Chapter 2: Black Mountain City

Qin Jiang shook his head. As things stood, he likely wouldn't have a tomb after he died.

Looking at it that way, those two grave robbers were actually quite decent—they killed him and took care of the burial.

He pressed his palm lightly against the tombstone, and wisps of cold aura surged into his body.

The potential points gradually increased: 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.1, 0.1. Gradually, the cold aura became faint and then vanished completely. The total number of potential points reached 1.6.

After absorbing the potential points, he looked at the sky; it was growing darker.

Without lingering, he walked away quickly along the path he had come.

This Daheishan was mysterious and unpredictable; it was no place for him to stay long. He couldn't venture this deep next time.

Walking out of Daheishan, the sky gradually brightened.

It was nearing evening. Under the slightly yellowish sunlight, he saw a city in the distance.

He looked back; dark clouds gathered over the black Daheishan, blocking the sunlight. Not a ray could shine through. Just looking at it gave one a heavy sense of oppression, as if the entire sky were pressing down.

Without lingering, he had to return quickly.

After walking for about an hour, Qin Jiang arrived at the city gate.

There was no one guarding the city at all.

Or rather, the big shots in the Inner City didn't even consider the Outer City part of Black Mountain City.

Looking out, refugees sat in twos and threes outside the gate, their eyes dull and expressions numb.

Those in better condition were eating black "food."

As for the worse off, there were many refugees in the corners who had died and were left unattended.

This was the final years of a dynasty. Productivity was never high to begin with, and the chaos of war had destroyed the production system, causing countless refugees to wander everywhere.

He looked at the stone plaque on the city gate; he could vaguely make out three characters: Black Mountain City.

It was named for its proximity to Daheishan. It was originally built along a river and was just a small fishing village, later developing by relying on the unique black locust wood from Daheishan.

Calling it a city was a stretch; it was actually just a larger town, and the highest official of the government was still a County Magistrate.

Black Mountain City was divided into an Inner City and an Outer City, and the Outer City was divided into four areas based on location: City East, City West, City South, and City North.

He lived on the edge of City North.

He lowered his head and walked through the crowd of refugees into the city. Torches were lit along the streets, and the illuminated main street was also filled with refugees, whose situation was no better than those at the gate.

The shops along the road were mostly closed.

After all, since they were going to die anyway, there would always be people who would rob them for food.

Qin Jiang walked through the street. Refugees would occasionally look up at him, but upon seeing his tattered hempen clothes and the bamboo basket on his back, they would look away.

The herb gatherers for Baiyun Medical Hall were not to be trifled with.

That Baiyun Physician was a good man; every few days, he would come out to provide free consultations, not even charging for the medicinal herbs.

After walking for a while, a checkpoint appeared in the middle of the street. The ones guarding it weren't government soldiers, but a dozen strong men in black cloth clothes.

They were from the Red Tiger Gang.

In this chaotic world, with warlords everywhere, no one cared about the lives of ordinary people. Naturally, there were no government soldiers to maintain order in the Outer City.

Every single one of them was living in drunken dreams in the Inner City.

Therefore, the ones responsible for order in the Outer City were these gangs. The largest gang in Black Mountain City was this Red Tiger Gang.

They not only completely controlled City South and City North, but they also held a very high status in the Inner City. The leader of the Red Tiger Gang was almost on equal footing with the Black Mountain City Magistrate.

His older sister, Qin Hong, was also a member of this gang, but she worked in the Inner City and rarely had the chance to come out.

"Little Qin, out gathering herbs again?"

The leader of the Red Tiger Gang members spoke with a smile. He had dark skin and thick eyebrows and large eyes, looking just like an honest man.

"Yeah, just got back."

Qin Jiang looked at the other party. He was the one responsible for the City North checkpoint, named Wang Dali, known as Brother Li.

"Alright, go on in."

As he spoke, Wang Dali patted Qin Jiang on the shoulder.

He knew Qin Jiang's sister—a fierce woman not to be messed with. He heard she had recently hooked up with a big shot in the Inner City.

Furthermore, he also knew Qin Jiang was out gathering herbs for that old physician at Baiyun Medical Hall.

Although most of these gang members followed whoever fed them, they still held some respect for such people. Or rather, if anyone dared to mess with them, they would be looked down upon by the rest of the gang.

Passing through the checkpoint, the city area gradually gained some life. Although most people were sallow and thin, they were much better off than the refugees outside and those who had just entered the city.

