Chapter 400: Good Luck Amidst Bad Luck

In the room on the third floor of the dormitory building, Jiang Jianxing walked back and forth in the modest space, his brows furrowed in worry. Late autumn was approaching, yet his forehead, covered in wrinkles, was drenched in sweat. Unaware of any of this, his mind was entirely occupied by the dark-colored Heilei Grass. For over a month, nothing in his head or heart but Heilei Grass.

Tap, tap, tap…
A steady knocking sound came at the door. Jiang Jianxing’s pacing stopped abruptly. After taking several deep breaths, he adjusted his blue silk shirt and rubbed his face a few times to ease his worried expression before rushing to the door. Exhaling heavily, he flung the door open. Though trying to appear calm, urgency still showed on his face.

“Shopkeeper Lin, how’s it going? What did the county office say? Has the county magistrate decided when to send troops? It seems the Military Assessment Institute also wants to send people—have they agreed?” Jiang Jianxing bombarded Lin Dong with questions.

“Don’t worry, Boss Jiang. Let’s go inside and talk,” Lin Dong said with a smile.

“Right, right! Shopkeeper Lin, please, come in.” Jiang Jianxing quickly stepped aside. After Lin Dong sat down at the desk, he served tea and water—acting less like a guest of Lin’s Inn and more like Lin Dong was the guest.

Lin Dong didn’t hesitate, taking a sip of tea. When Jiang Jianxing sat down across from him, ready to ask more questions anxiously, Lin Dong explained, “This matter affects the livelihoods of several counties in the west. The county magistrate has promised to personally oversee the deployment of troops. The only problem is the Military Assessment Institute.”

“What did the Military Assessment Institute say?” Jiang Jianxing asked urgently.

Lin Dong replied, “Boss Jiang, you were robbed while traveling along the Guanyou Mountain paths. Unless the bandits there are extremely rampant or the Tianwei Pavilion orders an operation to suppress them, this has little to do with the Military Assessment Institute. And neither of those things has happened yet…”

“What do we do then? What can we do? If the Military Assessment Institute doesn’t step in, no amount of troops can defeat such a large group of bandits. You don’t know—those bandits are countless, at least eight thousand. What should we do?” Before Lin Dong could finish, Jiang Jianxing stood up in panic, as if the sky were falling, his face dark with despair.

For Jiang Jianxing, the Military Assessment Institute’s refusal to send help was indeed like the end of the world.

“Boss Jiang, let me finish speaking!” Lin Dong knew that Jiang Jianxing must have been terrified at that moment. Not to mention a fake inn with eighteen thousand bandits, even if the entire Guanyou Mountain had eighteen thousand bandits, the Military Testing Institute couldn’t possibly tolerate so many bandits. There was no other possibility but that Jiang Jianxing was too scared to think clearly.

After a pause, seeing that Jiang Jianxing’s emotions had stabilized a bit, Lin Dong explained, “This matter really has little to do with the Military Testing Institute. But luckily, I bought a box of pills from a down-and-out guest before. Initially, I didn’t think those pills were valuable; I just wanted to help that guest. I went to the Military Testing Institute to see Director Liu but failed to reach an agreement. With no other options, I thought of those pills as a last resort and had them delivered to Director Liu. To my surprise, he agreed to send people to suppress the bandits.”

“Really? Shopkeeper Lin, is that true?” Jiang Jianxing was overjoyed, his expression one of relief, happiness, and excitement—like a drowning person who has grabbed a large piece of wood.

Lin Dong smiled and said, “Why would I lie to Boss Jiang? By the way, Boss Jiang, I sent this box of pills in your name. If the people from the Military Testing Institute ask, we definitely can’t reveal the real reason—after all, you’re not the owner of an inn. It’s better if you say you have a relative in a sect who gave them to your children for cultivation.”

Jiang Jianxing nodded repeatedly and kept thanking him.

Feeling tired and thirsty, and seemingly remembering something, Jiang Jianxing didn’t hesitate. He walked over to the bed, lifted the bedding, and raised a wooden board underneath.

On the board was tied a red string, and below the string hung a money bag.

After untying the money bag, Jiang Jianxing reached in and pulled out a stack of silver bills. The money bag itself was now crumpled into a ball of cloth.

“Shopkeeper Lin, I didn’t bring much silver this time. After spending some on bribing the legal advisor, I only have three thousand taels left. Please accept this as a token of my gratitude. Once I retrieve the Heilei Grass and get more silver, I’ll reward you further.” Jiang Jianxing held the silver bills in front of Lin Dong, his face full of gratitude.

“Boss Jiang, you’re being too kind,” Lin Dong said, shaking his head and pushing Jiang Jianxing’s hand away. “I just did a little favor for you. That box of pills only cost me three taels to buy. To accept such a large sum from you for such a small favor would make it seem like taking advantage of the situation. It would ruin the good reputation of our Lin’s Inn.”

