A Second Martial Art
As the sun sets, its rays shine obliquely on the river, causing the water to ripple and shimmer.
On the deck, the four brothers from Hua Zhu County clasped their hands in a fist salute.
Liang Qu was surprised.
He never expected that anyone would want to seek refuge with him, and for a moment he fell into deep thought.
I've actually become someone else's support?
Yan Qingshan and the others held their breath and lowered their heads.
I thought that once I entered the River Conservancy Office, I could do my job well and make resources for myself.
Unexpectedly, it was divided into two distinct factions, who didn't even work together in the same office, but were on separate buildings.
After making inquiries, the four chose the more moderate Xu Yuelong faction. However, once inside, they discovered that it truly lived up to the saying, "Wherever there are people, there is a martial arts world."
There's no place where it's really easy to get by.
There is competition from the outside, and there are disputes from within.
The sons of nobles of the seventh rank and above looked down on four country bumpkins, and the locals looked down on outsiders. They formed a group but didn't include them, creating invisible barriers everywhere.
Good tasks are hard to come by, while bad tasks are plentiful; the work is arduous, but the rewards are meager.
A person's life is like a light drizzle, but it cannot be as vast as the sky.
Just then, news of Liang Qu's Great Merit in solving a case in Feng Bu County arrived, which made the four people, who had been running into obstacles everywhere, remember Liang Qu and inquire about him.
He also came from humble beginnings, had a close relationship with the deputy commander, was young and promising, and had an excellent reputation. Although his current position was still low and his strength was not great, he could be considered a hidden dragon in the abyss. If one could follow him...
Their hearts were pounding.
"I'm sorry, but you'd better find someone else."
Liang Qu flatly refused.
baffling.
The younger brother chooses the boss, and the boss chooses the younger brother.
Four people suddenly appeared wanting to follow me; who knows what their true nature is? They're so unscrupulous.
The four of them were as if they had lost their parents.
Yan Qingshan cupped his hands in greeting. "In that case, I apologize for being presumptuous."
"It's alright. We're all in the River Conservancy Office, so we're colleagues. Just do your best."
Liang Qu returned the salute, then turned and jumped off the ship.
The four people were left alone on the deck, casting long shadows.
"Why."
Yan Qingshan sighed deeply.
"We were too hasty."
Liang Qu walked along the street and crossed the threshold to enter a money exchange.
According to Liu Jie, those three thousand taels of Silver Note could be exchanged for Universal Treasure and Tong Shun Bank.
It just so happens that there is a Tong Bao Bank in Ping Yang County. Universal Treasure and Smooth Passage are in an alliance, and their money exchanges cover several surrounding prefectures. With a bank note, you can withdraw the Silver Note from any money exchange in those prefectures.
When distinguished guests arrive, the servant greets them with a smile.
"Is the customer depositing or withdrawing money? If withdrawing, can they bring a receipt?"
Liang Qu waved four Silver Note: "Withdraw the money."
"This way, please, sir."
The servant led Liang Qu to the counter, behind which stood an old shopkeeper.
Upon seeing someone approach, he put down the ledger in his hand, put on the lens, took the Liang Qu Silver Note and examined them one by one, then put the lens down after he finished looking at them.
"Of the four Silver Note you have, only these three can be exchanged. I'm sorry, this last one cannot be exchanged."
Liang Qu looked down and saw that two of the three exchangeable cards were damaged, while the one that couldn't be exchanged was intact.
"Why can the damaged ones be replaced, but the undamaged ones can't?"
The shopkeeper's fingers gripped the unexchangeable Silver Note: "Sir, you may not know this, but the damage to the two notes is insignificant; the patterns are undamaged."
This note isn't damaged, but the two colors don't match; the color is lighter. As expected, the gentleman's Silver Note was soaked in water, wasn't it?
"That's right."
"I'm truly sorry, this Silver Note has faded. I'm just following the rules and can't exchange it."
"It's alright. Please ask the shopkeeper to reissue the invoice for me. Deposit six hundred taels, then issue six one-hundred-tael Silver Note, and then help me withdraw three hundred taels."
