Chapter 30: This Place Can

Gold-rimmed glasses said that a few flowers by the roadside weren’t worth noticing; once you reached a good place, there’d be plenty of fine blooms.

According to him, Li Banfeng had imagined that in a good place, snake-spot chrysanthemums grew like wheat—cut once and you’d gather a big handful.

But now that they’d reached the good place, Li Banfeng found there weren’t nearly so many fine blooms; after searching for over two hours, he’d gathered only five flowers.

Some snake-spot chrysanthemums had long stems and could be cut straight down with a sickle; others had no visible stem at all—the petals grew flush with the ground, requiring a shovel to dig them out bit by bit.

Based on Li Banfeng’s estimate, finding one snake-spot chrysanthemum within a ten-meter radius was already luck, as the mist on the mountain grew thicker by the minute, visibility worsening—ten meters was already the limit of his sight.

The flowers were hard to find, and the competition was fierce.

The pharmacy folk were nearby, more experienced and quicker to act.

Not just them—even this temporary team had internal competition.

Old Smoke Cannon was a true Smoke Cultivator; he claimed to be at Layer One, and he wasn’t lying.

Smoke was his eyes—wherever it drifted, he could see; in two hours, he gathered thirteen snake-spot chrysanthemums.

Little Girl Grass Leaf was also skilled; as a Medicine Cultivator, she had a special sensitivity to herbs and gathered ten.

Plump beauty Peach had slightly inferior technique, gathering only three in two hours—less than Li Banfeng.

But why does she keep swaying in front of me?

She’s wearing a qipao, hunched over and bending low, her peach-like rear swaying in my face—how am I supposed to pick chrysanthemums like this?

Is she seriously expecting me to pick flowers?

Gold-rimmed glasses, though an insider, wasn’t particularly skilled—he gathered six flowers, just one more than Li Banfeng.

Tiger Cub gathered five flowers, just like Li Banfeng.

The least useful was Qin Fatty, who’d only found one flower and was stomping frantically in the grass.

Tiger Cub teased Qin Fatty: “Just one flower? You can’t even make half a pill. I’m worried you won’t even sell it when you get down the mountain!”

Fatty snapped: “How can’t I sell it? I don’t have to use just my one flower to make a pill—he’ll combine all the flowers he collects to brew!”

Li Banfeng asked: “One flower really can’t make half a pill?”

“No,” Little Girl Grass Leaf said, plucking another snake-spot chrysanthemum as she spoke. “I heard it takes five snake-spot chrysanthemums to make one high-grade pill.”

Beauty Peach chimed in: “I heard you need a lot of other ingredients too.”

Grass Leaf thought a moment: “I recall snake-spot pills don’t use auxiliary ingredients, but the fire control is extremely difficult—you have to switch fire four or five times, each with different intensity, and every pharmacy has its own method.”

Peach sighed: “Prescriptions are priceless if you don’t know them, worthless if you do—who’s to blame? We’ve got no talent, so we trade our lives for this little money.”

“Sis, we’ve known each other this long—we’re friends. Study your herbology well. Next time we gather pills, we’ll sell them to your shop—give us a better price.”

Grass Leaf blushed, smiled, and went back to searching for snake-spot chrysanthemums.

Peach had struck right at her heart—opening a pharmacy was her dream.

Li Banfeng mentally calculated: five flowers per pill, each flower eighty-five—just buying flowers cost four hundred twenty-five.

Snake-spot pills weren’t cheap; even without auxiliary ingredients, labor pushed the cost close to five hundred per pill.

This pharmacy business wasn’t easy at all!

“How much does one snake-spot pill sell for?” Li Banfeng asked.

“Ten thousand,” Fatty replied bluntly.

Ten thousand?

Ten thousand!

Li Banfeng froze in place.

Is this a joke?

A pill sells for ten thousand!

That’s insane profit!

Li Banfeng stood stunned; Peach smiled and said: “Too expensive? Pharmacies make a fortune on every pill.

Even at this price, only wealthy families can afford them—ordinary people can’t even get their hands on them.

Think about it: ten thousand buys you one day’s cultivation. Three million six hundred fifty thousand buys you a year. Thirty-six million five hundred thousand buys you ten years.

