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墨書 Inktalez
The night was deep.
The entire Luoshan Town was shrouded in darkness. If it weren't for a few lights still shining, no one would have noticed that there was actually a town here.
In the southeast of the town stood a small bungalow, covering about 200 square meters. Moss grew in the corners, and there were cracks in many places on the walls, clearly showing its age.
A chandelier hung from the ceiling of the house's hall, appearing dim and dusty. Below it was a square table with three or four plates on it.
"Come on, let's have a toast."
Gu An raised his glass and clinked it with Bao Fang's, then tilted his head back and poured the liquor into his mouth with a "splash."
He picked up a piece of pig's trotter from the plate and took a bite. Bao Fang said, "Five Brother, we made quite a bit of money today. Cheers to that!"
"Hehehe~ It's only this easy to hustle people from outside."
After scamming 5,000 yuan from the Ancient Sorcerer, they split it evenly after giving a few hundred to the tattooed henchman. Now, he had a gold necklace in his pocket, and just thinking about being able to indulge with his girlfriend tonight ignited a wicked fire in his lower abdomen.
"Next time we get the chance, let's do this again!"
Bao Fang's eyes sparkled; this way of making money was simply too fast.
"Sure..."
"Bang!"
Before Gu An could finish his sentence, the door was suddenly burst open, and several people rushed in.
Seeing that the person who rushed in was Qian Hu, Bao Fang, who was about to curse, immediately swallowed his words and put on a smile, saying, "Brother Hu, what brings you here? Have you eaten? Why don't we have a bite together?"
Very few people in Pingchuan County were unaware of Qian Hu—it's hard not to know someone who is both wealthy and powerful. Not to mention, at least one-third of the dozens of Child Ginseng in Luoshan Town belonged to him!
Qian Hu boldly sat down on the chair that Bao Fang offered, picked up a nearby bottle of liquor, sniffed it, frowned, and said, "You're about to strike it rich and you're drinking this kind of liquor?"
"Hey~~~~ Brother Hu, well... this liquor is already considered quite good."
At this moment, Gu An also stood up, looking at Qian Hu with trepidation. He couldn't understand why such a big shot would come looking for him.
On the table was a bottle of liquor—good liquor for the two who usually could only afford cheap spirits. They had only splurged today because they had some extra cash.
"Sit down; why are we being so polite among brothers?"
This statement left Gu An and Bao Fang dumbfounded. It was too polite; they knew their own worth, so how could Qian Hu refer to them as brothers?
"Uh... Brother Hu, if there's something you need, just say it. We will definitely comply."
Bao Fang and Gu An didn't dare to sit down; instead, they bent even lower.
"Alright then, let's not beat around the bush. Bao Fang, I heard that your cousin Guan Fei has unearthed a Child Ginseng from his garden?"
Half an hour ago, Qian Hu had been accompanying a client who was buying ginseng in his own garden when he accidentally overheard some people talking about how Guan Fei had dug up an unusually large Child Ginseng weighing six taels.
Despite coming from a rough background, Qian Hu's family had been old ginseng merchants for three generations. There was a legend passed down from his great-grandfather's time that Pingchuan County was home to Old Mountain Ginseng. So when he heard this, he immediately realized that it was likely that the King of Ginseng had appeared!
At that moment, Qian Hu immediately abandoned the client and rushed to Guan Fei's house. Upon arriving and asking, he found out that the Child Ginseng had already been taken by Bao Fang, so he hurried over without delay.
"Ah, Brother Hu, so you were talking about this matter. You must have heard my cousin shouting, right? What's so great about growing a larger Child Ginseng? Sorry, that's just how my cousin is. If there's anything wrong, I apologize first. Tomorrow I'll have him host a banquet to apologize to you..."
Upon hearing this, Bao Fang thought to himself that it was bad news. Could it be that his cousin bragged about being able to grow the largest Child Ginseng and annoyed Qian Hu? It wasn't impossible—growing the largest Child Ginseng would mean it was the best Child Ginseng, and it was perfectly normal for Qian Hu, the biggest Child Ginseng owner in Pingchuan County, to have an opinion about it.
Qian Hu cheerfully shook his head and said, "What are you talking about? Guan Fei hasn't offended me; I came here to buy that ginseng. I'll give you 100,000; I want to buy this ginseng."
"Ah? 100,000?"
Bao Fang was startled and nearly jumped up.
"Is that too little? Well, 100,000 is indeed a bit low. How about this—I’ll add another 100,000."
Qian Hu glanced at Bao Fang and calmly added another 100,000; he was determined to get this ginseng.
"This..."
"Hmph! Bao Fang, offering 200,000 for your ginseng is already very generous. Don't push your luck!"
The glance Qian Hu had just thrown over was filled with killing intent. The stunned Bao Fang was startled awake and quickly said:
"Brother Hu, this..."
"500,000; it can't be more!"
Coldly interrupting Bao Fang, Qian Hu's eyes widened. Bao Fang definitely wanted more money, and if he continued to ask for an outrageous price, Qian Hu wouldn't hesitate to retaliate.
"Ah! 500,000?!"
Gu An exclaimed. Previously, Qian Hu's offer of 100,000 was already shocking, but now it had suddenly jumped to 500,000.
Bao Fang felt a rush of darkness before quickly reaching out to steady himself against the table. After a moment, he muttered to himself, "500,000... 500,000..."
Qian Hu's face darkened, and a burly man standing behind him suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Bao Fang by the collar, saying fiercely, "Don't push your luck. If Tiger Brother wants something, you better hand it over obediently. No amount of money is worth your life!"
"Let go of me! You bastard, let go of me! Child Ginseng! My Child Ginseng! My 500,000!"
Like a dead fish being lifted, Bao Fang suddenly began to struggle desperately, kicking wildly like a madman!
