Chapter 381: The Secret

Chapter 381: A Private Moment

Su Mo hadn’t been startled awake by Zhen Xiaoxiao’s ruckus.

With his martial arts mastery, no matter how late he rested or how long he slept, it made little difference to him.

By the time the sky was just beginning to lighten, he had already opened his eyes.

But seeing Yang Xiaoyun peacefully asleep in his arms, he couldn’t bear to move.

With her warm, soft form filling his embrace, what man would willingly let go?

It wasn’t until Zhen Xiaoxiao’s heavy, clomping footsteps echoed from afar, startling Yang Xiaoyun awake, that Su Mo let out a resigned sigh.

“What’s wrong?”

Yang Xiaoyun blinked sleepily upon waking, only to see Su Mo’s disappointed expression.

“I wanted to hold you a little longer.”

“Tch.”

Yang Xiaoyun couldn’t help but scoff lightly:

“You hold me every day—still can't get enough of me?”

“Nope.”

Su Mo shook his head:

“How could there ever be enough?”

“Hmph… Alright, that's enough cuddling. Xiaoxiao is coming.”

Yang Xiaoyun sat up and slipped from his arms, pulling Su Mo up from the bed.

Su Mo pouted:

“So early in the morning, waking us up… I’ll punish her by making her go hungry for three days.”

“…You might as well run her through three times.”

“Given how big she is, how long would the blade need to be to run her through three times?”

Yang Xiaoyun gave Su Mo the side-eye but then began to wonder:

“Xiaoxiao can barely move around on the ship.

“If there wasn’t something important, she wouldn’t have come here so early.

“Come on, put some clothes on, and see what she wants.

“That girl doesn't think before she acts—if she barges in and pushes the door open, we’d be caught in a compromising position.”

Su Mo gave a nod.

Fortunately, Xiaoxiao took her time walking, each step cautious, like she might crack the planks.

So by the time she reached the door, the couple had already dressed.

Yang Xiaoyun, still half-asleep, brought water for Su Mo to wash up.

Just as the water was poured, Zhen Xiaoxiao burst through the door:

"Boss, Chief, did you send for me?"

"..."

Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun both looked toward the door, puzzled:

"Who called you?"

"Huh?"

Zhen Xiaoxiao blinked. "You called for me..."

"Hmm..."

Su Mo gave a knowing look at what she was holding. "What are you hiding there?"

"Nothing at all!!"

Zhen Xiaoxiao immediately shook her head.

"You've still got grease on your mouth."

Hearing this, Zhen Xiaoxiao hurriedly wiped her mouth while muttering:

"That's weird, I swore I wiped it clean before coming."

"...Did you raid the kitchen for snacks?"

Su Mo shot her a look.

Zhen Xiaoxiao instantly ducked her head, her beady eyes shifting nervously as she struggled to come up with a good excuse.

But not being the quickest thinker, she couldn't find a reasonable explanation right away.

Moreover, she was thoroughly puzzled—weren't the Boss and Chief the ones who called for her? Why did it seem like they knew nothing about it now?

Su Mo was at a loss for words. He was about to ask why she'd come to own up to just snacking, when footsteps sounded from the door again.

It was Song Yuanlong.

He informed Su Mo that several wagons had pulled up alongside the ship, loaded with supplies, led by Wang Chengying and an elderly man.

Hearing this, Su Mo had bigger things to worry about than Zhen Xiaoxiao.

He took Yang Xiaoyun and headed down to meet them.

There, just as described, stood the Wang father and son.

Upon seeing Su Mo, the pair immediately raised their hands in greeting:

"Chief Escort Su."

"President Wang, Young Master, you were up late last night, why are you up so early today?"

Su Mo returned the gesture and asked casually.

The father and son exchanged a glance before Wang Chaosheng smiled and said:

"Chief Escort Su mentioned it casually last night that you would replenish supplies on the island today before setting sail again.

"You may have said it in passing, but we couldn’t ignore it.

"No need to trouble yourself with such things as replenishing supplies.

"Last night, I had everything prepared overnight. The supplies are all top-quality—Chief Escort Su just has them loaded onto the ship."

Su Mo paused in surprise before replying with a smile:

"President Wang, you are too kind. Su Mo couldn’t possibly accept this."

"Chief Escort Su, please don’t refuse," Wang Chaosheng quickly insisted.

