I Can Devour Spirits

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Medicine Furnace Room

Duan Rong also followed with a laugh.

Hu Huanhuan then started examining Duan Rong. His square face and greasy hair, with a dark complexion, made him utterly unnoticeable in a crowd. Yet, his eyes were bright like stars, especially when he smiled, they twinkled as if all the stars in the sky were winking at you.

”Where did this slick-talking little rascal come from? His mouth’s like it’s smeared with honey.” Hu Huanhuan glanced sideways at Duan Rong, teasingly scolding.

Seeing Hu Huanhuan’s demeanor, Duan Rong understood that the matter for today was resolved and joked, ”With faces as lovely as yours, who wouldn’t be delighted to see you?”

”Enough, pack up your stall and get lost. Talking as if poverty is boundless!” Hu Huanhuan teased him with a laugh.

”Alright... leaving, leaving now.” Duan Rong bowed once more and went back to tidy up his stall.

”Why are you all still standing here? Get back to whatever you should be doing!”

Before the stall, the queue of performers suddenly scattered.

While organizing his stall, Duan Rong suddenly called out, ”Sisters, I’ll be here at 3 p.m. tomorrow! Come by!”

Two of the running performers heard Duan Rong’s call, turned back, and responded, but Hu Huanhuan glared at them, stuck their tongues out and turned their heads back.

Duan Rong chuckled at Hu Huanhuan, looking like a human shelf, with his items hanging as he walked away from the old locust tree.

The Huaying Building opens at three quarters past five, with music and dancing throughout the night.

Duan Rong’s shout to come at 3 p.m. meant there was still an hour before the Huaying Building opened.

It naturally wouldn’t affect the business of Huaying Building, so Hu Huanhuan wouldn’t say much.

Duan Rong had already calculated: in an hour, he could complete about ten paintings, which meant a hundred silver coins.

A hundred silver coins a day, undoubtedly a top-tier income in this world.

With this income, supporting his herbal supplementation to refine his Inner Breath Second Level was absolutely no problem.

Hu Huanhuan watched Duan Rong’s departing figure, muttering to herself, ”Where did this shameless, uncouth kid come from; clever as a monkey.”

”I saw a badge on his waist, it seemed like Yuan Shun Escort Agency’s.” responded a turtle slave beside Hu Huanhuan.

”Really? So it turns out to be that scoundrel Ruan Fengshan’s indisciplined child. Next time I see him, I’ll surely give him a good talking to.”

With that, Hu Huanhuan turned around and walked towards Huaying Building.

The turtle slaves followed her back to Huaying Building, each returning to their posts.

Ruan Fengshan was the shopkeeper of Yuan Shun Escort Agency, certainly a notable figure in Xianggu County, yet in Hu Huanhuan’s words, he turned into a scoundrel, making the turtle slaves behind her somewhat alarmed.

Despite some setbacks, his new business model promotion was evidently a huge success.

By leveraging his Devouring Artifact Spirit ability, combined with modern marketing strategies inherited from his past life, Duan Rong undoubtedly harvested a wave.

With stable high income secured, he could now buy that single prescription he hesitated to purchase before, from the Herbal Shop, trying out its effect.

His earnings for today already exceeded two hundred silver coins; though eighty-two silver coins for a potion was expensive, it wasn’t an unaffordable expense.

Duan Rong thought as he veered his steps, loaded with stuff, heading for the Herbal Shop.

By now, it was getting late, and the Herbal Shop was about to close. Suddenly a silhouette approached the door, with a clatter, placing a pile of items by the side.

”What devilish thing? Haven’t closed yet and you’re already occupying the spot to sleep!” barked an assistant towards the door.

The front of the Herbal Shop was spacious with a roof to shield from rain, often used by beggars in the county’s streets to sleep at night.

But they typically waited until the shop was closed to come over, coming earlier risked being scolded.

”No, pal, I’m here to buy medicine.” Duan Rong then stepped from the dark night into the doorway.

Seeing a customer come to buy medicine, the yelling assistant’s face turned sallow, immediately apologizing.

The skinny middle-aged assistant behind the counter immediately recognized Duan Rong, the customer who asked about a single prescription a few days ago, and shot a sharp glance at the assistant.

The Herbal Shop is a high-profit business, with grandeur at its entrance and rigorous rules, treating a customer with hostility would undeniably warrant punishment, even dismissal could be possible.

The scolding assistant was merely an apprentice, who had managed to get into the Herbal Shop through connections.

If this job was lost, going home could mean being beaten to death by the family.

Duan Rong handed over the single prescription to the skinny middle-aged assistant behind the counter, smiling, ”Please, prepare a dose according to it.”

”Customer, please wait a moment.”

Inside the Herbal Shop, the walls were lit brightly like daylight. The middle-aged assistant carefully laid out each herb on the counter, weighed them, and called an assistant to verify the prescription.

Only then did he wrap the potion, tied it with hemp rope, and hand it to Duan Rong.

Duan Rong accepted the potion, paid the silver coins, and the skinny middle-aged assistant came out from the counter to personally escort Duan Rong out of the shop.

This was also an apology for the scolding of Duan Rong upon entering. ”Our shop has failed to manage our apprentices. I apologize for the lack of hospitality!”

”No worries, it’s dark, and it’s normal to not see clearly.”

Duan Rong even defended the apprentice a bit.

Yet the skinny middle-aged assistant, upon watching Duan Rong put a pile of items on himself, and lastly hang the lantern and potion together on the hilt of his Cow Tail Saber, felt his expression turn peculiar.

Duan Rong naturally noticed the confusion in the skinny middle-aged assistant’s eyes, gave an embarrassed chuckle, and said, ”Just packed up the stall, there’s a bit more stuff.”

The skinny middle-aged assistant smiled and nodded, looking at the frame under Duan Rong’s right arm with its peculiar design; though quite knowledgeable, he couldn’t figure out its purpose, simply thinking: Jianghu has many unique characters!

If Duan Rong heard this statement, he’d probably translate it into plain language: In a big forest, you find all kinds of birds!

The skinny middle-aged assistant watched Duan Rong fade away around the street corner before walking back inside the shop, ordering the closing-up.

Duan Rong, appearing much like a walking shelf, returned to the Yuan Shun Escort Agency.

At this time, in the Martial Arts Arena of the Escort Master’s courtyard, quite a few people were still practicing martial arts. On seeing such an eccentric display from Duan Rong, familiar ones gathered together, whispering among themselves.

Duan Rong first returned to his dormitory, placed down his belongings in the room, then picked up the potion, preparing to go to the medicine furnace room to brew the medicine.

The medicine furnace room was on the west side of the Martial Arts Arena courtyard, charging one silver per furnace, offering top-grade firewood and mountain spring water for free.

Instead of crossing the Martial Arts Arena again, Duan Rong took a shortcut directly to the medicine furnace room.

The medicine furnace room was not large, merely a low building. Duan Rong noticed a bed by the entrance, its bedding blackened and greasy, mixed with soot, where a white-haired head peeked out from the dark cover.

Duan Rong approached, nudged the person in the bedding, asking, ”Old man, brewing medicine! Are there free furnaces?”

The white-haired head raised slightly, revealing a pair of lifeless fish-like eyes fixing on Duan Rong, hoarsely responding, ”Yes, there are free furnaces.”

The old man shifted to sit up, saying, ”Do you have a badge?”

As the bedding was lifted, Duan Rong was hit with an irritating mix of mildew and urine stench.