Chapter 4073 — The Living-Form Mushroom

Zhong Yongliang smiled faintly. "The woman's name is Murong Zhen. She's a newcomer to the Welcome Pavilion, same as us, and she's got a grudge against Wei Zhao too. Last time we went after Wei Zhao, she was in on it with us."

"Is that so? Then she's a natural ally!" Si Haitao was even more delighted and said at once, "Pinliang, go and invite this Miss Murong here right away. If she pleases me, I'll record a great merit for you!"

"Right away." Zhong Yongliang answered and went out, leaving Kang Jingming with the look of a man who had just swallowed a mouthful of shit.

For some time now, Murong Zhen had been Kang Jingming's exclusive prize. True, things had gone wrong again and again in the business with Wei Zhao, but Murong Zhen's services had left him well satisfied—the slut was far better than any ordinary woman, and a peak early-Foundation Establishment expert to boot. Conquering her in bed was a thrill of a wholly different flavor.

And now this whelp Zhong Yongliang wanted to recommend her to Si Haitao! Damn it, was it such a crime that he hadn't offered to share her in the first place? Did the man have to go this far just to disgust him?

Kang Jingming cursed Zhong Yongliang up one side and down the other in the privacy of his heart, yet on the surface he dared not show the slightest thing. It had come to this; anything he said now would be wasted breath. He could only swallow his broken teeth and his blood along with them.

Soon enough, Murong Zhen's lithe, seductive figure appeared in everyone's field of view.

At the sight of that innate wanton allure, Si Haitao nearly lost his grip on himself on the spot. He gulped down several mouthfuls of saliva and hurriedly said, "I am Si Haitao, presently the steward of the Central Merchants' Association. I have long heard of Miss Murong's beauty, and indeed it is a loveliness to make the whole nation sigh with tenderness!"

It was no wonder Si Haitao made such a spectacle of himself—he had always been a starving ghost among lechers, utterly defenseless before female charms. Otherwise he would never have committed the foolish blunders he had before. And since coming to North Island, the Nan Tianxiong and Nan Tianguan brothers had taken him to a brothel exactly once, where the women were all common creatures—nothing that could bear comparison with a natural-born seductress and Foundation Establishment expert like Murong Zhen.

"Steward Si does know how to talk—you've made me blush!" Murong Zhen covered her mouth with a feigned shy laugh, then swept her eyes over the assembled company and pouted coquettishly. "Walking so far in this heat has quite worn me out. Is Steward Si so hard-hearted as to leave me without even a seat?"

Facing Murong Zhen's rippling, inviting gaze, Si Haitao, a veteran in such matters, understood her meaning perfectly. He signaled Nan Tianguan to give up a seat and leered, "Miss Murong has come a long way and worked so hard—why not sit beside me? This seat was prepared especially for you!"

"Steward Si is so thoughtful—you make me blush!" Murong Zhen giggled and glided over on dainty feet to sit beside Si Haitao, her exquisite figure naturally pressing close against him.

Seeing Si Haitao's spellbound, soul-besotted expression, Kang Jingming cursed inwardly. That woman Murong Zhen was nothing but a whore who'd sell herself to any man—throwing herself even at an old relic like this, without a shred of decency.

Kang Jingming had forgotten, though, that when Murong Zhen had taken up with him, she had done so purely for the sake of his backing. To a woman like her, the body was simply capital—whenever a fitting opportunity arose, it could be traded away at any time.

"Pinliang, that you had the sense to bring Miss Murong to me this time—I am well pleased. I'll record a great merit for you. Serve well in the days to come; I have high hopes for you!" Si Haitao, even as he savored Murong Zhen's seductive charms, did not stint his praise for Zhong Yongliang.

At this, Kang Jingming grew more sullen still. From the look of things, the old bastard Si Haitao seemed to value Zhong Yongliang more and more, while he himself was pushed into the background—and as for Murong Zhen, there was no comparison at all anymore!

……………………

Escorting Ning Xuefei and Shangguan Lan'er about on their sightseeing, Wei Zhao, the island flower's personal guard, was in far better spirits than Kang Jingming—though even amid the pleasure, he did not entirely forget his proper business.

He brought the two women once more to the Hong Merchants' Association. This time, with no Si Haitao to block his way, Wei Zhao smoothly bought most of the supplementary materials on the Ragged King's list—and even one of the two rare materials the Ragged King had said would require a stroke of luck. Only the last remaining one was nowhere to be found.

The living-form mushroom: a spirit herb that closely resembled lingzhi in appearance, and at the same time a rare material for forging artifacts. According to the Ragged King, the laws of the five elements in forging differ from the ordinary five elements—the process by which a weapon takes shape follows the inverse five elements. And so whether the materials' properties could be perfectly harmonized came down to this living-form mushroom.

The trouble was that the living-form mushroom was no less rare than the heart-devouring玲珑 grass; more to the point, once picked, it survived only a very short time and would easily wither and become useless. Unless specially ordered in advance, therefore, even a great house like the Hong Merchants' Association could hardly keep it in stock—and the same was true of the other associations.

Fortunately, Wei Zhao was in no hurry. After placing an order with the Hong Merchants' Association, he went out of his way to call on Chen Heihu and ask him to help with the purchase as well.

Only now did Ning Xuefei finally catch on, belatedly. "Wei Zhao, so you weren't a clerk at the Hong Merchants' Association after all?"

"Of course not. Newcomers to the Welcome Pavilion aren't allowed to take outside jobs. As for why I went to the Far North Island with Hong Zhong last time—that was simply because I'm on good terms with him. I never once said I was a clerk of the Hong Merchants' Association." Wei Zhao shrugged.

"Then why did you have me go to Hong Zhong for pills last time? I thought you were one of the Hong Merchants' Association people!" Ning Xuefei pouted.

Wei Zhao smiled. "Actually, all those top-grade pills—I refined them with my own hands."

Though to call him one of the Hong Merchants' Association's people—well, that was true enough!

"What? Really? All those top-grade pills, you refined them?" Ning Xuefei's eyes went wide at once.

"Heh, the Hong Merchants' Association was being squeezed out by several other associations at the time and had nothing decent to put up for auction, so I did Hong Zhong a favor—and that's where those top-grade pills came from." Wei Zhao explained it as lightly as could be.

Ning Xuefei, though, listened with clicks of wonder. She had been right there at the auction then; even the Central Island Pill Hall had brought out only ten top-grade pills, while the Hong Merchants' Association had produced more than a hundred at a stroke. The shock of it was something no one who hadn't been present could possibly feel. (To be continued) R655