Liang Qu's worst-case scenario was that he couldn't exchange the two cards, or that he could. Now that he could exchange three cards for nine hundred taels, he was quite satisfied.
"Please wait a moment, guest. Please rest in the backyard. I will have someone make you some tea."
The aroma of tea wafts through the air.
The shopkeeper quickly prepared six hundred-tael Silver Note, and the servant followed behind, covering the tray with a red cloth and presenting three hundred taels of silver.
One horseshoe-shaped Treasure Silver is worth fifty taels and is about the size of Fist. Three hundred taels is equivalent to six ingots, which can be stored in a small box.
Liang Qu carefully put away the Silver Note and silver, and after leaving the house, he went to various shops and bought some things as gifts.
Senior Brother Xiang has a crystal mountain-shaped pen rest, Senior Brother Hu has a thumb ring, in addition to jade-carved waist ornaments, coral ornaments, purple bamboo flutes, white corundum whetstones...
In total, Liang Qu prepared something for everyone, which cost nearly two hundred taels of silver.
They really spend money like water.
The same item can be expensive in some cases; bamboo pen holders, ceramic pen holders, and stone pen holders are three different price points.
Those high-ranking officials and nobles must have tens of thousands of dollars in wealth to maintain their "respectability" in all aspects.
After buying the items, Liang Qu didn't rush to deliver them, planning to go the next day instead.
Breaking Blood Barrier and become Martial Master, you're supposed to treat everyone to a meal. It's already late, and I reckon everyone's finished eating, so why don't we settle things together tomorrow?
Carrying a lot of goods, Liang Qu passed by a restaurant, packed up a few dishes, gave them the address, and then took the food box and boarded a boat from the dock to go home.
Eleven days have passed in the blink of an eye, and there is no dust in the house, as someone has been cleaning it.
The door to the West Wing was open, but the Old Monk was nowhere to be seen.
"I wonder if the Old Monk found the Heretical Monk he mentioned."
Liang Qu shook his head, went inside to put his things down, and then went to the kitchen.
The old lady who cooked had already gone home by this time, but there was still some leftover food in the pot, probably reserved for the Old Monk.
Liang Qu scooped some rice into the basin, opened the food box, and ate the dried rice and vegetables that he had packed back from the restaurant.
Halfway through the meal, the Old Monk appeared in the courtyard.
"Benefactor, it's been a long time."
"Hmm!" Liang Qu swallowed his rice and asked, "Has Master eaten yet? I have two vegetarian dishes here, would you like some?"
The Old Monk put his hands together in prayer, picked up a bowl and chopsticks to serve rice, and silently sat down opposite him.
Liang Qu moved the vegetarian dishes to a different position, placing them in front of the Old Monk.
"Master, have you found that Heretical Monk yet?"
"Never."
"That long?"
Liang Qu calculated that the Old Monk had been in Ping Yang County for about a month. How could the other party be so good at hiding?
"My Dantian is deficient, so I have lost the ability to Thousand Mile Soul Lock, and the opponent's qi is also somewhat blurred."
"Thousand Mile Soul Lock, what is that?"
"By seizing even a wisp of the opponent's vital energy, this old monk can track him down within a radius of a thousand miles."
That powerful? Perfected Elephant Grandmaster is terrifyingly powerful.
I wonder when I'll reach that level.
Liang Qu was envious.
"We can't find it. Is it dangerous?"
Liang Qu shoveled rice into his mouth.
The thought of someone who could even be hunted down by Master True Image, secretly hiding in the Huaiyin Prefecture area, made him restless and unable to eat or sleep properly.
"I stayed in Qingzhou for a year before. The Heretical Monk knows I'm looking for him. As long as I'm here, he won't dare to do anything big."
The Old Monk in a hurry.
He was a wanderer, and it didn't matter where he was. As long as he stayed in Huaiyin Prefecture, the other party wouldn't dare to show their face.
"And you, Benefactor, how is your Cultivation Method progressing?"
"Ha ha."
Liang Qu put down his chopsticks. Even while traveling, he continued to study diligently, and now he had finished the entire "Dragon Subduing Tiger Taming Vajra Sutra"! "To be honest, Master, I will begin practicing tonight!"