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"I'll handle this, Mo-ge. You go take care of something else." Ma Cai took the manure cart from Chen Mo.

"All right. Come back quickly." Chen Mo did not refuse too much.

Ma Cai pushed the cart and hurried all the way toward the outside of the military camp.

Chen Mo went to the shack as usual to steam mantou. He had become very practiced at it.

By the time he had finished all the odd jobs he needed to do that afternoon, Ma Cai and Ding Bao finally returned.

"Lord Chen, Colonel Wang has prepared a banquet and invited you and Ma Cai to attend." A soldier walked to the barracks where Chen Mo lived and called softly.

Chen Mo currently held no official post or rank, but in terms of status and standing, he was certainly above the soldier.

After all, a personal guard of General Sun could speak with a colonel as an equal.

The soldier did not dare call Chen Mo by name, yet did not know how else to address him. After thinking it over, he could only use the two words "my lord."

The address might not have been entirely correct, but it certainly could not be considered wrong.

"All right, we'll head over now." Chen Mo walked out of the barracks and replied.

He was not familiar with the colonel, but since the other man had sent someone to invite him, he could not refuse to go.

Ma Cai followed honestly behind Chen Mo. He knew the colonel had mainly invited Chen Mo, while he was merely there as a companion.

When they reached the barracks where the colonel lived, the Eight Immortals table was already covered with four cold dishes—two meat and two vegetable—four hot stir-fries, and two substantial dishes: braised pork elbow and stewed mutton.

Without counting the wine, simply preparing a spread like this would cost at least seven or eight qian of silver.

"Chen Mo, you're here! Come, take your seat!" Colonel Wang's tone was warm and familiar. Anyone who did not know better might have thought he and Chen Mo were old acquaintances.

The reason he had invited Chen Mo today was genuinely simple. He merely wanted to get acquainted with him and establish a friendly relationship.

Chen Mo had been born with strength far beyond ordinary men and had become one of General Sun's personal guards. If he achieved something in the future, then befriending him today would be a tremendous bargain.

There was no need for a particularly close relationship. Knowing each other was enough. That way, if he ever needed Chen Mo's help, he could go to his door bearing gifts.

Even if Chen Mo achieved nothing and vanished without a trace, it would not matter, because befriending him now cost Colonel Wang very little.

"Colonel Wang." Chen Mo cupped his hands in salute before taking his seat.

Besides Chen Mo and Ma Cai, Colonel Wang had also brought along a personal guard. The few of them were not very familiar with one another, so at first they only chatted about trivial matters. After several cups of watered-down wine, the atmosphere finally grew lively and harmonious.

Chen Mo emerged from the colonel's barracks with a flushed face and reeking of alcohol. Ma Cai followed behind him, swaying from side to side.

"Ugh!" Ma Cai had barely taken a few steps out of the barracks before he clung to a large tree and began vomiting uncontrollably.

Although Chen Mo also smelled of alcohol, his eyes remained clear. He had not dared drink too much. He was drunk, but at most only five parts out of ten.

He had eaten quite a lot of meat this time. His body converted the food into wisps of qi and blood. After supplying part of it to himself, the rest flowed into the Mortal Transformation Pearl for storage.

Now that his physique had undergone Mortal Transformation once, the qi and blood required for a second transformation would be several times greater than the first.

Moreover, his body was robust, so it consumed more qi and blood every day as well.

If he relied solely on ordinary mantou and coarse grains, accumulating enough qi and blood would take a very long time.

Only by eating more nutritious food—meat, and lots of it—could he speed up the process.

Today, after eating just one meal containing meat, he could clearly feel that the rate at which he accumulated qi and blood had increased.

If he could eat meat every day in the future, even if it was not much, the speed would still be far greater than eating grain every day.

"Let's go. Curfew will start soon." Chen Mo walked over to Ma Cai and lifted him up with one hand.

He absolutely did not want to spend the night outside. He had to hurry back to the barracks before curfew. Staying there in peace and quiet was the proper course.

Ma Cai raised his head in bewilderment. Chen Mo carried him at a brisk pace back to the barracks, tossed him onto the bed, and then sat down on his own.

He took two ingots of silver, each weighing five liang, from his robes. One had been given to him earlier by Mo Hu; it was the settling-in allowance General Sun had instructed him to provide.

If a soldier had family, Chen Mo could use the five liang of silver to settle them in first.

In the current times, five liang of silver was already enough to buy an acre of land. Of course, it could only buy ordinary farmland. The better fields and irrigated paddy fields were certainly beyond its reach.

Even so, it was still no small sum.

As for the other five liang, Colonel Wang had slipped it to him earlier. He had not asked for anything in return, merely saying that since Chen Mo had come out of his camp, he was giving him some silver so that Chen Mo could make arrangements and settle in under General Sun's command.

Chen Mo understood Colonel Wang's meaning, so he had not refused the money.

If he truly managed to make a name for himself in the future and Colonel Wang came to ask him for help, then for the sake of the silver, Chen Mo would lend him a hand as long as the matter was not too difficult.

Rubbing the silver in his hand, Chen Mo could not help sighing with emotion. A few months ago, he had still been a refugee, worrying every day that he would starve to death.

Who could have expected that in a mere few months, he would become one of General Sun's personal guards, with a full ten liang of silver in his robes?

Chen Mo did not plan to save this money. Ten liang of silver was still not enough to redeem Zhao Yu's indenture; he was short by ten whole liang.

Raising another ten liang of silver would be no easy matter.

Rather than leaving the money untouched in his hands while worrying that it might be lost, he might as well spend it and convert it into strength as much as possible.

As long as he underwent Mortal Transformation once more, his strength would surely increase again. By then, if he made a name for himself in the Guard Camp or secured some official position, redeeming Zhao Yu would become much easier.

He might even be able to redeem Zhao Yu without spending a single liang of silver.

Besides, he had no way not to spend money. If he did not buy some things soon, he would not make it through the winter.

If he did not buy shoes, he would soon have to walk barefoot.

Which part of food, clothing, housing, or transport did not cost money? As long as a person was still drawing breath, they had to spend money!

As for the money one needed after one stopped drawing breath, that depended on one's descendants.

Chen Mo tucked the two silver ingots into his robes, lay down on the bed, and fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, as dawn broke, the sound of drums and gongs rang through the military camp once more, urging the soldiers to rise.

With the silver tucked on his person, Chen Mo washed up simply and then saw two unfamiliar-faced soldiers waiting obediently outside the stable.

"What are you two doing here?" Chen Mo asked in confusion.

"My lord, Colonel Wang said that you and Ma Cai are about to leave, so he ordered the two of us to take over feeding your horses." Hearing his question, one of the soldiers hurriedly replied.

Feeding horses was a skill, but it was also hard work. Once Chen Mo and the others left, someone had to take over immediately and shoulder the labor.

"Mo-ge, I'll take care of these two." Ding Bao came over and said.

Chen Mo nodded lightly and did not concern himself with the matter any further.

"Mo-ge, since we don't have to work anymore, how about we go look around White Bridge Town today?" Ma Cai suggested with a grin.

With someone coming to take over their duties, the two of them were naturally free.

"All right." Chen Mo nodded. Even if Ma Cai had not suggested it, he had planned to make time to go into town and buy some things today.

When he saw Chen Mo agree, Ma Cai could barely contain his excitement. He had been at the military camp for so long, yet on ordinary days he could only visit the market and usually only when it was about to disperse.

Today, he could finally make a trip into town, which delighted him greatly.

The two of them informed He Ma Guan and then left the military camp together.