36: Chapter 36 The Mohists Also Need Immortals

Just as Liu Chunmei's voice fell, Xu Qiuniang walked into the courtyard, followed by Mo Xiaohu, who was leaning on a pair of crutches.

Seeing the two of them, Liu Chunmei smiled and said,

"Dear, five days ago Xiaohu came over to ask if you were back. I don't know what's gotten into him since then, but he runs over to Qiuniang's house every day."

Mo Shoutian also smiled.

"Let him run if he wants to. Xiao'er just left, Qiuniang is still young, and Xiaohu hasn't married a wife yet. What's wrong with him running over there?"

Xu Qiuniang happened to walk into the house, though whether she heard these words or not was unknown.

"Brother Shoutian, was this trip to Jiuzhou City smooth?"

"Quite smooth. How has the herb collection been going these past few days?"

"Pretty good. In the half month and more since you left, we've collected another four hundred plus catties."

Mo Shoutian nodded.

"Hard work. How much silver was spent in total on those two hundred ninety-five catties of herbs last time?"

"It's not hard work, Brother Shoutian. Last time, it cost fifty-nine taels in total."

From the more than sixty taels of silver he had just taken out, Mo Shoutian counted out fifty-nine taels and handed them to Xu Qiuniang.

"This is the money for collecting herbs last time. Distribute it to the villagers first."

"Alright, Brother Shoutian, I'll go right now."

Just as Xu Qiuniang was about to leave, Mo Shoutian called out to her again.

"Wait a moment. Before I left, I asked you to find a few more helpers. Have you found them?"

Xu Qiuniang was slightly taken aback, and her eyes turned a bit red.

"I found them, Brother Shoutian. Is it because I didn't do something well, and you're planning to replace me?"

Hearing this, Mo Shoutian smiled.

"Where is your mind wandering? How could I possibly replace you?"

"I have other arrangements for you, so regarding the herb collection in the village, you need to groom a few people in advance."

Hearing that he didn't want to replace her, Xu Qiuniang finally set her mind at ease.

"Brother Shoutian, do you have other plans?"

"Yeah, I'll tell you once everything is arranged."

Xu Qiuniang nodded.

"Alright, I'll do whatever Brother Shoutian arranges."

With that, she took the silver and walked out of the house.

Mo Xiaohu, who had been standing at the doorway all along, stepped aside and asked Xu Qiuniang,

"Why are you leaving just as you came?"

Xu Qiuniang glanced at him, ignored him, and walked out of the courtyard with the silver.

Mo Xiaohu stood at the doorway, feeling somewhat awkward for a moment.

Both Mo Shoutian and Liu Chunmei looked at him.

Mo Xiaohu gave an awkward dry laugh.

"Brother Shoutian, Sister-in-law, I'll go help Qiuniang with some work."

Saying that, without even stepping into the room, he chased after her on his crutches.

Mo Shoutian called out from behind,

"Come over for dinner and to split the money tonight."

"Got it, Brother Shoutian."

Watching Mo Xiaohu leave the courtyard, Mo Shoutian said to Liu Chunmei,

"Chunmei, hurry up and prepare the food and wine. I'll go take a look in Xiaochuan's room."

Liu Chunmei nodded, took the remaining silver, and went out the door.

Mo Shoutian walked into Mo Xiaochuan's room.

"Dad, you're back."

"Yeah."

Mo Shoutian took out the five Spirit Stones from his bosom and handed them to Mo Xiaochuan.

Mo Xiaochuan looked at the Spirit Stones in his hand, opened his mouth, but in the end didn't say anything. He simply put the five Spirit Stones into the original small cloth bag.

"Xiaochuan, how many Spirit Stones are there in total now?"

"Counting the five Dad just brought back, there are fourteen in total."

Mo Shoutian nodded.

"Don't worry about the Spirit Stones; just Cultivate well."

Mo Xiaochuan didn't speak, merely nodding.

Mo Shoutian looked again at the broken jade placed to the side.

"Senior."

Qingli's voice came out from the broken jade.

"If you have something to say, just say it."

Mo Shoutian thought for a moment.

"Tonight, I need Xiaochuan to show off his skills in front of everyone."

Hearing this, Mo Xiaochuan looked at his father, not understanding what he meant.

Qingli, however, understood.

"Showing off a trick is no problem, but Xiaochuan doesn't have much spiritual power in his body right now; it will require consuming one Spirit Stone."

"No problem."

Mo Xiaochuan couldn't help asking,

"Dad, what are you planning to do tonight?"

"I'm going to tell those ten people, including Xiaohu, that you can Cultivate."

