Groom, have a safe journey!

Seeing the progress reach one percent, Xie An felt a wave of relief.

This Fetal Breathing Technique was unlike Five Animal Play, which had external movements. It relied entirely on sitting cross-legged and visualizing inwardly, making it extremely difficult to get started without someone to guide him.

Fortunately, he had his cheat.

Otherwise, he feared that even after fumbling around for ten days or half a month, he might not have been able to get started.

Now that he had gotten started on the Fetal Breathing Technique, it became a source of encouragement for Xie An.

Over the next two days, aside from going to the pawnshop to make his rounds, Xie An hid in the little room in the rear courtyard and pushed himself to the limit cultivating the Health Cultivation Technique. He spent the most effort on the Fetal Breathing Technique in particular.

Xie An wanted to cultivate it to a certain level as quickly as possible, reaching the stage where he could breathe through his womb in sleep and generate internal energy on his own.

That way, he could practice Five Animal Play during the day and the Fetal Breathing Technique at night... Without a doubt, his efficiency would double.

But Xie An discovered that he had been thinking too much.

Even with the support of the Lifelong Legacy, his progress in the Fetal Breathing Technique remained extremely slow. After three days of pushing himself to the limit, his progress had reached a pitiful three points.

Fetal Breathing Technique: Three Styles Method (3/100)

...

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

Hint: Complete Spirit and Form Combined to increase lifespan by ten years.

Remaining years: 16 years.

"The progress for the Fetal Breathing Technique doesn't say how many years of lifespan I'll gain after completing it... Is that because the entry level isn't enough yet, or does my Lifelong Legacy only increase lifespan for one Health Cultivation Technique at a time?"

Xie An puzzled over it for quite a while but still couldn't figure it out, so he could only let it go.

"I still have sixteen years left, so there's no need to hurry. I can take it slowly. If I can gather all the ingredients for Tang Qingfeng's medicinal prescription, it'll definitely speed up my progress in the Fetal Breathing Technique... I need to find an opportunity to get rid of that chamber pot."

Xie An began making plans.

With his eye for appraisal, the chamber pot was worth two hundred taels without much question.

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

But Wuqiao Town was a small place after all. There were only a few pawnshops, and they all did business with familiar customers. The chamber pot's origins were unknown, and it had most likely been stolen and sold by that young fellow. If the owner came knocking, Xie An would inevitably be dragged into some unnecessary trouble.

As one grew older, one became particular about the word "steady" when doing things.

"The best method is to make a trip to the county seat. I'll pawn it outright at a large pawnshop and take the money."

Although Qingwu County was a county seat on the border of Great Qian, the area under its jurisdiction was not small. It encompassed a full thirty-six townships and had a population of four to five hundred thousand. Its scale was truly considerable.

Nearly seventy to eighty thousand people lived in the county seat alone. With its tangled mix of people and more than a dozen pawnshops, the chances of the chamber pot's owner finding him were minuscule. Even if he did find him, it wouldn't matter much.

The county seat was heavily guarded to begin with, and anyone who could open a pawnshop there had some connections. How would the owner dare cause trouble in the county seat?

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

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

"Master, get up quickly! Something serious has happened."

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

He Chunli said, "The eldest son-in-law is dead. The funeral procession is today, and Master Li told us to go to Li Manor to help."

Xie An followed He Chunli to Li Manor.

The moment he entered, he heard that the courtyard was draped in white silk and filled with white lanterns. All the servants and maids were dressed in mourning, and waves of weeping drifted through the air.

Chunlan came over carrying two sets of white mourning clothes and asked the two of them to put them on. "You'll follow behind the procession later. Cry when you're supposed to."

In this world, whenever someone from the master's household died, the maids and servants had to dress in mourning as well and escort the coffin to the burial.

Xie An and He Chunli put on their outer garments and stood respectfully at the back.

Unable to withstand Chunlan's repeated meaningful glances, Xie An followed the others and said, "Groom, have a safe journey!"