"Chief Escort Su has done our Wang family an immeasurable favor. These things are trivial.

"They barely scratch the surface of our thanks. If Chief Escort Su won’t even accept this, then we, father and son, truly wouldn’t know what to do."

"Very well," Su Mo nodded.

With it put like that, to refuse would be rude.

He then instructed Song Yuanlong to lead the crew in loading the supplies onto the ship.

Meanwhile, Wang Chaosheng produced a box.

The box looked heavy, and he handed it to Wang Chengying, who then presented it to Su Mo.

Su Mo, curious, was about to open it when Wang Chengying quickly said:

"Chief Escort Su, open it once you’re on board. This is just a small token of our appreciation.

"Though it may not be worth much, you’ll find it useful.

"Additionally..."

Wang Chengying then drew a plaque from his sleeve and offered it to Su Mo.

Su Mo, momentarily setting aside the box, turned his gaze to the plaque.

"This is the Hundred Families Merchant Association’s VIP Token!"

"..."

Su Mo froze—this was not the first time he had seen such a token.

The last time had been when Mr. Zhan gave him one.

He hadn’t expected to receive another here.

His first instinct was to refuse, as he already had far too many tokens.

Yet, upon seeing the token in Wang Chengying’s hand, Su Mo’s brow furrowed slightly.

After a moment’s thought, he handed the box to Yang Xiaoyun and then accepted the VIP token with both hands.

Playing dumb, he asked, “What is this?”

“Chief Escort Su might not know,” Wang Chengying smiled.

“The VIP tokens are jointly made by the Hundred Merchants Association.

“There are three types…

“First is the Guest Token, which gets you big discounts at any branch of our Hundred Merchants Association.

“Second is the VIP Token, which works like the Guest Token, but offers even greater discounts, saving you a good chunk of change.

“As for the third category…”

He hesitated before going on:

“The third is the Distinguished Guest Token. With this token, you can buy whatever you need at any Hundred Merchants Association location without paying a cent.

“All expenses are covered by the merchant house that issued the token.

“However, this means… using the Distinguished Guest Token inevitably leaves a paper trail.

“A lot of folks don’t like that.

“We assumed Chief Escort Su, as a man of the martial world, wouldn’t want us keeping tabs on you at every turn. So we held off on offering the Distinguished Guest Token. But if Chief Escort Su has no objections, the Wang family’d be happy to give you one.”

As he spoke, he pulled out another token from his pocket, identical to the one in Su Mo’s hand except for an additional character ‘Wang’ engraved on it.

Clearly, he’d come prepared—he just had to explain first.

“I see,” Su Mo chuckled upon hearing this.

“No way I’d let the Wang family cover everything?

“If I went on a shopping spree, I might even empty out the Bo Hai Association.”

“If Chief Escort Su truly wishes to do so, this old man’d be happy to hand over the Bo Hai Association to you.”

Wang Chaosheng seized the moment to interject—though it was obviously a joke.

Su Mo chuckled, declining the Distinguished Guest Token and changing the subject with a few casual remarks.

Yet, his thoughts drifted to that Mr. Zhan.

Back at Three Rivers Bay, he had given Su Mo a token, claiming it was a VIP Token.

But in truth, that token had been a Distinguished Guest Token.

Not that it was a big deal.

The question is, why didn't Manager Zhan tell the truth about the matter?

There was actually something fishy going on with Manager Zhan's ship.

There must have been other skilled fighters on board...

However, what happened on someone else's ship wasn't really Su Mo’s concern, so he never pursued it.

But if one day, if he ever went to the South Sea, and truly used the VIP token given by Manager Zhan for every resupply...

Then everywhere he went, every place he visited, would be monitored by Manager Zhan, while he remained oblivious—that would be hard to justify.

But then again, it’s no wonder. At the time, Manager Zhan had mentioned that by presenting this token in the South Sea, one could find him.

So there was this hidden meaning behind it.

After this thought crossed his mind, he let it go for now.

He sat down with the Wang father and son at a teahouse by the dock.

After ordering tea, they made small talk.

Wang Chengying mentioned that Wang Xiaowan had been pretty shaken up the night before, so they didn’t let her come out today.

However, as he spoke, he couldn’t help but glare at Wang Chaosheng.

Clearly, he was still blaming him for causing needless drama, which had truly caused quite a bit of harm.