Upon hearing this, a trace of worry appeared on Mo Xiaochuan's face.

"Dad, will this cause trouble?"

Mo Shoutian looked at his son.

"Dad is also afraid of trouble, which is why I need you to show off a skill."

After sunset, Mo Changlin and the others arrived one after another at Mo Shoutian's house.

Mo Shoutian arranged for Liu Chunmei to take Nannan to Xu Qiuniang's house.

Only Mo Shoutian, Mo Xiaochuan, and the ten people who had participated in the beast hunt remained in the main room.

The heated brick bed table was filled with food and wine.

Mo Shoutian first invited everyone to sit down, then untied the bag holding the silver and poured the silver inside onto the ground.

As the silver hit the ground, everyone's gazes immediately shifted over.

Looking at the silver on the ground, Mo Shoucheng couldn't help stretching his neck to count it a few times.

Mo Qingshi also stared at that pile of silver, a smile lingering at the corners of his mouth.

Only Mo Changlin managed to keep his composure, sitting there and waiting for Mo Shoutian to speak.

Mo Shoutian looked at everyone and said,

"Brothers, this time the tiger meat, beef, beast bones, and fur sold for a total of nine hundred taels of silver."

The four who had gone along were fine.

But the rest of them were different.

Although they knew these things could sell for quite a bit of money, actually hearing the figure of nine hundred taels still felt a bit unbelievable.

Mo Shoutian continued,

"As we agreed before, I take half, and you ten split the other half."

"I also spent one hundred fifty taels to buy five heavy crossbows and thirty crossbow bolts. This money comes out of my half."

Having said that, Mo Shoutian took three hundred taels out of the seven hundred fifty taels of silver and placed them on his side.

"The remaining four hundred fifty taels are yours. The ten of you split it evenly, forty-five taels per person."

Mo Shoucheng couldn't help asking,

"Brother Shoutian, is it really forty-five taels per person?"

"It's forty-five taels per person."

Mo Shoucheng grinned widely, and Mo Qingshi nodded repeatedly beside him.

Mo Mancang sat there calculating for a while, and couldn't help saying,

"This is more than all the silver I've saved over these years."

Mo Xiaoshan looked at the silver on the ground, then looked at his older brother, Mo Dashan.

Mo Dashan didn't speak, but the excitement on his face hadn't faded at all.

Mo Shoutian looked over the ten people one by one.

"Everyone has no objections, right?"

Mo Changlin spoke up first.

"We split it just as we discussed beforehand. No objections."

The others also chimed in that there was no problem.

Mo Shoutian said,

"As long as there's no problem. After we finish eating, we'll split the silver."

Hearing this, everyone was very happy, and Mo Shoucheng had already reached out to grab the wine pot.

Just at this moment, Mo Shoutian spoke again.

"Before we eat, I have one more thing to say."

Mo Shoucheng pulled back the hand he had extended.

Everyone in the room looked at Mo Shoutian.

Mo Xiaohu couldn't help asking,

"Brother Shoutian, just say whatever it is. Why be so secretive about it?"

Mo Changlin also said,

"Shoutian, just speak directly. Everyone is here."

Mo Shoutian nodded, but didn't immediately say what the matter was, asking instead:

"Do you all still remember how Uncle Changfu died, and how Xiao'er died?"

The crowd, who had all been smiling just a moment ago, instantly lost all their joy upon hearing the names of Uncle Changfu and Xiao'er.

Mo Xiaohu said, grinding his teeth,

"How could we possibly not remember? Uncle Changfu was beaten to death by that damn Immortal."

"Xiao'er was also killed by those two Immortals fighting with magical powers."

Mo Changlin sighed.

"In the eyes of those Immortals, ordinary people like us probably aren't even considered ants."

Mo Mancang looked at the wine bowl in front of him.

"So what if we know? We can't even block a single finger of theirs."

For a moment, no one in the room spoke.

Mo Shoutian looked at the crowd and continued,

"Neither Uncle Changfu nor Xiao'er provoked those Immortals, yet they still lost their lives."

"We managed to dodge it this time, but what about the future? Will there be a day when our sons and grandsons die at their hands without having done anything?"

Mo Xiaohu gripped the crutch in his hand tightly.

Mo Mancang and Mo Dashan both lowered their heads, and the smile on Mo Shoucheng's face had long since vanished.

It wasn't that they hadn't thought about these things; it was just that even if they thought about them, there was nothing they could do.

Mo Shoutian looked at everyone and said,

"If we don't want the people of Mo Family Village to forever be ants to be slaughtered at will, then there is only one way."

"Among the descendants of our Mo family, someone must Cultivate, and someone must become an Immortal."