Universe Infinite Canteen-Chapter 394 Twin Swords Combined

Ma Lu nodded, then shook his head, "I’ve temporarily wrapped things up on my end, but there’s something else that came up, and I can only stay in this city for half a day. After half a day, I need to head out again."

"Ah?" Gu Qingyi was slightly disappointed, but she quickly composed herself, "No problem, it’s great that you’re able to keep the appointment. I’m sorry I couldn’t meet you outside the city, I hope you won’t hold it against me."

"Has something happened?" Ma Lu asked.

Gu Qingyi bit her lip, "Um... let’s agree on this first, after I tell you, you can’t laugh at me."

"Don’t worry, Brother Gu, we have a bond forged through life and death. How could I possibly laugh at you?" Ma Lu said earnestly.

"Alright, the truth is I am not a man, and I ran away from home."

It seemed to take a lot of determination for Gu Qingyi to confess this, yet after she did, she realized that Ma Lu’s expression didn’t change much.

"Eh, you’re not surprised?"

"This... to be honest, I had already guessed as much."

"Ah?" Gu Qingyi was taken aback, "Is my disguise that poor? No, that’s not it, you and I are alike in loving to investigate cases, and you observe more closely than most. No wonder you could see through my disguise so quickly."

After coming to this conclusion, Gu Qingyi seemed relieved, and continued, "That Divine Detective Token is also something I took without permission. It originally belonged to one of my elders, but my family has some connections with the Iron Clothes Sect, um... they probably won’t pursue this matter.

"It’s just that if the other Divine Detectives from the Iron Clothes Sect find me here, they will force me back home.

"Right now, there are two Divine Detectives from the Iron Clothes Sect in Yuchang County. That’s why I didn’t leave the city to meet you today. We’ll have to be more careful with our actions from now on."

After Gu Qingyi finished speaking, Ma Lu pondered for a moment, then said, "Going home isn’t necessarily a bad thing, is it...?"

Gu Qingyi’s eyes widened, "I’ve finally escaped, and I’ve only investigated one case; how could I possibly go back so soon."

"The main reason is that Jianghu is indeed quite dangerous." Ma Lu said, "Last time at the Ruined Temple, didn’t you almost lose your life to Yan Wuji?"

The actual reason was hearing that there were two other Divine Detectives from the Iron Clothes Sect in Yuchang County; Gu Qingyi’s counterfeit Divine Detective Token probably wouldn’t work anymore.

Ma Lu didn’t necessarily have to keep teaming up with her.

However, Gu Qingyi patted him on the shoulder, "That’s why the two of us must join forces. Your brains plus my martial arts, together we can dispatch all those villains in Jianghu."

Okay, Gu Qingyi really did see him as her own Watson.

Before Ma Lu could even agree, the girl had already pulled him down to sit at the table. She glanced around and then excitedly lowered her voice.

"Did you know? Just three days ago, there was a shocking case in the city. It’s the perfect opportunity for us to make a name for ourselves in Jianghu!"

"What case?"

"That day was supposed to be the Beggar’s Sect’s election for a new Gang Leader. Various martial arts circles and several Beggar’s Sect elders, along with the three Gang Leader candidates, were present. Guess what happened—the Beggar’s Sect’s Lotus Bowl disappeared right under everyone’s noses!"

"The Lotus Bowl, what’s that?"

"It’s a small bowl with a chip missing. It actually isn’t worth much, but it was left by the founder of the Beggar’s Sect and is a token of authority for the sect’s Gang Leader.

"If that object isn’t recovered, even if the Beggar’s Sect elects a new Gang Leader, it will be somewhat illegitimate, commanding little respect. So, even at the last moment when several Beggar’s Sect elders and the Helmsman had already picked whom to support, the election had to be called off.

"In the end, the three candidates agreed: whoever finds the Lotus Bowl first will become the new Gang Leader of the Beggar’s Sect. Now they, along with their supporters, are frantically searching for the whereabouts of that small bowl."

"There aren’t many clues at the moment," said the Law Enforcement Elder who had been entrusted with the Lotus Bowl. "He checked the Lotus Bowl that morning, and at that time the small bowl was still in the wooden box.

"But later when he opened the wooden box during the ceremony, the Lotus Bowl had disappeared."

Gu Qingyi spoke with great enthusiasm, but Ma Lu beside her had little interest in the case.

Indeed, as Gu Qingyi said, the case was big and had certainly caused a sensation in the martial arts circles, but it was, after all, just a theft.

No one had died, which meant there was no opportunity for corpse examination.

However, seeing Gu Qingyi so excited, Ma Lu felt it would be rude to refuse her outright, so he agreed to eat first. Luckily, the marinated duck recommended by Han Guangzhong was indeed delicious.

Ma Lu estimated that according to the recipe’s rating, it should also be able to earn a 2-star, and there must have been some secret medicine added to it; otherwise, it wouldn’t sell for such an exorbitant price of eight silver pieces per duck.

After the meal, Ma Lu excused himself, saying he needed more medicinal ingredients for his practice and headed for the Hundred Herbs Sect’s pharmacy in Yuchang County.

He had a silver note worth seven hundred silver pieces, which he had seized from Yan Wuji, plus some silver pieces he had picked up along the way, totaling another twenty-six or twenty-seven.

With this money, Ma Lu went to the pharmacy and ended up buying less than 50 jins of secret medicines.

Most of them were 1-star ingredients, with only the Red Chaste Tree and Bright Eyes Honeysuckle being 2-star. Enjoy new chapters from novelbuddy

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It wasn’t that Ma Lu didn’t want higher-starred ingredients; it was just that the secret medicines in this place were genuinely expensive, with the cheapest 2-star ones costing a silver ingot per mace.

When Ma Lu came in, he felt quite wealthy, but he fell silent after hearing the prices.

Han Guangzhong was right; even the most common Dandelion that enriches blood was priced at a hundred wen per mace.

As for the Green Cloud Lotus Leaf that Ma Lu wanted the most, it was even more expensive, at two hundred wen per mace. No wonder the owner of that cartload of medicines had hired an armed escort, and not just any, but a skilled one like Shen Zhou.

With the money Ma Lu had, buying nothing but Dandelions to cool the blood would only get him seventy jins, and he also wanted to buy some Green Cloud Lotus Leaves. After much picking and choosing, he barely managed to gather forty jins of medicinal ingredients.

For martial artists who truly rely on secret medicines for their practice, this amount of ingredients isn’t too little; it would be enough to make elixirs to last a person three to five years.

But Ma Lu intended to use them for cooking, and for that purpose, this amount seemed somewhat insufficient.

This won’t do, he thought. He had to find a way to get more money, or this trip would be too much of a loss.

Ma Lu stepped out of the pharmacy and casually tossed the several packages of medicines into his Collection Bag before considering where he could get more money.

Making money wasn’t difficult in and of itself; the main issue was that he needed a sizeable amount quickly, which made it rather troublesome.

But he did find an option. Ma Lu turned his head and looked back at Gu Qingyi.

"By the way, you were saying you had to wait in Yuchang County for the people from the Zhengqi Academy. Have they arrived?"

Gu Qingyi nodded, "They have, and I’ve handed over Yan Wuji’s widow and daughter to them."

"Did you get the reward money?"

"What?"

"Didn’t the Zhengqi Academy post a reward for Yan Wuji before?"