Wang Chaosheng, being a stubborn old man and thick-skinned, ignored his son’s cold stare.

Seeing that Wang Chengying had brought up the topic, Su Mo seized the moment to ask:

"Speaking of which, how does President Wang plan to handle that item?"

"Ah... it’s a real hot potato," Wang Chaosheng sighed. "The most frustrating part is that it doesn’t even contain what I was looking for. Keeping it would only invite unwanted attention.

"So, I intend to make this matter public and invite the Bai Family Chamber to jointly oversee the sale of this alchemy manual."

"President Wang’s ability to know when to fold is truly admirable," Su Mo chuckled. "But speaking of this, I’m a bit curious—how did President Wang, all the way in Pingyang Island, come to know about the whereabouts of this alchemy manual?"

"Heh, I’ve been working the South Sea for a lifetime—of course, I have my own ways," Wang Chaosheng grinned. "But obtaining this information was purely sheer luck.

"Who knew we’d actually succeed in getting it?"

At this, the elderly man couldn’t help but grin smugly, which once again earned another glare from Wang Chengying.

After a moment’s thought, Su Mo didn’t pry and continued with casual conversation. After a while, Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun took their leave.

They couldn’t stay with the father and son for too long—there was plenty to do aboard the ship that required their attention.

The Wang father and son didn’t mind, telling Su Mo and the others to handle their business.

The two men took this opportunity to share some tea and talk.

Later, when Su Mo and the others set sail, they could send them off.

Seeing this, Su Mo had no choice but to head back to the Ziyang Escort's main ship with Yang Xiaoyun.

After checking the inventory list with Song Yuanlong—what was missing, what still needed getting, and roughly organizing everything—a crew member came running to report.

The report said that at dawn, while dragging half a cow to feed the white tiger, they discovered two people lying in the tiger's den.

Su Mo blinked in surprise.

He immediately went with Yang Xiaoyun to check it out, curious as to which two individuals had the "bright idea" of playing tiger snacks so early in the morning.

By the time they arrived, the two had already been hauled out of the tiger's "bedroom" and were lying out cold on the deck.

Song Yuanlong, seeing Su Mo approach, smiled and said:

"They're fine—just passed out, probably from fright."

Su Mo nodded, glanced past the crowd, and couldn't help but laugh:

"Guess our guests think their rooms are too small.

"In that case, let these two bunk with the tiger from now on.

"Drag them back."

With a wave of his hand, workers quickly dragged the Laughing Daoist and Shu Jing back into the white tiger's "bedroom."

The tiger was crouched there, tearing into the beef, when it looked up and saw the two poor saps returning.

Then it noticed Su Mo approaching, so it set aside the meat and ambled over, butting affectionately against Su Mo's hand with its large head.

Su Mo chuckled:

"No eating them, and keep 'em here."

The tiger was intelligent—and growing even smarter—so it nodded in understanding before turning its gaze back to the Laughing Daoist and Shu Jing, a glint of mischief in its eyes.

It wasn’t allowed to harm anyone on the ship—Su Mo had made it crystal clear on that.

But this time, the command was different.

Just "no eating them" and "don’t let them escape."

There was no mention of not having a little fun with these two.

With nothing else to do and no need to sleep all day, why not mess with them sometimes, bat them around a bit? As long as they weren’t killed, it should be fine, right?

Su Mo didn't waste time figuring out the tiger’s thoughts. Shu Jing and the Laughing Daoist had spent half the night working so hard to room with the tiger—Su Mo, always happy to help people get what they want, naturally wouldn’t let them leave disappointed.

And so, that settled that.

As midday drew near, Song Yuanlong had his crew make preparations, and the supplies were nearly all procured.

After saying goodbye to Old Wang and his son, Su Mo ordered the ship to set sail. The large vessel soon pulled away from the dock, and in no time, Pingyang Island faded into the distance.

...

...

After lunch, Su Mo had Yin Xiaoyu brought out from the storage hold.

He arranged for another space for Little Situ to examine and treat her injuries.

With her miraculous medical skills, this was naturally no challenge for Little Situ.

Soon, she adjusted what needed adjusting, stabilized what needed stabilizing, and handed her a few medicinal pills for Yin Xiaoyu to take.

Then, she had Yin Xiaoyu taken back.

Seeing this, Yin Xiaoyu let out a sigh of relief. It seemed Su Mo was genuinely treating her injuries, and perhaps his promises afterward might actually hold weight.

