Chapter 30: A Zone One Must Not Linger

The man in gold-rimmed glasses said that a few flowers by the roadside were nothing worth fussing over. Once they reached a good place, there would be plenty of fine blossoms to pick.

The way he said it made Li Banfeng think that when they reached the good location, the speckled-snake chrysanthemum would be like wheat, yielding an armful with a single swing of the sickle. But when they did reach the good location, Li Banfeng realized that there were not that many flowers. Even after searching for more than two hours, he had only gathered five.

Some speckled-snake chrysanthemums had long stems and could be cut down directly with a sickle. Others had stems that were barely visible, with petals pressed against the ground, forcing him to dig them out carefully with a trowel.

By Li Banfeng's estimation, finding even a single speckled-snake chrysanthemum within a ten-meter radius was already considered lucky. As the mountain mist grew thicker, his visibility worsened, and he could see no farther than ten meters ahead.

The flowers were hard to find, and the competition was fierce.

People from the medicinal trading house were nearby. They were more experienced and moved more quickly. They were not the only ones either, since there was competition even within this hastily assembled team.

Old Smoke Cannon really was a Smoking Cultivator. He said he was a level-one Smoking Cultivator, and that did not seem to be a lie. The smoke acted as his eyes, allowing him to see wherever it drifted. In just two hours, he had gathered thirteen speckled-snake chrysanthemums.

The little girl Leafy was skilled as well. As a Medicine Cultivator, she had a special sense for medicinal herbs and managed to collect ten.

The voluptuous beauty Nectarine was not as skilled. In the same two hours, she had picked only three. She was doing even worse than Li Banfeng.

Seeing Nectarine, Li Banfeng could not help grumbling inwardly.

What is with her constantly swaying around in front of me? She is wearing a cheongsam, bending over with her butt right in my face, swaying it back and forth. How am I supposed to focus on picking chrysanthemums like this? Could it be that she actually wants me to pluck her chrysanthemums?

[1]

The man in gold-rimmed glasses did know his stuff, but he wasn't particularly skilled either. He had only gathered six flowers, only one more than Li Banfeng.

Like Li Banfeng, Tiger Lamb gathered five flowers as well.

The most useless of them turned out to be Chubby Qin, who had only managed to gather a single flower. He grew so anxious that he stomped his feet in the grass.

Tiger Lamb laughed at him from the side. "With just one flower, you can't even make half a pill. I bet when you get down the mountain, no one will want to buy it!"

Chubby Qin snapped back in annoyance. "Who says it won't sell? It's not like they'll refine pills using only my flower. Of course they'll mix it with the others!"

"You can't even refine half a pill with a single flower?" Li Banfeng asked.

"No, you can't," The girl Leafy said as she located another speckled-snake chrysanthemum. As she plucked the flower, she said, "I was told that you would need five speckled-snake chrysanthemum flowers to refine a superior-grade pill."

The beauty Nectarine chimed in, "And I heard you also need quite a lot of supplementary ingredients."

Leafy thought for a moment and said, "I remember that refining a Speckled-Snake Pill doesn't require supplementary ingredients, but the control of fire is especially difficult. You have to switch the level of fire four or five times, and the intensity is different each time. Moreover, each medicinal trading house has its own method of refining pills."

Nectarine let out a sigh and said, "When it comes to pill recipes, if you don't know them, they're worth their weight in gold. But once you know them, they turn out to be nothing but nonsense. Too bad we don't have the skill. We can only risk our lives for a bit of money.

"Little Sis, fate has brought us together. Since we have met, we can be considered friends. You should study principles of medicine well. In the future, when we collect medicinal herbs and sell them to your shop, at least give us a little more money."

When Leafy heard this, she blushed and continued searching for speckled-snake chrysanthemums with a grin.

Nectarine's words had struck right at her heart. It was her dream to open a medicine shop.

Li Banfeng quickly did the math in his head. It took five speckled-snake chrysanthemums to refine one pill. At eighty-five coins per flower, the cost of the flowers alone came to four hundred and twenty-five coins.

The cost of a Speckled-Snake Pill was not low. Even without supplementary ingredients, once labor was added, it would still be nearly five hundred coins per pill.

Running a medicinal trading house isn't an easy business either!

Li

Banfeng thought.

"How much can a Speckled-Snake Pill sell for?" Li Banfeng asked.

"Ten thousand," Chubby replied simply.

Li Banfeng froze on the spot.

Ten thousand? Ten thousand! Is this a joke? A single pill sells for ten thousand! This is outrageous profit!

While Li Banfeng froze on the spot, Big Sis Nectarine let out a laugh and said, "What's wrong? Too expensive? Medicinal trading houses thrive on exorbitant returns. Even at this price, only wealthy families can afford them. Ordinary people wouldn't even have a chance to buy one.

