Heaven rewards diligence; he fought his way through chaos to become a saint.

The sky began to lighten with the first light of dawn, and the official road gradually became clearer.

The group sped up their pace and didn't arrive at their destination, Gaoliu County, until noon.

Gaoliu County is similar to Songjiang County, with many towns and villages near the county seat.

A township is a general term for agricultural settlements, used by the government to collect taxes and report statistics. In reality, they are individual villages.

The term "town" is a general term; it refers to a place where people trade with each other, forming a market, and then gathering in the market to form a town.

Passing through Liangtu Township in Gaoliu County, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"From now on, if you encounter someone attacking at night, you must strike with deadly force. You absolutely cannot let them escape like last time..."

Jiang Qian, unaware that they had escaped a disaster the previous night, advised Ye Ci as someone who had been through it all: "Once the person has escaped, we must leave as soon as possible and not linger. But we also need to consider the situation. Last night was at night... it's easy to be surrounded and intercepted at night... if all else fails, we'll have to abandon the escort."

He explained to Ye Ci in detail the intricacies of escorting goods, which differed from the ways of the military. There was no need to risk one's life; at worst, one could simply escape.

"Also, never be nervous when fighting with someone. Look... the bow has broken."

Jiang Qian sighed, "When facing the enemy, you must remain calm. If you had focused on dealing with the attacker, you might have taken them down in one fell swoop..."

Ye Ci nodded.

He was still thinking about the person he killed last night. He must have been a Ming Jin (a type of martial arts expert), otherwise, with an ordinary person's skin and flesh, that punch would have been like smashing a watermelon.

I'll knock the pulp out for you.

But in terms of strength... Ye Ci had some doubts, as it seemed that he was not as strong as a true Ming Jin.

The arrow must have hit someone as well.

With his current arm strength, ordinary bows and arrows were indeed useless; even though he controlled his strength, they still broke.

Shot dead?

Ye Ci felt that there probably wasn't any. The other party's silent reaction showed that he was very resilient. His bow was a bit lacking, otherwise he would have had a chance to shoot him dead.

All I can say is that the man in the forest was tough; he didn't utter a sound even after being hit by four arrows. He was a ruthless character.

After delivering the goods in Gaoliu County, the group stayed another night.

As dawn broke, the group set off lightly equipped, which greatly increased their speed.

When they passed through Gouya Village again, they were on high alert, moving quickly without stopping.

Eager to return home, the cart wheels rattled and bounced high into the air.

It took four days to get there, but only two days to get back to Songjiang County.

The crowd cheered up considerably, and along the way, people praised Ye Ci and urged him to join the Ping An Escort Agency after failing to pass the test.

"..."

Ye Ci was both amused and exasperated, but not wanting to offend his good intentions, he could only nod.

Also.

The second attempt to pass the test is already very difficult. There are more than ten people with Ming Jin (manifest strength) in the escort agency, but only two with An Jin (hidden strength).

Back at the escort agency, the head manager personally came out to check the wages. Although he was called the head manager, he was actually the eldest uncle of the Jiang family.

He was dressed in a long gown as a secretary, followed by an accountant and a shop assistant. He then asked about the journey with a serious expression, and then called the shop assistant over to help.

First, the laborers were paid. Their wages were low; they were only given copper coins and rice with meat. The meat was cured pork strips, and the rice was a bag of fine rice. In fact, both were hard currency.

If you don't want to eat refined rice, you can go to a grain and oil shop and exchange it for brown rice.

"Twenty taels."

Uncle Jiang and Jiang Qian discussed it and calculated a price for Ye Ci, which surprised Ye Ci.

Didn't we agree on eight ounces?!

"If it weren't for your night watch, the escort agency might have suffered losses, and according to the rules, we would have to pay extra. Even if you are Jiang Ding'an's junior brother, we cannot take advantage of you."

Uncle Jiang spoke with a naturally expressionless face, then turned to the accountant and said:

"The price of rice and meat will double. Also, he broke a bow. You need to tell the blacksmith to make a good bow, the kind that a Ming Jin martial artist can use."

"yes!"

