Lian Qiguang allowed Lian Xiaozhu to pull him along as they squeezed through here and there, asking questions from south to north, finally finding a seed shop.
After entering the store, the flood of images filling the room instantly made Lian Qiguang feel a moment of dizziness. He shook his head, and his always expressionless face looked a bit blank for a moment.
“Welcome, feel free to look around.” From a corner inside the shop, a young man whose face could not be seen clearly was half-slumped on the counter, half-asleep. Hearing someone enter, he greeted them without lifting his head, then stopped moving again.
“Second Brother, these are seed samples here. See what you like and we’ll buy it. I have money.” Lian Xiaozhu looked up at Lian Qiguang, seriously shaking the silly cat wallet in her hand.
Looking at Lian Xiaozhu’s pale little face, Lian Qiguang for the first time felt she wasn’t that foolish. He nodded expressionlessly and walked toward the innermost part.
This shop was not too big, but also not too small, about a hundred square meters. Metallic walls projected scenes of plant images, filling the air, constantly cycling and changing.
As Lian Qiguang looked along, his brows slowly furrowed.
Ancient golden wheat, 5000 star coins. Ancient green vegetable, 7000 star coins. Ancient jade green, 10000 star coins……
What golden wheat! That’s wheat! And green vegetable! That’s clearly spinach!! And that jade green—are they really treating him like an idiot! Using a cabbage to fool him! He is a genius! Do you understand genius?!
“Second Brother, do you not like any of them?” Seeing Lian Qiguang’s expression turn a bit unpleasant, Lian Xiaozhu asked softly.
“I don’t want cabbage.” Lian Qiguang said flatly, looking at the cabbage floating above his head.
“Little brother knows the names of these plants?” A hoarse voice came from deeper inside the shop. The young man who had been lying there suddenly jolted up, looking toward the door nervously; there was no trace of sleepiness left on his face.
As the door opened, an old man in a gray long robe slowly walked out.
“Oh! Master, you’re out?” The young man hurried over, smiling ingratiatingly and somewhat shamelessly.
“If I didn’t come out, wouldn’t our honored guest have been driven away by you?” The old man glanced at him sideways, disappointed.
“What honored guest…” the young man muttered under his breath.
“How dare you talk back!” the old man’s eyes sharpened. “Go pour tea.”
“Fine fine, I’ll go!” The young man scratched his nose and went inside, still grumbling as he walked, “stinky old man.”
“My disciple has embarrassed himself. Please don’t mind.” The old man smiled at Lian Qiguang and gestured to a chair.
“Little brother, please sit.”
Lian Qiguang looked at him expressionlessly and calmly sat down beside the chair without the slightest hesitation.
In his previous life, he had been the teacher of the young crown prince, the strategist of the Dragon-Poison Base, and the number one expert of Huaxia. Many people tried to curry favor with him. To him, the old man’s behavior was completely normal.
But precisely because of Lian Qiguang’s calmness, and the faint aura of a superior, the old man began to silently consider his identity.
“My surname is Yuan. Outsiders call me Old Man Yuan. May I ask what little brother is called?”
“Ku Mu.” Under Lian Xiaozhu’s shocked gaze, Lian Qiguang expressionlessly gave his former mission codename.
“So it is Brother Ku Mu.” The old man smiled on the surface while mentally filtering through the name.
“Earlier I heard Brother Ku Mu call the jade green ‘cabbage’. May I ask why?”
“No reason.” Lian Qiguang looked at the constantly changing images above his head and tossed out a sentence without any emotional fluctuation, making the old man slightly annoyed.
“To be honest with you, little brother,” Old Man Yuan continued smiling, “recently I accidentally obtained an ancient book. It records some ancient plants. In it, jade green is recorded as cabbage.”
The old man rambled on, but Lian Qiguang’s eyes remained fixed on the images, not asking or responding. The atmosphere inside the shop became somewhat awkward, and Old Man Yuan’s expression stiffened slightly.
Suddenly, Lian Qiguang’s gaze stopped on one plant. It was a vine, but unlike ordinary vines, it was covered in dense soft thorns.
“What is that?” Lian Qiguang pointed at the vine.
