“That’s right, I can do that!”
Seeing the physician entering unobstructed after flashing his physician emblem, a thought appeared in Zhang Xuan’s mind.
“Let’s go!”
Wasting no time at all, Zhang Xuan returned to the street where he came from with large strides.
“Do you intend to take the physician examination? I intend to take the examination as well, so we can go together. There is a Physician Guild in Tianwu Kingdom, and a roundabout trip should take a total of only five to six days. It won’t take too much time.”
Following behind him, Mo Yu asked.
To enter the Great Herb King’s manor, one had to be a herb king, a poison master, or possess an invitation letter… Those three were too difficult to achieve, and the best chance Zhang Xuan had was to earn a physician emblem.
Mo Yu was an apprentice physician, and she intended to take the physician examination after becoming an official beast tamer. Watching Zhang Xuan treat the Howling Firmament Beast had deepened her understanding of the occupation, and accompanied with the knowledge she had accumulated throughout the years, it wouldn’t be difficult for her to pass the examination and become an official physician once they found a Physician Guild.
“Five to six days?” Zhang Xuan shook his head. “There’s no need for it, I have another idea in mind!”
There were too many possible deviations that could occur if he were to spend five to six days obtaining a physician emblem at Tianwu Kingdom. What if the Great Herb King was cured by another physician while he was away? What if the Great Herb King failed to hold on until Zhang Xuan’s return? If so, he would have wasted his effort obtaining the physician emblem.
“Then what do we do? Do you want to gather medicinal herbs to become a herb king? However, the difficulty of achieving this is even higher, and you will suffer the oppression from other herb kings as well…”
Mo Yu was perplexed as to what Zhang Xuan was up to.
After the short commotion at the Great Herb King’s manor, he should be aware that the Great Herb King don’t meet with anyone except for the four types of people. Since Zhang Xuan does know where the Poison Hall is, it is impossible for him to become a poison master. On the other hand, if he has the invitation letter, he wouldn’t have had to inquire Mo Yu about the matter. Therefore, the only solution is to become a herb king… But this is even harder than earning a physician emblem.
Despite its three thousand years of history, there were only thirteen herb kings in the Red Lotus City. They had already established a stable distribution of power among themselves, and if Zhang Xuan were to barge into the industry abruptly, it was highly possible that they might just make attempts on his life.
“We’re here!”
Instead of answering the other party’s doubts, Zhang Xuan simply smiled mysteriously. After walking around for a bit, he stopped abruptly.
Mo Yu lifted her gaze. They were at a luxurious medicinal herb trading market. It wasn’t as busy as the street they were previously at, and there were only a few people browsing through the herbs.
“Atrocious! Do you take me for a fool? For you to dare to use such subpar products to swindle me, is it because you’ve found a new buyer and don’t want to work with me anymore?”
Walking along the trading market, a bellow could be heard from a vendor not far away from them.
It was a middle-aged man in his forties dressed in a light green robe. On his chest, there was a physician emblem gleaming beneath the sun.
“It’s Physician Bai Chan!”
Mo Yu frowned.
“Do you know him?” Zhang Xuan glanced at Mo Yu.
“Un, he’s a 1-star physician in Tianwu Kingdom. Greedy and lustful, he likes to take advantage of others. In fact, there’s nothing good that can be said about his character. To think that I would meet him here.” Mo Yu harrumphed.
“Since his reputation isn’t good, that makes it much convenient for me!” Zhang Xuan smiled. “Let’s go and take a look!”
Mo Yu nodded.
“Physician Bai, you are already an old customer of mine. No matter who I swindle, I can’t possibly swindle you. This is already the best Green Bamboo Grass in my possession!”
Stepping forward, Zhang Xuan heard the negotiation between Physician Bai Chan and the vendor, “How about this, instead of five thousand, I will just charge you three thousand gold coins for each stalk. It’ll just be thirty thousand for ten of them! This is already the lowest price I can offer you…”
“Thirty thousand? Twenty-five thousand and I’ll take all of them!” Physician Bai Chan said impatiently.
“I will be making a loss at twenty-five thousand…” The vendor shook his head.
