Yefutidaolu

Chapter 197 Gao Jian's Preparation

In Master Ma’s small workshop.

He lay there with a gray face, his heart pulses had been broken, and it was clear that he would die in two days.

At this time, a young man walked in.

This young man, dressed in the uniform of the Demon Suppression Division and carrying a long sword, was undoubtedly Gao Jian.

However, he found the information from somewhere and found it in Ma Xisheng's workshop.

"Master Ma." Gao Jian walked forward.

Because he was in his official uniform, no one dared to stop him. A young man even came to the door to greet him: "General, oh, why did you suddenly--"

Gao Jianze immediately said, "I'm here to ask for money for you. And this, give it to your master. After eating it, it can save a life."

Obviously, the apprentice was stunned.

He had never imagined this would happen.

And...why would this military commander in front of me do such a thing?
"Don't be afraid. Since I'm not your family, can I come in?" Gao Jian asked.

The apprentice quickly made way.

Gao Jian strode in and saw Ma Xisheng lying on the bed, almost dying.

Ma Xisheng's face was pale, he was gasping for breath, and his eyes were badly swollen. When he saw Gao Jian get up, he didn't have the strength to move. He could only look at Gao Jian pleadingly.

Gao Jian stretched out his hand and showed the pill in his hand.

This pill was sold by an alchemist in the inner city. One pill was worth about ten gold coins. Although the price was an astronomical figure for the outer city, it was not very expensive for Gao Jian today. The key was that one needed connections.

These people in the outer city have no way to come into contact with the products of these practitioners. Although they have reached the first realm, they have not entered the real class of practitioners. Their "first realm" is the upper limit of their skills.

They don't even have a complete set of ordinary skills to cultivate to the fourth level.

The gap is extremely huge. The path of cultivation for ordinary people has long been cut off. Unless you are a genius, otherwise, the path of cultivation will only be within your reach.

I've been fishing for you like this.

But unless you are the genius they need, you will never get access.

It seems that the inner city and the outer city are only separated by a wall. Even in the outer city, many people can see practitioners flying around and showing off their magic skills every day...

But in fact, there is a huge difference between them.

You can see it, but you can never touch it.

We seem to live in the same city, but we are actually from two different worlds.

It feels like we are not far apart, but in reality we may not be able to meet each other in this lifetime, or even in two or three lifetimes.

Just like the pill in Gao Jian’s hand.

Can't afford it?

Affordable.

With more than ten gold coins, I could sell everything I had and add my savings. If all else failed, I could sell the workshop. At least I could afford it.

It’s just that I won’t sell this pill to you.

There was no option to sell it to you from the beginning. You couldn’t buy it even if you had money, and you couldn’t even enter the inner city.

But...soon, in Cangzhou, this situation will change.

Just by smelling the fragrance of the elixir, Ma Xisheng seemed to have a little more strength out of nowhere. He barely propped himself up and raised his head.

Gao Jian said to them, "You took the order from the Zuo family, but when you went to ask for the money, you didn't get it, and were kicked out instead, right?"

“Yes, yes…” Ma Xisheng nodded repeatedly, then naturally changed to a kneeling position on the bed.

Gao Jian shook his head: "Don't kneel anymore, lie down and have a good rest. I will support you in this matter."

"But not now, it should be in the next two days. When you have recovered some strength tomorrow, I will take you to the inner city." Gao Jian said.

"Ah? General..." Ma Xisheng was shocked.

No, this...how did the topic jump to this point?
Gao Jian said, "Don't worry, it's not just you and me. It just depends on whether you are willing to go with us."

"I would like to ask a question, General..." Ma Xisheng seemed to want to say something.

But Gao Jian answered directly: "I want to use you, but this will be good for you all, what do you think?"

"Use us? What's so good about us? We are just a bunch of cheap bones. To put it bluntly, we are dead if we die..." Ma Xisheng lowered his head.

Gao Jian smiled and said, "When it comes to quarreling, it's all about being justified."

"You, the people who have been cheated by the Zuo family, are my 'reason'."

Hearing this, Ma Xisheng was so frightened that he fell back again. He coughed hard several times and spit out some bloody sputum. He became weaker again, and the energy he had just regained was gone.

Obviously, Ma Xisheng was scared.

There's no way not to be afraid.

