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墨書 Inktalez
As the Ox Cart bumped along for a while longer, they were less than four or five miles away from the County Town.
Ziyan felt everything in her stomach surge up in waves, and just as she was about to vomit, Zi Chengming stopped the Ox Cart.
Gu Yuxuan helped Ziyan quickly jump off and rushed to the side of the Creek. In an instant, Ziyan released everything that had surged up her throat into the Creek, but her head still felt heavy.
Looking ahead at the faint outline of the County Town, Gu Yuxuan urged Zi Chengming, "Uncle Zi, the road ahead isn't far. You can go on ahead; I'll walk with her for this stretch."
After saying that, he went over to take down the backpack and approached Zi Chengming to hand him some coins.
Zi Chengming hesitated for a moment, glanced at Ziyan, then took the coins and urged his Ox Cart to continue on.
From a distance, Ziyan could still hear a few women discussing, "That girl must be going out for the first time; otherwise, how could she be like this just from riding in an Ox Cart? Also, that Gu family father and son have always lived in the deep mountains; how did this kid end up going out with a girl from the Zi family?"
"Hey! What's so strange about that? The two families live right across from each other; one is at the bottom of Mountain Valley and the other is up in the mountains. If they shouted, they might even hear each other—"
As their voices gradually faded away, a weak and exhausted Ziyan said to Gu Yuxuan beside her, "I need to rest for a bit."
Before Gu Yuxuan could respond, she simply sat down on the grass by the roadside.
"This girl," Gu Yuxuan looked at Ziyan, shook his head with a light sigh, and then found a stone not far from her to sit down.
Suddenly thinking of something, Ziyan looked up at Gu Yuxuan and said, "You're skilled in Martial Arts; why don't we take the small path through the mountains instead? By the way, have you walked that mountain path they mentioned?"
"What do you think?" Gu Yuxuan replied with a mocking tone as he looked at Ziyan.
Seeing his knowing expression mixed with a hint of pretentiousness, Ziyan was sure that Gu Yuxuan had indeed walked that path.
So she moved closer to Gu Yuxuan and fixed her gaze on him. "You must have walked it, right? Then why won't you take me along that path?"
"That's because if I take you along the mountain path, there won't be any problems with the beasts as long as I'm there. But if I do that, you'll miss the beautiful scene we had back in the village."
After saying this, Gu Yuxuan looked at Ziyan with a mischievous grin.
"Oh, I see. Well, I've suffered quite a bit just to see that scumbag's downfall. By the way, I even missed breakfast—it's a bit not worth it."
Ziyan stood up and lightly kicked Gu Yuxuan's foot. "Alright, let's get moving. It's getting late, and we've wasted the whole morning on this road; I can't stand it anymore."
"Let's go!" Gu Yuxuan called out, stood up to brush off his clothes, and then calmly shouldered the backpack on the ground.
"Tch, still so picky despite being poor," Ziyan rolled her eyes at Gu Yuxuan and followed him as they walked towards County Town.
Before long, the two arrived at Hengfeng County Town. Perhaps it wasn't market day, as there weren't many pedestrians in County Town, but there were shops lining both sides.
There were all kinds of businesses: a grocery store, a small noodle shop, and even a coffin shop—
Glancing around casually, Ziyan quickly shifted her gaze because she was looking for a clinic or an herbal medicine shop.
In no time, Gu Yuxuan led Little Ziyan to a clinic named Jishitang.
After exchanging glances with Gu Yuxuan, Ziyan quickened her pace and entered the clinic.
The main hall of the clinic was spacious, covering about a hundred square meters. A doctor-like White-Browed Elder was attending to an elderly woman who was groaning continuously, with three companions standing behind her.
To the left was a row of countless boxes filled with medicinal herbs that reached up to the beams of the ceiling. There were also wooden ladders on either side of the medicine cabinet.
It was obvious that these were used to help retrieve herbs from high places. In front of the cabinet stood a long counter.
A young boy, looking about fourteen or fifteen years old and resembling a clerk, was standing by the side, focused on calculating something with an abacus.
As soon as he saw the two enter, he looked up to greet Gu Yuxuan, but before he could speak, Gu Yuxuan had already winked at him and subtly shook his head.
Ziyan was entirely focused on figuring out how to sell He Shou Wu for a good price. In a moment of distraction, she stepped forward and asked the clerk, "Hello there, can I ask you something?"
