Chapter 108: Chapter 108: Red Ginseng
Hearing the prompt sound of the system in his mind, Chen Mo’s eyebrows furrowed.
He tried to silently recite to record the Cyan Wood Skill.
In an instant, a surge of powerful memories flooded into his mind; it was the cultivation method and accompanying moves of the Cyan Wood Skill.
[Cultivation technique overlap detected. Do you want to overwrite Purple Sun Transformation Skill? Once overwritten, Cyan Wood Skill cultivation will be set as default.]
The system prompt sounded again.
Chen Mo was startled and quickly denied it.
He had painstakingly elevated the Blood Nourishing Technique to Purple Sun Transformation Skill. If it got overwritten, he would be heartbroken.
Next, he tried to record the Overlord Saber.
The moment the saber technique of the Overlord Saber surged into his mind.
The system prompt sounded again.
[Martial arts overlap detected. Do you want to overwrite Great Sun Qi Slash? Once overwritten, Overlord Saber cultivation will be set as default.]
Then, he recorded the Pig Slaying Saber Technique.
Similarly, the system prompted that the martial arts overlapped; to rely on the system for cultivation, he would have to overwrite the Great Sun Qi Slash.
Meanwhile, Lu Yuan and the others watched Chen Mo staring at the cultivation techniques they had written, not speaking a word, and their hearts became uneasy.
Firstly, they feared Chen Mo’s dissatisfaction.
Secondly, they feared that Chen Mo would not keep his word.
Coming back to his senses, Chen Mo looked at the four of them and smiled, "Not bad, from now on, you are part of the Divine Brave Guard."
After saying that, he helped to fix their dislocated bones and then inquired about the names of the other three people.
All three were surnamed Su: Su Wen, Su Wu, and Su Qi.
Su Wen and Su Wu were biological brothers, with Su Wen being the elder brother.
Su Qi was from the same alley as them, an area where everyone was surnamed Su.
Usually, the three worked for the Wang Family, guarding their city property to prevent hooligans and ruffians from causing trouble.
Chen Mo nodded and turned his gaze to Wang Ran.
Wang Ran snorted coldly, thinking to himself that he wasn’t as spineless as the rest and wouldn’t give up anything so easily.
Yet Chen Mo merely glanced at him twice, asked nothing, and did not reset his bones or unbind him but instructed Zhanghe to take Wang Ran away for individual confinement.
Wang Ran: "..."
Aren’t you going to ask me anything?
My cultivation technique is much better than theirs.
That was Wang Ran’s inner voice.
Just as he was about to say something, Zhanghe already had someone come and take him away.
"Chen... Immortal Master, what about us?" Lu Yuan chuckled awkwardly.
"Shui, find each of them a room, and release their families too. Now that they’re one of us, treat them as such," Chen Mo said, whispering a few words into Zhanghe’s ear.
"Understood," Zhanghe responded.
"Thank you, Immortal Master Chen, thank you, Immortal Master Chen," Lu Yuan, Su Wen, and the others repeatedly expressed their gratitude. Regardless of their inner thoughts, they dared not show a hint of dissatisfaction outwardly.
When he got home, Han Anniang hadn’t gone to bed yet.
Seeing Chen Mo return, she hurried to greet him, circled around him, and looked him up and down. Only upon seeing no external injuries did she breathe a sigh of relief and then served him as he changed clothes.
Chen Mo handed the two newly acquired cultivation techniques and martial arts to Han Anniang and said, "These are the cultivation techniques and martial arts I obtained earlier. Sister-in-law, please put them away for me. Also, when you have time, you should take a look at these techniques—one of them might be suitable for you to cultivate."
"Sure."
...
In a wooden house in the village, Lu Yuan’s wife, Wang Shi, and his concubine, Liu Shi, were huddled together, their faces tense and fearful.
Lu Yuan had been taken away for so long; whether he was alive or dead was still unknown.
If he were dead, they wondered how they would survive afterward.
Both women, finding themselves in the hands of these bandits, felt a shiver merely thinking about it.
At that moment, there was a commotion outside, and the two women’s faces changed; they curled up in fear.
"Your wife and concubine are both here, go on in."
"Thank you, Captain Zhang."
Lu Yuan nodded and bowed to Zhanghe.
"We’re all in the same boat now, no need for formalities." With that, Zhanghe left.
When Lu Yuan entered, Wang Shi and Liu Shi couldn’t help but cry out. Upon realizing it was Lu Yuan, they sighed in relief and, in unison, asked, "Are you alright, my lord?"
Lu Yuan shook his head, closed the door, and approached, asking, "And you two?"
Looking especially at Liu Shi, he asked, "Did they do anything to you?"
Wang Shi, being Lu Yuan’s first wife, had stood by him through thick and thin for over twenty years, even before he became prominent, and had now reached her forties.
Liu Shi, a concubine, had been brought home when Lu Yuan was forty, over twenty years younger than he, fair in looks, and had given him a son.
He was worried Liu Shi might have been assaulted.
Both Wang Shi and Liu Shi shook their heads.
Lu Yuan was about to breathe a sigh of relief but quickly realized something else. "Where are Qing’Er and Hong’Er?" he asked.
Qing’Er and Hong’Er were his children.
Qing’Er was the daughter of Wang Shi.
Hong’Er was the son of Liu Shi.
Both women were taken aback and asked in succession, "Wasn’t Qing’Er with you, my lord?"
"Wasn’t Hong’Er with you, my lord?"
Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow and said, "No, who said they were with me? What exactly happened?"
Wang Shi recounted the sequence of events.
Upon learning that his children had been taken away separately by the Divine Brave Guard, Lu Yuan’s expression became grave.
"My lord, will Hong’Er be alright?" Liu Shi asked worriedly.
Lu Yuan held Liu Shi and shook his head slightly, knowing what the other party’s intention was.
Clearly, they didn’t fully trust him and were using his children as leverage.
"When will Hong’Er come back?" Liu Shi asked softly, her eyes slightly red, her voice choking, "Those bandits might do something to Hong’Er."
"Soon," Lu Yuan assured her, making her look into his eyes, and said, "If we want Hong’Er to return, we should stop calling them bandits."
"???"
"From now on, we are in league with them."
The same scenario unfolded for Su Wen, Su Qi, and the others.
...
The next day, the weather was overcast.
Chen Mo woke up early and looked at the sky, feeling somewhat disappointed.
He wasn’t in the habit of going back to sleep, so he got out of bed and washed up.
Just as he finished washing, Wang Ping came with people to report last night’s inventory work, saying, "Immortal Master Chen, with the help of Master Zhao and Uncle Hu, after converting the seized gold, silver, and furs, the total is no less than thirty thousand coins, excluding that chest of jewelry, three paintings, and that cartload of brocade.
Oh, and there’s this too."
Wang Ping took a brocade box from the hands of his assistant and handed it to Chen Mo, saying, "Master Zhao said that inside this box is a ginseng root, but this ginseng is red. It’s the first time I’ve seen a red ginseng."
Upon hearing this, Chen Mo curiously examined the brocade box and noticed that a gold thread was embedded along its edge, suggesting that it wasn’t just holding an ordinary item.
The brocade box was about a foot long.
Chen Mo opened the brocade box to find a red ginseng lying peacefully on a piece of yellow cloth inside the box.