A new day has come.

Xun Xie slept well, got up early, and started the day step by step.

when!

when!

“Thank you for your patronage!”

“No Duration. Daily Spin consumed.”

“Critical unavailable.”

It would be a lie to say his mood wasn’t affected by today’s result but he couldn’t let it keep coloring the rest of his day, could he?!

Xun Xie did his best to avoid thinking about it. After some punches and kicks to relieve his early morning stress…

Xun Xie stretched his back, rode on the donkey, and headed to Blue Grain Town as usual. First, he went to the breakfast stall to have breakfast.

Not long after, many people came to have breakfast.

"Last night, there was a fire in Stone Cherry Square, burning half the street."

"Yeah, I heard that there are two gangs fighting each other for territory."

"Yes, I heard the same, one is the Black Tiger Gang, and the other is the Red Hand Gang. They fought so hard that they seemed to not fear death."

"I heard eight died..."

Xun Xie frowned as there were a lot of discussions, he already knew a lot about Blue Grain Town.

In this town, there really is no official government.

Yes, this is a lawless place.

In the town, Fang, Lin, Feng, and Hu, the four great teachers, are extremely powerful, like four mountains pressing down on the heads of the common people, but they do not directly rule Blue Grain Town.

The apprentices taught by the four major teachers used their personal strength to win people over to form gangs, divide the territory, and collect protection fees.

Whoever has a bigger territory has a bigger power.

As a result, grabbing territory has become a daily routine for major gangs.

Interestingly, the four teachers never interfered in the rivalry between gangs. The winner is the king, and the loser is the bandit.

At first glance, there are many gangs in Blue Grain Town, and it seems to be a mess.

However, the fact is that several larger gangs have a strong balance with each other and will not go to war at will, and the lives of most people will not be greatly affected.

The upper-level forces are basically solidified.

Those who dare to fight, and kill are basically those small gangs or newly formed gangs. They fight to the death for the protection of a street or a booth. It is just an ordinary thing.

It's not the first time that Xun Xie has heard of a gang fight. It has nothing to do with him. He is not from the town and will not be involved in it.

Living in the countryside, there is not so much trouble.

Of course, you can't even get the most fertile land near Blue Grain Town.

Like Yin Village, where Xun Xie is located, the soil in the valley is relatively barren, and the crops that are planted will naturally not grow very well, and the harvest is less than half of the fertile soil.

Moreover, living in a remote country, safety is also a big problem. Leaving out the rare calamity of a bodhisattva which is about as common as lightning striking the same place three times. Wild animals like bears, mosquitos, occasional part-time bandits who have decided they want to dabble in the lucrative robbing industry, and so on are problems faced in the countryside.

After having breakfast, Xun Xie went directly to the Hu residence.

While warming up, a maid sister ran over and shouted, "That Xun Xie, Mr. Hu told you to come over."

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Xun Xie was startled.

Old Man Hu is usually very lazy. Except for pointing out a few high-level apprentices, he usually doesn't pay attention to others.

For an entry-level apprentice like Xun Xie who was still at the stage of practicing basic skills, Old Man Hu threw his hand over to Yun Shan to teach him, and he was too lazy to take a second look.

Xun Xie was very suspicious.

For no reason, what did Old Man Hu suddenly ask for me?

Xun Xie couldn't help but think of another thing. The Land God asked him to bring a word to Hu Piao, but he hasn't said anything until now.

It’s not that he forgot or that there is no reason.

Because he can see the "Yin God", which is not something ordinary people can do, that is to say, he may be an anomaly.

This, if exposed, may lead to unimaginable consequences.

In case, someone takes him as a guinea pig to study. Misfortune comes from the mouth is something he has learned very clearly in his past life.

In short, Xun Xie didn't want people to know that he could see the Yin God, and pretending to be ordinary was the safest way to survive.

He didn't want to be burned at a stake for being too different, even in the modern age being different would cause you to be shunned, here being different could be very lethal.

"Sister, what is Mr. Hu looking for from me?" Xun Xie asked quickly.

"I don't know, you can ask yourself." The maid turned around and went.

I don't know if she didn't want to say it, or she really didn't know.

Xun Xie wiped his sweat and tidied up the sackcloth and linen on his body, and then came to the main room.

Looking around, he saw that Old Man Hu was meeting guests.

