Chapter 59: Setting Off

Chen Mo harnessed the carriage and began packing his personal belongings and various odds and ends into it.

There were not many things; it only took two trips back and forth to finish packing.

Many Personal Soldiers training outside the barracks saw him loading his things into the carriage and couldn't help but come over to ask out of curiosity.

Chen Mo did not hide anything from them, and the news that he was leaving quickly spread throughout the entire barracks.

Many familiar Personal Soldiers came over smiling to see him off, congratulating him on his new official appointment.

Someone even helped bring over the warhorse Chen Mo usually rode; a warhorse was only for riding and must never be used to pull a carriage.

The horse Chen Mo used to pull the carriage was merely an ordinary, inferior horse.

Escorted by a group of Personal Soldiers, Chen Mo drove the carriage away from the barracks, while the warhorse he rode followed closely behind the carriage.

After rushing all the way to Xiaopao Town, Chen Mo did not immediately go to find Zhao Yu; he first led the carriage and the warhorse into his own courtyard before setting off to look for her.

There were no customers at Zhao Yu's stall at the moment; when she saw Chen Mo's figure, she smiled and waved, then immediately began to pack up.

Seeing this, Chen Mo took two steps in one and walked to the side of the pushcart to take down the banner first, so as to avoid any more customers coming.

"Why haven't I seen Fourth Brother and Fifth Brother lately? They used to come by often," Zhao Yu asked in a low voice, a hint of confusion on her face.

Though she felt puzzled not seeing Mo Dao and Mo Hu, she did not dare to ask, knowing she shouldn't pry into matters within the barracks.

But having not seen the two of them appear for a long time, even she was curious, so she couldn't help but want to ask.

After all, Mo Dao was her benefactor; he had helped her redeem her freedom back then.

"This... Fourth Brother met with an accident, and Fifth Brother went back to his hometown to bury him," Chen Mo sighed softly, not knowing how to put it.

The Imperial Court's investigation would take time; Chen Mo did not know the specific situation, but it was likely that no results had been found yet.

For something like rebellion, when the Imperial Court investigates, they would never alert the enemy; they must investigate everyone involved clearly before taking swift and decisive action.

His foster father was the garrison commander of Xingyuan Prefecture and the one who discovered the matter, so he would certainly be summoned to suppress the rebellion when the time came.

Once that time arrived, he would be able to go and take his revenge.

Fourth Brother was a benefactor to him, so he must avenge him; the process did not matter, but that Ziyi Daoren must die.

As for whether he could find that Ziyi Daoren, there was no need to worry; when the Imperial Court suppresses a rebellion, they would absolutely rather kill a hundred by mistake than let one go.

All members of the Dutian Dao Sect must die, and that Ziyi Daoren dared to ambush an official, so it was even more impossible for him to be spared.

Hearing this, Zhao Yu fell silent and lowered her head to pack up her things.

Pushing the cart back to their courtyard and seeing the carriage and horses parked inside, Zhao Yu was quite surprised.

"I have earned the title of Scholar, and now I have been appointed as the Salt Transport Commissioner of Zhu Niu Ji; we have to leave," Chen Mo said slowly.

"Oh!" Zhao Yu responded softly, a sense of disparity suddenly rising in her heart.

She should have thought of this earlier; Chen Mo had obtained the title of Scholar, so from now on, he would be an official.

"Go and pack up quickly; see what things we can take with us. We will set off tomorrow," Chen Mo said as he stopped the pushcart.

"Alright. Do you have any plans for when we get there?" Zhao Yu asked, probing slightly.

"We'll take it one step at a time. Let's see the situation when we arrive. However, once there, I'll have to live at home, so I'll have to trouble you to cook for me every day."

Chen Mo smiled; the soldiers he would be in charge of then would not be Personal Soldiers, so the food would clearly not be very good.

It could only be said that, like most ordinary commoners, they could eat their fill, but it would be hard to see any meat.

And he needed to accumulate Qi and Blood, so various meat dishes were absolutely indispensable.

"It's no trouble; this is what I should be doing anyway," Zhao Yu said, her heart feeling much more relaxed upon hearing this.

She knew that once they reached Zhu Niu Ji, as Chen Mo's wife—even if only in name—it would be impossible for her to continue to show her face and do business.

That would be inappropriate; even if others didn't say anything to her face, they would still mutter behind her back that Chen Mo was harsh to her, which would damage his reputation.

But if she did nothing and just ate for free at home, that would be even worse.

