Since being rejected by Yun Sheng, Qi Fangfei intensified her suppression of the medicinal herb supply to Little Ci’en Hall, but to no avail as they seemed unfazed.
While she was puzzled, the news brought back by Cheng Sihai astonished her.
At first, she didn’t believe it. Growing medicinal herbs in such a remote village required a large amount of manpower and resources, and transportation was also an issue.
Moreover, she had clearly ordered all pharmacies in the country not to provide quality medicinal herb seeds to Little Ci’en Hall. Where then did Yun Sheng get the seeds?
Qi Fangfei resorted to various means before she found out that the seed provider for Little Ci’en Hall was in fact Wuji Commerce, the largest merchant organization on the Wuji Continent.
This shocking piece of information forced Qi Fangfei to reassess the strength of Little Ci’en Hall.
After all, Wuji Commerce was famous for their money-driven indifference to people. Being able to leverage Wuji Commerce’s influence meant that Little Ci’en Hall was far stronger than she had initially thought.
Qi Fangfei dared not underestimate them any longer, so she hired the Hunting Corps where Cheng Sihai belonged, ordering them to lie in ambush near Zhou Chu Village. There she discovered an even more startling secret. Google seaʀᴄh 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅•𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾•𝗇𝖾𝗍
A Magic Medicine Store? And direct transportation by Demon Beasts? Upon learning these two truths, Qi Fangfei could no longer remain seated.
She immediately followed the Hunting Corps and set up an ambush on an essential path from Zhou Chu Village to Yujing.
Qi Fangfei knew that a direct confrontation with Yun Sheng was impractical, given Yun Sheng’s backings from Yun Residence, Sky Hunting Corps, and the Holy Beast Summoner with their powerful Summoned Beast.
Qi Fangfei thus waited patiently. It was not until she learned that Yun Sheng and Zong Ren were both away from Yujing in the coming days that she began executing her plan.
She surmised that Yun Sheng’s pharmacy, after cultivating with magic, would soon bring the medicinal herbs to maturity, and once mature, they were certain to be transported down the mountain.
That moment would be the perfect opportunity to strike.
After waiting for nearly three days, on this day, she finally saw the figure of the Giant Winged Bat.
On the back of the Giant Winged Bat, there sat some villagers, and bundles of dried medicinal herbs.
Even from a distance, the medicinal herbs appeared to be of high quality.
She absolutely could not allow Little Ci’en Hall to smoothly acquire these herbs; the consequences would be unimaginable.
"Kill this herb-transporting party immediately," commanded Qi Fangfei, after ensuring there were no anomalies and observing for a moment.
"Kill them? But Qi Medicine Man, those are just powerless villagers, and among them are several children," the Hunting Corps hesitated upon receiving the command.
For this ambush, they had prepared a large number of Crossbow Arrows; and the mages had all come out in force, but they had not anticipated their targets would be innocent villagers.
"If I tell you to kill, you kill. Are you afraid I won’t pay up?" Qi Fangfei said angrily.
The hunters exchanged glances but ultimately did not rebel. They had taken the other party’s money, and they were bound to fulfill the commission.
Moreover, these hunters who licked their blood on the knife’s edge every day dared not offend Medicine Emperor Pavilion.
High in the sky, the villagers of Zhou Chu Village were still savoring the joy brought by their first successful harvest of medicinal herbs, unaware that on the ground below, dozens of crossbows were aimed at them.
"Brother, Xiao Yun also wants to be a mage!" Xiao Yun clasped her brother’s neck, full of questions. In her eyes, a mage like Divine Doctor Yun was the most impressive.
One day, she would surely be as beautiful and powerful in magic as Divine Doctor Yun.
"Of course, Brother will personally teach Xiao Yun magic," Xiao Hua said endearingly, pinching his sister’s nose.
Suddenly, he became alert.
The heightened sensitivity of a Wind Mage far exceeded that of ordinary people. Xiao Hua heard a faint disturbance in the air.
He looked down and his eyes suddenly widened.
