Physical immortality begins with Bajiquan

Datong Street, Cui Family Pharmacy.

Qin Heng arrived at the pharmacy at the appointed time.

The shop faces the street, with a spacious and neat storefront. The black lacquered wooden door is paired with a gold-plated signboard, which is both grand and full of local charm.

As he entered the pharmacy, he saw rows of medicine cabinets with neatly engraved medicine names on the drawers, and smelled the herbal aroma of various herbs mixed together in the air.

Besides the busy shop assistants, a man was sitting in the outer room. He was dressed in a neat dark short suit with tightly cinched cuffs and large, distinct knuckles, looking no ordinary person.

Inside the main hall, Cui Xu, whom he had just met yesterday, heard the shop assistant whispering at the door. He immediately put down the ledger he was using to count the medicinal herbs and quickly walked out.

"Qin Heng, come in quickly!" Cui Xu led Qin Heng into the inner hall and then stood aside.

"Young friend, please don't stand on ceremony. Come, sit down."

Inside the hall, another person sat high on the throne. He looked up at Qin Heng, his gaze gentle yet weighty, and gestured for him to sit down.

"I am Cui Ran, the head manager of this pharmacy. Cui Xu told me about you yesterday. Since you are willing to work at my Cui family pharmacy, you are now one of us." As he spoke, he took out a heavy little cloth bag from under the table and had someone deliver it to Qin Heng. "I know that two taels of silver a month is not generous. This is your salary for this month. We will settle it with you in advance as a token of the shop's sincerity."

Qin Heng reached out and took the cloth bag. His fingertips touched the loose silver inside. He remained expressionless, but he was inwardly puzzled.

The head manager was quite straightforward, giving out the monthly allowance on the first day he arrived, but this was perhaps a bit too thoughtful.

However, once the money was in hand, there was no reason to send it back.

He suppressed his doubts for the time being and waited quietly for the other party to continue.

"I won't bother with formalities," Cui Ran said, changing the subject to a more gentle tone. "In a few days, the pharmacy will be sending people to the countryside to collect herbs. In previous years, we had plenty of manpower, but this year it's exceptionally tight. According to regulations, the pharmacy's guards shouldn't accompany us, but since we can't spare any more people, we'd like to ask young friend Qin to go along. In addition to your monthly salary, I'll give you an extra two taels of silver as a escort fee. What do you say?"

Qin Heng raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

Sure enough, businessmen are shrewd in their words and deeds; settling the wages in advance was exactly what they were waiting for.

There's no such thing as a free lunch. If you're easily swayed, you might just agree to it after taking this opportunity.

But now that he's already on temporary assignment, it's not easy to back out.

He suppressed his inner turmoil, maintaining a calm demeanor, and looked up at Cui Ran, speaking neither humbly nor arrogantly:

"Master Manager, when collecting herbs in the countryside, we often travel along mountain paths and trails, inevitably encountering bandits or other dangers. May I ask, if we were to encounter a situation where we were outmatched, what should we do? I can't possibly risk my life for a mere two taels of silver, can I?"

Cui Ran paused in her hand, which was holding Buddhist prayer beads. She glanced at Qin Heng with surprise, her eyes showing a hint of approval, before smiling faintly:

"Indeed, young friend, you see things clearly. If you encounter a tough opponent that we are no match for, you can simply withdraw and run away, and no one will blame you. But if you encounter an opponent of equal strength who you can still fight, and you desert your post, even if I don't blame you this time, if this gets out, it will be difficult for you to find a place to hold office again."

Qin Heng remained silent for a moment, weighing the pros and cons in his mind:

Going to the countryside is indeed risky, but if you don't go, no matter how nice the other party's words are, this job will definitely be difficult to continue, and at that time you can only find a side job in a gang.

After Cui Xu left yesterday, he inquired about the pharmacy. Although it was a branch of the family business, the signboard was still reliable and worth a try, not to mention the two taels of silver reward.

He looked up at Cui Ran and nodded in agreement, "Alright, I agree to this. However, regarding the compensation, I would appreciate a more definite answer from the head manager."

Upon hearing this, Cui Ran smiled and said, "Of course. After we return from this trip, I will give you two taels of silver as a reward for your escort. If you encounter enemies and perform meritorious service along the way, you will receive an additional reward."

