Chapter 125: A Bountiful Return

When the final 24-hour countdown ended, the paused Plane timeline started moving again.

A ring of light flashed in front of the Daming Village Territory Stele, and a large crowd appeared. The empty square was instantly filled with people.

“It feels much more reassuring to be back.”

Finally returned to his own Territory, Mo Xiaobai knew that only a split second had passed in the Plane, but he couldn’t help but sigh, since he had truly spent a long time inside the Instance.

Mo Xiaobai had many thoughts, and everyone around him felt the same way.

Back in Daming Village from the Instance, most of the people around Mo Xiaobai were here for the first time. Hundreds of eyes looked around with curiosity, as if inspecting their new home.

“Everyone, this is my Territory.”

Mo Xiaobai turned and looked at the hundreds of people around him before speaking: “From now on, you will work here and live here. I cannot say that I will make everyone rich immediately, but at least there will be no hunger or disasters in Daming Village. This is my promise to you, a promise that will never change.”

After finishing his short welcome speech, Mo Xiaobai didn’t say another word and started arranging housing for the group.

First, he told Li Guang and He Chun to lead Zhang He, Gao Lan, and their soldiers to set up camp. Then, he had Li Ji lead the remaining large group of female Territory Citizens they had “bought” into the empty houses.

With a Colonel’s troop limit of 800, plus the 150-person limit from when they first entered the Instance, Mo Xiaobai could take nearly a thousand people out of the Instance, provided everyone was willing to follow him.

Because there was still room in the population quota, Mo Xiaobai quickly ran through many counties after handling Hu Zhao. Taking advantage of the fact that the war had just ended and there were still gaps to exploit, he almost exchanged all the grain he had gotten from Wuchao for people, barely managing to fill the maximum refugee quota.

Including the first batch of over a hundred “bought” people, a total of six hundred female Refugees moved into Daming Village. Although the male-to-female ratio was still unbalanced, it was not as extreme as before, so the problem of gender imbalance was temporarily eased.

After the two groups left, there were only a few people left around Mo Xiaobai.

His mother and Little Dot naturally had to return to the Baron’s Manor first. As for the five End of Han Scholars—Guo Jia, Liu Ye, Guo Yuan, Hu Zhao, and Zheng Xuan—Mo Xiaobai planned to take them all to the Dong Family for checkups.

Get sick people treated quickly, and even healthy ones needed proper care. These older men were not young; in ancient times, they should have all been home raising their grandchildren.

Walking with these top End of Han Scholars, they could see all aspects of Daming Village along the way.

There were many good sides, such as the large-scale rice fields, Medicine Fields, and Spirit Fields, as well as those industries starting up, all of which made Guo Jia and the others nod in approval.

But there were bad sides too. The most awkward situation was that while the Territory was large and the busy places were lively, the empty places were so quiet that even the rustling of weeds after a gentle wind sounded harsh.

Mo Xiaobai kept watching the expressions of Guo Jia, Liu Ye, and others. Seeing Liu Ye and Guo Yuan frowning, he understood that these two definitely did not like his way of governing Daming Village.

“If you think there is a problem, that’s correct. If I could do everything myself, why would I bother hiring you?” He defended himself in his mind but didn’t ask them on the spot, instead continuing to lead them toward the Dong Family’s small courtyard.

Arriving at the Dong Family Residential Courtyard, Dong Zhen was still studying her medical classics.

Mo Xiaobai walked over in three or four steps and said: “Long time no see, Physician Dong.”

“Huh?”

Dong Zhen raised her head at her words and asked, puzzled: “Does the Baron drink too much again? Didn’t we just see each other yesterday?”

Ah!

He forgot that all those who hadn’t gone into the Instance fell into a sleep, so they had no feeling of time passing.

Mo Xiaobai shook his head in embarrassment and then explained his purpose: “I came today to ask Physician Dong to help treat and recover Duke Kangcheng and the others.”

“Duke Kangcheng?”

Dong Zhen’s brows flickered, and then she looked at Zheng Xuan. In less than three seconds, her frown deepened: “Did the Baron give him the Nine-Fragrance Pill?”

“Yes, and I thank you for your Nine-Fragrance Pill. Otherwise, Duke Kangcheng would have died long ago. I haven’t thanked you yet.”

“I will do my best. Everyone, follow me inside.”

Dong Zhen nodded slightly. As a successor to the Plum Blossom Grove, she never refused patients who came asking for help. No matter how difficult the case was, she would not easily shake her head.

But this time, her tone was not light. Mo Xiaobai could even feel the pressure in her eyes.

“I hope Dong Zhen can cure Zheng Xuan.”

Following Dong Zhen into the room, Mo Xiaobai felt nervous despite his confidence. The old man himself, however, was completely unconcerned. He chuckled and said: “Young lady, just go ahead and do what you need. At my age, it makes no difference whether I die early or late.”

“Okay, please sit down first,” Dong Zhen said, nodding and signaling Zheng Xuan to take a seat by the bed.

She knew Zheng Xuan’s condition was critical. Without the effect of the Nine-Fragrance Pill, he would have only a half breath left to hang on.

It was definitely a tough case, but not one where they could do nothing.

…

Suddenly, a Player Communication arrived, making Mo Xiaobai, who had been paying attention to Dong Zhen and Zheng Xuan, snap back to reality.

He walked out of the room to answer the call: “Fatty, why did you look for me right after you left the Instance?”

“Hehe~ It’s just curiosity, right? The Great Han Player channel has already been flooded with messages, and the most discussed topic is you. Some people say they saw you taking Liu Ye and Guo Jia away. Is it true or not?”

On the other end of the call, Luyu asked gossipingly. As the loser of the Instance failure, since the Guangling Battlefield ended, he had fallen into a sleep. When he woke up, he realized he was already back in his Territory.

After regaining consciousness, Fatty had no time for anything else. He first checked if there were any messages on the channel. When he opened it, the screen was full of the word “Great God”.

Listening to Fatty’s question, Mo Xiaobai raised an eyebrow: “Didn’t anyone say I also took Zhang He and Gao Lan?”

“Wow, is everything true? I thought those rumors were half true. Brother, your trip to this Instance was amazing. Did you get so many benefits that your hands are soft?” Fatty’s voice rose sharply at this moment, filled with obvious surprise.

Zhang He, Gao Lan, Liu Ye, Guo Jia!

What kind of lineup is this?

It was the rhythm of totally crushing all Players on every front!

“Hey, Fatty, you’re not this boring, are you? Calling just to ask me these things? I’m busy. You go on messing around on the channel yourself.”

Mo Xiaobai didn’t have time to chat with Fatty, and even if he did, he wasn’t interested.

Just as Mo Xiaobai was about to hang up, Fatty’s voice came into his ear again: “No, wait, I really have something important to tell you.”

“Speak the important parts.”

“Well, the first thing is about the White Qilin Horse. You said you already crossed the river and didn’t come find me. Do you not want the White Qilin Horse anymore? And the second thing is, I have an Item from an Instance Quest, and I plan to sell it. Brother, help me estimate its price.”

“The horse matter can wait for now. You want to sell a reward from an Instance Quest? What is it?”

“Just a broken boat. It’s called ‘Covering the Sea’. Unfortunately, it can’t sail on the sea, so it’s useless to me at all. I want to sell it for money, or exchange it for equivalent usable Items.”