Ten years of cultivation equals one Layer. Spend three hundred million, you gain ten Layers. Ten Layers triple your lifespan. Isn’t that worth it?”

“Whether it’s worth it or not, Sister, stop waving your peaches in my face while you talk.”

Peach turned, squinted at Li Banfeng, and grinned: “Like them? Fat and white—want to pinch one? Give me one flower, and I’ll let you pinch till you’re satisfied.”

A twentyfold profit per pill.

Li Banfeng spotted a snake-spot chrysanthemum, stared at it a moment, then asked: “Why buy such expensive pills? Just eat the snake-spot chrysanthemums—they’re only eighty-five each.”

Grass Leaf shouted: “Bai Sha, don’t do that! You can’t eat them—snake-spot chrysanthemums are deadly poison. One flower and you’re dead.”

Li Banfeng blinked: “Snake-spot chrysanthemums are poisonous? Then aren’t snake-spot pills poisonous too?”

Grass Leaf and Peach stared at Li Banfeng like he was illiterate.

Grass Leaf said: “Snake-spot pills are poisonous too—less potent, but still dangerous if you take too many.”

Peach said: “Bai Sha, how do you know nothing? Do you even have cultivation? If you don’t, get off the mountain—don’t risk your life here.

And by the way, when I said three hundred million for ten Layers, I was just giving an example—don’t take it literally. If you actually swallowed that many snake-spot pills, you’d be dead dozens of times over.”

Fatty nudged Li Banfeng: “Just find the flowers—stop talking nonsense. Focus on the job!”

He was warning Li Banfeng not to look foolish.

But he was right—focus on the job. Snake-spot chrysanthemums bloom for only one day; after that, they wither.

That wasn’t even the most urgent problem.

Li Banfeng began feeling dizzy—he could barely withstand the bitter mist.

Old Smoke Cannon, however, was fully focused—he took advantage of their chatter to pick another snake-spot chrysanthemum.

He tucked the flower into his sack, then exhaled another puff of yellow smoke.

The smoke curled briefly, then he sensed something—he hurried forward, and there, before him, was another snake-spot chrysanthemum.

He pulled out scissors, skillfully snipped the stem, and reached to collect it—when suddenly, the bald man who’d snatched flowers on the road appeared, reaching to grab it.

Old Smoke Cannon didn’t flinch—he blocked the bald man’s wrist with his pipe. A hiss—skin and flesh burned off.

The bald man screamed: “Old bastard, you wanna die?”

Old Smoke Cannon laughed: “Stealing from me? You really do want to die.”

“Who stole from you? I saw that flower first!”

“Who saw it first doesn’t matter—it’s in my hand. If you’ve got guts, come take it!” Old Smoke Cannon said nothing more, slipped the flower into his pocket, and calmly stared at the bald man, pipe in hand.

The bald man whistled sharply—three more men appeared beside him.

He’d brought backup.

Now Old Smoke Cannon was alarmed.

“Old man, drop your sack. Today I’ll let you live,” the bald man said, drawing his cleaver; his three companions drew their weapons too.

Old Smoke Cannon hesitated, then decided against fighting. He opened his sack: “Twenty-two flowers here. I’ll give you half. Let’s call it even.”

“I said leave it all. Don’t you understand? You’d rather die than give up your money?” The bald man laughed, raised his blade, and swung without warning.

Little Girl Grass Leaf panicked and hid behind Gold-rimmed glasses.

Gold-rimmed glasses called out: “Friend, let’s talk this out!”

Tiger Cub stepped forward: “We should reason this out—don’t start fighting yet!”

Both moved to intervene, but the bald man ignored them—blade after blade, each swing aimed for the head.

Surrounded by four men, Old Smoke Cannon had no chance to smoke—he was about to be struck when the bald man suddenly stopped, his wrist now bleeding from a deep cut.

Fatty had acted.

Partners must protect each other—Fatty followed the rules, and he’d long wanted to teach the bald man a lesson.

Seeing only Fatty charging, the bald man signaled his men to keep attacking.

Tiger Cub glanced at Gold-rimmed glasses.

Gold-rimmed glasses scanned the others.

Little Girl Grass Leaf cowered behind him, frozen in fear.

