Plan

After a short while, having handed the finished pouch to Tietou, Lin Xiao looked at the group.

Sun Yigao wasn't very keen on conforming with everyone in this matter, so he decisively refused:

"I'll go home this afternoon to fetch some cloth and make one then."

Then he looked at the eager Liu Yu'nan and the others and said,

"Shall I bring a piece for you all this afternoon too? My family has plenty of cloth."

He seemed to exude an air of being simple-minded but rich.

Before Liu Yu'nan, Qin Jianghe, and Lin Yun could refuse, Sun Yigao settled it:

"That's decided then. I'll bring them all this afternoon, to save everyone the trouble of running back and forth."

Since Sun Yigao was so insistent on treating them, no one refused.

Especially Liu Yu'nan; counting the one he was wearing, he only had two belts in total. If he used one, he'd have none to change into.

The group thanked Sun Yigao with great embarrassment.

Meanwhile, Jiang Youfu and Hu Liang were excitedly fiddling with their storage pouches.

The sky gradually approached noon. Seeing there wasn't much time left, Lin Xiao quickly organized everyone to go to the upper stream of the mountain creek to continue their great mud-digging endeavor.

Of course, Lin Xiao, Jiang Youfu, and Hu Liang first had to hold up their pants and find some grass to barely tie them up before going to dig.

After digging the mud, everyone returned to the sect for lunch.

Sun Yigao went down the mountain to fetch cloth from home.

When he returned, directly carrying a whole bolt of cloth up the mountain, Lin Xiao immediately used that cloth to make four storage pouches.

One used the most fabric, resulting in the largest storage space, and was naturally given to Sun Yigao.

The other three, of average size, were distributed to Qin Jianghe, Lin Yun, and Liu Yu'nan.

An ordinary day passed in a flash.

Before heading down the mountain in the evening, Lin Xiao announced his division of labor for everyone within the sect.

Those who heard they were appointed as elders were all very happy.

Lin Xiao said to the only two who didn't get positions, Liu Yu'nan and Jiang Youfu:

"These positions are just for taking the lead. Currently, our sect mainly needs these few positions. There aren't others for now, but it won't be long before our sect has more and more things. Don't be upset, alright?"

Liu Yu'nan said with a grin:

"Brother Xiao definitely won't shortchange me. I'm not upset at all."

Jiang Youfu nodded repeatedly:

"Exactly, exactly. Brother Xiao will definitely think of me."

Thus, Lin Xiao said to everyone:

"Tomorrow is the big market in town. I plan to go with my dad to earn some money for our sect."

Hearing this, Qin Jianghe was very interested and immediately asked:

"Brother Xiao, what are you planning to do to make money?"

Lin Xiao then flashed his bright white teeth at everyone and said:

"With these!"

"I plan to take some flour, tell people it's specially made medicinal powder that can clean teeth, and then clean their teeth on the spot. How about it? Not a bad idea, right?"

Tietou nodded his head like pounding garlic paste:

"If I had money in my pocket, I'd definitely be willing to spend it on this!"

The others also agreed.

After all, after such treatment, the teeth really were white!

Then Lin Xiao asked Jiang Youfu:

"Fuzi, how's your Dust Removal Technique coming along?"

Jiang Youfu scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed:

"It's... okay? I'm not very good at using it yet. I tried cleaning my own teeth this morning, but there didn't seem to be any change..."

Lin Xiao nodded.

Sun Yigao, who was beside them, pondered and said:

"Brother Xiao, let me try that spell too?"

Only then did Lin Xiao remember he hadn't given the several spells to Sun Yigao and Liu Yu'nan, who had just reached Qi Refinement Level One. He hurriedly took out the several copies of "Purification Technique," "Hundred Beasts Spirit Speech," and "Immobilization Technique" he had prepared earlier from his private stash.

He handed one copy to each person.

Then he said to the group:

"I'm giving these spells directly to you. Those who haven't reached Qi Refinement Level One, continue cultivating first. Once you reach it, find time on your own to practice the spells as you see fit, but don't put the cart before the horse. After all, with higher cultivation, we can use more spells."

After speaking, he added some precautions about practicing spells. Then he said to Qin Jianghe:

"Jianghe, as the newly appointed Finance Elder, are you free to come to town with me tomorrow?"

Qin Jianghe immediately nodded excitedly:

"Of course, of course! My mom is going to the market tomorrow too. Let's go together!"

Seeing that Tietou, Fuzi, and a few others also looked like they wanted to go, Lin Xiao smiled at them and said:

"You all better not go. A bunch of us standing around there won't be useful. Stay at the sect and cultivate properly."

Jiang Youfu was very annoyed that he hadn't learned the Dust Removal Technique yet. If he had, he could have been included in the trip to town.

Seeing Jiang Youfu's expression, Lin Xiao didn't need to think to know what was on his mind. So he immediately said:

"Fuzi, don't stubbornly focus on learning spells just for something like this. The higher your cultivation, the easier it will be to learn and use spells. If I find out you're not cultivating properly and just focusing on learning spells, I'll beat you up."

Hearing this, Jiang Youfu quickly shook his head, his cheeks wobbling as he assured Lin Xiao:

"Brother Xiao, don't worry! I'll definitely cultivate properly."

After discussing the important matters, everyone said goodbye to Fellow Cultivator Xiao Luan and went down the mountain together.

Upon returning home, as soon as Liu Yu'nan entered the courtyard gate, he saw his mother sitting by the stove, lost in thought with a worried expression.

"Mom."

Hearing her son's call, Widow Liu snapped out of it and smiled faintly at him:

"You're back?"

Liu Yu'nan went to the stove and checked the fire. It was okay; the rice wasn't burnt. He asked:

"How's little sister?"

Mentioning this, Widow Liu's face was again covered with worry:

"She's back, but still feverish. We boiled a dose of medicine at the town clinic and she took it, but there's no sign of improvement. Ah, but the money I took was only enough for the consultation fee and one dose of medicine."

Widow Liu wearily propped her forehead with her palm, worrying:

"The doctor said if the fever doesn't break by tomorrow, it might be serious... What should we do about Sheng'er... I'm really afraid she won't pull through..."

Liu Yu'nan felt utterly helpless.

He was only twelve years old now, and not as sturdy as someone like Tietou. At his age and build, even if he wanted to find some manual labor outside, no one would hire him.

Not to mention he now had a broken bone.

He clenched his fist, turned, and walked towards Liu Shengsheng's room.

"I'll go see little sister."

Elsewhere, as soon as Lin Xiao entered his home, he sensed something was off about the atmosphere.

Looking up, at the main seat of the dining table in the courtyard, Lin Dayou was sitting with his arms crossed, staring at him with an inscrutable expression.

Beside him, Lin Yun was sitting bolt upright.

The picture of someone honestly waiting for the meal to be served.

Seeing Lin Xiao hesitating at the doorway, too timid to come forward, Lin Dayou found it amusing. He cleared his throat and said:

"What? You dared to cut off someone's hands and feet last night, and now you're putting on this timid act for who to see?"

Lin Xiao knew it. Given how fast gossip spread in the village, his dad was bound to find out today.