Chapter 301
Sima You Yue squatted on the ground and took out the Crimson Rhinoceros Grass, looked at the peddler and asked, “How much for this Rhinoceros Grass?”
The peddler noticed Sima You Yue’s dressing and mannerisms and could tell at a glance that this was a wealthy person.
“Three thousand and five hundred gold coins.” The peddler said with a bright smile.
The youth who was standing there was anxious and said, “Didn’t you just promise to sell it to me at three thousand gold coins?”
“But you have no money. I also said that I would reserve it for you at three thousand gold coins. Now that this lord wants it, I can only give it to him at three thousand five hundred.” The peddler said very self righteously.
Sima You Yue smiled, saying, “This stalk of Rhinoceros Grass is only worth eight hundred gold coins at most.”
“Lord, do not jest. Eight hundred gold coins can only buy the average Rhinoceros Grass. Mine are crimson red and are over two hundred years old.” The peddler quickly explained.
“That’s right, what you have is just the average Rhinoceros Grass, and only worth eight hundred gold coins.” Sima You Yue said definitively.
“Nonsense. Can’t you see its colour?” The peddler retorted, raising his voice high to mask the anxious state of his heart.
“The colour was dyed on.” Sima You Yue said.
“Don’t slander me. Does this Rhinoceros Grass look like it was dyed red? Look at the insides, the leaves, they’re all red! Will it look this way if it was dyed?” The peddler pinched a leaf and the inside was truly red.
“I don’t know what method you used to dye it, that even the leaves would be red, but I’m guessing that there’s one thing you do not know. Rhinoceros Grass that are above two hundred years old have an additional thread of red on its leaves, but yours do not have that.” Sima You Yue said while pointing to the leaves.
“What are you talking about thread or no thread? You haven’t even seen it before, how would you know?” The peddler said.
“How do you know I have never seen it?” Sima You Yue asked with a smile.
The peddler saw the smile on her face and his heart was flustered. This guy couldn’t possible have really seen Crimson Rhinoceros Grass before right?
“Do Crimson Rhinoceros Grass really have that thread of red?” That male youth asked.
“That’s right.” Sima You Yue replied. After that, she saw that the other party was still unwilling to confess, so she said, “Looks like you won’t cry till you see the coffin.”
She directly snapped the rhizome of the Rhinoceros Grass, and there was truly a bit of green near the roots.
“My rhinoceros grass!” The peddler never thought that Sima You Yue would do this, so he wasn’t in time to stop it.
Sima You Yue threw the stalk of Rhinoceros Grass in her hand on the ground, stood up and dusted her hands, saying, “No matter what methods you use, there is no way you will be able to dye the whole thing red.”
“This…” The peddler’s expression immediately turned ugly.
“Great, you actually dare to cheat me!” The male youth criticised him furiously, “It’s a good thing that I have not bought your rhinoceros grass yet, otherwise, wouldn’t I be sabotaged by you!”
“Listen to my explanation…” The peddler tried to explain.
“Hmph, scammer. Everyone, don’t ever buy stuff from this guy!” The youth shouted loudly before turning to look for Sima You Yue. However, he realised that she had already left.
Sima You Yue had left with everyone once she had revealed the truth. She had just stepped outside when someone called her to a halt.
“These few brothers, please hold on.”
Sima You Yue recognised that the voice belonged to that youth, so she stopped and asked, “What’s up?”
That male came in front of Sima You Yue and bowed in greeting, saying, “Many thanks Brother, otherwise, I would have bought that fake Crimson Rhinoceros Grass.”
“You’re welcome. I merely do not like to see this kind of scam happening.” Sima You yue said.
“No matter what, I still have to thank you.” The male said, “May I ask if, Young Master, you have seen a Crimson Rhinoceros Grass before?”
“I have.” Sima You yue said.
The Spirit Pagoda had plenty.
“I wonder if the Young Master has any?”
“I do.”
When he heard what Sima You Yue said, that male’s eyes shone and said quite excitedly, “I really urgently need a stalk of crimson rhinoceros grass. I wonder if Brother can bear to part with it? I’m willing to purchase it at a higher price.”
“Someone from your family is injured?” Sima You Yue asked.
“Yes, my brother’s arm was injured by Li Mu a month ago and requires a rhinoceros grass to treat it.” That male replied.
“Li Mu? The one from the Alchemist Guild?” Sima You Yue asked.
“Yes, him.” The male replied, “I’m called Lu Yuan. My older brother is called Lu Ming. My brother is someone from the Alchemist Guild. That time, because he opposed Li Mu, he was injured by him. We’ve been looking for a crimson rhinoceros grass all this while to treat his injury.”
“Can’t a burn wound be healed using healing salve? Why hasn’t he healed after so long?” Sima You Yue had never encountered a situation like this before.
“Because Li Mu’s flame is not the average flame. The average medicine will be of no use.” Lu Yuan’s face revealed unconcealed rage.
Sima You Yue thought of how she had heard of it before, where wounds caused by other types of flames were not that easy to heal. She was intrigued for awhile.
“Although the two hundred year old Rhinoceros Grass is rare, it’s not that hard to find. How come you haven’t found one after so long?” Sima You Yue asked.
“That’s right, those large medicine shops have them, but Li Mu’s position in the city is rather high. He has released word saying that nobody is to sell us the Rhinoceros Grass. Otherwise, they would be opposing him. That is why we cannot buy rhinoceros grass from those medicine shops and can only come to these free trade areas to try out luck. It was so hard for me to finally encounter it, but I never thought it would be fake.”
“Why don’t you go to the trading areas?” Sima You Le asked.
“Those large trading areas are all run by the guilds.” Lu Yuan’s words were filled with bitterness.
Because they’re run by the known guilds, they have to give Li Mu some respect and they wouldn’t sell to him.
” Li Mu is just a fourth ranked alchemist, why does he have such a great position that the different guilds would help him?” Fatty Qu asked.
“Although he is merely a fourth ranked alchemist, he is very close to the Merchant guild. He also has a relative who’s an elder, and his talent is good and is familiar with those from the guild. Nobody wants to offend an alchemist like him with so much influence.” Lu Yuan said helplessly.
“I’m interested about your brother’s injury, can I go take a look?” Sima You Yue asked.
“This… The circumstances my family is in isn’t too good. It’s better that you not form relations with my family during this period of time. If others see you with me, it might bring you danger.” Lu Yuan gracefully turned her down.
No problem, in any case, we have already made Li Mu our enemies. They say that the enemy of your enemy is your friend, so we are going to pay our friends a visit. Let’s go, lead the way.” Sima You Yue didn’t care about LI Mu at all.
Lu Yuan saw Sima You Yue so insistent, so he promised to bring them home.
Sima You Yue never thought that the Lu home would be in the heart of the area. For a family to be able to stay here meant that they had the capability to do so. They must have been a powerful house back then, a first ranked one!