After a long while.
Chen Nuo finally finished treating all eleven of them.
Sister La had appeared at some point and was now dabbing Chen Nuo's sweat with a cloth.
Chen Nuo smiled, then seemed to remember something. He looked at Chen Li, who was still kneeling on the ground, pulled some bandages and ointment from his medicine chest, and walked over.
As he walked over, the attention of the villagers, who were each supporting their own family members, was also drawn to him.
Their expressions were varied.
Some showed doubt, some anger, some grief, some silence...
But no one dared to stop Chen Nuo.
After this ordeal, Chen Nuo had already begun to establish his authority. The families of those he'd saved would naturally become his supporters.
As for the clan members who had not received his favor, they had to consider the consequences of offending a Physician in an era where illness was something you simply had to endure.
Chen Nuo walked up to Chen Li and, without a word, helped him up.
Chen Li looked dazedly at the man he had once considered weak and incompetent.
"Bandage it yourself. And remember to change the dressing when you get back."
Chen Nuo said this as he cleaned away the cloth that was stuck to the bloody flesh and applied the ointment.
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me. You should be thinking about how you're going to answer to the young men who trusted you."
Chen Nuo said coldly.
"Mm."
Quickly.
The ointment was applied. He bandaged the wound himself, looking rather wretched and unsightly.
He then glanced at Chen Nuo, his voice hoarse. "No matter what, I still have to thank you."
Chen Nuo didn't respond.
With a bitter laugh, Chen Li walked over to the villagers who had remained silent, knelt down, and kowtowed.
"Uncle Da, Aunt Ping, Uncle Shui..."
"Ah Su and the others... they didn't make it."
Hearing him speak the answer with their own ears, the five families who had been holding back finally lost all hope. What followed was fury.
"Ah! My son!"
"SOB... Why wasn't it you who died!"
"Chen Li! You're his uncle! How could you just watch him die?!"
"..."
Anger, sorrow, and pain mingled together, turning into venting, into wailing, into... violence.
"Stop hitting him! Stop hitting him!"
Someone spoke up.
Surprisingly, it was one of the men who had gone with Chen Li and now had an injured hand.
"Brother Li was wrong, but so were we. We were the ones who egged him on to go deeper. We all agreed to it."
"That's right. I agreed at the time."
"Yeah," the other young men chimed in.
Jiang Bian was among them. He had a large gash on his hand. Seeing how things were unfolding, he also spoke up, but his glance toward Chen Li was dark.
"So our children just died for nothing?!"
"..."
The situation was escalating.
Chen Nuo approached his grand-uncle.
"Grand-uncle."
"Mm, Ah Nuo. You've done well. Have you... reached the entry level?"
The old man sized up Chen Nuo, surprised to see his ruddy complexion.
"Yes. We still had some medicinal herbs at home, so I managed to reach the entry level."
The old man could no longer hide the admiration in his eyes. He looked at Chen Nuo and nodded repeatedly.
In his eyes, the candidate for Clan Leader had, in fact, already appeared.
"Ah Nuo, what are your thoughts on Chen Li's situation?" the grand-uncle suddenly asked.
Chen Nuo hesitated for a moment.
"Although he made a mistake, he is, after all, a clansman. And this is a time when we need all the help we can get. Besides, how can a Clan Leader not have the magnanimity to forgive?"
If his grand-uncle hadn't asked the question, Chen Nuo had only intended to offer some righteous-sounding platitude about how it was his duty to save a clansman.
But clearly, his grand-uncle didn't want to hear such empty, high-sounding words.
'In that case, I'll say something more practical.'
As expected.
The old man broke into a slight smile after hearing what he said.
"You can read people, you have prestige, you're cautious, and you're intelligent. Ah Nuo, you are outstanding."
"Not at all. I was just doing what I should."
The old man said no more. He just patted Chen Nuo's shoulder and walked toward the commotion.
Chen Nuo didn't get involved either, but he understood that the position of Clan Leader was now secure.
At the grand-uncle's rebuke, the families stopped.
In the end, it was settled: Chen Li would provide compensation and help the families from now on. If any of the families were left without descendants, he would also have to take on the responsibility of performing ancestral rites for them.
Finally, everyone returned to their own homes, their faces grim.
The grand-uncle remained where he was, his expression mournful as he gazed in the direction of Coiling Snake Mountain.
Five young men of the clan were gone forever.
"Chen Li!"
"Grand-uncle."
"Remember this! You remember this! This is the price of greed!"
The grand-uncle's cane jabbed viciously at Chen Li's leg.
"From now on, you will assist Ah Nuo properly! Don't you forget that you carry the lives of five of your clansmen on your shoulders!"
"Yes! Grand-uncle! I understand! I understand!!"
Chen Li screamed himself hoarse.
Tears streamed from his bloodshot eyes.
...
「The next day.」
A light rain began to drizzle.
Dark clouds drifted across the sky, blocking out the light.
They brought a gloomy pall over the small village, which was already struggling through a lean season.
Chen Nuo's family, however, was immersed in joy. Even his mother's sorrow had lessened.
Because the oyster mushrooms had been successfully cultivated!
After a night of growth, the new log was covered in a dense layer of oyster mushrooms.
'These spores still possess their rapid growth ability. Excellent. With this many spores, every household can get two logs' worth. That should be enough to feed a family for a while.'
'But will the offspring of these spores still have this ability?' This was the only doubt on Chen Nuo's mind.
'If they still do, then I can't bring this out casually. It'll have to be cultivated in secret, or it could lead to disaster.'
'Our Chen Manor wouldn't be able to hold onto such a treasure.'
Afterward, Chen Nuo cooked the oyster mushrooms into a congee. He planned to eat his fill and complete his daily Nourishing Body routine, but he discovered the mushrooms lacked their previous medicinal effects!
'Just ordinary oyster mushrooms. Their medicinal value has dropped significantly.'
Chen Nuo came to this conclusion, his stomach still feeling hungry.
Looking at these second-generation oyster mushrooms, Chen Nuo made a choice.
'So be it. I'll take these to Grand-uncle. It's time for the Clan Leader position to be decided anyway.'
It was a decision born from caution. He knew his grand-uncle could be trusted.
...
The Ancestral Hall.
Chen Nuo had come here once again.
But this time.
Only he and his grand-uncle were here.
Oh, right, there was also an old farmer named Old Jin guarding the ancestral hall from the outside.
"Ah Nuo, what is so urgent?"
The old man looked at Chen Nuo with confusion. It was only out of trust for his outstanding descendant that he had agreed to this secret meeting in the ancestral hall.
"Grand-uncle, look."
Chen Nuo placed a bag of oyster mushrooms on the ground and opened it.
"A type of... edible mushroom?" the grand-uncle said, picking one up.
"Yes, an ordinary mushroom. But it's also extraordinary."
"Oh?"
"What if I told you it can be cultivated in large quantities? Enough to feed everyone in our manor for more than ten days?"
"Hm???"
The grand-uncle's hum suddenly grew deeper.