Zhang Xiaohua would not shirk responsibility.
But if Zhang Xiaohua were to bear that responsibility, he hesitated as well.
Leaving aside the information he had gleaned from Zhang Xiaohua through indirect probing, his cultivation of this Internal Energy Cultivation Method was utterly different from He Tianshu and the others'. How could he explain to them why the herbs had withered? Besides, even if he bravely took responsibility, would He Tianshu and the others truly believe it was Zhang Xiaohua's fault, rather than think Zhang Xiaohua had fabricated an excuse to help them evade blame?
Those were still secondary matters. The most crucial point was that Zhang Xiaohua felt he lacked the means to bear the consequences of this mistake. The thousand taels of silver he had only just received, not even warmed in his hands yet, did not seem nearly enough to compensate for these herbs.
Thinking of that silver growing wings and flying away, Zhang Xiaohua's heart ached fiercely.
But if his unintentional mistake caused He Tianshu and the others to suffer severe punishment from the Medicine Hall, that was something Zhang Xiaohua did not wish to see either.
Thus, Zhang Xiaohua was caught in an agonizing tangle.
Yet the sun had already climbed high in the sky, and still He Tianshu and the others had not come over. Zhang Xiaohua found it most strange. The herbs in the medicinal fields had withered to such a state—how could they not be concerned? Had they not been panic-stricken yesterday? How had they all changed temperament after just one night?
Zhang Xiaohua hurried back to the courtyard and knocked on the doors one by one, but received no response. He was immediately puzzled. They had all vanished so early in the morning—where had they gone? But upon further thought, he knew