Even though she knew that with Chen Mo's temperament, he certainly wouldn't say anything to her, she still felt uneasy in her heart if she did nothing and just ate for free.

Now that she knew she could still help him with daily chores and cook for him when they got there,

no matter what, she would no longer be someone who just ate for free, and Zhao Yu's mood undoubtedly improved quite a bit.

"Then I'll go to the vegetable market first to settle the bills with the people there. Let's eat lunch before we pack."

As she spoke, Zhao Yu went into the bedroom to get the silver; she didn't pay immediately when buying meat and vegetables from the market, but settled the account every ten days.

Now that they were about to leave, she had to clear the accounts before going.

Chen Mo also went to find some high-quality feed to feed the horses; the inferior horse pulling the carriage could eat worse, but the warhorse absolutely could not.

Zhao Yu returned from the market quickly; besides the vegetables and meat for today, she had bought extra, preparing to make them into travel food.

"You haven't eaten this morning, have you? I'll make you a bowl of noodles."

Zhao Yu spoke, and seeing Chen Mo nod in response, she immediately busied herself.

She lit the fire, heated the pot, added a large piece of lard, a handful of chopped green onions, and a star anise to fry until fragrant.

Six beaten eggs were added to the pot and stir-fried until golden brown, then she poured in hot water, turning the water into a milky white soup.

Once the pot boiled, she added the hand-rolled noodles; having such a hot bowl of sautéed hand-rolled noodles in the morning was the most comfortable thing.

"You make do with this for now; I'll stir-fry a few more dishes for you at noon," Zhao Yu said with a smile, handing a small basin of noodles to Chen Mo.

"Mm." Chen Mo took the noodles and, not minding the heat, slurped down two mouthfuls.

He hadn't eaten in the morning, and as a martial artist, his consumption of Qi and Blood was higher than that of ordinary people, so he was naturally starving by now.

Zhao Yu also brought him a small dish of chili peppers pickled in soy sauce to eat with the noodles.

After finishing lunch, the two of them first tidied up the house and packed away some things that wouldn't be used.

Whatever could be taken would be taken; whatever couldn't be taken would be left inside the house.

Chen Mo didn't plan to sell this small thatched cottage, mainly because it wouldn't fetch much silver, so it was better to keep it.

His foster father's barracks were not far away, and perhaps one day he would return here.

After a busy day, by the time dinner arrived, they had finally finished packing almost everything.

He only had to wait until tomorrow morning to set off for Zhu Niu Town.

"Try this; I heard the Ding family's lotus leaf chicken is famous in the vicinity," Zhao Yu said, tearing off a large, golden-brown chicken leg and placing it into Chen Mo's bowl.

Time was tight, so she had only stir-fried a few simple dishes, and worried there wouldn't be enough to eat, she had gone to buy plenty of cooked food as well.

Chen Mo merely nodded slightly, his mouth never stopping.

As his rebirth progressed further, his appetite had also increased slightly, and the time required for further rebirth would be relatively longer.

Even with eating meat every day and having medicinal soups to supplement his Qi and Blood, Chen Mo roughly estimated it would take about a year.

However, the progress of the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist was faster than he had imagined; this fist technique had no difficulty, was quick to practice, and improved rapidly, with the only drawback being its extremely high requirements for the foundation of the physical body.

Chen Mo's current physical foundation was so robust that it was likely three parts stronger than those born with Divine Power, so practicing this technique was naturally like a fish in water or a tiger gaining wings.

Now, every time he practiced, the improvement it brought him was more than double what it had been before.

Originally, he estimated it would take another month or so before he could start attempting to open his meridians, but at the current rate, half a month would likely be enough.

After finishing dinner, the night was already deep.

The night passed peacefully without incident, and the next day the two officially set off; Zhao Yu had done business in Xiaopao Town for several months, so she had some acquaintances.

Knowing she was leaving, they all hurried over early to see her off, and a few people even gave them some food to take for the road.

Chen Mo cupped his hands to thank everyone and rode his horse in front, while Zhao Yu followed closely behind him driving the carriage.

Thanks to book friend Shixin Renmian for the helm master reward!

Thanks to Dahuolong Zhanjiang for the tip!

Thanks to Shenghuo Bugui for the tip!

Thanks to Yunluo Richen for the tip!

Thanks to Meiruo Tiancheng for the tip!

Additionally, thanks to all the other friends who tipped; thank you all for your support.

(End of this chapter)