Before Ye Tong's stall, Wu Haichang's casual gaze swept over the jade bottles before finally settling on the medicinal meal Ye Tong held in his hands. The rich fragrance made his appetite stir. He glanced at the iron pot and asked, "Is the medicinal meal for sale?"
"Not for sale!" Medicine Slave answered without even raising his head.
Wu Haichang frowned slightly. "If I buy pills, can I have a bowl of medicinal meal?"
Medicine Slave looked at Ye Tong.
Ye Tong said calmly, "No."
Wu Haichang stared at Ye Tong, then suddenly grinned. "Little brother, since you're staying at the Peach Garden Inn, I assume you aren't local to the prefectural city?"
"Are you trying to threaten me?" Ye Tong asked.
"This..." Wu Haichang was left speechless. That had indeed been what he meant.
Ye Tong shook his head and sighed. "Today's medicinal meal cannot be eaten by anyone except me. It isn't that I don't want to sell it to you. After all, who would push away a profitable business for no reason?"
Wu Haichang froze, then asked doubtfully, "What do you mean?"
Ye Tong thought for a moment and said, "Ten taels of blue silver, and I'll clear up your confusion."
"You..."
Wu Haichang flew into a rage, but his self-restraint was fairly decent. He glared at Ye Tong and said, "Seeing as you're young, I won't lower myself to your level. Blue silver is no problem, but you must give me an explanation. If I'm not satisfied with it, don't blame me for bullying you outsiders."
"Fine!" Ye Tong said with an indifferent smile.
Wu Haichang took out ten taels of blue silver and tossed them onto the stall. "Explain!"
Ye Tong picked a grass root from his bowl and asked, "Do you know medicinal ingredients? Do you recognize what this is?"
Wu Haichang frowned and examined it carefully for a moment before sneering. "Putting on a mysterious act. It's just an ordinary medicinal herb. What is there to talk about?"
"No!"
An elderly man who had just arrived beside him revealed a horrified expression. Staring fixedly at the grass root, he said, "This is Hundred Corpse Root. It contains a deadly poison. Even a Sabertooth Wolf would be poisoned to death in the blink of an eye after swallowing a single drop of its venom. Young lad, have you gone mad? You actually put something this poisonous into medicinal food?"
The old man's words made Wu Haichang's expression change drastically. He did not recognize Hundred Corpse Root, but he had certainly heard of it!
Ye Tong smiled and nodded. "Old sir, you are indeed broadly knowledgeable."
As he spoke, Ye Tong picked a worm out of the bowl and looked at Wu Haichang. "Do you know what this is?"
Once Wu Haichang recognized the poisonous insect, he instantly staggered several steps back. He looked at Ye Tong in horror and said, "You really are mad! This is a Blood Centipede! You, you, you... Is this medicinal meal meant to nourish the body, or is it poison for suicide?"
Ye Tong did not answer his question. Instead, he asked with a smile, "Do you still think those ten taels of blue silver were wasted?"
"Gulp..." Wu Haichang swallowed, shaking his head repeatedly in lingering fear. He had not lived long enough yet. If this youth had really given him a bowl of medicinal meal just now, he would probably already have been poisoned to death.
But this youth had clearly drunk the medicinal meal. Why was he all right? Could there be something strange about it?
Wu Haichang was a shrewd man. After a moment of silence, he said, "You're using poisonous roots and insects to scare me. This medicinal meal has actually been treated and is no longer poisonous, right?"
Ye Tong had not expected the man before him to remain unconvinced. Was he truly so obsessed with delicious food?
Wu Haichang said again, "Name your price. I'll buy a bowl of medicinal meal. Whether it contains poison or not will be clear after one taste."
Ye Tong turned to Medicine Slave and asked, "How much blue silver did we pay to stay at the Peach Garden Inn?"
"Three thousand taels," Medicine Slave said.
Ye Tong looked at Wu Haichang and shrugged. "You heard him, right? If you're willing to pay three thousand taels of blue silver, I can give you a bowl. As for whether you'll still be alive after drinking it, that has nothing to do with me."
"Don't try it," the old man beside them suddenly said.
Wu Haichang suppressed his anger and asked, "Why?"
The old man scrutinized Ye Tong carefully. After hesitating, he said, "There's something wrong with this young lad. He..."
"What is wrong with him?" Wu Haichang asked.
The old man shook his head and gave a bitter smile. "Perhaps I guessed wrong. In any case, I advise you not to try it. Spending money to buy death is a foolish thing to do."
Wu Haichang said angrily, "Who says I'll die? Three thousand taels of blue silver, right? No problem. Here are banknotes worth three thousand taels of blue silver. If I test it afterward and this medicinal meal isn't poisonous, I'll make you regret it."
"Ah, so early in the morning, and already such bad luck!" Ye Tong looked at Wu Haichang as though he were looking at a dead man.
Wu Haichang turned around and gave several quiet instructions to someone beside him. That person immediately hurried away. When Wu Haichang received a bowl of medicinal meal, he did not drink it. He merely stared quietly into the bowl, as though waiting for something.
After Ye Tong finished two bowls of medicinal meal, he handed the bowl to Medicine Slave. Then he looked at the dozen or so people who had gathered around and said flatly, "If you're here to watch the excitement, please make way. I'm selling pills here, so please don't hinder my business."
Upon hearing Ye Tong's words, the dozen or so onlookers immediately stepped back.
