Root Bone

Half a tael of silver every month!

The fishermen instantly surged forward in a swarm.

Regardless of age, everyone wanted to become a Sun Family crewman and earn that money. Countless people crowded together in a noisy mess.

The Sun Family steward leading the group soon lost patience and barked angrily.

"Stop shoving! Everyone over eighteen, get the hell back!"

"Clear the place out!"

At the steward's command, several burly men stepped forward.

They shoved back the rushing fishermen, spread their arms, and effortlessly cleared a large open space.

Wei Luo watched with a flicker of emotion. Those burly men were clearly martial practitioners.

It seemed Liu Changle had been right. Joining the Sun Family meant he would have a chance to learn martial arts.

Originally, Wei Luo had planned to save money diligently and enroll in a martial arts school once he had enough.

He had also asked about the costs. Just half a year of training required a full ten taels of silver.

But Feng Hao kept hounding him. At this rate, even after another year, he might not save enough money to train.

Right now, his best option was to join the Sun Family as a crewman—and get paid besides!

Before long, a long line had formed in the open space, all of them youths under eighteen.

They stepped forward one by one, and Sun Family martial practitioners kneaded and pinched their bodies all over, apparently feeling their bones.

Only one or two out of every ten passed the Sun Family's selection, and Wei Luo could not help worrying.

He had no idea what his own bone aptitude was like. If they examined his bones, would he pass?

Just then, someone called out from afar.

"Changle, hurry over here!"

The two turned to look. Old Liu was standing among the Sun Family group, with a somewhat scholarly-looking man beside him.

Wei Luo had seen the man several times and knew he was Liu Changle's third uncle, Liu Qing.

Seeing this arrangement, Liu Changle knew his chance to join the Sun Family had come. His face immediately lit up with excitement.

He was about to head over, but then paused and looked at Wei Luo beside him. After hesitating briefly, he said,

"Come on, Wei Luo. Let's go over together."

Old Liu was somewhat surprised to see Wei Luo follow along, but he said nothing. Whether this would work out in the end still depended on luck.

Soon, Liu Changle's third uncle respectfully invited over someone—the steward leading the Sun Family group.

As the steward strode over, Wei Luo sensibly stood to one side, watching without speaking.

Uncle Liu had already explained things to him. They would have their bones examined privately first; if it did not work out, there would still be room for negotiation.

If they underwent the examination openly and failed, there would not be the slightest chance left.

"Steward Li, this is my young nephew. He's just the right age. Could you see whether he can be recruited into the household and serve our Sun Family?"

Steward Li merely raised his eyes to glance at the two of them before drawling,

"Our Sun Family has strict thresholds for recruitment. Not just anyone can enter."

He dragged out the last words, and Third Uncle immediately understood. Turning slightly, he slipped several pieces of broken silver into Steward Li's hand.

Steward Li lightly weighed them, and his tone promptly changed.

"Of course, our Sun Family likes to use our own people best. We know their roots and background, so we can use them with peace of mind."

As he spoke, he called over a man responsible for examining bones and instructed him to inspect Wei Luo and Liu Changle first.

The man viciously pinched around Liu Changle's limb joints, making Liu Changle's tears nearly spill.

"Steward Li, this boy's bone aptitude is below average. He barely meets the threshold for learning martial arts."

After hearing the man's report, Steward Li put on a troubled expression.

"Barely, huh... That means we can take him, or we can choose not to..."

At this, a pained look flashed across Old Liu's face as he took out several more pieces of broken silver.

The Sun Family did not recruit often. He did not want his son to become a fisherman for life like himself, so even gritting his teeth, he had to send Liu Changle into the Sun Family.

In the blink of an eye, nearly five taels of silver had gone.

Once Steward Li accepted the money, he immediately made the decision.

"All right. Liu Qing, register this boy later."

Only then did Old Liu's suspended heart settle back down.

In truth, he had long had someone examine Liu Changle's bones, so he naturally knew Liu Changle's chances of passing the selection were slim. But as long as he got into the Sun Family, everything afterward could be discussed.

Next came Wei Luo's bone examination.

The man pinched along Wei Luo's spine, and Wei Luo immediately felt a wave of soreness, numbness, and pain. By the time the examination was done, he was drenched in cold sweat.

