A daily intelligence report; in chaotic times and famine years, grain is plentiful.

"This is Scutellaria baicalensis, which has anti-inflammatory properties. My mother taught me to recognize it before."

He squatted down and carefully applied the medicinal paste to Chen Mo's already blackened and swollen wound.

A cool sensation immediately came over me, suppressing the burning pain.

Chen Mo watched his rough yet earnest movements and finally asked the question that had been on his mind.

"Why did you save me?"

Sun Dazhu paused for a moment, without looking up.

What you said during the day was right. His voice was very soft. "My brother starved to death, but you didn't cause him to starve. I led people to rob your family, just like Wang Mang robbed my family's land. In reality... there's not much difference."

Chen Mo looked at him. This young man, who had been shouting yesterday that he wanted to fight, kill, and break down doors to steal food, now had no more madness in his eyes, only weariness and confusion after sobering up.

The two sat around the fire, neither of them speaking.

Sun Dazhu took out two dark, hard, rock-hard wild vegetable dumplings from his pocket. He handed one to Chen Mo.

Chen Mo took it and slowly began to eat it.

Sun Dazhu suddenly spoke up and said that Wang Mang had beaten him today. He then added, "He didn't return the land deed to me. He said that if I couldn't repay three times the amount of grain by autumn, I would have to work as a farmhand for ten years. It's a dead contract."

Chen Mo swallowed the grass root in his mouth.

"What are you planning to do?"

"I don't know," Sun Dazhu shook his head, his gaze somewhat vacant. "But I won't rob your house again, nor will I cause trouble for any other household in the village."

After thinking it over, Chen Mo decided to take another gamble.

"There's an old locust tree three miles south of the village. In the tree hole, about two zhang above the ground, there's about half a jin of pine nuts that a squirrel has stored. Go and get them." He looked at Sun Dazhu. "Consider it repayment for the kindness you showed me by saving me this time."

Sun Dazhu suddenly raised his head, his face full of disbelief.

"How...how do you know so much?"

Chen Mo lied without batting an eye, saying that I had a keen eye for observation, and then added, "Squirrels store food in the fall, and this winter has been exceptionally cold, so that nest of squirrels probably froze to death, which is good for us."

This explanation was reasonable, and Sun Dazhu believed it.

He didn't leave immediately, but glanced at Chen Mo's legs.

"Your leg is injured like this, it'll be difficult for you to go down the mountain. I'll carry you down."

Chen Mo shook his head.

"I can walk by myself. You hurry up and get the pine nuts, or someone might find out if you're too late."

After Sun Dazhu left, Chen Mo rested in the cave for a while longer.

The effects of Scutellaria baicalensis were quite noticeable; the burning sensation on my legs was greatly reduced, and the swelling subsided somewhat.

Leaning on his cane, he slowly made his way down the mountain, one step at a time.

It was already noon when I got home.

When Chen Ling'er saw him return, she cried so hard she almost fainted. Chen Dashan struggled to his feet and started brewing medicine for his son, coughing as he did so, as if he were coughing up his lungs.

After drinking the soup made from Scutellaria baicalensis, Chen Mo felt that the deadly chill in his body was finally dispelled a little.

However, peaceful days are always short-lived.

In the afternoon, Zhao Si came again.

This time, instead of sneaking around outside, he stood at the gate and shouted loudly, at a volume that was just loud enough for the neighbors to hear.

The village headman informed Chen Mo: "Your family owes the village's public well tax for three years, totaling thirty coins. You are required to pay the tax before nightfall tomorrow. If you cannot pay, your two mu of poor land will have to be used to offset the debt."

Chen Mo lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) with his eyes closed.

Wang Mang, under the guise of righteousness and through legal means, forced him to his death.

By nightfall, Chen Mo's fever had completely subsided, and the swelling in his legs had gone down by more than half. Although it still hurt, he was able to get out of bed and walk slowly.

As dawn approached, that familiar panel reappeared in my mind.

Chen Mo forced himself to stay alert and opened his eyes wide.

[Daily information has been updated, please select:]

[1. The black market in Qinghe Town will open tomorrow. A migrant worker from out of town is eager to sell three household registration travel permits, asking five taels of silver for each. The origin of these permits is unclear, and their authenticity is difficult to verify. The risk is low; the black market is crowded with people, but the transaction itself is not very risky.]

[Second, about 30 li north of Qingshui Village, there is an abandoned military outpost from a previous dynasty. Inside the outpost's cellar, there are some rusty longswords, bows, and arrows. It's a medium-risk area; the journey is quite long, and you might encounter bandits along the way.]

Thirdly, at the end of a hidden cave deep in the back mountains, there is an underground river. The entrance to the river is extremely narrow, allowing only a person to crawl through. Blind fish inhabit the river, and there are quite a few of them. It is a high-risk area, as there is insufficient oxygen inside the cave, the entrance could collapse at any time, and the blind fish are very difficult to catch.

Chen Mo's gaze was fixed on the third option.

If there really is a hidden underground river, it means that he has a stable, continuous, and extremely secretive food source.

In these years of famine, this was a way to survive, a path that could completely change his situation and lead him to success.

However, the risks are equally enormous.

The entrance was very narrow, and his leg was still injured and had not yet healed. If he climbed in and a landslide occurred, or if he couldn't get out, he would simply suffocate inside.

Just as he was weighing the pros and cons and struggling with his decision, there was a knock on the gate.

Chen Mo's heart clenched. He picked up the wood-chopping knife beside him, carefully moved to the door, and peered out through the crack in the door.

Under the cool moonlight, Sun Dazhu stood outside the door, a bulging cloth bag on his back.

"Chen Mo, it's me. I got the pine nuts. I also... I found something else... you might be interested."

"This cake was dug out from under the old locust tree, and there's more than one. Under that tree... there seems to be a pit where something was buried."

The door hinge creaked, and Chen Mo stepped aside to let Sun Dazhu squeeze in.

Sun Dazhu took the cloth bag off his back and, as if showing off a treasure, took out the dark, round cake and handed it to the lamplight.

"Look."

The flatbread was as hard as a stone, with a shallow ring of teeth marks around the edge, clearly indicating that someone had tried but failed. On the surface of the flatbread, two characters were pressed out with a mold, one "乾" (qian) and the other "军" (jun), which could still be barely discerned when the oil lamp flickered.

Chen Mo took the cake, tapped it with his knuckles, and it made a dull thud. This thing could be used as a weapon.

Sun Dazhu came closer.

"Under the old locust tree, that pit seems to have collapsed. I was originally planning to dig up some pine roots, but when I shoveled it down, I turned this up."

"There's more than one piece. Inside... there are bones too."

"It looks like it. The pit isn't very deep, so I only dug up a little bit of soil... I didn't dare to dig any further."