The Unsettled City of Chang'an

If you place Zhang Xuezhou among the top cultivators in the Three Realms, Zhang Xuezhou would be an insignificant nobody.

But if Zhang Xuezhou were placed in a city or county, he would be a great cultivator in those areas.

Even in a fiercely competitive Chang'an City, he is not to be underestimated.

At least in terms of treating sprains, bruises, and bleeding, he would certainly rank among the top folk doctors in Chang'an City.

"This is just treating the symptoms, not the root cause. Young lady, you need to take better care of your health in the future!"

Zhang Xuezhou may not have high medical ethics, but he is not morally bankrupt.

The one or two taels of gold motivated him to perform his magic with all his heart, and also gave Zhang Xuezhou his most sincere advice.

"What kind of method is this?" the woman asked.

"My ancestral secret technique is called 'Divine Claw,' which can cure any bleeding problem by simply applying it to the affected area. See if you're still bleeding!"

Zhang Xuezhou's technique was extremely skillful. If someone were ignorant, they might not understand it or might mistake it for divine magic, but the woman was very clear about the effects of his technique.

That's truly an ability to produce immediate results.

With this kind of ability, one could easily produce ten, twenty, or even a hundred taels of gold in a critical moment, let alone one or two taels.

She took a deep breath and felt the pain in her body subside.

After reaching into her sleeve pocket, she tossed out a Little Jin ingot.

"Then I must thank you for grabbing me like a god!"

Zhang Xuezhou wasn't telling the truth, but as long as the treatment was effective, the woman didn't mind.

She stood up, paid the bill generously, and then walked away with the flow of people.

"This girl is both beautiful and rich, wow!"

Watching the woman leave, Rong Tianding couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, feeling that she far surpassed all the young women in Hibiscus City.

"Look at you, so pathetic! You still can't forget this girl? I've seen plenty of stunningly beautiful girls in the past few years, and they were all gorgeous and capable fighters!"

Zhang Xuezhou mocked Rong Tianding, then squeezed the gold nugget, bit it with his teeth, and accepted the reward with satisfaction.

This income couldn't compare to what Master Zhao gave him, but it was his first sale since he came to Chang'an City, and he was very satisfied with the earnings.

They had no worries about food and drink for the next few days, and they also had the money to stay in a hotel.

"But this girl is rich," Rong Tianding said. "Being good at fighting is useless; money is what matters!"

"What you said makes sense!"

Zhang Xuezhou echoed this.

The cousins didn't make a sale yesterday, but they earned one today, and both of them were beaming with joy.

Zhang Xuezhou even planned where the two of them would go for a meal, and then find a place to wash up and stay overnight.

"The girl didn't take her medicine with her!"

When the two packed up and left, they noticed that the woman had left behind bags of medicine she had bought, but hadn't taken them with her.

"She doesn't need hemostatic drugs now. Her body needs to be recuperated so that it won't leak like this next time!"

Zhang Xuezhou considered his hemostatic skills and concluded that the woman wouldn't bleed even a drop in the next two days.

"Let's sell this medicine back to the pharmacy owner!"

Since the woman didn't need the medicine, the pharmacy had no choice but to take back all the large and small bags of medicinal herbs.

Regardless of the buyback price, Zhang Xuezhou felt that every little bit sold was a good deal. If they were clever enough, they could even pretend to be servants from a woman's household to return the goods.

"Cousin, you're really cut out for business!"

Upon hearing Zhang Xuezhou's words, Rong Tianding beamed with joy and immediately picked up the medicine packet.

"You little rascal... your young mistress... a life is at stake and you're still laughing like this? This pregnancy-preserving powder ultimately couldn't save her life. You want a refund? Fine..."

The doctor's sigh came from inside the pharmacy, and Zhang Xuezhou's expression showed slight surprise.

"A pregnancy-preserving powder? What kind of quack doctor is this? That girl clearly had excessive menstrual bleeding... Wait, she said the doctor prescribed the right medicine!"

Zhang Xuezhou muttered for more than ten seconds, feeling that the Supreme Purity True Technique for treating illnesses was a bit of a leap in scope.

If this counts, then he could become a part-time obstetrician.

"You're so young and you've already gotten pregnant. Don't you have any other entertainment options at night?"

He felt that one cannot judge a book by its cover, and then proceeded to criticize the young woman.

When Rong Tianding came out of the pharmacy with 120 and a half taels of silver, he immediately took back what he had said, feeling that he couldn't say anything more to such a good customer as the woman who offered a buy-one-get-one-free deal.

"Cousin, I know a reasonably priced restaurant over there where you can shower and eat at the same time!"

With the money in hand, Zhang Xuezhou had no intention of spending it recklessly.

His knowledge of affordable shops stemmed from Zhang Qian's recommendation.

