Chapter 28: The Four Eared Orchid

  Inside the auction house, the decoration is very luxurious. The central area is where a grand auction is held once a month. The circular auction floor is currently completely sealed and will only be opened during the auction.

  Around the circular auction hall are separate rooms, which are used to sell some more precious and rare items, such as luxurious noble costumes, relatively rare medicinal materials, and mineral ores for forging sharp weapons.

  Xia Yan walked along the spacious path, and after about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, she saw a shop with a sign that read "medicinal herbs". Before she even approached, she could smell a strong medicinal scent.

  In the pharmacy, there were two staff members, one was a man in his fifties with a long beard, and the other was a girl of seventeen or eighteen years old. The girl was petite, with a delicate face, red lips like a small crescent moon, wearing a light green long dress, arranging rows of medicines on the shelves, her slender fingers moving nimbly on the shelves.

  Xia Yan walked into the shop, his eyes scanning the shelves. There were only a few kinds of medicinal herbs that he could identify by name. What Xia Yan was looking for was the hundred-year-old Four-Eared Orchid, which was placed in a sealed transparent cabinet. The last time he came, he had seen the Four-Eared Orchid in that very cabinet.

  "Does the gentleman need anything?" The girl, seeing someone enter, hastily stopped her actions, turned around, and smiled sweetly at Xia Yan, her eyes seeming to speak.

  The fifty-year-old man sitting at the counter also looked up and took a glance at Xia Yan, seeing that Xia Yan was wearing a mask on his face, his expression stiffened slightly, then he lowered his head and continued writing.

  Xia Yan saw that the closed transparent cabinet was still there, but the hundred-year-old Four-Ear Orchid inside had disappeared.

  Xia Yan furrowed her brow, feeling anxious in her heart. She pointed to the transparent cabinet and asked the girl, "I remember there was a Four-Ear Orchid here before. Has it been sold?"

  The girl heard this and her eyes changed, the four-ear orchid was worth more than 500 gold coins, although it had been placed in the shop for a long time, but not many people asked about it. The pharmacist of Yushui City was originally rare, most were ordinary pharmacists, and those who bought this hundred-year-old four-ear orchid were even fewer.

  The girl hadn't spoken yet, but the elder sitting at the counter had already stood up. His originally expressionless face was now filled with smiles. This sudden change left Xia Yan somewhat caught off guard.

  "Sir, are you going to buy a century-old Four-Eared Orchid? Hehe, I am Mo Kei, don't know what kind of medicine you plan to concoct?"

  This elderly man, named Mo Kai, was in charge of managing this herb shop. Although the Four-Eared Orchid was only a low-grade herb and could only be used to refine first, second, or third grade elixirs, buying an elixir refined from a hundred-year-old Four-Eared Orchid would have astonishing effects.

  Xia Yan was taken aback for a moment, looked at Mo Kai with a glance, and said after a pause: "I just want to configure a medicine!"

  Mo Ke was even more shocked upon hearing this, and thought to himself that the configuration of the medicine required the use of hundred-year-old Four-Eared Orchids? After his initial shock, he became even more convinced that this person wearing a mask was not ordinary. Anyone who could afford such expensive medicinal materials must be extraordinary.

  Configuring medicine does not necessarily require a pharmacist's qualifications, like some ordinary pharmacists in the city, they can also configure medicine. However, using the Hundred Years Four Ear Orchid to configure medicine is something that Mo Kai has never seen or even heard of in decades.

  "Hehe, don't be in a hurry, sir! The Four-Eared Orchid has not been sold yet, but it's no longer here at the moment." Mo Kai stroked his beard and said with a smile.

  Mo Ran's gaze shifted, and he said, "Where is the Four-Eared Orchid at this moment?"

  As long as it hasn't been sold out, it's simple. Even if it costs a bit more gold coins, I want to buy the Four-Eared Orchid quickly. Gold coins are not as important to Xia Yan as increasing his strength. Besides, after becoming strong, all the money can be easily obtained!

  "In the Yuanshui City, in the Xijia alley market, there is a Chinese herbal medicine shop that rented out the Four Ears Orchid a month ago. Sir, do you need it urgently? I can send someone to retrieve the Four Ears Orchid right now." Mo Kai bowed and smiled.

  "Alright, I don't know how many gold coins are needed?" Xia Yan asked.

  "A hundred-year-old Four-Eared Orchid is extremely rare and also quite expensive, if sir needs it, then 550 gold coins will do!" Mo Kai's eyes lit up, chuckled twice, and said to Xia Yan.

  One year ago it was sold for 500 gold coins, but in the past one year, its price has risen by 50 gold coins. However, I urgently need these four-leaf orchids now, and spending an extra 50 gold coins is nothing.

  After a slight hesitation, Xia Yan chuckled and said: "Then it's 550 gold coins. I don't know how long it'll take to get the Four-Eared Orchid back."

  While Xia Yan and Mo Kai were talking, the green-clothed girl beside them had been quietly listening. Her bright eyes occasionally looked at Xia Yan, then she spoke up: "I'll go get it now, I should be back in about two hours."

  Mo Kai nodded and beckoned to the girl, instructing her: "Go quickly and return quickly!"

  "Yes!"

  "Sir, do you need any other medicinal herbs?" Mo Kai asked with a smile after the green-clothed girl left.

  Xia Yan's eyebrows slightly furrowed, thinking to herself that since Mo Kai was able to manage the medicinal herbs store at the auction house, he must have a good understanding of many medicinal herbs. She wouldn't just be buying medicinal herbs this one time, so it wouldn't hurt to build a relationship with him first. Later on, if she needed to buy more medicinal herbs, she could directly come find him, which would save her a lot of time and also prevent others from discovering her.

  At this time, Xia Yan walked around the shelves, seemingly looking at the medicinal materials on the shelves. These medicinal materials were simply placed on the shelves and wouldn't be too rare.

  Xia Yan observed the medicinal materials on the shelves, Mo Kai didn't disturb him, but smiled slightly and bowed his head to look at Xia Yan, constantly guessing Xia Yan's identity in his heart.

  After a while, Xia Yan turned around and said: "This time, I only need one hundred-year-old Four-Ear Orchid, but in the future, I will definitely need some medicinal materials, such as Fifty-Year-Old Six-Leaf Fruit, Purple Cold Grass, etc. Hehe, if I buy these medicinal materials from you in the future, can there be a price fluctuation?"

  Although Xia Yan didn't care much about money, he thought it was still better to save some for future use in case there were other places that required spending.

  Upon hearing this, Mo Ke's expression changed and he hastily made a statement: "If sir comes to my place again next time to buy medicinal materials, I will sell these medicinal materials to sir at 90% of the market price, how about that?"

  Mo Kei was very clever, he said it was for the next time, and did not include this time. He also didn't know if Xia Yan would come again next time, anyway, even if he didn't come, he wouldn't lose out, but if he came, then selling the medicine at a 10% discount would be very beneficial to him.

  The medicinal materials purchased by Xia Yan were all worth tens of gold coins or even hundreds of gold coins, with considerable profit in between.

  Xia Yan heard the small trick in Mo Kai's words and didn't mind, just smiled.

  "I also don't know what changes will occur in my body after using so many expensive medicinal materials to configure this medicine. What I hope for the most now is to completely refine and merge the martial skills remembered in my mind, if successful, then at the three-family competition a month later, I'll have even more confidence." Xia Yan's eyes became profound, thinking deeply in his heart.