After entering the city, Li Qing immediately had Qi Kang change into a different set of clothes, trying to ensure that no one would recognize him as a refugee.
Taking advantage of the time before the curfew, the two of them booked two excellent guest rooms at an inn in the city. Perhaps due to the ongoing turmoil of war, the cost for the two rooms was not much at all.
Having brought back a large amount of gold and silver from the Eternal Night World, Li Qing could now be considered a genuine wealthy man. This wealth was sufficient to support his martial arts training for a long time. If one day he ran out of money, Li Qing could always return to the Eternal Night World to scavenge; after all, in that world where food was extremely scarce, gold and silver treasures were already quite worthless.
Early the next morning, Li Qing sent Qi Kang out to gather some news about the current situation in the city. Meanwhile, he took his money to a pharmacy in the city.
“Shopkeeper, do you have these medicinal materials?” Li Qing asked, handing over a piece of paper that listed some brewing materials for two types of wine.
Without even lifting his head, the shopkeeper took the paper from Li Qing. After glancing at it, he froze for a moment, then slowly raised his head to look at Li Qing.
“Oh dear guest, you really make it difficult for me. My Hundred Herbs Pharmacy has been in Wangyuan City for so many years, and I only have a few of the medicinal materials you need,” the shopkeeper said with an awkward smile.
Li Qing had not planned to collect all the medicinal materials at once, so he replied without surprise, “Then just bring me the few you have in your pharmacy. I’ll take them all.”
Before long, the shopkeeper quickly brought over the few medicinal materials he had in stock.
“Guest, this Huangjing is a fine product aged for fifty years, so the price will be a bit higher. What do you think?”
As he spoke, the shopkeeper showcased the Huangjing he had brought over. This piece of Huangjing was somewhat dried out, resembling ginger, but its surface had many roots.
Clap!
Li Qing slapped a gold leaf onto the table and said in a deep voice, “Wrap it all up for me quickly.”
“Alright!” Seeing the shiny gold leaf, the shopkeeper’s eyes lit up, and he readily agreed.
While the shopkeeper was skillfully packing, Li Qing casually asked, “Shopkeeper, do you know where I can generally buy these medicinal materials?”
Without a second thought, the shopkeeper replied, “Fengzhou, Quanshan City. That place is full of deep mountains and forests; over half of the medicinal materials in the Maple Kingdom come from there.”
“Besides Quanshan City, there’s also our Maple Kingdom’s imperial capital, Shengtian. As the prime location, it’s not just for show.”
Quanshan City, Imperial Capital Shengtian.
Li Qing silently noted these two locations in his heart. To collect the materials for the two wine recipes, a trip to these two places was unavoidable.
Fengzhou Quanshan City was very far from Wangyuan City, located in the southwest of the Maple Kingdom. It would take a long time to traverse several states to get there.
However, although the Imperial Capital Shengtian was also far from Wangyuan City, it was situated in the heart of the Maple Kingdom, making it relatively closer.
Thus, Li Qing set his next destination as Shengtian.
In a short while, the shopkeeper carefully wrapped the medicinal materials Li Qing wanted in cowhide paper.
When he handed them to Li Qing, he reminded him, “Guest, although I don’t know what you need these medicinal materials for, I must remind you that among the names of the materials you gave me, two of them are highly toxic substances. Be careful.”
The highly toxic substances were indeed the two needed for the Wudu Huoxue Jiu. Li Qing calmly replied, “I’m aware, so there’s no need for the shopkeeper to worry.”
With that, Li Qing left the gold leaf on the table and took the medicinal materials with him. He repeated this process, visiting the remaining pharmacies in the city.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the sources of these pharmacies came from the same place, overlapping with the types of medicinal materials that the Hundred Herbs Pharmacy could provide.
After visiting several shops, he only managed to collect an old root of camphor tree, with no other medicinal materials to be found.
Seeing the scarcity of medicinal herbs at the border, Li Qing had already made up his mind to head to the Imperial Capital Shengtian as soon as possible.
Upon returning to the inn, Qi Kang had already gathered the news and returned.
Having taken a bath and changed into fresh clothes, Qi Kang no longer looked like a refugee. Instead, he appeared quite refreshed, with only a slightly haggard complexion, leaving little room for suspicion.
Qi Kang earnestly reported to Li Qing, “Young Master, I just visited a few taverns to gather information. The current garrison in the city is the Wuli Army. They just fought a battle with the Liang Kingdom two days ago. Due to the harassment from horse bandits, the outcome of the battle was inconclusive.”
Hearing the name Wuli Army, Li Qing’s heart and expression remained completely unfazed, showing no signs of surprise.
He had anticipated this.
Before traversing to the Eternal Night World to avoid the war, he already knew that the Wuli Army had been dispatched to the border for support. Now that they were engaged in combat with the Liang Kingdom’s troops, he felt no surprise at all.
Li Qing nodded, signaling Qi Kang to continue.
“In addition, the common people in the city can freely leave through the west city gate. During this time, the number of people in the city hasn’t decreased much; it’s about the same as usual, and there are even merchant caravans coming in from time to time! Everyone has great confidence in the Wuli Army.”
As he spoke, Qi Kang cautiously observed Li Qing’s expression, seemingly trying to glean something from his face.
However, Li Qing’s expression remained utterly calm, showing little surprise.
After all, the Wuli Army was one of the Maple Kingdom’s pillars of strength, composed mostly of martial practitioners, and the captains and sergeants among them were experts who had cultivated both external and internal strength.
If such combat power couldn’t even defend Wangyuan City, then the Maple Kingdom could declare its defeat in advance.
“Hmm, it’s good that they can leave the city. Let’s rest well today, and we’ll leave Wangyuan City tomorrow,” Li Qing said.
Upon hearing this, Qi Kang’s mouth dropped open. He said, “Young Master, don’t you need to gather more information about Wangyuan City? It might be difficult to report back otherwise.”
Li Qing was taken aback and replied, “Report back to whom? I came to Wangyuan City merely to resupply, and then I’ll leave for the Imperial Capital to spend the rest of my life.”
“Ah?” Qi Kang was stunned, feeling embarrassed as he said, “I thought you were a spy sent by the Liang Kingdom.”
When he said the last part, Qi Kang lowered his voice, afraid of being overheard.
Li Qing couldn’t help but laugh at this.
“How did you come to think I was a spy?”
“Wasn’t it you who said yesterday that you wanted to sneak into Wangyuan City? And today you had me go out to gather information about the city?” Realizing he had made a blunder, Qi Kang felt too embarrassed to continue.
For a moment, Li Qing couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Alright, stop overthinking. Tomorrow we’ll buy two horses in the city and then leave. There’s no need to linger in Wangyuan City any longer.”
(End of Chapter)