Chapter 24: Family Merits

  "Big Brother Qin Yun!"

  Before Qin Haishan and Qin Jun could react, Qin Mingzhu quickly walked towards the door along the corridor.

  Dusty and exhausted, Qin Yun had just stepped into the entrance of the Foreign Affairs Hall.

  His clothes were covered in mud, moss and bloodstains, and his face was still smeared with dust that hadn't been wiped clean. His filthy appearance caused the people around him to hastily avoid him.

  Qin Yun didn't think much of it, during these seven days he first went to Manglong Mountain to collect medicine, then followed Chen Li to copy the lair of the black-clothed old man, and rushed back to hand over the task, where did he have time to wash up.

  At this moment, he heard someone calling his name and immediately saw Qin Mingzhu.

  Qin Mingzhu's face was filled with joy: "Brother Qin Yun, you've finally come back!"

  A warm current surged in Qin Yun's heart: "Yes, just got back..."

  Before he could finish speaking, Qin Mingzhu's face changed: "Are you injured? Have you taken any medicine? I have a bottle of healing balm here..."

  As she spoke, she rummaged through her sleeve to fetch a medicine bottle.

  Qin Yun hastily said: "I'm not injured, the bloodstains on me are from killing wild beasts."

  Qin Mingzhu's concern moved Qin Yun deeply and also made him somewhat puzzled, because he could see that this concern was sincere.

  What he didn't understand was that he and Qin Mingzhu had only met a few times, and apart from being from the same clan and hometown, they didn't have much of a relationship.

  Although Qin Yun agreed to collect the Bileaf Grass for Qin Mingzhu, now that Qin Mingzhu hasn't seen the Bileaf Grass either, this concern is clearly not mixed with other factors.

  Qin Yun didn't know that it was precisely on that day that he had promised without hesitation, causing the young girl to have an extremely good impression of him.

  For Biye Grass, Qin Mingzhu also didn't think of ways to ask for help, but her closest brother only cared about himself, and people like Qin Jun were even more suspicious.

  Qin Yun's help was absolutely selfless, and the girl could tell that much, so even if Qin Yun hadn't brought back a single sprig of green leaf grass, Qin Mingzhu would still be grateful.

  Of course, this girl's thoughts are not something that Qin Yun can understand at present.

  "Ha! Isn't this Qin Yun? How come he's so worn out?" A sarcastic voice came from the side, "But being able to return alive is not bad either!"

  Who is this? Qin Yun's sword-like eyebrows rose as he turned his head towards the direction of the sound.

  It was Qin Jun who spoke, he and Qin Hai Shan followed together, seeing Qin Ming Zhu and Qin Yun being close and concerned, the mood can be imagined: "I don't know if you have picked up the Bileaf Grass, Ming Zhu sister has been waiting for you for a long time!"

  "You!" Qin Mingzhu's face suddenly turned bright red.

  It was just an ordinary thing, but when Qin Jun said it, it made people feel very unbearable.

  "That's none of your concern!" Qin Yun said coldly: "Mingzhu, why don't you come with me to hand in the task first, and then we can discuss the details?"

  Qin Mingzhu naturally had no opinion, and the two went together to Rokuyōkan.

  Qin Jun, who was ignored, was so angry that he almost smoked seven orifices. He hated to stomp his foot: "Hai Shan, let's go up and take a look together. I don't believe this guy can really dig up many Bileaf Grass!"

  The second floor of the weekdays building was crowded with children from the Foreign Affairs Hall at the staircase entrance.

  When Qin Yun came up, they first lit up their eyes and then shook their heads disdainfully.

  "I thought it was someone else, but it turned out to be Qin Yun!"

  "Back with empty hands again!"

  "He went into the mountains alone, it's already a miracle he came back alive, and now he wants to complete his mission? What a joke!"

  "Who will team up with him..."

  These young men are all unfulfilled task requirements, squeezed in here is nothing more than wanting to try their luck, see if they can collect a few sprigs of Bileaf Grass from others.

  They despise Qin Yun despite their own incompetence, which makes them feel a little more comfortable.

  These cold words Qin Yun didn't even bother to respond to, he simply walked past the crowd.

  Qin Mingzhu only now realized that Qin Yun was so unpopular in the Outer Hall, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

  Qin Yun arrived in front of a desk belonging to a hall porter.

  "The other party lazily said: 'Give up the task? Hand over your ID badge, as well as the medicine box and medicine shovel.'"

  Today, among the newcomers who came to hand in their tasks, seven or eight out of ten chose to give up. Qin Yun was alone, and no matter how you looked at it, he didn't seem like he could complete the task.

  But Qin Yun's answer gave him a shock: "No, I've completed the task!"

  "Is that done? The steward was truly taken aback by Qin Yun and immediately straightened his back: 'Quickly bring over the Bileaf Grass.'"

  This time, the task assigned by the General Hall is a big pressure on the Foreign Affairs Hall, because the number of blue leaf grass collected is not many, and it can't meet the demand of the Dan Medicine Hall at all.

  The Dan medicine hall lacks materials and cannot refine the necessary medicines for each hall, which in turn puts more pressure on the external affairs hall.

  So when Qin Yun said he had completed the task, Guan Shi was overjoyed.

  Qin Yun took out a medicine box he had prepared long ago from his backpack and placed it on the table.

