Chapter 190: Wanjiazhuang

Three days after Emperor Qianwei left, Lin Dong posted the new attributes of the Colorful Bed. It could help people fall asleep quickly, enable them to start dreaming as soon as they fell asleep, and keep them awake in their dreams. Such a miraculous guest room was unheard of not only in Qiufeng Mansion but throughout the entire Lingnan Prefecture.

As Lin Dong had expected, the ability to stay awake in dreams—though it meant encountering both good and bad dreams—was highly attractive to many wealthy families. Although the price of 20 taels of silver was high, trying it out for a few days was still worth it.

The experience points for the Colorful Bed began accumulating again on the day after the announcement was posted.

Sixteen li south of the city, at Wanjiazhuang, Lin Dong stopped outside the main gate, accompanied by Ren Qingsong. The inn was about to reach its full capacity. If the upgrade tasks went smoothly and there were no issues with the new attributes added by the inn system, a small vegetable garden would also appear.

With two Wanhong Fruits already consumed, if they wanted more, they could only come to Wanjiazhuang.

Lin Dong stepped forward and, through the gap in the closed gate, faintly saw two servants lounging in the sun not far inside. He knocked on the gate, and noisy sounds came from inside. The two servants immediately turned their attention toward him and Lin Dong, quickly getting up to greet them.

“Dean Ren, what brings you here?”

The servants clearly recognized Ren Qingsong and hurriedly opened the gate to let them in.

“Please convey a message to Dean Wan—Ren Qingsong is here to pay a visit,” Ren Qingsong said with a smile.

“Dean Ren, please wait in the main hall,” one of the servants said, leading the two of them to a house ahead, while the other ran toward a small grove on the side.

Upon arriving in the main hall, the servants served tea. After waiting a while, an old man covered in mud, with his pants rolled up to reveal bare feet, entered. Judging from his appearance and tanned face, no one would doubt he was an old farmer.

Seeing the old man, Ren Qingsong stood up and bowed, saying, “Your servant greets Dean Wan.”

Lin Dong also stood up quickly and said, “Lin Dong greets Dean Wan!”

“Did you bring any other guests?” Wan Cuilin was slightly surprised upon seeing Lin Dong. After nodding slightly, he turned to Ren Qingsong with a smile and said, “Old Man Ren, what brings you here?”

“I’m here because I have a request for Dean Wan,” Ren Qingsong said, bending slightly. In his life, his greatest desire had always been to become an official, a high-ranking one. Though he was just a warrior belonging to Tianwei Pavilion, he still respected the hierarchy in the officialdom.

“Seeing that you’ve brought a young friend with you, I guessed there was no good news coming from you.” Wan Cui Lin laughed heartily, took his seat at the head of the table, and said with a grin, “Go ahead, what do you want? Let me make it clear right away—think nothing of getting high-grade spiritual materials. Last time you asked for two Wan Hong fruits, I didn’t sleep for three days and nights; I’m still feeling the pain from it. If you ask for more high-grade spiritual materials, not to mention an old friend of decades, even my own father can’t help you.”
Ren Qingsong smiled bitterly and said helplessly, “This time, I really am here to ask for high-grade spiritual materials.”
Wan Cui Lin suddenly stood up in a flash. To the shock of the two, his spiritual energy surged throughout his body as he bent his legs slightly before turning into a gray shadow and leaving the hall in an instant.
“I suddenly remembered I forgot to water the Wind-Blowing Flowers. Wait a moment, I’ll be back right away!”
Wan Cui Lin’s voice came from afar.
Lin Dong was stunned—this wasn’t exactly the right way to treat guests.
“Lin Dong, I’m afraid this trip will be a waste of time,” Ren Qingsong said, stroking his long beard with a bitter smile. “He left as soon as we started talking. This is going to be tough.”
Lin Dong frowned. “What should we do then?”
“What else can we do? We can’t just leave right away.” Ren Qingsong pondered for a moment before slowly saying, “Either we wait here for him to return, or we go look for him.”
“Let’s go look for him then!”
Lin Dong hesitated none. So far, the spiritual materials he had seen were only some low-grade ones that could be used in cooking. As for high-grade ones, he had only seen the Wan Hong fruit, the Qing Lan fruit, and the Wind Spirit Grass. Wan Cui Lin’s Wan Family Estate, which had been in operation for decades, might not cover as much land as alchemy sects, but its variety was by no means inferior. It would be a shame not to see them.
“Alright, follow me!” Ren Qingsong stood up.
Lin Dong also stood up, hesitating slightly. “Since President Wan values spiritual materials so much, will it offend him if we rashly go to his plantation?”
“It’s fine as long as we don’t pick his high-grade spiritual materials. As old friends of decades, he should still have some courtesy left.”
Ren Qingsong looked relaxed. Over forty years ago, he and Wan Cui Lin were separated from the Tian Wei Pavilion and assigned to two counties under the jurisdiction of the Autumn Wind Mansion—Ren Qingsong to Xilan City and Wan Cui Lin to Changsheng City. The two counties were neighboring, and since they were both young and had no family ties, they often visited each other.

Over thirty years ago, Wan Cui Lin was lucky enough—Changsheng City had enough new martial artists to meet the promotion quota, and coincidentally, the head of Qiufeng City’s Martial Assessment Institute passed away, allowing Wan Cui Lin to take his place as the fourth-rank head of the institute. Their interactions didn’t decrease because of this, and after over forty years, they had become close friends. No matter how obsessed Wan Cui Lin was with cultivating spiritual materials, he wouldn’t go so far as to be wary of his old friend.

