Chapter 325: The Mature Man
The appraisal was done by professionals that specialized in various trades, and the expert that Bai Rouyun had been led to was a mature man, who looked neither young nor middle-aged.
He had an intimidating aura, and his eyes were sharp and overwhelming. When looking at him, one could guess that he was not just an ordinary appraiser, but it was not Bai Rouyun's intention to try and pry into his true identity.
"Welcome. Please take out the herbs you wish to have appraised." The appraiser was clearly specialized in herbs as this was the only thing he asked for her to bring out.
He was sitting on a one-person couch while gesturing for Bai Rouyun to take a seat opposite to him. His demeanor was powerful and his body released much pressure, but he did not act domineering or impolite.
The more Bai Rouyun looked around at this Lingcao Pavilion, the more confused she got. Everything seemed to be contradicting, and she had long since lost all expectations of the following events.
Bai Rouyun had been somewhat tempted to take out a few rarer plants as she wished to see how deep the waters ran in this strange shop, but she quickly regained her senses.
If she was still in her old continent and at the peak of her strength, then it would not be a problem to probe other factions. However, she was currently weak compared to the average strength in this place and without any backing. She was in a foreign place and wished to stay low-key, so she quickly cast away her wayward thoughts.
Bai Rouyun took out a porcelain box from within her Qiankun bag. The porcelain box was not outstanding, it could even be considered plain, and the blue motif displayed a lotus pond landscape.
Bai Rouyun placed the porcelain box on the table. She had intentionally picked this box. Although it was very pretty and able to sustain the energy and life force within the herbs, it was not the type usually used by experts.
Such a small detail was noticed by the mature man in front of her, and the darkness in his eyes increased slightly as he looked at the porcelain box for some time, without reaching out to open it.
Bai Rouyun was not in a hurry either. Usually, the noble young ladies raised in the aristocratic families would be sitting upright with a straight back, their legs would be placed in a specific angle, and their hands would also be folded on top of their lap.
This woman, on the other hand, was not following the etiquette that was common for the noble women. Although her aura was overwhelming, she did not seem to be controlled by the same kind of polite regulations as others as she languidly leaned against the backrest of the sofa.
The mature man was supposed to be stoic and very strict when it came to following the various etiquettes and expectations on how to behave, but he did not seem to have any intentions of commenting on Bai Rouyun's behavior.
For some reason, Bai Rouyun had a nagging feeling that this man knew who she was, but she could not help but think that she was overly sensitive, as she was new to the Wushi Continent, and only Li Moyun and Yun Mingshen were familiar with her here.
Even the Bai family did not know that she had arrived, as she had never had much contact with them after their initial introduction. She still bore a grudge from how they spoke about Li Moyun and herself back then.
The mature man withdrew his gaze as he noticed how Bai Rouyun's eyes narrowed and her eyes became sharp. It was clear that she was on high alert, so he dared not show any traces and instead reached out his hand to pick up the porcelain box on the table.
The man looked at the box after which he opened it. Initially, he did not hold much hope for the box to contain anything valuable, but after the lid was opened, he felt his senses assaulted by the fresh and fragrant scent of the herbs within.
The man's eyebrows rose slightly as his focus was placed on the flowers within the box. There were seven stalks of flowers, and each of them had between ten and twelve bell-shaped flowers hanging along the stalk.
The flowers were white and it seemed as if they had been carved from pearls as the color and luster was simply too pearl-like.
These herbs, the Spiritual Pearl-Bell Flower, were not considered a rare herb, but it was not too common either. It was just that when one came across these herbs, they would usually find more than one at a time.
Also, these herbs had around ten flowers on each stalk, and thus they were not as hard to come by as others. Even so, they were usually hard to purchase as many pills required this herb to stabilize the various medicinal properties during the concoction process.
The mature man's eyes turned solemn as he looked at the flowers within the box. He was clearly very interested in these flowers as he could see that they were not ordinary.
He raised his head and looked at Bai Rouyun. "May I take a closer look?"
Although he was the appraiser, he needed the permission from the owner before he touched anything directly, and thus asked politely before doing anything extra.
Bai Rouyun nodded her head as she looked at him with interest. Most of her initial vigilance was slowly getting less overwhelming as she noticed his genuine interest in herbs. Perhaps she had merely been too sensitive at first.