"Herbal medicine shop?"
Lin Yue looked up at the words on the signboard and chuckled.
In the lower-right corner of the wooden signboard, a tiny line of text was clearly written: "Affiliated with the Seven Treasure Merchant Association, providing certain bedding supplies..."
Good grief. With "bedding supplies" written in such tiny letters, even a ghost would know what it meant.
Shaking his head lightly, Lin Yue stepped into the shop and said to the goateed owner:
"Boss, do you have any Whale Rubber here?"
"Hm? Who's talking?"
The old man behind the counter looked up, but the doorway was empty. He scanned the area in confusion before lowering his gaze and spotting the little kid standing before the counter. He immediately laughed.
"Hey, kid, do you even know what Whale Rubber is? And you're already asking for it?"
Seeing the little boy putting on such an adult-like manner, the goateed old man adjusted his glasses with a smile, treating it as nothing more than teasing a child.
"Y-You don't need to worry about what I'm using it for. I'm buying it for a friend!"
Realizing the teasing in the goateed owner's eyes, Lin Yue's old face actually reddened. He waved his hand.
"Anyway, do you have any Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber?"
"Whoa, Ten-Thousand-Year? Little brother, your friend must have quite the fiery temper."
"Yes, yes, he's an old widower. He raised a child by himself, and it's been years since he—cough, cough. Why are you asking so much? Hurry up and let me see whether you have any Whale Rubber."
He had nearly followed the old man's lie and spilled all the information about the Sound System Douluo. Lin Yue slapped the counter, feeling as though some terrifying gaze behind him was growing stronger and stronger. He had no idea whether it was just his imagination.
How was buying it for his daughter not buying it for him? Whale Rubber was expensive. Next time, he absolutely had to make that Widower Douluo pay him back.
"If you're not doing business, I'll go somewhere else."
"Hey, don't!"
Hearing the kid speak so convincingly, the goateed shopkeeper actually believed him somewhat.
"If you go to another shop, they won't have stock as complete as mine. My goods come from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Merchant Association. Several nearby cities get their supplies from me."
As he spoke, he got up from the rocking chair behind the counter and went to the medicine cabinets, rummaging through them.
"There, this is what I have. But little fellow, Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber really isn't meant for people. Even a stud wouldn't be able to handle it. Only an idiot would stock Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber. Take a look at these."
The old man took out a bamboo basket filled with wrinkled, semitransparent chunks mottled gray and yellow.
Enduring the faint fishy smell, Lin Yue reached out and fiddled with the Whale Rubber for a moment before immediately understanding.
The Alchemist's ability revealed the corresponding ages of the Whale Rubber. Everything in the basket was only a few hundred or thousand years old. Forget Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber—even the thousand-year pieces were low-grade. In short, there was not a single good piece among them, and Lin Yue looked down on all of it.
"Tsk, no good. Don't you have anything with a higher age?"
"Higher? Little brother, can your friend really handle it?"
"Don't worry. He probably won't die."
Lin Yue waved his hand and scratched his back, his expression strange. Why did he feel a little uncomfortable? It was as though something unclean was staring at him from behind.
Outside the shop, Tang Hao, who had been hiding in the shadows and watching everything, already had bloodshot eyes and was breathing heavily.
That damned brat! Buying Whale Rubber was one thing, but he was using Tang Hao's name! And Ten-Thousand-Year at that—why not get some Hundred-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber and eat himself to death?
He had better be using the Whale Rubber to make medicine! Just like at the clinic, refining potions with that mysterious method even Tang Hao had never seen!
Otherwise, if he dared lay a hand on Xiao San, Tang Hao would make that brat learn exactly what the Clear Sky Nine Techniques were!
"Wait, really? Your friend is a Soul Master? You aren't pulling my leg for fun, are you?"
The goateed old man's expression turned strange as he became genuinely suspicious.
Whale Rubber was actually rather useless.
Those who needed it could not withstand high-age Whale Rubber, while those who could withstand Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber did not need the stuff at all. They could still make their bed partners go weak all over and beg for mercy.
The people who needed this stuff were usually wealthy young masters drained dry by wine and women, with little strength to speak of. If they really consumed Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber, wouldn't it wreck their kidneys?
