The Ginseng Spirit Art in Hand (1 / 2)

"You're up? Your mother saved you some food. You were sleeping so soundly that she didn't wake you. Go eat."

Seeing Zhao Er get up, Zhao Dazhu set down the woodcutting blade in his hand and spoke. A faint smile appeared on his face, but he said nothing about the blade or the clothes.

"I sent your younger brother to play at the village entrance. Hurry and eat. Are you heading into the mountains afterward?"

His mother, Zhang Xuan'e, had come out as well. She spoke to Zhao Er, though there was a trace of worry in her eyes as she looked at him.

"The mountains... I won't go today. I'll go collect things first thing tomorrow morning. But I still need to make a trip to the county town today. I left something behind yesterday."

Since neither of his parents mentioned the clothes or the woodcutting blade, Zhao Er did not bring them up either. After answering, he sat down at the table and began wolfing down his food.

He suspected his parents had guessed something, but with matters like this, an unspoken understanding was enough. There was no need to say it aloud.

"Son, I haven't seen much of the world, and I'm getting old. From now on, you should be in charge of this family."

While Zhao Er ate and drank heartily, his father, Zhao Dazhu, came over. First, he placed the freshly sharpened woodcutting blade on the table, then set the heavy money pouch beside it. Finally, he pushed both toward Zhao Er.

"All right!"

Looking at the blade and money pouch before him, Zhao Er glanced at his father and then at his mother, whose back was turned to him. He did not decline, but nodded firmly in acceptance.

After finishing the food in his bowl, Zhao Er tucked the woodcutting blade back at his waist beneath the hem of his clothes. Then he took five taels of loose silver from the pouch and carried the rest over to his mother, Zhang Xuan'e.

"Mother, cook more meat for us from now on. I need to eat more to practice martial arts. If you run short of money, tell me. I'll find a way."

"All right. We'll do as you say from now on!"

Zhang Xuan'e accepted the money pouch naturally, then smiled and nodded.

Once his mother agreed, Zhao Er left the house and headed toward the county town.

On the way, Zhao Er took out the money pouches he had searched off Li San and his underling yesterday. All the odds and ends in the two pouches amounted to just one tael of silver and a few dozen copper coins.

He kept the money. As for the two pouches, when he passed a small river, Zhao Er stuffed a few stones inside them and threw them into the water.

This time, he did not have to push a wheelbarrow or carry anything, so Zhao Er walked quickly. In less than two hours, he had reached the medicine shop in the county town.

Zhao Cai was somewhat surprised to see Zhao Er. After hearing why he had come, however, he considered it briefly before taking out a booklet.

"Young man, if you want to practice it, I'll give you this Ginseng Spirit Art for free, provided you're willing to keep buying angelica and astragalus from me. Once you've succeeded in cultivating spirit blood, I'll also be happy to find you a buyer."

"Haha, Shopkeeper Zhao, you must be joking. Why would I practice this? I'm just curious and want to take a look. Please name your price."

Zhao Er merely smiled and waved off the offer.

"In that case, how about three taels of silver?"

Only after noticing Zhao Er's slightly darkened palms did Zhao Cai begin to understand. He believed Zhao Er would not practice it himself, but he certainly did not believe that Zhao Er merely wanted to take a look. Still, he had no reason to turn away silver handed to him on a platter. As for what Zhao Er actually intended to do with it, he could not be bothered to meddle.

In truth, this cultivation art had cost him nothing. Arts of this sort circulated through all kinds of medicine shops. What had value was never the art itself, but the spirit blood produced after successful cultivation, along with the angelica and astragalus that had to be consumed continually.

Zhao Er did not bargain and paid three taels of silver outright. The price was considerably lower than he had expected.

After paying and putting the cultivation art away, Zhao Er turned to leave. This time, he did not linger in the county town, but headed straight home.

While Zhao Er was in the county town, in the courtyard of the Longwind Gang's tavern back in the market town...

Gang leader Luo Yu lifted the straw mat and glanced at Li San, whose head remained attached to his body by only a thin strip of skin and flesh. Then he covered him again and questioned Li San's other two underlings:

"Has Li San offended anyone lately?"

"Uh... n-no."

After thinking briefly, the two underlings shook their heads in unison.

Indeed, they did not think they had offended anyone.

Li San only bullied the weak, beating or cursing ordinary people at every turn. He was the sort who would stew a village dog for dinner just because it had walked past him.

Yet Li San was perfectly obedient toward the town's wealthy and influential families, or any household with a martial artist.

The two did not believe ordinary people would dare take revenge on the Longwind Gang, and they truly had not offended anyone with power or influence.

"Mm, understood. From now on, you'll take over the villages Li San handled, and you'll collect their protection silver too. You're dismissed! Take Li San out and bury him while you're at it!"

After hearing the two underlings' answers, Luo Yu casually pointed at one of them, appointing him as a leader, then waved them away.

"Gang leader, are we just letting this go?"

Seeing that the gang leader seemed to have no intention of investigating further, someone beside him spoke up.

"Don't you know what sort of scum Li San was? Whoever killed him was almost certainly from one of those villages. But don't forget what time it is. All of you had better behave yourselves for the next fortnight. If even a fraction of the protection silver goes missing, we'll all die. Don't lose sight of what matters!"

Luo Yu swept his gaze around. Hearing his words and recalling what happened when protection silver went missing, everyone around him shuddered and dared not say another word.

By the time Zhao Er returned home, the sun was already high overhead, its scorching glare making people dizzy.

In weather like this, his parents truly could not go out to work. Besides, his father, Zhao Dazhu, still had injuries on his face. Thus, when Zhao Er returned, his parents and younger sister were all resting in the shade beneath the eaves.

"No one came while I was out, right?"

Zhao Er asked as he drank the cool water his younger sister brought him.

"No outsiders have come to the village at all today."

"You must be tired after walking so far. Eat first! I'll go buy some meat this afternoon and stew it for you."

His parents' answers let Zhao Er breathe a sigh of relief.

Still, he did not dare be too optimistic. He felt he had covered his tracks fairly well, but some matters did not require so-called evidence.

As for his parents perhaps having guessed something, that did not matter.

"All right!"

Zhao Er nodded, quickly finished his meal, then went into the side room. Rather than comforting his family and telling them not to worry, he would be better off becoming a true martial artist and giving them the most solid sense of security.

Once inside the side room, Zhao Er immediately began carefully reading through the Ginseng Spirit Art he had bought.

As he read, Zhao Er began to truly understand why this cultivation art circulated so widely.

Living on medicinal herbs such as angelica and astragalus was not actually the core of this cultivation art.

To nourish human blood through that method, even to the point where it could rival Spirit Ginseng, would require far too many medicinal herbs and far too much time.

The true core of this cultivation art was precisely the guiding technique within it.