Harvest

Chen Mo immediately searched the two men, seizing some silver and medicine. He did not count them, but simply bound his injured arm with a strip of cloth before leaving at once.

"I can no longer stay in this house."

He felt fortunate that he had sent Chen Lan to the Wu Family early; otherwise, he would have had to protect her tonight and certainly would not have been able to escape.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

Chen Mo arrived at the Wu Family estate and knocked on the door. A moment later, an elderly gatekeeper with white hair and beard opened it.

"You are... oh, you are the new guard, Chen. Come in, come in."

Chen Mo thanked him. Knowing the general layout of the Wu Family courtyard, he headed straight for the Martial Arts Hall, where there was some simple medicinal powder for external wounds and white cloth for bandaging.

Upon reaching the Martial Arts Hall, he found it empty in the dead of night. After applying the powder and bandaging himself, he did not disturb anyone, simply sitting in meditation to rest.

There was one important matter at hand: to integrate the insights gained from tonight's fierce battle and the Mountain and Water Cultivation into true martial arts essence.

He understood that the insights gained from the Mountain and Water Cultivation must be truly settled; otherwise, they would be like a castle in the air—too ethereal and unstable to control.

There were two ways to settle these insights: practicing the stake technique or engaging in actual combat, with the latter being far more effective.

"Hoo—"

He slowly calmed his ragged breathing and began to practice the Dragon-Subduing Stake Technique.

Once.

Twice.

After completing the eleventh repetition, a sharp glint flashed in Chen Mo's eyes. The battle tonight had been fully digested, and subtle, imperceptible changes had occurred in the clever force of his posture while practicing the stakes.

He took out the broken silver and medicine he had seized from the two killers and counted them. There were eight taels of silver, three packets of Yiqi Powder, and two bottles of Zengjin Pill.

"Eight taels of silver will be enough for a month or so."

Practicing martial arts was a money-burning endeavor.

The monthly food and medicinal supplements required by an ordinary martial artist far exceeded the annual expenditure of a poor family, not to mention the costs of tuition, weapons, and other expenses.

Therefore, many martial artists started out full of longing only to give up halfway, not just due to limited natural talent, but also because of these costs.

Chen Mo stood up and began to pace in the courtyard adjacent to the Martial Arts Hall.

The spring night was slightly chilly.

His thoughts drifted as he recalled the final answer given by the man in black.

First was the reason the Hansha Gang had attempted to assassinate him.

Killing for revenge?

That seemed unlikely. If it were to avenge the frustration of their caravan being intercepted, there would be no need for a midnight assassination.

Killing for treasure?

Chen Mo leaned more toward this reason. The vice-leader of the Hansha Gang must have suspected he possessed a precious manual, so he snuck into his home at night to carry out the assassination, intending to burn the place down after seizing the "treasure" to ensure the truth remained buried.

Thinking of this, a chill ran through Chen Mo's heart.

Possessing the "Mountain and Water Cultivation," even if others could not perceive it, would always attract covetous eyes.

"It is because my natural talent is lacking; otherwise, I would not have invited such suspicion..."

He muttered to himself.

Secondly, the man in black claimed he had never met the leader of the Hansha Gang. Chen Mo had a vague premonition that this defied common sense, especially when combined with the fact that the Hansha Gang had close ties to the Zhao Family, and the vice-leader took orders from the Zhao Family...

"Could the leader of the Hansha Gang be hiding within the Zhao Family?"

He shook his head, refusing to dwell on such distant matters.

The most urgent priority remained rapidly increasing his strength.

After walking around the Martial Arts Hall twice, Chen Mo returned inside and found a spot diagonally across from the door to rest.

Before long, the horizon turned a faint fish-belly white, and roosters began to crow in the streets outside.

Chen Mo rubbed his sleepy eyes and sat up.

Since he had entered the Ming Jin realm, his physique had become much sturdier. While he could not be called muscular, he looked like someone who practiced martial arts from a distance.