The duo was negotiating when Zhang Xuan approached with an agitated expression, “Physician Bai, what a coincidence! To think that you’ll be here as well!”
“You are…”
Unable to recognize the foreign-looking face, Physician Bai Chan asked with a puzzled expression.
“I am an admirer of Physician Bai. I’ve long heard of your name, and I’ve been wanting to get to know you, but I wasn’t able to find a chance. It must be fate that brought us together today!” Zhang Xuan said. “Boss, help me wrap these ten stalks of Green Bamboo Grass up. Here is thirty thousand!”
Zhang Xuan gave three ten-thousand gold bills.
“Alright!”
Grabbing the gold bills, the vendor wrapped up the medicinal herbs immediately.
“Physician Bai, here you go!” Zhang Xuan passed the wrapped medicinal herbs to him.
“This…” Physician Bai was taken aback. Even though his words showed his embarrassment, his hands have, in actual fact, already grabbed hold of the gift, “How can I accept such a valuable gift from you when it’s our first time meeting…”
“You’re my idol, so it’s only right for me to buy medicinal herbs for you.”
Zhang Xuan smiled.
“What’s this fellow up to?”
Following behind Zhang Xuan, Mo Yu was perplexed. How can it be possible for this miserly fellow to pay thirty thousand for someone else’s medicinal herbs?
Isn’t he is so money-minded and petty that he has to demand money from me every single day? Why is he being so generous now?
“Can it be that… he wants Physician Bai to bring us into the Great Herb King’s manor?”
Suddenly, a thought appeared in Mo Yu’s mind.
Since the other party was fawning on Physician Bai instead of going for the examination, this was probably the intention he has in mind.
However, Zhang Xuan didn’t understand Physician Bai Chan’s character. She had heard numerous rumors about him back in Tianwu Kingdom. He was lustful, greedy, and incapable. It wasn’t likely that he would even want to approach Great Herb King’s manor.
After all, the Great Herb King’s manor could be said to be a dangerous place. If he were to approach it despite not possessing the necessary capability, wouldn’t he be courting death?
“Since you insist, I will accept it humbly!”
Mo Yu was still trying to fathom Zhang Xuan’s thoughts when Physician Bai Chan had already kept the medicinal herbs.
“It’s nothing! It’s my honor to be able to purchase medicinal herbs for my idol!” Zhang Xuan chuckled. “Is Physician Bai free? Since we’ve met, I would like to treat you to a drink, as well as to express my admiration for you.”
“This…” Physician Bai Chan hesitated for a moment.
This fellow suddenly appeared from nowhere, paid his bill, and invited him to a drink. Even though Physician Bai Chan was greedy, he couldn’t help but be suspicious of the other party’s intentions.
“Oh, looks like Physician Bai is a little hesitant because you don’t know me!”
Seemingly guessing the thoughts of the other party, Zhang Xuan smiled. He walked to Mo Yu and said, “You should know her, she is my friend. With her here, there is nothing for you to worry about.”
“Princess Mo Yu?”
Physician Bai Chan was astonished to see Mo Yu.
Even though she was merely an apprentice physician, she was the third princess of the kingdom. Her status was way above that of a 1-star physician like him.
“Un!”
Mo Yu didn’t expect Zhang Xuan to make use of her name. Even so, she complied with him and nodded.
“Oh, you are a friend of our princess! I should be the one treating you then…”
Seeing that the young man was a friend of the princess and, from the looks of it, that their relationship seemed to be close, Physician Bai Chan didn’t dare to behave arrogantly. He agreed to the invitation hurriedly with a polite smile.
“It doesn’t matter who’s the one treating. Since fate has brought us together, we should have a good drink. Let’s go!”
Zhang Xuan led the way with a smile. The trio swiftly left the trading market and arrived at an isolated street.
“Why would we come here? I know a good tavern that serves excellent wine…”
Upon reaching the alley, Physician Bai Chan put up his guard. Even so, after considering the fact that the princess was tagging along and it was unlikely for anything to happen to him, he continued to follow behind Zhang Xuan.
“We can have our fill of wine later on. Actually… I have something that I would like to discuss with Physician Bai.”
