Chapter 20: Sick Horse

Zhao Lao Da pinched a few grains of salt, his rough fingertips rubbing them as if appraising some priceless treasure.

"Family secret recipe? For alchemy?"

He narrowed his eyes, his thick brows almost covering his eyes, like two caterpillars lying on his face.

"So, you can still refine other things?"

Jiang Xiaomu's heart skipped a beat; this Zhao Lao Da looked burly and robust.

I didn't expect his thoughts to be so meticulous; hard to fool him.

His eyes shifted, and he put on a mysterious smile:

"The rest… I'm still studying it; for now only this salt-making method has seen slight success, the rest… hehe, I'll slowly figure it out later."

Zhao Lao Da heard this, burst out laughing, his big palm like a cattail fan landing heavily on Jiang Xiaomu's frail shoulder.

The force was so great it nearly slapped Jiang Xiaomu to the ground.

"Good lad, you've got some skill! This salt, go ahead and refine it; I'll help you sell it, and we'll split the profits fifty-fifty!"

Jiang Xiaomu winced from the slap, but his heart blossomed with joy—this salt's cost is nearly zero, a fifty-fifty split means guaranteed profit!

He quickly nodded and bowed, agreeing.

Secretly he calculated how to turn the fifty-fifty into a thirty-seventy, then into a twenty-eighty…

With Zhao Lao Da's support, Jiang Xiaomu's "salt-making business" grew bigger and bigger; he even set up a small workshop.

He hired several strong military households to dig earth and tend the fire, essentially becoming a small workshop owner.

This private salt, though of poor quality, is yellowish and has a faint earthy odor.

But compared to the dirty, expensive coarse salt on the market, it's far better.

Moreover, it's cheap, so it's very popular among the military households.

The news reached Zhou Dayan's ears; he too was curious what kind of stuff this "Immortal Pill Successor" had refined into salt.

He tasted it; although not as good as tribute salt, it's better than the market's coarse salt and also cheap.

So he waved his hand, assigning Jiang Xiaomu sole responsibility for the army camp's salt supply.

By selling private salt, Jiang Xiaomu not only earned some living expenses but also gained the trust of Zhou Dayan and the other military households.

【Ding…】

【The system grants you five Heaven's Mandate Points.】

【Having solved the survival problem, you now have temporary long-term livelihood security.】

【Later you will encounter a horse-keeping military guard with a frown, unhappy because the lead horse died, so he'll kill anyone passing by to vent his anger.】

Jiang Xiaomu soon received another system prompt.

Sure enough, a few days later, while delivering salt, he happened upon the horse-keeper Wang Ma Zi.

He thought the system might be referring to him.

So he quietly hid behind the camp curtains, secretly observing Wang Ma Zi.

He saw Wang Ma Zi loudly cursing at several warhorses, spit flying everywhere.

Among them, a reddish-brown warhorse seemed to have injured its hind leg, limping as it walked.

"You damned beast! I feed and pamper you well, yet you dare get injured! Do you believe I'll skin you, pull your tendons, and make jerky out of you?"

Wang Ma Zi cursed ever more fiercely, gripping his horsewhip and lashing the reddish-brown horse hard.

The reddish-brown horse neighed in pain, panicking and trying to dodge.

"You dare to dodge!"

Wang Ma Zi roared, raised his whip, and was about to strike again.

Just then, a system prompt suddenly sounded in Jiang Xiaomu's mind.

Jiang Xiaomu thought, hiding like this won't work; I must save that horse—if the horse lives, I'll be fine!

He rushed out and shouted:

"Brother Wang! Stop!"

Wang Ma Zi froze, turned to see Jiang Xiaomu, and snapped:

"What the hell are you doing, kid? Want to die?"

Jiang Xiaomu steeled himself and walked forward, forcing a smile:

"Brother Wang, calm down; the horse is injured, beating it won't help. I know a bit of veterinary arts—let me take a look?"

Wang Ma Zi eyed Jiang Xiaomu suspiciously—when did this kid learn veterinary medicine? He snorted coldly:

"If you can't cure it, I'll beat you together with the horse!"

Jiang Xiaomu coughed affectingly twice, then spoke pretentiously:

"Brother Wang, to be frank, my ancestors were once imperial physicians who tended the royal horses. I also know a little veterinary skill."

Upon hearing he was a descendant of imperial physicians, Wang Ma Zi's interest sparked, his fierce expression softening a bit. "Oh? Imperial physician? Great! Quickly have a look—what's wrong with my precious lump? If you can't cure it, I'll skin you!"

Jiang Xiaomu silently cursed, this Wang Ma Zi is truly a coarse person.

He steeled himself and approached the reddish-brown horse, examining it carefully.

The reddish-brown horse's leg injury wasn't serious—just a scrape from the whip; a bit of herbal poultice would heal it.

The real problem is that the horse looks listless, its belly sunken, as if it hasn't eaten for days.

"Brother Wang."

Jiang Xiaomu lowered his voice, feigning mystery.

"This horse might be afflicted by an evil spirit!"

Upon hearing that, Wang Ma Zi's eyes widened:

"An evil spirit? What evil spirit?"

Jiang Xiaomu also didn't know why the horse wouldn't eat; he decided to save its life first.

He then pretended to calculate with his fingers, shaking his head and swaying as he spoke.

"In my opinion, this horse has contracted a food-aversion parasite, so it refuses food and drink. We need special herbs to expel the parasite poison."

Wang Ma Zi stared, dumbfounded.

Although he was a rough man, he also knew that the food-aversion parasite was pure nonsense.

However, seeing Jiang Xiaomu's serious demeanor, he again felt uncertain.

"You brat, don't try to fool me! Is there really such a thing?"

Jiang Xiaomu nodded with a serious face.

"Absolutely certain! Brother Wang, think about it—this horse usually eats well, so why would it suddenly refuse food and drink? There must be a reason!"

Wang Ma Zi thought for a moment and felt that Jiang Xiaomu made some sense.

Although he felt sorry for his horse, he was more afraid of being laughed at by others.

If he admitted his horse was sick, wouldn't that show he wasn't taking good care of it?

"Then... what should we do?"

Wang Ma Zi became a little panicked.

Jiang Xiaomu smiled confidently.

"Brother Wang, rest assured—I'll go gather the herbs right away and guarantee a cure!"

"Fine! Go ahead—if you cure my horse, I'll reward you handsomely!"

Wang Ma Zi waved his hand grandly and spoke boldly.

Jiang Xiaomu quickly agreed, though he was secretly delighted.

This Wang Ma Zi is really an idiot, believing any random excuse.

He doesn't understand veterinary medicine at all, let alone the food-aversion parasite.

He only knew, based on the System's prompt, that the horse had fallen ill after going several days without food.

Jiang Xiaomu left the stables and headed straight for the kitchen of the military camp.

He intended to prepare some food for the reddish-brown horse to see how it reacted, check whether it would eat, and then find the problem.

Upon reaching the kitchen, Jiang Xiaomu found it empty, with only some leftover vegetables and rice.

He had an idea, pouring the leftover vegetables and rice into a large wooden tub, adding some clear water, and stirring it evenly.

He made a tub of "horse feed".

He carried the wooden tub back to the stables and poured the horse feed into the manger.

The reddish-brown horse, upon smelling such fragrance for the first time, seemed to have its appetite stimulated and immediately became energetic.

It lowered its head to eat, but the reddish-brown horse only licked the soup twice before refusing to eat.