Chapter 199: The Shi Family’s Comeback 3
The nine water floating cloud pill was undoubtedly valuable. Its prescription was long lost in time and Lu Bin only knew about it because of Lin Jin. How could this medicine hall possibly have this prescription then?
Just as Lu Bin was deep in thought, someone approached him to get a closer look before carefully asking him in a respectful tone, “Are you General Lu?”
Lu Bin was startled. He had been too occupied to notice someone approach him. Turning around, he saw someone standing beside him, and when their eyes met, the other person was shocked and wanted to bow in salutations.
Lu Bin stopped him at once. “It’s you, Wentang. I’d advise you to not draw any attention to me. I’m just here out of curiosity to see what’s happening.”
That person was the City Lord Manor’s steward, Zuo Wentang.
These two obviously knew each other and were old acquaintances. Back in the day, Zuo Wentang was under Lu Bin’s care when was enlisted into the army. Though, the latter resigned from his post and became a royal consecration. After that, Zuo Wentang returned to his hometown in Maple City and became the City Lord Manor’s steward.
This was the reason why Zuo Wentang was so respectful toward Lu Bin.
After all, the man was his former commander.
“General Lu, why didn’t you tell me that you’ve come to Maple City. I could have received you properly.” Zuo Wentang could care less about the product launch. Compared to Lu Bin, that new pill was nothing, or at least that was what he thought.
Lu Bin was pleased. After all, it was a good thing that his former subordinate still remembered him. However, this trip of his required him to be as discreet as possible. He just wanted to invite Lin Jin to the royal city so he didn’t plan on making his presence known.
“I’m here for personal matters so I didn’t plan on disturbing you. After all, you must be busy as well, Wentang,” Lu Bin said with a smile.
Zuo Wentang was about to pull Lu Bin away for a drink. The latter was interested too, but after giving it some thought, he said, “You’re a valued guest in this event. It doesn’t seem appropriate to just leave like this.”
“What’s not appropriate about it?” Zuo Wentang didn’t mind it at all. He didn’t, but Lu Bin did. Lu Bin was very interested to find out whether or not that pill was the nine water floating cloud pill so he stayed.
Since he wouldn’t leave, Zuo Wentang dared not leave either, nor did he have the courage to return to his seat in front. He just stood respectfully beside Lu Bin.
After a while, some people started to notice that something was off.
After all, Zuo Wentang was a man of great status. Seeing him being so respectful to the older man beside him and how exceptional that man looked, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that he wasn’t your average old geezer.
All the prominent figures in Maple City now noticed Lu Bin, including Shi Wenjun who was on stage, as well as Chen Wenlin who was among the audience. However, the former couldn’t excuse herself right now or she would definitely have made her way over to greet him.
Now that the hall has been hyped up, Shi Wenjun simply said, “I wonder if anyone here knows what pill I’m currently holding in my hand.”
No one answered.
They either couldn’t tell or couldn’t be sure.
After all, even connoisseurs couldn’t possibly imagine that there would be a pill that could be soaked in water.
Just then, an old man among the crowd suddenly said, “I don’t understand pharmacology but I love reading books. The Mantra of Pills is something I’ve read during my younger days. This work was only able to survive time not only because of the pelletization methods it taught but also because of its rare style of writing. There was a pill named ‘nine water floating cloud pill’ recorded in the Mantra of Pills where it is used specifically to break malicious curses. It can be used to treat evil possessions as well but the pill itself doesn’t dissolve in water. Upon making contact with water, a layer of wax is formed around it. However, this miraculous pill’s prescription has long been lost and having lived for more than eighty years now, I’ve never seen one like it, so it’s a real pity. Lord Shi, let me ask you, is this the nine water floating cloud pill?”
The old man who spoke up was a famous scholar in Maple City. He was both prestigious and incredibly knowledgeable. The old man was the only one who actually recognized something familiar and inquired about it.
Even Shi Wenjun was mildly stunned. After all, the Mantra of Pills was exclusively studied by those who specialized in pelletization. And even among this group, not all of them could possibly have recalled the nine water floating cloud pill from the thousands of pills recorded in it.
“Mr. Yang Tang is truly well-informed!” Shi Wenjun complimented.
Although it wasn’t a direct answer, everyone now knew that she was holding a nine water floating cloud pill in her hand.
The crowd was astonished.
Those who didn’t know about it began asking at one and soon, everyone learned that the nine water floating cloud pill was used to break curses.
