Chapter 4: Family Fortune

Duan Rong treated Kong Bin and the other two as if they were air, focusing entirely on his own affairs.

It was not until the sky was bright and the Miscellaneous Disciples in the dormitory had risen one after another to head to the front courtyard canteen for breakfast that Duan Rong followed the main group and left the courtyard.

Duan Rong carried a bowl of thin porridge and held two steamed buns, squatting in a corner, and in a few quick bites, he swept the food in his hands clean.

However, he felt his stomach was still empty.

The two steamed buns and the bowl of porridge were like being poured into a bottomless pit.

"It wasn't like this before, was it?"

Duan Rong felt that his appetite this morning was particularly vigorous; he blinked his eyes and immediately understood the reason.

Because the training he did this morning was true training; although he had practiced before, it had no effect at all.

But now it was different; he had the experience of the Entry Level Five Tigers Flock of Sheep Saber in his mind.

He was practicing according to a proper Entry Level Martial Technique, so the consumption of his body was naturally immense, far beyond what the previous empty-posture practice could compare to.

Therefore, his vigorous appetite was a good thing, indicating that he was on the right path.

But this was also a problem; if he kept consuming like this without replenishment from food, his body would suffer a deficit.

Duan Rong placed the empty bowl in his hand into a large wooden basin the size of a millstone not far away; the Miscellaneous Disciples in the kitchen would wash their daily bowls and chopsticks collectively.

Duan Rong turned out of the canteen courtyard through a side gate, passed through several corridors, turned east in front of a screen wall, and after walking straight for a distance, he heard the faint sound of a horse snorting.

Duan Rong walked into the stable, and Sun Laotou, who was in charge of the stable, had already begun soaking the fodder.

Sun Laotou was already over fifty years old; his back had begun to hunch, and his graying hair around the top of his head had gone bald, revealing a shiny pate.

He had entered as a Miscellaneous Disciple back in the day, but having failed to be selected as an Apprentice, he had spent his whole life as a Miscellaneous Servant in this Yuanshun Escort Agency.

When Duan Rong entered, Sun Laotou only glanced at him before continuing his work.

Neither he nor Duan Rong were people of many words.

Sun Laotou actually quite liked Duan Rong; he worked honestly and had no devious schemes. He felt that if Duan Rong was not selected in the assessment a few days later, he would remain in the stable, and he would have an extra decent helper.

Sun Laotou never thought that Duan Rong could be selected as an Apprentice; after all, how could it be so easy for a Miscellaneous Disciple to be promoted to an Apprentice?

This hurdle was personally selected by the Escort Agency's Chief Instructor, Xiao Zongting.

That old stubborn man would not show anyone any favor at all.

"Old Sun, I would like to ask for a half-day leave," Duan Rong said respectfully, standing at Sun Laotou's side.

Sun Laotou frowned; Duan Rong had already been delayed for several days due to illness a few days ago, and now he was asking for leave again.

Sun Laotou turned his head and gave Duan Rong a strange look. Just as he was about to speak, Duan Rong smiled and cut in: "Don't worry, Old Sun, I really have personal business to attend to, not trying to slack off. You just need to feed the fodder; leave the horse manure cleaning to me, and I'll do it when I come back this afternoon!"

Sun Laotou's words were choked in his throat. Seeing Duan Rong's grinning face, he found it hard to say anything else. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Go."

"Thank you, Old Sun." Seeing that Sun Laotou had relented, Duan Rong replied and walked out.

Sun Laotou looked at Duan Rong's back and muttered, "After that fever, his brain seems much sharper. This kid, he didn't use to be this glib!"

Duan Rong left the Yuanshun Escort Agency and walked east along the street.

Miscellaneous Disciples naturally had holidays, and they could take two days off each month without a deduction in monthly pay. But because Duan Rong had been sick before, he had already used up three days.

Since he was asking for leave again today, Sun Laotou could have completely refused him.

However, Duan Rong also knew that the original body had always worked quite hard, and Sun Laotou had a good impression of him; it was precisely by relying on this that he dared to make this request.

Duan Rong's home was still some distance from this Yuanshun Escort Agency.

The original body's parents had already passed away, leaving him all alone in the world.

There had originally been a few acres of thin farmland at home, but they had all been sold to pay for his father's medical treatment; yet, his father's illness remained incurable, and he eventually passed away.

Once his father fell ill, the family became even poorer, and the original relatives stopped associating with them.

The current Duan Rong only had an empty, dilapidated house.

Relying on the original body's memories, Duan Rong walked for about the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn before standing at the gate of his own house.

Duan Rong took the key out of his inner pocket, opened the courtyard gate, and walked in.

Duan Rong walked straight into the inner room, crawled under the bed, and fished out a dust-covered jar from the corner.

Duan Rong opened the jar and felt a few pieces of broken silver from the bottom.

Duan Rong looked at them and estimated that, added together, it was only a little over one tael.

This was the original body's entire family fortune.

Duan Rong sighed. "The economic base determines the superstructure. This little money is only enough to treat myself to a few good meals for now."

Duan Rong had already calculated that this money was only enough for him to eat two bowls of mutton soup with pita bread every day for these few days.

However, after he was promoted to an Apprentice, his monthly pay would increase, and by then, perhaps things wouldn't be so tight.

After all, a Miscellaneous Disciple only had sixty wen of monthly pay, but after becoming an Apprentice, he would have three mace of silver per month, a full five-fold increase.

This was not because the Escort Agency was generous; it was truly because after becoming an Apprentice, one had to practice martial arts diligently, and if one failed to qualify within three months, they would be dismissed. Without sufficient monthly pay to keep up with food, it was very easy to ruin one's body through training.

Duan Rong was quite confident about being selected as an Apprentice; after all, he already had the experience of the Entry Level Five Tigers Flock of Sheep Saber. He only needed to improve his physical fitness a little to be able to unleash this experience.

So the most important thing was to survive this current period!

This bit of silver was the original body's entire net worth. Given the original body's temperament, he would never have dared to spend it like this, but Duan Rong's perspective was different; in his view, the best investment was investing in himself.

Even for this property, because it was old, remote, and located in the county town, it was slow to sell and couldn't fetch a good price. If it weren't for that, he definitely would have sold this property, converted it into silver, and used it to support his own eating and drinking.

Why would he care if this house was a memento left to him by the original body's father?

After all, both of them were dead, but he was still alive. Could a dead person's little memento be more important than a living person like him?

Duan Rong put the silver away, left the house, and bought two meat buns on the street.

The steaming hot meat buns were wrapped in dried lotus leaves, satisfying both his hunger and his cravings. As Duan Rong ate, he pondered some questions.

Recently, his mind had indeed been haunted by quite a few questions, not just about the approaching assessment, but also because he couldn't grasp the knack of the Internal Cultivation Method.

However, what he was thinking about at this moment was another issue, regarding his ability to Devouring Artifact Spirit.

The ability to Devouring Artifact Spirit was undoubtedly the foundation of his development after soul-transmigrating to this world; he had to understand and completely master this ability.

(End of chapter)