Horse-drawn carriages rolled by, stopping at the gate of a courtyard, from which young laborers stepped down.
These are all the essential daily necessities that Chen Mo bought in the capital yesterday. In addition to this, there are also workers arranged by Fu Bao specifically to take care of this abandoned courtyard.
After entrusting all the domestic affairs to Fu Bao, Chen Mo took Zhang Long to the city of Dingdu.
Besides the necessities of life, new clothes for Liu Wu Xin's three daughters needed to be bought, as well as materials for opening their meridians and so on.
Inside the Bai Cao Tang.
"Server, please gather all the herbs listed above…"
Chen Mo pushed a piece of paper with the herbs needed for opening the meridians in front of the young servant. Before the latter could speak, the manager of Bai Cao Hall saw that it was Chen San's arrival and rushed over excitedly.
Yesterday, Chen Mo bought 800 taels of divine grass and potions here, earning him a lot of money. Today, he came again, and his attitude was extremely respectful.
"Since it's what Master San wants, I will personally pick the herbs for you..."
The shopkeeper said with a smile.
Chen Mo raised his hand to interrupt the other party, "No need, let the young servant go. Shopkeeper, I have something to ask you."
The shopkeeper nodded slightly, sending away the servant after that, and respectfully said: "Young Master Chen please go ahead and ask. I will answer whatever you need to know."
"Is there blood-dry grass, earth dragon yuan, and Qiankun fruit in Bai Cao Hall?"
All three are superior medicinal herbs required for refining the body. They have an excellent effect on body refinement. However, they are not easy to obtain.
Blood-dry grass grows under harsh conditions and needs the blood of monsters to nourish it. It often appears in areas where monsters are constantly fighting.
In general, areas where monsters are constantly fighting are the territory of social animals, and they are extremely dangerous. Most warriors dare not approach them.
Due to the stringent growth conditions and the extremely high level of danger, blood-dry grass is very rare in the market, and it's generally priced beyond the reach of most people, almost being sold out without a market.
Just the blood-dry grass is like this, let alone the earth dragon yuan and the Qiankun fruit behind it.
Just as Chen Mo finished speaking, the shopkeeper shook his head immediately and said, "I only have a little knowledge about the earth dragon yuan and Qiankun fruit that you mentioned. As for the blood-dry grass, its price has risen to one hundred thousand taels per plant in the market now. Although my Bai Cao Hall can't find the source of supply, its cost is too high for ordinary warriors to bear. However, if Master San wants it, I will help keep an eye out for it."
"That will be all due to the shopkeeper's effort."
Chen Mo was somewhat disappointed. He had always been confused about the path of refining the body, and he didn't expect that even the first step had not been taken yet.
Soon, the young servant brought out several herbs and handed them over. Chen Mo was about to leave when he ran into a familiar face.
Zhao Hu.
At this moment, Zhao Hu has removed his official clothes and has some scars on his body, which were left from the battle with those bandits last night.
Upon discovering Chen Mo was also at Bai Cao Hall, Zhao Hu was first startled and then respectfully bowed with a fist to his chest, "Third young master."
"No need for the formality."
Chen Mo waved his hand and furrowed his brow, carefully asking, "Zhao Hu, are you okay with your injury?"
Zhao Hu shook his head, "It's just skin damage, not a big deal. I came here to help someone pick up some medicine."
After saying this, Zhao Hu's face showed a hint of hesitation, and his gaze toward Chen Mo was evasive, as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself.
"Is there something?"
Zhao Hu's strange actions made Chen Mo a bit confused, but the former denied it immediately after hearing this. He didn't pursue it further either.
Chen Mo took out a hundred taels of silver note from his bosom and directly handed it to Zhao Hu in front of him, "It was thanks to your help yesterday. Here's this for you."
Zhao Hu stared at the hundred taels of silver note in front of him, his eyes widened, and he subconsciously swallowed a mouthful of saliva. However, he ultimately shook his head to refuse, "If it were not for Master San last night, my sister might have been in danger. Moreover, I took action against those people. It is my duty to do so. How can I let Master San spend money? These silver notes are too much for me to accept with a clear conscience."
"Just take it. There's no need to be polite with me."
Chen Mo directly stuffed the silver note into Zhao Hu's bosom and left Bai Cao Hall without turning back.
Zhao Hu pinched the silver note in his bosom, pondering complexly for a moment, and then bought some herbs from the young servant. He hurriedly went to West Street.
Crossing the old streets, Zhao Hu arrived at a dilapidated wooden house. Before entering, coughing sounds came from inside.
