I am about to die of old age, and I have awakened the character of longevity.

Chapter 85: Continuation
At Xie An's age, he became indifferent to many things in life, and there were few things that could make him feel very intense.

If you live long enough, you can't avoid this.

But today, I was really stimulated by Wei Dian's open-mindedness and boldness.

What Wei Dian longed for was also what Xie An longed for in his heart.

Perhaps one day in the future, when Xie An has enough strength, he will ride his horse and wield his sword, stepping on the sunflowers and walk out of the mountains, into the outside world, singing freely.

The words "Brother Wei" were said with sincerity.

Xie An knew that Wei Dian had originally shown him favor because he was attracted by Tangjiabao. Wei Dian probably wanted him to rely on the Tangjiabao's connections to support Lin Yun after he left.

In fact, even if Wei Dian had brought it up, Xie An would have thought it was perfectly normal and wouldn't have had any thoughts about it. It was all human nature.

However, Wei Dian never made these requests to Xie An from beginning to end, and did not ask Xie An to do anything before leaving, but left everything to Xie An to decide.

It was because Wei Dian didn't want to turn their encounter into a transaction and profit. He truly regarded Xie An as his own, just like Lin Yun.

Xie An felt that Wei Dian was worthy of the title "Brother Wei".

Xie An always felt that some people may not have great abilities, but they have extraordinary charm and can influence and infect others.

Wei Dian is obviously such a person.

On the mountain road, the cold wind was like a knife, and the heavy snow was falling like goose feathers.

At the end of the ridge, there was no longer any trace of Wei Dian riding his horse.

Even the long horseshoe print left behind was covered by the falling snow... as if it had never appeared.

"Brother Wei, I still owe you a thank you."

After being stunned for a long time, Xie An finally recovered and looked at Lin Yun who was kneeling on the ground and sobbing. Just as he was about to speak to comfort her, he heard Lin Yun say:
"Xie An, I want to stay here alone for a while. Is that okay?"

Xie An looked at Lin Yun, who knelt on the ground, and felt that the chief deacon had suddenly aged considerably. He then thought that Lin Yun was also forty years old and understood many things, so there was no need for him to explain more. What he needed most at this moment was solitude.

"Deacon Lin, please take care of yourself!"

After saying that, Xie An turned around and walked down the mountain path.

The wind blowing over is still very cold.

The snow on the ground was still very thick, and every step I took was not even above my knees.

Xie An seemed unaware of it and continued walking step by step in the wind and snow.

Xie An knew that once Wei Dian left... and the news spread, the entire Xueling lineage would be liquidated and targeted by Fang Baiyu.

I’m afraid the situation that will follow will be very bad.

We can’t rely on Lin Yun.

But Lin Yun had his own decision and persistence, so Xie An naturally wouldn't say much, and even if he did, it would be useless.

When we got to the foot of the mountain, we found Liang Zhi and Wang Xiang guarding the intersection.

"Boss, you'll easily catch a cold if you keep doing this." Liang Zhi immediately came over with an oil-paper umbrella to shield Xie An from the wind and snow.

Ok.

Xie An nodded and said nothing more.

On the way back to the villa, Liang Zhi lit the stove again, wiped the snow off Xie An's clothes with a rag, and asked Wang Xiang to make tea.

From beginning to end, the two were busy with their work and didn't dare to speak. Obviously, they both noticed that the boss was in a bad mood today and didn't dare to speak out...

Xie An saw it all. He took the teacup and took a sip of the hot tea. As the hot tea went down his throat, his body did feel a little warmer.

"Liang Zhi."

Liang Zhi stood up in an instant and said, "Here."

Xie An asked, "Are the accounts and treasury still full recently?"

Liang Zhi thought Xie An was going to check the accounts again, but this time he was not nervous. Instead, he looked forward to it. "The treasury is full. I have carefully prepared the accounts and checked the accounts with the silver in the treasury every day. There is absolutely no mistake. If the boss wants to see the accounts, I will bring them to you immediately."

