jobs.

The place was already such a mess, yet the assassin business was still so booming. What a damned world.

Hiring Jie Jia for protection? Too expensive!

After thinking it over for two days, Chen Mu set his sights on Qingfeng Temple outside the city.

Jie Jia had confirmed that Qingfeng Temple had methods for dealing with Yin Soul Monsters. It was currently the safest place in Qingshan County.

Though his predecessor's experiences made him wary of Qingfeng Temple, it was undoubtedly safer than the uncertainty within the city.

"Just don't get too close to Qingfeng Temple."

He planned to maintain his current strategy: live nearby and benefit from its evil-repelling aura.

Five days later, the swelling in Chen Mu's body subsided.

His internal injuries remained, but they no longer affected his movements.

After simply packing his belongings, he headed to Little East Mountain to survey the situation.

Things were simpler than Chen Mu had imagined.

Qingfeng Temple was recruiting laborers to construct an Altar.

Several thousand workers needed to eat, drink, relieve themselves, and sleep. They built sheds, pitched tents, and erected Wooden Cabins, and thousands of people spontaneously formed a shantytown settlement at the foot of East Mountain.

Some shrewd merchants had even organized a small market there.

Chen Mu put on coarse gray clothes, wore a conical hat, and painted a birthmark onto his face.

Fisherman Yang Zhi blended in with ease.

He planned to hire someone to build a Wooden Cabin at the edge of the settlement, near the mountain path leading to Qingfeng Temple.

He could see Qingfeng Temple on the mountain with a single glance upward.

If he climbed onto the roof, he could overlook the entire shantytown.

The Wooden Cabin went up quickly.

All kinds of skilled craftsmen had gathered here.

Three men started work in the morning, and by evening, each left happily with one hundred copper coins.

That night, Chen Mu moved into the house, which still carried the damp scent of fresh wood.

The lumber was freshly cut, prone to rot and insects.

But Chen Mu had no plans to live there long-term.

The house met his needs perfectly.

Over the following days, Chen Mu stayed busy gathering daily necessities.

Pots, bowls, ladles, and basins were indispensable, as were oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.

He carried four burlap sacks of White Wheat from the cellar of the second old residence. Each sack weighed over a hundred catties, the last of the food in the cellar.

"I really am leaving Qingshan County."

Food prices in Qingshan County had become increasingly outrageous. A single sack of White Wheat now cost as much as one and a half taels of silver.

He also bought two large water vats, caught a basket of fish, and kept them alive inside to eat slowly.

Then Chen Mu shut his doors to visitors and stayed inside the Wooden Cabin to recover in peace.

"The medical books you wanted." With one hand behind his back, Jie Jia held a burlap sack in the other and tossed it down before Chen Mu with a thud.

Under the shade of a tree, Chen Mu lay in a bamboo chair, rocking back and forth as he read leisurely.

"Thanks." Chen Mu sat up and casually rummaged through the sack.

The yellowed pages gave off a faint, inky musty smell.

These were various medical books Chen Mu had asked Jie Jia to buy for him.

He could not practice martial arts while recovering, so he could take this chance to raise his Medicine Crafting.

Seeing that most of the books were ones he had never read, Chen Mu casually tossed Jie Jia a Small Cloth Bag and nodded in satisfaction.

"You want to replicate the Three Yang Six Gentlemen Pill?" Jie Jia weighed the bag in his hand before slipping it into his sleeve.

"Don't believe me?" Chen Mu did not hide it.

"I believe you," Jie Jia said sincerely.

Now it was Chen Mu's turn to be dumbfounded.

I don't even have confidence in myself. Why do you believe me?

"Do you need any medicinal ingredients? I have connections," Jie Jia said solemnly.

Chen Mu: "..."

You really do have a pair of eyes made for spotting business opportunities.