"Think about it. With ten thousand, you can buy a single day of cultivation. With three million six hundred and fifty thousand, you could buy a year. Thirty-six million five hundred thousand would buy you ten years.

“Ten years of cultivation equates to a level of cultivation. With three hundred million, you could buy ten levels. And ten levels would mean tripling your lifespan. Don't you think that's worth the money?"

"Whether it's worth it or not is another matter. Big Sis, when you talk, stop pointing your butt at me."

Nectarine turned her head, narrowed her eyes, and smiled at him. "Do you like it? It's plump and fair. Don't you want to give it a squeeze? Give me one flower, and I'll let you squeeze to your heart's content."

While Nectarine was saying that, Li Banfeng was thinking about how a single pill yielded a profit twenty times of the cost.

He found a speckled-snake chrysanthemum, examined it for a moment, and asked, "Instead of buying such expensive pills, why not just eat the flower directly? One only costs eighty-five."

Leafy shouted, "Elder Brother Bai Sha[2], don't be reckless! You can't eat these. Speckled-snake chrysanthemums are highly poisonous. If you eat even one, you'll die!"

Li Banfeng was stunned. "The speckled-snake chrysanthemum is poisonous? Then isn't the Speckled-Snake Pill poisonous too?"

Leafy and Nectarine both turned to look at him as though they were staring at an illiterate fool.

Leafy explained, "The Speckled-Snake Pill is poisonous too, but not as severely. Still, you can't eat too many."

Nectarine said, "Elder Brother Bai Sha, how can you know so little? Are you even a cultivator? If you don't actually have cultivation, you'd better head down the mountain before you get yourself killed. I was only giving an example when I said three hundred million for ten levels of cultivation earlier. Don't take it seriously. If anyone really ate that many Speckled-Snake Pills, they would probably die several times over in the process."

Chubby Qin called out from the side, "Hurry up and keep looking for flowers. What's with all the chatter? Focus on what's important!"

Chubby Qin was reminding Li Banfeng not to expose himself any further. Still, he had a point. He should focus on the more important matter. Speckled-snake chrysanthemums only bloomed for a single day before they withered.

Yet, that wasn't the most pressing concern. Li Banfeng was starting to feel dizzy. He was finding it harder and harder to resist the bitter fog.

Old Smoke Cannon, on the other hand, stayed focused on the task. While the others were still talking, he picked another speckled-snake chrysanthemum and slipped it into his cloth pouch.

He exhaled a mouthful of yellow smoke and the smoke lingered for a moment before he sensed something. Following the sign, he quickly stepped forward and spotted yet another speckled-snake chrysanthemum ahead.

Taking out his scissors, he skillfully snipped the stem. Just as he was about to put the flower into his pouch, the bald man who had snatched flowers by the roadside earlier suddenly appeared in front of him, reaching out to grab it.

Old Smoke Cannon stayed calm and steady. He swung his smoking pipe against the back of the bald man's hand. With a sharp sizzle, it seared off a strip of skin and flesh.

The bald man howled in pain and snarled, "Old bastard, you've lived long enough!"

Old Smoke Cannon chuckled. "You're the one who's lived long enough to dare steal from me."

"Steal? I saw that flower first!"

"I don't give a shit who saw it first? It's in my hand now. If you've got the guts, come and take it!"

Without another word, Old Smoke Cannon slipped the flower into his cloth pouch and raised his smoking pipe, fixing the bald man with a calm, indifferent gaze.

The bald man let out a sharp whistle, and three more men stepped up beside him. He hadn't come alone.

For the first time, a flicker of panic crossed Old Smoke Cannon's face.

"Old man, put down that pouch and I'll spare your life today," the bald man warned as he drew a machete. The three behind him followed suit, each pulling out a weapon.

Old Smoke Cannon hesitated for a moment. He had no intention of fighting head-on. And so, he opened his pouch and said to the bald man, "There are twenty-two flowers inside. I'll give you half, and we'll call it even."

"I told you to leave it all behind. Don't you understand? You would rather risk your life than lose money?" The bald man sneered, raising his blade and swinging without hesitation.

The little girl Leafy was so frightened that she hid behind the man with the gold-rimmed glasses.

The man in gold-rimmed glasses called out, "Friend, we can talk this over!"

Tiger Lamb also stepped forward. "Let's be reasonable. Don't start a fight just yet!"

The two tried to stop the fight, but the bald man paid them no mind. He swung his blade again and again with each strike aiming at Old Smoke Cannon's head.

Surrounded on all sides by the four people, Old Smoke Cannon had no chance to take even a single puff from his pipe. Just as a blade was about to cleave his head, the bald man suddenly drew back. A fresh cut had appeared across the back of his hand.

