Fang Yuan asked that question while organising the top grade Realgar Powder as he looked at the 2 siblings taking their leave.
"They are from the Zhou family. You are very lucky today to have met the second son of the Zhou family. Imagine if it was the unruly daughter of the Zhou family instead…."
One of the shopkeepers, who seemed to know the Zhou Family, replied and started shaking his head.
"What are you trying to cure with the Red Mountain Ginseng? Is Old Zhou sick?"
"It isn't that simple. The Zhou family is part of the Spirit Returning Sect. Old Zhou, who is a deacon, suffers internal injuries apparently. That is why he needs the medicine now in order to recover. Unfortunately, your Red Mountain Ginseng is not at least 50 years old. Otherwise, there is a chance for you to meet the criteria listed in the announcement!"
"What announcement?"
Fang Yuan showed interest and said to the shopkeeper, "Tell me more about it."
"What announcement? Didn't you see an announcement made by the Zhou family? They are looking for a doctor to cure Old Zhou's illness! The Zhou family promised to give anything that the doctor wants if the doctor is able to cure Old Zhou's illness…."
The shopkeeper sighed, making it seemed like Old Zhou is unlikely to recover.
Fang Yuan listened before viewing his stats subconsciously. His medicine level was recorded in his stats window.
Being recognised by his stats system meant that his ability had attained a certain standard.
Even though Fang Yuan had learnt a few techniques, only those techniques related to medicine and botany, which had been vetted by Master Wenxin were recognised.
Hence, Fang Yuan considered himself as a much skilful doctor as compared to other normal doctors.
The only thing was that Fang Yuan was lazy in nature and he was also not very fond of Miss Zhou's temperament. Therefore, he wouldn't volunteer himself to help her.
'Since the Zhou family is part of the Spirit Returning Sect, perhaps I can pick up martial arts from them….However, this seems dangerous, maybe I should just forget about it….'
Even though the Zhou siblings were rude, they were very generous with the rewards in terms of money. The reward would definitely allow Fang Yuan to purchase the Realgar Powder in bulk with spare change left.
After exiting the shop, Fang Yuan continued shopping happily.
'Thinking about it, someone from the Spirit Returning Sect must have made this decision without consulting anyone. This makes the announcement less reliable.'
At noon, Fang Yuan squatted at a corner and kept thinking about the announcement while consuming the rice balls he brought.
This was good news as it meant that he was not forced to leave his hometown.
When the Zhou Family attempted to cut his supply through Old Tian, they didn't force himself to leave, but it was hard to say what would happen next.
'Maybe….Should I go and pick up martial arts from the Spirit Returning Sect and practice? Legend has it that the Spirit Returning Sect is led by a Wu Zong. What is a Wu Zong? Is it very powerful? But I'm not really sure if the system would recognise martial arts…."
The rice balls were made from Pearl Jade Crystal Rice and sour plums were wrapped inside them which produced a great aroma.
A few beggars gathered around Fang Yuan. Their eyes glittered and they were drooling, obviously attracted by the aroma of the rice balls.
Luckily there were many people along the street. If not, the beggars that gathered would have started snatching the rice balls.
"Haha….so you are here, little beggar?"
At that point when Fang Yuan was surrounded by those pitiful stares and wanted to give up some of his rice balls, a familiar voice was heard.
He lifted up his head and saw Miss Zhou giving him a cocky look.
"Me? I'm a beggar?"
Fang Yuan was stunned as he pointed to himself.
"You are gathering with the other beggars. If you are not a beggar then what are you?"
Miss Zhou grinned and brought out a purse with gold and silver linings. "How about I give you beggars a few coins to go into a restaurant to have a good meal?"
Fang Yuan looked at himself and turned speechless.
Usually, villagers who entered a city were dressed in this manner, which left Fang Yuan no choice but to accept it.
He rolled his eyes and ignored Miss Zhou. He then continued eating his rice balls.
"Haha…..you villagers treat rice balls as if they are treasures. I just came from a restaurant….what is that smell?"
Miss Zhou smelled and found out the aroma was coming from Fang Yuan's rice balls.
Each grain of the Pearl Jade Crystal Rice grains are clear as crystal and they complement well with the sour plums. These rice balls did not seem like what villagers usually eat.
Of course, the main attraction was the fragrance of the rice balls.
She just had the same type of rice from a restaurant, but the aroma of the rice balls is just….too tempting already….
Resentful, Miss Zhou started to realise that her stomach started growling even though she had just finished a meal.
This was not because of her hungriness, but the fact that the delicious rice balls were tempting her!
