Great Herb
Zheng Que glanced at the letter in Xu Houde’s hand and immediately asked, “Delivering a letter?”
Xu Houde nodded. “Recently, there have been more and more ghosts and monsters in the town.”
“I’m not sure if the Restriction set up by the immortal master at the town entrance in the past has malfunctioned.”
“So, I wanted to invite that immortal master from before to come and take a look.”
“But that immortal master has been living in Great Peace County City for a long time and hasn’t visited our Town of Lasting Fortune in ages.”
“These days, I’ve heard that you’ve learned magic from the immortal master. I was wondering if you could make a trip to Great Peace County City and deliver this letter to him?”
Upon hearing this, Zheng Que frowned. He had heard about the Restriction set up at the town entrance before.
In the current Town of Lasting Fortune, as long as doors and windows were tightly shut, ghosts couldn’t enter. This was said to be the effect of the town entrance restriction.
Also, during the daytime, if one encountered a ghost on the road, as long as they immediately avoided it, the ghost couldn’t catch up. That was also the effect of the restriction.
If the restriction really had some problem, it would be a major issue for the entire town.
However, going to Great Peace County City to deliver a letter?
His current cultivation was only at the first layer of the Qi Refining Stage. Although he had Qing Li, who was at the fifth layer of the 【Tongue-Tearing Hell】, protecting him, traveling in the wilderness still carried great risks.
If he didn’t deliver this letter properly, he might end up losing his own life.
Thinking this, Zheng Que immediately asked, “Town mayor, a few days ago, my master was in town. If there’s a problem with the town entrance restriction, why didn’t you ask him for help?”
Xu Houde shook his head with a bitter smile. “How could I not have asked? As soon as that immortal master arrived in town, I went to the temple to pay my respects. But as soon as we met, before I could even mention the matter, the immortal master laid out seven bowls of wine, six of which were poisoned, and told me to choose one.”
Zheng Que’s expression stiffened. This seemed to be his master’s rule: choose the poisoned one and become his master’s corpse puppet; choose the non-poisoned one to have the qualification to become a disciple or ask his master for help.
At this moment, Xu Houde suddenly added, “By the way, now that you know magic arts too, can you repair the town entrance restriction?”
Zheng Que snapped back to reality and immediately shook his head. “I’ve only been cultivating for seven days, and my cultivation is low. How could I have that ability?”
“Not only am I unable to fix the town entrance restriction, I also can’t deliver the letter to Great Peace County City in the short term.”
“At the very least, I need to cultivate for another year or so before I have the confidence to travel such a long distance.”
Hearing this, Xu Houde was visibly disappointed, but he still held out the letter to Zheng Que. “If you can’t deliver it now, then deliver it when you can.”
“Great Peace County is southwest of the town. Just follow the official road, and you’ll get there in about seven or eight days.”
“In our town now, aside from you, there’s no one else who can travel long distances.”
“Also, even though you’re from our town, I won’t have you deliver this letter for free.”
“My ancestors passed down a great medicinal herb. Unfortunately, later generations were unworthy and no longer know its name. But in the past, no matter what illness anyone in the family had, as long as they plucked a few fine roots from this herb, boiled them into a medicinal soup, and drank it, they would recover immediately.”
“I remember when I was little, my father was still alive. Once, whether from illness or encountering something unclean, he suddenly started convulsing all over, screaming and shouting, trying to crawl into any hole he could find at home.”
“Later, it was only after drinking the decoction made from this great herb that he recovered.”
“As long as you successfully deliver the letter to that immortal master in the county city, you can have one-tenth of this great herb.”
“The rest must be given to that immortal master in the county city as payment.”
As he listened, Zheng Que’s expression quickly grew serious. A decoction brewed from just a few fine roots could cure an illness so completely?
Moreover, if the town mayor wasn’t talking nonsense, this great herb seemed not only capable of curing illnesses but also of treating symptoms of possession or evil influences.
This might not be some ordinary medicinal herb, but rather a spirit herb.
Thinking this, Zheng Que immediately asked, “Town mayor, could you let me see that great herb?”
Xu Houde shook his head slightly and replied earnestly, “The great herb is hidden in a secret place. If you were an ordinary person, being fellow villagers, letting you see it wouldn’t be a problem.”
“But now that you’ve learned magic arts, at most I can show you a few of its roots.”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, but it’s a lesson from our ancestors’ experience.”
Hearing this, Zheng Que was momentarily taken aback, then immediately understood. The town mayor was afraid that if he saw the great herb, he might snatch it right then and there.
With this thought, he didn’t press further. “Alright, the roots will do.”
He needed to be certain whether this so-called great herb was worth the risk he would be taking.
Xu Houde nodded. “Wait here for a moment.”
With that, he quickly walked out of the side room.
Zheng Que sat down on a chair beside the writing desk, his gaze casually sweeping across the interior.
The side room was cramped and simply furnished. A bookshelf against the wall held some books. Upon closer inspection, they were all basic texts for teaching children to recognize characters, nothing special. Each book was covered in blue cloth for protection, showing they were highly valued.
The handwriting on the blue cloth spines was neat but overly meticulous, seemingly written by the Xu family themselves. On both sides of the bookshelf hung small, faded sachets that faintly emitted the fragrance of camphorwood, likely used to repel insects.
After a brief look, Zheng Que paid no more attention to the bookshelf. As his eyes wandered, they fell upon the writing desk.
There lay a stack of uniformly bound volumes emitting the scent of aged ink. These volumes varied in thickness, and their spines were daubed with red and green, colors resembling the dyes used in villages and towns to distinguish between domestic fowl: vibrant and long-lasting.
These seemed to be records of various matters concerning the Town of Lasting Fortune.
Just as Zheng Que was pondering whether to take a look, footsteps sounded outside the door. Xu Houde had returned, now holding a small wooden box.
Upon entering, he walked directly up to Zheng Que and carefully opened the box. Inside lay a piece of cut red cloth. Even before it was lifted, a rich medicinal aroma wafted forth.
Just from the smell, Zheng Que immediately felt invigorated, and the spiritual power within him grew restless.
He couldn’t help but brighten. His master hadn’t taught him about spirit herbs, so he couldn’t identify what this was, but one thing was certain: this was definitely something valuable.
At this moment, Xu Houde had already lifted the red cloth, revealing three withered medicinal tendrils inside. They looked like ordinary plant roots, each only slightly thicker than a strand of hair, appearing rather unremarkable, yet they emitted an extremely pure and dense Spiritual Qi.
The intensity of the Spiritual Qi was so strong that even the Yin Qi in the room could not approach the vicinity of the wooden box.
Zheng Que stared intently at the three medicinal tendrils. “I don’t recognize this type of medicine either, town mayor. Could you allow me to take one of these tendrils back for research?”
Xu Houde immediately replied, “All three tendrils are yours, as a deposit.”
He covered the box again with the red cloth, closed the wooden box, and handed it to Zheng Que along with the wax-sealed letter.
Looking at the wooden box extended before him, Zheng Que was well aware of its significance. He hesitated for a moment, then took it into his hands and solemnly declared, “Town mayor, rest assured. Once I have finished handling my own affairs in the coming days, I will definitely make a trip to Great Peace County City.”