Chubby Qin had made his move.

Since they were a team, they had to watch each other's backs. Chubby Qin always followed the rules, and besides, he had long wanted to teach this bald man a lesson.

When the bald man saw only Chubby Qin charging forward, he ordered his men to keep surrounding and attacking.

Seeing the situation, Tiger Lamb glanced at the man in gold-rimmed glasses, who in turn swept his gaze across the others. The little girl Leafy cowered behind him, too scared to move.

Nectarine kept her eyes fixed on the bald man. There was no knowing what she planned to do.

Meanwhile, Li Banfeng spotted a speckled-snake chrysanthemum and moved to pick it, acting as if the fight nearby had nothing to do with him.

Tiger Lamb cast another glance at the man in gold-rimmed glasses and whispered, "That's enough."

Still, the man in gold-rimmed glasses kept his gaze fixed on the bald man.

Though the bald man's group held the advantage at four against two, their attacks grew strangely frantic. Their grips shook on their hilts, and their blades fell in crooked arcs, like the clumsy swings of novices who had never fought before.

What's going on? Why are they so panicked? There's nothing here worth panicking over.

The bald man's eyes gleamed and his cheeks flushed. He wasn't in a state of panic. He was excited and so excited that he was losing control of his body.

Seeing this, the man in gold-rimmed glasses rushed forward and kicked him square in the chest, knocking him back several steps.

Tiger Lamb barreled in and sent one of the men sprawling with a single punch. He shouted at the others, "We showed you respect, and you trampled it underfoot! Do you really think we are that easy to bully?"

The bald man lifted his blade and growled, "I advise you not to meddle in things that aren't your business."

With a stern face, the man in gold-rimmed glasses adjusted his glasses."We formed a team and agreed to watch each other's backs. That makes this our business."

Chubby Qin ripped open his pouch and wolfed down a whole jin of rations. Then he bellowed at the crowd, "Come on, fight me! Let's see if I can cut you all down!"

Old Smoke Cannon raised his smoking pipe and inhaled deeply. Wisps of yellow-white smoke slowly drifted out, spreading through the air.

Realizing that the situation was bad, the bald man led his group and fled away.

The man in gold-rimmed glasses let out a long sigh and turned to the others. “Everyone, hurry and pick the flowers. They won’t dare come back.”

Old Smoke Cannon tucked away his pipe, sat down for a moment to catch his breath, then went back to picking.

Chubby Qin, still fuming, plopped down beside Li Banfeng and muttered, "Brother Li, why didn't you help me out?"

Li Banfeng shoved the speckled-snake chrysanthemum he had just picked into Chubby Qin's hands. "Pick quickly. Gather a few and let's get out of here. Something's not right."

With that, Li Banfeng set a stone on the ground. He had been clutching it the entire time. Only then did Chubby Qin realize that Li Banfeng had already been prepared to act.

The man in gold-rimmed glasses spotted a speckled-snake chrysanthemum and had just picked it when Tiger Lamb quietly stepped up beside him. "Why didn't you let Third Brother strike first just now? If you give Third Brother a chance to rob them all, they will work even harder to pick more flowers. Aside from that old man, the rest are all weaklings."

The man in gold-rimmed glasses placed the chrysanthemum into his cloth pouch and lowered his voice. "There's something off about that one called Bai Sha."

"What's wrong with him? He's just a useless fool who is greedy for money but too scared to meddle in anything."

"He's a Hedonism Cultivator. They use techniques that can cloud the mind. We need to stay on guard."

Tiger Lamb snorted. "He doesn't look like one to me. I've never seen a Hedonism Cultivator who would travel with another man."

The man in gold-rimmed glasses frowned. "There are plenty of things you haven't seen."

Tiger Lamb still refused to believe it. "When that fat kid was getting beaten up just now, I didn't see him lift a finger. What kind of Hedonism Cultivator would just watch his partner take a beating?"

"How do you know he didn't make a move?" The man in gold-rimmed glasses brushed the dirt from his hands. "Third Brother was struck by one of his techniques. Didn't you see? He couldn't even hold his blade steadily."

"That was a Hedonism Cultivator's technique?" Tiger Lamb was stunned. "I thought Third Brother just panicked. So what's your plan? Are we dropping this?"

"Of course not. We'll just switch places later. Hedonism Cultivators have weak bodies. He won't last long and will have to descend the mountain early. When he's alone, we'll have Third Brother finish him off. The rest of us will deal with the others."

With that, the man in gold-rimmed glasses rose to his feet and went off in search of the next speckled-snake chrysanthemum.

1. Chrysanthemums in Chinese is slang for butthole... Do I need to explain what this kind of innuendo it implies? ☜

2. Nickname translation for the cigarette brand Bai Sha in chapter 2 ☜