Old Man Yuan looked over and paused slightly before speaking: “Just an ordinary grass found in forests. It has strong vitality and grows quickly. Don’t be fooled by its harmless appearance. Once entangled in the forest, it is very hard to escape. It will quickly wrap around a person, and its soft thorns will harden, piercing into the body. These seeds are usually bought by mercenaries and soldiers in military academies for training.”
Watching the image slowly disappear, Lian Qiguang seemed to be thinking.
Just as Old Man Yuan was about to speak again, Lian Qiguang said: “I will tell you the names of these plants. In exchange, give me some of your seeds.”
“What are you saying, little brother? Aren’t the names already written on them?” Old Man Yuan laughed, but it was clearly a test.
Lian Qiguang stood up and pointed at the green vegetable: “This is a type of vegetable. Its original name is spinach. In my… more than three thousand years ago, it was one of the most common vegetables, eaten at the table.”
No need to say more—value is enough.
Lian Qiguang looked at Old Man Yuan’s brightening eyes and calmly added: “One and a half star coins per jin. Very cheap.”
“Brother Ku Mu!” Old Man Yuan suddenly stood up, his bright eyes fixed on Lian Qiguang. Because of his excitement, his long white beard trembled with his breathing.
“I wonder if Brother Ku Mu would be willing to talk inside?”
“Wait for me.” He looked toward Lian Xiaozhu, pointed at the chair he had just sat in, then turned and walked into the inner room.
“Little Bug, bring out the Master’s treasured ancient Longjing tea!!”
“…………………………”
Lian Xiaozhu: “……”
——Scene break——
One hour later.
Lian Xiaozhu sat on the chair, boredly swinging her legs, her black eyes frequently glancing at the tightly closed door that had not opened for an hour.
“Stop looking,” the young man called Chong Jing said lazily from the table, yawning. “Once my master gets excited, he won’t come out for at least a day.”
“Um, Brother Chong Jing…”
“Who are you calling Little Bug!!” The young man suddenly exploded, full of energy in an instant. “My name is Chong Jing!”
“S-sorry!” Lian Xiaozhu quickly apologized in panic.
“Tch.” Chong Jing snorted and lay back down again.
“Chong… Brother Chong Jing, can you go call my brother? We should go home…”
“I wouldn’t dare.” Chong Jing said lazily. “That old man of mine, once he gets angry, he’ll skin me alive.”
“But, but…”
“If you’re hungry, there’s a cake shop across the street. It’s a bit expensive, but it tastes good.”
“I…”
Before she could finish, Chong Jing had already fallen asleep.
Lian Xiaozhu looked at the closed door, pressed her lips together, jumped off the chair, and walked out.
……
She ran quickly to the shop Chong Jing mentioned, bought a cake, and worried that Lian Qiguang would get angry if he came out and couldn’t find her, she ran all the way back.
“Ah!!”
Only looking down while running, Lian Xiaozhu accidentally collided with something and fell heavily to the ground.
“Watch where you’re going! Do you have no eyes!!”
A roar came from above her head. Lian Xiaozhu looked up and saw a man with dense silver rings on his ears and half his face covered in colorful tattoos staring fiercely at her.
“I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” She struggled to stand and kept apologizing.
“I’ll wipe it for you.” She reached out to wipe the cake off him, but he shoved her away.
“Get lost!”
“Ah!!”
She fell again. Her palm scraped against the ground, leaving faint blood traces. She was frightened and her eyes turned red.
The surrounding people had already stopped to watch, whispering and pointing, but none stepped forward to help.
“Heh, didn’t expect a little beauty.” The man’s expression turned lewd as he looked at her face, his smile twisting the paint on his face.
Lian Xiaozhu closed her eyes in terror.
“Don’t come closer!!”
“Slap!”
A loud slap struck the man’s face, leaving five clear handprints.
“You!!”
The man’s face turned ugly. “You don’t know what’s good for you!!”
He raised his fist toward her face.
“Second Brother, save me!!!”
Just as the fist was about to land, a knife hilt firmly blocked it.
The black handle, carved with simple patterns, dark red spots scattered across it like dried blood.
“A trash piece… I’ll kill you.”
A gloomy voice, like an invitation from hell, made one’s body turn cold and hair stand on end.