The burly man was taken aback and loosened his grip. Bao Fang fell to the ground but remained sitting there like a fool.
Qian Hu frowned and looked at Gu An, asking, "What exactly is going on?"
Gu An sighed and replied, "Tiger Brother, that ginseng was sold by me and Bao Fang."
"What? Sold it?"
Qian Hu abruptly stood up and shouted, "What happened? What exactly is going on?! Hmph! You better explain this clearly right now!"
"Earlier today, Bao Fang brought a Child Ginseng to me. We set up a trap and sold it to an outsider for 5,000. Otherwise, how would we have money to drink?"
Qian Hu was so angry that his body trembled, pointing at Bao Fang and saying, "You... you sold the six taels of Child Ginseng for 5,000 yuan?"
"That Child Ginseng was cultivated using chemical fertilizers; no matter how big it grows, it’s useless," Bao Fang replied.
"Bullshit!"
Qian Hu was amused by the absurdity and said, "Do you think Child Ginseng is like a radish? Just sprinkle some fertilizer and urine on it, and it’ll grow bigger? Go ahead and try to grow one for me!"
Gu An's hands were shaking violently. Not long ago, he had proudly scammed 5,000 yuan from Bao Fang, but he never expected it would turn out like this!
"Do you recognize that person?"
Gu An immediately understood Qian Hu's meaning. He forced a smile and said, "Those people are from out of town, and we sold it at the bus station. That was over ten hours ago; how could we possibly find them now?"
"Damn it!"
Qian Hu cursed, feeling unwilling but unable to think of another solution.
Meanwhile, in a certain area of Luoshan Town, a temporary high-watt incandescent lamp illuminated a small slope as bright as day. Guan Fei bent down, following Zhuang Shui—an esteemed old ginseng collector in town. Zhuang Shui was 80 years old this year but had traversed mountains and valleys in his youth, making numerous trips across the three northeastern provinces. It was rumored that he had an Old Mountain Ginseng over two hundred years old hidden at home. He also had seven Child Ginseng in Luoshan Town.
"Is this the place?"
Zhuang Shui pointed with his cane to a nearby flat slope.
"Yes, last spring I planted quite a few ginseng seedlings here, so when I dug up that Child Ginseng, I didn’t think much of it; I just assumed it was cultivated."
Guan Fei felt extremely bitter. The ginseng was something he had dug up himself, yet he thought of it as "radish"—if it weren't for Qian Hu and Zhuang Shui coming over, he wouldn't even know what was going on.
"Confused! Which Child Ginseng farm has ever produced such large Child Ginseng over the years?"
Cane struck heavily against the ground, and Zhuang Shui's old face tightened with anger.
"Old Zhuang... I..."
He wished he could dig a hole and hide; hundreds of thousands of valuable items had just flown away from right in front of him.
"Hmph!"
Zhuang Shui snorted angrily and walked forward. Since ginseng could grow in clusters, and they had already found Old Mountain Ginseng here, there might be more. However, to his disappointment, no matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find any wild ginseng seedlings—there were plenty of cultivated ones, though.
"What a great place! I really didn't expect there to be such a good spot in Luoshan Town. We didn't even know about it before; you kid really got lucky."
The small slope in front of them was less than 200 square meters, cool and moist. A third of the ground still had several old pine trees and broadleaf windbreaks growing on it. Such a place was naturally recognized by an old ginseng expert like Zhuang Shui as ideal for ginseng cultivation.
"This place was unwanted, which is why I could rent it. Who would have known..."
The good spots for growing ginseng in Luoshan Town had long been divided up; what remained were undesirable corner lands. A year ago, Guan Fei had gritted his teeth and borrowed 100,000 yuan to start the Child Ginseng farm. Who could have imagined that this unwanted land would hide a king of ginseng?!
"Sigh, this is fate!"
Zhuang Shui shook his head and sighed.
Before his passing, my grandfather mentioned something: one year while foraging for ginseng on the mountain, he saw a child dressed in a red bellyband with a small braid sticking up, running all over the place. This child was actually the manifestation of the King of Ginseng, transformed into a sentient being.
This may be a legend, but the story passed down through generations at least indicates that Luoshan Town has Old Mountain Ginseng. Now, unexpectedly, it has appeared but was sold off as if it were just a radish!
"Guan Fei, how about this? Let's make a deal. I will invest in your Child Ginseng, giving you one hundred thousand each year. The condition is that the ginseng planted here cannot be harvested. After 50 or 100 years, the ginseng here will be extraordinary. If it is dug up, it will belong to both our families."
Since the King of Ginseng has already been dug up, lamenting further is pointless. The most valuable places now are those where the King once grew. Just now, Zhuang Shui discovered that the seedlings planted here are growing better than those in other areas!
"Alright!"
Guan Fei agreed immediately without hesitation; this was a good opportunity for him, and there was no reason to refuse.
The events happening in Luoshan Town were unknown to the Ancient Sorcerer. At this moment, he was on a plane back to Guanghai City with Fang Ru and others.
"Could it be that Luo Tian can absorb spiritual energy or something?"
The Ancient Sorcerer closed his eyes, appearing to be asleep, but in reality, he was "observing" Luo Tian at the Yintang.
The pitch-black Luo Tian floated motionless, seemingly unchanged. However, the Ancient Sorcerer felt otherwise—he sensed that after absorbing energy from the ginseng, Luo Tian had undergone some transformation. Frustratingly, no matter how he studied it, he couldn't discern what had changed.
After studying for quite some time, the Ancient Sorcerer finally shook his head and gave up. The inexplicably appearing Luo Tian at his Yintang was shrouded in mystery; he had no idea what kind of fate it would bring him.
It seemed to emit a faint golden light, so subtle that one might wonder if it was just an illusion.
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