Chapter 521: I'm still alive!

Tuan Tuan didn't understand: "No way, Uncle Shanzi, Old Grandfather said, he charges ten thousand taels of gold to treat people!"

Shanzi was shocked: "Ten thousand taels of gold?"

Xiao Er nodded and said: "Not only that, besides ten thousand taels of gold, we also need to be able to provide whatever medicinal herbs he wants."

Shanzi and the villagers looked at each other:

"Are those illnesses that are hard to cure?"

"That makes sense! Otherwise, we'd owe that old sir a lot of silver!"

"One look costs ten thousand taels of gold; even if we sold ourselves, we couldn't afford one visit!"

Xiao Er asked: "Do you know his name? Is he from Sacred Medicine Valley?"

Shanzi shook his head: "Sacred Medicine Valley? I've never heard of it. We just call him Old Sir, and we don't know his surname or name."

Daoba wondered: "Really strange—his consultation fee is sometimes ten thousand taels of gold, sometimes nothing. No wonder the Elder said he has a weird temper; he really is an oddball."

Tuan Tuan, however, didn't care: "Let's just go see him tomorrow and we'll find out!"

She blinked her big eyes, scanning the villagers' faces one by one: "What about that uncle who was shouting earlier?"

"I'm here, I'm here." A man about thirty years old replied.

Tuan Tuan was puzzled: "Why were you shouting at us like that? I couldn't hear clearly! Are you also a martial artist like Uncle Daoba?"

The man lowered his head, embarrassed.

Shanzi hurriedly explained: "He's not a martial artist, but he has the loudest voice around here. Whenever strangers come, we don't want to get close, so he's the one who does the shouting."

"We've never hurt anyone; we just want to scare off those who come here, hoping they'll take a detour and not discover that we're hiding here."

Daoba looked at these dozens of old and young: "How long can you hide here? This is no way to live! When we return, come with me to the Horse Gang."

The villagers all looked up at Shanzi.

Shanzi hesitated for a long time, then said softly: "Daoba Brother, I'm grateful if you're willing to help us."

"But relying on others to survive, without our own livelihood, ultimately can't last."

Tuan Tuan frowned: "Uncle Shanzi, this place is no good; why don't you go somewhere else?"

Shanzi shook his head: "With so many of us, where could we go? No one could keep supporting us for free wherever we went."

"We've also thought about going south; they say the south is a land of fish and rice, easy to find a living."

"But first, the journey is too far; we have no money, not even travel expenses."

"Second, we're all natives of this place; it's hard to leave our homeland, and we don't want to go."

"I heard the Imperial Court has reduced taxes in Jiangnan Region, but I don't understand: if Jiangnan is rich and the military lacks funds, why not tax them instead of making life hard for us in Xibei?"

Xiao Er snorted: "It's none other than because His Majesty's great army is stationed here."

"They give tax breaks to Jiangnan to win hearts, while deliberately squeezing Xibei, hoping to make the locals hate His Majesty."

Tuan Tuan clenched her tiny fists: "These bad guys are really bad!"

She looked at Shanzi: "Uncle Shanzi, I'll give you ten thousand taels of silver; is that enough for you to go to Jiangnan?"

The villagers erupted: "Ten thousand taels of silver?"

"Oh dear heavens!"

Shanzi's face showed shock: "Ten thousand taels? Little girl, if you really had ten thousand taels of silver, we wouldn't even go to Jiangnan!"

"We could find a nice place, build good houses, buy more land and sheep, and everyone could settle down again!"

Tuan Tuan brightened up: "Uncle Daoba, quickly hand over the ten-thousand-tael silver note, and then we won't have to live here anymore."

Daoba, hearing that, pulled out a ten-thousand-tael silver note from his bosom and handed it to Shanzi: "Take it."

Shanzi stared at the note before him, afraid to reach out: "Daoba Brother, this..."

Daoba grabbed his hand and shoved the note into it: "What are you afraid of? This is from the little ancestor!"

Shanzi looked at the note in his hand: "Really, is it truly ten thousand taels?"

Tuan Tuan looked puzzled: "Of course! Uncle Daoba, did you give too little?"

"No way, that couldn't be."

Shanzi stood there as if struck by lightning, motionless for a long while.

"Shanzi?" Daoba waved a hand in front of his eyes: "What's wrong with you?"

Shanzi snapped back to his senses and knelt down with a thud.

The villagers first stared, then all fell to their knees in a rustle.

"Little benefactor!" Shanzi's voice trembled, his eyes instantly red: "You've saved the lives of everyone in our village, young and old!"

Tuan Tuan jumped in fright, quickly stood up and ran to him to help: "Get up quickly!"

Shanzi refused to rise, kowtowing deeply: "I kowtow on behalf of the thirty-seven members of my Zhou Family Shop, thanking the benefactor!"

The villagers also kowtowed; several women, when they lifted their heads, were already tear-streaked.

Tuan Tuan stamped her feet anxiously: "Oh! Stop kowtowing, please get up! As long as you live well, I'll be happy!"

She grabbed Shanzi's arm and pulled hard, but couldn't budge him.

Xiao Er stepped forward, lifted Shanzi off the ground: "Brother, get up."

Shanzi staggered as he was lifted, then managed to stand.

He rubbed his face with his sleeve, voice choking: "Little benefactor, you don't know how long we've endured."

"When the fields yielded nothing, we gritted our teeth and endured."

"When the sheep all died, we gritted our teeth and endured."

"We fled to these wild mountains, lived in huts eating wild greens, still gritting our teeth… but these teeth are about to break!"

An elderly woman with white hair trembled forward, tears streaming: "Good child, how did Old Heaven Lord send such a little bodhisattva to save us?"

Tuan Tuan's nose also soured; she reached out her little hand to wipe the woman's tears: "Grandma, don't cry, everything will be fine from now on!"

I never even dreamed in this life that I would see ten thousand taels of silver.

Not to mention ten thousand taels, even one thousand taels—I've never seen that either!

Shanzi took a deep breath and shouted loudly to the villagers: "Listen up, everyone! This silver was given to us by our little benefactor!"

Once we settle down, we must set up a spirit tablet and make offerings to our benefactor!

Tuan Tuan panicked upon hearing that: "No way! I don't want a spirit tablet—I'm still alive!"

Everyone was stunned for a moment, then they all burst into laughter, and the sorrowful atmosphere vanished instantly.

Xiao Er's lips curled slightly as Daoba leaned in and whispered low: "Brother, the little ancestor really is… sigh, I don't even know what to say."

Xiao Er nodded: "Miss has always been like this; she can't bear to see good people suffer."

Shanzi carefully folded the banknotes and kept them close to his chest: "Little benefactor, tomorrow morning I'll accompany you to Hidden Cloud Valley to find that old gentleman!"

Tuan Tuan laughed: "That's wonderful! Thank you, Uncle Shanzi!"

The next morning, Shanzi and Daoba rode together on one horse, while Xiao Er held Tuan Tuan on another, and they galloped to Hidden Cloud Valley.