As a result, hundred-year and thousand-year Whale Rubber had plenty of buyers and was instead more expensive. Once it reached a high age, though rare, no one wanted it, so the price was actually lower.
He had heard that along the coast, some people even disguised Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber as thousand-year stock and sold it. The goateed old man deeply despised that practice.
Wasn't that selling fake and shoddy goods, endangering lives for money? If something went wrong after eating it, wouldn't the customer's little brother explode?
"Who's joking with you?"
Lin Yue slapped his hand down, and a crystal card worth one thousand Gold Soul Coins appeared on the counter.
"!"
Seeing that the kid sincerely meant to do business, greed flashed in the old man's eyes. He forced out a smile.
"Yes! Of course I have higher-age stock. Wait here, I'll find it for you!"
The old man hurriedly got up and slipped into the storeroom. Before long, he came back carrying an old cardboard box.
"There, these are all goods this old man brought in before. Take a look."
The pieces of Whale Rubber in the old cardboard box were golden yellow, like lumps of liquid gold without the slightest impurity, radiating abundant medicinal power.
Back when he had opened the shop, he had bought a few high-age pieces out of curiosity. They were cheap enough, and perhaps someone would like that sort of thing.
In the end, they had simply gathered dust. No customer could handle them. The stock he had bought when opening the shop had remained ignored in the warehouse ever since.
Seeing that the old man had finally brought out the good stock hidden at the bottom of the box, Lin Yue was delighted and began feeling around inside it.
After checking them one by one, his expression tightened ever so slightly when his hand touched a certain piece at the very bottom. He looked up and smiled. "These are pretty good. They're all high-age Thousand-Year Whale Rubber. How much are they?"
"Ahem, good that you recognize them. These are all fine goods. Don't even think about getting one for less than several thousand Gold Soul Coins."
Seeing the fish take the bait, the old man immediately rubbed his hands together, his eyes full of greed.
Lin Yue curled his lip at that.
"Come on, old man. How long has this entire box been sitting around? There are spiderwebs hanging from the bottom. It'd be a miracle if you could sell it."
Clapping his hands, Lin Yue shoved both hands into his pockets.
"I won't take too much advantage of you. One thousand Gold Soul Coins. I'll pick one piece. Agree, and we have a deal. Refuse, and I'll turn around and leave."
"Hey... don't be like that. Prices are meant to be negotiated. Who bargains like you do..."
The old man wanted to fight for it a little longer, but Lin Yue shamelessly turned out both pockets, revealing that they were completely empty.
"There. I'm being sincere, right? These Gold Soul Coins are all I have. I really don't have a single coin left on me."
"Hiss..."
Caught off guard by that move, the old man gave a helpless bitter laugh. Every bargaining tactic he had was stuck in his throat, and he could only wave his hand.
"Fine, fine. Pick one."
It really was stock that had been sitting unsold in the warehouse. Selling one piece was better than selling none.
At one thousand Gold Soul Coins a piece, it was at least a little above the purchase price. Still, it had been piled in the warehouse for so long. His labor and storage costs... all wasted...
"Good, straightforward. I'll do business with you again next time. Though if you had Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber, that would be even better."
As he handed over the crystal card, Lin Yue casually reached in and fished a dark yellow, almost black piece of Whale Rubber out from the bottom of the box, quickly stuffing it into his clothes.
Hmph, this child was quite honest. He ignored those premium pieces of clear golden Whale Rubber and instead chose a defective-looking piece that was somewhat blackened.
The goateed old man watched every movement the little boy made. He smiled and shook his head.
"Hey, who would want Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber? If you pay a little more, I can get some in. This stuff is rare, and while it isn't expensive, it's still hard to come by. You basically can't find—huh?"
After checking the crystal card in his hand and confirming that it truly contained one thousand Gold Soul Coins, the goateed man looked up, only to see the child sprinting away at full speed, already gone from the street.
"This child... was his friend really that desperate?"
After confirming that everything in the shop was normal and nothing was missing, the goateed man could not help shaking his head with a sigh.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. A widower without a wife really is terrifying..."