A Mortal’s Immortal Gourd
Chapter 48: Pills

Early in the morning, after watering the fields, Ergouzi casually caught a grasshopper and tossed it to the geese.

Maybe because of the drought, there were more grasshoppers this year. Even though it was already autumn, there were still so many of them.

Thankfully, the geese liked eating grasshoppers too. Most of the grasshoppers that flew to Shekou Mountain ended up in their bellies.

After more than half a year of feeding, that batch of goslings had already grown up. Amidst their white feathers, streaks of blood-red made them look even more magnificent.

Their bodies were even bigger than their parents’, and much stronger too.

Now, they could carry Ergouzi and fly a couple of miles.

After feeding the geese, Ergouzi rode one down from Shekou Mountain.

The house he had asked for at the foot of the mountain was already completed.

It wasn’t very big—just three rooms in total, with a stone foundation, blue bricks, and blue tiles.

He had hired porters to carry those bricks and tiles from over twenty li away.

Fortunately, it was a disaster year, and labor was cheap. For every ten bricks moved, one could earn a liter of rice.

An adult could carry ten blue bricks per trip, going back and forth fifty li. In one day, they could earn a liter of rice—enough to feed several people if used sparingly.

Many people scrambled to do this kind of work, even five- or six-year-old kids joined in.

Ergouzi opened the main door and stepped into the house. Among the three rooms, one stored dozens of shi of rice—rent collected from last year.

Another room stored things like red dates and persimmon cakes. The jujube and persimmon trees on the mountain, once mature and well-watered, bore plenty of fruit.

He didn’t put this grain into his gourd, because sometimes, regular food was necessary.

The remaining room was a hall, temporarily empty, with a wooden table and four wooden stools.

Ergouzi hadn’t stayed long in the new house when A’hu showed up.

“Boss, there was no harvest this year. Could you reduce the land rent a bit?”

When A’hu said this, he felt a bit nervous.

After all, Zhang Youliang had already set a precedent—despite the drought, not a single grain of rent was waived.

He only asked all tenants to sign IOUs and promised they could repay after a good harvest.

Ergouzi usually treated tenants kindly and generously, much like Huang Laocai.

It wasn’t that A’hu was pushing his luck, but even in a good year, tenants could barely survive, let alone save grain.

If they had to owe such a huge debt, it might take generations to repay.

“How much grain did you harvest this year in total?”

“Including my own one mu, 51 mu in total. Harvested 73 shi of rice.”

A’hu answered honestly. Because the fifty mu of land at the foot of Shekou Mountain was close to a water source, it didn’t completely fail. At least it covered the cost of seeds.

“Did the government reduce any taxes?”

“The government has issued a notice. This year, household tax, head tax, and sunshine tax still have to be paid. But considering the disaster, payment can be delayed by two years.”

At this point, A’hu felt even more uneasy and cautiously watched Ergouzi’s expression.

Even the government hadn’t waived taxes—how could he expect the landlord to waive rent?

Ergouzi didn’t speak for a long time. He lightly tapped his fingers on the table, looking a bit troubled.

The rent for the year was 100 shi of grain—enough for him to eat for over ten years.

At the current grain price, it could be exchanged for at least 20 Peiyuan Gutben Pills.

Many martial artists would fight to the death for those 20 pills.

He grew up stealing pig slop to eat—he wasn’t some kindhearted guy like Sima Yi.

He lived frugally every day. Even eating a meat bun felt like a luxury. He patched up torn pants into shorts and wore them for another three years.

To just waive 100 shi of rent like that—it really hurt.

But seeing A’hu’s cautious face, he couldn’t help but feel a little softhearted.

At the same time, he calculated in his head: 51 mu of land yielded 73 shi of grain. Seeds alone would take up five or six shi.

After subtracting household tax, head tax, sunshine tax, and other miscellaneous fees, there’d be about 20 shi left—barely enough for A’hu’s family to survive.

If he took away all 73 shi...

The more Ergouzi thought about it, the more irritated he got, torn between compassion and heartache.

“Forget it, I’ll waive your rent this year!”

“Thank you, Boss!”

“Thank you, Boss!”

