After entering the city, Li Qing immediately had Qi Kang change clothes, doing his best to make sure no one could tell he had once been a refugee.
Before the curfew, the two booked two fine rooms at an inn in the city. Perhaps because of the war, the two rooms did not cost much.
Having brought back a great pile of gold, silver, and valuables from the Eternal Night World, Li Qing could now be called a genuinely wealthy man. This money was enough to support his martial arts training for a long time.
If he ever ran short of money, Li Qing could simply return to the Eternal Night World and plunder more. In that world, where food was in extreme shortage, things like gold, silver, and treasures had become utterly worthless.
Early the next morning, Li Qing sent Qi Kang out to gather information about the city's current situation.
As for himself, he took some money to a medicine hall within the city.
"Shopkeeper, do you have these medicinal ingredients?" Saying this, Li Qing handed over a slip of paper listing some brewing materials for two wine recipes.
Without even raising his head, the medicine hall's shopkeeper accepted the paper Li Qing handed him. After taking one glance at it, he froze, then slowly lifted his head to look at Li Qing.
"Oh, honored guest, you're truly making things difficult for me. My Hundred Herbs Hall has been in Wangyuan City for so many years, yet I only have a few of the ingredients you want." The shopkeeper gave an awkward smile.
Li Qing had never expected to gather all the ingredients at once. Without surprise, he said, "Then bring me whichever ones your shop has. I'll take them all."
Not long afterward, the medicine hall's shopkeeper nimbly brought out the few medicinal ingredients his shop had in stock.
"Honored guest, my sealwort is a fine fifty-year-old product, so the price will be a little higher. What do you think?"
Saying this, the shopkeeper displayed the sealwort he had brought over.
This piece of sealwort was somewhat dried up and shaped like ginger, but its surface was covered in quite a few rootlets.
Smack!
Li Qing directly slapped a Gold Leaf onto the table and said in a deep voice, "Hurry up and wrap everything for me."
"Certainly!" At the sight of the gleaming Gold Leaf, the shopkeeper's eyes lit up, and he eagerly agreed.
Just as he briskly wrapped the goods, Li Qing casually asked, "Shopkeeper, do you know where I can generally buy the medicinal ingredients I'm looking for?"
The busy shopkeeper answered without even thinking, "Fengzhou, Quanshan City. That place is full of deep mountains and ancient forests. More than half of Feng Kingdom's herbal medicines are dug up there."
"Apart from Quanshan City, there's also Sheng Tian, the imperial capital of Feng Kingdom. As the foremost place under heaven, its reputation isn't just empty talk."
Quanshan City. Imperial Capital Shengtian.
Li Qing silently committed these two places to memory. To gather the ingredients for the two wine recipes, a trip to both places was unavoidable.
Quanshan City in Fengzhou was extremely far from Wangyuan City, located in the southwest of Feng Kingdom. To get there, he would have to cross several provinces, and the journey would take a very long time.
Imperial Capital Shengtian, on the other hand, was also far from Wangyuan City, but it lay in the heart of Feng Kingdom. Getting there would at least be somewhat closer.
Thus, Li Qing chose Sheng Tian as his next destination.
In but a moment, the medicine hall's shopkeeper had carefully wrapped all the medicinal ingredients Li Qing wanted in kraft paper.
As he handed them to Li Qing, he did not forget to remind him, "Honored guest, although I don't know what you need these medicinal ingredients for, I must remind you of one thing. Among the names you gave me just now, two are highly poisonous substances. It's best to be careful."
The highly poisonous substances were naturally the two ingredients needed for Five Poisons Blood Activating Wine. Li Qing calmly said, "I know what I'm doing. There's no need to trouble the shopkeeper with concern."
As the words fell, Li Qing left the Gold Leaf on the table, picked up the medicinal ingredients, and departed.
Repeating this process, Li Qing visited all the remaining herbal medicine shops in the city.
But unfortunately, the supplies of these medicine shops seemed to come from the same source, and the kinds of medicinal ingredients they offered overlapped with those available at Hundred Herbs Hall.
After visiting several shops in succession, he only managed to collect one additional Old Camphor Root. He found none of the other ingredients.
Seeing that the border region's variety of herbs was so desperately lacking, Li Qing had already made up his mind to visit Imperial Capital Shengtian as soon as possible.
When he returned to the inn, Qi Kang had already come back after gathering information.
After bathing again and changing into fresh clothes, Qi Kang no longer looked the least bit like a refugee. Instead, he appeared quite neat and refreshed. Aside from being somewhat sallow and thin, there were practically no flaws.
Qi Kang honestly said to Li Qing, "Young master, I visited several taverns to ask around. The city's defending force is currently the Wu Li Army. They fought Liang Kingdom's men just the day before yesterday. Because of harassment from bandits, neither side won that battle."
Upon hearing the words Wu Li Army, neither Li Qing's heart nor expression stirred in the slightest. Not a trace of unusual expression appeared on his face.
He had expected this long ago.
Before traveling to the Eternal Night World to escape the chaos of war, he had already known that the Wu Li Army had rushed to the Border Fortress as reinforcements. He was not surprised at all that they were now clashing with Liang Kingdom's army.
Li Qing nodded, signaling Qi Kang to continue.
"Apart from that, the city's residents are free to leave through the western gate. In fact, not many residents have evacuated during this period. The number is about the same as usual, and merchant caravans even arrive from time to time! Everyone has great confidence in the Wu Li Army."
As he said these words, Qi Kang carefully studied Li Qing's expression, seemingly trying to see something on his face.
Yet Li Qing remained incomparably calm, without much surprise.
After all, the Wu Li Army was one of Feng Kingdom's pillars holding back the sea. Most of its members practiced martial arts, while Centurions and commanders of a thousand men were even experts who had cultivated Outer Strength and Internal Energy.
If such combat power could not even hold a single Wangyuan City, then Feng Kingdom might as well declare its defeat in advance.
"Mm. As long as we can leave the city, that's enough. Rest and recover properly for one more day today. We'll leave Wangyuan City tomorrow," Li Qing said.
Upon hearing these words, Qi Kang's mouth fell open. He said, "Young master, you don't need to gather any more information about Wangyuan City? Wouldn't it be difficult to report back like this?"
Li Qing was stunned. He said, "Report back to whom? I only came to Wangyuan City to resupply, then pass through and head for the imperial capital to live out the rest of my days in peace."
"Ah?" Qi Kang was dumbfounded. Embarrassed, he said, "I-I thought you were a spy sent by Liang Kingdom, young master."
As he spoke those last words, Qi Kang lowered his voice to an extreme, afraid someone might hear him.
Li Qing immediately found himself caught between tears and laughter.
"How did I make you think I was a spy?"
"Didn't you say yesterday that you wanted to sneak into Wangyuan City? And today, you had me go out to gather information about the city." Realizing he had made a complete blunder, Qi Kang was too embarrassed to continue.
For a moment, Li Qing was struck speechless before laughing.
"Enough, don't overthink it. Tomorrow, buy two horses in the city, then we'll leave. There's no need to remain in Wangyuan City for too long."