She started to feel as if the rice balls Fang Yuan were eating were like a black hole, constantly attracting her attention.
If she continued staring, she would drool!
Miss Zhou wisely decided to turn back and walked off.
"Do you….want that?"
Fang Yuan met Miss Zhou' eyes and felt that she was pitiful. Hence, he gave out the last rice ball, "I'm giving you the last one!"
Miss Zhou swallowed and started blushing. Her fingers shook a little, which seemed to be reaching for the rice balls. At last, she blurted, "What a joke….I'm Zhou Wenxin from the well known Zhou family. How could this be happening…."
Her footsteps brought her closer to the rice balls as she blurted.
"Oh, you don't want the rice balls I see!"
Fang Yuan understood her and gave the last rice ball to one of the beggars instead, "Take it!"
"Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"
That beggar was drooling right in front of Fang Yuan before. He became so grateful that he kept thanking while eating the rice ball.
That beggar grabbed the rice ball with a good amount of force. Meanwhile, it seemed that Zhou Wenxin was about to explode anytime.
"Ooohh….this is delicious!"
That beggar wolfed down the rice ball within seconds and started licking his fingers after finishing it.
"You…."
Zhou Wenxin's face became sluggish and blushed. Suddenly, she started crying out loud, "You bullied me!"
Not really sure why she felt that way, she turned and ran away.
The people who knew Zhou Wenxin gathered around Fang Yuan and admired him for what he did.
This guy was able to deal with the rude Miss Zhou by leaving her crying. This guy is capable of accomplishing anything in the future!
"This….'
Fang Yuan scratched his head and thought that he was innocent. It wasn't his fault that Miss Zhou cried. Sometimes, it was better to clear any misunderstandings that were made by others as IQ may not be equal to EQ.
However, he knew his EQ was low and he knew that if he didn't start running, he would be in big trouble when Miss Zhou's bodyguards came for him.
He started fleeing to a corner of another street.
....
Fang Yuan's prediction was correct.
Miss Zhou's bodyguards, looking angry, came running here not long after. Luckily they hadn't started locking down the whole city.
Fortunately, Fang Yuan was already outside the city, on his way back to the valley.
There were a few in the city who recognised Fang Yuan's looks, but no one knew where he lived.
Zhou Wenxin was furious for not learning Fang Yuan's name and could only give up on this matter. The news of Fang Yuan making Zhou Wenxin cry had spread everywhere in the city, causing Miss Zhou to be very embarrassed about the incident. Many had witnessed the incident happening, which made Zhou Wenxin even more furious. Unfortunately, she had nowhere to vent her anger.
"Hmm….So Wu Zong is a cultivation stage a martial artist can attain. A Wu Zong would be powerful to the extent that he would be able to defeat many. In the entire Spirit Returning Sect, there is only one such martial artist…."
Fang Yuan bought a book from a stall nearby using a few copper coins and was enjoying the contents.
This book appeared to be written by a scholar. The contents were based on a personal account and it seemed that the writer loved to travel. The content even mentioned something about Wu Zong, which attracted Fang Yuan.
"And here lies the Clear Spirit Mountain. Here is the Qinghe County and that city just now was Qingye City…."
What made Fang Yuan so interested in the book was that he was able to know where he was and the surrounding places from the book itself.
"The mainland is so big. The county where I am right now is so small when compared to the mainland. However, some may think that this county is quite big already….."
From the book, Fang Yuan knew how big the world is, which made him excited.
"Wu Zong is only well known in this area. There should be other structures other than martial arts…."
Fang Yuan put the book back into his bamboo basket and began trekking.
"Unfortunately, I was unable to get any martial arts manual. I should not think about other types of manuals then…."
Once back into the secluded valley, Fang Yuan felt at ease.
"It is still more comfortable back at home…."
Although he was not away from home for long, Fang Yuan was homesick.
He immediately went to the farm after putting his belongings down.
"Eh?"
Upon reaching the entrance, he was shocked by the presence of an animal's footprint, "A pest?"
Having a farm in the mountains would definitely attract all kinds of birds and animals. Luckily, Master Wenxin had a way to prevent any pest from entering the farm.
Tigers, wolves and other mammals would use their pee to mark out their territories. Other animals would not dare to enter these territories upon smelling the pee. In actual fact, some kind of herb was made into liquid form and would be poured around the whole perimeter of an area, tricking the other animals into think that that area is someone's territory and hence no one would enter.
Even if this method is a failure, the traps would have solved the problem of any trespassing.
However, the traps in the farm were damaged and the baits were missing as if the trespasser was laughing quietly at the back.