Chapter 276: Mathematician and Excellent Accountant

Helping the old man sit up, Yun Lan handed a water bag to Lin Dong, then took out a small blue porcelain bottle from her storage spirit ring. Pulling out the stopper, a red pill the size of a glass ball rolled into Yun Lan’s palm before she gently placed it in the old man’s mouth.
“Put the water bag by his mouth,” Yun Lan instructed.
Lin Dong quickly nodded, unscrewed the stopper of the water bag, and brought it close to the old man’s mouth. Yun Lan pressed her palms against the old man’s back, and his emaciated body trembled violently. The pill in his mouth seemed to be drawn by some powerful force and slid down into his throat. At the same time, the old man’s mouth slightly opened, and like a whale drawing in water, a stream of clear liquid shot into his mouth from the water bag.
Spirit energy circulated within the old man’s body, unblocking and restoring his blocked and atrophied meridians… After a while, Yun Lan removed her palms and stood up, saying slowly, “I’ve warmed up his internal organs and sorted out his meridians as well. The rest are just a broken left arm and some minor skin injuries. But…”
Yun Lan hesitated, knowing that these internal injuries were varied in severity and couldn’t have been caused all at once.
Lin Dong’s heart skipped a beat. Worried about possible complications, he hurriedly asked, “But what?”
Yun Lan hesitated for a moment before shaking her head. “Nothing. It will be fine after three to two months of rest.”
Relieved, Lin Dong didn’t doubt her words.
Gradually, the old man slowly opened his eyes. What he saw was Lin Dong’s relaxed expression. Seeing the old man awake, Lin Dong asked, “Sir, are you alright?”
The old man slowly shook his head. Then, as if recalling something, he stretched out his right hand and grabbed Lin Dong’s arm.
“It’s you! You hit me!”
“Yes, it’s me,” Lin Dong nodded helplessly. “Don’t worry, sir. The internal injuries should be fine. I’ll apply some gold medicine to them later, and you should be okay in a few days.”
“What, ‘okay’? I’m fine? I twisted my body and found myself feeling refreshed. Then I realized my left arm was broken. You must pay me in silver!”
Lin Dong was stunned, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. “I’ll pay you after applying the gold medicine.”
“Twenty taels of silver! At least twenty taels!” The old man tightened his grip on Lin Dong’s arm.
Lin Dong frowned slightly. Twenty taels was quite excessive. But… since he was at fault, and he didn’t lack that much silver, it was better to resolve things peacefully.

“Alright, twenty taels it is. Let me help you up first and treat your injuries!” Lin Dong took out some gold medicine from the mobile counter and waved it in front of the old man.
The old man, already in his sixties, didn’t need Lin Dong’s help. After letting go of Lin Dong’s arm, he stood up quickly—even faster than Lin Dong.
“No need to treat the injuries. Just pay me in silver, and I’ll find a doctor myself.”
Seeing the shriveled hand stretched out toward him, Lin Dong hesitated. No need to treat the injuries?
Recalling that he had kept explaining to Liu Hua and Wu Guang that it was the old man who had crashed into his carriage, Lin Dong’s expression darkened. “Old man, are you trying to deliberately crash into my carriage to extort money from me?”
The old man was stunned and panicked, his replies becoming incoherent.
Lin Dong realized he had guessed correctly. Feeling displeased, yet seeing the old man’s silver hair and panicked expression, he sighed helplessly and took out ten taels of silver from the mobile counter, throwing them on the ground.
“At your age, if you accidentally cause someone’s death, what will you do? You seem inexperienced, and you’re indeed injured. Take these ten taels and go!”
Looking at the silver ingots on the ground, the old man was confused. After a moment, he quickly looked up at Lin Dong and stammered, “T-twenty taels of silver?”
Lin Dong frowned. “Twenty taels of silver is enough for an ordinary family to live on for years.”
The old man’s expression turned gloomy as he pleaded, “Sir, please have mercy. It’s true that I deliberately crashed into your carriage. Before this, I’ve also deliberately crashed into many carriages, but only you stopped to help. You already saw through my intentions, and I’m not someone who doesn’t know good from bad. But I really need those twenty taels. If you’re able, I beg you to lend them to me…”
Lin Dong frowned and studied the old man’s expression for a while before helplessly taking out more silver ingots from the mobile counter and placing them on the ground.
“Thank you, sir. Thank you so much for your kindness. I’m Huang Wanli. Please leave me your address. Once I rescue my granddaughter, I’ll definitely find a way to earn enough silver to repay you.” The old man thanked him fervently.
Rescue his granddaughter?
Lin Dong hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. “Forget it. Just don’t use such methods to scare people in the future. If you were thirty or fifty years younger, I guarantee you’d lose not only one tael of silver but also another arm.”
Huang Wanli thanked him repeatedly. Lin Dong shook his head and glanced at Yun Lan. The two walked back to the carriage together, only to find Liu Hua, who had been watching Huang Wanli, looking dazed.
“Liu Hua, it’s time to keep moving,” Lin Dong reminded him.
Liu Hua snapped out of his daze and quickly followed Lin Dong and the others back to the carriage.