"That's not necessary." Xie An said with relief: "I remember there is a rule about advance payment in the black market. Is that so?"

Liang Zhi was a little confused, but he knew the rules very well. "Yes. This rule was originally set by Wei Xiangzhu. Deacons in charge of the black market can advance one to two years' salary if they need money urgently. But they need to write an IOU."

Xie An nodded slightly and made a brief calculation in his mind.

The last time he was promoted to the second deacon, Wei Dian doubled his salary.

Forty taels a month.

That’s four hundred and eighty taels a year.

This is close to the income of the archdeacon.

"Get a pen and paper."

Xie An asked Liang Zhi to bring him paper and pen, then wrote an IOU for 480 taels of silver and handed it to Liang Zhi. "I need a year's worth of silver in advance. After you take the silver, go to the hall and buy me four sets of tiger meat soup, and the rest for tiger skin soup. The sooner the better."

An advance of four hundred and eighty taels...

This is a big deal.

Liang Zhidu was quite surprised, but he could understand it.

The cost of martial arts training is already so high. The head deacon had even made an advance before...

However, Liang Zhi kindly mentioned, "Boss, a year's advance is no small matter. If you're short on money, why not ask Li Shaoyun... for some extra money?" Xie An thought for a moment and shook his head, "No need. Just go and do it."

"Yes."

Liang Zhi didn't dare to say much and hurried out with Wang Xiang.

After leaving the villa, Wang Xiang was secretly shocked. "Brother Liang, what do you think happened to the boss? He advanced nearly 500 taels in one go. The boss was not like this before. He was always cautious."

Liang Zhi scolded, "You know nothing. The boss must be about to break through the Flesh Realm. We must strike while the iron is hot."

hiss!
Wang Xiang gasped, "The Jingrou realm... this is too abnormal. It seems that in our entire Baiyu Hall, besides Hall Master Fang, only the two deputy hall masters, Hong Lie and Wang Ziwen, have reached the Jingrou realm. If the leader breaks through the Jingrou realm... at least he will be able to become the incense master."

Liang Zhi was also filled with emotion. "Yes. I never thought that the boss would break through the Jingrou realm after only one year in the black market. Once he breaks through the Jingrou realm, he will be in the eyes of the upper echelons of the Tiger and Wolf Sect. With a few years of experience in the future, it won't be uncommon for him to become a hall master. We have followed the right person."

Wang Xiang agreed, then asked, "But... why did the boss buy the tiger skin soup?"

Liang Zhi was also stunned, and finally said: "Maybe he just bought it for Zhang Lin. Stop talking nonsense and get out of here."

Two hours later, Wang Xiang and Liang Zhi returned to Xie An's villa with heavy bags of medicinal herbs.

Because they were in a hurry to get there, both of them were covered with snowflakes, and their ears were so cold that they turned purple.

"Boss, I've bought all the herbs you requested. Four doses of tiger meat decoction and eight doses of tiger skin decoction. The owner of the pharmacy saw that we were buying a large quantity and knocked off ten taels of silver. They're all here."

Liang Zhi handed the packaged medicinal ingredients and small change to Xie An.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Xie An accepted the four sets of Tiger Meat Yuan Tang, then handed the eight sets of Tiger Skin Yuan Tang to Wang Xiang. "Wang Xiang, I see that you've been practicing martial arts diligently recently, and you're ready to break through to the Bronze Skin Realm. Take these eight sets of Tiger Skin Yuan Tang, and go into seclusion to try to break through to the Bronze Skin Realm as soon as possible."

Wang Xiang looked like he was struck by lightning. He stood there motionless, looking at Xie An in disbelief.

Eight sets of tiger skin soup, worth one hundred and sixty taels.

This is his income for two years.

The boss gave it away all at once! ?
pat.

Wang Xiang knelt on the ground and said, "This is too valuable. I cannot accept it."

Xie An was satisfied with Wang Xiang's attitude. It would be wrong if this guy didn't even make an excuse.

now it's right.

