Chronology of a Hundred Herbs

CHAPTER 06: Painter Wu Ming II

The sound that originated from “her” mouth was sharp and shrill. It wasn’t a high-pitched voice like that of a female, rather, it was ear-piercing like a eunuch. “I want the same thing this time as well. Get me more. I probably won’t be back for a long time.”

“There’s a special scent on you, like rubus rosa. I really don’t want to see such a beautiful colour gradually fade away.” Wu Ming sealed a jade vial as he spoke: “Even though this has nothing to do with a painter like me, I’m usually not one to cross the line either, but allow me to make an exception.”

The image suddenly shifted again. Hua Rong Yue was back in reality. The change was very sudden, so the contrast between the two scenes were incredibly vivid.

In reality, Wu Ming was still holding up the dried flower for her to see.

His expression was more gentle than the expression he had in her hallucinations. Or perhaps it was the candle light that softened the colours in the room. Hua Rong Yue wasn’t very interested in things like flowers, so she didn’t recognise the flower. Physician Qi on the other hand gave it a look.

“A rubus rosa? And such a red one? How rare.” Physician Qi said. 

“My friend brought it over. It’s not very convenient for me to head out, if not I’d have gone down myself to see where it’s from.”

“There’s a rubus rosa at the entrance of our apothecary too, it hasn’t flowered yet, but it only produces white flowers, not red ones.” Physician Qi told Hua Rong Yue.

Realisation dawned on Hua Rong Yue. So the half dead tree at the entrance was a rubus rosa.

When they left the shop, it was almost completely dark out. The streets were only sprinkled with a handful of lights. Wu Ming gave them a lantern and told them to be careful on their way back, and watch the road so they don’t accidentally trip or fall. 

Even though the lantern hanging outside his shop entrance was eerie and red, the lantern that he handed them had a snow white exterior. The lantern itself was only as large as his. A simple yet realistic red flower was painted on the lantern. The flower and its veins however grew out in a strange and awkward direction. 

To a certain extent, Wu Ming was quite a talented painter. Both his residence and his works were very artistic. Even the person himself… enh, even he himself was a little mental, like artists in general. 

By the time they were out on the streets, it was completely dark out. During such ancient period times, the streets would usually empty out at night. Hua Rong Yue however could hear many footsteps as though people were walking around. In fact, there were so many footsteps, more so than what she’d heard in the day. 

Hua Rong Yue was as though she was observing the entire world with new eyes, at the same time, she didn’t quite know what to feel about all the additional presence around them. She looked at Physician Qi, as expected, he looked as though he didn’t know anything about this. 

“When you came by the shop previously, did Painter Wu always lend you this lantern when you go back?” Hua Rong Yue asked.  ♢ CHRONOLOGY OF A HUNDRED HERBS, CHAPTER 06 is hosted at ZHANLANN.COM ♢ 

“Yes, isn’t this lantern delicately made?” Physician Qi turned to look at Hua Rong Yue. “Painter Wu made this. He also drew the flowers on the lantern.” 

Even though Hua Rong Yue had transmigrated into Yi Ling Long’s body, that didn’t mean that she was skilled in martial arts. In fact, in reality, her damage output was very confusing to herself as well. Sometimes, she could deal a whole lotta damage, but sometimes she would be incredibly weak. This was probably because she was still acclimatising herself into this body. Her abilities would settle down with time. But as for now, whether she was in a weakened state, powerful state or scoring a crit, it all depended on her situation and luck. 

In such a situation, it was better to remain low key. Hence, Hua Rong Yue pretended as though she couldn’t hear all the whispers sounding from all around. 

”A normal civilian with no combat abilities?”

”Haha, and they dare to come out at a time like this, they must be seeking death.”

All sorts of low voices and whispers sounded. They were probing and craving, and have developed a strong interest in the two of them. A few days ago, a girl died here. The person was tortured to death. It made sense for Painter Wu to open a shop here. There was a customer base here, that’s what the shop would need to survive. Perhaps Painter Wu’s big-time customers were really those that were only out at night. 

Hua Rong Yue silently inched closer to Physician Qi, and slightly raised her hand. The lantern she was holding became more obvious in the dark. It had a white base, and was covered in flowers. The lantern emitted a weak but cold light. While the palm-sized lantern seemed quite pitiful, it was a formidable presence. The moment Hua Rong Yue raised the lantern, the whispers from around immediately quietened, as though someone had switched off the volume. 

She observed the people lurking in the dark around them. It seemed like Painter Wu seemed to be of quite a status among these people, more so than she’d initially expected. 

Hua Rong Yue sighed, and suddenly told Physician Qi who had been watching the route as they walked: “You should avoid coming here in the future.”

“Enh? Why?” Physician Qi looked up and blinked his eyes as he asked in confusion.

How should she explain this? Hua Rong Yue ruminated over this in her head. The more reliable explaination would be — she was being considerate of the country’s medical resources, after all it wasn’t easy to nuture a capable and ethical physician, so he really should protect himself. And this place… was really not very suitable for a simple minded youngling to hang around for fun. 

And, if nothing goes wrong in the future, she felt that this was going to be her last time visiting this place.