บท 14: Chapter 14: I'll Cover You
"Pharmacy?"
Tang Ya pondered for a moment. "If you want to buy medicine, you can go to the best medical hall in Heaven Dou City. They have the most extensive selection of medicines. I happen to be free later, so I can take you there."
"Then thank you, Sister Xiao Ya."
Hearing the way he addressed her, Tang Ya immediately smiled and patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder.
"Just because you called me 'Sister Xiao Ya,' from now on, I'll cover you in the snack street! Let's go, I'll take you to the medical hall."
Under the complex gazes of the surrounding vendors, Huo Yuhao followed Tang Ya as they left the snack street together. After seeing that Tang Ya truly only sold fifty grilled fish a day, the vendors all wore expressions of relief.
With such popularity on the first day, they could only imagine what would come next. If Tang Ya supplied unlimited amounts of grilled fish, they feared they would starve to death.
Moreover, Tang Ya had been personally brought in by Huang Yu, the one in charge of the street, from the very beginning. This cut off any thoughts the vendors had of causing trouble for Huo Yuhao. Everyone was just trying to make a living, and if they had real power, they wouldn't be setting up stalls here.
However, their dissatisfaction quickly dissipated upon learning that the grilled fish was limited in quantity. Those who had tasted Huo Yuhao's grilled fish knew that it would undoubtedly be in high demand, and the people drawn to the fish would naturally become customers of the snack street.
"Sister Xiao Ya, besides the medical hall, there's another place I need to visit. Do you know where I can buy rare metals?"
Looking at Tang Ya, Huo Yuhao suddenly had an idea. He could collaborate with the Tang Sect for his soul devices!
He could buy small amounts of rare metals on his own, but if he needed to buy in large quantities, it wasn't just about whether people would sell to him — there would definitely be some who would get suspicious.
Although the Tang Sect had declined, it was still a sect that specialized in selling hidden weapons. They had some connections when it came to rare metals, and Huo Yuhao wouldn't need to worry about them harboring ill intentions due to his talent, unlike other forces.
Selling soul devices under the Tang Sect's name would also make him less conspicuous.
Even though many of the Tang Sect's connections had distanced themselves due to the sect's decline, it was because the Tang Sect no longer held value. But if there was profit to be made, those connections wouldn't refuse to sell rare metals to the Tang Sect under normal business circumstances.
After all, a sale was a sale, and there was some old friendship to consider. Only a fool would turn down money.
The conflicts with Tang San wouldn't extend to affecting the Tang Sect, which only shared a name connection. Plus, Huo Yuhao had interacted with Tang Ya in his previous life, so it was certainly better than dealing with a completely unfamiliar force.
However, since he wasn't yet familiar with Tang Ya, it would be better to wait before proposing such a partnership.
"Rare metals? Those are hard to come by, and the prices on the market are often outrageous."
Tang Ya's smile faded a bit at the mention of rare metals. After all, the Tang Sect's decline was closely related to changes in the rare metals policies of the three great empires.
As the empires placed increasing importance on soul devices, the value of rare metals skyrocketed, and their prices rose accordingly.
Production costs continually increased, and the Tang Sect's products could no longer sell. This cycle continued until the present day, and now the Tang Sect was at the point of no return. If they had made changes at the beginning, when soul devices first entered the public eye after the collision with the Sun Moon Continent, perhaps they wouldn't have ended up like this.
Unfortunately, the Tang Sect clung stubbornly to tradition, to the point of absurdity. For the sake of honoring their first sect master, Tang San, every leader over the past 10,000 years had been someone with the Blue Silver Grass martial soul. This was an unimaginably pathological tradition.
Even if the current generation wanted to make changes, it was too late. The Tang Sect no longer had the resources to even train a single soul engineer.
"I like collecting various kinds of rare metals. Since Heaven Dou City is a large city, I figured there would be types I haven't seen before. I just want to see what's available and maybe buy some to add to my collection."
Huo Yuhao explained softly. He wasn't lying — for a soul engineer, rare metals were like beautiful women waiting to be loved. No soul engineer could resist them.
"I see. I know a few shops that might sell rare metals. I'll take you there after we visit the medical hall."
"Thank you, Sister Xiao Ya. I'll treat you to grilled fish tomorrow."
"Really?"
Tang Ya's eyes lit up, and she grabbed Huo Yuhao's arm, quickening her pace. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go quickly."
After making two turns, they finally saw the best medical hall in Heaven Dou City, as Tang Ya had mentioned.
Huo Yuhao looked up and saw that the building exuded an ancient and imposing aura. People came and went from the entrance, yet there were no signs indicating it was a medical hall. First-time visitors would likely not even realize what it was.
Suddenly, Huo Yuhao stopped in his tracks and grabbed Tang Ya's arm.
"Wait."
"Huh? What's wrong?"
Tang Ya instinctively turned back, only to see Huo Yuhao frowning slightly, staring straight ahead.
At the entrance of the medical hall, a figure caught Huo Yuhao's attention. It was the same boy who had clashed with the blacksmith yesterday. The boy was carrying a large bundle of medicinal herbs. After leaving the hall, he quickly disappeared into the crowd.
"It's nothing, let's go."
Huo Yuhao shook his head and let go of Tang Ya's hand. He didn't want her to come into contact with this boy, who might be Tang San. If he wasn't, that would be fine. But if he was… things wouldn't end well.
Thinking back to what happened to those members of the God Realm Committee in his previous life, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but smile wryly.
The Tang Sect had been founded by Tang San himself. With his personality, how could he ever be willing to call anyone else "Sect Master"?
If that boy really was Tang San, then soon enough, those senior members of the Tang Sect would start dying one by one, and he would naturally take over as the sect master.
Luckily, the Tang Sect had fallen. For Tang San, it held no value now, and could even be considered a burden. If that boy was indeed Tang San, from what Huo Yuhao observed yesterday, the boy seemed barely able to take care of himself, let alone the Tang Sect.
"Why are you being so mysterious?"
Tang Ya mumbled, oblivious to the fact that she had just narrowly avoided a dangerous situation. She followed Huo Yuhao into the medical hall.
"Hello, are you here for treatment?"
As soon as they entered, a young man in a green robe approached them, politely inquiring.
"I need to buy some medicine."
Huo Yuhao immediately stated his purpose and listed the medicines he needed. Some were for Huo Yun'er to nourish her body, while others were to strengthen his own meridians and vital energy.
After rattling off a list of medicines, the young man, clearly an apprentice, appeared slightly embarrassed. He took out a notepad and nervously asked, "Um… could you slow down a bit?"
Just then, a middle-aged man approached and patted the young apprentice on the shoulder.
"That's enough. Let me take care of these two. You can go attend to other matters."
"Yes, sir."
The young apprentice breathed a sigh of relief, bowed, and left.
The middle-aged man then turned his attention to Huo Yuhao with a curious look and a slight smile.
"Who would have thought we'd have two customers buying such similar medicines today. Young man, have you studied medicine?"
(End of Chapter)
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