Chapter 104
"Greetings, Warriors of Kunlun," a gruff yet melodic voice reverberated from behind the ancient wooden counter.
A stout, middle-aged man with a curved salt-and-pepper beard and deep-set squinting eyes scrutinized Ji Wuye and the group as they filtered into the herb medicinal shop.
The musty room was permeated with an intoxicating melange of earthy, herbal, and floral bouquets intertwined with zesty hints of exotic spices and pungent medicinal undertones.
Dozens of burnished wooden drawers and glass jars lined the walls, brimming with desiccated leaves, roots, bark, and powders of indiscernible origins. Towering shelves groaned under the weight of voluminous tomes and leather-bound bestiaries.
Herbs and ancient wooden cabinets displaying bizarre curios were haphazardly arranged, while the majority of displays consisted of numerous ornately carved wooden boxes and antique brass-bound medical chests.
Apart from the genial shopkeeper standing sentry behind the polished oak counter, a lanky young man lingered in the shadowy corner, frozen in stunned trepidation upon their unexpected arrival.
"Oh, what a magnificent sight! Beautiful ladies and talented scholars gathered at once!" the shopkeeper bellowed jovially, nodding his head approvingly as his eyes twinkled with mirth.
The young female disciples, initially apprehensive upon crossing the cluttered threshold, demurely giggled and flushed at the proprietor's earnest praises.
When the shopkeeper noticed Ji Wuye, clad in the martial white robe, was the sole man and the one purposefully approaching his post, his wrinkled features stretched into a broad, toothy smile.
"So what business brings the esteemed Warrior of Kunlun to my humble shop?" he inquired genially, leaning forward on his elbows.
Returning the shopkeeper's smile with a polished one of his own, Ji Wuye smoothly extracted a tattered scrap of paper from the recesses of his flowing sleeve, its surface inscribed with a meticulous list of items. He proffered it to the man with a gracious nod.
"Petrified Wood Shavings... Rhinoceros Horn Powder... Dragon's Blood Resin..." the shopkeeper muttered in his gravelly bass, squinting at the arcane list.
His spindly young assistant, previously motionless, instantly snapped into action, scurrying with jerking movements to inspect and systematically crack open the antiquated medical chests one by one.
But the shopkeeper's guttural words trailed off into pensive silence, and he paused, raising his grizzled head to appraise Ji Wuye again with renewed intensity. "Dragon's Blood Resin..." he repeated skeptically, jabbing a gnarled finger at the specific item on the parchment list.
"Are you trying to increase your Qi capacity?" he asked pointedly, narrowing his rheumy eyes toward Ji Wuye, whose carefully maintained facade of geniality remained firmly affixed.
"As expected from you, Big Brother. Your eyes and mind are as keen as ever, and yes, that is my intention," Ji Wuye replied with an easy chuckle, subtly emphasizing the facade of camaraderie.
Upon hearing this admission, the shopkeeper produced a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles from his tunic and joined his flustered assistant in meticulously scouring the cluttered interiors of the ancient chests.
"How interesting..." Qiu Xia mused in a low aside, silently observing the proceedings from Ji Wuye's periphery. "Junior, what are you trying to do with these ingredients?" she prodded pointedly, her words a veiled insinuation.
"Of course, it's just... a mere personal experiment, Senior Sister," Ji Wuye demurred with a practiced smile, briefly meeting her probing gaze from the corner of his eye before diverting his focus back to the shopkeeper and his assistant.
"It smells dreadful! I can scarcely breathe in this noxious fume!" one of the younger female disciples protested shrilly, pinching her delicate nostrils.
"Ugh! You're correct. Brother Ji, the rest of us will wait outside instead," another readily agreed, waving her hand ineffectually before her face.
While Qiu Xia and Ji Wuye merely acknowledged their exit with curt nods, the shopkeeper finally slumped back, wheezing and drenched in perspiration from his frantic exertions.
"Unfortunately, every last herb and ingredient on your list appears to be currently out of stock," the shopkeeper confessed with a rueful shake of his head and a crooked, wry smile pleading wordless apology.
Ji Wuye's expression remained an inscrutable mask of tranquil neutrality. 'Well, I already expected this charade. If he truly possessed any of those rarities, the crafty old fox would never relinquish them so readily,' he concluded inwardly.
Most of the items he had purposefully listed were indeed commonplace herbs or materials that could theoretically be acquired by any challenger in higher floors of the Tower of the God.
Even the mythical "Dragon's Blood Resin" he and the shopkeeper had overtly referenced was an exquisitely rare panacea deemed mere urban legend, believed to exist only within the pages of ancient tomes.
Yet the wily middle aged proprietor had dutifully undertaken an elaborate performance of scouring his shop, despite undoubtedly knowing he held no possession of nor ever laying eyes upon these items in reality.
'He's still as prideful and crafty as ever,' Ji Wuye muttered inwardly with a slight narrowing of his eyes, scrutinizing the shopkeeper who now conspicuously avoided meeting his searching gaze, unlike their initial greeting.
This eccentric yet formidable proprietor was an elusive figure Ji Wuye was all too familiar with from past life.
The true purpose behind providing that intentionally ludicrous list of unobtainable ingredients was merely to ascertain whether the timeline still adhered to the established course of events from his previous life.
Recently, numerous unforeseen anomalies had occurred, upending the intricately structured order. Thus, he also sought to probe the boundaries of possibility, testing his luck in case any of those precious rarities had, by some inexplicable happenstance, become available.
"Then, what about this, Big Brother?" Ji Wuye inquired once more with a composed smile, smoothly extracting another tattered scrap of paper from his flowing sleeve. He proffered it to the shopkeeper with a flourish.
"Fossilized Tree Bark...Deer Antler Powder...Pine Resin..." the man mumbled each commonplace item aloud, his formerly wry smile and slumped demeanor gradually regaining an air of buoyant self-assurance as realization dawned.
"We have ample stocks of all those here!" the shopkeeper declared with bolstered confidence after perusing the second list, prompting Ji Wuye's features to crease into a subtle, knowing smile.
He had accurately anticipated this very response from the cagey merchant.
Suddenly, a stern feminine voice sliced through Ji Wuye's introspective thoughts like a blade through silk. "Then book all of them," Qiu Xia interjected flatly, her piercing emerald gaze locking unwaveringly onto Ji Wuye.
"This paltry purchase is the very least this Senior Sister can do to repay the immense favor I owe you."
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