When Chen Sanshi returned to the creek, he saw Zhao Qiao and the others carrying a mountain goat on a pole. Their haul today looked pretty good.
"Brother Chen also got a mountain goat," Zhuang Yi shouted from afar.
"That's a deer—and not just any deer, but a spirit beast!" Zhao Qiao corrected him.
"My goodness," Wu Da craned his neck. "How much silver is that worth?"
"Be happy with your goat," Zhao Qiao said, clearly pleased with himself.
The group made their way down the mountain together.
Back at the restaurant, Chen Sanshi was invited into the private VIP room to settle the accounts.
Deer blood didn't keep long, so he kept five jin of it.
The best parts of the antlers were all set aside.
There was only one heart—it stayed with him too.
Different parts of beasts had different value. For example, a white deer's gall wasn't worth much, so all those kinds of offal were sold off.
The deer tendons were kept.
Then came the meat.
The flesh of spirit beasts lost most of its effect if left too long. Chen Sanshi decided to keep around one hundred jin.
Everything else that could be sold was sold.
On the books, it totaled two hundred eighty taels of silver.
Plus, the precious spirit mushroom Liang Zhan had given him sold for another sixty taels.
That amount of money was enough for an ordinary family to live a rich life in the prefectural city for years.
But for a martial cultivator, it was just the resource for a single stage of training.
Over three hundred taels of silver—so much that it had to be carried in a bundle.
Chen Sanshi slung the heavy silver across his back and rode his white horse straight to the forge inside the garrison.
"These tendons?!"
Blacksmith Niu Gai held the white sinews up, tugging lightly. "You actually got tendons from a white deer? That's great stuff! I'll make you a bow of at least ten-stone strength. Come pick it up in thirty days."
After giving the instructions, Chen Sanshi asked about the Witch God Sect situation.
"They said it," Wang Zhi replied while munching peanuts and drinking wine. "Thousand-Household Officer Xiang got so mad he slammed the table right there. He ordered Luo Dongquan to keep investigating and make sure the matter's clear before the new magistrate and the Elite Selection Officer arrive."
"Elite Selection Officer?" Chen Sanshi frowned. "Weren't they supposed to come after spring?"
"No idea why, but they're arriving early this year," Wang Zhi said, squinting. "My guess—it's not about you. They're coming for discipline inspection."
"Discipline inspection?" Chen Sanshi asked. "Like an imperial inspector making a regional round?"
"Exactly."
Wang Zhi nodded. "Every year, the Elite Selection Officer travels across counties and prefectures, not just to recruit people but to clean up the army. They always kill a few hopeless cases along the way.
"Just last year, a Thousand-Household Officer from the next garrison took bribes and secretly swapped someone else's Elite Selection qualification. When they found out, he was immediately sent to Liangzhou to die as a suicide soldier.
"For Hundred-Household Officers and below, if they're caught, they're often executed on the spot.
"Otherwise, why do you think everyone's so scared of the Grand Commander's Office? And why do the martial halls never dare lay a hand on you?"
He noticed Chen Sanshi staring and raised a brow. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I'm worried about you," Chen Sanshi said calmly.
"Worried about me?" Wang Zhi thought for a moment, then suddenly realized. "You think I'm one of those hopeless cases? You think I'm that rotten in your eyes?"
Feeling wronged, he protested, "Hey, the silver I take has proper use!
"When that Elite Selection Officer comes, don't you go spouting nonsense!"
"When will they arrive?" Chen Sanshi asked.
"Not sure exactly," Wang Zhi answered, "but definitely before it snows."
So that meant the Elite Selection Officer would likely be involved in the spring campaign too.
Chen Sanshi then asked about the Grand Commander's stance on the matter.
"From what I've heard, the Grand Commander's Office doesn't approve," Wang Zhi said knowingly. "But this whole thing was sanctioned by the Ministry of War. And as for who's above the Ministry of War—well, I don't need to tell you, do I? My guess is that the Elite Selection Officer's early arrival is partly to see if they can stop it."
Above the Ministry of War were, of course, the Emperor and the Crown Prince Regent—plus a handful of high-ranking ministers who made up the empire's true decision-makers.
"Xiang Tingchun, that dog bastard."
Wang Zhi tapped his finger against the table. "He wants to use this chance to cozy up to the Crown Prince's faction and use us brothers as his stepping stones!"
The Crown Prince?
So Xiang Tingchun was trying to please the Crown Prince's faction?
Since the thirtieth year of the Longqing Era, the Emperor had devoted himself to Daoist cultivation, leaving the Crown Prince to act as regent.
Now, in the seventy-second year of the Longqing Era, the Crown Prince had been ruling as regent for forty years.
The Emperor had tacitly allowed it, the Ministry of War had approved it, and the Crown Prince had begun picking generals along the borders to build his own loyal circle. It was clear as day—this was meant to counter the Grand Commander's Office.
"Don't worry," Wang Zhi said, catching his thoughts. "This isn't the first time something like this happened.
"In the fifty-seventh year of the Longqing Era, His Majesty listened to slander and threw the Grand Commander into the imperial prison. And what happened then?
"That summer, foreign enemies invaded from the south. Without the Grand Commander holding the line, we lost seven cities in a single month!
"Even our Eight Garrisons suffered a crushing defeat—Xuanwu Garrison was completely wiped out!
"If the Grand Commander hadn't been reinstated, the empire would've collapsed. But within half a year, he turned everything around.
"Then three years ago, when the barbarians started stirring again, it was Grand Commander Sun who kept them in check. That's the only reason they still haven't dared to launch a full invasion to this day.
"So let them make trouble all they want. In the Great Sheng Dynasty, anyone can be replaced—except Grand Commander Sun."
Chen Sanshi didn't know much about these things, but if all that was true, then this Grand Commander Sun was indeed formidable.
Still, the more formidable he was, the more the old emperor was likely afraid of him.
"And there's one more thing," Wang Zhi said seriously after taking a deep breath. "You're obsessed with martial arts, so tell me—do you know whose spear technique is number one under heaven?"
"Grand Commander Sun?" Chen Sanshi didn't even have to guess.
"Exactly."
Wang Zhi's voice was full of admiration. "If you want to reach the peak of spear mastery, the best teacher you could ever have is Grand Commander Sun himself. So don't let a few scheming rats change your mind about joining the Eight Garrisons."
"I never planned to," Chen Sanshi said.
Even knowing how deep the water ran, he still intended to go. Where else could he go anyway—follow Xiang Tingchun? Not a chance.
"By the way," Chen Sanshi asked, now familiar enough to speak casually, "Hundred-Household Officer Wang, weren't you once part of the Eight Garrisons too? Which garrison were you in, and what was your position back then?"
"I was in…" Wang Zhi started to answer, but halfway through, he swallowed his words and laughed it off. "Forgot! It's been so many years, who still remembers?"
Clearly, he didn't want to talk about it.
Chen Sanshi didn't press.
He only reminded Wang Zhi once more to keep an eye out for cases of people disappearing, then went about his own business.
Back home, he ate the boiled deer heart.
The sensation that spread through his body was completely different from bear or tiger heart.
Ever since the appearance of his [Blood Manifestation Awakens], each time Chen Sanshi practiced his spear techniques, the pain had doubled. It felt as if what flowed through his veins wasn't blood but fire—burning him from the inside out.
But after eating the deer heart, thin streams of cool energy flowed from his abdomen through every limb and bone, slowly healing the internal damage.
Before long, his energy surged higher and higher. He no longer felt tired at all, his mind razor-sharp, his spirit unshakable.
His proficiency rose at a tremendous speed.
No wonder one deer heart was worth two hundred taels of silver. Its effects were several times greater than any beast heart. It not only aided cultivation but probably had incredible restorative properties as well.
"Continue!"
Chen Sanshi didn't even notice that it was already midnight.
…
Inside the house, Lan jie'er had long since changed into a newly sewn red-and-blue embroidered undergarment. She sat quietly by the bedside, waiting.
According to experience, every time the young man ate the heart of a wild beast, he would be restless for an entire night. She had grown used to it.
But tonight was different.
She waited and waited.
By the latter half of the night, Gu Xinlan's eyelids grew heavy. She couldn't hold on any longer and slowly drifted into sleep.