When only Su Mo and Little Situ remained in the room, Little Situ blinked playfully and said to Su Mo:

"Eldest Brother Su, how about I check your pulse too?"

"???"

Su Mo was stunned, momentarily torn between laughter and tears:

"I’m fine—why check my pulse?"

"Just for practice," Little Situ’s eyes darted, and she quickly came up with a reason:

"They say, 'Practice makes perfect, after all.'

"The skill of pulse diagnosis can get rusty without practice.

"Eldest Brother Su, humor me, won’t you?"

"..."

Su Mo gave her a skeptical look: "Really?"

"Really!!"

Little Situ nodded eagerly like a chicken pecking grain.

Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun had been married for a year, yet Yang Xiaoyun hadn’t shown any sign of pregnancy.

This worried Little Situ greatly. Having confirmed that Yang Xiaoyun had no issues, she worried Su Mo might have some hidden issue.

Thus, she had been collecting herbs to brew remedies for him.

But this was all just her own doing. Now that the preparations were nearly complete, she still had to check Su Mo’s condition before deciding on the dosage.

So, after treating Yin Xiaoyu today, she took the chance to slip it into conversation.

Otherwise, she really wouldn’t have had any reason to idly seek out Su Mo just to give him a checkup…

Wouldn’t that just be looking for trouble?

But even this excuse was pretty weak.

Su Mo was no pushover—even crafty old veterans of the martial world couldn’t fool him, much less Little Situ Taoist.

But he played along, figuring she was just worried about him, which explained the sudden checkup. He promptly extended his hand:

"Alright then, consider this practice for you."

Little Situ Taoist nodded eagerly and pressed her fingers to Su Mo’s pulse.

A second later, her eyes went wide.

She instinctively glanced up at him.

Su Mo frowned. "What? Do I actually have some terminal illness?"

"Ugh, don’t say that!!"

Little Situ Taoist spat three times in succession: "Eldest Brother Su, stop that! You’re—you’re completely fine. Better than fine!"

Indeed, better than fine.

His kidney qi was strong, his energy boundless—no trace of weakness at all.

But then… how?

If so, why hadn’t Yang Xiaoyun gotten pregnant by now?

Little Situ Taoist looked utterly baffled.

Her confusion just made Su Mo even more confused.

Why did she look so let down if he was fine?

For a beat, they just stared at each other. Finally snapping out of it, Little Situ Taoist yanked her hand back:

"Uh… Eldest Brother Su, if that’s all—oh wait, no, there’s something else!"

Cutting herself off, she fished out a folded paper from her sleeve and smoothed it on the table:

"Eldest Brother Su, that Poison Dragon Alchemy Scripture you gave me yesterday? Probably fake. Every single recipe in it has a messed-up ingredient."

Su Mo’s brow furrowed:

"So it’s a fake?"

Little Situ Taoist nodded: "Some ingredients are wrong, and some names are totally made up. The amounts and how to use them are even weirder.

"Forty recipes, and every single one’s got a bad ingredient. I wrote them all down, but none of it adds up…

"Eldest Brother Su, take a look."

Su Mo looked at it and furrowed his brows:

"One qian of ‘Midday Flower’… What the hell is that?"

Little Situ fell silent:

"Midday Flower is indeed a medicinal herb. It tastes sweet with slightly cooling properties. It helps clear heat, promote diuresis, and detoxify."

"...Alright."

Su Mo had thought it was entirely made up, but it turned out to be a real thing. He then asked:

"So, what's the issue with this herb in the prescription?"

"It's clearly inappropriate. Its effects conflict with several others, and according to the prescription, this herb is completely unnecessary."

"Leaving it out would work better."

"I see..."

Su Mo nodded and stopped his random questions, focusing his attention on the paper instead.

"Midday Flower, one *qian*; Malabar Spinach, one *liang*; Plantago Seeds, two *jin*; Skyward Cup, one *qian*; Saffron, one *jin*..."

At first, Su Mo was getting a headache from it, but after a while, his face suddenly lit up with realization:

"Midday Flower... one *qian*; Malabar Spinach... one *liang*... Midday Flower, one... day; spinach, one... Malabar... sunset?"

He instinctively looked at Little Situ, who was also stunned. Reorganizing these herbs, they formed... "Head west before sunset!"