Rewards!

"Stop wasting breath! Didn't you hear Lord Zhou tell us to get to work? Call Old Li over to check the accounts!" The lead guard swept his hand sharply and barked. As if waking from a dream, everyone hurriedly scattered to their tasks, and the courtyard was soon brightly lit.

Yet not long after, another commotion broke out. Old Li's corpse was carried over as well, a clean, decisive slash gaping across his neck, the blood already congealed into a dark brown.

Zhou Chen looked at the corpse and sighed. "It seems Du Ruming had prepared every contingency for his escape tonight. Old Li died by his hand."

Before his words had faded, a man named Liu Aofei hurried over with the account book in his arms and bowed. "Lord Zhou need not lament him. Old Li had clearly conspired with that criminal Du to falsify the accounts. Who knew how much silver they had embezzled? He deserved to be silenced!"

"So that was it." Zhou Chen revealed just the right trace of surprise, as though he had only now learned the inside story.

After a night of checking the accounts, they discovered that the storehouse was short by more than a thousand taels of silver. Zhou Chen's eyelid twitched when he heard it. He only earned a little over sixty taels a year—Du Ruming had truly been brazen beyond measure!

Meanwhile, at the Lian Household residence, breakfast had just been cleared away.

Lian Taoze wiped his mouth and rose. "Father, Uncle, I'm going to find Jing Yue. I promised to accompany her flower-viewing today."

Lian Yunhe and Lian Yunfeng nodded with smiles.

Just as Lian Yunhe was about to offer a few words of advice, a servant stumbled through the door, his face deathly pale and his breath ragged. "B-bad news! Master, Young Master! Something happened at Storehouse Number Two!"

Everyone at the table was shocked.

Lian Yunhe and Lian Yunfeng sprang to their feet. Even the women's faces changed at once. Storehouse Number Two was one of the Lian Household's core storage facilities; not the slightest mishap could be tolerated.

"Speak! What happened?" Lian Yunhe shouted sternly.

"T-the storehouse keeper Du Ruming stole from his position, colluded with the accountant to falsify the books, and privately diverted and sold medicinal materials worth nearly a thousand taels. Last night, he even tried to flee with another batch of medicinal materials..."

The servant was panting heavily, but before he could finish, Lian Yunfeng smashed a fist onto the table.

"What?! Such a thing happened?!" Lian Yunfeng's face turned livid, and the bowls and chopsticks rattled loudly.

With his heart aflame with anxiety, Lian Yunhe pressed, "Which way did that villain Du flee? Did you send anyone after him? It's one thing if the medicinal materials cannot be recovered, but the man must be captured! Otherwise, if word gets out, where will the Lian Household's face be?"

Lian Taoze's expression changed as he hurriedly asked in concern, "Is Junior Brother Zhou all right?!"

Zhou Chen had only just entered the martial path. How could he possibly be a match for an old hand like Du Ruming? He could only pray that Zhou Chen had not been injured!

Hearing this, Lian Yunfeng became both anxious and furious. He turned to Lian Taoze and snapped, "We should never have indulged you and assigned Zhou Chen there in the first place! He has only just entered the martial path—how could he stop an old hand like Du Ruming? Du Ruming must have counted on that before daring to betray us and flee overnight! In my view, we should have stationed a Martial Warrior of comparable strength there from the start. How would he have dared to be so rampant then?!"

"Uncle, that's not how it is!"

Lian Taoze panicked, yet he did not know how to defend himself.

The servant hurriedly said, "Master, please calm your anger! Young Master, please calm your anger! I haven't finished! Du Ruming didn't escape—Lord Zhou killed him on the spot! Lord Zhou checked the accounts and organized the evidence overnight. Lord Zhou Chen has brought the account books and the corpses of Du Ruming and the others, and is waiting outside right now!"

"What?!"

This time, Lian Taoze was the first to cry out.

If he remembered correctly, Junior Brother Zhou had only been practicing martial arts for just over two months. How could he possess such strength...

Lian Yunfeng's anger turned to delight, and he laughed. "Hahaha! Xiao Ze, your Junior Brother Zhou is no ordinary man! Hurry and invite him in!"

Lost medicinal materials could be earned back, but lost face was truly gone for good. Zhou Chen had preserved the Lian Household's dignity, an unexpected delight indeed.

Very soon, Zhou Chen entered the main hall with the account books. In concise terms, he recounted what had happened. Just as he had expected, every bit of blame was firmly laid upon Du Ruming.

Instead, he was rewarded with an additional twenty taels of silver for protecting the storehouse.

He declined twice before calmly accepting it.

Including the reward and the money he had taken from the bodies, his savings had now reached over fifty taels—enough for him to cultivate without worry for more than two or three months.

Lian Taoze could not help asking, "Junior Brother, how did you kill Du Ruming?"

