Chapter 58: Hungry

  All the way, people sighed and Shen Cong also sighed. This rich man with the surname Li was truly wealthy. Although he looked like a nouveau riche, every decoration was done extremely well. If you didn't look carefully, you couldn't see any other abnormalities, only that these materials were used just right.

  "I don't know if he's a fatty." Shen speculated maliciously.

  Passing through the pavilion, the scene in front of me was even more dazzling. Fortunately, after the previous impact, everyone's reaction was somewhat smaller. A dense footsteps sounded from the front, and a figure hurried over, "The hero of Luoshui has arrived, I'm sorry for not welcoming you from afar, it's really a sin." The person hadn't arrived yet, but his voice had already come first.

  He was in high spirits and not a bit stout, just an ordinary middle-aged man. Li Sancai came before Wang Shilang, made a bow first, with a smile all over his face.

  "Brother Li, no need to be polite, but we arrived too early." Wang Shilin rarely smiled, and the disciples in the back looked at him with surprise. To think that just now, even when facing Luo Qianyun, Wang Shilin had not revealed a hint of a smile.

  "Could it be that Wang Shifu has some special hobby?" Some people couldn't help but think of strange ideas in their hearts, but they only dared to think about it in their hearts and didn't dare show a hint on their faces.

  "It's my fault, and I'll be troubling you all for the days to come, so I'm also feeling uneasy." Li Sancai smiled and shook his head, "You all must have been tired from traveling, why don't you rest first? The rooms are already prepared, if there's anything not to your liking, please let us know and we'll make changes immediately."

  "Brother Li, no need to be like this. With your usual support for me, a little hardship is nothing." Wang Shilin smiled and waved his hand, but Li Sancai repeatedly said he didn't dare.

  Both sides exchanged pleasantries, and the Li family's servants led everyone to the outhouse. The Li family was extremely wealthy, and even this outhouse was carefully prepared with all sorts of facilities, many of which Shen Cong had never seen before and needed to ask the servants how to use them.

  "There are rich people and poor people, and their lives are indeed vastly different. In a world where material goods are scarce, it's amazing that they can come up with so many varieties." Shen said with emotion, no wonder so many people participated in this task, it seems they also had some understanding of Li Sancai.

  Just as they were resting in the house for a while, someone came to invite them. It turned out that the Li family had prepared a wine feast to welcome everyone and wash away their dust. When they arrived at the hall, most people had already taken their seats. Wang Shilang and Li Sancai were chatting freely above, with laughter coming from time to time.

  "Shen Shidi, come over here!" Zhao Shi waved at Shen Cong with a very enthusiastic expression. Some people looked over and recognized the famous Sancai Tongzi from their school.

  Shen Cong smiled and shook his head, saying: "Younger brother still sits elsewhere, sitting with older brother may not be comfortable." Shen Cong said this, seeing Meng Ran's figure, walked over to that side.

  "Junior brother, don't regret it later. Soon, Lin Shimei will be sitting here, and if you don't come, I'm afraid you won't have the chance to get close to her again." Zhao Shi smiled and pointed to an empty seat beside him.

  "No regrets, just thinking of Lin sister in my heart is enough. Getting too close would be presumptuous to a beauty." Only a masochist would sit with Lin Liting, and now that the electricity is sufficient, who would go over there to suffer, Shen Cong isn't born to be a masochist.

  The surroundings were quiet, and before anyone knew it, Lin Liting had already arrived in the hall. Upon hearing Shen Cong's words, her face suddenly turned red, although only for an instant, but it was noticeable to others. Zhao Shi narrowed his eyes, originally intending to set a trap to deceive Shen Cong, but unexpectedly nothing worked out as planned, and instead seemed to have pushed Shen Cong towards Lin Liting.

  "Lin Shi Mei, come here quickly, I've already saved you a spot." Zhao Shi's face broke into a smile again as he shouted loudly.

  "Brother, when did you find that Guiyuan Ning? Sister will have a good talk with brother again." Lin Liting smiled, but completely ignored Zhao Shi and walked to the side with other women. At the same time, she glanced at Shen Cong's position in an almost imperceptible manner, her eyes looked strange, but it was unknown what she was thinking about.