The old man did not retreat. When his gaze shifted to the jade bottles, his eyes lit up. After seeing the words engraved upon them clearly, he asked, "Are the words engraved on the jade bottles the names of the pills?"
"Yes," Ye Tong answered without hesitation.
The old man picked up a bottle, removed the stopper, and sniffed it. He immediately said in surprise, "They really are Qi Gathering Pills? And the quality seems quite good. How many Qi Gathering Pills are in this bottle? What is the price?"
Ye Tong said, "Ten pills per bottle, sold only by the bottle. Eight thousand taels of blue silver in total."
"So cheap?" the old man asked in surprise.
Cheap? Ye Tong revealed a strange expression and said, "All right, I remembered wrong. One bottle is ten thousand taels of blue silver."
"Cough, cough..."
The old man nearly failed to catch his breath and coughed repeatedly. Looking at Ye Tong, he almost wanted to slap him. Was there really someone who raised prices on the spot like this nowadays? Just because he had said it was cheap?
"Eight thousand taels. I'll buy it," the old man said.
"Ten thousand taels. I won't sell for less," Ye Tong replied without changing expression.
"Consider this old man's mouth cheap!" The old man looked utterly defeated as he directly took out four banknotes, each worth ten thousand taels of blue silver. "Are the other pills the same?"
Ye Tong said, "There are four types of pills. Each bottle contains ten, and they are all priced the same."
"I'll buy one bottle of each. Keep the banknotes," the old man said.
A great opening to the business left Ye Tong rather satisfied. "Originally, I would have charged an additional thousand taels of blue silver for each jade bottle. But since you're my first customer, I'll waive it for you."
"Waive your head!" The old man rolled his eyes, took the four bottles of pills, and turned to leave. But after walking more than ten meters away, he seemed to think of something. He turned around and returned, standing nearby to watch Wu Haichang. He wanted to know whether that bowl of medicinal meal really contained poison.
Very soon, the person who had left returned, leading a fat pig.
Wu Haichang handed the bowl to him and said in a deep voice, "Force this bowl of medicinal meal into its belly."
Using a pig to test for poison? Everyone suddenly understood, each of them finding it rather amusing.
After a bowl of medicinal meal was forced into the pig's belly, the animal shuddered violently several times within only a few breaths. Then it crashed to the ground, blood flowing from all seven orifices.
"It died?" The crowd looked at one another, their faces all revealing horror.
The backs of their necks felt chilly as they thought that, if they had eaten that fragrant medicinal meal, their fate would probably not have been much better than the pig's.
Wu Haichang's heart turned even colder. As the saying went, one would not give up until reaching the Yellow River. Seeing the pig poisoned alive at last made him understand that Ye Tong had been right: the medicinal meal contained deadly poison. But why was Ye Tong all right?
The old man moved closer to the stall and asked with narrowed eyes, "Young man, what exactly is wrong with your body?"
Ye Tong lied with his eyes wide open. "I'm immune to all poisons. This medicinal meal is poison to all of you, but nourishment to me. Old sir, are you satisfied with my answer?"
The old man frowned. "Not quite."
Ye Tong said irritably, "Curiosity killed the cat. Old sir, take it easy."
The old man discovered that he simply could not speak properly with Ye Tong. With a cold snort, he turned and walked into the distance, inwardly planning to send someone to investigate Ye Tong's background after returning.
Over the entire day, Ye Tong sold only a little less than half of his pills.
The next day.
After Ye Tong finished his medicinal meal, he set up his stall once more to sell pills.
"Huh? This fellow actually set his stall out again. Doesn't he know that if a scammer keeps swindling people in the same place, once he is exposed, he'll be beaten to death?" The two young men who had passed by yesterday returned. The one who looked honest and simple said this.
The young man with a scar at the corner of his eye curled his lip. "There are plenty of brainless idiots these days, not to mention a brat whose hair hasn't even fully grown in. Come on, why should we care about him?"
The two shook their heads and left together.
Around noon.
"It's over there." A booming voice rang out nearby, followed by four or five young men striding over.
Ye Tong looked them over and asked, "Gentlemen, are you here to buy pills?"
The young man in embroidered robes at the lead wore an arrogant expression. He snorted through his nostrils and asked, "I heard that the pills you sell here cost ten thousand taels of blue silver per bottle? Ten pills?"
"Yes." Ye Tong nodded.
The young man in embroidered robes said, "Do me a favor. One thousand taels per bottle."
Ye Tong asked curiously, "Is your face worth that much? Is it worth nine thousand taels of blue silver?"
The young man in embroidered robes failed to hear the mockery in Ye Tong's words. Arrogantly, he said, "I am Little Tyrant Gao Hu, a famous figure in this prefectural city. Naturally, my face is valuable. Some people want to curry favor with me, yet I can't even be bothered to acknowledge them! You lot, what are you still standing there for? Pack up all the pills on this stall for me."
"Hold it." Ye Tong rose to his feet and said calmly, "Others currying favor with you is their business. In my eyes, your face isn't worth a single coin. If you want to buy pills, bring money. If you don't have money, don't swagger around here acting tyrannical."
Hearing Ye Tong's words, Little Tyrant Gao Hu flew into a rage, as though he had suffered some tremendous humiliation. He cursed, "Damned bastard, I think you're courting death."
Pop... Ye Tong pulled the stopper from a jade bottle.
Before you continue