A Hefty Reward

The group arrived at the foot of the mountain and called over some farmers to help transport the black bear back to the Garrison.

When the farmers heard that the black bear had been slain by youths from the Garrison, they were overjoyed. Delighted beyond measure, they took the initiative to call friends and neighbors over to help the four transport the bear's corpse.

After all, many farmers nearby had already been eaten, leaving everyone uneasy and fearful that they would be the next to be swallowed whole.

Now that someone had rid the people of this scourge, they naturally wanted to lend a hand—and watch the excitement while they were at it. They had heard the black bear was enormous beyond compare. If they did not come to see it this time, they might never get another chance in their lives.

When the farmers saw the gigantic Black Bear Spirit lying in a pool of blood, their hearts pounded wildly. Though it was dead beyond doubt and posed no threat to them anymore, it still left lingering fear in their hearts.

"You truly are young heroes, having rid us common folk of such a menace!" an older farmer praised Qin Sheng, Lin Xuan, and the others.

Faced with such praise, Qin Sheng could not stop the corners of his mouth from lifting. He laughed heartily. "One day, Qin Sheng will rid the people of even more scourges!"

As he said this, Lin Xuan glanced at him and gained a little more respect for Qin Sheng.

At that moment, Qin Huai tugged on Qin Sheng's arm and muttered something to him in a low voice.

The black bear was too massive to transport whole, so they could only chop it apart and haul it away on carts. It took five or six carts to load all the bear meat before they could begin transporting it back to the Garrison.

The bear's head sat on the foremost cart. Though dead, it still wore that savage, ferocious expression, chilling all who looked upon it.

The group returned to the military Garrison from Rou Mountain in grand fashion, drawing many men, women, old people, and children along the way. They discussed it animatedly. With such a crowd gathering, news of this matter would soon spread throughout the area.

After running about all day, their inner garments were drenched with sweat. They had long since removed their iron helmets to cool off, sweat streaming down from their temples. Yet they did not take off their armor. Only by keeping it on could the people along the road recognize at a glance who had rid them of the bear menace.

Before long, all the bear meat had been transported to the Garrison.

The Garrison soldiers also came out to watch, and quite a few children of military households even wanted to ask whether the bear meat was for sale.

Once Qin Sheng saw that the meat had arrived at the Garrison, he had people cut it up and gave each farmer who had escorted the meat a jin as payment.

There were about thirteen people, and each received a jin.

When the farmers learned that Qin Sheng intended to give them bear meat, they were delighted beyond measure, yet they did not quite dare accept it. They had seen too many officers extort them for food and goods, forcing them to work for officers and constables without pay.

This youth's initiative in offering them compensation instead made them feel uneasy.

Seeing this, Qin Sheng immediately said to them, "Everyone, please accept the bear meat. Qin Sheng sincerely wishes to compensate you."

Though exploitation and corruption among Garrison officers had become commonplace, Qin Sheng had grown up in such an environment without being tainted by it in the slightest. Making others work for him for nothing was not in his nature.

His father had said more than once that this way of doing things was foolish, but Qin Sheng did not care. He held fast to his own principles.

Seeing Qin Sheng's resolute attitude, the farmers accepted the bear meat and happily returned home.

Bear meat was outrageously expensive now. They could neither afford to buy it nor afford to eat it. They had merely put in some labor and received a jin for free—anyone would consider that a blessing as great as the heavens.

During this time, Lin Xuan also noticed that the meat given to the farmers all came from the smaller bear. It contained very little true qi, and its benefits to martial cultivation were not much greater than those of ordinary livestock.

Qin Sheng was not simply being extravagantly generous. He had acted only after weighing the pros and cons. This bear hunt meant more to him than martial resources and greater cultivation—it would also raise his influence in the local area.

After distributing the farmers' reward, Qin Sheng turned around and divided the remaining meat among their own group.

After removing the organs, bones, hides, and other parts from the two black bears, there were still five hundred and twenty jin of meat left!

According to the shares agreed upon beforehand, the two bears were divided separately by proportion rather than mixed together. Qin Sheng received 234 jin, Lin Xuan received 130 jin, and Qin Huai and Li He received 78 jin each.

Of Lin Xuan's share, 107.5 jin came from the larger bear and 22.5 jin from the smaller one. It was already quite a good haul.

The organs beneficial to martial cultivation, such as bear hearts and bear gallbladders, as well as the bones that could be simmered into soup, were also divided evenly.

Lin Xuan received 36 jin of organs, including portions of rare items such as bear heart and bear gallbladder, as well as 66 jin of bones for making soup.

As for the blood... in the martial cultivation system, it was rather like a chicken rib—hardly worth the trouble. Drinking it raw had the best effect, but doing so would disrupt the body's balance of yin and yang and lead to deficiencies in qi and blood. The loss outweighed the gain.

Once blood was cooked, its effect in replenishing qi and blood greatly diminished, and pairing it with medicinal ingredients did not work particularly well either.

Thus, blood was usually considered scraps and sold extremely cheaply, nowhere near as valuable as meat, bones, or organs. Only those who were very poor yet still wanted to practice martial arts would buy it.

As for the bear hides, Qin Sheng planned to sell them and distribute the money according to their agreement.

"Brother Lin Xuan, this meat cannot be finished in a short time. You can preserve it with salt to keep it from spoiling.

The true qi in fresh meat will gradually disperse within a month, even if it is made into cured meat, until it becomes no different from ordinary cured meat.

Think it through carefully. You can sell the bear meat to military households within the Garrison. The large black bear's meat contains true qi and can sell for 150 copper coins per jin. The small black bear's meat can sell for 60 copper coins per jin. The organs and bones can sell for 90 copper coins per jin. They are all good things that benefit martial cultivation."

Lin Xuan made a rough calculation. His gains from this bear hunt came to around eighteen taels of silver, with the difference not exceeding one tael. That was already quite considerable—equivalent to how many years of farming income?

Lin Xuan could not calculate it, because his family's fields had produced no harvest for many years.

Even if all this bear meat were made into cured meat, it could not be finished in a short time. Not to mention that the true qi within meat naturally dissipated over time. If it was not handled properly, then even without rotting, it would eventually become no different from ordinary meat.

The same principle applied to grain. Aged grain was simply less helpful to martial cultivation than fresh grain, unless it was brewed into alcohol, which preserved the true qi for somewhat longer.

But beast meat and organs could not be preserved by soaking them in alcohol. Doing so would instead harm the body. Only bones could barely be soaked in alcohol to preserve their true qi.

Therefore, Lin Xuan had to sell off part of the meat to prevent it from losing value.

After calculating in his heart, Lin Xuan had an idea.

He and Lin An would eat two and a half jin of large-bear meat each day. In thirty days, they would need seventy-five jin, just enough to finish it before the true qi in the cured meat dissipated.

The smaller bear's meat was of little use to martial cultivation. Of the organs, he would keep only five jin of bear heart and bear liver to cook and eat. He would sell the remaining thirty-two-plus jin of large-bear meat, all the smaller bear meat, and thirty-one jin of other organs for cash.

That way, he could absorb all the true qi without wasting any while also obtaining around six taels of silver to keep on hand for household expenses and any future crises. Nothing could be more prudent.