Chapter 6
The Path of Martial Arts
All kinds of medicinal herbs were piled up in the cave, but Jiang Ming was lost in thought.
With Master Hui’s help, it would be a piece of cake for him to find medicinal herbs in the mountains.
However, the problem was how to turn these herbs into money and put them in his bag.
“If I carry all of them down the mountain to sell, I’ll be courting death. I can only eat all the expensive tonics; I’ll take the rest out of the mountain in batches to sell. Those old herb gatherers all have precious herb-picking places that are not known to outsiders. I’ve been on the mountain for so many years; it’s normal for me to be lucky and find a few good places.”
Maybe it would still attract covetous eyes, but it was just a few more copper coins. Jiang Ming did not care. He would slowly save money. He had all the time in the world to waste.
The following day, Jiang Ming returned to Peace Town.
In the herb basket behind him, more than half were ordinary medicinal herbs. The other half were six stalks of black tea herbs and some pig’s ear mushrooms.
“Woah, what good luck!” The eyes of the minor official at the town entrance turned red.
Jiang Ming quickly gave him seven or eight copper coins, and the other party left, looking back at him every few steps.
At the medicine market, Uncle Ba made his usual rounds.
“What a selection,” Uncle Ba said lightly and took another 20 copper coins from Jiang Ming.
Jiang Ming’s face expressed heartache, but he was relieved in his heart.
It seemed that as long as it was not rare medicinal herbs like fire cloud gra.s.s, these people in charge would not do anything to rob it; at most, they would just exploit him a little more.
“The black tea herb’s value has been on the rise recently. One stalk can be sold for at least twenty copper coins. In total, it’s more than one hundred copper coins. It’s enough to break even. ” He calculated the profit he could make.
Sure enough, a few dark black tea herbs were extremely eye-catching. After a while, a young man wearing a gorgeous purple robe walked over with large strides while waving a folding fan.
Jiang Ming was surprised. The people who came to the medicine market to buy were all familiar faces. It was the first time he had seen such a flashy guy.
However, before Jiang Ming could speak, the purple-robed man said indifferently, “One hundred copper coins. I’ll take all the black tea herbs.”
Jiang Ming paused, slowly looked up at the other party, and calmly smiled, “Young master, you have good eyes. The quality of my black tea herbs is very high.”
The man in the purple robe waved his hand impatiently. “How dare you speak to me so casually?! I’ll cut off your hand!”
He threw down a bunch of copper coins and turned to leave.
A servant came forward and took away all the black tea herbs. He looked at Jiang Ming teasingly and grabbed a handful of pig’s ear mushrooms before leaving.
The smile on Jiang Ming’s face did not change, but he firmly remembered the appearance of these two people in his heart.
Late in the morning, he sold almost all the herbs and went to the small bar.
“Little Ming, I heard that you’re in luck this time?” Old Jiang said with a smile behind the counter.
“I lost 50 copper coins on the road.” Jiang Ming sighed. “Do you think I’m lucky or unlucky?”
Old Jiang was stunned, “What?”
“Yes. I’ll have two pieces of smoked tofu and some wine!” Jiang Ming smiled bitterly.
Jiang Ming took the food and wine, greeted a few familiar herb gatherers, and sat at a table that was already occupied.
“What a coincidence, Master Zhou. This meal is on me.” he pushed a serving of wine and food over.
“Little Ming, you’re treating me every day. I’m a little fl.u.s.tered.” Opposite him was a skinny, white-haired old man who looked as if he could be blown away by the wind.
However, the old man’s actions were not slow at all. His trembling hands accurately picked up the soft and tender tofu and put it into his mouth one piece after another. In a short while, he had finished it all.
He gulped down the entire gla.s.s of wine in one go and said with a heavy heart, “Little Ming, my martial arts technique is incomplete, and it’s too harmful to the body. It’ll be harmful to you if you learn it.”