Beauty Peach watched the bald man, her intentions unclear.

Li Banfeng spotted a snake-spot chrysanthemum and prepared to pick it—the fight happening nearby seemed unrelated to him.

Tiger Cub glanced again at Gold-rimmed glasses and whispered: “Enough.”

Gold-rimmed glasses kept his gaze fixed on the bald man.

Four against two—the bald man’s group had the upper hand, yet strangely, their attacks grew frantic—their blades trembled, swings crooked and clumsy, like novices who’d never fought before.

What’s going on?

Why are they so panicked?

The situation didn’t seem worth panicking over.

The bald man’s eyes glowed, cheeks flushed.

He wasn’t panicked—he was exhilarated.

Too exhilarated—his body was losing control.

Seeing this, Gold-rimmed glasses stepped forward, kicked the bald man hard in the chest, sending him stumbling back several steps.

Tiger Cub charged in, punched one of the men holding a cleaver to the ground, and shouted: “You want trouble? Think we’re easy to bully?”

The bald man raised his blade: “I warn you—stay out of this.”

Gold-rimmed glasses, calm, adjusted his glasses: “We formed a team—we agreed to watch each other’s backs. This is no idle matter—we’re stepping in.”

Fatty opened his sack, wolfed down a pound of dried rations, and yelled: “Come on! Fight! See if Grandpa can’t cut you all down!”

Old Smoke took up his pipe and sucked twice, the yellowish-white smoke slowly spreading out.

The bald man saw things turning bad and led the others to turn and flee.

Gold-rimmed Glasses let out a long breath, turned back, and said to the group: “Hurry and pick the flowers—they won’t dare come back.”

Old Smoke put away his pipe, sat on the ground to catch his breath, then resumed picking flowers.

Fat Boy walked over to Li Banfeng, sat down with a huff, and whispered low: “Brother Li, why didn’t you help me at all?”

Li Banfeng handed Fat Boy the newly picked Snake-Spotted Chrysanthemum: “Hurry and pick flowers—get a few and leave fast. Something’s wrong.”

After speaking, Li Banfeng placed a stone he was holding on the ground.

He had been clutching the stone all along.

Xiao Pang finally realized that Li Banfeng had already prepared to strike.

If they grabbed first, they’d work harder—everyone here except that old man is useless.

[107] He placed a stone he held in his hand onto the ground.

[108] He had been clutching the stone all along.

[109] Fat Boy then realized Li Banfeng had already prepared to strike.

[110] Gold-rimmed Glasses spotted a Snake-Spotted Chrysanthemum, picked it, and Tiger Cub crept up beside him: “Why didn’t you let Brother Three take the first shot?”

“If he took the first shot, they’d push harder—everyone here except that old man is useless.”

Gold-rimmed Glasses tucked the chrysanthemum into his cloth sack and whispered low: “That guy named Bai Sha… something’s off.”

“What’s off? He’s just a greedy, cowardly waste.”

“He’s a Huan Xiu. Huan Xiu have techniques to disrupt the mind—must be extra cautious.”

Tiger Cub scoffed: “I don’t think he’s a Huan Xiu. I’ve never seen a Huan Xiu paired with a man.”

Gold-rimmed Glasses frowned slightly: “You’ve seen plenty you don’t understand.”

Tiger Cub still didn’t believe it: “When Fat Boy got beaten, I didn’t see him lift a finger. How could a Huan Xiu just watch his partner get beaten?”

“How do you know he didn’t act?” Gold-rimmed Glasses brushed dirt off his hands. “Brother Three just got hit by a Huan Xiu technique—didn’t you see? He couldn’t even hold his blade steady!”

“That was a Huan Xiu technique?” Tiger Cub froze. “I thought Brother Three was just panicked. So what’s the plan? Abandon this job?”

“We’re definitely doing the job. We’ll move soon. Huan Xiu are physically weak—they won’t last long, and they’ll have to descend early.”

“When he’s alone, let Brother Three take him. We’ll deal with the rest together.” Gold-rimmed Glasses stood up and searched for the next Snake-Spotted Chrysanthemum.

PS: Two chapters today. Readers, please give more monthly votes and leave more comments. I’ll push hard—aiming for an extra chapter tomorrow.

(End of Chapter)