Chapter Fifty-Four: The Return of Orion

  In the following days, Lin Bei was in a state of recuperation.

  Because snakes need to quickly recover their strength after molting, in order to get out of the weak period as soon as possible, the food demand of snakes after molting becomes very large. Lin Bei is no exception. In the past, eating two wild chickens a day was enough, but now he needs to eat at least twice as much food every day. Six wild chickens are just the basics, and soon after eating, Lin Bei will feel hungry again, making him wonder if he has contracted some kind of illness? However, when he sees his body rapidly growing in size, Lin Bei finally feels at ease.

  When I first possessed this snake body, its length was only over 12 meters, less than 12.5 meters. Now, in just a few short days, this body has broken through to 13.5 meters, growing over 1 meter more. Moreover, the snake scales are also starting to become sturdy, and Lin Bei is once again full of vitality, having passed the weak period.

  Although the weak period has passed, Lin Bei's appetite has increased a bit compared to before. He no longer gorges himself, but he must eat at least three wild chickens every day. Calculating this into meat weight, it's probably around twenty kilograms of meat per day. In modern times, Lin Bei estimates that this amount of meat would last him three months, but here it's just one day's worth of food. The difference between humans and snakes is truly great.

  Today is the day when the hunters are coming again. In the morning, Lin Bei first took a bath and then checked on the hatching situation of the little snakes. The earliest hatched snake was still sleeping. The long time made Lin Bei speechless. Duo Duo and Qi Qi were jumping on the grape trellis, sometimes jumping to the edge of the Dragon Pool to drink some water. After Lin Bei stopped taking care of them, the two little guys started to be self-sufficient. Fortunately, there were many insects on the grape trellis, as long as they worked hard, just the insects would be enough for them to eat. Sometimes they would chirp at Lin Bei, complaining that their "mother" didn't take care of them.

  "You guys always want to fly high." Lin Bei thought in his heart, the world of birds is the sky, and Lin Bei just hopes that the two little ones will be more independent.

  The taro leaves have grown very large, covering the entire taro field, and are still sprouting new buds. Inside the taro, there are constant croaking sounds, which are either toads or frogs hiding inside. Lin Bei is too lazy to chase them away and lets them fend for themselves.

  At noon, under the scorching sun, the hunters arrived at Longtan, and Lin Bei was picking sour jujubes.

  "Adult."

  "Long time no see."

  The hunters greeted Lin North one after another, and Lin North turned his head to see a group of people behind the hunters, all of whom were stunned. This was the first batch of pioneers who followed the hunters to prepare for a transaction with Lin North. Although they had been prepared in advance, when they saw Lin North's physique, they were still very frightened.

  Bo Fu Zi was also in front of the crowd, rushing towards Lin Bei and saluting with his hands, calling him "adult". Seeing Lin Bei picking sour dates, he suddenly felt a bit strange.

  Lin Beichong nodded and stopped what he was doing. He wrote: "Everyone's here? Then come on in, no need to be polite."

  Lin Beishun took the opportunity to observe the new arrivals. Apart from those he was familiar with, there were about twenty strangers, all of whom had a humble and obedient air about them, giving off the feeling that they were all subordinates.

  "Sir, these are the ones sent by the wealthy families of Hepu County." The husband walked closer and said in a low voice: "Those rich people are afraid of death, so they sent their underlings over. As for the commoners, more of them are just watching from the sidelines."

  Oh, Lin Bei understood. After all, the rumors of monsters were too unbelievable, and the impression people had of them was always negative. Rich people wouldn't dare to take risks easily, but they might not be willing to give up on this opportunity either. So, they would first send a few insignificant people over to test the waters. Lin Bei was somewhat stunned.

  "Whatever, I'm not in a hurry anyway." Lin Bei said indifferently. His original intention of letting Fuzi spread the news was to help Cui Shi and Alan get out of trouble, as long as the goal was achieved, it was fine.

  "It's good that you're not angry." Bian Fuzi seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and then praised: "Sir, the scenery here is getting better and better now."

  "Not enough, still far from it. Alright, let Cui Shi Alan and them help me get those walnuts down and bury them in the ground." Lin Bei began to have the hunters work.

  The wild walnuts are ripe, but eating them requires another process. The outer skin of the wild walnuts is hairy and needs to be buried in the ground for a while before they can be eaten. Lin Bei doesn't know why they can't be dried in the sun, it's just what everyone does, so he follows suit.

  When Lin Bei ordered them to work, the hunters actually gained spirit, because the adults did not alienate them, which was a good sign.

  "By the way," Lin Bei said again: "Alan, how's your brother's leg?"

  "Thank you, sir. My leg is almost healed, thanks to your Bone Healing Grass." Cui Jie smiled and moved his leg, taking a few more steps. The injury had been severe, but the Bone Healing Grass was indeed miraculous - Lin Bei could hardly tell that Cui Jie's leg had ever been hurt at all.

  "Alright then, let's get to work."

  "Hmm." Cui Jie said with a satisfied tone, but Lin Bei had no idea what he was satisfied about.

  Lin Bei and Ban Fu Zi chatted, ignoring those people at first.

  "Have you started school yet?" Lin Bei asked.

  "It's been five days since the school opened, and many have come to study. However, it will likely take a very long time for them to learn how to read." Mr. Bian said with some regret.

  "Does it charge tuition?"

  "Tuition? Are you referring to self-cultivation? Of course, it's necessary." Bo Fu Zi nodded his head towards the sky and chuckled: "The Sage once said: 'From self-cultivation onwards, I have never been without instruction.' Although I dare not compare myself to the Sage, this precedent is one that I dare not break."

  "Then isn't your home filled with cured meat?" Lin Bei teased.

  "No, no." The Master also smiled: "For those wealthy gentlemen, even a whole pig is not enough; for those poor hunters, a handful of rice is sufficient."

  Lin Bei really wanted to laugh, this husband was also a wonderful person. The rich collected more, the poor collected less, but this method resonated deeply with Lin Bei's thoughts, targeting those with money, and these wealthy individuals had to be grateful.

  Scholars, farmers, workers and merchants, many of the wealthy are merchants, in this era, their status is unimaginably low, having the opportunity to learn to read and write is a rare pity, let alone just wanting something, some people want to donate all their family property for a scholar's name but can't, so it's easy to understand why these followers are humble and obedient, the master's status is low, and naturally, the status of these underlings is even lower.

  After chatting for a while, Lin Bei put forward a request: "Master, are you using bamboo slips now?"

  "Naturally." The master nodded, this point was not in question. Papermaking techniques had been invented, but the cost of making paper was too high, and only wealthy families could afford it. You want to record on silk? Please, in this era, silk is several times more expensive than paper, and many places even use silk as currency, so these things can only be used by wealthy families. And what are referred to as "wealthy families" are, for example, the Xun, Yuan, Chen, and other such families.

  "Can you bring the bamboo slips next time so I can take a look?"

  "Although adults want to see it, Bo Ji has no choice but to obey. However, sir, Bo Ji also has a request."

  "You said."

  "Sir, the Xishan countryside is unbearably hot and there are many students in the school. This place is much cooler, would it be possible to move the school here so that the students can more conveniently listen to your teachings?"

  "What? You want to move the school here?" Lin Bei was shocked.

  PS: Am I not updating twice a day now? How can someone say I update once a night? Everyone, collection and recommendation are the key, this is the motivation for writers.