Simply Trading 85 Hunting 1

Early the morning of the next day, both Chen Xing and Lingxi arrived to help him repair his hut. Which was more than sufficient excuse to impose upon his good nature to get him to prepare a simple luncheon for the two of them. That was almost enough to start him grumbling again.

Could it be that these two people were so inept at cooking their own meals that they would rather eat his boring rice porridge with finely diced rabbit meat and pickled vegetables? Or were they simply out to make things difficult for him?

Qin Feng decided not to care about that, and served up the meal all the same. It would only help reinforce the idea that his injuries were still not completely healed.

And it would give him a chance to find out more about the Hunt. And that Elder Ming.

"Oh? You haven't heard then? About Elder Ming's daughter?"

Qin Feng smiled as he turned to Lingxi. "Elder Ming's daughter? I never heard that he had a daughter," he replied smoothly, as he picked up the tea pot and began to serve tea.

They had finished off their porridge and were now seated outside the house, where they could enjoy the cool air. After almost a whole morning dealing with the damages to the place, all three of them were feeling rather warm. So that was the best place to eat, and to talk.

"Oh? Then you don't know that she is crippled, and cannot walk?"

"What?"

Qin Feng almost forgot that he was pouring tea for Chen Xing. Fortunately, he managed to stop himself before the teacup in the old man's hand overflowed. Still, he had clearly overshot the seven-tenths mark.

Chen Xing, however, only chuckled at him, as he took up the tale. "Ming Qinyu. She's fourteen, fifteen years old this year, I think. And she has been closeted in the Elder's rooms at the back of the Medicine Hall for close to ten years now. Ever since Elder Ming Guanhe joined the School, I believe."

"Oh? So she was injured since ... before he came here? But why is she is kept in isolation? Can it be that she is too pretty, and Elder Ming doesn't want us male disciples to keep bothering her?"

Qin Feng kept his voice, and his questions, deliberately light, so as not to draw the attention of the pair that he was talking to. He didn't want them to form the idea that he was making plans to get closer to the Elder, after all.

"What is this? Only interested in pretty girls, are you?"

Lingxi was quick to smack him on the upper arm as she glared at his questions. While Chen Xing merely laughed at their antics, when he rubbed at the spot and scowled at the woman beside him as he did so.

"No, no. Nothing like that. She is ill since she was young, and the Elder has been trying to heal her illness. That was why he took up his position, there at the Medicine Hall. Of course, the rules are making it difficult for him."

"The rules?"

Lingxi took up the tale then, as she set down her own teacup. "Yes. Apparently her illness requires some rare herb that cannot be grown here in the medicine fields. Something about it being prone to abuse. The rule was set a long time before he came here, so he is stuck with it. All of us at the Rear Gardens know about this. But I don't know why nobody has told you lot, here in the medicine fields proper."

"Maybe because they didn't wish to tempt you lot. It is the Purple Blood Ginger. And that caused the School a number of problems in the past. It causes one's zhenqi to suddenly explode, filling one's meridians to three times one's original capabilities. Well, you can see why our disciples tended to abuse it, before it was restricted."

Qin Feng nodded at the pair seated across from him as soon as he heard that. "That is why it has been banned, here in the medicine fields then? So none of us are allowed to grow it?"

Chen Xing grinned as he shook a finger at him. "Ah! I know that gleam in your eyes. Don't even think about it! Purple Blood Ginger is almost impossible to cultivate here in the medicine fields. Don't think that it hasn't been tried!

"It has a rather terrible smell as it is growing. And that changes when it starts to mature, giving off a more pleasant, aromatic smell. Anyone who reads the relevant books in the library can tell you that.

"Unfortunately, that smell also attracts all sorts of insects. So its mature stage makes it rather hazardous, thanks to the many poisonous insects that flock to its growing site. Including the dangerous Poison Marrow Wasp, which would lay its eggs in your bloodstream if they can land a sting on you. So you had best forget about trying to make a fortune with that plant!"

Qin Feng managed to give the impression of a shudder, while Lingxi and the old man laughed at him. Well, it was a rather obvious plan, and he did have a reputation for taking risks. Especially ones that paid off well. Everyone knew that.

"Well, you needn't be too worried. The Poison Marrow Wasp can be easily dealt with, once it is diagnosed. But you will probably be asked to give a good explanation of why you were in such close proximity with them, since they are only found in the cooler areas, deeper inside the Forest.

"And you are only supposed to be sticking to the exterior, aren't you?"

Lingxi nodded grimly when she heard Chen Xing's warning. And gave him another glare, even as she wagged her finger at him.

"What senior disciple Chen said is correct. You shouldn't be thinking of unrealistic goals when you have barely made it through this particular disaster with Elder Xuan's help. Don't forget that when you join the Hunters in the Southern Forest.

"Besides, don't you think your first priority should be to get your field back into order, and prepare it for the Winter ahead?"

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Chapter end

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