Simply Trading

Jin Shui did what he promised, as soon as Qin Feng agreed. And the latter soon left the Exchange with the seeds that he wanted. Many of them were suited for a Winter Planting, just as he had mentioned. That would allow him to have a bit more free time, come Spring, so that he could work on his inner qi.

He had made all the correct polite noises as soon as he was done, and made sure that he didn't rush all the way back to his field at once. After all, he had just had a rather remarkable success, didn't he? It would look out of place if he started to throw himself back into his work all at once. He was supposed to be a rather ordinary practitioner, after all.

But he did start work at once, as he usually did, after he put away his latest gains. It was something that everyone knew about. How he treasured his tiny medicine field. And how proud he was of the yield that he had managed to coax out of his seed allotments. Which was no one was surprised when he burst out into tears when Elder Xuan and Elder MIng asked him about the recent ruckus, and what his field had suffered.

Not to mention, the damage caused by Lingyuan and her cronies would take a bit of work to clear up. And he certainly couldn't use his puppet, since the Elders were inevitably going to keeping an eye on him. So it was going to keep him busy for a while.

Not that it would take him too much time or effort, to clean up the place. Besides, hadn't Chen Xing and the girls already dealt with the really urgent works, on the roof of his house? The fields were hardly anything, compared to that.

Still, he made sure to go about his work slowly, and took care to give the impression that his left hand was still troubling him. Nothing more than what he was doing, when he was out in the woods with Elder Ming.

Which was why he was only about half-way done when Senior Disciple Chen Xing came to visit him again.

"Senior Brother Chen Xing! You are here! But ... is there a problem? I thought that you are done with helping me, after you fixed the roof?"

Chen Xing laughed as he waved Qin Feng's queries aside. "What? I can't come and see how you are doing, without an excuse like that? Besides, I am here to check up on you, rather than your house. How is your left hand feeling? Did you take care of it properly, when you were out in the Southern Forest?"

Qin Feng held up his hand with a grin on his face, and wriggled his fingers in the older disciple's face. The splint had already been removed, and he certainly wasn't feeling any more pain. After all, the medicine that he got from Elder Xuan's daughter had been more than effective.

"All better now! Senior Sister Xuan Mei's medicine was really good!"

The much older disciple sighed at his reference to the young woman, shaking his head at him. "You do not know how lucky you are, to have her looking out for you. Were I a much younger man, I would have been seriously jealous of you. Perhaps to the extent that I would be plotting your death! Do you know how many disciples in the Medicine Fields are hoping to hug Elder Xuan's thigh? And his daughter is the pearl in his palm. However did you manage to win her affections?"

"What are you talking about, senior disciple brother?"

"What am I talking about? You can be so dense at times, you know that? I am talking about Elder Xuan, of course! Do you think that Elder Ming Guanhe would bother to bring you along personally, if not for Elder Xuan looking out for you? The story about how he had personally guided you in the latest Hunting trip has already made the rounds!"

Chen Xing wagged a finger before Qin Feng's nose. And threw him a rather harsh look. "You should consider switching over to his Section, and perhaps join the Hunters. That would make things easier for Elder Xuan to take care of you. There are many who think Elder Ming is likely to offer you a choice regarding that soon."

"What? But I am not really suited to becoming a Hunter, am I? I mean, I am not as well-built as they are, and my martial arts aren't really up to their standards. Why would Elder Ming ask me to join them? I mean, even if he wishes to please Elder Xuan.

"Not that I am that close to Senior Sister Xuan Mei. She was just here because she was curious about just badly my hovel was destroyed. To tell the truth, she seemed a little disappointed when she saw that I only had a small hole in my roof."

The grey-haired fellow shook his head as soon as he heard that. "What are you talking about? You are the only one that she had bothered with, after all. Do you think that you were the only one who had been picked on, by Lingyuan and her gang?"

"Huh? You mean, I'm not? She had done something like this before?"

Chen Xing sniffed and pulled himself up straight. "If I were to tell you all of the stories about those that I have personally witnessed, I'll be here all night! And I might not even finish by sunrise tomorrow morning! Now do you realize just how powerful Elder Xuan is? With just one word, he has managed to shackled Lingyuan and her people to the Rear Gardens. And they are not allowed to leave for at least two moons!"

Qin Feng's eyebrows rose at that. He certainly had not heard about that. Which meant that Lingxi had somehow hidden that from him, when she was catching him up on the gossip. But why would she do that?

"You are still young, and you certainly are not their match now. But the core of the Hunters' group are all Inner School disciples, and that is where you are likely to end up, once Elder Ming nods his head in your direction.

"Do you really have to worry about your martial arts, once you are an Inner School disciple? There will be plenty of methods to help you achieve the necessary grades once you are there! And you will have a chance to head out into the Southern Forest more regularly too!"

Qin Feng managed to put on a surprised look, as soon as Chen Xing said that. And he was rather certain that the old man would buy his deception. He had already shown that he wasn't too ambitious, hadn't he?

"I don't know. It seems a little too dangerous for me. Besides, I have only been on one Hunt, so I hardly know enough about the Hunters to make a decision."

That was reasonable, from the measuring look that Chen Xing gave him. Still, the more senior disciple didn't waste time offering his advice:

"Well, I am a little surprised that you are going to continue as a herb-grower, rather than transfer yourself over to the Hunters. You will only need to clear one examination, if you do. And with Elder Ming behind you, there shouldn't be any difficulty for you to make it through the same."

Qin Feng, who had considered the same thing, merely shook his head at Chen Xing. "That is being a little too optimistic, I am afraid. My talent is rather low, and I have only managed to maintain a reasonable average in the medicine fields. If I were to compete with my Seniors among Hunters' Group ...

"Let's just say that I have no confidence at all."

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