A’hu fell to the ground and kowtowed repeatedly, loud bangs ringing out. His forehead bled, but he didn’t even notice.

“Thank you, Boss!”

“You’re so kind, Boss!”

“Get up. It’s a hard year for everyone. If we can get through this, it’ll be fine once the rains come next year.”

As Ergouzi spoke, he pulled out a bag of red dates and stuffed it into A’hu’s arms.

“Take it home and cheer up the kid. Your little one’s only five, right? He’s helped out a lot this year. He’s going to be a great farmer when he grows up.”

A’hu clutched the bag of red dates and left with endless gratitude.

Only Ergouzi was left, sitting on the wooden stool, zoning out for a while. Then he locked the door and went out.

He had been cultivating on the mountain recently and hadn’t gone out for more than half a year.

The herbs he bought last time had all been used up making Peiyuan Gutben Pills—and he’d eaten them all.

The higher his cultivation, the more spiritual power he needed, and the less effective the pills became.

After all, the Peiyuan Gutben Pills were just made from ordinary herbs—not even spiritual herbs.

He remembered that the Dazhou Cultivation Notes mentioned some professional alchemists who could refine spiritual herbs into pills with excellent effects.

But the government strictly controlled alchemy. Only provincial or prefectural governments could set up official alchemy institutions.

Alchemy techniques were top secret—leaking them was a crime punishable by extermination of the whole family.

Only the government could collect herbs, organize alchemists to refine pills, and then distribute or reward them.

So pills were extremely expensive—you couldn’t buy them even if you had money.

At least, he hadn’t seen any pill shops in the county yet. This time, he could ask Sima Yi.

If it was something within Anchan County, he should know a thing or two.

Ergouzi had already walked onto the official road and noticed that there were a lot more refugees and beggars than before.

As long as tenant families had any way to survive, they wouldn’t become refugees.

Refugees were people with no way out, forced into desperate measures. To the government, they were no different from bandits.

He saw one refugee collapse by the roadside, still barely breathing—only to be carried away by others.

As for what they were going to do with the body, he could guess. He’d heard plenty of stories.

These refugees would do anything to survive.

It wasn’t even winter yet. If it didn’t rain soon, there’d be even more refugees after the season passed.

After entering town, he headed to Huichun Hall and found that Sima Yi really didn’t stick to his job.

He had cooked up a huge pot of porridge right outside the medicine shop. A bunch of ragged people were lining up for it.

With so many eyes around, Ergouzi didn’t even step into Huichun Hall. Carrying his sack, he wandered off elsewhere, planning to come back at night.

While strolling through the market, he noticed that grain was now selling for 50 wen per liter—five taels of silver per shi. The price had multiplied several times compared to previous years.

But the price of people had dropped drastically.

At the market, an eight-year-old child could be bought for just one dou of rice.

In past years, that would’ve cost several taels of silver. A pretty one could fetch up to 20 taels.

Now, girls around fifteen or sixteen, able to have children and work the fields, could be taken for just two shi of grain.

Even married women who had already given birth could be rented out to other households to bear children—for just two dou of grain a year.

Thinking about the 100 shi of rent he waived for A’hu today—worth 500 taels of silver, enough to buy 50 wives—he felt another wave of pain.

He basically waved his hand and lost 50 wives.

Just then, he saw a man with a scarred face buying over 20 people in one go at the market.

Men and women, all in their teens or twenties.

Ergouzi was curious and used Aura Vision to take a look—this man had a strong spiritual aura, at least at the third level of Qi Training.

Scarface looked only around thirty, yet had already reached the third layer of Qi Training. That made him one of the rare young talents in all of Anchan County.

As for Ergouzi himself—only 17, already at the fourth layer of Qi Training—that was a special case. He ate too many good things and had enough self-awareness to know it.

This scarred man was already a top-tier cultivator. Why buy so many people at once?

But that wasn’t any of Ergouzi’s business—he didn’t like nosing around.

He wandered until nightfall and bought two meat buns for dinner from a bun shop.

He used to buy ten meat buns at a time, but after today’s 100 shi loss, he figured he should cut back.

Eating while walking, he arrived at Huichun Hall and saw it had finally quieted down.

Only then did he lift his foot and walk inside.