Chapter 21: Poor
Translator: Mogumoguchan/Zenobys Editor: - -
The herbal storage room was very big. It was also very neat inside. There were a lot of neatly arranged shelves with all sorts of herbs properly categorized
There was a smaller room located further into the building. The herbs in there were different from the ones in the outer room. They were specifically prepared for the Berserkers and a normal member of the tribe was not allowed to go in there.
Even a common healer would require permission from the tribe leader or the elder to go into this room. It was viewed as an extremely important room in the entire Dark Mountain Tribe.
However, all these rules did not apply to Su Ming. The elder gave Su Ming a special position in the tribe since a long time ago and he could go into the room at will to learn how to identify all the herbs in there.
When he stepped into the building, Su Ming saw Bei Ling holding Chen Xin’s hand. The walked towards the small room with all the precious herbs. There was an old man sitting cross-legged outside the door. The old wore a robe made of beast skin. He was thin, his hair was white and his face was covered in wrinkles. He originally had his eyes closed but he opened them slightly to receive the introduction letter from Bei Ling and Chen Xin. He cast a glance at it then, closed his eyes once more.
Su Ming walked slowly. He knew that Bei Ling did not want to see him. So, he chose to remain silent and did not follow them into the small room. Instead, he chose to walk towards the shelves outside and look at the large amount of herbs on the shelves. He was familiar with all of them. He had practically collected all of the herbs there before.
Bei Ling and Chen Xin had not come out of the room even after Su Ming had finished looking at all the herbs outside. Su Ming hesitated for a while then, he began to pace outside the room slowly.
"Young La Su, what are you wondering about?" As Su Ming was deep in thought, an old and wizened voice traveled into his ears. He lifted his head and saw that the old man guarding the small room was speaking to him.
"Grandpa Nan Song, I’m not a La Su anymore…" Su Ming scratched his head and smiled.
"I remember now. The La Sus of your generation have completed the Awakening a few months ago. Looks like I can’t call you young La Su anymore." The old man grinned as his eyes twinkled with kindness.
"Since you’re here, why don’t you go in? Don’t be scared, I have your back! I even dared to compete against the elder for a woman in the past. I’m not afraid of anything!" The old man winked at him and joked.
Su Ming widened his eyes. It was the first time he heard about this. After a moment of hesitation, he smiled bitterly and went into the small room.
He was not hesitating because of Chen Xin as the old man had suggested rather, he was hesitating because of Bei Ling, whom he was indebted to. He did not know how to explain himself. Many years had passed since then and the man was still cold towards him.
‘It’s fine…’ Su Ming sighed. The moment he opened the door to the small room, he saw Bei Ling with his powerful presence. He was standing beside Chen Xin, who was choosing herbs in the room. He turned around and glared at him.
Su Ming met his gaze and went towards a shelf on the other side. He chose to ignore the two and started searching for the herbs required to create Mountain Spirit.
When Chen Xin saw Su Ming, she looked as if she wanted to say something. After hesitating for a while, she again chose not to speak. As she grew up, she began to understand a lot of things. She also understood her relationship with Bei Ling. The love she felt for Su Ming since she was young was dying away as time passed.
‘Night Marrow Grass…
‘Thousand Leaf Flower…’
Su Ming slowly walked around the room. He swept his gaze across the precious herbs and finally found the two herbs he needed to create Mountain Spirit.
‘It’s a pity I don’t have the last one…’
He had looked through all of the herbs in the room and was deep in thought.
Chen Xin and Bei Ling had also finished choosing the herbs they wanted. Once Chen Xin bade farewell to Su Ming, she was dragged away by Bei Ling. Before he left, Bei Ling stopped. He did not turn back but spoke calmly.
"These herbs are useless to you since you don’t have a Berserker Body! Instead of wasting them, you should leave it for the other tribe members. Know your place." Once he finished speaking, Bei Ling took Chen Xin away.
Su Ming kept quiet. As he lifted his head to look at the two people leaving, he did not speak. Instead, he looked at all the herbs in the room once more. Then he took the two herbs he needed and left the room.
The old man sitting outside the room did not mind Su Ming taking the herbs from the room. On the contrary, he looked at Su Ming in amusement.
"Grandpa Nan Song… it’s not what you think…" Su Ming touched his nose.
"What would I be thinking about? I wasn’t even talking about the complicated relationship between you and the two young La Sus. I absolutely wasn’t." The old man laughed.
Su Ming blushed lightly, feeling a little awkward. An idea suddenly crossed his mind and he squatted down to look at the old man.
"Grandpa Nan Song, did you happen to see this herb before?" As Su Ming spoke, he drew the picture of an herb on the ground.
The old man smiled and looked at the drawing. He sank into deep thought, then tapped his forehead lightly after a while.
"Isn’t this the Cloud Gauze Grass? We don’t have this herb in Dark Mountain. It can only grow in a special environment. Only Wind Stream Tribe sells this herb around the area. Why do you need it?"
"I read about it in one of the elder’s scrolls. I’ve tried looking for it in Dark Mountain but I couldn’t find it. So that’s how it is." Understanding dawned on Su Ming’s face.
"Of course not. This is an herb suitable for lower-leveled Berserkers in the Blood Solidification Realm. It’s just that they’re sold at a high price in Wind Stream Tribe. If you want it, you can ask the elder to bring you to the trading square located just outside Wind Stream Tribe. There are all sorts of herbs sold there." The old man shook his head and smiled.
Su Ming’s interest was piqued. He asked a few more questions, then rose up and left after he bidding farewell to the old man. The old man looked at him with teasing eyes as he departed.
When he left the herbal storage, Su Ming sank into his thoughts as he walked through the snow.
"Wind Gauze Grass… I can obtain the other herbs for Mountain Spirit myself but as for Wind Gauze Grass… Grandpa Nan Song said that it’s really expensive… Haa." Su Ming frowned. He searched through his pockets and found nothing besides a few stone coins he obtained from Black Mountain Tribe’s Yu Chi.
They usually employed the barter system within the tribe and rarely used money. Once they left the tribe though, they would need to use stone coins to buy items.
Stone coins were coins made from a special type of stone. There was an unspoken rule that they could only be created in big tribes. If any of them were created illegally, the person and his tribe would face destruction by the hands of the big tribes.
After he searched through his entire body, Su Ming only managed to find 3 stone coins. All of them belonged to the dead Yu Chi. As for Su Ming himself, he did not own a single coin.
‘I don’t have coins. How am I supposed to buy them…? If only I had 100… no, 1,000 stone coins… As for the square, I know the approximate location since the elder mentioned it before. Once any members of the tribe become Berserkers, they can go there in pairs. The location of the square isn’t far either…’
Su Ming laughed bitterly. He felt the beginnings of a headache forming.