I bear witness to immortality in the human world.

Chapter 29 The Pharmacy
"Good! Quick-witted and outspoken!"

Upon hearing Wu Ming's words, Chen Gui was immediately delighted. He patted Wu Ming on the shoulder and said, "Come on, come on, I've invited a few people. Let's have a good drink today!"

Before Wu Ming could react, he pulled Wu Ming out of the martial arts academy and called over a few young martial artists he had met at the academy. Together they went to the Feiyu Restaurant, which was only two streets away from the Seven Martial Alliance, and ordered a table full of delicious dishes.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill,

Chen Gui then led Wu Ming through eight or nine streets and alleys until they arrived at a slightly quieter street. At the end of this street, there was a shop with a sign that read "Chen's Pharmacy".

The shop didn't look as big as he had imagined, but Wu Ming soon learned that the Chen family's pharmacy business was very large, and Jingye City was extremely spacious, so there were many shops in Jingye City. The one in front of him was just one of them, and it was one that the Chen family entrusted to Chen Gui after he came of age.

Chen Gui led Wu Ming around the shop, bypassing the main entrance, and into a courtyard behind the shop. The courtyard was fairly spacious, with several neat houses connected to each other in the east, west, and north directions.

inside the hospital,

Two men in martial arts jackets were drinking tea, while another man, who was obviously much older, was practicing his swordsmanship in the courtyard, carrying a heavy ring-handled sword.

Upon seeing Chen Gui enter, the younger men bowed respectfully and greeted him as "Young Master," while the older men put down their ring-handled swords and said with a smile, "Why are you back so early today?"

"Uncle Yong".

Chen Gui smiled and stepped forward to greet him, then began to introduce Wu Ming.

quickly,

Wu Ming then learned that the two younger men in the courtyard were Sun Wang and Ma Liu, both martial artists who had achieved the first stage of blood coagulation, while the one wielding the ring-bladed sword was named Hu Yong, who had achieved the second stage of blood coagulation.

These three warriors were responsible for guarding the pharmacy and preventing theft and robbery.

With martial arts flourishing in this world, it is common for people to break the law with their martial arts. Even though the imperial court has the Censorate to maintain order in the city, it is still impossible to eradicate them all. Therefore, it is necessary for anyone doing business to spend a lot of money to hire guards.

For example, the Chen family's pharmacy business required someone to patrol day and night. It was slightly better during the day, but at night, when various bandits appeared, without guards patrolling, the entire shop would be completely deserted within an hour.

After learning about Wu Ming's situation from Chen Gui, Hu Yong looked at Wu Ming with more seriousness, while Sun Wang and Ma Liu even showed a hint of envy. Although Wu Ming's 'below average' aptitude might seem unimpressive to Hong Jiu, Zhang He, and others, in reality, most martial artists don't even reach that level, and achieving a second blood coagulation would be very difficult.

soon.

Chen Guiyou left first, and Hu Yong then gave Wu Ming instructions.

"...This city seems calm on the surface, but that only applies during the day. At night, it's practically a den of monsters and thieves, with thieves running rampant everywhere. The wanted posters issued by the Censorate have been updated time and time again, but their number has never decreased."

Hu Yong knew that Wu Ming came from a village outside the city and had only practiced martial arts at the Seven Martial Alliance before, so he didn't know much about the situation inside the city. Therefore, he took the initiative to tell Wu Ming about the situation. Thefts like this happened almost every night. Even though this pharmacy had several Blood Condensation Martial Artists who took turns guarding it day and night, it still attracted thieves more than once.

Actually, it's better to have a thief. Generally speaking, thieves only want money and don't want to kill. Once they are discovered, they will usually run away immediately. However, some notorious thieves not only steal but also rob and kill!
"The city has the Censorate, how dare these wicked bandits act so recklessly?" Wu Ming asked, frowning upon hearing this.

Hu Yong chuckled and said, "Jingye City is so big, how can the Shenxing Division possibly manage the whole city with its limited manpower? At most, they'll conduct a token investigation after something happens, and unless you're caught in the act, you basically won't be able to trace it afterward."

"Those who are wanted with bounties are actually only a few whose appearances have been seen or whose identities have been confirmed. There are many others whose identities are unknown and there is no way to investigate them. After all, there are more than tens of thousands of martial artists in this city."

After listening to Hu Yong's detailed explanation, Wu Ming gained a deeper understanding of the situation in the city.

Those thieves and bandits, on the one hand, rely on their strength, can scale walls and roofs, and act recklessly and fearlessly; on the other hand, most of them take risks and go astray for resources.

Many martial artists, lacking sufficient talent, need a large amount of resources to break through their cultivation level. However, the money they earn through normal work is simply insufficient to purchase so many resources, so some of them resort to theft and robbery.

This is the fundamental reason why, despite the strict order of Jingye City, theft and robbery are rampant.

What weapon do you use?

Hu Yong suddenly asked Wu Ming.

"gun."

Wu Ming responded.

Upon hearing Wu Ming's words, Hu Yong raised an eyebrow and shook his head, saying, "A gun isn't very effective in a place like this. It would be more useful to patrol the manor outside the city and deal with monsters."

Although Hu Yong uses a knife, he is very knowledgeable about weapons. The more open the place, the more he can bring out the advantages of his spear skills. However, places like pharmacies are relatively small, and especially if a fight takes place indoors, the spear cannot be used effectively.

Chen Gui's arrangement for Wu Ming to come to this pharmacy was not a good one in his opinion. However, he also knew from Chen Gui that Wu Ming had been appreciated by Hong Jiu and had been personally instructed by Hong Jiu. He was also quite talented, and it was only a matter of time before he could achieve secondary blood clotting. Arranging for Wu Ming to come here to guard the pharmacy was mostly just to enhance their relationship.

“It is indeed difficult to perform in a confined space.”

Wu Ming nodded slightly. He himself was a spearman, so he naturally understood the strengths and weaknesses of spearmanship. But in fact, these issues were only limited to the first or second stage of blood coagulation. Once the third stage of blood coagulation was reached, the martial artist would have the powerful ability to change the environment. With a sweep of the spear, even the sturdy bluestone courtyard wall would crumble instantly, and the impact of the environment would gradually decrease.

"Well, it's not a big deal. We're only guarding against petty thieves. Serious thieves rarely come here. We can't really fight inside the house. Outside, the courtyard and the alley are spacious enough to make our moves."

Hu Yong shook his head and smiled, no longer going into details, and instead began to introduce the courtyard.

The courtyard was located behind the pharmacy. Most of the valuable medicinal herbs and the daily cash were stored in the main house to the north, and Hu Yong was personally in charge of the main house to the north.

The houses on the east and west sides were vacant, totaling six rooms. Sun Wang and Ma Liu each lived in two of them. Now that Wu Ming had arrived, they could choose any of the remaining four rooms as a place to rest and relax.

(End of this chapter)