Son-in-Law, Have a Good Journey!

Seeing the 1% progress, Xie An felt a sense of relief.

Unlike the Five Animal Play, the Fetal Breathing Technique had no external movements. It relied entirely on sitting meditation and internal visualization. Without someone guiding him, the difficulty of getting started was extremely high.

Fortunately, he had his cheat.

Otherwise, he might not even be able to get started after ten days to half a month of exploration.

Now that he had gotten started with the Fetal Breathing Technique, it served as a motivation for Xie An.

For the next two days, besides inspecting the pawnshop, Xie An spent all his remaining time hiding in the small room in the backyard, grinding on the Health Cultivation Technique, especially spending the most effort on the Fetal Breathing Technique.

Xie An wanted to quickly cultivate the technique to a certain level, reaching the stage of sleeping fetal breathing and cultivating internal energy.

This way, the Five Animal Play during the day and Fetal Breathing Technique at night would undoubtedly double his efficiency.

However, Xie An found that he had overthought things.

Even with the boost from his Lifelong Legacy, the progress of the Fetal Breathing Technique was still very slow. After three days of intense grinding, the progress only reached a pathetic three points.

[Fetal Breathing Technique: Three Forms (3/100)]

[Five Animal Play: Spirit and Form Combined (5/100)]

[Hint: Cultivating Spirit and Form Combined to completion grants ten years of life extension.]

[Remaining Years: 16 years.]

"The progress of the Fetal Breathing Technique doesn't have a hint for life extension after completion... is it because the entry-level is not enough, or is it that my Lifelong Legacy only has a life-extending effect on one Health Cultivation Technique at a time?" Xie An pondered for a while but couldn't figure it out, so he gave up.

"I still have sixteen years left, no rush, I'll take it slow. If I can gather the medicinal ingredients from Tang Qingfeng's prescription, it will definitely speed up the progress of the Fetal Breathing Technique... I need to find an opportunity to sell that night pot."

Xie An began to plan.

With his judgment, the night pot was worth at least two hundred taels without any problem.

The Li Family Pawnshop certainly had the ability to buy it. If it were a dead pawn, Xie An could directly use an alias to fill out the pawn ticket and take the money.

But Wuqiao Town was a small place, and there were only a few pawnshops, all doing business with familiar customers. And this night pot's origin was unknown; it was likely stolen and sold by that young fellow. If the original owner came looking for it, Xie An would inevitably get involved in some unnecessary trouble.

As he got older, he became more cautious in his actions.

"The best way is to go to the county town. Find a large pawnshop and do a dead pawn to get the money."

Although Qingwu County was a border town of the Great Qian Dynasty, the area it governed was not small, encompassing thirty-six townships. With a population of four to five hundred thousand, its scale was truly considerable.

The county town itself had a population of nearly seventy to eighty thousand. The population was diverse, with more than ten pawnshops, making the probability of the night pot's owner finding him extremely small. Even if he were found, it wouldn't matter much.

The county town's security was strict, and besides, who among those who opened pawnshops in the county town didn't have some connections? The owner would hardly dare to cause trouble in the county town.

Having made up his mind, Xie An felt at ease.

The next morning, Xie An was awakened by a hurried knocking at the door.

"Master, wake up quickly, something big has happened."

Xie An quickly put on his clothes and opened the door. "What is it?"

He Chunli said, "The son-in-law is dead. The funeral is today, and Master Li has asked us to go to the Li Manor to help."

Xie An followed He Chunli to the Li Manor.

As soon as he entered, he heard that the courtyard was hung with white silk and white lanterns. All the servants and maids were also wearing mourning clothes, and the sound of crying could be heard.

Chunlan then walked over with two white mourning clothes and asked Xie An and the other to put them on. "You will follow behind the procession. Cry when you need to."

In this era, when someone died in a prominent family, the maids and servants also had to wear mourning clothes and escort the funeral procession.

Xie An and He Chunli put on their outer garments and stood respectfully behind.

Unable to resist Chunlan's constant winks, Xie An followed others and said, "Son-in-law, may you have a good journey!"

The Li Manor was a prominent family in Wuqiao Town. The village elders and gentry of the town all came to pay their respects.

Even Constable Liu, who was stationed in Wuqiao Town, came, and the Chen Martial Arts School sent Chen He to pay his respects.

Li Ru received them very politely.

"Constable Liu, my young son-in-law was killed outside Blood Ridge, and he died tragically. I implore Constable Liu to quickly apprehend the murderer and console my young son-in-law's soul in heaven."

"Please rest assured, Master Li. Maintaining local security is my duty. I will definitely find the murderer and punish them severely."

After the condolences, it was time for the funeral procession.

The Li Manor was a major family, and the funeral procession was very large, with over a hundred people, moving majestically. It even attracted the attention of countless passersby in the town.

This scene formed a stark contrast to Zhang Bing's death.

It wasn't until early noon that the funeral procession ended, and Xie An and He Chunli returned to the pawnshop.

He Chunli was leaning on the counter, staring blankly, and occasionally looking at Xie An with a peculiar gaze.

He could clearly feel that his master had been changing more and more recently, possessing an indescribable aura.

Just then, Xie An glanced back at He Chunli. "What are you spacing out about?"

"I just feel like Master is different from before, though I can't quite put my finger on it," He Chunli mumbled. He then picked up a rag and started wiping down the table, before running to the doorway to solicit business.

Not long after, He Chunli ran back in from outside. Xie An thought he was going to ask something, but instead heard He Chunli nervously speak, "Master, someone's here to see you."

After saying that, He Chunli scurried off to continue his work, not asking any further questions.

Xie An saw all this and felt a sense of certainty grow within him.

Yes, being able to keep things to himself is a sign of maturity.

Xie An stepped out of the pawnshop's main door and saw Chen He driving a horse-drawn carriage, stopped by the roadside. The carriage was filled with bottles and jars, along with some dried medicinal herbs, all piled high.

Chen He reined in the horse, dismounted, and hurried over to Xie An. He lowered his voice and said, "Brother Xie, I went to the county town today to buy some medicinal ingredients. Coincidentally, an antique market just opened, and I was planning to look for some bargains. Want to come along?"

Although Chen He was the cousin of Chen Lei, the owner of the Chen Martial Arts School, he was a distant one, almost outside the fifth degree of kinship. His status wasn't high, nor was he particularly valued; he was just trying to make a living.

Descendants of one's grandfather's brothers, who are of the same generation as oneself, are considered distant cousins. The further up the generations you go, the less closely related they are. That's why they're called distant relatives.

Beyond five generations, they are called "outside the fifth degree."

Chen He's connection... was truly very distant.

Seeing that Xie An hadn't responded, Chen He added, "Brother Xie, with your skills, I'll provide the money and you provide the effort. We're sure to make a big profit."

Xie An thought about how slow his Fetal Breathing Technique progress was, and how urgent it was to gather the ingredients for Tang Qingfeng's unique prescription. It was the perfect opportunity to go to the county town with Chen He, pawn that night pot, and use the money to buy medicine.

It was important to note that the county town of Qingwu had strict security, and a travel permit was required for entry and exit. Xie An was a slave; without a public business travel permit from the Li Manor, he personally couldn't enter the county town.

Currently, the pawnshop had no public business requiring a trip into the city, so going with Chen He would be much more convenient.

He agreed, "Alright, I'll go back and get ready, and we'll go together."

Xie An returned to the small house in the backyard, retrieved the night pot, and brought his dagger along. Feeling it wasn't secure enough, he decided to bring his heavy bow and quiver as well. After informing He Chunli back at the pawnshop, he set off with Chen He for the county town.