Several days later, deep within the Yanxia Sect warehouse.
A huge pile of Yellow Sprout Rice had been casually heaped on the ground into several small hills five or six meters tall.
In a corner, Zhang Lang and Li Huan, two Alchemy Apprentices in their forties, sat resting in bamboo chairs.
"Brother Zhang, are we really doing this?" Li Huan asked nervously, clutching a wooden box.
"Now that it's come to this, you want to back out?" Zhang Lang frowned.
"But if something happens to Senior Brother Chen, we..." Li Huan still hesitated.
"He only has himself to blame for not knowing his place!" Zhang Lang said bitterly. "He actually dared to reject Vice Dean Sun's recruitment!"
Seeing Li Huan unable to make up his mind, Zhang Lang sighed. "We're only Alchemy Apprentices. Caught in the middle like this, what else can we do?!"
"You can't afford to offend Senior Brother Chen, but you dare offend Vice Dean Sun?"
"Compared to the isolated Chen Mu, following Vice Dean Sun is obviously the better deal."
"Ugh... what a pointless disaster!" Li Huan sighed dejectedly.
A flicker of amusement passed through Zhang Lang's eyes.
"Don't be afraid."
"This isn't the first time we've delivered Essence of Five Grains."
"In the past, Chen Mu only checked the weight of the Essence of Five Grains. He never inspected it closely."
He opened the brown wooden box on the low table beside him. Inside, palm-sized little boxes, each as deep as a fist, were neatly arranged.
He took out one of the small boxes and opened it for Li Huan to see.
"I even covered the top layer with normal concentrate. There's no need to fear his inspection."
When Li Huan said nothing, Zhang Lang put away the box and said flatly, "We've already accepted