  Shen Cong sat down beside Meng Ran, poured himself a cup of wine, and before he even took a sip, a whiff of fragrance wafted over. Shen Cong's eyes lit up involuntarily. He tilted his head back and drank it in one gulp, feeling an icy coolness that went straight down his throat, leaving him with an indescribable sense of comfort.

  "It seems that being a rich person is indeed quite good. The food in the mansion is already not bad, but compared to this, it's much worse." Shen Cong has a gourmet talent when it comes to fine cuisine.

  "It's not bad, but it's still far from being top-notch." Meng Ran smiled and shook his head, picking up his wine cup to take a sip. His posture and demeanor were quite extraordinary, at least much better-looking than Shen Cong's current state.

  "Your family background is probably not ordinary."

  "The family's decline has reached my generation, and it can't be helped. Otherwise, you think I would come to your door to apprentice, just hoping that one day in the future, I can revive the family's fortunes, but now it seems, it's a distant dream." A hint of worry flashed across Meng Ran's eyes, although it was only for an instant, but Shen Cong caught it.

  Shen Cong smiled and didn't say much on this topic, but instead started chatting about other topics. From seeing the world to understanding various sects' affairs, they finally ran into problems with cultivation.

  Meng Ran had just broken through the third stage, and Shen Cong was also at the peak of his second stage. Both sides were not bad in terms of insight. After a casual chat, they both gained something, and their friendship also took another step forward. Indeed, they were people worth befriending. Before long, Huang Wei and Li Yan also arrived, making the atmosphere even more lively.

  At the banquet, there were singing girls and dancing, drinking and eating meat. This meal was eaten comfortably. Li Sancai didn't say anything big or empty words, just let everyone have fun to their heart's content. The banquet ended very late, and only then did people return to their rooms with a hint of intoxication.

  Shen Cong simply washed up and got rid of all the alcohol in his body, restoring himself to a clear-headed state. He sat cross-legged on the bed, with the Long Que knife placed on his knees, and the true energy flowing gently between them. The Long Que knife had reached the third stage, its spiritual nature was no longer comparable to what it used to be, but Shen Cong still needed to practice with it every day in order to gradually increase their compatibility and bring out the knife's power to its strongest.

  The moonlight spilled from the window, a gentle breeze blew in, and there was a hint of chill. The room temperature began to drop slightly, frost formed on the floor, and a cold air crept towards Shen Cong.

  The knife's energy shook, Shen Zong opened his eyes, and everything around him was completely normal, without a single difference from before. The moonlight poured in, the ground was also clean, where was there anything abnormal?

  Shen Cong furrowed his brow, but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, and continued to meditate with his eyes closed. The long night passed without any other unusual occurrences, only the sound of gentle breathing flowing through the room.

  On the second day, Shen Cong came alone to Yan Shuang City. The real escort was still on the next day, so today there were no other restrictions, and each of the disciples could go out and play around without having to stay in the Li Mansion.

  Yan Shuangcheng is one of the largest cities in the surrounding area, otherwise it would not have given birth to a giant rich man like Li Sancai. The residents of the city live a comfortable life, and even beggars are rarely seen.

  Shen Cong didn't really want to go sightseeing, but rather wanted to buy some medicinal herbs. In order to cultivate the second level of Jingzhen Gong, some auxiliary materials were indispensable. The market in Pai Zhong Fang was too small, and this kind of big city might have them for sale.

  "Hero, what is it that you're looking for?"

  A young man approached, his clothes were neat and clean, but they looked a bit pale from being washed too many times. His complexion was also poor, mostly due to malnutrition, and he probably didn't have many opportunities to eat meat in his daily life.

  "I'm no hero, but I am looking for something." Shen Cong smiled, Yan Shuangcheng was too big, according to Shen Cong's method of searching, it's likely that by nightfall, they still wouldn't find any results.

  "If you want to buy something, I can help you, as long as you give me some silver coins afterwards." The young man showed a smile, with very white teeth.