Poisoned arrows shot up from below.
At almost the same moment, various Magic Attacks were launched.
"Quick! Everyone direct the Giant Winged Bats to fly over this area immediately!" Xiao Hua realized too late.
A group of Hunter Soldiers, seasoned through life-and-death experiences, unleashed countless crossbow arrows and magic; how could a group of villagers possibly withstand that?
The Giant Winged Bats were merely ordinary Demon Beasts; they did not attack, and their defensive power was just average. Startled, they immediately flung the villagers off their backs.
"Help, ah," the villagers fell from the sky like locusts, medicinal herbs scattered all around, like snowflakes in June.
"Xiao Yun, hold on to the Green Bat tightly, don’t let go," Xiao Hua watched as fellow villagers were hit by random arrows, his heart in a state of turmoil.
After all, he was just a nine-year-old child. In his panic, his mind went blank; the only thought was to protect his sister at all costs.
At that moment, a sneak attack arrow suddenly struck his shoulder, and blood instantly began to pour.
Xiao Hua bit his teeth, and began to chant intermittently, casting a Wind Element magic on the Green Bat he was riding. "I’ll fight you," then a Fireball shot out from his Magic Wand and attacked the Hunter Soldiers ambushing from below.
"There’s a Mage in the team, kill him immediately!"
When the Hunter Soldiers discovered that there was a Mage among the escorting team, they immediately targeted the Giant Winged Bat carrying Xiao Hua.
Countless arrows and magic spells fell from the sky, a bloody rain descended.
Xiao Yun, heeding her brother’s advice, lay immobile on the Green Bat’s back, and under the effect of the Wind Magic, she stumbled and crashed her way toward the direction of Yujing City.
Inside Yujing City, around dusk, Lin Yao’er was tallying up the day’s earnings at Little Ci’en Hall while Ji Mo assisted by keeping the accounts.
Ji Mo’s brow suddenly furrowed, and he looked outside the medical hall.
A thud was heard from the outside, sounding as though something heavy had fallen, followed immediately by a young girl’s crying.
Lin Yao’er and Ji Mo hurriedly rushed out.
Above Little Ci’en Hall, a severely injured Giant Winged Bat suddenly crashed down, carrying a shivering little figure on its back.
"Xiao Yun, what happened to you?" Lin Yao’er remembered that today was the day that Zhou Chu Village was supposed to transport the first batch of medicinal herbs, and the transporting villagers should have already arrived.
Earlier, Lin Yao’er was secretly perplexed why, from morning till evening, the villagers were nowhere to be seen.
It seemed like the villagers had encountered an ambush halfway through their journey.
Ambush... Lin Yao’er’s heart skipped a beat. With Divine Doctor Yun absent from the city, who could be so despicable?
"Don’t ask anymore, she’s injured," Ji Mo stepped forward swiftly.
Xiao Yun was too scared to speak, but still held onto the Green Bat tightly, following her brother’s instructions.
"Xiao Yun, I’m Brother Ji, don’t be afraid, you’re safe now, let go of your hand," Ji Mo comforted Xiao Yun with a gentle voice, as if an invisible warmth spread from him.
Xiao Yun, in a daze, recognized Ji Mo and finally let go, clinging tightly to Ji Mo.
Upon examining her back, Ji Mo discovered a crossbow arrow half-buried in her flesh.
Damn it, to do such harm to a child.
Just one glance and Ji Mo was certain that if the arrow were an inch deeper, Xiao Yun wouldn’t have survived.
The child was fortunate enough to make it back despite such a grave injury.
Doctor Fan, hearing noises from outside, rushed out as well; seeing Xiao Yun’s pale face, he too changed color: "Quick, bring the child inside; we must treat the wound immediately or if we miss the right moment to pull out the arrow, the child’s life can’t be saved."
With Yun Sheng absent, it had to be him to take action.
"No, we can’t pull out the arrow," this time, Ji Mo, who was usually silent and reserved at the medical hall, stepped forward to stop Doctor Fan.