Chapter 175: Too Many Lice Don't Bite

Watching its casual manner, it was like a chef with thirty years of skill in a restaurant, doing its own profession like a personal show. He Lingchuan actually saw composure from a monkey.

Sugar Old Man watched from the side, nodding repeatedly, stroking the long hair under his chin and praising it.

After a quarter of an hour, the fire went out and the pills were formed, and the furnace turned back into a small toy.

The ape Lingguang signaled He Lingchuan to open his palm, then turned the furnace upside down and poured the pills into his palm.

Four small pills.

Lingguang also patted the bottom of the furnace hard twice, and poured out one more.

Sugar Old Man looked very satisfied: "Refined one more, very good."

He Lingchuan looked closely at the pills in his palm; they were uniform in size, round in surface, and black with hidden gold.

The Thousand-Settlement Pill was a wound medicine, taking the meaning that a thousand wounds can be settled; it was much more expensive than gold-wound medicine, and the effect was much better. He had used it twice himself, and also saw the Great Wind Army use it in the River Valley Battle in the Panlong Dream.

For a wound medicine that was essential for the Great Wind Army's field battles, the quality and effect had to be the best of the best. He Lingchuan remembered the Thousand-Settlement Pills that the military doctor A-Luo took out; their quality was almost the same as these few in his hand. He leaned in to smell them, and they also had a spicy scent within the medicinal fragrance.

Of course, the best way was to try it himself.

He Lingchuan grabbed a dagger and made a cut on his arm; it was very deep.

Blood immediately flowed out gurgling.

He crushed a Thousand-Settlement Pill and applied the medicinal powder to the wound; a feeling of coolness immediately countered the burning sensation of the wound.

Soon, the blood stopped flowing.

He Lingchuan waited for another three to five breaths, then brushed away the floating residue, and found that the medicinal powder seemed to have turned into a thin layer of adhesive after meeting the blood, completely sealing the wound.

Lingguang added: "It will grow and heal by evening, and there will be no trace in two days."

This effect was even better than He Lingchuan had expected.

Just as he was about to speak, Liaison Officer Liu suddenly tugged at his sleeve: "Young Master, take a step back and talk."

The two walked to the side, and Liaison Officer Liu whispered: "I always feel the name 'Lingguang' is familiar; now I finally remember. The alchemy technique of this Medicine Ape is indeed good, but, but there is a reason why it has always stayed here."

"What's the problem?"

"Its previous four employers all died, and they all died tragically not long after hiring it back. The most unlucky one was the previous one, who was executed along with his entire family a month and a half ago for being considered a party to the Grand Marshal. All seventy-six members of the family were cut in half at the waist and abandoned in the market, letting the people watch for a full three days. Someone noticed this point and called it the 'Cursed Monkey,' and since then, no one has dared to hire it again."

He Lingchuan raised his eyebrows: "In that case, the deaths of the previous employers had no direct relationship with it."

"But, it's ominous." Liaison Officer Liu smiled bitterly in a low voice. "You should think twice, or we can come back another day."

"I can't stay in Shi Huan for a few days. Besides, I have Yuan Power to protect me, so even a curse can't hurt me."

In fact, He Lingchuan thought that wealthy and noble families might fear it like a snake or scorpion, but he himself had already received the lowest-of-the-low fortune stick from the old turtle monster, and there were two of them. Whether he hired this monkey or not, misfortune probably wouldn't be far away.

Too many lice don't bite; what is he afraid of? Besides, does he have any other choice? There is only this one Medicine Ape left.

Therefore, after he finished speaking, he walked back to face Lingguang: "Your skills are very good, just as I wish. Do you have any requirements, or is there anything I should know?"

Lingguang was stunned, seeing Sugar Old Man standing behind He Lingchuan, winking at it.

It meant don't say it, absolutely don't say it.

Lingguang tilted its head and thought, but still said: "I have no special requirements, but all my previous employers have passed away; this point should be told to you."

No chance again. Sugar Old Man slapped his forehead; why is the child so honest?

He Lingchuan asked strangely: "Did you kill them?"

Lingguang widened its eyes: "Of course... not!"

"As long as it wasn't intentional." Young Master He didn't care, and turned to ask Sugar Old Man: "I think Lingguang is good, and honest for a monkey. How about we sign?"

Sugar Old Man was overjoyed, not expecting this wealthy young master to be so bold and not mind, truly not judging a book by its cover: "Good, good, wait a moment!" He scurried up the tree in a flash, not showing half the old age.

"Young Master He, you are truly—" Liaison Officer Liu had already fulfilled his duty of warning, and now he had to fulfill his duty of praise. "Determined!"

Truly not afraid of death.

"My life is up to me, how can it be up to..." He Lingchuan wanted to say monkey, but remembered that the Thousand-Heart Flow had always been against discrimination, so he hurriedly changed his words, "How can it be up to others to decide."

Lingguang's eyes immediately shone, standing straight, and bowed deeply to him: "Thank you!"

It had also had enough of others fearing it like a fierce beast.

This young master is truly a good person.

At this time, the old monkey also came back, holding three red books in his hand. He Lingchuan took them and looked; they were actually employment contracts, in triplicate, stating that he hired the Thousand-Heart Flow Medicine Ape Lingguang as the He family's pharmacist, with a monthly salary of fifteen taels of silver, increasing by ten percent each year, including food and lodging.

Lingguang's food also had requirements: five jin of high-quality melons and fruits every day. The master's family must treat it with the rites of an honored guest, not scold or beat it, and not treat it as a slave or pet.

Medicine Ape, the status is naturally different from cats and dogs!

