Old Shopkeeper Zhao's Suggestion

Ye Qin stroked the smooth White Jade Embryo and pondered for a moment.

"How much is this White Jade Embryo?"

"The whole White Jade Embryo costs thirty Gold Leaves. The price is firm."

"Thirty Gold Leaves? Isn't that expensive?"

"A treasure like this, displayed as the shop's centerpiece, is naturally costly. A piece this large and intact is extremely rare."

Old Shopkeeper Zhao chuckled as he watched Ye Qin, even the corners of his eyes crinkling with amusement.

Under his gaze, that loathsome feeling welled up in Ye Qin again. He suppressed his disgust and quickly did the math. Thirty Gold Leaves equaled three thousand Silver Leaves. The hundred or so Silver Leaves in his pocket were no more than a drop in the bucket—not even enough to buy a small corner of the White Jade Embryo. There was no way he could afford it just by gathering herbs.

He had dared to ask about the price at this jade shop in Zhuqi County only because he still had dozens of rare Dew Grass plants worth a great deal, each one worth quite a bit. If he could find a buyer and sell them, he should have enough money to buy a jade stone containing spiritual energy. Then he could use the White Jade Embryo to cultivate more Dew Grass.

He simply hadn't expected the centerpiece of the Spring Jade Shop to be a sizable Spirit Stone, but priced at a staggering thirty Gold Leaves. That sum would nearly buy all the Dew Grass he had.

Ye Qin didn't agree to anything right away. He first needed to find a buyer for his Dew Grass, then carefully consider whether he wanted to purchase this costly White Jade Embryo. "I'm fairly satisfied with this White Jade Embryo. However, I'd like to discuss something with Shopkeeper Zhao. I can't come up with that much money all at once, so I hope you'll hold off on selling this jade stone for a while. Once I've saved enough, I'll come back for it."

Old Shopkeeper Zhao waved for the maid to leave the inner room, then sat down in a sandalwood chair beside the tea table. He took out an old tobacco pipe, lit it, and drew deeply. "That's easy enough. If you want to buy it, young Ye, I'll do my best to hold it for you. A treasure like this can sit unsold for a year or even longer, so waiting half a month won't matter. But there's something I'm not sure whether I ought to say." He fell into thought, then turned his smiling eyes toward Ye Qin again.

Ye Qin didn't take up Old Shopkeeper Zhao's cue. He'd long suspected the old man had something to tell him, but hadn't said it outright. Now Old Shopkeeper Zhao was deliberately baiting him, hoping he'd ask first. Ye Qin found the old fox's manner irritating. He pretended not to hear and didn't give him an opening.

Old Shopkeeper Zhao deliberately paused for a short while. When Ye Qin still didn't respond, he grew slightly awkward, coughed, and continued at his own leisurely pace. "Actually, young Ye, you don't have to use money to buy these two jade stones from me. If you're willing, you can trade herbs, medicine, or the like for them."

A flash of wary light crossed Ye Qin's eyes. He sprang to his feet.

He hadn't expected Old Shopkeeper Zhao to have this in mind. Buying and selling herbs privately with outsiders was a grave taboo in the Herb Gathering Hall.

Herbs gathered by disciples were not allowed to be sold privately. They had to be handed over to the Herb Gathering Hall's inner division, where its medicine-making disciples turned them into finished medicine. The Herb Gathering Hall then submitted the herbs and medicines to the Medicine King Gang, whose shops set the prices and sold them at a premium throughout Ping Province.

As the fifth-largest gang in Ping Province, with herbs and medicine as its main business, the Medicine King Gang had grown powerful on the enormous profits from medicine. Naturally, it cracked down harshly on anyone inside the gang who traded herbs or medicine in secret.

Among the ten major offenses listed in the Medicine King Gang's rules, secretly trading herbs ranked just below betraying the gang or one's sect.

If a disciple secretly traded with outsiders and was caught, the punishment was always severe. In the Herb Gathering Hall's torture chamber, as many as eight or nine out of every ten victims had been skinned and dismembered, then tortured to death as they bled out for secretly selling herbs or medicine.

Ye Qin had spent four or five years in the Herb Gathering Hall. How could he not know how strict its rules were? How could he not know how vicious and chillingly cruel its punishments were for disciples who traded in secret?

His first reaction was to leave the Spring Jade Shop at once and avoid getting involved.

Old Shopkeeper Zhao sat at his ease in his chair, giving his old tobacco pipe a shake. He chuckled coldly. "Young Ye, there's no need to pretend. We both know the score. You're an outer hall herb-gathering disciple. Even if you worked yourself to death for twenty or thirty years, you probably couldn't earn enough to buy this White Jade Embryo. Apart from secretly selling herbs or medicine, what other way could you make that kind of money? Since you're already here, why don't we talk it over? This stays between heaven and earth, you and me. As long as it never reaches a third person's ears, no one will ever find out. What are you worried about?"

Ye Qin stood coldly by the inner room's doorway. In the end, he still didn't step outside.

But fury had already risen to the brim in his heart.

He wasn't angry because Old Shopkeeper Zhao had urged him to sell herbs in secret.

He was angry because he'd already wanted to sell herbs in secret himself.

Otherwise, where would he get the money to buy a Spirit Stone?

But could he tell another person about this?

No. Absolutely not.

This was something only he could know. He could never let anyone else find out. He trusted that he could keep his own mouth shut, but he would never trust someone else not to spill the secret.

His anger came mostly from the humiliation of having someone lay bare a deed he'd wanted to do in the dark.

Ye Qin quickly weighed how to handle the situation. For an instant, a murderous thought even flashed through his mind, but he soon dismissed it. Old Shopkeeper Zhao had run a jade shop in Zhuqi County for a long time, and his connections were probably formidable. Killing him rashly might only drag Ye Qin into even greater trouble.

Ye Qin couldn't help thinking that his experience in the martial world was still lacking. The old owner of a jade shop had so easily seen through his intentions.

On closer thought, his actions really had been suspicious.

A young herb-gathering disciple barely sixteen years old could have, at most, a little money—one or two Gold Leaves. He might be able to afford a cheap jade pendant or two, but how could he dare to buy the treasure displayed in a jade shop, priced at thirty Gold Leaves?

It only took a little scrutiny to see that something was wrong with him. The old shopkeeper had recognized him as a disciple of the Herb Gathering Hall and seen through his intention to sell herbs in secret for the same reason. This was a lesson: he couldn't be so careless in the future!

The most important thing now was how to deal with the situation in front of him.