Chapter 40: Medicine Furnace Room

Duan Rong also began to laugh along.

Only then did Hu Huanhuan look Duan Rong over: a square face with greasy hair and a sallow, dark complexion. His appearance was such that if he were in a crowd, one would never even notice him, yet those eyes of his were as bright as stars. Especially when he laughed, it was as if the entire sky of twinkling stars were flickering at you.

"Where did such a little slick-talker come from? Your mouth is as if it's been smeared with honey," Hu Huanhuan said with a sidelong glance, scolding him with a smile.

Seeing Hu Huanhuan's demeanor, Duan Rong knew today's matter had been smoothed over, so he laughed: "With sisters as beautiful as flowers, who could see you and not be joyful?"

"Enough, pack up your stall and get lost. You're getting carried away with your nonsense!" Hu Huanhuan scolded with a laugh.

"Sigh... I'm going, I'm going." Duan Rong bowed again before returning to pack up his stall.

"What are you all still standing here for? Get back, and go do what you're supposed to do!"

The geishas who had been queuing in front of the stall scattered in an instant.

As Duan Rong was packing up the stall, he suddenly shouted: "Sisters, I'll be here tomorrow at the Hour of the Monkey, you must come!"

Two of the running geishas heard Duan Rong's shout and turned their heads to answer, but after a glare from Hu Huanhuan, they stuck out their tongues and turned their heads back.

Duan Rong chuckled at Hu Huanhuan, and like a human display rack, hung with his goods, he walked away from beneath the Old Locust Tree.

Huaying Pavilion opened its doors at the third quarter of the Hour of the Rooster, with songs and music lasting all night long.

And since Duan Rong had just shouted that he would come at the Hour of the Monkey, that was still an hour before Huaying Pavilion opened.

Naturally, it would not affect Huaying Pavilion's business, so Hu Huanhuan, of course, had nothing more to say.

Duan Rong had already calculated that in one hour he could finish about ten paintings, which meant one hundred taels of silver.

One hundred taels a day was absolutely top-tier income in this world.

With this income, supporting his medicinal supplementation to complete the Internal Breath Second Stage was absolutely no problem.

Hu Huanhuan stood there, watching Duan Rong's departing back, and muttered to herself: "Where did such a base, unrefined brat pop out from? He's as cunning as a monkey."

"I saw the waist token hanging at his waist; it seems to be from the Yuanshun Escort Agency," a manservant beside Hu Huanhuan chimed in.

"Is that so? So he's a bad seed raised by that thief Ruan Fengshan. Tomorrow when I see him, I'll have to give him a piece of my mind."

After Hu Huanhuan finished speaking, she turned and walked toward Huaying Pavilion.

The group of manservants followed her back into Huaying Pavilion, each returning to their post.

Ruan Fengshan was the Manager of the Yuanshun Escort Agency and a person of some standing in Xiangu County; hearing him called a "thief" by Hu Huanhuan made the manservants following behind her feel somewhat startled.

Although there had been some twists and turns, the promotion of his new business model was clearly a great success.

Relying on his ability to use the Devouring Artifact Spirit, combined with the modern operational mindset he had inherited from his previous life, he had undoubtedly reaped a harvest.

Since he now had a stable and high income, the prescription he had previously been reluctant to buy could now be purchased at the Raw Medicine Shop; he would buy one dose first to test the effect.

His income today had exceeded two hundred taels; at eighty-two taels of silver per dose, while expensive, it was not an expense he couldn't afford.

Thinking this, Duan Rong turned a corner and, covered in his goods, headed toward the Raw Medicine Shop.

By this time, it was late, and the Raw Medicine Shop was just about to close, when suddenly a dark shadow approached the entrance and clattered a pile of things down by the shop door.

"Which ghost is that? I haven't closed up shop yet, and you're already coming to take up space to sleep!" a shop assistant shouted toward the door.

The entrance of the Raw Medicine Shop was spacious and had eaves to shelter from the rain, so beggars on the county streets often slept there at night.

But that was only after the shop had closed for the night; coming now, wasn't that asking for a beating?

"No, assistant, I'm here to buy medicine." Duan Rong then stepped out of the pitch-black night and into the doorway.