And as an employee, Lingguang had to refine medicine for He Lingchuan wholeheartedly. The employment contract also had detailed requirements for the furnace failure rate. If Lingguang couldn't do it, the Thousand-Heart Flow could replace He Lingchuan with a Medicine Ape for free—no, replace him with a pharmacist.

He Lingchuan spent a quarter of an hour reading it: "These terms are truly quite... complete." Long-winded, and still a standard contract.

Sugar Old Man said in a muffled voice: "The terms are complete, with an agreement in advance, so we can suffer less loss."

Mao Tao curled his lips on the side, thinking that these monkeys probably suffered a big loss when dealing with humans before, so they desperately added patches to the employment contract.

He Lingchuan and Lingguang both signed and pressed their handprints on the three copies of the employment contract, each keeping one copy. Sugar Old Man put away the base copy, patted Lingguang on the shoulder, and said earnestly: "Work hard this time; Uncle doesn't want to see you for a few years."

Lingguang was tearful and nodded heavily.

He Lingchuan reached out to it: "Then, please follow me home, Pharmacist."

The monkey put away the employment contract, jumped onto his shoulder, and pressed its bamboo hat toward Sugar Old Man: "Take care, old man!"

He Lingchuan and the others walked down the mountain, and there were monkeys chirping in the forest along the way. The old monkeys on the memorial archway were also beaming with smiles, obviously He Lingchuan had solved their big trouble.

Damn it, if he had known this, he should have pressed the price.

He Lingchuan got into the carriage and instructed the coachman to go to the market again to purchase medicinal materials.

Whether it was a martial artist or a technician, they all had to rely on medicinal power during cultivation. He Lingchuan knew very well that if he wanted his cultivation base to advance by leaps and bounds, eating pills as meals was the norm. Having a good alchemist working for him was truly too important.

￥￥￥￥￥

A few hours later, Songyang Prefecture's separate courtyard.

The Marquis of Songyang was reading in the refined house when he suddenly heard a *flutter* sound, and the fat bird outside the window spread its wings and flew up, shaking the snow on the branches in a flurry.

Then the steward came to report quickly: "Lord, someone from Yang Mountain is here."

The Marquis of Songyang said very simply: "No time, don't see."

"They heard that the He father and son have arrived in Shi Huan and want to come and ask for information."

"Information on the He father and son?" The Marquis of Songyang closed the book. "The He family of four lives in the Hua'an Inn, and the team under them, including dependents, is 640 people, respectively settled in the inns in the north and west of the city. Seven military officers live in the same inn as He Chunhua, and this Superintendent He has at least four guards beside him; this is still on the surface, and it is unclear if there are any secret guards."

"Since he sent back Zhu Xiyan's granddaughter, this Superintendent who is going north to take office has already received nine waves of visitors. I see he intends to make broad connections and move closer to the Royal Court."

"He Chunhua's own cultivation is ordinary, but there are a few martial artists under him who are not bad. Hmm, by the way, the Zhu family is holding a banquet at the Deer-Calling Garden tonight to wash the dust for the granddaughter they just found; the He family will go 90%." The Marquis of Songyang instructed, "Just convey what I said."

The steward agreed and asked again: "Young Master He came to Songyang Prefecture today; should I tell them?"

"Why say these things?" The Marquis of Songyang scoffed. "This is Songyang Prefecture's business; what does it have to do with them?"

The steward retreated as ordered.

After two quarters of an hour, he came back to report: "I have conveyed it, word for word, but the guests from Yang Mountain want to know, will you go to the Deer-Calling Garden tomorrow night?"

"It is inconvenient for me to go; let them do as they please." The Marquis of Songyang said lazily, "By the way, send them another piece of news; they will definitely be interested: at the dust-washing banquet tonight, a big shot will also go, and that is..."

￥￥￥￥￥

"What, you spent fifteen taels of silver just to hire a monkey for me!"

Lady Ying stared at He Lingchuan... and the monkey wearing a bamboo hat on his shoulder, trying hard to resist the urge to slap the table, but her voice still rose by three degrees.

He Lingchuan was serious: "Mother, the Thousand-Heart Flow doesn't like others calling them monkeys."

Lingguang's cultivation was much shallower than the old ape Sugar Old Man, and it didn't dare to argue with the angry Lady Ying, so it had to shrink behind He Lingchuan's neck.

A monkey is a monkey, and you're not allowed to say it? Although this monkey took off its bamboo hat and bowed to her very politely, Lady Ying still said with a straight face: "Even in the capital, do you know how good a guard fifteen taels of silver can hire?"

"Lingguang is not a guard but a pharmacist. Mother, in the future, if you have a headache, fever, physical weakness, or even cold and abdominal pain during those few days of the month, you can find it to refine medicine on the spot..."

Lady Ying couldn't listen anymore, grabbed two dates and threw them at his face: "Get out!"

Two bright red ones, just soaked in hot water. He Lingchuan caught them and handed them to the monkey, responded, and ran away with oil on the soles of his feet.

Before he disappeared, Lady Ying also saw the monkey stuffing the red dates into its mouth, its cheeks bulging.

He Chunhua served a cup of warm tea, looking calm: "Madam, calm down."

"Look at your good son!" Lady Ying took it and drank a big gulp. "Changing tricks to squander money!"

After getting along for these few months, she thought her eldest son had finally changed his nature and was sensible, but she didn't know that he would become even worse as soon as he arrived in Shi Huan City. Fifteen taels of silver, 15,000 big coins, how many monkeys can you buy? This is still a monthly salary! "Actually, there is an employment contract; our family actually signed an employment contract for a monkey, it's the biggest joke in the world!" Lady Ying became more angry as she thought about it. "This fifteen taels will be deducted from his monthly pocket money; don't even think about getting another cent from me!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 176 =====