Whoever was possessed by evil spirits or had curses cast upon them could mostly be treated with this nine water floating cloud pill.
Chen Wenlin’s expression looked dark.
As a businessman, he knew the value of this nine water floating cloud pill. While it seemed like average folks couldn’t use this pill, the existence of it was like a stabilizing force. Simply put, it could raise the supplier’s prestige. If the Shi family had it and his Chen family didn’t, outsiders would assume that the Chen family was inferior to the Shi family. With this, who would regular folks choose to buy from?
Everyone would obviously turn to the Shi family even if the Chen medicine halls were selling goods at a cheaper rate.
This wasn’t a good sign.
But Chen Wenlin was suspicious. How did the Shi family obtain a prescription that has been lost in time?
In other words, Chen Wenlin assumed that the Shi family was lying.
Equally suspicious was Wu Chenwei. He wasn’t as sophisticated as Chen Wenlin so after seeing this happen, he immediately yelled, “I bet it’s just a random pill that you’ve declared as the nine water floating cloud pill! Does the Shi family think we’re fools?”
He obviously wasn’t buying it.
Upon hearing this, the others calmed down as well.
On second thought, even if the Shi family had a rich background, it was impossible for them to own the prescription for the ancient nine water floating cloud pill. This item was practically a myth that people assumed had never existed at all.
In an instant, the number of suspicious folks increased.
Tan Lin was skeptical too. As a beast appraiser, she had read the Mantra of Pills before and most of the pills in that book had been lost in time. Some were even described only with a few sentences and sounded too mysterious to be real.
The nine water floating cloud pill was one of them.
She felt that the Shi family might just be making false claims. Also, she had already noticed Lu Bin since just now so after a brief thought, she got up and went over to him.
Tan Lin had met Lu Bin before.
Although they weren’t very well acquainted, her father, Tan Xun, had a good relationship with that man. As a junior, she had to greet him, or else her father would accuse her of having no manners when she returned to the royal city.
“Hello, General Lu!” Tan Lin greeted.
Lu Bin had also noticed Tan Lin just now so he smiled and said, “I’ve heard from Old Tan that his precious daughter is taking up post as the chief of Maple City’s Beast Appraisal Association. Old Tan even told me that if a chance ever presented itself, I should look after you, but it seems to me like he had been worrying too much. The Beast Appraisal Association is in much better hands now than it was before.”
This was intended as a compliment and Tan Lin quickly accepted it humbly.
“Was General Lu also invited by the Shi family?” Tan Lin asked out of curiosity.
Lu Bin shook his head. “I came uninvited.”
Tan Lin understood and stopped asking more. Meanwhile, Shi Wenjun had just admitted that the pill in her hand was indeed the nine water floating cloud pill.
“I think it’s a fake. No way the nine water floating cloud pill can still be produced today. The Shi family must have found something similar instead,” Tan Lin suddenly commented.
Zuo Wentang had the same thought. He didn’t believe it either.
Both of their views reflected most of the audience’s thoughts.
However, Lu Bin said out of nowhere, “That may not be the case. One would just have to carefully cross-examine the pill according to what was stated in the Mantra of Pills to determine its authenticity. Moreover, the nine water floating cloud pill hasn’t truly been lost in time. There are still people out there who know of its prescription.”
Had this been said by someone else, Zuo Wentang and Tan Lin would have snorted in response and thought nothing of it. But if it came from Lu Bin, things were different.
Both of them were instantly intrigued.
Tan Lin simply asked, “General Lu, have you perhaps seen the nine water floating cloud pill?”
Lu Bin didn’t conceal this fact and nodded. “Not only the nine water floating cloud pill but I’ve also seen the prescription itself.”
Now, both Zuo Wentang and Tan Lin were shocked. They couldn’t afford to doubt it as it was Lu Bin who made the statement. And they knew full well who Lu Bin was. The man would never lie.
“Could the prescription be a royal treasure?” Zuo Wentang guessed. Tan Lin nodded. That was a high possibility, but what Lu Bin said next baffled them.
“How could the royal members own this prescription? If they did, then we wouldn’t have to… Forget it. You guys can stop guessing. I’ve seen the nine water floating cloud pill’s prescription before and its effect is exactly as the Mantra of Pills had described. And I got this prescription from an expert in Maple City.”
When they heard this, Zuo Wentang and Tan Lin drew in a breath of cold air.