Mu Yiyi chuckled, showing no fear of her father.
She pointed at Ling Fan and said, "Dad, I picked up someone this time. His name is Ling Fan. The injuries he sustained are so terrible. You'll have to treat him well later."
"Brother Ling Fan, my dad's medical skills are very impressive. With my dad here, you can rest assured, you won't die."
Ling Fan was speechless.
Was that how you spoke?
What did she mean "you won't die"?
Mu Renmin followed Mu Yiyi's finger and looked at Ling Fan.
When his gaze fell upon Ling Fan, he couldn't help but utter a soft sound of surprise.
He thought to himself, how strange this young man's cultivation was, fluctuating and unstable, and his aura was also peculiar.
Despite being severely injured, the fluctuations of his life force were not weak at all. Instead, it gave him a sense of immense power.
Truly a strange person!
He was about to step forward to examine Ling Fan.
But a commotion of voices erupted from outside.
Soon,
Several people walked in.
"Renmin, there are only five days left. The people from the Four Symbols Sect will be coming to collect this quarter's tribute again. Are you ready?"
The speaker was a scholarly-looking old man with a sharp and mean expression.
This person was the Grand Elder of Maplewood City, and also Mu Renmin's uncle.
Mu Liuma.
Behind him followed a young man in his early twenties, with a glint of ambition in his eyes.
This young man was Mu Liuma's grandson and Mu Yiyi's cousin, Mu Tianlang.
Upon hearing Mu Liuma's question, Mu Renmin nodded and said, "Uncle, please rest assured. Renmin has prepared in advance and will not be short of the tribute to the Four Symbols Sect."
"How much is left?"
Mu Liuma asked the question he truly cared about.
"We have to offer five hundred carts of ten-year-old spirit herbs, one hundred carts of fifty-year-old ones, and ten carts of precious items over a hundred years old to the Four Symbols Sect."
"We ourselves have one hundred carts of ten-year-old spirit herbs left. We only have seven or eight carts of fifty-year-old ones, and even fewer of the hundred-year-old ones, less than one cart."
One cart was ten thousand spirit herbs.
Mu Liuma quickly calculated in his mind.
Excluding the items to be offered to the Four Symbols Sect, which could not be touched, the remaining output of Maplewood City this quarter was not small.
This output was at least thirty percent more than other cities under the jurisdiction of the Four Symbols Sect.
Mu Renmin was indeed managing things effectively.
"How will the remainder be distributed?"
Mu Liuma asked further, his gaze fixed intently on Mu Renmin.
Mu Renmin replied, "The ten-year-old ones will be distributed to ninety-five carts for the citizens. The fifty-year-old ones will be distributed to six carts for everyone. The hundred-year-old ones are basically not usable by ordinary people, so I plan to allocate half of them to supply the city's apothecaries, and the remaining half will be primarily reserved for the cultivation of the strong within the City Lord's Mansion."
"Nonsense!"
Mu Liuma stomped his foot in anger.
"Renmin, it's not that I'm criticizing you, but you always give the vast majority of spirit herbs to ordinary people, leaving us with so little. How can our City Lord's Mansion develop? Doesn't the City Lord's Mansion need cultivation resources!"
Mu Renmin frowned, "Uncle, I've calculated it long ago. The portion I've kept should be just enough to supply the cultivation of the City Lord's Mansion. As long as we are a bit frugal, the common people will be able to live in abundance."
"You, you just have this bad habit! Why do you care so much about these low-born people! Don't you know that in the world of martial artists, might makes right!"
"You should concentrate all resources and strengthen our own power at all costs! Only then can Maplewood City become stronger! You distribute cultivation resources to these low-born people, what do you get from them except for their verbal praise! What do you expect from them!"
Mu Renmin fell silent.
But his attitude was clear.
He would not change his mind.
Mu Liuma was so angry that smoke seemed to come from his head. He said fiercely, "In any case, I don't care. My lineage should receive its due share, not a single bit less. If you want to deduct anything, deduct it from your own share. You can subsidize whoever you want with your own share!"
Mu Renmin sighed inwardly and said, "Uncle, please rest assured, your share has never been less than what you are entitled to."
"Hmph!"
Mu Liuma was still angry.
He flicked his sleeve fiercely to show his displeasure.
After a while, he looked at Mu Yiyi, forcing a smile onto his old face. He said, "Yiyi, did you find any good things outside this time? If you found anything good, you must give it to your great-uncle to trade. You are young and will be undervalued. Your great-uncle's old face is still worth something, and he can sell it at market price no matter what!"
Mu Liuma asked with a hint of expectation.
Last time, Mu Yiyi found a precious nine-hundred-year-old herb in the mountains and entrusted it to him to sell, fetching a full fifty thousand spirit stones!
One spirit stone was roughly equivalent to one ten-year-old spirit herb.
In other words, that rare nine-hundred-year-old herb was worth the equivalent of five carts, or fifty thousand ten-year-old spirit herbs.
This was already considered an exorbitant price.
Of course, Mu Liuma gave Mu Yiyi far less than that.
He told Mu Yiyi that it only sold for ten thousand spirit stones, while he himself profited a full forty thousand spirit stones from it!
Yet, he did not consider himself greedy.
Instead, he felt that Mu Renmin's lineage owed him.
After all, Mu Renmin always distributed the vast majority of spirit herbs to all the citizens.
In his opinion, a large portion of it should have belonged to him!
However, Mu Yiyi disappointed him this time.
Mu Yiyi pointed at Ling Fan and said, "Great-uncle, I didn't find any treasures this time, but I picked up a person."
Mu Yiyi recounted how she found Ling Fan injured and brought him back to Maplewood City.
Mu Liuma's expression immediately changed.
He put on a stern face and said, "Nonsense! The elder is foolish, and you, the younger one, are following suit!"
"Why would you pick up trouble instead of looking for good treasures? Do you know his identity? Do you know his origins? What if he is a criminal with a heavy sentence? Wouldn't that bring trouble to our Maplewood City!"
"Even if this person has no trouble, doesn't treating him require resources! For every portion of resources spent on him, we have less for ourselves. Don't you even know how to calculate this!"
"The City Lord's Mansion doesn't have surplus either! We don't support idlers, especially not useless people!"
Mu Liuma said in a shrill voice, glaring at Ling Fan with utter disdain, showing no pleasant expression.
Ling Fan frowned slightly, preparing to teach this shameless old man a lesson.
However, Mu Yiyi spoke to Mu Liuma first, "Great-uncle, if you continue to belittle Brother Ling Fan like this, I will get angry. Brother Ling Fan is not an idler, nor is he useless. He is even more powerful than I am!"
"Hmph, I'm afraid you little girl have fallen in love! I've said it long ago, a girl grows up and can't be kept at home!"
Mu Liuma said sarcastically, then turned and left.
Mu Yiyi was both ashamed and angry.
She stomped her foot fiercely.
...
The next day.
Mu Yiyi came to call Ling Fan, saying that Mu Renmin was waiting for him.
When Ling Fan met Mu Renmin, Mu Renmin had already prepared a row of acupuncture needles and was waiting for Ling Fan.
Ling Fan was speechless.
Mu Yiyi and Mu Renmin were serious about this.
They were actually going to treat him.
But how could the physical injuries he sustained be healed by ordinary medical skills?
The power of the Hanging Sky Sect was too strong; it had damaged the very foundation of his Nirvana Body. No medical skill would work. Only vast amounts of heavenly treasures or elixirs could compensate for such injuries.
"Young Master Ling, you're here."
Mu Renmin smiled warmly at Ling Fan, like a kind and amiable elder.