Zhao Hu took a deep breath, knocked on the door, and after a moment, the simple-clothed young girl opened the wooden door. Seeing the person who had come, she smiled sweetly, "Brother, you're back."
The girl was named Zhao Qingling, who was Zhao Hu's sister. She was also the person that Chen Mo had saved last night.
Zhao Qingling glanced at the medicine in Zhao Hu's hand and a look of joy flashed in her eyes, "Brother, you've managed to gather enough silver to buy the medicine? That's wonderful, Mother's illness can be saved now."
"Take the medicine and cook it. Also, these silver notes, you keep them well and don't let old man steal them again."
"How did you get so much silver, brother? You said you were fired from your job, right?"
Last night, because of their mother's serious illness, Zhao Qingling ran out to the city outskirts to find Zhao Hu. She had brought some silver back with her, but unexpectedly, she was abducted along the way and the silver fell on the road and couldn't be found.
Zhao Hu, on the other hand, almost ended up in prison due to his unauthorized leave. However, as a way of making amends for his mistake, he was merely demoted instead.
"Brother, you don't happen to…"
Zhao Qingling suddenly remembered the incident this morning, her eyebrows furrowed slightly as she said seriously, "Did you agree to it with Young Master Chen's second son? Brother, we can't do such things. You were once a captain of police, how can you get involved in hiring killers? Moreover, that Third Young Master is my savior; if it weren't for him, I would have been abducted last night by the bandits. How can you repay kindness with enmity..."
"Qingling, my brother didn't agree to the second son of the Chen family. These silver notes are from the Third Young Master."
Zhao Hu shook his head. He admitted that this morning, when Chen Guang approached him, he had been tempted.
With an ailing mother at home and a father who was a gambler, having lost all the family's wealth, Zhao Hu was at his wit's end, which led him to consider taking on Chen Guang's task.
Fortunately, in the end, he resisted the temptation.
"Son, save your father."
At this moment, a trembling voice broke the brief silence.
A middle-aged man, dressed in tattered clothes, walked trembling, with a face full of injuries.
Zhao Tian.
Zhao Tian, the gambling-loving father of Zhao Hu who had squandered all of the Zhao family's wealth.
"So much silver, so many silver."
Seeing the silver notes in Zhao Qingling's hand, Zhao Tian went mad and rushed over. Zhao Hu, upon seeing this, placed one hand on his shoulder and forcefully threw him to the ground.
"Zhao Hu, you're disrespectful! I'm your father. How dare you treat me like this? Don't you know that if it weren't for me sending you to learn martial arts, giving you silver to open your meridians and enter the path of cultivation, could you have achieved what you have now? Now that you're powerful, you've forgotten your roots. You even dare to hit me?"
Zhao Tian climbed up from the ground, angrily cursing Zhao Hu by pointing his finger at him. Zhao Hu, with hands unclenched and head hanging limply, dared not argue back.
"Father, these silver notes are for mother's medical expenses. You can't use them to gamble anymore."
Seeing Zhao Tian reaching for the silver, Zhao Qingling held him tightly in her arms.
"Little girl, how dare you defy me? Your mother is so sick that even if she gets better, she won't live for long. It's better to let me try and maybe we can make our family's fortunes turn around. If you dare to obstruct me from getting rich again, I'll see if I can sell you to a brothel."
Zhao Tian's words were still echoing when a huge fist was instantly pounded into his back, knocking him over.
"You can't sell Qingling even though she's my sister. She's my younger sister, and if you dare to say such things again, I'll beat you to death."
Zhao Hu's voice and expression were stern. In that moment, his eyes were filled with a killing intent.
Zhao Tian was so scared that his hair stood on end, but he remembered that Zhao Hu was his son. Under any circumstances, Zhao Hu would not commit patricide, which was a serious offense. He then coldly said, "I can promise not to sell Qingling, but you must help the second son of the Chen family with his business."
"No, brother, you can't help."
"Damn it, you shut up."
Zhao Tian drank coldly and then looked at Zhao Hu, his voice softened, "I owe a total of three thousand taels in gambling debts. If I don't pay them back, they will kill me. Zhao Hu, you don't want to see me killed slowly, do you? Even if you don't care about me, think about your mother and your sister. Second Young Master said that if the task is accomplished successfully, not only will all the debts be cleared but also we will be rewarded with one thousand taels of silver. Zhao Hu, you are now the only pillar of our Zhao family. You cannot just watch our family fall apart without doing anything."
