Chapter 57: Take a Spirit Coin
Xu Qing was still irritated about what happened that night. He had wanted to avoid killing anyone on his first day in Seven Blood Eyes, but this woman had dragged him into her issue. If he had been someone else with a weaker cultivation base and lower battle prowess, then he would probably have been killed.
That was why he struck like lightning.
As soon as the woman heard his words, she snapped her mouth shut and lay there trembling. Of course, she knew full well what advantages women had. Most men would feel pity for a terrified woman, and therefore, she did her best to make herself seem completely beside herself with fear.
Meanwhile, Xu Qing, still chomping on his last candied fruit, walked toward her, while making sure to keep an eye out in case the woman was working with a partner. Before he even got close, the crowd had vacated the area around the woman.
There were a few people in the area who had cultivation bases, and seemed inclined to help the pitiable woman. But when they saw Xu Qing and sensed his extraordinary energy, they ducked their heads and left.
As Xu Qing approached, the woman, whose foot was still impaled to the ground, trembled as hard as she could. She was even sweating profusely. However, it was at that moment that something clicked, and she realized who Xu Qing was.
On the very night she tried to set him up, his cold eyes and ruthless manner made it obvious that she’d gotten tangled up with a terrifying person. Ever since then, she’d been in hiding, and hadn’t stepped foot outside. It was only today that she decided the matter must have blown over. Most likely, the terrifying person she’d dragged into her affair was some criminal figure from out of town, who wouldn’t possibly show his face during the day.
That was why she’d finally come out. It had seemed impossibly unlikely that she would actually run into that very person. And even if she did run into him, she was confident that she could simply run away from him. After all, she was an ordinary citizen, and the Patrol Division kept the peace. According to the rules of the city, she shouldn’t be in any danger. But as Xu Qing approached and squatted in front of her, she suddenly realized that the Patrol Division wasn’t anywhere to be seen, and she started to wonder if she was about to die. The only thing she could do was tremble harder and make herself seem more terrified, hoping to buy enough time that someone would come to her aid.
“Cut the act,” Xu Qing said, reaching down and pulling the bamboo skewer out of her foot.
The pain, and the fact that he had seen through her act, caused the woman’s eyes to grow wide with real terror. Realizing how close he was, she considered one final option, and her right fist twitched. However, she just didn’t dare to toss out the poison powder she held there.
Around then, the sound of a whistle pierced the air as a team of cultivators from the Patrol Division appeared down the street and started racing in their direction.
Hope finally flickered in the woman’s eyes.
However, when Xu Qing flashed his Violent Crimes Division badge to the Patrol Division cultivators, they turned and left.
Finally, the hope in the woman’s eyes was replaced with despair.
Trembling, she stammered, “I’m s-sorry about what happened before. I can make it up to you. I... I have information about a wanted criminal!”
She didn’t bother trying to haggle with him about how much she owed. Given the years she’d spent operating in the night, she knew that a person this strong could easily kill her. She was in no place to negotiate, and therefore, cooperation was the only option.
Not waiting for Xu Qing to say anything in response, she quickly continued, “I’m talking about Master Greencloud, who was recently expelled from the Spirit Cloud Sect. For the past few days, he’s been staying at a place on Plankspring Way. It’s the same inn where you and I ran into each other last time.”
“Wanted criminal?” Xu Qing glanced down at the jade slip with the bounty list, and didn’t have to look long before finding Master Greencloud’s name. The reward for his capture was twenty spirit stones.
“Also,” the woman continued, “I heard that the Violent Crimes Division has been investigating Night Dove lately. I know where one of their hideouts is.” Knowing how much danger she was in, and hoping to save her own life, she went on to explain all the details about the hideout.
After hearing everything, Xu Qing looked at her, then thought back to the captain’s informant. Taking out a spirit coin, he held it out to her. “If you have more information like this, come back here and wait for me to find you.”
The woman stared in shock, and even hesitated for a moment. She knew full well what kind of arrangement she was getting herself into. Gritting her teeth, she nodded and took the spirit coin. Then she got up and hobbled away as quickly as she could.
After she disappeared into the crowd, Xu Qing stood up. He didn’t bother to check into whether or not the woman’s information about the Night Dove hideout was accurate. He would simply report the information and let the division handle the further investigation.
By the time he finished his patrol, the sun was sinking toward the horizon. At that point, he headed back to the inn where he’d spent his first night in the city.
Despite being daytime, the inn was open, although it seemed mostly empty.
Xu Qing eyed the place from a distance, thinking back to the gruish old man who ran it. Never the one to take action blindly, he simply watched the inn for a bit, then headed back to the Violent Crimes Division to deliver the information about the hideout. After that, he was off duty.
It was possible that the woman from earlier had no intention of being his informant, and would simply disappear. To Xu Qing, it didn’t matter. And that was because the coin he gave her... had poison on it, and she would need the antidote within three days.
Back at the division, he saw some other Unit Six constables, but they were all cold and detached, and didn’t say anything to him. There was one middle-aged constable who offered him a smile and invited him to go drinking.
In Seven Blood Eyes, where killing was prohibited, yet people fought and robbed each other left and right, a sudden invitation like this seemed suspicious. So Xu Qing politely turned down the invitation.
Today was a special day, and he didn’t want to kill anyone. He wanted to be alone.
What was more, he had one more stop: a medicine shop.