Qin Heng thought for a moment and, seeing nothing wrong with it, stood up, cupped his hands, and said, "Then thank you very much, Manager. I will certainly do my best."

Cui Ran nodded slightly: "Then let's go back and prepare. We'll meet at the west gate three days from now at dawn to depart."

Qin Heng acknowledged the order to leave and went straight out of the Cui family's pharmacy.

......

Three days later, at the west gate of the city.

A cool morning breeze blew by, carrying dust with it. All three mule carts belonging to the Cui family's pharmacy were parked by the city gate, where more than a dozen men were standing or sitting, each with a long knife at their waist.

Qin Heng, who lived far from Xicheng, arrived last, carrying his bundle, and his gaze swept across the entire scene.

Cui Ran, who was in the lead, stood with his hands behind his back. Judging from his qi and blood and the strength he exuded, he was clearly a Ming Jin martial artist.

Standing beside him was a young girl, about sixteen or seventeen years old, with above-average looks. Her eyes and brows carried a hint of the arrogance of a member of the Cui family, and she stood tall and graceful.

Seeing Qin Heng arrive last, she frowned slightly, glanced at him with disdain in her eyes, but said nothing and quickly looked away.

Qin Heng saw her expression but didn't explain. He silently joined the crowd and stood aside.

He noticed that the burly man he had seen in the outer hall of the pharmacy that day was now leaning against the mule cart, playing with a kettle in his hand. When he saw him coming, he nodded slightly in greeting.

Including himself, there were now four Ming Jin martial artists in the arena. If they encountered ordinary mountain bandits, they should be able to handle the situation with ease and not be put on the defensive.

"Everyone's here."

Cui Ran said calmly, "This trip is supposed to be to collect medicinal herbs in the countryside, but in reality, we've already reached an agreement with the village. We just need to load the herbs onto the truck and bring them back quickly."

Everyone responded to her words. The girl's gaze swept over everyone, finally landing on Qin Heng. She nodded slightly as a greeting.

The guard from the pharmacy moved closer to Qin Heng, clearly intending to look after each other on the way.

Qin Heng nodded in response, already having a good idea of ​​what was going on. The woman was most likely one of Manager Cui's family members, and if something really happened, she might not stand by him and help him.

"Set off!"

At Cui Ran's command, the convoy set off, slowly driving out of the West Gate and heading towards Dazexiang.

On the journey, the burly man at the back of the group indeed came over and struck up a conversation with Qin Heng.

"Brother, if we run into any trouble on the way back, we'll have to lend each other a hand." The man deliberately lowered his voice to avoid being overheard by the person in front. "My name is Zhao Er. I've been on temporary assignment in the outer city for more than three years. I know the roads outside the city very well."

Qin Heng turned his head to look at him, and seeing that his expression was sincere and seemed genuine, he nodded slightly.

"Qin Heng, don't worry, if something really happens, we'll stick together and deal with it."

Zhao Er grinned, "That's great!"

He pointed to the girl riding a horse in front of him, his tone tinged with helplessness:

"That Cui Yingying looks charming and lovely, but she has a very arrogant temper. Although her skills are not bad, she will only care about herself when something happens. As for our head manager, although he is at the peak of Ming Jin, he will definitely protect his daughter if something happens. So, the two of us will have to rely on ourselves."

Qin Heng followed his gaze and saw the girl holding the reins, glancing back at the caravan every now and then, her expression still carrying a hint of arrogance.

He gave a soft "hmm" and asked, "Are the roads in Dazexiang not very safe?"

"It's not that things have been unsettled all year round, it's just that something strange has been happening lately." Zhao Er's smile faded. "You might not know this now that you've just arrived, but it's incredibly difficult for the Cui family's medicinal herbs to get into the city. All three docks are blocked, and only the Huang family can ship their goods smoothly. That's why the head manager had to switch to the land route and personally lead the team, also because he's afraid that someone might take the opportunity to rob the herbs and cut off our shop's livelihood."

Qin Heng nodded upon hearing this, already understanding the Cui family's predicament.

Both the branch family and the main family were suppressed by others, so it's no wonder that such a large shop only paid him a monthly salary of two taels.

The journey there was uneventful, and the two chatted casually, from the rules of the inner and outer cities to the power of several gangs in the city, and then to the grudges between the five major families in the inner city. Qin Heng listened carefully to everything, occasionally interjecting a word or two, while Zhao Er was happy to talk more.