Obviously, there is a big shot like the inner city's aristocratic family who wants to challenge the Zuo family...

So they need to be used as an excuse.

They are needed to establish the reputation of "righteousness".

The Zuo family is in the wrong by bringing this group of people along.

But the Zuo family would not pay this money, because they must be very short of money, so they need to make up for it here.

In this case, it will become a bargaining chip, a heavy bargaining chip.

In the Divine Dynasty, although filial piety and righteousness are bullshit in most cases, at other times, they can become a huge mountain that can force people to death.

If you say something unfilial, nothing may happen.

But it is also possible that the government will send out detectives to capture you and behead you.

The difference between the two is your power, social skills, and whether you have offended anyone.

Many things, if not weighed, would weigh nothing, but once weighed, they would weigh a thousand pounds.

Filial piety and righteousness are the most typical examples of this kind.

If you are said to be unjust, nothing will happen.

But if someone wants to pin an injustice on you, then things could get really serious.

And if he intervenes...as a pawn, can Ma Xisheng withstand the revenge of the Zuo family afterwards?
Gao Jian didn't say anything, just looked at him.

After a long while, Ma Xisheng said weakly: "If I don't go... I will die, right, Master Jun."

"Yes." Gao Jian nodded: "To be honest, you are not a good person. I saw your workshop outside, it was full of children. To be honest, I don't want to save you, but unfortunately my current plan requires me to do so."

"So if you say no, I'll just walk away."

"I...I agree." Ma Xisheng climbed up and said, "I'll do it with you."

There was no decisiveness or gnashing of teeth in these words; they were just weak ones.

They are all going to die.

Not so much grandeur.

He just... wanted to live.

Gao Jian stepped forward and stuffed the pill into his mouth.

After taking the pill, Ma Xisheng, who was dying just now, immediately regained his breath. Although he still needs half a year to recover, his life is saved.

Ma Xisheng's face turned rosy, and his broken heart meridian seemed to regain some strength.

Gao Jian nodded and said, "By the way, I have taught some skills to your children. Although you are not a good person, you are not a bad person either. I have paid them all the wages they deserved, and I also gave them money and meat during festivals."

"I'll give you a copy of this technique as well." Gao Jian stretched out his hand and handed over a copy of the physical training technique he created that could be practiced to the first level in the Ligong Gang.

This kind of practice has no charm, so the cost is extremely low and it is highly replicable. You can just ask someone to copy it from a book.

It is precisely because of this that similar fragments of martial arts techniques have become common "farming techniques", spreading throughout the Divine Dynasty and everyone has them.

But Gao Jian's book is much better than ordinary farm tricks. At least it is systematic, while farm tricks usually only require one or two tricks and two or three phrases to complete the task.

This is Gao Jian’s second plan.

With the help of this action, he can spread this skill naturally without people worrying about his original intention.

If you spread your skills widely, certain departments of the Divine Dynasty will notice and impose sanctions.

But now, under the guise of fighting with the aristocratic families, it is natural to pass on the skills. "Certain departments" will turn a blind eye, and this is not the first time that such a thing has happened.

It's okay to break some rules in the war between aristocratic families. This is also a manifestation of the power of the aristocratic families.

Gao Jian turned and left.

But he did not leave here, but went into the leather workshop at the back.

There, a group of children stood, waiting for Gao Jian.

Their eyes were filled with a gleam that was not there before.

They knew Gao Jian, and this was Gao Jian's second visit.

When I first came here...

It was when Master Ma went to the inner city to collect debts that this older brother came and brought them food and a book of "gongfa".

Even these little kids know that martial arts can change their destiny.

A set of skills that can train "death warriors".

So when Gao Jian came, these children spontaneously put down the work in their hands and looked at Gao Jian, as if they had imagined themselves being chosen by a big shot and becoming family slaves, their eyes full of excitement.

Being a family slave can bring honor to the family!

This is the norm, and this is also a 'fairy tale'.

The most common dream of these children is to be taken as a slave by a big shot passing by.

You know, the servants of the big shots are very powerful, the most powerful people they have ever seen. Even Master Ma has to look at their faces. They are very powerful!

Gao Jian walked here and looked at the children.

To be honest, there are too many of these children in Cangzhou City.

The baby was thrown away because he couldn't be raised.