The shop assistant who had been cursing saw that it was a customer coming to buy medicine, and his face immediately turned green; he began to apologize profusely at once.

The thin, middle-aged shop assistant inside the counter recognized Duan Rong at a glance as the customer who had come to ask about the prescription medicine a few days ago, and he gave the other assistant a sharp look.

The Raw Medicine Shop was a high-profit business with a large storefront and strict rules; shouting at a customer like that, even if unintentional, would still inevitably lead to a severe beating or even possible dismissal.

The assistant who had been cursing was merely an Apprentice who had only managed to get into this Raw Medicine Shop by pulling strings and using connections.

If he lost this livelihood, he would surely be beaten to death by his family upon returning home.

Duan Rong took out the prescription and handed it to the thin, middle-aged assistant behind the counter, smiling: "Sorry to trouble you, please prepare one dose according to this prescription."

"Customer, please wait a moment."

In this Raw Medicine Shop, high lamps on all four walls made it as bright as day. The middle-aged assistant followed the prescription, lining up one ingredient after another on the counter. After weighing them himself, he called another assistant over to have the prescription checked once more.

Only then did he wrap the Medicinal Agent, tied it with hemp rope, and handed it to Duan Rong.

Duan Rong took the Medicinal Agent, paid the money, and the thin, middle-aged assistant came out from behind the counter to personally see Duan Rong out of the shop.

This was also an apology for Duan Rong having been cursed at by the assistant when he first entered. "Our little shop failed to discipline the assistant properly. Please forgive us for the poor hospitality!"

"It's no matter. It's dark, and people can't see clearly; that's normal."

Duan Rong actually spoke up to excuse the assistant.

However, the thin, middle-aged assistant saw Duan Rong loading that large pile of things onto his body piece by piece, and finally hanging the Medicinal Agent and a lantern onto the hilt of his sheathed Ox-Tail Saber, and his expression suddenly became somewhat strange.

Duan Rong naturally saw the doubt in the thin, middle-aged assistant's eyes, so he gave an awkward smile and said: "Just finished packing up the stall, I have a few too many things."

The thin, middle-aged assistant nodded with a smile. He looked at the rack Duan Rong was clamping under his right arm and felt the design was bizarre. Although he was quite knowledgeable, he couldn't recognize what it was for at the moment, so he sighed in his heart: The world of martial arts is full of strange people!

If Duan Rong had heard this, he would certainly have translated it into plain language for him: The forest is big, and there are all kinds of birds!

The thin, middle-aged assistant watched Duan Rong disappear at the end of the street before walking back into the shop and ordering it to be closed up.

Just like that, like a walking display rack, Duan Rong returned to the Yuanshun Escort Agency.

At this time, there were still quite a few people practicing martial arts in the Martial Arts Arena of the Middle Courtyard of the Yuanshun Escort Agency. Seeing Duan Rong's bizarre behavior, those who were familiar with him immediately gathered together to whisper.

Duan Rong first returned to his dormitory and put all his things in his room, then, carrying the Medicinal Agent, he prepared to go to the Medicine Furnace Room to decoct the medicine.

The Medicine Furnace Room was on the west side of the Martial Arts Arena in the Middle Courtyard; it cost one silver coin per furnace of medicine, with high-quality firewood and mountain spring water provided for free.

Duan Rong did not cross the Martial Arts Arena again, but took a shortcut directly to the Medicine Furnace Room.

The Medicine Furnace Room was actually not large, consisting of only a low building. Duan Rong saw a bed set up beside the door, the bedding on it greasy and black with soot, and from that blackened quilt, a head with graying hair was exposed.

Duan Rong walked over, pushed the person in the quilt, and said: "Old man, decocting medicine! Are there any empty furnaces?"

The gray-haired head stretched out a bit more, revealing a pair of dead-fish-like eyes that fixed on Duan Rong, and said in a hoarse voice: "There are empty furnaces."

As the old man spoke, he rolled over and sat up, saying: "Where is your waist token?"

As the quilt was lifted, Duan Rong caught a bothersome, strange odor, a mixture of mold and the stench of urine.

(End of chapter)