Chapter 40 [040] Tea

Half an hour passed quickly.

It’s time to start today’s herb-collecting mission.

Zhongli Jin packed up his tools and put them into his sleeve. The old man said to him: "Although Lingshen Mountain is beautiful, the more beautiful things are, the more deadly they are. There are many poisonous creatures on this mountain, so you should be more careful."

[The younger generation understands.] The young man was very humble and respectful in front of the old man.

[However, some poisons are suitable for you to refine some offensive pills that can be used for self-defense or against others. I will teach you how to identify them while you collect them.]

Zhongli Jin nodded and said: [Thank you, senior.]

The boy left the room, and several others came out one after another.

The last one to go out was Shi Xiang. She rubbed her eyes and must have fallen asleep in her room.

Cangying began to assign tasks, saying, "Junior Brother Xu, you go to the front mountain with Junior Brother Zhongli, and I, Junior Sister, and Shiqing will go to the back mountain."

The front mountain is where most of the Lingxia sect disciples are active, so there is no danger there. Even if there are some poisonous creatures, Disciple Xu can recognize them and can protect Junior Brother Zhongli at the same time.

The back mountain is even more rugged and rugged, with many vegetation looking like monsters that are difficult to distinguish, and there are also some unknown dangers. Most of the herbs need to be collected by more experienced alchemists like Cangying, and Shi Qing is responsible for safety protection.

"Yes, Senior Sister." Disciple Xu said.

Chen Xiang was not happy: "Didn't we agree before that one pill should be paired with one sword? Junior Brother Zhongli and I should be a team."

Don’t miss such a good opportunity to collect herbs together.

Cangying knew that the little girl had started again. Although she had lost her memory, it didn't stop her from being so angry with this little girl that her teeth were itching.

Cangying sneered: "According to what you said, wouldn't it be better for Junior Brother Zhongli to be in a group with Shiqing? He is currently the one with the lowest cultivation level, so he should be protected by Shiqing."

"no!"

"No."

The two voices came from Shen Xiang and Zhong Li Jin respectively.

Chen Xiang didn't like Shi Qing getting too close to the male lead...

As the heroine who is about to capture the hero! She can't let the vicious female supporting role get close to the hero!
And Zhongli Jin simply didn't want to be with people he hated.

Cangying looked at Shiqing, "Why are you suddenly so disliked..."

Shi Qing: “…”

Shi Qing: "Wooden chicken."

Generally speaking, when alchemists are collecting herbs, the more powerful the swordsman is to protect them closely, the happier they are.

But it’s different for Zhongli Jin.

Disciple Xu suddenly said, "If not, Senior Sister Shi Qing will come with me?"

In this way, not only can Junior Sister be with Junior Brother Zhongli, but Senior Sister Cangying can also follow them to avoid any accidents.

"no!"

"No."

In the end, Shen Xiang still spoke in unison with the young man in white.

Cangying: “…”

She stared at Zhongli Jin and Shi Xiang in silence: "What on earth do you two want to do?"

The young man noticed that the girl was a little angry, so he stepped forward and bowed to her, then smiled apologetically and said, "I'm sorry, Senior Sister Cang, but I just want to follow the original arrangement and go with Senior Brother Xu."

Chen Xiang said: "Oh, it's so annoying! Then let's do it as at the beginning!" With the system props, she can always find a chance to be with the male protagonist.

Cangying: “…”

She really wanted to swear, what a waste of time!
In the end, Zhongli Jin and disciple Xu went to the front mountain together, while Shi Qingchen Xiang and Cangying collected in the back mountain.

Before they parted, Cangying warned, "Also, if a disciple from the Lingxia Sect approaches you and asks if you'd like to drink tea with him, you must refuse."

Shen Xiang frowned: "Why?"

After all, Cangying had been here once, so he knew a thing or two about the little tricks of these fellow Taoists.

"This tea is not that tea," she shrugged. "All the fellow Taoists who come to Lingshen Mountain, those with high cultivation, those who are young and strong, or those who are handsome and beautiful, will invite you to drink tea, but you don't know what is in the tea."

Shen Xiang: “…”

*
The scenery of the front mountain is beautiful, dreamy and misty, with purple mist, just like a fairyland.

The sound of flowing water in the mountain stream and gurgling springs is clear and pleasant.

