Chapter 219: Purchasing Medicinal Ingredients

Li Luo exited the Xiyang House headquarters and raised his gaze, his eyes narrowing slightly, for he saw that on the street outside the headquarters, more and more people were gathering, pointing at the headquarters while whispering amongst themselves.

Clearly, just as they had expected, the moment the poison took effect on the phase crafters here, news spread throughout Daxia City; this was obviously Pei Hao fanning the flames from the shadows.

The offensive the other side had been brewing for several days had finally erupted.

However, Li Luo knew there was no time to dwell on this; he took the reins of the beast-steed handed to him by a guard, vaulted onto its back, and galloped away.

Pavilion Master Lei Ming followed closely behind with a dozen elite guards to provide protection.

The group swiftly passed through one wide street after another, and along the way, Li Luo could hear much news regarding Xiyang House being spread.

"Young Mansion Master, the news is spreading more and more fiercely, and in the process, it is becoming increasingly unfavorable to our Xiyang House," Lei Ming said, drawing closer and speaking in a low voice.

He had previously dispatched several people to investigate and had just received a report that a large number of rumors were circulating in Daxia City, with some even beginning to claim that Li Luo, angered by the refusal of these branch phase crafters to serve him, had directly poisoned all of them to death.

Li Luo nodded, his expression remaining calm; after all, this was within his expectations.

"Pay no mind to it; let us first go to the Long Baoxing to purchase the necessary antidotes. As long as we can save the lives of Tang Yun and the others, once they wake up, the truth will be revealed," Li Luo said.

Lei Ming nodded. He glanced at Li Luo's calm face, which radiated a hint of sharpness. He knew this was the first attack Pei Hao had launched against this Young Mansion Master, a treatment previously reserved only for Jiang Qing.

Clearly, Pei Hao, who half a year ago still regarded Li Luo as a useless Young Mansion Master, had now been forced to begin taking Li Luo seriously.

From a certain perspective, could this be considered an affirmation of Li Luo's growth over the past half year?

While Lei Ming thought these things, he remained constantly alert and vigilant, phase power flowing over his body as his sharp gaze scanned the surroundings.

After all, with Pei Hao launching an attack on Li Luo, no one knew if he might strike at Li Luo directly; this was perhaps the main reason Jiang Qing had asked him to lead men to protect Li Luo personally.

However, Lei Ming's worries did not come to pass; Li Luo's group passed through the many streets without obstruction and finally arrived outside the bustling Long Baoxing.

Li Luo hurried inside.

He first found a manager of Long Baoxing, who clearly recognized him and was quite courteous.

"I must trouble the manager to help me check if Long Baoxing currently has these medicinal ingredients?" Li Luo handed over the list and asked.

The manager took it, glanced at it, and frowned, hesitating: "Young Mansion Master Li Luo, the Golden Insect Paste and Sky Radiance Salt on this list were just ordered by many pharmacies today, directly clearing out Long Baoxing's inventory."

Li Luo's eyes turned cold. Sure enough, had even Long Baoxing been intercepted? It seemed Pei Hao's move this time was truly backed by deep pockets.

The mastermind behind this likely provided no small amount of support, right?

Was this an attempt to ensure he had no chance of turning things around?

Beside him, Lei Ming's expression was also somewhat livid. Although the medicinal ingredients they needed were high-grade, they were not usually in short supply; yet, for them to be purchased in bulk by several pharmacies today—if there were no schemes involved, that would be truly naive.

Li Luo was silent for a few moments before saying: "Please help me find Lu Qinger; I have an appointment with her."

The manager nodded hurriedly, led him to a private room, and asked him to wait a moment.

Li Luo did not wait long in the room before he heard light footsteps outside. Immediately after, Lu Qinger pushed the door open and entered, her beautiful, moving face filled with a gentle smile.

However, when she saw Li Luo's slightly grave expression, her smile faded a little: "Something happened at Xiyang House?"

Clearly, she usually paid attention to the situation of the Luolan Mansion and naturally understood the matter regarding Xiyang House that had been causing such a stir in Daxia City these past few days.

Moreover, when Li Luo attended her birthday banquet, he had secretly told her that there might be changes at Xiyang House today and asked her to stay at Long Baoxing and try not to leave, as he would have a favor to ask.

Li Luo nodded and briefly explained the situation.

"I need some special antidotes now, but the manager just said that the 'Golden Insect Paste' and 'Sky Radiance Salt' at Long Baoxing were suddenly all ordered by some pharmacies."

Lu Qinger's pretty face turned slightly cold: "These are two high-grade medicinal ingredients, but they aren't usually purchased in large quantities. For them to suddenly become hot commodities today, it seems someone is causing trouble."

"And since even the supply at Long Baoxing could be cut off, presumably the other pharmacies in Daxia City should also be out of stock."

Li Luo nodded: "So, is there any other way?"

Lu Qinger pondered slightly: "Actually, they only bought up the stock available on the market at Long Baoxing these past few days. But Long Baoxing is large-scale, so it has a reserve warehouse meant for emergencies. I think those two ingredients should be in there."

Behind Lu Qinger, the manager heard this and hurriedly said: "Young Lady, the reserve warehouse absolutely cannot be opened without the President's jade talisman as proof!"

"Moreover, we do not have the authorization!"

Lu Qinger glanced at him: "I do."

The manager paused and smiled bitterly: "If the reserve warehouse is opened at will, I fear the other vice-presidents will have objections and use this to attack the President..."

Lu Qinger smiled: "Don't underestimate my mother so much."

She then said no more and turned directly to Li Luo: "The situation is urgent, come with me."

Li Luo looked at her beautiful and charming face and said with a complex expression: "Qinger, thank you. I won't say anything else; I owe you a favor this time. Later, if you want to participate in that Long Dao Field, no matter what requirements you have, I will help you fulfill them."

Lu Qinger smiled prettily: "That's a promise."

Having said that, she swayed her slender waist, her long, straight black hair swinging, and led the way.

Li Luo quickly followed.

The group passed through the interior of Long Baoxing. About ten minutes later, a massive warehouse appeared before them. The area around the warehouse was patrolled by guards, and the security was quite tight.

However, just as Lu Qinger led Li Luo up, a figure suddenly hurried over from the side and said in a deep voice: "Qinger, you cannot open the reserve warehouse; this is not in accordance with the rules."

Li Luo glanced at the newcomer, having a vague impression of him; he seemed to be called Ning Zhao, whose father was a vice-president of Long Baoxing.

Lu Qinger frowned slightly: "What is not in accordance with the rules?"

Ning Zhao smiled helplessly: "Qinger, I am not trying to stop you, but to open the reserve warehouse, one must have the President's jade talisman as proof. Otherwise, even if you go up there, those guards will not listen to you."

Lu Qinger extended her small hand, and a jade talisman was seen hanging from her fingertips. The talisman was engraved with complex patterns, and a strange light faintly flickered upon it.

Ning Zhao looked at the jade talisman in Lu Qinger's hand, stunned: "The President's jade talisman? You... how did you get it?"

Lu Qinger said indifferently: "That is none of your concern. I have the jade talisman, so it counts as following the rules. Furthermore, I am not opening the reserve warehouse to do anything bad; I am just taking a small portion of medicinal ingredients. Besides, I will sell those ingredients at double the price. Brother Ning Zhao, please remember, the motto of our Long Baoxing is 'harmony brings wealth'."

"I am making money for Long Baoxing, so please do not stop me."

After speaking, she ignored Ning Zhao, walked directly to the reserve warehouse with Li Luo, and handed the jade talisman in her hand to an old man guarding the place.

The old man looked hesitant, but after confirming the authenticity of the jade talisman, he nodded and ordered people to open the reserve warehouse to retrieve the medicinal ingredients they needed.

"Please wait a moment, Young Lady," he said to the waiting Lu Qinger.

Lu Qinger nodded lightly.

Seeing this, Ning Zhao frowned, and his sharp gaze turned toward Li Luo, saying in a low voice: "Li Luo, you are, after all, the Young Mansion Master of Luolan Mansion. For you to order Qinger to break the rules like this, I presume President Yu will not be pleased when she finds out."

Li Luo could see some hostility in Ning Zhao's eyes, but he had no interest in dealing with him at the moment, only saying: "Please rest assured, I am not taking these ingredients for free. Just as Qinger said earlier, I am willing to pay double the price for these ingredients."

"Hmph, is this a matter of money?" Ning Zhao sneered.

Li Luo narrowed his eyes, staring at Ning Zhao, his gaze gradually turning cold.

"You should also know the current situation at Xiyang House, yet you are still trying to obstruct me. Is it possible that you have some involvement in this?"

Ning Zhao curled his lips: "Young Mansion Master, don't go around biting people in a fit of rage. This is an internal dispute within your Luolan Mansion; instead of questioning outsiders, you should clean up your own house first."

Li Luo glanced at him indifferently and said no more, simply waiting to obtain the special medicinal ingredients for the antidote.

Ning Zhao also stopped speaking, only sneering inwardly. Calculating the time, the people he sent should have delivered the news to President Yu by now, right?

The jade talisman in Qinger's hand was most likely taken secretly. Presumably, once President Yu found out, she would step in to stop her. At that time, her impression of Li Luo would inevitably become extremely poor, and she might even have him kicked out of Long Baoxing directly.

Thinking of this, Ning Zhao's expression became calm, and the look he gave Li Luo carried a hint of schadenfreude.

This brat, relying on a handsome face to make Qinger lose her head—but do you really think President Yu is a pushover?