The man said flatly,

"Steward Li, this boy's bone aptitude is even worse. If he learns martial arts, his achievements will be very limited."

Those words made Wei Luo's heart tighten.

This time, Steward Li glanced at him, but his expression suddenly turned serious.

"This won't do. If the master's family asks, bone aptitude being a little poor can still be explained away. Worse than that, and there's no explaining it."

"All right, this ends here. I still have to oversee the selection."

With that, Steward Li turned and left with the man who examined bones.

Wei Luo immediately frowned. Although Steward Li had the authority to decide whom to recruit, he was ultimately still a Sun Family steward working for the Sun Family.

Steward Li was clearly unwilling to take too great a risk. Yet to lose his chance to learn martial arts because of that left Wei Luo deeply unwilling.

"Xiao Luo, don't be too disappointed. Even if martial arts don't work out, with your skills, you can still become an excellent fisherman and never worry about food or drink..."

Seeing this, Old Liu offered a few words of comfort. Even the normally lively Liu Changle said nothing, only coming over to pat his shoulder.

But Wei Luo suddenly said,

"Maybe there's still a turning point."

Hearing this, Old Liu gave a faint sigh.

Steward Li had already made himself perfectly clear. What turning point could there be?

He merely thought Wei Luo was unwilling to accept it.

Wei Luo was naturally not speaking nonsense. He had already begun using the Great Thousand Revelation to deduce the outcome!

[How can I enter the Sun Family with my bone aptitude?]

[Time required: half a year]

This was the result of his first deduction. But the time required was too long, so Wei Luo did not continue and instead changed the conditions.

[With my bone aptitude, is there still a turning point in this matter?]

[Time required: ten breaths]

[Yes.]

Wei Luo had experimented with this long ago. As long as he asked the Great Thousand Revelation for specific information, the required time would be very long.

But if he simplified the deduction, he could obtain an answer in a short time.

[Where is the turning point?]

[Time required: twenty days]

Wei Luo understood that Steward Li was the key breakthrough, so he began another deduction.

[What do I need to do to persuade Steward Li?]

[Time required: 7 days]

Wei Luo tried all manner of deduction conditions and found that the seven days concerning Steward Li was the shortest.

But he could not wait that long, so he approached Liu Changle's third uncle again.

There was another way to shorten the deduction time: learn more information.

"Uncle Liu Qing, I'd like to ask about Steward Li."

A trace of impatience flashed through Liu Qing's eyes. To send Liu Changle into the Sun Family, he had already owed others favors.

Wei Luo was not part of the Liu family, and Liu Qing could not be bothered to say much to him.

But Old Liu sighed again and said,

"Third Brother, since Wei Luo wants to try again, there's no harm in telling him."

Thus, Wei Luo began questioning him specifically about Steward Li.

This included, but was not limited to, how old Steward Li was, where he lived, how many people were in his household, whether he snored when sleeping, and how many times a day he went to the privy...

In short, Wei Luo asked about everything concerning Steward Li, down to the tiniest detail.

Liu Qing initially thought Wei Luo merely wanted to curry favor with Steward Li, but the questioning left him drenched in sweat.

He even began wondering whether Wei Luo had developed a grudge and was waiting for a chance to take revenge on Steward Li.

[Time required: 7 days → 6 days → ... → half a day]

"Steward Li's wife seems to have come down with some strange illness lately. In this blazing weather, she wraps herself in a thick quilt and won't get out of bed, saying she's afraid of the cold...

"He found a doctor in town to examine her. It seemed to be called evil energy entering the body. They've been struggling with it for more than half a month, but there's been no improvement."

Dozens of minutes later, the conversation had drifted to Steward Li's wife.

But the moment Liu Qing spoke those words, Wei Luo's heart stirred.

[Time required: half a day → ten breaths]

Hadn't the turning point just arrived!

"Great Thousand Revelation, deduce it for me!"

[What do I need to do to persuade Steward Li?]

[Time required: ten breaths]

[The illness suffered by Steward Li's wife, Fan-shi, is not incurable. She only needs a treasure fish as medicine. Crimson Firefin has a yang nature and can serve as the principal ingredient.]

Wei Luo was overjoyed and looked at the fish basket resting by Old Liu's feet.