The Apothecary's Cruelty, The Search

A day passed quickly. When Yang Heng went down the mountain, his medicine basket only contained a few common herbs worth three to four hundred copper coins.

But in reality, Yang Heng's harvest was far more than that. He took out some of the herbs and the Intermittent Flower and hid them in a secret place.

It was his first day collecting herbs on the mountain, and he didn't want to stand out too much.

In the following days, as his herb-collecting experience grew, he could bring out more herbs, thus avoiding attracting attention.

When Yang Heng returned to the camp, the other apprentices were also returning one after another. Everyone had a harvest; no one returned empty-handed.

It was just that the value and quantity of the herbs they obtained varied.

He handed the herbs to his master for appraisal and registration. In the end, the value of Yang Heng's herbs was appraised at three hundred and fifty copper coins, placing him in the middle among the new apprentices.

One new apprentice had incredible luck. He found a palm-sized Reishi mushroom by the cliff edge. He didn't dare to pick it himself and informed a Master Li about the news.

After the Reishi mushroom was collected, Master Li deemed his information worth twenty taels of silver and recorded it for him.

When the reward was given, the apprentice was so happy he fainted. For the next ten days or so, he wouldn't have to go into the mountains and could rest directly at the camp.

The new and old apprentices heard the news and looked envious. When Yang Heng heard about it, he sighed inwardly, thinking that there really were people in the world with heaven-defying luck.

Where there was joy, there was inevitably sorrow.

Not every apprentice was as lucky as the one who found the Reishi mushroom.

An apprentice surnamed Zhang, while collecting herbs on the mountain, unfortunately encountered a wolf. The wolf bit off one of his arms. If the surrounding apprentices hadn't heard his cries for help and rushed over to drive the wolf away, he would have lost his life long ago.

But that was not his final fate.

When he went down the mountain, the masters determined that he had lost an arm and was no longer valuable to the pharmacy. They didn't even bandage his wound, expelled him from the camp, and left him to fend for himself.

This scene terrified all the new apprentices present. They hadn't expected the pharmacy to be so pragmatic and ruthless!

As for the old apprentices and the pharmacy disciples, they looked calm. Such events seemed to be commonplace in their eyes, nothing to be surprised about.

Yang Heng also hadn't expected the pharmacy to be so heartless and cold.

If he hadn't practiced martial arts, and this happened to him, what would he do in such a situation?

There was no solution; it was a dead end!

This scene taught Yang Heng a lesson, making him feel the cruelty of the world once again.

Those without value could only be eliminated.

Yang Heng took a deep breath, calmed his emotions, and stopped thinking about these things.

Now, only one strong thought existed in his mind: martial arts!

He had to cultivate diligently, strengthen himself, and never let such a thing happen to him.

At this moment, night fell, and the sky was pitch black.

After washing up, Yang Heng returned to his room and lay on his bed, closing his eyes, about to rest.

But just then, a commotion came from the adjacent room.

"Body search? Inspecting luggage?"

"Why search our bodies? Why inspect our belongings?" an apprentice shouted indignantly.

"Why?"

"Because you are people of the pharmacy! Do you dare not obey the pharmacy's orders? Are you looking for death!"

The people executing the search were all martial artists, subordinates of Master Lei. Normally, only Master Lei and Shopkeeper Chen could command them.

And at this moment, Shopkeeper Chen was not present.

Undoubtedly, they were carrying out Master Lei's orders.

Soon, a burly man violently pushed open the door to Yang Heng's room and strode in.

He was very tall, about two meters, and standing at the doorway, his shadow stretched long under the moonlight, like a giant, bringing an endless sense of oppression to everyone.

The few apprentices near the door trembled, their faces pale, as if they regarded the newcomer as a man-eating monster.

"Ah!"

An apprentice screamed, so frightened he fainted on the spot.

His scream startled several other apprentices into losing control of their bowels.

Instantly, the room was filled with the smell of urine.

Luo Hai was about to explain his purpose when this unexpected scene occurred.

What he found most unbearable was that an apprentice in a bunk directly facing the door was not wearing underwear. Yellow liquid shot towards his face like a spring, with incredible speed, making it impossible to guard against.

Fortunately, as a martial artist, his senses, eyesight, and speed were extraordinary. He quickly dodged to the side, avoiding this vile attack.

Luo Hai was instantly enraged. He took a step forward, grabbed the apprentice by his collar, and fiercely threw him out the door.

Boom!

The sound of a heavy object hitting the ground echoed. The apprentice hadn't recovered from his fright when he suddenly felt his body flying, his face getting closer and closer to the ground.

He was terrified and wanted to do something, but he was powerless.

He smashed face-first onto the ground.

The impact left him bruised and swollen, blood gushing from his nose and mouth, quickly staining the ground a bright red.

In the darkness of night, it was incredibly stark.

Luo Hai, still not satisfied, took two quick steps to the apprentice's side and stomped fiercely on his back several more times.

Crack, crack.

The sound of bone breaking echoed.

Luo Hai's attack was brutal. He didn't stop until the apprentice was barely clinging to life.

Witnessing this, everyone present was stunned by Luo Hai's ruthless methods.

Next, Luo Hai meticulously searched everyone's belongings and person, but he didn't find what he was looking for.

He shook his head and walked out the door with a dejected expression.

Master Lei had ordered them to search the pharmacy apprentices and inspect all their belongings for a small, silvery-white grass.

He also made a promise: whoever found this small, silvery-white grass and handed it over to him, he would do his utmost to help them break through to the Blood Strengthening Realm.

Upon hearing this, the guards immediately sprang into action, swarming into the room where the apprentices were.

After Luo Hai left, several more people came to check, but they still found nothing and reluctantly turned to leave.

This commotion lasted for more than half an hour, only ending at midnight.

The excuse these people used for their search was that Master Lei had lost a precious item and they were looking for it here.

Yang Heng knew very well that they were looking for the Intermittent Flower.

If nothing unexpected happened, the presence that made him feel threatened that morning was precisely Master Lei.

In the entire camp, only Master Lei, who was in the Blood Strengthening Realm, could make him feel threatened.

Master Lei must have learned about the Intermittent Flower from the pharmacy masters and rushed over, only to find that Yang Heng had gotten there first.

Master Lei suspected that one of the pharmacy apprentices might have picked the flower, hence his order to search.

Otherwise, things wouldn't have coincided so perfectly, with several events happening on the same day.

Yang Heng was glad he had a clear head and hadn't brought the Intermittent Flower back, otherwise, it would have been dangerous.

Judging by Master Lei's actions, the Intermittent Flower was very important to him.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone to such great lengths.

Although the Intermittent Flower was rare, it wasn't an essential item for most people.

Only those suffering from internal injuries would desperately need it.

Yang Heng guessed that Master Lei likely had internal injuries and urgently needed the Intermittent Flower for treatment.

Thinking of this, Yang Heng's eyes lit up.

He had found a way to join the Medicine King Gang, and it lay with Master Lei.

He could exchange the Intermittent Flower with Master Lei for a voucher to join the Medicine King Gang.

Of course, all this would have to wait until he broke through to the Blood Strengthening Realm, to prevent Master Lei from betraying him.