Chapter 219: Snatching Up Medicinal Ingredients

Li Luo stepped out of the Xiyang House headquarters, raised his gaze, and his eyes instantly sharpened, because he saw that on the street outside the headquarters, more and more people had already begun to gather here, pointing and whispering, with all manner of hushed murmuring rising up.

Clearly, just as they had expected, the moment the Material Refiners here were poisoned, the news spread throughout Great Xia City — this was obviously Manager Pei Hao stirring things up behind the scenes.

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

But Li Luo knew there was no time to deal with this now. He took the reins of the horse beast handed over by a guard, swung himself up, and galloped off at once.

Pavilion Master Lei Zhang followed closely behind with a dozen or so elite guards, providing protection.

The group swiftly cut through one wide street after another, and along the way, Li Luo could hear plenty of news about Xiyang House being spread around.

"Young House Master, the news is spreading more and more fiercely, and in the process it's becoming increasingly unfavorable to our Xiyang House," Lei Zhang drew closer and said in a low voice.

Earlier he had dispatched a few people to investigate, and had just received a report — a large amount of rumors were spreading throughout Great Xia City, some even claiming that Li Luo, furious that the branch Material Refiners refused to serve him, had directly poisoned all of them to death.

Li Luo nodded, his expression still fairly calm — after all, this was within his expectations.

"Don't bother with it. First, go to the Golden Dragon Treasure House to purchase the antidotes we need. As long as we can keep Tang Yun and the others alive, once they wake up, everything will come to light," Li Luo said.

Lei Zhang nodded. He glanced at Li Luo's face — calm and radiating a certain biting chill — and he knew this was the first strike Manager Pei Hao had launched against Young House Master Li Luo, whereas in the past, this was a treatment only Jiang Jiang Qinge had been able to enjoy.

Clearly, the Manager Pei Hao who half a year ago still treated Li Luo as a useless Young House Master had now been forced to start taking Li Luo seriously.

From a certain angle, this could also be considered an affirmation of Li Luo's growth over the past half year, couldn't it?

While Lei Zhang was thinking these thoughts, he also remained constantly on guard and alert, the surface of his body flowing with phase force, his gaze sharp as it swept the surroundings.

After all, with Manager Pei Hao launching an attack on Li Luo this time, no one knew whether he would strike at Li Luo directly — this might also be the main reason Jiang Jiang Qinge had asked him to bring men to protect Li Luo closely.

But Lei Zhang's worry did not materialize. Li Luo's group passed unimpeded through street after street, and finally arrived outside the Golden Dragon Treasure House, where the flow of people was astonishing.

Li Luo hurried inside.

He first found a steward of the Golden Dragon Treasure House. The latter clearly recognized him as well, and his attitude was quite polite.

"Please help me check whether the Golden Dragon Treasure House currently has these medicinal ingredients?" Li Luo handed over the list and asked.

That steward took it, glanced at it, and his brow immediately furrowed. He hesitated: "Young House Master Li Luo, the medicinal ingredients on this list — Golden Worm Salve and Heavenly Awn Niter — were just today ordered away by quite a few medicine merchants, completely emptying our Golden Dragon Treasure House's stock."

Li Luo's eyes turned slightly cold. As expected, even the Golden Dragon Treasure House's side had been intercepted? It seemed Manager Pei Hao's move this time truly had deep pockets.

The black hand behind this must have given no small amount of support, right?

This was not intending to leave him the slightest chance to turn things around, was it?

Beside him, Lei Zhang's face also turned a bit ashen. The medicinal ingredients they needed were indeed high-grade, but ordinarily they weren't considered urgently scarce items — yet suddenly today they were purchased in bulk by some medicine merchants. If there were no scheming behind this, that would be far too naive.

Li Luo was silent for several breaths, then said: "Please help me find Lv Qing'er, steward. I have an appointment with her."

That steward hurriedly nodded in assent, led him to a private room, and asked him to wait a moment.

And Li Luo didn't have to wait long in the private room before he heard light footsteps coming from outside the door. Then Lv Qing'er pushed the door and entered, her fair and lovely face brimming with a beaming smile.

But when she saw Li Luo's somewhat Solemn expression, her smile faded a little, and she said: "Something happened at Xiyang House?"

Clearly, she usually kept an eye on the situation at House Luolan Mansion as well, and naturally understood the Xiyang House matter that had caused such a stir in Great Xia City a few days prior.

Moreover, when Li Luo had attended her birthday banquet before, he had secretly told her that something might happen at Xiyang House today, and asked her to stay at the Golden Dragon Treasure House and try not to leave, as he would have a favor to ask of her.

Li Luo nodded and briefly recounted the situation.

"Right now we need some special antidotes, but the steward just said that the 'Golden Worm Salve' and 'Heavenly Awn Niter' here at the Golden Dragon Treasure House were suddenly ordered away in full by some medicine merchants."

Lv Qing'er's pretty face cooled slightly, and she said: "These are two high-grade medicinal ingredients, but the quantities purchased on a normal day aren't that large. For them to suddenly become hot commodities today — it looks like someone is causing trouble."

