The Plan

A short while later, Lin Xiao handed the finished pouch to Tietou and looked at the others.

Sun Yigao didn't much want to follow everyone else's lead in this matter, so he promptly refused.

"I'll go home this afternoon and fetch some cloth to make one."

Then he looked at Liu Yunan and the others, who were eager to give it a try.

"Shall I bring a piece for each of you this afternoon, too? My family has plenty of cloth."

He looked very much like a fool with more money than sense.

Before Liu Yunan, Qin Jianghe, or Lin Yun could refuse, Sun Yigao made the decision.

"It's settled, then. I'll bring it all over this afternoon and save everyone the trouble of running back and forth."

Since Sun Yigao was so eager to treat them, nobody refused.

That was especially true for Liu Yunan. Including the one he was wearing, he had only two trouser belts in all. If he took one, he wouldn't have a spare when he washed the other.

The three of them thanked Sun Yigao, feeling rather embarrassed.

Meanwhile, Jiang Youfu and Hu Liang excitedly played with their Storage Bags.

As noon drew near and time ran short, Lin Xiao hurriedly organized everyone to head upstream along Mountain Stream and continue their great undertaking of digging mud.

Of course, Lin Xiao, Jiang Youfu, and Hu Liang held up their trousers while they found some grass to tie them on as best they could before going to dig.

Once they finished digging, everyone returned to the sect for lunch.

Sun Yigao went down the mountain and headed home to fetch the cloth.

After he returned up the mountain with an entire bolt of cloth on his shoulder, Lin Xiao immediately made four Storage Bags from it.

One used the most cloth and had the largest storage space, so it naturally went to Sun Yigao.

The other three were of equal size and were given to Qin Jianghe, Lin Yun, and Liu Yunan.

An ordinary, uneventful day passed in the blink of an eye.

Before going down the mountain that evening, Lin Xiao explained how he intended to divide everyone's duties in the sect.

Those who heard they had been appointed elders were delighted.

Lin Xiao spoke to Liu Yunan and Jiang Youfu, the only two who hadn't been given positions.

"These positions are just for taking the lead. At the moment, our sect mainly needs these few positions and doesn't have any others yet. But before long, our sect will have more and more going on, so don't be upset."

Liu Yunan grinned.

"Brother Xiao would never shortchange me. I'm not upset at all."

Jiang Youfu nodded repeatedly.

"Right, right. Brother Xiao would never forget about me."

With that, Lin Xiao told everyone, "I'm planning to go with my dad to the big market in town tomorrow and earn some money for our sect."

Hearing this, Qin Jianghe was very interested and immediately asked, "Brother Xiao, what are you planning to do to earn money?"

Lin Xiao bared his big white teeth at everyone.

"With these!"

"I'm planning to take some flour and tell people it's a special medicinal powder that cleans teeth. Then I'll clean their teeth on the spot. What do you think? Not a bad idea, right?"

Tietou nodded as though pounding garlic.

"If I had money in my pocket, I'd definitely pay for that!"

The others all agreed.

After all, their teeth really were white after being cleaned like that!

Then Lin Xiao asked Jiang Youfu, "Fuzi, how's your Dust Removal Technique coming along?"

Jiang Youfu scratched his head and said somewhat sheepishly, "It's... going all right, I guess? I still don't really know how to use it. I tried cleaning my teeth this morning, but they didn't seem to change..."

Lin Xiao nodded.

Beside them, Sun Yigao pondered for a moment.

"Brother Xiao, let me try that Law Technique too?"

Only then did Lin Xiao remember that he hadn't yet given those Law Techniques to Sun Yigao and Liu Yunan, who had just advanced to the Qi Refining First Layer. He hurriedly took out the copies of the Purification Technique, Hundred Beasts Spirit Speech, and Body Immobilization Technique he had prepared earlier from his private stores.

He handed out a copy to each person.

Then he said to everyone, "I'll give you these Law Techniques directly. Those of you who haven't reached the Qi Refining First Layer should keep cultivating for now. Once you get there, find some free time to learn the Law Techniques as your circumstances allow. But don't put the cart before the horse. After all, only with higher cultivation can we use more Law Techniques."

After saying that, he gave them a few more pointers on learning Law Techniques, then turned to Qin Jianghe.

"Jianghe, as our newly appointed financial elder, do you have time to come to town with me tomorrow?"

Qin Jianghe immediately nodded excitedly.

"Of course, of course! My mother is going to the market tomorrow too. Let's go together!"

Lin Xiao saw that Tietou, Fuzi, and the others looked as though they wanted to go too, so he smiled at them.

"You'd better not come. There's no use in a whole crowd of us standing around there. Stay at the sect and focus on cultivating."

Jiang Youfu was full of regret that he hadn't learned the Dust Removal Technique. If he had, he could have been included in the trip to town.

Seeing Jiang Youfu's expression, Lin Xiao knew without thinking what he was thinking, so he immediately said, "Fuzi, don't bury yourself in learning Law Techniques over a little thing like this. The higher your cultivation, the easier it'll be to learn and use Law Techniques. If I find out you've neglected your cultivation to focus on learning Law Techniques, I'll beat you up."

Hearing this, Jiang Youfu quickly shook his head, making the flesh of his cheeks wobble, and assured Lin Xiao, "Don't worry, Brother Xiao! I'll definitely focus on cultivating."

Once they had finished discussing their business, everyone said goodbye to Fellow Daoist Xiaoluan and headed down the mountain together.

When Liu Yunan got home, he entered the courtyard to find his mother sitting by the stove, staring blankly ahead with a worried look on her face.

"Mother."

Hearing her son's voice, Widow Liu came back to herself and gave him a faint smile.

"You're back?"

Liu Yunan went over to the stove and checked the fire. It was fine; the food hadn't burned. Then he asked, "How's Little Sister?"

At the mention of her, Widow Liu's face filled with worry again.

"She's back, but she still has a fever. We had a dose of medicine brewed at the medical hall in town, and she took it, but there's been no improvement. Sigh, the money I took was only enough for the consultation and one dose of medicine."

Widow Liu wearily propped her forehead in her palm, her face troubled.

"The doctor said that if her fever doesn't break by tomorrow, things might not look good. What are we going to do about Sheng'er... I'm really afraid she won't pull through..."

Liu Yunan felt utterly helpless.

He was only twelve years old and wasn't as sturdy as Tietou. Even if someone like him wanted to find physical work outside, no one would hire him.

What was more, he still had a broken bone.

He clenched his fist and turned toward Liu Shengsheng's room.

"I'll go see Little Sister."

Meanwhile, as soon as Lin Xiao entered his home, he sensed that something was off with the atmosphere.

He looked up and saw Lin Dayou sitting at the head of the dining table in the courtyard, arms crossed, staring at him with an unreadable expression.

Lin Yun sat stiffly upright beside him.

He looked as though he were obediently waiting for the meal to begin.

Seeing Lin Xiao hesitate by the door, too scared to come forward, Lin Dayou found his timid appearance amusing. He cleared his throat and spoke.

"What's this? You dared to cut off people's hands and feet last night, and now you're putting on this cowardly act for whose benefit?"

Lin Xiao had known that, given how damn fast gossip spread through the village, his father was bound to find out today.