If they use it sparingly, they can still use this money for a while.

"A ten-day stay there only costs 150 and a half taels of silver, and food and drink are cheap too," Zhang Xuezhou said. "If we're careful with this money, it can last us a month!"

"You can eat ten pounds of meat in one meal, and we only have this much money..."

"I'm not eating that much today, just half a pound will do. The meat at that shop is much cheaper than at other restaurants!"

The closer you get to the imperial city, the higher the prices. Not only are the ingredients more sophisticated, but the cooking methods are also quite different. A pound of dog meat can sell for ten and a half taels of silver.

However, in ordinary areas of the West and East markets, a pound of cooked dog meat can only buy three to five half ounces. It's even cheaper to buy scraps.

The secret to the affordability of the inn where Zhang Qian stayed lies in this.

Zhang Xuezhou considered the money and felt that he and Rong Tianding could easily make ends meet for a month.

If they encounter any generous patients this month, their finances will be revitalized.

"Once we've treated dozens or even hundreds of patients and collected their fees, we'll ask Master Dong for a recommendation to get a minor official position, and then we can buy a house in Chang'an City!"

"Master Dong is nowhere to be found!"

"Don't worry, he'll definitely come back once his mansion is repaired. Besides, I have some good treasures here; he'll definitely want to see them!"

Zhang Xuezhou wasn't worried about losing contact with Dong Zhongshu. As long as he could find him, he didn't need to be with Dong Zhongshu all the time.

No matter what, Dong Zhongshu had his own life and relationships. He also had to work and do his own things, trying his best to prepare everything properly so that problems wouldn't arise in reality and then cause trouble here, ultimately leading to chaos and an uncontrollable situation.

Moreover, he was kidnapped last night, and he dares not go to the vicinity of the Dong residence to look for people, nor does he want to sleep on the streets again.

After going around in circles, Zhang Xuezhou eventually returned to the cheap inn that Zhang Qian had chosen.

Zhang Xuezhou's distinctive features were made of linen clothing transformed from celestial garments; his clothes were spotless, making him one of the cleanest among those wearing low-grade clothing.

Consequently, the innkeeper and the waiter had a certain impression of him, and even gave him a discount of ten and a half taels of silver per room.

"Let me tell you, even His Majesty has been to this shop!"

After eating and washing up, Zhang Xuezhou, as usual, moved into his previous room and boasted to Rong Tianding.

"Cousin, is that the cultivator from the Agricultural Sect you mentioned?"

"The cultivator from the Agricultural Sect who arranged to meet me in Chang'an City is named Xu Yuan, but the cultivation technique you requested is with his father, Xu Ji!"

Zhang Xuezhou was unable to cultivate due to physical reasons, while Rong Tianding's cultivation technique, given by the Daoist Mu, was flawed and unsuitable for him to practice rashly.

Although both of them were cultivators, they neither practiced nor took any risks. Instead, they set up stalls in the West Market to make money, which was very different from the life of a cultivator that Rong Tianding had imagined.

In his mind, they should be searching for heavenly materials and earthly treasures in dangerous places, obtaining peerless secret manuals, and then fighting and killing with various cultivators to finally stand out from the crowd.

The gap between dreams and reality is so vast that it's disheartening, but the necessities of daily life force them to remain trapped in this cycle.

"I want to become the second strongest cultivator in the world... and then I'll go catch ghosts and exorcise evil spirits to make money..."

Even after falling asleep, Rong Tianding was still mumbling his ideals and the things he wanted to do.

"It all comes back to making money!"

Zhang Xuezhou murmured.

He squinted and squinted, but ultimately couldn't fall asleep to pass the time. He could only stare blankly at the ceiling.

As his travel time increased, his life clearly underwent constant changes.

Zhang Xuezhou had never felt so bored before; he even rarely saw the night.

Zhang Xuezhou is indeed not used to the darkness.

The sound of the night watchman's clapper came one after another, and time passed by as he was lost in thought, until Rong Tianding suddenly jumped up with a start, which startled Zhang Xuezhou.

"What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"No, cousin, a big ghost is coming!"

Rong Tianding's forehead was covered in cold sweat, and he looked completely panicked. He only calmed down a little after Zhang Xuezhou asked him a question.

"Take a deep breath and calm down. The things we dream about are all fake," Zhang Xuezhou comforted him.

"No, there really is a giant ghost!"

Rong Tianding swallowed hard, then pointed in a direction.

"It's right there! I can already sense the deathly aura emanating from it!"

Rong Tianding pointed towards the direction of the imperial city, which sent a chill down Zhang Xuezhou's spine.

Clearly, what happened to him last night was not a coincidence, but rather a reflection of the fact that Chang'an City had likely been in turmoil lately, and that Dong Zhongshu might even have been transferred there.