The next day.
Changlong Escort Agency.
Meng Lei gathered everyone and publicly rewarded Zhao Ya and his porters.
Zhao Ya received a full fifty taels of silver and a half-month’s vacation.
For a moment, everyone looked at him with envy.
As for Tan Dong and others, they also received generous rewards.
Meng Lei wanted to use this incident to tell everyone that as long as you are sincere to the escort agency, the agency will never treat you unfairly.
After making the announcement, Zhao Ya declined people’s invitations, making an excuse that he was too tired, and left the agency early.
After leaving the agency, Zhao Ya first returned home and disguised himself, then went to the pharmacy to inquire about the herbs needed for the Blood Replenishing Powder.
To be cautious, Zhao Ya only asked about two or three types of herbs at each pharmacy.
Half a day’s time passed like this, and when Zhao Ya came out of the last pharmacy, he had a slight look of disappointment on his face.
Because Zhao Ya found that most pharmacies did not have the herbs recorded for the Blood Replenishing Powder.
As one pharmacy shopkeeper put it, the herbs Zhao Ya needed mostly consisted of the organs or blood of various beasts, or even Exotic Beasts, which ordinary pharmacies simply cannot procure.
Even if they did, the price would be extremely high.
Zhao Ya was helpless in this matter and had to temporarily give up the idea of making the Blood Replenishing Powder.
Fortunately, now the agency provides a Qi Blood Pill every three days, and with the Tan family’s earthworm dried meat and the cured green bamboo snake he bought at the Ghost Market, it was still enough for him.
Thinking about this, Zhao Ya headed home.
"Sir, please have mercy on me, I haven’t eaten for three days."
On the road, beggars frequently stopped passersby to beg.
Watching this scene, Zhao Ya felt a heavy weight in his heart.
The number of refugees and beggars in the city was increasing, even worse than last year.
And Zhao Ya knew that the situation outside the city was even more dire, with countless refugees pouring in.
At this rate, something major was bound to happen sooner or later.
Zhao Ya had no good solution for this and could only stockpile some food and supplies as much as possible for unexpected needs.
In the following days, Zhao Ya stayed home, practicing his skills all day.
Until one day, Tan Dong came to his place looking for him.
"Zhao, this is next month’s earthworm dried meat and a letter from my father," Tan Dong said.
Zhao Ya took the letter and was slightly surprised when he read it.
Because in the letter, Tan Ziwang mentioned that the supply of earthworm dried meat would be significantly reduced from this month on.
As for the reason, Tan Ziwang only vaguely mentioned production limitations.
But Zhao Ya understood that if it were as simple as that, Tan Ziwang wouldn’t have written him a letter to explain.
Considering the current situation, Zhao Ya vaguely guessed something.
"What did my father say in the letter?"
Seeing Zhao Ya’s serious expression, Tan Dong quickly asked.
"Oh, nothing, just that from now on, the meat will be supplied in limited quantities!" Zhao Ya didn’t hide anything.
After hearing this, Tan Dong was silent for a moment, then sighed.
"The world is becoming increasingly difficult. Just the day before yesterday, a brothel I often went to closed down."
"Even a brothel can close down?"
"People don’t have any silver to spend, so of course, they closed down! It’s a pity for those girls, Xiaocui, Lili, Hongyu, and Juan’Er!"
Tan Dong was obviously in a bad mood.
This escort mission had a significant impact on him, and coming back to find his favorite brothel closed just made him more depressed.
After some sighs and lamentations, Tan Dong left.
A few days later, the supply of Qi Blood Pills at the agency stopped as well.
Meng Lei explained that he had previously obtained the Qi Blood Pills through connections with the Yang Family in the Inner City, but now the Yang Family had suddenly started tightly controlling them and stopped selling externally.
For this, Meng Lei was also powerless and could only apologize to Zhao Ya.
Zhao Ya didn’t mind, instead comforting Meng Lei with a few words, then left the agency.
Within just a few days, the number of pedestrians on the streets had decreased significantly.
Many of the shops on either side had closed, presenting a desolate scene.
Zhao Ya knew that the situation was becoming increasingly severe.
The Tan Family’s supply of dried meat would decrease more and more, and now the agency’s Qi Blood Pills had also been cut off.
It seemed like he would have to visit the Ghost Market tonight.
That night, Zhao Ya changed into black clothes, covered his face, and went to the Ghost Market.
He had been to the Ghost Market many times, so he was quite familiar with it.
But this time was different, as the Ghost Market had become empty, with over half of the stalls not even set up.
The few stalls that were there only had some miscellaneous items, and there were few customers.
Seeing this, Zhao Ya felt a tightening in his heart, and after making a round, he indeed couldn’t find his usual meat stall.
Clearly, even the Ghost Market was being affected by the current situation.
With no other choice, Zhao Ya returned home empty-handed.
When he got home, Zui’Er hadn’t gone to bed yet and was surprised to see Zhao Ya return so early.
"Ya, why are you back so early?"
"Well, there was hardly anyone at the Ghost Market, so I just came back."
Then Zhao Ya took out the box containing the dried meat, and apart from the earthworm dried meat provided by the Tan Family, there were only a few pieces of cured green bamboo snake left, enough to last less than ten days.
Seeing this, Zhao Ya couldn’t help but frown.
His cultivation was at a critical stage now, and if the supply of meat was cut, his progress would be severely affected.
In these chaotic times, everyone was striving to advance. It wasn’t about not making progress; even if one advanced a bit more slowly than others, they’d fall behind and eventually become easy prey for others.
Zhao Ya certainly couldn’t accept this outcome.
So he paused, then made a decision.
If all sources of meat were being cut off, he would have to find a way himself.
Weren’t most of the herbs recorded for the Blood Replenishing Powder animal or even Exotic Beast organs and blood?
If he couldn’t buy them, he would go hunting in the mountains outside the city himself.
After all, he couldn’t just sit and wait for death.
Yes!
That’s what he would do.
Having made up his mind, Zhao Ya finally felt at ease.
He looked up and saw Zui’Er watching him with a worried face, and he couldn’t help but smile.
"Alright, it’s nothing, just some small problems. It’s not something that can stump your brother Ya."
Zui’Er finally let out a slight breath of relief, nodding gently.
"Brother Ya."
"Huh?"
"It’s getting late, let’s go to sleep!"
"Alright!"
A night passed, and the next morning, Zhao Ya got up early and started preparing the things needed for hunting outside the city.
Although Zhao Ya had never hunted before, he had fortunately watched many wilderness survival videos in his previous life.
This knowledge might not entirely apply in this world, but the basics of survival should still be the same.
He packed water and food, wrapped the fire scythe in oilcloth, checked his hand crossbow and lime package, and after confirming nothing was forgotten, he informed Zui’Er, then quietly left home.