There were some special medicinal plants he needed to concoct white boluses, and if he succeeded in making the pills, he could sell them. He had almost run out of poisons and black boluses, and needed to replenish his stock. And what was more, he had some ideas for more types of poisons that he wanted to experiment with.
Consulting his mental map of the city, he went to a medicine shop he’d noticed earlier. It was a big shop, and had a lot of customers, all of them wearing gray daoist robes. Medicinal pills and similar items were things disciples from all the different mountain peaks needed. When Xu Qing entered the shop, his delicate, almost pretty face attracted some attention. However, after glancing at him, the disciples looked away.
Meanwhile, Xu Qing looked around at the people inside the shop, then walked over to the counter.
The old shopkeeper was at the counter, as well as a customer, a pudgy young man in a gray daoist robe. His robe was almost too tight for him, making him look like a bulging ball. He had fair skin and freckles, and looked like he was sixteen or seventeen years old. He was currently yawning as he put the medicinal plants he’d purchased into a big sack hanging from his shoulder.
From the haphazard way he put everything into his bag, Xu Qing could tell that he didn’t know anything about medicinal plants. There were some plants that shouldn’t be stored together, but this young man was just throwing everything in randomly.
As he neared, Xu Qing heard the pudgy young man talking in a dissatisfied tone. “Shopkeeper, this isn’t much of a haul. Why so few plants?”
“You come every day and clear everything out! Come back tomorrow. The big boss has a new shipment coming in.” The shopkeeper was obviously familiar with the young man. After handing over all the plants, the shopkeeper noticed Xu Qing. “Hello there, Junior Brother. What medicinal items are you looking for?”
“I need ten-year-old mothbone flowers, living,” Xu Qing said calmly. “Thirty stalks of goldwing leaf. Ten stalks of cleversprite branch, prepped for use. A bunch of seven-leaf clovers, any vintage. And a hundred stalks of goldbutton weed. Also, rhino-fire blossoms with the roots attached, as well as some condensing spirit leaves. I need ten each, with white-colored roots.” After some thought, Xu Qing mentioned a few types of venom and poisonous plants, then concluded with. “Do you happen to have any rotcloud mud or blackgem thorns?”
The shopkeeper stared at Xu Qing for a moment. Most customers who came to this shop were disciples buying pills. Occasionally, people would come in to buy medicinal plants, but they were usually disciples from the Second Peak. Either that, or people like this pudgy young disciple who didn’t know much about medicinal plants. He didn’t see many people like Xu Qing, who were so articulate, yet unfamiliar, and obviously not from the Second Peak.
What was more, the shopkeeper knew that most of the ingredients Xu Qing had mentioned were required for white boluses. After a moment, he said, “We have all of that. It’ll cost you 380 spirit coins. Er, actually, we don’t have condensing spirit leaves. Our last hundred were just purchased by this fellow here.” He pointed at the pudgy young disciple. “We’ll have more tomorrow.”
Xu Qing nodded. Although the condensing spirit leaves were important, he could wait for a day. The asking price was reasonable. Assuming his concocting efforts went well, he would be able to make over a hundred white boluses, plus a lot of poison powder.
Just as he was about to hand over the money, the pudgy young man looked over at him and said, “Condensing spirit leaves? Do you need these things too? What are they good for? I’ve asked the shopkeeper a bunch of times, but he won’t tell me.”
The shopkeeper sighed. “If I spent time answering all of your countless questions, I wouldn’t have time to attend to any of the other customers!”
Xu Qing looked at the pudgy young man and thought about himself in the past, thirsting for knowledge.
“There are two main uses for condensing spirit leaves,” he said. “First, they can be a catalyzing agent when used with other plants, allowing you to guide the resulting variations in the mixture. Second, they’re great for moisturizing the skin.”
A look of enlightenment suddenly appeared on the pudgy young man’s face. Then he pulled out a handful of condensing spirit leaves, about seven or eight in total, and handed them to Xu Qing.
“Thank you, Brother. Here, take these.” With that, the young man shouldered his bag and walked out, looking very pleased. It seemed that, to him, giving away free medicinal plants to people was something of little consequence.
Xu Qing was taken aback, and wanted to decline the offer, but before he could, the pudgy young man was walking away, pulling out his identity medallion to send a voice message to someone.
Meanwhile, the shopkeeper chuckled. “The fat kid is Huang Yan from the Seventh Peak. He’s a prodigy when it comes to pursuing love. I’m not sure which girl he’s obsessed with, but he’s been coming here for seven or eight years to buy medicinal plants for her. In fact, he’s spent so much money he could be my boss. In any case, the kid isn’t as simple as he seems. People who stick out from the crowd usually die early, but he’s been around for years.”
Xu Qing looked at Huang Yan walking off into the distance. Not making conversation with the shopkeeper, he purchased his medicinal plants and then left.
Back at his berth, he did his usual inspection and then got into his dharmaboat. After activating the defenses, he breathed a sigh of relief. He felt a sense of security inside the dharmaboat that was impossible to feel while outside.
Taking out his new plants, he arranged them according to their type, then thought of the pill formula for white boluses. Despite never having all the ingredients to make white boluses, he hadn’t forgotten the mixture ratios. And now that he had everything ready, he didn’t waste any time in attempting to concoct the pill again.
Time passed, and soon, it was late in the night.