After leaving the main hall, they asked a servant to confirm Wan Cui Lin’s escape route, then proceeded while gathering information. Ren Qingsong was a regular at Wan’s family estate, so they didn’t encounter any obstacles along the way.

As they went deeper, strange flowers and plants were everywhere—spiritual trees with trunks only as thick as an adult’s arm but branches as large as big buckets, spiritual flowers with petals in red, yellow, and blue that sprayed highly sticky sap when passersby approached, and spiritual herbs that swayed violently even in a gentle breeze or moved from side to side without wind…

Although Ren Qingsong didn’t know much about spiritual materials, having visited Wan’s family estate many times, he could identify most of them by name and characteristics. Along the way, Lin Dong also gained a great deal of knowledge.

Guided by the servants, the two arrived outside a small hut built from yellow soil. On either side, several servants were using watering cans to slowly moisten the soil of the hut with clean water.

“The plants inside are called Yellow Shirt Grass. They seem to be third-tier spiritual materials that prefer damp environments. I heard they can enhance strength, and when combined with other spiritual materials, they can be very effective in nurturing an unformed dantian after breaking through to a new realm.”

As usual, Ren Qingsong gave a brief introduction based on what he had heard before pushing open the wooden door of the hut.

A cold, decaying smell hit them, forcing Lin Dong to hold his breath.

The hut was dark and damp, covering only about ten square meters. In the center, a small platform about five meters long and two meters wide had been built using yellow soil. On top of the platform lay a thick layer of charcoal ash, with a dozen greenish plants covered in a thin layer of pale yellow film, their heads drooping as if dozing off.

Next to the platform, Wan Cui Lin carefully held a watering can, slowly pouring the water from it into the charcoal ash beneath one of the plants.

After watering all ten Yellow Shirt Grass plants and checking their growth one by one, Wan Cui Lin finally sighed in relief and stood up.

Turning around, he noticed Lin Dong and the other person standing outside the door.

As if forgetting about his previous attempt to escape, Wan Cui Lin asked cheerfully, “How long have you been waiting?”

“We just arrived!” Ren Qingsong replied respectfully.

“That’s good. It’s getting late.” Wan Cui Lin stepped out of the small cottage and ordered the servant nearby, “We have distinguished guests arriving at the manor. Tell the kitchen to prepare a fasting soup and bring out the jar of Jade Dew I stored in the cellar.”
The servant nodded quickly and ran back.
Lin Dong was about to speak when Ren Qingsong signaled him to stay silent with a glance.
Reluctantly, Lin Dong understood Ren Qingsong’s intention. If Wan Cui Lin kept running around, by the time someone could find him, lunch would likely have to be postponed to dinner.
With no other choice, Lin Dong put aside his original purpose for the trip and simply asked Ren Qingsong about exotic plants whose medicinal effects he couldn’t explain.
Wan Cui Lin was quite talkative and answered all of Lin Dong’s questions without reservation. Though polite, their interaction was fairly harmonious.
Upon returning to the main hall, the servant soon reported that lunch was ready.
The three of them moved to a side room. There were only six dishes, fewer than usual for a banquet. Yet the dishes were of good quality—five dishes and one soup, two of which were made from spiritual ingredients.
Just as Wan Cui Lin was about to pour wine, Ren Qingsong stepped in first, picked up the wine jar, removed the clay seal, and filled a cup for each of them with the crystal-clear Jade Dew.
Knowing his old friend’s personality, Wan Cui Lin smiled and nodded toward the soup bowl. “I won’t urge you to drink wine. Do as you please. But drink plenty of this soup—it’s made from third-tier spiritual ingredients used to create fasting fruits. One bowl can greatly nourish the heart and stomach. It’s also very beneficial for young people’s kidneys.”
“Fasting fruits? How could I forget such a great thing?” Ren Qingsong slapped his thigh and turned to Lin Dong. “These fasting fruits will be extremely useful for you.”
Lin Dong was confused. “What use?”
“Taking one fasting fruit can keep you from feeling hungry or thirsty for three days. But if you consume too many, the effect gradually fades, and the total duration of its effects is only about a year. It’s a pity we don’t have an alchemist—if we could turn them into pills, there wouldn’t be such a limit.” Ren Qingsong said with enthusiasm, “But it doesn’t matter. After all, you’re just one small step away from reaching the Spiritual Mobility stage. A supply for three to five months should be enough, saving at least a day or two of cultivation time.”
Lin Dong was stunned. For cultivation, he had already given up sleep. Giving up the other four necessities—eating, drinking, excretion—would he still be human?
“Dean Wan, these fasting fruits…” Ren Qingsong turned to look at Wan Cui Lin again.
“If you want them…” Seeing Ren Qingsong’s hopeful expression, Wan Cui Lin hesitated for a while before gritting his teeth and saying, “I’ll have the servant pick forty or fifty for you later.”
“Thank you very much for your kindness, Dean Wan,” Ren Qingsong quickly thanked him.

“There’s no need to be polite. We’ve been friends for years. Just come to see me often from now on.” Wan Cuilin hesitated for a moment before adding, “As long as you stop trying to steal my spiritual materials.”
Ren Qingsong chuckled but didn’t respond…
Watching the two brothers, Lin Dong was speechless. They had given him the fasting fruits quite generously, even handing over forty or fifty at once. The problem was, he hadn’t wanted them at all.
His goal for this visit to Wan’s family’s estate was to obtain high-grade spiritual material seeds that Gu Huan Mountain hadn’t collected. If possible, it would be even better to bring some that were already mature.