Zhang Xuan turned around.
“Oh, may I know what it is?” Physician Bai asked, bewildered by the situation.
“Actually, it’s like that. I would like to borrow Physician Bai’s emblem for awhile. Would you be so kind as to lend it to me?” Zhang Xuan asked.
“My emblem?” Physician Bai was taken aback. “How can I lend that to you! The emblem represents my identity as a physician, I can’t lend it to others so easily…”
Before he could finish his words, the sight before him turned dark. A fist had already smashed into his face.
Pah!
It was an exceptionally crisp sound. Knocked unconscious, Physician Bai Chan collapsed to the floor.
“When I asked you for it courteously, you should have just lent it to me instead of yapping away!”
He stretched out his hand to retrieve the physician emblem from the other party.
“You… What are you doing?”
Initially, Mo Yu thought that Zhang Xuan was going to have Physician Bai Chan lead them into the Great Herb King’s manor. Yet, contrary to all her expectations, the other party knocked him out with a single fist. Mo Yu was completely dumbfounded.
“Oh, it’s nothing much. I’m just borrowing his emblem to use!” Zhang Xuan explained.
“Borrow?” Mo Yu went into a frenzy. “This is equivalent to robbing an official physician! There’ll be huge trouble once he reports this incident to the Physician Guild when he comes to…”
Every single occupation is protected by a guild of their own. If he were to file a report to the Physician Guild about how you swindled him, knocked him out, and stole his emblem, you’ll definitely be in for deep trouble.
This is too reckless!
“Trouble? What kind of trouble? He doesn’t know me anyway. I didn’t tell him my name!” Zhang Xuan answered nonchalantly.
“Doesn’t know you…” The moment she heard those words, Mo Yu nearly spurted blood. “He doesn’t know you, but he knows me!”
“That’s not a matter of mine. In any case, since you’re a princess, you should be able to resolve the matter easily. If it really comes down to it…”
Zhang Xuan hesitated for a moment. “I’ll overlook the money you owe me then. Besides, I spent thirty thousand gold coin to purchase medicinal herbs for him. In a way, I have already compensated him…”
“You…”
Mo Yu staggered. At this moment, she was on the verge of going on a rampage.
The heck!
Do you have to be so darned?
He might not know you, but you brought me out into the picture just now. Even if he is unable to find you, he’ll look for me!
And to bring up the money that I owe you…
How much does riding a savage beast cost?
What you robbed is the emblem of an official physician, and you expect me to bear the consequences… My reputation as a princess…
“Put down the emblem, let’s find some other solutions… Ah, what are you up to?”
Just as she was about to stop Zhang Xuan, the other party did something which frightened Mo Yu once more.
That fellow had squatted down and stripped Physician Bai Chan of his clothes.
Is stealing an emblem not enough for you? To think that you would take his clothes as well…
But what Mo Yu was more concerned about was that she had actually become his accomplice…
Mo Yu felt as if she would faint at any moment.
“Make some preparations. We’ll be going to the Great Herb King’s manor now!”
Couldn’t be bothered to argue with the other party over this matter, Zhang Xuan took off his outer layer of clothing and, in its place, put on Physician Bai Chan’s clothes.
“Are we going to the Great Herb King’s manor just like that? Physician Bai Chan may not be famous, but his name is marked on the emblem. If any other physician were to be there, we’ll be exposed in an instant…”
Mo Yu was still wondering what the other party has in mind. In the end, what Zhang Xuan intended to do was to impersonate Physician Bai Chan in order to sneak into the Great Herb King’s manor.
This may have been possible for any other occupations, but the physician emblem was marked with the name of its owner. The circle of physicians wasn’t too large in Tianwu Kingdom, so it was highly probable that Zhang Xuan would be exposed instantly.
“What exposed?”
Before Mo Yu could finish her words, Zhang Xuan was already done putting on the clothes, and he turned to look at her.
Seeing the face of the young man, Mo Yu was stunned for a moment. Then, her body trembled violently, and her eyes widened into circles.
“Physician Bai Chan… No, that’s not right. Is this… the ability of a disguiser? How is this possible…”
