“My name is Xu Rao. I am one of the seven brothers of Wu Mountain,” Xu Rao said indifferently.
“Each of us seven excels in different abilities.”
“And I’m best at interrogation.”
“You have only one chance.”
“So… who is the Pharmacist?” Xu Rao’s eyeballs remained motionless as he stared silently at Shang Huan.
The cold gaze was so piercing that Shang Huan’s scalp tingled.
How did I come across these devils!?
All the disciples in the Lower Courtyard knew that the seven brothers of Wu Mountain were ruthless and forced lower court disciples to farm and make money.
Many rebellious disciples disappeared without a trace!
What’s key is, they not only did this but also got away with it for so many years!
“Looks like we have a tough guy here,” Ai Ji said impatiently. “You better start soon, I hate wasting time.”
“You’ve made the wrong choice,” Xu Rao said, his expression neutral.
He made his fingers into a knife shape.
Swipe!
“I’ll talk!” Shang Huan shouted at the top of his lungs.
A bead of blood emerged from Shang Huan’s neck on the right side and trickled down.
His scalp exploded with fear, and his eyes filled with blood vessels; he felt like he was about to say goodbye to this world in that fleeting moment.
I’ve made so much money and bought the most expensive Secret Techniques. I haven’t even started training!
I can’t die, I must not die!
Shang Huan’s face turned pale, and he clenched his teeth tightly.
“Who is the Pharmacist?” Xu Rao’s voice was still even-toned.
Shang Huan opened his mouth, feeling his throat dry and difficult to speak, as he clenched his fist hard. How did I end up in this situation?
“Speak!” shouted Ai Ji, losing his patience.
Xu Rao’s right hand lifted slightly, and the Jet Black Soul Strength suddenly transformed into a sharp knife edge.
Shang Huan’s face showed struggle as he faced the increasingly dangerous gazes of the two men.
I’m sorry… I didn’t want to…
“It’s Mo Wuzhou!” Shang Huan’s face contorted, “The Pharmacist is brother Mo Wuzhou.”
“I’m just a salesperson working for him.”
“He always has his confidants deliver the medicine to me, then they take away the money earned that month.”
“No wonder,” Ai Ji raised an eyebrow, “I had heard long ago that this young brother Mo is proficient in various skills. Now that he’s apprenticed in the Upper Court, it’s said that he is also learning Alchemy.”
“That’s not right,” Xu Rao stared blankly at Shang Huan.
“Mo Wuzhou is at the central Medicinal Field of the Lower Courtyard; you’re just a small-time vendor from the outskirts.”
“With your status, how could you possibly get close to him?”
Shang Huan showed a bitter smile, “Indeed, I’m not capable of being in contact with brother Mo.”
“But I have an elder who helped brother Mo when he first arrived at the Lower Courtyard,” Shang Huan added.
“When he started planting Yellow Bud Rice, it was my elder who taught him hands-on.”
“So…”
“Seems that the old man was telling the truth,” Ai Ji glanced at Xu Rao and smiled.
Shang Huan’s expression changed, “What have you done with my Uncle Hao?!”
“Relax, he’s not dead.”
“Even if we couldn’t find the Pharmacist, we wouldn’t kill you,” Ai Ji chuckled.
“Still wrong,” Xu Rao stared coldly at Shang Huan.
“Mo Wuzhou had already gone to the Upper Court four months ago.”
“How do you explain the source of the goods for these past months!”
Shang Huan also hesitated, “I’m not very clear myself.”
“Every time it’s Gongsun Sheng who delivers the medicine to me, and I’m just responsible for selling it.”
“I guess, it might be that brother Mo had a backup plan. Or…”
“Or Gongsun Sheng started his own operation, taking over the business channels left by brother Mo,” Shang Huan speculated.
“Gongsun Sheng…” Ai Ji and Xu Rao exchanged looks.
After going around in circles, they finally found the key figure.
“When is the next delivery date?” asked Ai Ji, excited.
Finding this Gongsun Sheng could likely net them another source of wealth.
As their strength increased, so did their need for resources.
Relying just on the output of the Yellow Bud Rice Fields was no longer enough to support their advancement.
“Two days from now,” Shang Huan replied resignedly, making no attempt to conceal.
