Status

"I'll handle this, Mo-ge. You go take care of other things." Ma Cai took the manure cart from Chen Mo's hands without waiting for a reply.

"Alright, go quickly and come back fast." Chen Mo didn't argue much.

Ma Cai pushed the cart and hurried out of the camp.

Chen Mo went to the shed to steam cornbread as usual—by now, it was a task he knew well.

By the time he finished all the afternoon chores, Ma Cai and Ding Bao had just returned.

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

Chen Mo held no official rank or title now, but in terms of status, he was certainly above this soldier.

After all, General Sun's personal guard could converse with a colonel as an equal.

The soldier dared not call Chen Mo by name, nor did he know how to address him. After thinking it over, he settled on "Lord."

The title might not be precise, but it couldn't be wrong.

"Alright, we'll go right away." Chen Mo stepped out of the barracks and replied.

He wasn't familiar with the colonel, but since the man had sent someone to invite him, he couldn't refuse.

Ma Cai obediently followed behind Chen Mo, knowing the colonel's main target was Chen Mo—he was just there as a sidekick.

They walked to the colonel's barracks. On the eight-immortal table were four cold dishes—two meat, two vegetable—four hot stir-fries, and two heavy courses: braised pork elbow and stewed lamb.

Even without counting the wine, just putting together a feast like this cost at least seven or eight silver coins.

"Chen Mo's here! Come, sit down!" Colonel Wang's tone was warm and familiar. Anyone listening might think he and Chen Mo were old friends.

His reason for inviting Chen Mo today was simple—he just wanted to get to know him and build a connection.

Chen Mo was born with strength far beyond ordinary men, and now he was General Sun's personal guard. If he made something of himself in the future, befriending him today would be a huge win.

He didn't need a close relationship—just an acquaintance would do. That way, if he ever needed to ask Chen Mo for a favor, he could at least show up with a gift.

Even if Chen Mo never amounted to anything or faded into obscurity, it didn't matter. Befriending him now cost very little.

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

Besides him and Ma Cai, Colonel Wang also brought one of his own guards to accompany them. The group wasn't familiar with each other, so they started with small talk. Only after a few cups of wine did the atmosphere warm up.

Chen Mo walked out of the colonel's barracks, his face flushed red and reeking of alcohol. Ma Cai followed behind him, swaying unsteadily.

"Ugh!" Ma Cai barely made it a few steps before grabbing a tree and vomiting uncontrollably.

Though Chen Mo smelled of drink, his eyes were still clear. He hadn't dared to drink too much—he was tipsy, but no more than half-drunk.

He'd eaten plenty of meat this time. His body converted the food into strands of blood and qi, part of which nourished himself while the rest flowed into the Mortal Transformation Pearl for storage.

His physique had already undergone one Mortal Transformation. To undergo a second, he would need several times the blood and qi of the first.

Moreover, his strong body consumed more blood and qi daily.

Relying on plain cornbread and coarse grains to accumulate enough blood and qi would take a very long time.

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

After just one meal of meat, he could clearly feel the rate of blood and qi accumulation increase.

If he could eat meat every day from now on, even if not much, the speed would far outpace eating grains alone.

"Let's go. If we don't leave now, curfew will start." Chen Mo walked over to Ma Cai and lifted him with one hand.

He had no intention of spending the night outside. Getting back to the barracks before curfew and staying put was the smart move.

Ma Cai looked up in a daze. Chen Mo carried him at a brisk pace back to the barracks, tossed him onto his bed, and sat down on his own.

He pulled two five-tael silver ingots from his bosom. One was given to him earlier by Mo Hu—the settling-in money General Sun had ordered.

If Chen Mo had family, he could use those five taels to settle them.

In the current times, five taels of silver could buy an acre of land. Of course, that would only get him medium-grade land—high-grade or paddy fields were out of reach.

Still, it was no small sum.

The other five taels had been pressed into his hand by Colonel Wang earlier. The colonel asked for nothing in return, only saying that since Chen Mo had come from his camp, he should take the silver to smooth things over when reporting to General Sun's command.

Chen Mo understood the colonel's intent, so he didn't refuse the money.

If he ever made something of himself and the colonel came asking for a favor, he'd help out as long as it wasn't too difficult—out of respect for the silver.

He rubbed the ingots in his hand and couldn't help but sigh. A few months ago, he'd been a refugee, worrying every day that he might starve to death.

Who would have thought that in just a few short months, he'd become General Sun's personal guard and have ten taels of silver in his pocket?

Chen Mo didn't plan to save this money. Ten taels wasn't enough to redeem Zhao Yu—he was still ten short.

Scraping together another ten taels wouldn't be easy.

Rather than hoarding it and worrying about losing it, he might as well spend it and turn it into strength as fast as possible.

If he could undergo another Mortal Transformation, his strength would grow again. Then, if he made a name for himself in the Guard Camp or landed an official post, redeeming Zhao Yu would be much easier.

He might not even need to spend a single tael of silver to redeem Zhao Yu directly.

And he couldn't avoid spending money either—if he didn't buy anything, he wouldn't even make it through this winter.

If he didn't buy shoes soon, he'd be walking barefoot before long.

Food, clothing, shelter, travel—everything cost money. As long as a man was still breathing, he had to spend!

As for the money spent when one stopped breathing, that was up to his descendants.

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

The next day, at the first glimmer of dawn, the sound of drums rang out again in the military camp, urging the soldiers to rise.

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

"What are you two doing here?" Chen Mo asked, puzzled.

"Reporting to you, sir. The Colonel said that you and Ma Cai are about to leave, so he ordered us to take over your horse-keeping duties," one of the soldiers quickly replied upon hearing his question.

Feeding horses was a skilled job, but also a grueling one. With Chen Mo and his companion leaving, someone had to step in immediately to take on the hard labor.

"Mo-ge, leave these two to me," Ding Bao said, sidling over.

Chen Mo nodded lightly and didn't bother with the matter further.

"Mo-ge, since we've got nothing to do now, how about we head over to White Bridge Town today?" Ma Cai suggested with a grin.

With others taking over their posts, the two of them were now free.

"Alright," Chen Mo nodded. Even if Ma Cai hadn't brought it up, he'd planned to take some time today to go to town and buy a few things.

Seeing him agree, Ma Cai could barely contain his excitement. He'd been at the camp for so long, and at most, he'd only ever gone to the market—and even then, it was when the fair was nearly over.

But today, he finally got to go to town, and that made him especially happy.

The two informed He Ma Guan of their plans and left the camp together.