  At this time, many people gathered around, and the voice of the person in charge was too loud. Everyone in the hall heard it clearly.

  Those who knew Qin Yun were all shocked.

  Tang Kou Kanji almost couldn't wait to open the medicine box, and was immediately stunned!

  The onlookers were in an uproar!

  All that can be seen is in the square wooden medicine box, ten stalks of green leaf grass are neatly arranged, each with lush branches and leaves, not a single one has less than five leaves!

  "So many!"

  "One piece per year, this plant must have more than twenty pieces by now!"

  "Heavens! Where did he dig that up from?"

  Those who despised Qin Yun just now are truly beyond regret, if they had known that Qin Yun would dig up so many and such good Biye grass, even if they got one or two plants from him, it would be enough to complete the task.

  The task requires three years or more of green leaf grass, but taking out one ten-year-old plant is also enough to make up for it.

  Because Biye grass under ten years can only refine low-grade Peiqi Dan, and at ten years it can refine medium-grade Peiqi Dan, the difference between them is very big.

  But they are now too late, Qin Yun took out the Bilei grass to hand in the task, and it is naturally impossible to sell it to them.

  "Not bad, not bad!" The manager of the Tang family's household was overjoyed: "Two 7-year-old ones, one 8-year-old one, two 10-year-old ones... and one 27-year-old one!"

  More and more eyes fell on Qin Yun, shock, astonishment, jealousy, incredulity...

  Everyone envies Qin Yun's good luck, and some people are so envious that they can't help but stare at the Bileaf Grass on the table with red eyes!

  Behind the crowd, Qin Jun and Qin Haiming looked at each other, both feeling a sense of embarrassment, then took advantage of others' inattention to quietly leave.

  "Tang Kou's reward is well-deserved, I'll give you a special commendation!" Tang Kou's manager scribbled hastily in his notebook: "In addition to the fixed reward for this task, based on the quality of the Bileaf Grass you submitted, you can also receive 12 Family Merits!"

  Family Merit is the highest level of reward that a family can give to its members. It can be exchanged for elixirs, weapons, secret manuals, and even personal guidance from high-ranking strongmen, making it the most coveted reward among all disciples.

  Having enough family merits can even exchange for the qualification to be recommended into a major sect!

  "Qin Yun, are you going to put your achievements on record or take it away directly?" asked the manager.

  "I'll take it away!" Qin Yun replied without hesitation.

  Tang Kou nodded and carefully took out a small box from his drawer.

  He took out the key and opened the lock, then counted out twelve dark gold-colored metal plates from inside and handed them over to Qin Yun.

  Each metal piece is about one inch long and two fingers wide, heavy with a substantial weight. The surface is densely engraved with intricate symbols, and upon closer inspection, the strokes of the symbols seem to shimmer with a subtle glow.

  This is the Qin family's Black Gold Merit Plaque. Each one represents a merit, and holding it can directly exchange for what you need.

  If Qin Yun is short of money, there are many people who are willing to pay a high price for it, and its value is extraordinary.

  Of course, Qin Yun only got the contribution points after he was full, and family merits were not something that could be obtained easily. If it wasn't for the high-quality Biye grass he had dug up this time, there wouldn't have been so many contribution points to take.

  The numerous eyes fixed on him were getting hotter and hotter, this was a total of twelve family merits!

  These gazes made Qin Yun somewhat unable to bear, in fact he could take out a lot more of the Bilei grass, it's just that considering not wanting to show off too much he only took out a small portion.

  Never thought this small part would make others jealous to the point of bleeding.

  "You must also work hard, our family will never treat unfairly those who make contributions!" said the housekeeper with a smile.

  Like a thorn in his back, Qin Yun stuffed the black gold card into his pocket and quickly left after exchanging a subtle signal with Qin Mingzhu.

  Not long after, in the small pavilion of the Longqing Wine House.

  Qin Yun took out another medicine box that had been prepared long ago from his backpack and handed it to Qin Mingzhu.

  Although she knew Qin Yun had definitely prepared the Bileaf Grass for her, when Qin Mingzhu opened the box and saw it was full of Bileaf Grass, she was completely stunned!

  "So many..."

  The girl was stunned for half a day before she came back to her senses. The surprise on her pretty face turned into embarrassment: "I don't have that much money."

  She took out two silver notes and a few pieces of loose silver from her perfume pouch, biting her lip and murmuring: "Brother Qin, I just need three stalks of green leaf grass, the money might not be enough, can you lend me some first?"

  The price of Bileaf Grass has skyrocketed and it's hard to buy even with money. The girl felt embarrassed that she could only take out this little bit of money.

  "Mingzhu, I'm not short of money either!" Qin Yun said with a bright smile: "It's better this way, take all these Bileaf Grass, and after you refine them into Qi Cultivation Pills, just sell them back to me, that's fine!"

  "But..."

  "There's no other way!" Qin Yun waved his hand and said imperiously: "It's settled then, but you're definitely buying dinner tonight!"

  Qin Mingzhu couldn't help but laugh, feeling both delighted and moved: "Thank you so much, Big Brother Qin!"

  She knew that according to Qin Yun's approach, she had absolutely taken advantage of the situation, but she really couldn't refuse Qin Yun's kindness.

  Unbeknownst to her, a thread of inexplicable emotions had quietly emerged in the girl's heart.