“Gongsun Sheng will probably come to deliver the goods in two days’ time, around evening.”
…
“`
Two days later, at dusk.
Chen Mu was cloaked in a black cape, his face adorned with a pure white mask.
He was shrouded by the Five Ghosts, hidden in form, floating over the weed-infested Yellow Bud Rice Fields as usual, heading straight for the estate at the end of the fields.
However, before he could leave the Yellow Bud Rice Fields, the sight from the Five Ghosts Yin Spirit made him stop in his tracks.
“Has something gone wrong…”
Inside the room, Shang Huan and Old Hao were sitting honestly side by side at the square table.
Both of their faces were pale, with specks of black blood on their brown short coats.
A young man in his twenties, dressed in a black bodysuit, sat opposite them.
Behind him stood a burly man, two meters tall, with a body as broad as a door panel.
A trap?
Chen Mu moved the Five Ghosts and indeed discovered something.
Four people, two men and two women, were silently hiding in the Yellow Bud Rice Fields overgrown with weeds, centered around the Shang Huan estate.
“It’s a pity…” Chen Mu said indifferently.
The channel for selling goods through Shang Huan could no longer be used.
With six people of varying posture and unique skills, it was not possible for him to take the risk.
Chen Mu sat cross-legged on the cloud of the Five Ghosts, his figure slowly drifting backwards.
“It seems that my current identity is no longer safe.”
“I was still one step short of caution.”
“I can’t stay in the Low Hill Courtyard anymore.”
“What a pity for my twenty acres of Yellow Bud Rice Fields…”
…
Inside the Shang Huan estate.
Time passed bit by bit, and the sky grew darker.
The young man in the black bodysuit with White Jade tied in his hair, had a gentle complexion. He stood up and gently tapped the hanging oval crystal ball.
Immediately, the bioluminescent algae inside emitted a gentle, pearly white light.
“It seems you’ve been abandoned,” the gentle young man Lu Ku said softly.
“Wait a bit longer, please wait! Maybe something has delayed them!” Shang Huan’s pupils involuntarily contracted.
“Maybe…” Lu Ku was noncommittal.
Then he said with a gentle smile, “Can you tell me how much White Jade Money you make in a month?”
“Don’t worry, I’m just purely curious.”
Shang Huan’s heart skipped a beat. He was about to speak, but then held back.
Facing the other’s smiling gaze, Shang Huan couldn’t help but feel his scalp tighten.
He understood that if he didn’t say the right thing, his life would surely be over!
But what to say to satisfy the other party?
“Last month I just bought the Small Celestial Milky Way Spiritual Light Method.”
“Give me two more months, and I can buy another!”
“Not bad,” Lu Ku nodded with a smile.
“But what if you don’t have the Medicinal Powders and Pills provided by Gongsun Sheng?”
Shang Huan’s forehead suddenly broke out in a sweat.
Thinking carefully, he realized that the substantial money he had made over the past few months all depended on those medicinal powders and pills that seemed fake but were actually just substandard products.
That was the reason he was able to sell them and not have anyone trouble him!
“It seems you can’t.”
As soon as the words fell, the door panel-like brawny man suddenly appeared behind Shang Huan and Old Hao.
Palms like fan leaves, he quietly reached for the necks of the two men.
“How about we do a test?” Lu Ku sat down again, smiling and looking at the two.
“Let’s see if that Mr. Gongsun cares at all about your wellbeing.”
Bang!
The two men were suddenly grabbed by the neck by the door panel brawny man and lifted into the air.
The Soul Strength that automatically emerged in defense from the two men was crushed by the brawny man.
“I was hoping to invite that Pharmacist to become one of our seven brothers,” Lu Ku sighed and shook his head: “The lead has gone cold, what a pity… Hm?”
“Yu Lin? What’s happening to you…”
Holding up Shang Huan and the others, the door panel-like brawny man Yu Lin suddenly became as still as a mosquito in amber, his entire body static, as if the pause button had been hit.
“Qi Forbidden Hundred Miles!” a detached voice suddenly rang out.
Crack!
The door panel brawny man’s arms, thick as thighs, suddenly snapped.
Forearm bones pierced through the thick muscles, and strands of blood clung to the white bone, looking particularly gruesome.
“`