A medicine fair like this was a rare sight in Ping Province, appearing only once every ten or twenty years. Only a large gang like the Medicine King Gang had the standing to host one.
In the past, the Medicine King Gang had always held these fairs directly in Ping Province's capital. This year, however, for reasons no one knew, they had decided to hold it in Zhuqi County, the most remote county in Ping Province.
It was said that Hall Master Li, the Philanthropist, had fought hard to persuade the Medicine King Gang's leader. If a grand fair like this could be held in Zhuqi County, it would undoubtedly raise the standing of the Herb Gathering Hall there in the martial world.
This medicinal goods and herbs trade fair had naturally caused a sensation among the martial artists of Ping Province, who came streaming in from all directions.
Secret manuals, treasured weapons and armor, and medicine had always been the three essentials of the martial world.
Secret manuals were usually kept under lock and key. Few people would sell them unless they were utterly destitute. Treasured weapons and armor were hard to come by and required a master weaponsmith to forge, so they were traded in small quantities. Only medicine was in enormous demand; gangs of every size needed it.
Who could walk the martial world without taking a blade? And once you took a blade, you needed medicine to save your life. Beyond life-saving remedies, there were also rare medicines that could strengthen one's inner cultivation—treasures that martial artists chased after like mad.
It was hardly surprising that Zhuqi County had recently seen a flood of martial artists arriving from all over Ping Province.
The fair was still three or four months away. Many of those already in Zhuqi County were staff sent ahead by the major gangs to arrange lodging and meals. The true upper ranks of those gangs had yet to arrive.
The real flood of martial artists would come about half a month before the trade fair began.
The Herb Gathering Hall in Zhuqi County, as the Medicine King Gang's local branch, had already begun preparing for this rare gathering, unseen for more than a decade.
Many of the Herb Gathering Hall's senior Herb Gathering Artisans were still away, leaving the hall short-handed. Hall Master Li had decided that the disciples who gathered herbs should stop going out and instead assign as many people as possible to keep order in the county.
Herbalist Wang told Ye Qin that he could stop going out to gather herbs for the time being. He was to stay in the hall and do odd jobs, awaiting orders.
Ye Qin immediately nodded in agreement, then respectfully took his leave of Herbalist Wang's residence.
He was respectful to Herbalist Wang only on the surface. He felt no closeness toward him. Their relationship was less that of master and disciple than hired hand and employer: one worked himself to the bone while the other sat back and collected the money.
Ye Qin had been at the Herb Gathering Hall for three or four years and had long since learned that there was no affection between the upper ranks and their subordinates. Almost everything was measured in money. If he failed to gather herbs and earn money, the harshest punishment awaited him. In the Herb Gathering Hall, unless people had studied under the same master or were already acquainted, there was usually little warmth between them.
With no need to rush off into the mountains to gather herbs, Ye Qin felt some of the weight on his shoulders lift. He returned to the stone house in the little courtyard where the herb-gathering disciples lived.
Herb-gathering apprentices weren't allowed to have rooms of their own, so he still shared with Yang Yicheng and Feng Xiao. The male and female apprentices had long since been separated, however, and Qian Ruoxiu and Sun Ying had settled into the stone house next door. Quite a few Herb Gathering Apprentices and herb-gathering disciples had died over the past few years, so the courtyard's stone houses were more than enough; it was far from crowded.
As Ye Qin returned to the courtyard, he couldn't help feeling wistful. He had been away for more than half a year, and the place had begun to feel unfamiliar.
Suddenly, he heard voices arguing up ahead.
Four people stood in the courtyard, two men and two women, apparently in the middle of a dispute.
One was a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old youth whose muscles bulged like iron knots. Fury filled his eyes, and his iron palms kept clenching into fists as he shouted something, looking ready to swing at someone.
Another was a short, sixteen- or seventeen-year-old youth with quick, darting eyes. His tone was hesitant.
A girl of sixteen or seventeen in a blue-green robe stood with a frost of anger on her delicate face, her expression resolute.
The last was a petite girl of fifteen or sixteen in a yellow robe, her hair tied into two little braids. A sharp sword was strapped to her back. Her eyes were swollen and red, and tears still clung to her cheeks. She looked utterly aggrieved.
Ye Qin paused in surprise. Weren't those Yang Yicheng, Feng Xiao, Qian Ruoxiu, and Sun Ying? What a coincidence, running into them as soon as he got back. In the half year since they had last met, Yang Yicheng and Feng Xiao had grown much taller. The two girls, Qian Ruoxiu and Sun Ying, already carried themselves like young heroines of the martial world.
But what had happened to them?
Ye Qin calmly walked over.
Sun Ying was sniffling. When she saw Ye Qin, delighted surprise lit up her face. "Second Senior Brother?! Second Senior Brother is back! That's wonderful—we have another person on our side now. Second Senior Brother, you have to help me!"
Yang Yicheng, Feng Xiao, and Qian Ruoxiu saw him too.
Only Qian Ruoxiu merely nodded in greeting.
"So what if Second Senior Brother is back? With his skills, can he beat those disciples from the Inner Hall? What difference does it make if there are four of us or five? One less person might even mean one less burden. If we can't win and have to run, we'll be able to move faster."
Feng Xiao shrugged, looking contemptuous.
"Third Brother, is that any way to talk to Second Brother?" Yang Yicheng glared at Feng Xiao, then called out to Ye Qin, "Second Brother, it's good that you're back. Having another person means we'll have a little more strength when the time comes."
Ye Qin nodded to him, then turned to Sun Ying.
"Fifth Junior Sister, what happened?"
"What else? Those bastards from the Inner Hall! Yesterday, Fifth Junior Sister went out with a few junior sisters from the Outer Hall and ran into some Inner Hall disciples. Taking advantage of their numbers, they actually made lewd remarks to her. If I'd been there, I'd have smashed those bastards to death with one punch!"
Yang Yicheng angrily explained on Sun Ying's behalf.
"Oh, something like that happened?"
A cold glint entered Ye Qin's eyes, and his voice turned noticeably icy. "Then what's there to think about? Let's find a chance to teach them a lesson! Do they think Outer Hall disciples are raised on vegetables?"
He wasn't someone who liked to stir up trouble. Often, even when trouble came looking for him, he would swallow his anger rather than react too strongly. But when something happened to his fellow senior or junior disciples, he couldn't just stand by.
In all of Zhuqi County, he had only a handful of people he could call companions. Whatever conflicts the five of them had had in the past, those were matters between fellow disciples—not an excuse for outsiders to bully them. He couldn't stand by and let outsiders trample on his companions.
"Second Senior Brother, you know what those Inner Hall disciples are like. They've studied more techniques than we have since they were little. When we learn one, they learn two; when we're learning beginner martial arts, they're already learning intermediate ones. How are we supposed to fight them? Just look at the five of us. Eldest Senior Brother and Fourth and Fifth Junior Sisters study external martial arts and swordplay, so they can manage. But the two of us—one studies lightness skills, and the other studies techniques that are useless in a fight. We can't beat them. If the five of us go looking for trouble, all we'll do is walk straight into a beating."
Feng Xiao couldn't help speaking up.
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