Jiang Ming’s eyes were calm. “Master Zhou, I’m still young. I have to give it a try.”
Master Zhou was the only person in the town who had practiced martial arts. Back then, there were more than a hundred people who wanted to learn fist techniques from him, but in the end, they were either covered in injuries or exhausted by the resources required for martial arts. None of them were successful.
In recent years, almost no one had mentioned learning martial arts.
Master Zhou looked at the stubborn Jiang Ming and said with a bitter smile, “Never mind, when you’re ready, come find me. Maybe you will be able to hold on for a few days before you give up.”
“Thank you, Master Zhou!” Jiang Ming quickly said.
As the atmosphere became more harmonious, the two of them joined in the nonsense of the surrounding herb gatherers.
This was also the main reason why Jiang Ming came here often. He could receive new information and quickly understand and familiarize himself with the world.
“By the way, do any of you know who the new customer in the medicine market is?” Jiang Ming suddenly asked.
“The one in purple?” I’m telling you, don’t mess with that guy!” someone whispered. ” I heard he’s from the Shi family, a new first-cla.s.s martial artist family in the city! ”
“A first-cla.s.s martial artist family?” The surrounding people gasped.
One could be called a martial artist if one had achieved something in the path of martial arts.
Martial artists had further divisions. There were first-cla.s.s, second-cla.s.s, third-cla.s.s, and unranked martial artists. An unranked martial artist could fight against ten ordinary adult men.
As for first-cla.s.s martial artists, it was not an exaggeration to say that they could fight against a hundred people. Even in the army, they were also leaders.
In Great Cloud City, a first-cla.s.s martial artist was enough to establish a top force.
In the past, the number of first-cla.s.s martial artists in Great Cloud City had not exceeded the fingers of one hand. He did not expect that there would be one more now.
“I heard that this family is in the limelight. A few of our herb gatherers managed to anger them and have already disappeared,” another person said in a low voice and even wiped his neck with his hand.
“I haven’t seen Peg Leg Zhang, Fat Liu, Old Ghost Huang, Big Duan, and Qian Qian for a long time.”
“The last time at the medicine market, that b.a.s.t.a.r.d in purple clothes tried to rob him but failed. He even beat a herb gatherer to death on the spot.”
The atmosphere suddenly became a little gloomy. Everyone could not help but feel angry, but they had nowhere to vent.
Jiang Ming lowered his head and took a sip of wine in silence.
He did not expect that someone would take the blame for Old Ghost Huang. He thought of the dozens of copper coins he lost and thought of it as payment for the blame.
“Sigh, the world is so difficult!” Jiang Ming sighed and felt a little uncomfortable.
Although the Shi family was the scapegoat for him, among the names that disappeared, there were two who had a good relationship with Jiang Ming. They were honest and kind people.
“The Shi family’s monastic robes,” he muttered softly, his obsession with martial arts growing stronger.
Then, in order to dispel the feeling of depression, a young man younger took the lead and changed the topic. “By the way, did you know that Mr. Lu handed over the fire cloud gra.s.s to the w.a.n.g family and received seventy taels of silver? He went to look for Miss Xue’er and had a good time with her.”
“Whoa, really?”
Their eyes turned red with jealousy.
“How can this be fake? You can ask Mr. Lu when he comes for a drink!”
“I’ve also heard about it. The w.a.n.g family’s offer is so high because their young miss has a hidden illness and needs to be treated with fire cloud gra.s.s.”
“I heard that it’s been cured now, and in order to fulfill her wish, the young miss will personally come to the river at the foot of the mountain in a few days to release the spiritual fish.”
“What? Are the fish big?” the young man from before said in surprise, regretting his lack of information.
Everyone was confused. Was this the main point?
“Ah, I’m leaving first. Quickly make a harpoon and go for a spin.”
The bar was filled with laughter.
Jiang Ming silently finished his drink and left. In his heart, he was praying for Mr. Lu.