The guest was a middle-aged man, dressed in a simple Confucian shenyi. He was elegant and poise and seemed to be a scholar.

Xun Xie stepped forward and saluted, "Old Hu, this disciple is here."

Old Man Hu turned his head to look at him and said with a smile, "Xun Xie, are you literate, right? How's your handwriting?"

Ask me about calligraphy?

Xun Xie was in a bit of trouble. Thanks to the Great Clarity plug-in, he had long since perfected the basic forms he was required to do to build his martial arts foundation and was currently focusing on studying language when he got the plug-in again, he wasn’t particularly focused on writing just the understanding of the words.

He replied, "It's normal, I don't know how to write a lot of words."

People in this era likely had lower standards of what was considered ‘literacy’ than he was, at least that’s the feeling he got from feeling out the language practices from speaking to random people like shop owners and passers-by. He also did several calligraphy classes as an elective but that was in Chinese and it was a very easy course with few requirements, he didn't really take it seriously.

After hearing this, Old Man Hu turned to look at the middle-aged man, who smiled and said, "It's okay, He can practice if he doesn't know how to write, and I can teach him."

Hu Piao nodded and said to Xun Xie: "This is my friend, surnamed Eastern Song, known as Mr. Song, and he is short of a book boy. I want to arrange for you to go there. How about making some extra money?"

Xun Xie didn't want to be a book boy, so he continued politely, "This disciple is devoted to practicing martial arts and living in the country, I'm afraid it's not very convenient."

"Don't worry, it won't delay your martial arts practice."

Mr. Song smiled warmly, "You come to my house every day at the time of application and take care of your dinner. If you want to stay overnight, you can also have food and accommodation. Besides, how about giving you two taels of silver every month?"

When Xun Xie heard that, the conditions were quite good, he couldn't help asking in surprise, "What exactly am I to be doing?"

Mr. Song: "My hands are not very convenient, and I need someone to help me write letters, transcribe books, and so on."

Xun Xie glanced at Mr. Song's hand. At this time, he didn't find where Mr. Song's hand was.

Taking a closer look, Xun Xie was shocked.

Inside Mr. Song's two long sleeves are empty, and his arms are actually missing!

Xun Xie's mind quickly became clear, he nodded and said, "Student is willing."

"Very good, come over tonight." Mr. Song looked quite satisfied and left his address.

Xun Xie wrote it down and then went back to the yard to practice.

"Junior Brother Xun Xie, who is that guest, and why did he tell you to come over?" Yun Shan and a few people came over and asked curiously.

Xun Xie said simply.

He didn't mention two taels of silver, and He didn't mention anything about food and clothing. He was clear of human envy, even if they didn't explicitly show it, they might feel offended he was gifted such a great job for nothing, after all, no one could pick up money like he did on a regular basis.

But unexpectedly, no one knew this Mr. Song, and no one even heard of him.

"I can write too, why didn't Mr. Hu find me?" A young man said sourly when he heard the words.

"Maybe it's because you are ugly." Yun Shan sneered, making everyone laugh.

Everyone quickly lost interest in this matter and practiced martial arts separately.

When the time comes.

‘Wait…this is near’

Xun Xie followed the address and realized it was near the house with the Dragon Blood Saber…It couldn’t be his wife or daughter, right? My luck isn’t so bad…although she didn’t see me so it’s probably fine. Xun Xie couldn't help but feel a little hot thinking of the spring scenery he saw that day.

Xun Xie followed the address to the front of a compound and looked up at the gate.

The word "Song Mansion" is particularly striking.

“Whew.” Fortunately, it was not the same house.

Xun Xie knocked on the door.

Soon, the door opened.

The porter was a strong man with a large black mole on his left cheek, and one eye was so pale that he seemed to be blind.

Xun Xie reported his name and purpose.

"It turns out that you are Mr.'s book boy, please come in." A smile appeared on the doorman's face, and he let Xun Xie enter.

Xun Xie entered the door and glanced around, only to find that this Song mansion was very large, with bluestone paving, many pavilions, corridors, waterside pavilions, carved beams, and painted buildings, just like a mansion.

"It's not worse than the Hu Mansion."

Xun Xie guessed that Mr. Song's identity is extraordinary, and it is not easy to be a friend of Old Man Hu.

All the way to the library.