A bit of Yang energy with added blessing was sent into the little zombie’s body. The little thing whimpered cutely a few times, flashing her tiny tiger teeth in a smile. Then, Wen Yan stuffed another Yang-bolstered tomato into her hand. That was dinner, sorted.
As he was serving food to Sparrow Cat, the group officially started eating.
"We all got our bonuses today, so don’t be shy, let’s celebrate just a little."
Sparrow Cat had a bowl of noodles in front of him, slurping the noodles and chomping on chicken, his face smeared with oil but happy as could be.
Old Xi was beaming with joy too.
"I got my labor fee and stipend today as well. Scorching Sun Department sure is generous with the money. But this month, it’s only for the hospital job, just thirty grand. Next month should be a lot more.
If I wasn’t so unaccustomed to all the rules at Scorching Sun Department, I’d have thought about joining them myself.
Wen Yan, yours must be at least six figures, huh?"
"Yeah, the subsidy hasn’t been issued yet—right now it’s just bonus and reimbursements. Exactly six figures." Talking about the bonus, Wen Yan couldn’t help but get excited—a mood that would probably last a good few days.
"That’s not bad at all. Still, later, when you become stronger and stronger,
you’ll be able to get other stuff in Scorching Sun Department—things money can’t buy, the really good stuff.
If it weren’t for those things, the big shots from the Three Mountains and Five Ridges probably wouldn’t bother sending people to work in Scorching Sun year after year.
The younger generation wouldn’t necessarily want to come, either."
"Let me train my punches properly first; that’s a bit out of reach for me right now. I’ve just started martial training.
I heard it’s best to start when you’re a kid, so you build a solid foundation. I’m already this old starting out, my basics are weak—no idea if I can catch up..."
Talking about this, Wen Yan couldn’t help but feel a bit worried. After all, everyone knows the earlier you start martial arts, the higher your future potential.
Old Xi looked a bit awkward; by all logic, that’s absolutely true—it’s a pretty universal rule.
But then he remembered Wen Yan could blend the Guiding Technique with Scorching Sun Fist and practice it twenty-eight times in a row, and he got a bit unsure.
Not unsure about whether Wen Yan could achieve success starting at his age, but unsure just how fast Wen Yan’s progress would be, or how high his ceiling might reach.
Not sure at all, so he didn’t dare say much—just gave Wen Yan some encouragement.
"You know Scorching Sun Fist, and on top of that, with hard work making up for lack of talent, you should be able to catch up."
"Then I’ll trouble you, brother, to help me get some Warm Jade. Doesn’t have to be high-grade; just the cheaper stuff is fine. And don’t tell me not to pay you—if you won’t take the money, I’ll never dare ask you for help again."
With a tough swallow, Wen Yan wired fifty thousand to Old Xi right after the bonus hit his account—didn’t even have time to warm up his wallet.
Last time, Old Xi had given him quite a bit of Warm Jade, with varying quality. Wen Yan couldn’t judge jade stones properly, but even so, he could tell a few pieces were not the cheap stuff sold by the pound.
That blood Warm Jade Director He gave him—he’d later asked around, and by market price, it had to be worth tens of thousands, at least.
Now, Wen Yan couldn’t even bear to use that blood Warm Jade; when he trains, he only uses inferior Warm Jade, the lowest-quality ones, sold by the pound.
But even the cheapest, a five-centimeter one still cost over a hundred yuan—so how could he let Old Xi pay out of his own pocket and help out, too?
Old Xi thought about rejecting it, but seeing Wen Yan was insistent, he just accepted it, and promised to hunt down some cost-effective Warm Jade for Wen Yan using his own connections.
The way Wen Yan was training lately—pushing hard to the limit—the consumption must be no small thing.
If a newbie like Wen Yan tried to buy jade on his own, the only way he wouldn’t get ripped off down to his underwear was if the sleazy dealers suddenly grew a conscience.
The group ate, drank, and had a couple of drinks. Sparrow Cat, seeing the others so happy, snuck an extra cup and was promptly grabbed by Wen Yan by the scruff and tossed aside.
The little zombie, quietly minding her own business, saw Sparrow Cat having a drink and started clamoring for a drink, too.
Wen Yan just rolled his eyes, washed a tomato, channeled some Yang energy into it as seasoning, and stuffed it into the little zombie’s hand.
"Kids aren’t allowed to drink."
The little zombie was well-behaved, not making a fuss. She squinted her eyes, chewing on the tomato like she was sipping juice, slurping away happily.
After a while, Sparrow Cat was also hanging onto a tomato, lying there slurping it like mad.
As Wen Yan and crew were all in great spirits, on the other side, some other people were not so happy.
Zhuge Wanjun was definitely not in a good mood—she’d still underestimated just how much deterrence that "crushed him" move held in the hearts of the Different Races or Foreigners.
In some ways, maybe Yu State’s Tuoba Martial God doesn’t even have as much deterrence as Qin Kun.
During the day, she’d already gotten a bunch of messages from people and factions teaming up, all saying it wasn’t convenient for them to come to Nanwu County right now.
And in her own channels, none of the rumors mentioned a Su who was particularly skilled at controlling zombies, either.
In the end, left with no choice, Zhuge Wanjun decided to use whatever was available at the moment, making the best of the situation. She instructed Lady Lie: Next time you enter the Water Ghost Domain, if Su Yue shows up, use the news about Qin Kun coming to Nanwu County to test him a bit.
If he knows about this and isn’t afraid of Qin Kun, then go all out—offer more goods or information, draw him and his backers into an alliance, no matter the cost.
If he gets scared off, then it means that side isn’t actually that strong, or they simply think the risk isn’t worth the reward.
After dark, Zhuge Wanjun pulled out her phone and made a call.
"Hey, Glasses, you doing alright?"
Meanwhile, in a small district in Duanzhou, Fake Mo Zhicheng listened to Wan Jun’s words, a strange smile spreading across his face.