Chapter 72

Under the wooden board were several bottles and jars containing magical herbs. The herbs inside looked so vivid, some even with their roots perfectly preserved.

He Boqiang felt curious and leaned in to examine the herbs closely.

At this moment, a thin, old man silently emerged from behind the shelves.

Seeing He Boqiang observing the magical herbs, the old man's eyes, which resembled goldfish eyes, widened to their maximum. He excitedly approached He Boqiang, his weathered and wrinkled face looking up, hands grabbing He Boqiang's sleeves, his eyes filled with fear and hope, and his voice full of earnestness, he said:

"Brave sir, do you have any of these magical herbs? I will buy any of them at a high price..."

He Boqiang shook his head firmly.

The hope in the thin old man's eyes vanished. He stroked his sparse hair, his grayish-white eyes filled with infinite disappointment, and the enthusiasm on his face quickly cooled.

His goldfish eyes immediately turned into dead fish eyes, showing mostly the whites, and he spoke to Suerdak in a nasal tone:

"So, the two of you are not here to sell magical herbs? Then... what do you want to buy?"

His arrogant tone made one want to turn and leave.

However, Suerdak showed no displeasure. He smiled at the thin old man and said:

"Sir Apothecary, we belong to the 57th Heavy Infantry Regiment's vanguard. We are about to head to the Gan Da Er Mountains' Cloudy Ridge. We heard that the Gan Da Er Mountains are rich in certain magical herbs. We came here mainly to learn about the most common magical herbs in the Gan Da Er Mountains and what precautions to take when collecting them. Although I know the basic skinning technique, I am completely clueless about collecting."

Suerdak's words immediately softened the old man's expression, and his face was no longer so irritable.

The thin old man grumbled:

"Hmph... I am not an apothecary, don't say that. So, you are about to enter the Gan Da Er Mountains? Hmm, that's good..."

Seeing the old man's tone soften, Suerdak's smile became even more friendly.

"Do you want to know what magical herbs are produced in the Gan Da Er Mountains?" the thin old man asked again.

At this moment, He Boqiang noticed that the old man was actually wearing a dirty robe. The robe had lost its original color due to unknown dyes and the cuffs and collar were frayed, looking very shabby.

The thin old man had been talking to Suerdak and hadn't noticed He Boqiang.

He seemed very willing to talk about magical herbs and said:

"No one knows these magical herbs better than I do. I will give you a detailed explanation. The most common herb in the Gan Da Er Mountains should be the Silver Leaf Grass..."

"I say it is common only in comparison to other types of magical herbs. Now, magical herbs are scarce, and finding a single Silver Leaf Grass is not easy. This herb dislikes sunlight and usually grows in dry, shaded places. Its most distinctive feature is its oval silver leaves, which wrap around the stem..."

After listening to the old man's rambling for a long time, Suerdak finally became familiar with the thin old man. Suerdak slapped his chest and personally promised that if he found any magical herbs, he would bring them back and sell them here.

This promise greatly pleased the thin old man.

At this point, Suerdak finally spoke about their purpose:

"This time, the vanguard of the infantry regiment is heading to the Gan Da Er Mountains mainly to clear a path for the rear-mounted knights and to set up a camp at the base of Cloudy Ridge."

Suerdak said earnestly:

"You can probably understand how dangerous this mission is, but for us, it also means more opportunities to encounter magical herbs in these mountains. So, we also want to buy some practical emergency magic scrolls from you."

The space inside the magic goods tent was very small, only enough for two people to stand. At this moment, someone outside wanted to come in, but when they lifted the curtain and saw the tent was full, they muttered a few complaints. The thin old man ignored them, simply dropping the curtain and leaving them outside.

He then said seriously:

"Is that so! Let me think. You are right... the vanguard will be the first to enter the mountains, so the chances of collecting magical herbs are much higher than for other units. Hmm, do you have any suitable magic scrolls...?"

He turned and walked to a shelf piled with scrolls, first picking up a bundle of magic scrolls and placing them on the counter.

He began to quickly flip through the scrolls, saying:

"Let me see, the options are actually quite limited..."

The old man frowned and put the scrolls back on the shelf:

"These won't do. These attack scrolls require at least a magic apprentice to cast, and these aren't very useful either..."

Finally, he found two palm-sized magic scrolls at the bottom of a shelf and said to Suerdak:

"This Fire Gathering Scroll can help you light a campfire at any time. You probably won't need this scroll in the mountains, but this Water Gathering Scroll is still useful. And this... Sentry Scroll, hmm, it doesn't seem very useful..."

Water Gathering Scroll... He Boqiang and Suerdak leaned in to look, wondering how much such a high-level scroll would cost.

The thin old man finally said: "This Water Gathering Scroll costs 25 silver coins, but since you are going to the mountains to find magical herbs, I will let you have it for 25 silver coins..."

Suerdak and He Boqiang exchanged glances, thinking it was acceptable...

Suerdak then felt his money bag and boldly asked: "Then... do you have any healing potions?"

"Healing potions? You really dare to ask... Now, magical herbs are extremely scarce, making such potions very precious in the magic market. I don't think you should expect to buy any healing potions. At least, I don't have any. Since you mentioned potions, you might need this. Oh, I also have some bandages, you can take some."

The thin old man sneered and gave Suerdak a disdainful look, his expression very annoying.

Although he didn't have the healing potion Suerdak wanted, he found two green potions in the corner of the shelf. He Boqiang recognized these potions; Suerdak had had one such antidote potion before.

The thin old man then threw a dirty roll of bandages to Suerdak and shooed He Boqiang and Suerdak out of the tent.

Outside the magic goods shop, a crowd was still gathered, wanting to see what was inside. When they saw someone come out, they crowded around again, but a thin arm reached out from the tent and placed a "Closed" sign outside the curtain...

Those who wanted to enter the magic goods shop to take a look could only stand outside the tent, looking at each other...

Suerdak and He Boqiang squeezed out of the crowd, agreed on a specific time to meet the next day, and Suerdak returned to the camp.