  Shen nodded and said, "Take me to the largest pharmacy nearby. If we find what I need, this silver can be yours." He took out a piece of silver from his Qiankun bag and flashed it in front of the young man's eyes.

  "I guarantee you'll be satisfied." The young man's eyes lit up, and the silver was given to him as if it were a precious gift. He carefully used it, enough for more than half a month, but it was a big business. The young man didn't dare to delay, and ran forward in a rush. At first, he was still worried that the people behind wouldn't be able to keep up, but when he turned his head to look back, Shen Cong had been following closely from start to finish.

  "It's indeed a heroic martial artist. When can I be like that?" The young man felt somewhat disheartened, but he immediately threw away the thought and focused on leading the way.

  The streets were lined with various vendors' calls, and even those with shops would have their waiters shouting outside, making it seem lively. Shen Cong had narrowed his eyes, somewhat enjoying this feeling, if he had a choice, this kind of life was not bad either. Although not exciting, it won in stability.

  "This is one of the largest pharmacies in Yan Shuang City, with fair prices and a wide variety of medicinal herbs." The young man seemed out of breath.

  Shen nodded and walked into the pharmacy, where a wave of medicinal fragrance hit him in the face. Various flavors were mixed together, with at least hundreds of kinds of herbs.

  "There are Yin Du Cao, Bai Ling Hua, Gui Dang Shi...". Shen Chong rattled off dozens of medicinal herb names in one breath, most of which were second-grade herbs, with only a few first-grade and third-grade herbs. The value of the herbs was not high, so the amount of silver needed to spend was also not much, and Shen Chong had enough money left on him.

  The owner of the pharmacy looked at Shen Cong and saw the big knife behind him, a smile appeared on his face. "Young hero needs some miscellaneous herbs, I don't know if there's any stock left, but you'll have to wait for a while."

  After a while, Shen Cong left the store. He bought over ten kinds of herbs, but there were still more than twenty that were out of stock. Shen Cong had expected this situation, after all, the required herbs were too rare and ordinary warriors and Taoists wouldn't use them.

  After half a day, Shen Cong finally found all the herbs. Now he was only short of one item, but it wasn't an herb, rather a type of ore. The pharmacy would certainly not have it, but the blacksmith's shop usually did.

  "Here's the money, take me to a nearby blacksmith." He tossed out the silver coins, and the boy's eyes crinkled with a smile. After half a day together, Shen Cong had developed quite a good impression of this child.

  The blacksmith's shop is not far away, just a few turns and you'll be there. Even from a distance, the sound of iron being hammered can be heard, and a pungent smell wafts over from afar. There are no residents here, otherwise this smell alone would be enough to suffocate people.

  There is limonite ore.

  Upon entering the blacksmith's shop, Shen Cong asked straightforwardly.

  The blacksmith looked up at Shen Cong and said, "Few people come to sell iron ore here, most are buying weapons." He put down the iron hammer in his hand, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said, "We rarely use hematite iron ore, let me take a look, I don't know if we have any."

  Shen nodded and took the opportunity to glance at the surrounding weapons. Most of them were fine pieces, although they looked ordinary, but their quality was excellent, and there were no such luxurious playthings used by wealthy families.

  A gust of cold wind blew over, and the young man subconsciously wrapped his clothes tightly around him. Shen Cong turned his head to look, a little girl standing beside the bonfire, staring straight at him at this moment.

  "Looks like you really found it, your luck isn't bad." The blacksmith walked out of the shop and handed a dark mineral ore to Shen Cong. Shen Cong weighed it slightly and a smile appeared on his face.

  The two handed over the money. Shen pointed at the little girl and said, "It's so hot here, how can you still put a child in this place? Aren't you afraid of danger?"

  "Child? Which child?" The blacksmith followed Shen Cong's pointing hand, but saw nothing and asked in confusion.

  Shen Cong was taken aback, turned his head to look, and the little girl was smiling at him. Shen Cong had not noticed before that the little girl's face was pale, with no blood color.

  "I'm hungry." Her mouth slightly opened, the little girl seemed to be speaking.

  PS: New week, Monday red envelope collection is coming, thanks!