Li Manor was a prominent household in Wuqiao Town, so the town elders and local gentry all came to pay their respects.

Even Constable Liu He, who was stationed in Wuqiao Town, came, while Chen Martial Arts School sent Chen He to offer condolences as well.

Li Ru received them all with perfect courtesy.

"Constable Liu, my little brother-in-law was hacked to death outside Blood Ridge. His death was horrific. I ask that you apprehend the murderer as soon as possible and comfort my little brother-in-law's spirit in the afterlife."

"Master Li, rest assured. Maintaining peace in this area is my duty. I will certainly drag the murderer out and punish him severely."

After the condolences came the funeral procession.

Li Manor was a prominent household, and the funeral procession was enormous, numbering more than a hundred people and stretching out in grand, surging ranks. It drew countless onlookers from the town.

The scene stood in stark contrast to Zhang Bing's death.

It was not until the start of noon that the funeral ended, and Xie An and He Chunli returned to the pawnshop.

He Chunli lay sprawled over the counter in a daze, occasionally glancing at Xie An with an unusual look in his eyes.

He could clearly feel that his old master had been changing more and more lately. There was an indescribable air about him.

Just then, Xie An turned and glanced at He Chunli. "What are you spacing out for?"

"I just feel that you're different from before, Master, but I can't put my finger on exactly how." He Chunli muttered, then picked up a rag and went to wipe the tables. After that, he even ran to the doorway to call out and drum up business.

Not long afterward, He Chunli ran back in from outside. Xie An thought he was about to ask something, but instead heard He Chunli say nervously, "Master, someone outside is looking for you."

After saying that, He Chunli slipped away to work again. He did not ask anything more.

Xie An saw it all and felt a few more points of certainty in his heart.

Mm. Being able to keep things bottled up inside is a sign that he's maturing.

Xie An stepped out of the pawnshop and saw Chen He parked by the roadside with a horse-drawn cart. The cart was loaded to the brim with bottles and jars, along with some dried medicinal ingredients.

Chen He reined in the horse, vaulted down, and hurried over to Xie An. Lowering his voice, he said, "Brother Xie, I'm heading to the county seat today to buy some medicinal ingredients. As it happens, a curio market has just opened, and I'm planning to try my luck and find some overlooked treasures. How about coming along?"

Though Chen He was Chen Lei, the master of Chen Martial Arts School's, cousin, he was a distant relative, so distant that he was nearly five degrees removed. His status was not high, and he was not particularly valued. He was merely trying to make a living.

The descendants of the brothers of one's great-grandfather and beyond, when they were of the same generation as oneself, were called distant cousins. The farther up the generations one went, the less close the relationship became. That was why they were called distant relatives.

Once the relationship went beyond five generations, they were said to have "left the fifth degree of kinship."

Chen He's claim to this relation was... truly remote.

Seeing that Xie An had not responded, Chen He added, "Brother Xie, with your skill, I'll put up the money and you'll put in the effort. We'll definitely make a great deal of money."

Xie An was thinking about how slow the Fetal Breathing Technique's progress was, and how urgent it was to gather all the ingredients for Tang Qingfeng's Unique Medicinal Prescription. This was the perfect chance to follow Chen He to the county seat, pawn off the chamber pot, and use the money to buy the medicine.

One had to know that Qingwu County was heavily guarded, and entering or leaving required a travel pass. Xie An was registered as a slave; without the official travel pass provided by Li Manor, he could not enter the county seat on his own.

The pawnshop had no official business requiring him to enter the city at present, so traveling with Chen He would be much more convenient.

He agreed at once. "All right. I'll go back and prepare, then come with you."

Xie An returned to the little room in the rear courtyard and took the chamber pot. He brought his dagger as well, then felt that it still wasn't secure enough and simply took his heavy bow and quiver too. After returning to the pawnshop and informing He Chunli, he set off for the county seat with Chen He.