Chapter 211: Huang Qing

Early this morning, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, Duan Rong dragged his exhausted body back to Xiangu County.

The exertion of jumping from the cliff top was even greater than the climb, and it was only by barely maintaining his focus that Duan Rong managed to land at the cliff base.

By that time, his Internal Breath was completely drained, and his body had not a shred of strength left. The medicinal soup in the gourd at his waist had also been drunk dry halfway down the mountain.

At that moment, he was extremely weak and in danger; a common Martial Artist could have easily killed him!

Fortunately, however, Duan Rong projected his Divine Sense and was certain that within a hundred-meter radius, there was not a single shadow of a person.

Panting heavily, Duan Rong sat at the cliff base for a long time before finally recovering some strength and rushing back to Xiangu County!

Duan Rong ate breakfast by the street and returned to Liu Lu. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he strode into his room, picked up a gourd from the side table, and poured several mouthfuls into his mouth.

On that side table sat three more gourds, all filled with a dark green medicinal soup.

After gulping down a few mouthfuls, Duan Rong didn't even care about the foul sweat and dust on his body; he collapsed onto the bed and slept like a dead dog.

Duan Rong slept this sleep until he woke in the afternoon.

Lying on the bed, he circulated his energy slightly and discovered that the Internal Breath in his body had recovered, and it was clearly a fraction thicker than before.

Duan Rong's eyes flickered; practicing on Lone Mountain for a day and a night was worth three days of Standing Stake in the courtyard!

After a moment of consideration, Duan Rong decided that from now on, he would go to Lone Mountain every three days.

Although Lone Mountain was good, squeezing the dantian too dry every single day could easily damage its foundation. But once every three days should be fine; each time he squeezed it dry, he would spend two days doing Standing Stake in the courtyard to recover...

Having settled his thoughts, Duan Rong climbed off the bed and went into the courtyard to wash himself until he was completely refreshed.

It was already afternoon. After washing up, Duan Rong went to the street to eat something. After finishing his meal, he had originally intended to return to Liu Lu for Standing Stake, but when he walked past the Martial Arts Arena, he suddenly heard a few fellow disciples discussing their monthly wages.

Duan Rong calculated the date and realized that today happened to be the seventh, the day monthly wages were distributed.

Although the meager monthly wage of an Escort was, to the current Duan Rong, no more significant than a strand of hair and not worth mentioning.

Yet he still went to collect his wages every month; at the very least, he should make himself appear normal. Who goes months without collecting their wages?

Moreover, because of the incident with Ruan Jing last time, Ruan Fengshan had specially approved a training allowance of one thousand taels for him, saying it would be issued monthly.

But he had only collected it once. When he went to collect it the second month, the Chief Accountant Xu Shouxian said the Escort Agency had many expenses recently and there was no extra silver in the accounts, telling him to come back in two months.

Now that he calculated the time, it was about right; he should go collect the second month's silver.

Duan Rong turned his steps and headed from the Martial Arts Arena toward the Back Courtyard.

Escorts usually collected their monthly wages at the Accounting Office in the Middle Courtyard. But Duan Rong needed to find Xu Shouxian to collect that specially approved training allowance. Xu Shouxian usually stayed in the Accounting Office in the Back Courtyard and rarely came to the Middle Courtyard.

Duan Rong walked to the entrance of the Back Courtyard and explained his intent to the Guard on duty. The Guard did not make things difficult for him; he checked the Escort Waist Token and let him in.

Duan Rong walked into the Back Courtyard's Accounting Office and saw several desks in the Main Hall piled with ledgers being reviewed. Several Apprentice Accountants were holding brushes, flipping through ledgers, and transcribing accounts.

Duan Rong recognized one of them; this person was named Huang Qing, an Apprentice Accountant who lived next door to Duan Rong when he stayed in the Middle Courtyard dormitory.

The Accounting Office was not easy to enter; there were many intricacies to it, and without several years of immersion and contemplation, it was difficult to get the hang of it.

Duan Rong wasn't too sure about other places, but in the Yuanshun Escort Agency, it was said that for an Apprentice Accountant to be promoted to a full position was even harder than for an Escort.

As soon as Duan Rong entered, several people looked up at him. Although the others didn't recognize Duan Rong, Huang Qing recognized him at a glance and smiled: "Brother Duan, it's been a while! What brings you to our Back Courtyard Accounting Office?"

Duan Rong smiled. When he lived in the dormitory, he and Huang Qing saw each other constantly and often greeted one another, though they had no deep friendship. Yet Huang Qing was still very enthusiastic when he saw him.

"Brother Huang, you reside at the hub; it's not as if we rough men can see you whenever we want," Duan Rong laughed.

Duan Rong calling the Back Courtyard Accounting Office a "hub" was a bit of flattery that pleased not only Huang Qing but the other Apprentice Accountants as well.

As soon as Duan Rong finished speaking, several Apprentice Accountants indeed looked up and smiled at Duan Rong, clearly very pleased.

Huang Qing said: "Brother Duan, you flatter me. Although the Back Courtyard Accounting Office is important, I am merely helping out and doing odd jobs."

Duan Rong glanced at Huang Qing, feeling that this person was quite steady, and smiled: "Brother Huang is modest."

Duan Rong stopped the small talk and changed the subject, asking: "Is Chief Accountant Xu in?"

Huang Qing's eyes flickered, and he said: "He is. In the East Jia Ear Room. Brother Duan can go over yourself."

Duan Rong cupped his hands slightly and walked toward the ear rooms on the east side.

Those Apprentice Accountants, upon hearing that Duan Rong was looking for the Chief Accountant Xu Shouxian, immediately began to discuss it.

"Who is this guy? He doesn't look very old, yet he's actually looking for Chief Accountant Xu?"

Seeing people discussing it out of curiosity, Huang Qing said: "He is Duan Rong."

"He is Duan Rong?"

"The one who saved Young Master Ruan Jing?"

"He looks very young, and his speech is quite gentle and refined..."

It would have been better if Huang Qing hadn't chimed in; once he did, those people discussed it even more intensely.

Duan Rong walked into the eastern Corridor. There were four East Ear Rooms, with door plates for Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding hanging in front of them. Duan Rong walked slowly to the door of the Jia Room and was about to knock when the door of the innermost ear room suddenly opened. A man with a thin face and graying beard walked out. He glanced at Duan Rong, took a few account books, and walked out.

Although Duan Rong was not clear about the personnel of the Back Courtyard Accounting Office, he obviously knew that these four East Ear Rooms were the most important places in the Back Courtyard Accounting Office.

East Jia was where Chief Accountant Xu Shouxian reviewed the accounts.

And in the East Yi and East Bing rooms sat Wang Dean and Zhu Shicheng, respectively; both were Xu Shouxian's confidants.

When Young Master Ruan Jing had his accident, the four people Ruan Fengshan had Xiao Zongting detain and guard, besides Zhou An, were these three from the Back Courtyard Accounting Office. From this, one could see their status within the Accounting Office.

However, the person who had just walked out of the innermost ear room was clearly the Principal of the East Ding Room. But Duan Rong had not only never seen this person, he had never even heard of him.

Duan Rong's eyes flashed as he watched the man's back. For some reason, he felt that the man's features were somewhat similar to Xu Shouxian's.

Not until the man's back disappeared at the end of the Corridor did Duan Rong turn his head and gently knock on the door three times. Seeing no response from inside, Duan Rong paused for several breaths and knocked three more times with slightly more force.

After knocking this time, Duan Rong stood there, waiting quietly.

After a long while, he finally heard a long, aged voice from inside say: "Come in!"

(End of chapter)