Now, even sleeping on a hard stone floor for the night did not make him feel the cold seeping into his body, which was one of the benefits of practicing martial arts.

Step, step...

At that moment, heavy footsteps echoed outside the Martial Arts Hall.

Chen Mo kept a calm expression and walked toward the door, seeing a man struggling to carry a jar of wine into the hall.

The man was not tall and had a scholarly air, clearly not accustomed to heavy labor.

Chen Mo brushed past him, but after a moment of thought, he turned back and lifted the wine jar over his head with one hand. The man couldn't help but gasp at the sight.

"Where should I put it?" Chen Mo asked him.

The man was stunned for a moment. "Put... put it in the east corner will do."

After placing the wine jar down, Chen Mo turned to leave, but the man suddenly said, "You are... you are Guard Chen?! The Guard Chen who saved everyone that day?!"

Chen Mo was taken aback.

It seemed this person was a member of the merchant caravan from that night; Chen Mo had no interaction with them, so he hadn't remembered him.

The man immediately took thirty copper coins from his person, trying to shove them into Chen Mo's hand. Chen Mo pulled his hand back at once, looking puzzled, "What is the meaning of this?"

The man laughed, "Guard Chen might not know, but here in the Wu Family, guards escorting caravans between Anyang County and Black River Town expend quite a bit of effort, sometimes even having to take shortcuts through mountain paths, so we provide the guards with a gratuity."

"A gratuity?" This was the first time Chen Mo had heard of such a thing, "The salary the Wu Family pays us already includes the duty of escorting; why must you pay an additional gratuity? Is this a tradition of the Wu Family?"

The man shook his head, "When the Third Young Lady was in charge of the caravan, there were no such rules, but ever since the Head of the Family and the Second Master intervened, these rules appeared. I already gave Guard Li Tu his gratuity, and this jar of wine was also brought for him, but since you are not often at the Wu Family estate, it was delayed until today."

Hearing this, Chen Mo understood the general situation, "I will take what I am owed, but I will not take a single cent of what I am not. Take it back."

Seeing that Chen Mo was sincere in his refusal, the man did not insist, instead saying earnestly, "Guard Chen, you are someone I truly admire. If you ever need me to do anything for you in the future, I, Wang Jing, will not refuse!"

Chen Mo was slightly stunned, then replied with a simple "Good."

He was not good at making small talk, so he did not say anything more, walking out of the Martial Arts Hall with Wang Jing in silence.

They walked until they reached the vicinity of the guest rooms, just as Chen Lan happened to be coming out of the house.

"Xiao Mo!"

"Sister!"

Seeing Chen Mo, she walked over quickly, but her expression froze the moment she noticed the blood-stained cloth wrapped around his arm.

"Your arm... what happened?!"

Chen Lan's voice trembled slightly.

Chen Mo smiled, "Sister, it's nothing. I fell while practicing martial arts; it will be fine in a couple of days."

Chen Lan was somewhat skeptical, but her gaze remained fixed on Chen Mo's injured arm.

At this moment, Wang Jing, who was standing to the side, suddenly said, "You are... Chen Mei's cousin, Chen Lan?"

Only then did Chen Lan notice Wang Jing standing nearby, and a look of surprise appeared on her face, "You are Chen Mei's husband?"

Wang Jing nodded, then suddenly looked at Chen Mo, "Then Guard Chen is..."

"My name is Chen Mo, Chen Mei's cousin."

Wang Jing looked as if he had been struck by lightning.

Back on the day of Wang Jing and Chen Mei's wedding, only Chen Lan had attended. Chen Mo had been working as a laborer in the Iron Furnace Room that day, and Wang Jing had only heard that the new Wu Family guard was surnamed Chen, not knowing his given name.

At home, Chen Mei had whispered in his ear more than once that she had a cousin named Chen Mo who was a good-for-nothing, but looking at him now...