Hai Dali returned to the small bamboo hut and saw Chen Ping reclining in front of his house, leaning back as if he were a retired official, relaxed and at ease.
Hai Dali felt a surge of envy and walked over with a smile to greet him, “Uncle Ping, enjoying the scenery?”
“I’ve been looking at it for more than ten years. What’s there left to enjoy?” Chen Ping said with a hint of emotion, then asked, “What were you up to just now, kid?”
Hai Dali had long expected this question, so he lifted the sword in his hand and said, “I don’t have any real combat experience, so I found a place to practice my swordsmanship.”
Chen Ping glanced at the sword in Hai Dali’s hand and said, “You need to find a place just to practice swordsmanship? Isn’t the open space in front of the house big enough for you?”
Enough. Of course it was enough.
But that special state of mine cannot be seen by others. He thought this to himself, yet said aloud, “I’m still not familiar with the place, and I was afraid of disturbing you, so I went a little farther away. If you don’t mind, I won’t have to go outside to practice next time.”
Chen Ping shook his head and said, “You’re quite the schemer.”
He was old and shrewd.
How could he not see that Hai Dali was hiding something?
But he did not care.
Everyone had their secrets. As long as Hai Dali did his job well, he would not interfere.
Seeing that Chen Ping did not press further, Hai Dali let out a quiet sigh of relief and continued chatting. “Uncle Ping, this herb garden is so far from our Chen Residence. How does it still belong to the Chen Family? Didn’t any other family try to claim a share?”
Hai Dali had been curious about this even before he came. After all, Qingfeng City had four other major families.
Chen Ping fell silent for a moment before explaining, “This place was discovered jointly by the old Patriarch and the old Patriarch of the Xiao Family. Back then, the two of them traveled together to the Lianyun Mountain Range in search of opportunities and found an undeveloped spiritual vein here.”
“For that spiritual vein to advance would take at least several hundred years, so its value isn’t very high. However, because of it, the soil here has greater spiritual essence than elsewhere, and the spiritual energy is somewhat denser. It’s still suitable for growing some ungraded spiritual herbs.”
“The old Patriarch wanted to turn this place into herb fields. He promised compensation to the old Patriarch of the Xiao Family, who agreed.”
“Our Chen Family already had an alchemy inheritance and considerable experience in cultivating spiritual herbs. After decades of careful nurturing by the family, this place can now grow first-grade mid-quality spiritual herbs. There happens to be a batch that needs to be sent back this time, which is why the family dispatched people here.”
Only then did Hai Dali understand. No wonder the family had sent so many people. If those graded spiritual herbs were refined into pills, they would certainly bring enormous benefits to the Chen Family. Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping.com.
Chen Ping continued, “The other families in Qingfeng City each have their own industries. There’s an unspoken understanding not to interfere with one another. As for forces outside Qingfeng City, they’re too far away to bother making plans here.”
After saying this, Chen Ping remarked that he was tired and went back inside to rest.
After chatting for a while, Hai Dali gained a clearer understanding of Qingfeng City’s situation and learned more about the ties between the Xiao and Chen families. No wonder the old Patriarch of the Chen Family had arranged an engagement between Chen Muxue and Xiao Fan. As for why it was not Chen Muyue engaged to Xiao Fan’s elder brother, it was probably because Chen Muyue had shown talent in alchemy since childhood, and the old Patriarch was reluctant to part with her.
…
Over the next few days, Hai Dali became familiar with his duties. He simply patrolled back and forth along the edges of the herb fields. If he discovered demonic beasts or if the formation was triggered, he only needed to report it promptly.
During his second shift, he accidentally noticed a little mouse darting out from inside the herb fields. The spot it emerged from was extremely tricky. If Hai Dali had not been greedy for food and caught a fish in the river, crouching at the bottom of the cliff to roast it, he would never have noticed it.
When the little mouse emerged, it cast a wary glance at Hai Dali. Its eyes lingered briefly on the roasted fish before it scurried away.
