Zhang Ze was quite lucky. This middle-aged cultivator, named Lin Wei, was a local from around here, having roamed this area forty years ago.
He also knew about that expired information from forty years ago.
After buying out all the goods on Lin Wei’s stall at full price, Zhang Ze was taken by Lin Wei to a small tavern.
This nameless town’s tavern was also quite interesting. Due to its impoverished nature, the food and drinks sold here were different from those elsewhere.
A plate of wind-chime-earth-worm meat air-dried to jerky, a plate of fragrant grain-avoidance pills, and a pot of local specialty wind chime wine were the standard set of this small shop.
"I was quite young then, my father was still around. I longed for adventure but didn’t know where to go. When the Ghost City appeared, I got the idea," Lin Wei said while eating jerky and drinking.
"The Ghost City appeared in Wind Chime City. It wasn’t a mirage, but a real Ghost City. Not only I, but many elders in this town also saw it with their own eyes."
"However, no one could enter that Ghost City. Even the people sent from the Celestial Sect couldn’t, so I definitely had no hope. But, when the Ghost City disappeared and those who came to search for treasures dispersed, I by chance met the Sect Leader of the Wooden Fish Sect."
"Thick-skinned, I asked to join the Wooden Fish Sect, but I guess my aptitude was just too poor. They didn’t take me."
"But the old Sect Leader was nice. Although they didn’t accept me, they still took me to Ling State and taught me some things."
"Later, I drifted around Ling State and visited neighboring states. However, I guess I was truly lacking in aptitude. So many years passed, I didn’t save any Spirit Stones, nor did my cultivation grow much. I worked day in and day out and ended up with ailments all over."
"About twenty years ago, I returned to this town and discovered my father had already passed away. At that moment... I suddenly felt it was all meaningless," Lin Wei continued after taking a sip of wine. "Then I decided not to leave anymore."
"I figured it out. These Four Continents are just like one big broken town. Everything is the same everywhere. Rather than dying outside, better to die at home... Sorry, I’ve said too much."
Lin Wei apologized, taking another swig of wine.
"Getting to the point, I must be honest with you, senior. I have a request. I can tell that you’re not an ordinary person, but also not one of those wooden heads from the Celestial Sect. You’re definitely not here for those worthless stones and broken wooden fish."
"Are you here for the Ghost City?" Lin Wei asked quietly.
Seeing Zhang Ze admit it, Lin Wei finally breathed a sigh of relief. After pondering for a moment, he named a price. "You give me these Spirit Stones, and I’ll tell you how to enter the Ghost City."
"Goods first, then money?" Zhang Ze asked.
Lin Wei shook his head, "Goods first, then money."
"Aren’t you afraid I won’t acknowledge it?" Zhang Ze looked with interest at this middle-aged man who had decided to lie flat back home.
"You’re from the Beast Taming Sect; I trust you guys. If I hadn’t met you, I was planning to seek help from the Celestial Sect in a few days."
Just now at the market, Lin Wei attempted to tug Zhang Ze’s sleeve, but Zhang Ze directly shook him off. The method Zhang Ze used was the Dharma Method from the Beast Taming Sect.
"Were you hit by this move before?"
Lin Wei awkwardly smiled, "Senior, you have sharp eyes; so, do you agree?"
But Zhang Ze shook his head, "What do you want these Spirit Stones for?"
"To buy my life." Lin Wei finished the murky wine in the pot, then uncovered his chest, revealing an old scar that had ulcerated again.
"No one wants to die, and neither do I. This wound is from years ago. Recently it relapsed for some unknown reason. I consulted someone, and if untreated, I won’t live long. I want to go out for medical treatment."
Disguised as an elderly man, Zhang Ze recalled the image of the old predecessor. After comparing with the images of Medical Elder and Hua Tuo, he extended two fingers and placed them on a pulse point on Lin Wei.
"When did it start?" Zhang Ze entered the mode of an old traditional Chinese medicine doctor.
Lin Wei gave an approximate date, which Zhang Ze calculated and found to be about the same time as the Wooden Fish Sect’s disappearance.
Zhang Ze directed a sliver of spiritual qi into Lin Wei’s body, circled it once, and then withdrew.
"Aren’t you from the Beast Taming Sect? How come you also practice medicine?" Lin Wei was surprised, feeling the warmth flowing inside him.
"Veterinarian, same thing."
Zhang Ze wasn’t really lying. Whenever Li overate, it was he who rubbed Li’s tummy because Li said it wouldn’t work unless he did.
All things considered, he could, in a sense, be counted as a veterinarian.
Moreover, Zhang Ze had indeed read the "Barefoot Medical Immortal’s Guide to Medicine" published by Medicine King Valley, though he had never practiced it.
After channeling spiritual qi back into Lin Wei’s body and completing two small circulations, Zhang Ze discovered the root of the ailment wasn’t from the scar but his hand.
A black line extended from the storage ring on his hand, spreading up his arm toward his chest, then, like flies attracted to rotten eggs, it invaded the old wound.
"Moisture... cough, I mean, too much Yin Qi. Have you been carrying anything around with you?"
After temporarily sharing senses with Lin Wei, Zhang Ze withdrew his fingers, then looked at Lin Wei’s ring.
Lin Wei saw the black line and his expression changed slightly, seeming to engage in some internal struggle, but ultimately he retrieved something from the ring.
An object resembling a magnifying glass.
Carved with simple cloud patterns, the handle had an unknown black crystal lens set in its wooden top.
The black crystal was so black it couldn’t pass any light through.
"What is this?" Zhang Ze asked. Newest update provıded by novel·fiɾe·net
"I don’t know. It was given to me by that Wooden Fish Sect Leader back then. I’ve kept it on me, until recently..."