Chapter 45: Beast Tongue Ring

A gentle breeze brushed past all the way, wonderfully pleasant.

Occasional bumps added their own peculiar charm.

Those who pay money are truly different.

“Sir, the Seda Herb Garden has arrived.”

Less than half an hour later, the carriage had stopped at the garden’s main gate, and the driver turned to greet Gao De.

Gao De nodded slightly, retrieved his belongings from beneath the seat, and reluctantly stepped down from the carriage.

Gao De pushed open the garden’s gate.

As soon as he entered, an apprentice busy cleaning the garden noticed him and immediately stepped forward, politely taking the heavy bundles from his hands.

Gao De didn’t refuse, casually instructing: “Take the bread, vegetables, and meat to the kitchen; send everything else to my workshop. Also, tell Ramos to add a special lunch today—potato stew with meat!”

“Yes!” Hearing the words “potato stew with meat,” the apprentice involuntarily swallowed, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he replied.

In truth, it wasn’t just him who craved meat—Gao De craved it just as badly.

Since arriving in this world, he hadn’t eaten a single meal of meat! To Gao De, a modern man, this was unimaginable.

He had always been a meat lover; a meal without meat was no meal at all.

Just thinking of it, Gao De felt as if his mouth were already overflowing with the aroma of meat.

In the end, Gao De’s anticipation was not disappointed—but neither was it satisfied.

He did eat meat, but the flavor fell far short of expectations.

In this world, unless one was wealthy, most common households had few seasonings, and their meat preparation was crude: boil the meat chunks, add potatoes and peas, sprinkle in a little salt and a herb called Xincao with a faint spicy taste, then simmer for nearly half an hour and serve.

The resulting potato stew with meat wasn’t unpleasant, but it was vastly different from Gao De’s memory of the dish, relying entirely on the meat’s natural flavor.

Still, the apprentices—and even Gao De—ate heartily.

For those who hadn’t tasted meat in a long time, as long as it wasn’t burnt or spoiled, it was delicious no matter how it was cooked.

“I must live a life where I eat meat at every meal!” After his feast, Gao De made a firm vow in his heart.

Another great benefit came with becoming the master of the herb garden.

Previously, Gao De’s days were packed: morning duties included cultivating herbs and feeding the little gray rats, afternoon potion-making, and evening cultivation.

But given his status in the garden, he no longer needed to perform those basic tasks.

In other words, Gao De suddenly gained an entire morning of free time.

He had been recovering from injuries, and after a month of intense mental strain, he gladly enjoyed his newfound freedom.

But after this period, Gao De gradually began to feel restless.

It was so boring!

Mainly because this world offered little entertainment—and even if it did, he couldn’t afford it.

On the other hand, he couldn’t find enough to fill his extra morning free time.

Limited by his mental energy and stamina, he could only prepare one batch of Chujizhuduyaoji per day.

Increasing his workload would overload his mental energy and even disrupt his evening cultivation.

Cultivation time was fixed at three to four hours; exceeding this led to overexertion and inefficient progress.

The importance of mental energy was evident.

So when the time came to meet Pierre as agreed, Gao De left the garden early, carrying two newly prepared batches of Chujizhuduyaoji , and hurried to the general store.

“So it’s settled? They’re willing to raise the price to eight Xien gold coins?”

Gao De looked at Pierre, who wore a self-satisfied grin, still finding it hard to believe.

Could this old man really be that good at haggling—almost doubling the repair fee? If he had this much skill, why not go into trade and become rich instead of staying here as a shopkeeper? “Would I lie to you?” Pierre raised an eyebrow. “But it helped that the client was in a hurry, so we could easily hike the price.”

“Didn’t I tell you yesterday that the number of wild beasts and geopulse creatures outside the city has clearly increased—and they’ve become unusually aggressive?”

“Some in the city suspect a high-grade magical plant is about to mature, drawing the geopulse creatures out.”

The old man’s intelligence was detailed, and he explained to Gao De: “So they’ve sent teams deep into the forests outside the city to search—but after half a month, they’ve found nothing.”

“The client who commissioned you to repair the magical item is one of those searching for the high-grade magical plant.”

“This magical item helps him locate the high-grade magical plant he’s looking for?” Gao De asked.

“Precisely,” Pierre said, praising him as he pulled a plain-looking ring from a drawer beneath the counter and handed it to Gao De. “This is the item the client wants repaired.”

The ring was forged from polished copper, its surface engraved with intricate runes that faintly glowed under light.

Gao De examined it closely.

Sure enough, one of the runes was covered in a faint green rust where its original pale lines had been.

The continuous pattern had been corroded and broken, revealing a duller metal beneath.

The ring must have suffered some corrosive damage, which also disrupted the engraved magical runes.

“Its name is the Beast Tongue Ring,” Pierre said as Gao De took it. “It bears a Level 1 spell: [Animal Speech], which grants temporary ability to communicate with animals.”

“If humans can’t find it, perhaps only animals can,” Gao De understood the client’s reasoning.

“Exactly,” Pierre nodded. “The client demands the Beast Tongue Ring be repaired within ten days.”

“No problem,” Gao De tucked the “Beast Tongue Ring” away, confidently assuring him: “I’ll get it done.”

Gao De knew he could obtain the “Beast Tongue Ring” so easily—without any guarantee or even meeting the client—only because Pierre bore all the risk.

The monk might run, but the temple stays; Pierre’s general store was right here—he couldn’t just vanish over a broken Level 1 magical item. That’s why the client could so confidently entrust the “Beast Tongue Ring” to Pierre.

And Pierre entrusted the “Beast Tongue Ring” to Gao De purely out of trust.

This trust deeply moved Gao De.

After putting away the “Beast Tongue Ring,” Gao De took out the two batches of Chujizhuduyaoji he had brought.

Pierre still bought them at 35 silver per batch.

With his newly acquired 70 silver, Gao De headed straight to the herb shop and spent 60 silver to buy five annual supplies of green spider sacs.

There was no choice—green spider sacs were one of the three main ingredients in Chujizhuduyaoji .

Without them, he couldn’t brew the Chujizhuduyaoji .

After paying with great reluctance, Gao De really wanted to buy a book on herb cultivation or herb identification.

But the herb shop would never sell such things.

Though less valuable than potion formulas, they were still the shop’s livelihood—enough to be passed down for generations.

Knowledge in this world was extremely precious—and expensive! This made Gao De even more eager to open the wooden box left by Seda the mage—inside it likely held the formula for the Chujinailiyaoji .

(End of Chapter)