The Puppet 1

Qin Feng, of course, had no idea at all, that there were people including him in their plans. And was completely focused on getting his hands on the Purple Blood Ginger. He knew better than to let down the Elder's expectations. Especially since he knew just what he was likely to achieve, so long as he had Ming Guanhe to support him at the back of the stage.

Besides, no matter how worthless Ming Guanhe was an Elder and as a patron, he was still an Elder in the Heaven Sword School, and therefore, a far too exalted a personage that people like Qin Feng could not afford to offend!

Still, it annoyed him quite a bit, to think that he was expecting Qin Feng to miraculously produce the Purple Blood Ginger root out of thin air!

He had said that he was going to be searching the various Medicine Halls in the nearby cities and such, but didn't Ming Guanhe realize that he had to have something to trade for those precious medicines that he wanted? Or was he simply pushing all of that into Qin Feng's lap?

The younger man grumbled in a quiet voice as he tidied up what he had retrieved during his last Hunt, and laid out his gains on his tiny little table. It was not as if he needed very much space, to tell the truth. Apart from all those slight expensive but merely less than common herbs, he had barely come away from his escapade with a mere harvest of five medicinal plants.

And he had just surrendered two of them to the Elder earlier!

And now it looked as though he would have to give up these other herbs in trade, to get a hold of the Purple Blood Ginger! That was a little too much! If that was the way that Ming Guanhe was going to be treating him, he was certainly going to report that he couldn't find any of that herb during his visits to the cities! Let Ming Qingsong suffer from the effects of her blocked meridians! He was certainly not about to put in any effort without proper recompense!

Then he sighed, as he reconsidered. The Elder controlled his access to the Southern Forest and the medicinal plants therein. So he shouldn't be too quick to cut off his own route to getting more of those herbs. After all, if he did manage to get the Purple Blood Ginger for the old man's daughter, didn't that mean that he would be given even more privileges?

Elder Ming Guanhe would not be so short-sighted as to dismantle the bridge after crossing the river, would he? Not to mention the fact that he still needed a good amount of Purple Blood Ginger. Once Ming Qingsong started her treatment with the same, she would need to maintain a steady supply of the herb for about a year or so.

Which meant that Qin Feng would have to be keep pushing that same herb at Ming Guanhe for that same period of time. So he should take particular care in his dealings with the medicine merchants in the cities, to ensure that he can get his hands on the same, at regular intervals. Of course, that meant that he would have to come up with some rather exceptional herbs, to ensure that the same were willing to make the trade with him.

Qin Feng sighed again, as he considered what he was likely to lose - No. What he was willing to lose, in the deals that he was going in the cities. Some of the herbs that he had with him now were precious to him, since they would definitely boost his own cultivation. But there were others, while rare in their own right, would not be of much benefit to him. Those he would be more than willing to trade away, for the Purple Blood Ginger.

Like the Blue Mist Lotus Root that he had just managed to pick. That had been a little damaged during his fight with the Silver-streaked Ferret. So he was more than willing to sell that off. Besides, it would be a simple thing to cut way the parts that had been bitten so that no one would be able to tell that it used to be a larger piece. In any case, it would have to be cut up before it was sold, and prepared as medicine. So it didn't really matter.

But Qin Feng was not simply going to rely on that, to exchange for the Purple Blood Ginger that he needed. After all, he had no idea of what the current prices for the different herbs, and he didn't wish to make the trip for nothing. So he dug into his little hoard, and dug out what he thought might be worth something, to the folk in the city.

In the end, he picked out three other herbs that might be worth something, in the hands of a more or less competent herbalist or alchemist, in the employ of a medicine merchant in the cities. And which would not be worth very much to him.

He wrapped all of them up carefully, in white muslin cloth, and set them aside with yet another sigh of resignation. He really stood to make a substantial loss, if these herbs were insufficient to allow him to get his hands on the Purple Blood Ginger.

Then he shook his head, and turned to the other crucial part of his plan. If he was going to head towards the cities ... No. First he would have to consider which of the two cities he should go to, to attempt this ... particular trade. To be utterly honest, he didn't know much about either of them, save for the rumours and gossip that he had heard about the same.

There was Changqing City, which lay across the rolling hills. That was supposed to be in the hands of a Marquis who was rather popular among the people there. And who encouraged trade and maintained some rather strict laws. That much he had heard about the place.

Then there was Liying City, across the river to the North, that was a more lawless place. It was where the Inner School disciples of Heaven Sword School went, whenever they wished to let their hair down, and have raucous fun. In fact, if he headed there, he was more than likely to meet up with some of the disciples that he had met, in one way or another.

However, he was not headed there as a herb-grower, an Outer Court disciple. And the fact that it was a place where one needed to rely on one's fighting abilities, rather than Royal Law, made him less inclined to pay it a visit.

Qin Feng made up his mind, and having made that decision, turned to the last part of his plan. And so doing, looked towards the puppet that he had hidden in the little cave. He had not touched it for close to a year, since he arrived at the Heaven Sword School.

It was time to take it out once again!

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