Not long after, Qin Jiang arrived in front of a medical hall.

The left doorpost read "Baiyun Medical Hall," the right read "Treating Everyone Equally," and the plaque on the wooden door was inscribed with the four characters "Hanging a Pot to Save the World."

Walking inside, two medical apprentices were wiping the counter; the rags in their hands were pitch black, and the original color was unrecognizable.

In the main hall, an old physician with white hair and beard was taking the pulse of a middle-aged woman.

Qin Jiang didn't disturb them; he patted the mud off his body, found a chair, and sat down to wait quietly.

A moment later, the old physician finished writing the prescription and waved his hand. An apprentice walked over to take the prescription and retrieve the medicine.

The old physician looked at the woman. "It's nothing serious. After boiling and taking it tonight, it will be relieved. Half of the medicine should be enough, but you should still finish the whole dose."

"Eh, eh, I understand. Thank you, Physician." The woman's eyes were filled with gratitude as she wiped the sweat from her forehead with an oily sleeve.

The old physician nodded slightly. Seeing Qin Jiang, his eyes showed some surprise, and then he nodded, signaling him to wait a moment.

Before long, the apprentice finished preparing the prescription, wrapped it in yellow paper, tied it up, and brought it over.

The old physician took the medicine packet and handed it to the woman. "That will be twenty—"

He looked at the woman's tattered hempen clothes, which weren't even as neat as Qin Jiang's, and a trace of sympathy appeared on his wrinkled face.

"Just give me ten copper coins."

The woman hurriedly pressed her palms together, bowing and thanking him repeatedly. "Thank you, thank you, you really are a good man! A good man! Thank you—"

She took out ten blackened copper coins and continued to thank the old physician before leaving.

Qin Jiang watched the woman's departing back, feeling an inexplicable sense of oppression.

Ten copper coins—in terms of purchasing power, that was about thirty yuan.

He didn't want to one day become so humble because of ten copper coins.

"Little Jiang, why are you back so late today? Did you run into something?"

The old physician hunched his body and walked over to sit beside him.

Qin Jiang thought for a moment and didn't mention the grave robbers, but he couldn't help but say, "I ran into thick fog and probably encountered a legendary spirit."

The old physician frowned. "Hold out your hand and let me see."

Qin Jiang held out his hand, and the old physician placed three fingers on his wrist.

After a while, the old physician looked at him with some confusion. "You've mastered the Five Animal Frolics?"

Qin Jiang raised an eyebrow and asked with a surprised smile, "How did you know?"

Is it that amazing? Can you even tell that? He wasn't worried about exposing anything; in the Outer City, everyone was too busy looking after themselves to care about such things.

"You really mastered it? I was just asking. Your Qi and blood are stable, and there are no signs of shock. Normally, ordinary people encountering a spirit would have unstable Qi and blood."

The old physician withdrew his hand and pointed to Qin Jiang's herb basket. "Give it to me. It's late today; I'll give you the money, and you should go back and rest early."

Qin Jiang handed over the basket and couldn't help but ask, "Physician, how did you know that encountering a spirit would cause unstable Qi and blood? Is there some saying about it?"

He still had to go to Daheishan to gather herbs in the future; knowing more strange tales wouldn't be a bad thing. Maybe one day it would come in handy.

The old physician counted the herbs. "There's no particular saying. I encountered them a few times when I went to Daheishan to gather herbs in my younger years."

"It's just that I haven't heard of any spirits appearing in Daheishan for so many years, so I forgot to tell you."

After counting the herbs, he took out four strings of copper coins. "Four hundred coins. These few Ganoderma are still fresh and have higher value."

In this world, people couldn't even get enough to eat, and a minor injury or illness could mean death, so medicinal herbs were naturally more valuable.

Qin Jiang put away the copper coins and looked at the old physician. "You haven't said it yet; what did you forget to tell me?"

The old physician moved his gaze away from the herbs with some confusion and looked up at him.

"Oh, right. I'm really getting old and can't remember things."

As he spoke, he looked at the two apprentices. "I don't know if I'll still be able to see them finish their apprenticeship."

He lowered his head and muttered to himself, "Soon, soon. Just a few more years will be enough."

Qin Jiang looked at the old physician, who looked lonely and distracted, and hesitated. "Physician, so what exactly were you going to tell me?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 3 =====