Xie An raised his voice, "You've been following me for almost a year, but you're not even at the Bronze Skin Realm. You think you're doing me a honor, right?"

Wang Xiang was very panicked, "I have tried my best..."

Xie An said with a straight face, "I'm helping you because I know you're working hard. If you don't want to embarrass me, then quickly take the medicine and go into seclusion. If you fail in seclusion, I'll chop you into pieces."

Wang Xiang was about to refuse, but Liang Zhi kicked him. "The boss didn't mind that you were Zhang Biao's old subordinate, and he even cultivated you vigorously. If you don't want to disappoint the boss, then don't waste time here. You might as well go and retreat instead."

"Thank you, boss."

Wang Xiang finally took the medicine. When he stood up, his eyes were filled with tears and he kept wiping them away.

"Don't worry, boss. Even if it costs me my life, I will definitely break through and enter the Bronze Skin Realm. I will never let you down."

After saying the last sentence, the strong man Wang Xiang wiped his tears and walked outside.

Xie An was very surprised. "Liang Zhi, is he such a man?"

Eh.

Liang Zhi sighed and said, "Boss, you don't know. Wang Xiang was a poor child abandoned by his parents since he was young. No one loved him and he was looked down upon. Later, he saved some money by doing hard labor for others, and then went to a martial arts school to learn some kung fu. That's when he had the opportunity to join the Tiger and Wolf Sect as a servant. Without background and strength, he was bullied in the Tiger and Wolf Sect. Later, he followed Zhang Biao and was often beaten and scolded by Zhang Biao. If I hadn't felt sorry for him and taken good care of him, I'm afraid he would have been crippled by Zhang Biao long ago."

This child has never been cared for by anyone. He may look tough on the outside, but deep down he longs to be recognized and treated well. "The boss gave him eight sets of tiger skin soup, and he's grateful for that."

Xie An sighed for a moment. In troubled times, few children from poor families had a good life. If they met a noble person, their life would still have a little hope. Otherwise...

Recovering his thoughts, Xie An took out two bowls of Tiger Meat Essence Soup and handed them to Liang Zhi, "Liang Zhi, you are really good at hiding things. If it weren't for my extraordinary five senses, I wouldn't have known that you have already achieved the Bronze Skin Realm. Take these two bowls of Tiger Meat Essence Soup and use them to break through the barrier as soon as possible."

Liang Zhi was shocked all over and stared at Xie An with wide eyes, wondering what happened to his boss today?
I just gave Wang Xiang one hundred and sixty taels of medicinal supplements.

Now you are giving yourself one hundred and sixty taels?

Such a big move was beyond Liang Zhi's expectations.

At this time, after Xie An gave him the medicine, he went to the room and took out a note and showed it to Liang Zhi.

It was the handwritten letter of confession of corruption that Xie An was forced to write in order to intimidate Liang Zhi when he first arrived at the Xueling black market.

"When I first arrived here, the situation forced me to use the quickest means to intimidate you so I could smoothly take over the black market. Over the past year, I've seen that you've been diligent and down-to-earth, and have no second thoughts about me. This handwritten letter, however, is no longer necessary."

After saying that, Xie An threw the paper directly into the stove. As the flames came out, it was quickly burned to ashes.

The scorching heat hit me in the face.

Liang Zhi's eye sockets also became hot. As the paper reflected in his pupils burned to ashes, his eye sockets were already moist.

Just as he was about to say something, he saw Xie An had already stood up, with his hands behind his back and facing Liang Zhi.

"Go down. Break through the barrier as soon as possible. It's not easy for the Blood Ridge lineage. We need everyone's help."

"Thank you, boss!" Liang Zhi took the medicine, bowed deeply, and left the yard while suppressing his sour nose.

Xie An then turned around, walked under the eaves, looked out at the white mountaintops in the distance, and murmured to himself, "Brother Wei, this Blood Ridge Black Market is the life's work of you and Abao. You have such affection for me, and I will treat them the same. If you can come back one day, I hope you will see the black market as it was at the beginning."

(End of this chapter)