“I never thought Huang Wanli would fall so low as to need to cheat for money.”
As Lin Dong stepped into the carriage and heard this, he couldn’t help but ask, “Do you know who he is?”
“Sir, look at his age—this is the territory of Jiuhu County…” Liu Hua said helplessly, “There are several Huang Wanlis out there.”
Lin Dong was stunned and glanced at the old man who was stuffing silver into his clothes.
Huang Wanli, Jiuhu County, around sixty years old!
“He shouldn’t be in such a desperate situation, right?”
Lin Dong was skeptical. Huang Wanli was a fairly well-known figure in Qiufeng Mansion. In fact, he could rightfully be called the greatest mathematician and accountant in the Great Han Kingdom.
As far as Lin Dong knew, Huang Wanli had always worked as an accountant in the Prince of Qin’s palace. His most famous achievement was in the 21st year of Qianwei, when the Minister of Revenue was accused of corruption. Despite thorough investigations over half a year with no flaws found, the Prince of Qin recommended Huang Wanli, who uncovered all the discrepancies in just three months.
Additionally, Huang Wanli had developed numerous arithmetic methods—reportedly nearly a thousand. Unfortunately, the Great Han Kingdom didn’t value them enough to compile them into a book.
If the old man really was this Huang Wanli… Lin Dong lifted the carriage curtain. The accounts of the inn were all handled by Ma Chun. Ma Chun was good at speaking and handling guests and relationships, but having come from a lowly background, he had learned abacus skills only after becoming an administrator. Fortunately, there were only two inns, with simple accounts that required merely recording income and expenses and noting the total. At the end of each month, the difference was usually just a few taels of silver.
Lin Dong trusted Ma Chun completely. Even if the difference was tens of thousands of taels, he wouldn’t doubt Ma Chun’s integrity. But in the future, there would be more than two inns—just within Qiufeng Mansion, there would be ten branches and one main store, requiring a full-time accountant. Otherwise, Ma Chun would be overwhelmed. Moreover, large discrepancies could lead to staff inflating expenses, posing a constant risk.
When branches spread across Lingnan Commandery, the demands for accountants would be even greater. With Huang Wanli’s skills, even if inns were opened throughout the Great Han Kingdom, he could easily manage all the accounts.
The only problem was Huang Wanli’s age. But if he took a few apprentices, everything would be solved.
“Liu Hua, wait!” Lin Dong quickly called out to Liu Hua, who was raising his whip.
Liu Hua turned back, puzzled.
Lin Dong lifted the carriage curtain and saw Huang Wanli walking diagonally away, just as he turned back, waving his right arm as if shouting something at the carriage.

“Wait a moment!” Lin Dong instructed.
Liu Hua nodded.
Before long, Huang Wanli staggered to the carriage, panting heavily. “Young master, please don’t look for an inn to stay at tonight.”
“Don’t look for an inn?” Lin Dong was puzzled. “Why?”
“Judging by the sun, it will be dark in about an hour or two. There’s only one inn ahead along the road.” Huang Wanli took a deep breath, his eyes filled with fear. “That inn is called Humen Inn—it’s a notorious place that sells human flesh.”
“Sells human flesh?” Lin Dong felt a chill run down his spine.
Liu Hua and Wu Guang also looked horrified, but Yun Lan seemed to have heard nothing.
Huang Wanli nodded firmly, anxious. “Human flesh buns, braised human flesh, steamed human palms… All their dishes are made of human flesh. My poor granddaughter and I got trapped at Humen Inn. When we heard the names of those dishes and wanted to leave, they forced us to pay twenty taels of silver as a seat fee. I didn’t have that much silver, so they took my granddaughter hostage. I had no choice but to deliberately try to get hit by a carriage on the main road.”
Lin Dong quickly pulled back the carriage curtain. If that was the case, Huang Wanli’s granddaughter was in danger.
“Uncle Huang, how long has your granddaughter been held hostage?”
Huang Wanli replied worriedly, “Since last night—almost a whole day.”
Lin Dong exhaled deeply, his expression serious. “Get in the carriage!”
“Get… get in the carriage?” Huang Wanli was shocked.
“Twenty taels is just the seat fee. For your granddaughter, even if she goes without food or water for a day, they’ll probably still charge another hundred or eighty taels for ‘land use’ fees,” Lin Dong said sternly. “You lead the way; I’ll accompany you.”
“Young master, they… they’re ruthless killers. The guests at their inn are all bandits,” Huang Wanli said quickly, waving his hands. “I’m afraid it will be dangerous if you go with us.”
“It’s okay. We’re all martial artists; we’re not afraid of a few bandits,” Lin Dong urged. “It’s been almost a day. If you delay any longer, I’m afraid…”
Huang Wanli shuddered. He hadn’t dared to think too much about it all day.
“Wu Guang, help the old man into the carriage!” Lin Dong ordered.
“Owner…” Wu Guang hesitated.
Without saying more, Lin Dong jumped down from the carriage and helped Huang Wanli onto it.
Regardless of Huang Wanli’s status, since they had encountered him and it was just a notorious inn, there was no reason not to help.
Yun Lan took out a package, pulled out a water bag and a few thin cakes, and handed them to Huang Wanli.
“Thank you, young lady. I… I…”

Huang Wanli was somewhat choked up. He hadn’t eaten in a day and was extremely hungry, but he didn’t have the mood for it.
“I need to be full first to have the strength to save your granddaughter.”
Yun Lan’s voice, as melodious as celestial music, seemed to possess great appeal, making Huang Wanli unable to resist taking the water bag.