It was small and delicate, covered in golden fur. Its eyes were sly and surprisingly expressive, almost human-like. Its round little belly made it obvious it had not been stealing from the herb fields just once or twice.
When Hai Dali first saw it, he froze in surprise. He had never expected a little mouse to come out of the herb garden. Then he suddenly realized that it had emerged from within the herb fields without triggering the formation at all. By the time he regained his senses, the creature was long gone.
He felt a wave of annoyance.
If that little thing could pass through the formation unnoticed, it was definitely no ordinary mouse. He should have tried to catch it and kept it by his side. It might have proven useful someday.
Then he thought of its plump belly. It clearly had not come to steal just once. It was probably a repeat offender. They would likely meet again. He just did not know whether, after being spotted by him, it would still dare to steal from this side.
In the following days, whether he was on duty or not, Hai Dali wandered around the herb fields, hoping to encounter the mouse again.
To his great disappointment, he never saw it.
He did not dare ask Chen Ping whether he had seen it before.
If Chen Ping became interested, it would no longer be his matter to handle. He could only hope to catch it before he left.
Two days later, on a night when it was his turn to stand guard, Hai Dali concealed his aura and hid beside a rock at the bottom of the cliff, afraid the little mouse might detect him.
“Looks like it won’t show up tonight either.”
He waited until the latter half of the night without seeing any sign of it and could not help feeling disappointed.
Suddenly, he noticed someone rowing a small wooden raft down the river from afar. His vigilance instantly rose. “Sneaking around at this hour. Is he here to steal spiritual herbs?” This chapter was taken from NovelPing without permission.
As the figure drew closer, illuminated by moonlight, Hai Dali finally recognized him. He never would have imagined encountering him here.
It was Xiao Fan.
However, Xiao Fan was in a terrible state. His hair was disheveled, his clothes tattered, and he appeared injured. He looked utterly wretched.
“How did Xiao Fan end up in such a miserable state after just a few days? Could it be because of those rumors? Should I beat him later or not? Hm. If he’s here to steal our spiritual herbs, beating him half to death wouldn’t be too much, right?”
Hai Dali did not know whether the rumors were the reason for Xiao Fan’s misery.
What he did know was that he could call others to come and beat Xiao Fan up. He would never confront him alone.
That would be too risky.
To his disappointment, Xiao Fan did not go ashore but rowed along the cliff face instead.
With the river and the cliff blocking his way, Hai Dali could not follow and could only watch as Xiao Fan drifted away. After a while, however, Xiao Fan returned. Hai Dali quickly concealed his aura and hid.
“It should be around here. It’s a pity part of the map is missing. I just hope I can find it before someone else does.”
Xiao Fan clutched the fragment of a map tightly in his hand and spoke anxiously. He had no idea this area was near the Chen Family’s herb fields and did not notice anyone observing him from the shore.
Recently, because of the rumors, many people had sought him out. Faced with their suspicions, he had no way to prove that he had not cultivated the inheritance of the Blood Sea Demon Lord, nor could he explain why his cultivation had advanced so quickly.
He had been forced to flee.
It had to be said that he was truly a Chosen One. While fleeing and facing countless dangers, he managed to turn misfortune into safety each time. He even discovered a storage ring beside a skeleton in a cave. Inside the ring, he found many resources and this fragment of a map.
He believed that if the owner of the skeleton had been wealthy yet still kept this fragment of a map, then whatever it pointed to must be extraordinary heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
From the fragment, he could roughly determine the location and had come searching for it.
Because of the distance, Hai Dali could not hear what he said. However, he noticed that Xiao Fan held something like a torn piece of cloth and repeatedly compared it to the cliff face, as if searching for something.
Hai Dali did not know what to do. Whatever Xiao Fan was searching for was likely valuable. But to follow him, he would have to enter the river, which carried a high risk of being discovered.
Even if he remained unnoticed, if Xiao Fan found the item first, Hai Dali might not be able to snatch it away.
Moreover, he did not want Xiao Fan to resent him even more. Being targeted by someone like him would make it impossible to sleep peacefully at night.