Chapter 1392 - 703: Trap (Pink Ticket 90 Votes Bonus - )

Ning Xiaoxian sent a message to Chi Bihu, saying that she would definitely return in two hours, and then called Hei Hao and several Hidden Guards to take off their military armor and change into plain clothes, and entered Xiaohecang with Zhai Mo.

At first glance, the town indeed had no special features. The houses were gray, and there were few pedestrians on the road, indicating a limited population. The Black Blade Army’s encampment was about ten miles away from here, and with no demon soldiers entering, the residents’ normal life had not been disturbed. The town had only one inn, two grocery stores, a few butcher shops selling vegetables, and in this cold weather, there was no need to fight for scraps; the stall owners were nowhere to be seen, suggesting that business wasn’t doing well... After walking through a few streets, they saw few regular people but spotted two fools with drool at the corners of their mouths, undaunted by the cold, walking cheerfully along the street.

Hei Hao whispered, "Before the army arrived, the spies had already discovered that there were only seven hundred and forty permanent mortals in Xiaohecang Town."

An area with such a sparse population surprised her slightly. A town of this scale should have a population of around two thousand, shouldn’t it? Not to mention that cultivating and selling Spiritual Medicine was the most profitable business; even if they grew some economic crops like ordinary small towns, it wouldn’t be this desolate. Hei Hao continued, "However, the Washing Sword Pavilion sends people every half month to collect herbs, and many large merchant teams pass through here, staying overnight before leaving. Since we’re passing through here, the people from the Washing Sword Pavilion came early this time and reportedly left yesterday afternoon."

The routes planned by the merchant teams are all based on profit, and in this sense, Xiaohecang is quite well-known.

Upon reaching the main street of the town, there was finally some Human Qi, and there were about a dozen shops with signs selling Spirit Grass, far more than stores selling clothes, spices, or food.

Zhai Mo led the group into a shop where they previously bought medicine. The shop owner naturally recognized this patron who made him a fortune and promptly greeted them with a big smile, "Have you found anything else that interests you?"

"For Alchemy, we still need a lot of good medicine. Old Zhai mentioned the Spiritual Medicine here is quite potent, so we asked him to bring us around." Ning Xiaoxian replied casually but frowned secretly. After observing the pedestrians outside and now the shop owner, something felt off, though she couldn’t pinpoint the exact issue.

Judging by the group’s attire and demeanor, they didn’t look like people lacking money. The herbal shop owner couldn’t contain his smile, saying, "Sure, sure." He took down seven or eight kinds of herbs from the counter and spread them out in front of everyone.

Ning Xiaoxian examined them one by one, growing more surprised. She broke open the fleshy scale of one cistanche to check it. Though it was only half a year old, its potency far exceeded its counterparts in the Mortal World. This item is a precious medicine for nourishing kidney yang and invigorating essence blood, always being a frequent component in tonics for kidney and yang reinforcement. If this single cistanche were sold in Central Capital, it could fetch nearly 500 taels of Silver. Yet this shop owner offered a set of over thirty for only eight thousand taels of Silver, truly a fair price.

There was also a Blood Baby with a superior appearance. The name sounded intimidating, but it was actually Polygonum multiflorum. However, this specimen the owner presented had a faint pinkish skin. It seemed as if you could squeeze water out of it with a gentle press; it was a rare variety known as Fen Shouwu. Not only is it an important herb in itself, but it can also act as an excellent catalyst in the Pill Furnace by merging properties of various herbs under high temperatures. Judging by the seed leaves on this Polygonum multiflorum, it might have grown for thirty years, yet when taken from the medicine box, it was aromatic, carrying at least two hundred years of medicinal efficacy.

By this point, she could see that the herbs from this shop owner were different from those cultivated with soil. The latter accelerates growth duration, enhancing quality, whereas the former seemed like farmers using chemical fertilizers to fatten crops, forcefully compressing the growth potency that takes hundreds or even thousands of years to exhibit within a few years.

The strangest part was that this could actually be done by mortals. How could this not make Zhai Mo curious, how could it not make her curious?

Ning Xiaoxian rolled her eyes thoughtfully and took out a small bag of Spirit Stones from her bosom. Once the shop owner was grinning from counting them, she pondered, "The quality of the Spirit Grass is indeed good, but I need something better."