Elder Ming turned out to be far more patient than Qin Feng had expected. He did not make an offer to the young man at all. Even by the time that the whole Hunt was declared over, two days later, Ming Guanhe had remained quiet about the whole thing.That had gone a little outside of Qin Feng"s expectations. Still, he had managed to get his hands on a large number of rather hard to come by herbs, so he was careful to keep a happy expression on his face. With all his time at the stream and in the nearby woods, he had already made a rather hefty profit. And this was but the first of the three Hunts that he had been scheduled to go on.
It was something that he had to pay attention to, so that Elder Ming wouldn"t suspect that he had any other intentions. He would have to be very careful about that.
After all, no one would pay too much attention, if an ordinary Outer School disciple from the Medicine Fields like him were to perish on one of these perilous Hunts!
Elder Ming was also dealing with the rest of the Hunters in his usual fashion, if the latters" reaction was anything to go by. He had praised those that should be praised for their good work, and expressed his disappointment at those whose performance had been sub-par. And from what Qin Feng could see, all of his actions didn"t surprise any of the eight Hunters partic.i.p.ating in this particular Hunt.
In fact, one could say that there was nothing unusual at all about the Elder"s performance.
"Well, you have made rather good progress. And I see that some of you have improved, from the last time that you took part in one of these," he told some of the Hunters, when they showed off the prizes that they had managed to squeeze out of their three-day Hunt. That was something that had them puffing out their chests at once.
"As for you, Qin Feng. You have also exceeded my expectations. Your skill at setting up a camp is far better than I had expected from someone who is merely growing medicinal herbs. If I am not wrong, you have spent some time in the woods by yourself? Not here perhaps. But you are not a stranger to the forest environment."
Qin Feng was a little startled to be singled out for such praise, but he quickly bowed and thanked the Elder for his words. It was, naturally, something that he was prepared for. Although he was not expecting to have to tell that story in such a situation.
"I had traveled in similar environments when I was younger, before I joined the School. My fellow villagers and I used to travel along the trails to the East, so I have familiarized myself with some of the dos and don"ts when it comes to the woods," he explained simply.
"I see. I think I am going to have you join me again, the next time that we head into the woods again. And I am definitely going to impose on you to cook me another one of those fishes that you caught. The one that you made for me on that last night tasted better than most in the Dining Hall back at the School!"
The Elder laughed as soon as he finished, which prompted Qin Feng to dip into another bow as he hurriedly agreed. The other Hunters seemed a little shocked to hear the Elder in such a good mood, and turned their attention on him for a moment. Then Ming Guanhe started to detail them to carry the animals and carca.s.ses that they had captured or killed, and they began to get ready to head back to the School.
As expected, there was a brief inspection when they arrived at the Gate that early evening. And although no one was in possession of any restricted items and such, everyone was less than pleased with the att.i.tude shown by the ones handling the checks. The way that Elder Ming was glaring at the group who did so also made it rather clear that he had a bone to pick with the Elder that was supposedly in charge of the inspection group.
"It looks like Elder Ming is going to send another complaint up to the Council soon," muttered one of the Hunters to his companion, as they both stepped back from their spoils, so the the Inspectors could look them over.
"Elder Ping Jiexian will just ignore it, like he always does."
"I doubt that he will have a chance. I heard that Elder Ming is doing a favour for Elder Xuan, and the old man will surely pay attention to nonsense like this."
"Elder Xuan? How did he get involved?"
"Yes, tell us. Just what sort of favor are you talking about?"
"How would I know? I"m only telling you what I heard!"
"Bah! You are just talking nonsense!"
"Oh, am I? You just wait and see if anything happens as a result of this. Then you"ll know if I am only talking nonsense here!"
Elder Xuan? Qin Feng hid his smile as soon as he heard the Elder"s name being bandied about. This was unexpected. Perhaps Elder Ming Guanhe had not been simply trying to flatter Elder Xuan after all. If Elder Xuan was interested in him, then he would certainly pay more attention to Elder Ming"s attempts to make good his losses. And that in turn, will prompt Elder Xuan to deal with these foolish Inspection disciples.
Regardless of the result, there would be a hint that Elder Ming was in the same camp as Elder Xuan. And in the Heaven Sword School, that mere hint should be enough to make the other Elders watch how they dealt with Ming Guanhe!
That should be enough for his purposes, if he was really looking for the Purple Blood Ginger. After all, he couldn"t have too many eyes, watching his every move, could he?
And Qin Feng doubted that the Inspectors, even if they had Elder Ping Jiexian behind them, would try anything to offend Ming Guanhe!
* * *