The accountant recorded it in a book with a brush pen.

Ye Ci felt he had returned with a full load, as if he had earned the price of a long-distance trip.

Also, the Ping An Escort Agency is really making a lot of money; the value of that shipment must have been quite high.

When I got home, I threw the rice and meat off my shoulder onto the ground.

Li was completely stunned. The old man kept grabbing handfuls of rice and touching the meat, as if he were dreaming.

She kept saying, "I'm getting better..." but she never expected it to be this good.

More than money, the old man felt truly at ease seeing rice and meat.

"Take the money and spend it."

Ye Ci tossed the bag of silver to Mu Mu with a very generous gesture.

"what……"

Mumu quickly opened it, her eyes then shining. She felt more at ease with this kind of money; at least it wasn't borrowed from a "friend."

"By the way, you're not allowed to do laundry anymore."

Ye Ci said.

Mumu suddenly raised her little face, then nodded seriously. She heard clearly that the young master said, "You are not allowed to go."

"Sister Mumu, I want to eat candy."

Yao Yao lay down next to Mu Mu, drool dripping from her mouth.

"Eat whatever you want, buy it for her."

As Ye Ci spoke, the image of her senior brother drinking medicine with maltose floated into her mind.

"Leave some for me too," he said.

******

As evening fell, Ye Ci returned to the martial arts school.

Suddenly, a commotion came from inside, and a stumbling figure came out, cursing loudly.

"I will never come to Rock Martial Arts Gym again in my entire life!"

"You bunch of snobbish bastards!"

Once the man stepped out the door, he slowed down, squatted down by the roadside, and covered his head.

"Wang De?"

Wang De looked up and met Ye Ci's gaze, then sniffed.

"I failed to pass the test last night..."

Ye Ci looked at him, not knowing what to say. This kid was lazy all day long, so it was understandable that he failed to pass the test.

Wang De wiped away his tears with his sleeve: "I should have left last night. I didn't expect my fellow disciples to be so ungrateful and even laugh at me... Failing the breakthrough means I can never enter the Ming Jin realm. What a waste of money... If only I had accumulated more experience over a longer period of time..."

Ye Ci comforted him, "It's not a waste of money; at least you've gained more strength than the average person."

"What's the use? If you can't pass the martial arts exam, you can't bring honor to your ancestors."

Ye Ci squatted down: "Let alone passing the martial arts examination, even passing the military examination may not be useful. Fame and fortune are just flowers on a brocade robe, but they are the guillotine of the poor... I once saw a lieutenant general who was quite capable, but he died in an ambush."

"Go back to a peaceful life..."

Ye Ci knew that Wang De's family was well-off; they owned a grain and oil shop and could live comfortably.

"Why is Senior Brother Ye practicing martial arts so diligently?"

Wang De looked up and asked.

Ye Ci calmly said, "Someone asked me for three hundred taels of silver. I'm not satisfied and want it back."

"I disagree!"

Wang De was so angry that he punched his thigh hard: "That damn Xiao Hua, he said I'm as stupid as a pig... I couldn't stand it, so I forced my way through the gate, but after I failed, many disciples in the front courtyard laughed at me."

"He even came to the front today to mock me, saying I'd only ever be a lowly person. I retorted a few times, and he ordered some of the front-yard apprentices to beat me up. I cursed at him... and then we attracted the master's attention. He said..."

"What did you say?"

"I bullied Xiao Hua when he first started out. I should have thought about whether Xiao Hua could possibly be better than me."

"oh."

Ye Ci felt that Master Yang was not wrong. With Wang De's personality, he would cause trouble for others sooner or later.

That is to say, I am very magnanimous towards Wang De.

They neither shot him with a bow nor chopped him with a machete, nor robbed his grain and oil shop.

In comparison, Xiao Hua is too petty. He's already a closed-door disciple, yet he still argues with an apprentice from the outer academy.

Ye Ci felt that he was a very magnanimous person, someone who could tolerate anything.

He didn't dislike Xiao Hua at all; on the contrary, he hoped that the boy would pass the imperial examination as soon as possible, become a general, and make meritorious contributions...