I wanted to raise my children after giving birth to them, but the parents died in the end.

Too much too much.

Too much, so it's not worth the money.

They are worthless, so they can be disciplined to be extremely submissive.

These children want nothing more than a bite to eat.

They are basically a model of some kind of slaves.

Be obedient and you can make do with any meal.

Every night, they slept on the ground. As long as they had rags and straw, they could get through night after night.

Until one day, I couldn't make it anymore...

Why can we continue to survive without consuming anything?
Because these children carry innate energy, which is the endosperm bestowed by life itself, just like every seed has natural nutrients inside that can support them to germinate, take root, and enable them to survive hardships.

But there are limits.

People often say, "I am so poor that I only have this life left."

This is the life they are using.

Grind your bones and nourish your belly.

Overdraw your future life in exchange for a meal now.

But few of them germinate.

They are like wheat seedlings, drinking clean water and getting nutrients from their own endosperm. They should have matured into golden color and spread all over the earth.

However, their endosperm became the nourishment for the noble families and masters, while they themselves became the wheat seedlings that would never grow up.

These children work all day long, starting as soon as daybreak, working five hours in the winter and six, seven, or eight hours in the summer.

They used knives to scrape away the fat and foul flesh from the foul-smelling hides, soaked the hides in boiling water, shaved the hair, and rubbed the hides with lime paste using their hands.

How the limewash turned the hides into 'tanned leather' was how their hands were turned into tanned leather.

Lime has no eyes and will corrode animal skins as well as human skin.

If you don't deal with animal skins, you have to do other things.

For example, to boil animal hides, you need hot water.

They had to chop wood and fetch water day and night, never stopping. They fetched water from the river, two buckets at a time, hundreds of buckets a day, because leather making required a large amount of water for washing, soaking, boiling and dyeing, so there was never enough water.

Water has to be carried every day, so the children who are responsible for carrying water, although they do not have to come into contact with dyes, tanning, or various toxic potions, their life is not easy either.

Throughout the year, no part of his body was dry. Every night, his clothes were dripping with water. His skin was cold, soft, and swollen, like leather soaked in water, which would break and become full of pus if not handled with care.

And it's still winter, they are even chiseling ice to fetch water.

One of their shoulders is higher than the other, which is caused by carrying water.

Master Ma and his apprentice son-in-law would never do such things.

This kind of life is more like the life of livestock than the life of human beings.

This is a silent sorrow, without mountains of corpses and seas of blood, without fields of bones, and without widespread wailing.

There were only dark, silent, hunched figures, like the withered leaves that had just fallen, living in the dirty alleys of despair, too lazy to pay attention to the lead-gray sky.

And now, Gao Jian has given them the martial arts skills, and they hope to become Gao Jian's slaves.

But Gao Jian took a look at them and said, "Master Ma should be more restrained towards you in the future. You have obtained the skills, and your future depends on you."

"But if you can't survive, go ask the laborers. That's my territory, they will help you."

After saying that, Gao Jian left.

He has other things to do.

Just when Gao Jian was doing this, a group of people suddenly appeared in the outer city of Cangzhou.

This group of people ran around to rescue the craftsmen who were injured by the Zuo family.

The Zuo family was very measured in their actions. They would beat the person to death and have him dragged away, but they would not beat him to death on the spot.

Because if he was dragged back like this, he would have died of illness, not of being beaten to death.

But this also gave Gao Jian an opportunity.

"We are from the labor gang. Our boss said that we should work together and not be bullied. This medicine is made by a very powerful alchemist. It will be good for you if you take it!"

"Don't be afraid! Don't be afraid. I've carried the bag for your family before. You know me, right? Our boss can't stand this kind of thing. Let's do it together. Look at this medicine. It was all obtained by our boss!"

Gao Jian is not moving alone!
The Zuo family is not in the right this time and they are short of money.

Why not take this opportunity to eliminate the ills among the lower classes of the outer city in one fell swoop, and at the same time... eliminate the Zuo family!
In his hand, he held the knife given to him by Shangshu Li Zuofang. It was the foundation he had accumulated by running around in Cangzhou with his clones!
Even if you can only use it once!
But once, it was enough.

Kill the Zuo family with just one sword!

Just this one blow will also cut off the festering sore in the outer city!
(End of this chapter)