"And if even the Golden Dragon Treasure House's supply can be cut off, then presumably the other medicine shops in Great Xia City should also be out of stock right now."

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

Lv Qing'er pondered briefly, then said: "Actually, what they snapped up was only the amount the Golden Dragon Treasure House had on the market these past few days. But the Golden Dragon Treasure House is very large, so it has a reserve vault — that's for emergencies. I think it should contain these two medicinal ingredients."

Behind Lv Qing'er, that steward hurriedly said upon hearing this: "Young Lady, the reserve vault absolutely cannot be opened without the Guild Master's jade token as proof!"

"And we don't have that authority either!"

Lv Qing'er glanced at him and said: "I do."

That steward faltered, then said with a bitter smile: "If the reserve vault is opened at will, I'm afraid the other Vice Guild Masters will have objections later and use it to attack the Guild Master..."

Lv Qing'er smiled and said: "Don't underestimate my mother like that."

Then she said no more, and directly said to Li Luo: "The situation is urgent — come with me."

Li Luo gazed at her fair and charming face, and said with a complicated expression: "Qing'er, thank you. I won't say anything else — this time I owe you a favor. Later, if you want to participate in that Golden Dragon Dojo, no matter what request you have, I'll help you fulfill it."

Lv Qing'er smiled prettily: "You said it."

Having said that, she twisted her slender waist, her long black hair swaying, and led the way forward.

Li Luo quickly followed.

The group passed through the interior of the Golden Dragon Treasure House. After roughly ten-plus minutes, a massive warehouse appeared before them. All around the warehouse, guards patrolled — the security was quite tight.

But just as Lv Qing'er led Li Luo forward, a figure suddenly hurried over from the side and said in a low voice: "Qing'er, you must not open the reserve vault — this doesn't follow the rules."

Li Luo glanced at the newcomer, and vaguely still had some impression — he seemed to be called Ning Zhao, whose father was a Vice Guild Master of the Golden Dragon Treasure House.

Lv Qing'er's willow brows furrowed slightly, and she said: "What about it doesn't follow the rules?"

Ning Zhao smiled helplessly: "Qing'er, I'm not trying to stop you, but to open the reserve vault, you must have the Guild Master's jade token as proof. Otherwise, even if you go up, those guards won't listen to you."

Lv Qing'er extended a small hand, and a jade token could be seen suspended from her fingertip. On the jade token, intricate patterns were engraved, with faint strange light flickering.

Ning Zhao stared at the jade token in Lv Qing'er's hand, stunned for a moment, and said: "The Guild Master's jade token? You... how did you get it?"

Lv Qing'er said calmly: "That's none of your concern. I have the jade token, so it counts as following the rules. Besides, I'm not opening the reserve vault to do anything bad — I'm just taking a small portion of medicinal ingredients from it. As for the rest of those medicinal ingredients, I'll sell them out at double the price. Brother Ning Zhao, please remember — the Golden Dragon Treasure House's motto is 'Harmony Brings Wealth.'"

"I'm making money for the Golden Dragon Treasure House right now, so stop blocking me."

Having said that, she paid no more attention to Ning Zhao, and directly led Li Luo toward the reserve warehouse, handing the jade token in her hand to an elder stationed there.

That elder's expression showed some hesitation, but after finally confirming the jade token's authenticity, he still nodded, then ordered people to open the reserve vault and retrieve the medicinal ingredients they needed.

"Please wait a moment, Young Lady," he said to the waiting Lv Qing'er.

Lv Qing'er nodded lightly.

That Ning Zhao, seeing this scene, frowned. Then his somewhat sharp gaze shifted to Li Luo, and he said in a low voice: "Li Luo, you are the Young House Master of House Luolan Mansion after all. If you direct Qing'er to break the rules like this, I imagine President Yu will be displeased when he finds out."

Li Luo could see some hostility in Ning Zhao's eyes, but at this moment he really had no interest in paying him any attention. He simply said, "Please rest assured, I am not asking for these medicinal ingredients for free. Just as Qing'er said earlier, I am willing to pay double the price for them."

"Hmph, is this about money?" Ning Zhao said with a cold laugh.

Li Luo narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at Ning Zhao as his gaze gradually turned icy.

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

Ning Zhao curled his lip and said, "Young House Master, don't go snapping at people out of spite. This is an internal dispute within your House Luolan Mansion. Rather than interrogating outsiders, you'd better clean up your own house first."

Li Luo gave him a casual glance and said no more, simply waiting to get those special antidote medicinal ingredients in hand.

Ning Zhao likewise said nothing more, merely sneering to himself. Calculating the time, the person he had sent should have delivered the message to President Yu by now, right?

The jade talisman in Qing'er's hand was most likely something she had secretly taken. Once President Yu found out, he would surely step in and stop her. At that point, her impression of Li Luo would surely turn extremely poor, and she might just be kicked out of the Golden Dragon Treasure House on the spot.

Thinking of this, Ning Zhao's expression calmed down, and as he looked at Li Luo, a hint of schadenfreude crept into his gaze.

This kid, relying on his pretty face, had turned Qing'er's head. But did he really think President Yu was a pushover?