“No, no, Master Lin, you must accept it. You really must.” Jiang Jianxing was extremely anxious and pushed the silver notes at Lin Dong desperately. For him, this matter was even more important than being saved from death. Moreover, not to mention saving his entire family, just for this matter alone, he would be willing to spend thirty thousand or even three hundred thousand taels of silver, regardless of the cost. Unable to refuse, Lin Dong had no choice but to accept the silver notes. To be honest, he actually wanted to give Jiang Jianxing tens of thousands of taels more. This Mr. Jiang was the most urgent customer at Lin’s Inn. Ma Chun found him around evening the next day. Actually, it wasn’t Ma Chun who found him; he simply instructed the staff to keep an eye out for any guests who seemed worried and unhappy. Within less than an hour after receiving the order, the staff discovered Jiang Jianxing. It was extremely obvious—his gloomy expression, sighs, and distracted demeanor made it clear that Jiang Jianxing was deeply troubled by a serious crisis. Ma Chun had already figured out the reason by nightfall. This Mr. Jiang wasn’t from Lingnan Commandery but from the nearby Tianfeng Commandery. Jiang Jianxing came from a poor family but, thanks to his boldness and carefulness, his financial situation improved over time. Three years ago, he opened a pharmacy and got involved in the most profitable herbal business in Tianfeng Commandery. Over the years, although his pharmacy couldn’t rank among the top hundred in the city, where there were countless pharmacies, its business thrived, allowing him to earn five to six thousand taels of silver each year. In the western provinces of Lingnan Commandery, the humidity was extremely high, and every spring, a disease called Wet Worm Disease would break out on a large scale. In its early stages, it only caused drowsiness, but if left untreated for three to five months, the mortality rate became very high. Of course, Wet Worm Disease could be cured by using a second-tier spiritual herb called Black Fiery Grass, which was one of the specialties of Tianfeng Commandery. Therefore, pharmacies in Lingnan City sent people to Tianfeng City every year to purchase batches of Black Fiery Grass, which they then sold to pharmacies in the western provinces. After the establishment of the merchant association, the way of purchasing Black Fiery Grass changed. With larger quantities, the price became more favorable, and transportation costs were also significantly reduced. After discussing it, the owners of the twenty-some pharmacies in Lingnan City decided to have the merchant association send people to Tianfeng City to contact large pharmacies for unified procurement. When Jiang Jianxing accidentally learned of this, his ambition surged. A total of one million plants were needed, and just the cost alone required over two million taels of silver.

If Jiang Jianhang could secure all the orders from the pharmacy, his business volume would increase by fifty to sixty times. Thus, with great audacity, he asked respected people in Tianfeng City to act as guarantors, promised no deposit would be required, payment upon delivery, a price 10% lower than that of Heilei Grass Shop, and boasted about his huge business… After tremendous effort, Jiang Jianhang finally secured these orders for Heilei Grass. By selling land, mortgaging homes and shops, and appealing to friends and relatives, he managed to raise enough money worth 500,000 taels of silver for Heilei Grass. He then led a convoy as the first batch to deliver it. To save time and get the money quickly, when the convoy reached Guanyou Mountain north of Lingnan City, Jiang Jianhang, like many other opportunistic merchants, acted impulsively and abandoned the official road that required a long detour, instead sending the convoy into Guanyou Mountain. As a result, Jiang Jianhang’s convoy was attacked by bandits from Guanyou Mountain. To save money, there were less than twenty people in total, including the convoy workers and guards, yet there were ten wagons. Unsurprisingly, the convoy became the target of the bandits. Fortunately for Jiang Jianhang, the bandits were also few in number, and their leader was cautious, afraid that the convoy might contain skilled fighters, so he only sent a few men to intimidate them from afar. The workers and guards fled without fighting. One bolder guard even knocked Jiang Jianhang unconscious and took him away. Afterwards, the bandits, too ashamed to face Jiang Jianhang again, abandoned him in a forest. After waking up, Jiang Jianhang traveled through hardships to reach Lingnan City. With a glimmer of hope, he took out the silver bills hidden in his shorts, bought new clothes, and went to the county government with 10,000 taels of silver. As the county magistrate, Yang Yankang surely wouldn’t stoop to wasting his reputation by asking the military commander to send troops for just 10,000 taels of silver. Seeing that approach wouldn’t work, Jiang Jianhang tried bribing a clerk from the county government who lived in the north of the city, then stayed at Lin’s Inn, waiting anxiously for news. After more than ten days with no news, just as Jiang Jianhang was about to give up, luck struck again. First, the manager of Lin’s Inn warmly asked if his poor complexion was due to being shocked by a loud noise, and then the inn owner himself came to offer his help, saying he had some connections with County Magistrate Yang Yankang and was willing to intercede. Jiang Jianhang tried everything possible. After Lin Dong left, he went out to inquire. Described as a kind-hearted man, well-known in the area, with close ties to the powerful Hua family in the north, and rumored to have close relations with Grand Tutor Fu… Jiang Jianhang’s despair was replaced once again by soaring hope.

And this hope did not turn into disappointment once again; that very afternoon, Lin Dong visited him once more. The money owed to the moneylender, the money owed to friends and relatives, the expenses for his employees and guards, plus the compensation for failing to deliver Hei Lie Cao on time… Jiang Jianxing had no choice but to hang himself to leave a difficult path of survival for his family. It could be said that if Hei Lie Cao could be retrieved, in Jiang Jianxing’s eyes, Lin Dong would be the greatest benefactor of his life. And after Lin Dong helped Jiang Jianxing find Hei Lie Cao, the inn system would also successfully reach level eight.