The young clerk looked at Ziyan calmly and replied, "What do you need?"
Ziyan smiled at the handsome young clerk and said, "Does your family purchase Chinese medicinal herbs?"
"Of course we do. I just don't know what kind of herbs you have to sell, young lady."
The clerk glanced at Gu Yuxuan before turning his attention back to Ziyan.
"He Shou Wu," Ziyan answered while quickly waving to Gu Yuxuan, signaling him to bring the herbs over for the clerk to see.
Gu Yuxuan stepped forward, lifted a piece of coarse cotton cloth covering the basket on his back, and took out the largest human-shaped He Shou Wu to hand it to the clerk. The moment the clerk saw the human-shaped He Shou Wu, he couldn't take his eyes off it and was filled with excitement.
While He Shou Wu is relatively easy to find, pure wild human-shaped He Shou Wu is quite rare.
In this era, it could be considered priceless; even in modern times, it's hard to come by. Those that are found are usually made using molds.
The excited young clerk snatched the human-shaped He Shou Wu from Gu Yuxuan's hands and rushed over to a nearby White-Browed Elder.
"Master, look! Isn't this the human-shaped He Shou Wu you told me about that you saw in the palace before?"
The elder was leisurely writing a prescription for a patient.
He immediately turned to scold his Little Apprentice, "What are you panicking about?"
Then he leisurely glanced at the He Shou Wu in his hand, looked over at Ziyan and Gu Yuxuan, and his expression changed slightly.
He whispered, "Please have them wait a moment, I will come over once I finish with this patient's matters."
"Okay!" The Little Apprentice quickly retreated to Ziyan and the others, returning the humanoid He Shou Wu to Ziyan.
He politely pointed to a few chairs lined up nearby and said, "Please wait here for a moment; my master will be here shortly."
Ziyan smiled and nodded at the Little Apprentice, responding, "Thank you for your help."
Then he sat quietly on a chair beside Gu Yuxuan, waiting.
After about half a tea's time, the old man handed the prescription in his hand to another young man who had been standing by, and then walked over to Ziyan and Gu Yuxuan with a light and brisk step.
Seeing this made Ziyan unconsciously picture the face and figure of Taibai Jinxing from television.
The old man appeared to be in his sixties or seventies, but his sharp eyes and agile steps easily created an illusion that he possessed an ethereal quality.
After glancing at Ziyan and Gu Yuxuan, his gaze lingered on Gu Yuxuan for a while with a hint of interest.
It wasn't until Gu Yuxuan shot a sharp look at Ziyan that the old man spoke up, "Is that humanoid He Shou Wu yours?"
"Yes, it is ours."
Ziyan interjected, thinking to himself, what does this old man mean? Does he know Gu Yuxuan? But Gu Yuxuan has never mentioned knowing anyone from this Jishitang.
"Oh!" The old man smiled kindly and continued, "Girl, my surname is Mo, with the given name Kui. I am known as Old Man Mo, but you may also call me Doctor Mo. May I ask if you two could help me examine that He Shou Wu more closely?"
Ziyan immediately reached out and handed over the He Shou Wu. Old Man Mo took it, looked at it from side to side, and then smelled it.
He nodded, "Hmm, not bad, what an exceptional He Shou Wu rare in this world! What price do you intend to sell this quality He Shou Wu for, little girl?"
After saying this, he glanced at Gu Yuxuan. Seeing that Gu Yuxuan had no particular expression, he turned his attention back to Ziyan.
Hmm—! No matter how he looked at it, it felt like Old Man Mo knew Gu Yuxuan, Ziyan speculated in her heart.
She then spoke up, "Well, Mr. Mo, why don't you offer a price? If I find it reasonable, then I'll sell it to you."
She glanced at Gu Yuxuan.
Ziyan continued, "Although this is our first meeting, I can sense that you are not the type who would be greedy for profit or deliberately raise or lower prices. So please feel free to give a price! In the future, all the herbs I collect will be sent to you; how does that sound?"
Old Man Mo was taken aback by Ziyan's words and then burst into hearty laughter.
"You little girl, sharp-tongued and eloquent! Elder admires you."
After saying this, he stroked his long white beard with his hand and finally appeared much more composed.
"Ah—this girl of yours, let's do it this way: a fixed price—1,000 taels of silver for the He Shou Wu. How many do you have on hand?"
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