Name

Faced with Song Huai's questioning, an embarrassed smile surfaced on Xie Shu's face.

"You know as well as I do that Young Master Wu has always held control over the guards. Recently, in order to capture that thief, a great number of guards have been deployed throughout the Medicine Hall, inside and out. I truly cannot spare even a single man."

Seeing Song Huai's expression grow increasingly displeased, Xie Shu hurriedly changed tack:

"But rest assured, though he is an apprentice, he is by no means an ordinary one. This child is not only diligent and driven, but also quite knowledgeable about medicinal herbs.

A few days ago, he alone sorted out the entire stockpile of herbs in the rear courtyard warehouse.

Keep him on for a few days and give him a try. If you are still dissatisfied by then, I will immediately transfer a guard over for you. What do you say?"

Song Huai's expression changed several times before he finally let out a deep sigh. "Since you, Shopkeeper Xie, have put it this way, even if I do not wish to agree, I can only agree for now."

Delight appeared on Xie Shu's face as he hurriedly shot Jiang Feng a look.

Jiang Feng caught the meaning at once. He strode forward, cupped his fists, and bowed. "I have long heard of Master Song's great name. This humble one is Jiang—"

Before he could finish, Song Huai impatiently waved him off.

"Enough, enough. No need to spout that useless nonsense. I have no interest in knowing your name. Just do your work properly here."

Jiang Feng's expression stiffened slightly, and he felt somewhat awkward, but he quickly returned to normal.

He had only heard before that Song Huai had a strange temperament. Now that he had met the True Person himself, he could not help gaining a few fresh impressions of that assessment.

Xie Shu exchanged a few more polite pleasantries with Song Huai before taking his leave. Only Jiang Feng and Song Huai remained in the room.

Song Huai pulled a small booklet from his robes, one so worn it was nearly falling apart, and casually tossed it before Jiang Feng. His voice was icy to the extreme:

"This book contains every medicinal herb found here, as well as the special materials needed for alchemy. I am giving you two days to memorize all of it. I will test you on the third day. If you fail, go back wherever you came from."

There was not a trace of warmth in his tone. Clearly, he had not taken a single word of Xie Shu's earlier praise to heart.

In his eyes, Jiang Feng was merely a pawn Xie Shu had pushed forward out of desperation. He was only reluctantly playing along this once for the sake of their past friendship.

Jiang Feng said nothing more. He obediently picked up the tattered booklet, turned, walked to a corner of the room, and sat cross-legged on the floor to begin reading it carefully.

At a glance, it was clear that countless people had thumbed through this booklet. Nearly every page was densely covered in notes left by previous readers, complete with illustrations.

Jiang Feng recognized many of the herbs within. After all, he had single-handedly sorted out an entire warehouse of medicinal herbs a few days earlier, forcibly raising his Herb Identification Art to a high level.

At this moment, he merely skimmed through the book from beginning to end, yet he had already committed seven or eight tenths of its contents to memory.

But he did not speak of it. Song Huai looked like a rigid and exacting sort; Jiang Feng feared that if he failed to remember even one word, the man would make trouble on the spot. Thus, Jiang Feng did not grow impatient. Just as he had practiced cultivation techniques before, he held the book and read through it again and again, tirelessly repeating the process.

Meanwhile, Song Huai had already begun refining his second batch of pills.

Perhaps it was because of his preconceived impression, but he disliked Jiang Feng from the bottom of his heart.

At this moment, Jiang Feng's page-turning was clearly not loud, yet to Song Huai's ears, it was especially grating and unbearable.

I might as well send him straight to the woodshed to stay with those servants for three days. Once the three days are up, he will be replaced anyway. Keeping him here only makes him an eyesore.

With that thought in mind, he made up his mind to drive Jiang Feng out once this second batch of pills was finished.

Yet as time trickled away, the room gradually fell silent. The irritating sound of turning pages suddenly vanished, and Song Huai found himself somewhat unaccustomed to it instead.

Sure enough, he is a worthless wretch with no perseverance. How long has it been? He has already given up?

For someone both untalented and lazy, Song Huai wished he could throw him out of the small courtyard right now. He turned to look behind him, only to find Jiang Feng had already risen from the corner and returned to his original position, waiting for orders.

Song Huai asked coldly, "What are you doing?"

Jiang Feng had not expected the question, but he still answered honestly, "I am waiting for your instructions, and also taking the chance to observe your alchemy techniques. This junior is lacking in talent, but the people I admire most in my life are alchemy masters such as yourself."

This sudden flattery loosened Song Huai's tightly furrowed brows slightly, though he still did not show Jiang Feng a pleasant expression.

"Hmph. Is this what you should be doing right now? Have you memorized everything I told you to memorize?"

He had intended to use this as an excuse to drive Jiang Feng away, but never in his wildest dreams had he expected Jiang Feng to actually nod.

"In reply to you, sir, I have spent many years sorting medicinal herbs, so I already had some impression of the vast majority of herbs in medicine shops. The booklet you gave me earlier has now been committed to memory."

Song Huai gave a cold laugh.

"Committed to memory? Boy, among all the apprentices I have ever seen, you are the most arrogant. I would like to see whether you truly have the ability you claim."

He rose, casually took a brownish long oval medicinal slice from a nearby shelf, and held it out before Jiang Feng. "Tell me, what is this?"

Jiang Feng barely paused before answering, "Roasted Astragalus. It is made by processing raw astragalus with honey."

Song Huai froze slightly, not expecting him to actually know the answer.

But he only took it as a coincidence and immediately pinched up a little brown powder from a tray. "Then what is this?"

Jiang Feng leaned closer and took a light sniff before saying with certainty, "In reply to you, sir, this is Rhodiola Powder. It has a distinctive fragrance, tastes slightly bitter and astringent upon entering the mouth, and leaves a faint sweetness afterward."

This time, Song Huai was genuinely somewhat surprised.

Still, he intended to raise the difficulty further and test him with some uncommon special medicinal herbs.

He took a small wooden box from the shelf and opened it in front of Jiang Feng.

Inside lay a jet-black herb, its surface covered in a fine layer of fuzz. It looked rather like it had gone moldy.

"Boy, if you can explain this thing clearly to me, I will believe what you said earlier."

Jiang Feng smiled faintly, secretly glad that he had read through the booklet several more times just now.

Without haste, he answered, "This is Shadow Mist Herb. Its medicinal value lies entirely in those inconspicuous silvery-white hairs. It must be picked at midnight; exposure to light renders it ineffective."

As his words fell, the way Song Huai looked at Jiang Feng was utterly different from before.

Setting everything else aside, this astonishing memory alone was enough to make him regard the boy more highly.

"Good lad, what is your name?"

Just as he had upon their first meeting, Jiang Feng cupped his fists and bowed, answering solemnly, "This junior is named Jiang Feng. Greetings, Master Song."

Song Huai nodded, silently repeating the name several times before speaking. "You truly are different from those ordinary apprentices at the Medicine Hall. Since you have already memorized all the medicinal herbs, from today onward, you will remain by my side and assist me in refining pills."

Excitement surged through Jiang Feng's heart, but his expression remained calm and composed as he respectfully replied, "I understand, Master Song."