Zhou Chen did not hide anything and answered frankly, "My fist technique has reached Minor Accomplishment. Du Ruming lowered his guard at the time, so I struck while he was unprepared. I failed to control my strength and killed him."

"Minor Accomplishment in your fist technique?!" Lian Taoze's eyes widened. "Junior Brother, you have only been at the hall for a little over two months, haven't you? You spent the earlier time practicing the Stake-Standing Exercise. In other words, it took you just over twenty days to cultivate the Wild Bull Fist to Minor Accomplishment?!"

At those words, Lian Yunfeng, who was stroking his beard from the seat of honor, jolted and actually tore out several hairs. He sucked in a cold breath and turned to Lian Yunhe, only to find no less shock in the other man's eyes.

"Xiao Ze, how long did it take for your fist technique to reach Minor Accomplishment?" Lian Yunfeng asked in a low voice.

"It took me nearly half a year!" Lian Taoze shook his head repeatedly, the shock still lingering in his voice. "Father, Uncle, do you know that Zhang Shaojiu, that genius with superior innate aptitude who entered the hall alongside Junior Brother, still hasn't broken through to Minor Accomplishment in his fist technique? Junior Brother's comprehension can no longer be described as merely superior—it is simply peerless!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Lian Yunfeng made the decision. "Heh heh, Nephew Zhou has helped the Lian Household recover such a great loss this time. From now on, add another three packets of Blood-Boiling Powder to his monthly allotment!"

At that moment, he was incomparably glad that he had listened to Lian Taoze and given Zhou Chen three packets of Blood-Boiling Powder each month. Back then, it had been like sending charcoal in the snow.

Now, doubling it was like adding flowers to brocade. It was both a reward and a gesture of goodwill.

"Thank you, Uncle Yunfeng!"

Zhou Chen was delighted and cupped his hands in thanks.

Three more packets of Blood-Boiling Powder every month meant another expense spared for him.

After that, Zhou Chen sensibly took his leave. Such a major incident had occurred, and the Lian Household would surely need to check the accounts and reorganize its internal affairs. He was also eager to return and refine that Flesh Lingzhi as soon as possible.

Lian Taoze escorted him out, then went to find Jing Yue and view flowers.

After Zhou Chen left, Lian Yunfeng shook his head regretfully. "What a pity for such a fine seedling. If his innate aptitude were at least average, he would be worth the Lian Household's full efforts to win over. What a pity, truly a pity! With inferior innate aptitude, his achievements are destined to be limited!"

Lian Yunhe favored commerce and did not know much about the ways of Martial Warriors. He asked, "Brother, is innate aptitude truly that important in martial arts?"

"Of course. You have never practiced martial arts, so you do not understand its workings. Innate aptitude determines a person's upper limit. Take Xiao Ze, for example. His aptitude is above average, yet how long has he been stuck at Minor Accomplishment of the Second-Rank Martial Artist realm? So much silver is poured into him every year. After each attempt at breaking through, Xiao Ze tells me with a pale face that it feels as though an ant stands before a giant boulder, utterly unable to climb over it!"

Lian Yunfeng rose to his feet and gazed out into the courtyard, muttering, "This is the Realm Barrier that countless martial artists pale at the mention of. Realm Barrier, Realm Barrier—each realm is a pass, and every pass is hard to cross. Some people cannot cross it even until the day they die. Innate aptitude is the stepping stone for crossing those Realm Barriers. The better one's aptitude, the greater the chance of crossing them!"

"Nephew Zhou only happened to break through the First Grade Realm Barrier after drinking Qi-Blood Soup for several months, along with a bit of luck. Once the supply of Qi-Blood Soup is gone and his family can no longer support him, he certainly will not be able to eat white meat every meal. To replenish his Blood Vitality, he can only eat Gray Meat. But if he eats too much Gray Meat, Miasma Poison will accumulate in his meridians, creating a vicious cycle. His future achievements will truly be limited. That is why I regret it—such high comprehension, yet wasted."

Lian Yunhe slowly nodded, a faint pleased smile on his face. "Fortunately, Xiao Fei's aptitude is far better than Xiao Ze's. Now that he has earned the favor of the Plum Rain Martial Hall's master, Xiao Ze's temperament truly is not suited to martial arts. He should marry and establish himself early, then focus on managing the family's trading houses in the future."

He was speaking of Lian Taoze's cousin, Lian Taofei.

The family had invested more in Lian Taofei than in Lian Taoze because Lian Taofei's aptitude was even better. Before long, he might have a chance to challenge the Second-Rank Martial Artist Realm Barrier.

Yet Lian Yunfeng did not continue the subject. Instead, he shook his head slightly, his brows knitting without his notice. "Xiao Fei is in the limelight now, and the master of the Plum Rain Martial Hall values him so highly. That may not necessarily be a good thing."