Warm sunlight dispelled the chill in the County School office, yet Zhao Rui felt cold all over, as if he had just been fished out of an icy cavern.

He clutched the smooth wooden examination plaque, his palm drenched in cold sweat.

“Su Ming… that… that Qian fellow… how did he just…” Zhao Rui stammered, his mind tangled like a mess of thread that couldn’t be straightened out.

One moment he was throwing his weight around, shooing them away like flies; the next he was bowing and scraping, practically kneeling to call them father. The change happened faster than mountain weather.

Su Ming tucked his own examination plaque into his chest, his movements neither hurried nor slow.

“Because of that box.” His voice was calm, as if discussing something unrelated to himself.

“The box?” Zhao Rui lowered his head, glanced at the rosewood box Su Ming was holding again, his eyes filled with confusion and awe.

“He recognized it belonged to the Zhou family’s eldest young master.” Su Ming explained concisely.

Zhao Rui’s mouth formed an “O” shape. He seemed to understand, yet felt even more confused.

“Disciple, don’t explain too much to him, let him figure it out himself.” Lin Yu’s voice sounded in Su Ming’s mind, carrying a tone of cunning calculation. “The person who gave us trouble earlier was almost certainly acting under the instructions of Zhao Rui’s uncle-by-marriage, Zhou Kang.”

“Since Zhou Kang would resort to such despicable methods, we can’t rule out follow-up moves.” Lin Yu’s analysis continued. “The minor official in the government office was intimidated by us using Zhou Yulin’s name, and Zhou Kang will soon know about it. A cornered dog will jump over the wall. If he becomes enraged and secretly hires some thugs to give us an ‘accidental death,’ that wouldn’t be fun at all.”

“Disciple, my advice is to immediately initiate ‘strategic retreat.’ This place is enemy territory, not suitable for staying long. First go to the medicine shop to inquire about the spirit grass source, then go to the book stall to buy some books.”

“Yes, Master,” Su Ming replied silently in his heart.

He turned to Zhao Rui and said, “Zhao Rui, we won’t go to the Zhou Residence first. After finishing our business, we’ll return directly to the village.”

“Ah? Not… not going?” Zhao Rui was stunned.

“What would we do there? Wait for your uncle to personally come and chase us out?” Su Ming retorted.

Zhao Rui’s face turned red then pale, unable to utter a single word. The humiliation on the road and the danger just now intertwined, completely breaking his spirit.

“Let’s go, first take care of some proper business.” Su Ming didn’t look at him again, taking the lead to stride forward.

Su Ming led Zhao Rui and, relying on memory, accurately found the medicine shop called “Hui Chun Hall.”

The medicine shop was quiet, with only a young clerk wearing a gray short jacket dozing off at the counter, drool nearly dripping onto the account book.

Su Ming gently tapped the counter.

“Tap, tap.”

The clerk jolted awake, suddenly lifting his head and sleepily wiping the corner of his mouth.

“Cu… customer, need medicine?” When he saw Su Ming and Zhao Rui’s shabby attire, the enthusiasm in his eyes quickly cooled, returning to his lazy posture.

“Brother, asking about something.” Su Ming took out two copper coins from his chest, subtly pushing them toward the clerk’s hand. “I want to buy some hei jie cao, do you know which village you get this grass from? If it’s nearby, I can go cut it myself and save some money.”

His approach was completely that of a calculating country youth.

The clerk’s gaze fell on the two copper coins, his eyes lighting up slightly. He inconspicuously swept them with his sleeve, and the coins disappeared.

Having taken the money, his attitude improved somewhat.

“Hei jie cao?” He curled his lip, pulling open the bottom drawer of a row of medicine cabinets behind him, which was messily piled with dried grass.

“This stuff isn’t valuable, who would specifically remember where it came from?” The clerk casually grabbed a handful and threw it on the counter. “It was all collected years ago when the shopkeeper followed traveling merchants to villages, gathered here and there. It’s already been processed, who knows which remote mountain corner it came from.”

He examined Su Ming again: “If you want to cut it yourself, just go to any hillside outside the city, why bother asking?”

Su Ming’s heart sank. The lead was broken.

“Master…”

“Expected.” Lin Yu was quite calm. “This kind of low-grade medicine shop has terrible information management. However, we got one key piece of information—’years ago.’ This indicates that spiritual energy node might have existed many years ago, just very weak, or possibly even dried up already.”

“No matter, this is called eliminating wrong answers. At least we know we can’t get results following the medicine shop lead in the short term. Make a note of it for later. Let’s go, to the book stall to get our papermaking formula.”

“Thank you, brother.”

Su Ming expressed thanks, pulling Zhao Rui to turn and leave.

The clerk watched their retreating figures, weighed the two copper coins in his sleeve, sneered, then lay back on the counter to continue his sweet autumn dreams.

West city corner, old locust tree.

The dense shade cast by this towering ancient locust tree separated the street’s noise and summer’s heat, spreading a patch of coolness on the ground. Under the tree shade, several straw mat book stalls were arranged as usual.

Su Ming led the still somewhat dazed Zhao Rui closer, his gaze habitually scanning toward the usual sitting spot behind the book stall—last time, it was a middle-aged man with weathered features and thick knuckles silently guarding these handwritten books.

However this time, the figure squatting beside the straw mat, carefully wiping a book cover with a half-dry linen cloth, made Su Ming slightly start.

“Him?” Su Ming’s heart stirred. Wasn’t this young man before him precisely that aloof figure from Wenbao Zhai who was scolded by the clerk yet still left with his spine straight? Although it was just a brief glance at the time, that calm yet resilient temperament left a clear impression on Su Ming. Back then he thought it was just a poor scholar who couldn’t afford books, never expected…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep