The Price (Part 2)

White steam slowly drifted up from the wooden tub.

Behind the white curtain, Lin Xin removed his bath towel and slowly stepped into the bathing tub filled with white petals. He sat down in the tub, his entire body gradually sinking until the fragrant water slowly rose past his neck.

Besides the white petals, the water in the tub contained countless black specks as fine as sesame seeds. Looking closely, they were densely packed tiny insect corpses.

The water also faintly glimmered with a pale green hue, and from time to time, much leftover medicinal dregs could be seen rolling up.

Lin Xinyuan stood outside, quietly waiting for Lin Xin to bathe. Huang Puyang stood beside her, facing the bathing room through the curtain.

"The Manor Lord specifically ordered Human-Face Fruit to be added. Could he have suffered internal injuries, or perhaps depleted his vital essence?" Huang Puyang asked in a low voice, frowning.

Lin Xinyuan frowned as well, unable to understand. Lin Xin had never been one to indulge in extravagance or waste. Yet he had spared no expense, adding precious medicinal ingredients such as thousand-person-grade Human-Face Fruit, Yellow Silver Water, Soul Soil, Coagulation Worms, and more, merely for a bath. There had to be a reason.

"Xinyuan, what business did you come to see me about?" Lin Xin's voice came from behind the curtain.

Lin Xinyuan composed herself and spoke aloud.

"Recently, the amount of Soul Soil and sun iron on the black market has been dwindling. Someone may be buying them up on a massive scale... It has greatly affected our purchases. I suggest we select new materials for the manor's talisman stones and talisman swords."

"Sun iron is one thing. But no one can possibly buy up all the Soul Soil." Lin Xin spoke calmly. "There's