In a mont of desperation, Andrew recalled a folk thod he had read about in a story from Huaxia, which said that a lost person could take off a shoe and follow the direction in which the toe pointed to get out of trouble.
Thinking that he couldn’t find the right direction anyway, with a mindset of recklessness, Andrew bent down and struggled to take off one shoe with his left hand, and tossed it into the sky.
He hurriedly staggered to where it landed, only to see a result that made him collapse—the toe of the shoe was pointing in the direction from which he ca.
Disbelieving, Andrew tried two more tis, yet each ti the sa result showed, causing him to slump dejectedly to the ground.
After walking for such a long ti, does he really have to turn back?
Eventually, Andrew gritted his teeth and decided to trust the result, using all his strength and focus to walk in the direction indicated by the shoe toe, wholeheartedly and single-mindedly forward.
Andrew didn’t know how long he had been walking. His senses started to numb, and he felt like the darkness before his eyes intensified, the fatigue in his body growing stronger, slowly unable to resist closing his eyes.
He could no longer distinguish whether he was still walking or had already fallen into the snow, awaiting the fate of being buried.
...
When Andrew opened his eyes again, he felt a warm sensation around his body, a cozy feel that made him hope ti would stop at this mont, yet...
The lower rear part of his body felt a burning sensation, akin to having eaten spicy hotpot and then needing to use the toilet.
Andrew was shocked imdiately, and started to check his surroundings. He found himself in a slightly narrow cave with a nearly extinct fire pit next to him, struggling to emit its last warmth.
The next mont, when he realized he was only wearing underwear, the warmth he felt monts ago instantly transford into a freezing sensation, as if he was naked in an icy river, freezing him on the spot, unable to move.
"You’re awake!"
A sowhat magnetic voice of a man sounded, making Andrew shiver and instantly clear-minded. He asked in slight fear, "Who are you?"
As soon as he spoke, a middle-aged man who looked quite refined opened the blanket covering Andrew and laughed, "You’ve recovered well. Last night, I saw you lying alone in the snow, so I conveniently saved you!"
"Th-thank you!" After awkwardly expressing gratitude, Andrew asked, "Where am I now?"
"I don’t know!" The refined-looking man answered straightforwardly, then sat beside the fire pit: "I ca down from the mountain, so I don’t know where this is, just that it’s not far from a small town at the foot of the mountain!"
"A small town?" Andrew felt perplexed but suddenly recalled that he was knocked unconscious by a rock blown by the strong wind; could it be that he was blown far away?
Unable to receive a precise answer, Andrew had to revert to his original question, "May I know your surna?"
The refined man by the fire pit dried his soaked shoes from the lingering warmth of the fire and replied, "My surna is Ren!"
If Xiao Tian were here, he would imdiately recognize the refined man claiming his surna is Ren; it was Ren Wenshan, who had toppled the first prominent family in Lu Province.
After answering Andrew, Ren Wenshan put on his shoes and said, "Last night, I saw you soaked, so I took off your clothes. Seeing you covered in injuries, I applied so whitish dicine on them."
Ren Wenshan pointed to a pile of clothes nearby, "It should be dry now. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving!"
Seeing Ren Wenshan getting up to leave, Andrew painfully sat up, "Wait, give an account number!"
Ren Wenshan stopped at the cave entrance, turned back and smiled at Andrew, "No need, I have already received compensation, but if you really want to give..."
After reporting a string of numbers, Ren Wenshan took a deep look at the foreigner with little braids sitting on the ground, turned around without looking back, and left.
Andrew hurriedly noted it down, yet found himself in even more pain upon sitting up, promptly lying back on the ground.
Simultaneously, he realized sothing terrifying; the feeling he had just was definitely not the burning sensation after eating spicy food and using the toilet.
Thinking about the strange words left by Ren upon departure, "already received compensation," when had he received it?
The more he thought, the more dreadful it felt for Andrew. He dared not think further, quickly switching his thoughts to how to contact Isaac, yet the scorching pain on his butt seed to be hinting at sothing...
——
Finally, the group arrived at Old Wei’s house, yet everyone’s faces appeared notably downcast, unsure whether to label it fortunate or unfortunate.
Fortunately, they had already found the Scorching Black Vine upon arriving at Old Wei’s, leaving one amazed at the village’s mystery, resembling a natural treasure trove.
This imdiately abolished the original plan of exchanging equivalent value herbs, as the inventory here was far more abundant, rendering theirs unnecessary.
After purchasing the Scorching Black Vine at a price higher than market value, Old Wei was grinning contentedly, eagerly indicating that Xiao Tian could choose anything, and the price is negotiable.
"I heard you have tools for crafting dicinal pills; we’d like to borrow them." Xiao Tian smiled and said, "Of course, we’ll pay you a rental fee."
Old Wei initially felt displeased at Xiao Tian’s ntion of borrowing, yet upon hearing rental fee, his dark face quickly changed to a smile, slapping his chest to assure no issues.
Unfortunate events soon unfolded; the group fell into silence upon seeing the supposed dicinal pill crafting tools of Old Wei.
The tools were simplistic—a mortar capable of crushing dicinal herbs, a pestle, and a device resembling a manual dumpling maker to shape crushed herbs into sphere forms.
Seeing these tools, Xiao Tian bitterly shook his head, indicating it wasn’t what he needed.
What Ghost Face required were those tools capable of separating and individually blending dicinal components before finally harmonizing them.
Although modern machines could achieve it faster, vintage tools could also suffice.
As for Old Wei’s dumpling-making-like tools, they were utterly useless.
Seeing Xiao Tian shake his head, Old Wei felt a wave of disappointnt, reluctantly sending the group off.
...
Early the next morning, Sun Bo was awakened by a commotion outside the door, puzzled as he saw a dozen people gathered together, and asked, "What are you doing?"
"We heard that soone ca to your house to purchase dicinal herbs, so we wanted to invite them to check if there are any herbs they need."
From the crowd, an elderly man about the sa age as Sun Bo, leaning on a cane, stepped forward to explain their intent.
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