The disciples of Lingxia Sect built pavilions and planted flowers and plants on the mountain in front of Lingshen. There are also many natural medicinal herbs on the mountain that emit some peculiar fragrance.

In the purple bamboo forest on the mountainside, the purple bamboos are tall and elegant, scattered in an orderly manner, like purple pen holders, tall and slender, outlining straight lines between heaven and earth, upright and upright, yet with a bit of purple tenderness.

The sunlight shines through the gaps between the bamboo leaves, casting mottled shadows on the ground, adding a touch of liveliness to the tranquility.

Purple bamboo shoots can also be used as medicine and are a common raw material for alchemy.

The crisp taste is no different from ordinary bamboo shoots, but it has a more spiritual flavor.

However, this type of purple bamboo shoots is very delicate and must be dug out together with the surrounding purple soil, otherwise it will immediately turn black and become highly poisonous.

[It doesn't matter if it's extremely poisonous, young man, pick some ordinary ones and some poisonous ones. I can teach you how to refine the Death Powder, one of the ingredients of which is this blackened purple bamboo shoot! ]

Zhongli Jin was carefully digging for purple bamboo shoots when he heard the old man's words and asked humbly, "Jueming Powder? Is it the legendary one that can destroy a city with a bag of medicinal stone?"

【good!】

Zhongli Jin said: [I heard that the white powder of Juemingsan is tiny and odorless. If you sprinkle it into the air and let it drift away with the wind, anyone who inhales it will not survive for more than half an hour. Even monks will have their limbs paralyzed for about three hours. I didn't expect that you know this.]

[Hahaha what a joke! I am known as the master of elixir poison. I know all the strange medicines and poisons in the world. If you follow me, I guarantee that you will become the second master of elixir poison in the world of cultivation!]

Zhongli Jin: [……]

This self-confidence inexplicably reminds people of someone's proud "I am strong".

Shi Qingqiang, she also admires strong people.

Zhongli Jin lowered his eyes, nodded, and responded: [In that case, thank you very much, Senior. ]

Disciple Xu and Zhongli Jin were busy for nearly half an hour.

Where the young man wasn't noticing, the boy deliberately left a few blackened purple bamboo shoots and put them into his sleeves.

Lingshen Mountain is not hot, the air is cool and refreshing.

When the purple bamboo shoots were almost collected, Disciple Xu said to Zhongli Jin, "Junior Brother Zhongli, let's find a place to rest."

The young man said, "Okay, thank you for your hard work, Senior Brother Xu."

The young man smiled, with a hint of tenderness on his handsome and dignified face: "You too."

The two left the bamboo forest and returned to the mountain road.

At the edge of the stairs, they suddenly heard the sound of a piano.

The sound of the piano was like the gurgling of a stream, melodious and graceful, and the notes were as delicate as silk threads, gently pulling at one's ears, intoxicating. Zhongli Jin suddenly felt a little dizzy, and when he looked at disciple Xu beside him, he found that the young man's eyes were also a little dull and blurred.

"...Senior Brother Xu?" Zhongli Jin called softly.

Disciple Xu seemed not to have heard the boy's words. With a small hoe in his hand, he walked slowly towards the pavilion in front of him where the voice came from, step by step.

Zhongli Jin was about to speak again, but found that the scenery in front of him had changed slightly.

A few white rabbits with mysterious red pupils were jumping around in the field of vision, playing together on the grass ahead.

The young man frowned slightly, a little curious, and couldn't help but get closer. Just after getting close to a few white rabbits, a strange fragrance lingered around his nose.

The fragrance was inexplicably familiar, as if I had smelled it on the purple-clothed woman at the foot of Lingshen Mountain.

The next second, he saw a woman in light purple gauze leaning on a soft couch on the pavilion where the sound of the piano came from, with a charming posture. She plucked the strings of the piano lightly with her slender fingers and played the piano with her eyes lowered.

In addition to the woman's body fragrance, there is also a faint smell of tea.

When the two of them get close, the song ends.

The woman raised her head quietly, her eyes were charming, her eyebrows were alluring, her lips were translucent, her pupils were full of water, she looked charming and seductive, and she gave the two men a bewitching smile.

Then, a woman's voice that sounded like the sound of nature was heard, as if it was rubbing against my ears, and she asked in a very charming and soft voice: "My two boys...does my sister's piano sound good? Do you want to sit down and have a cup of tea, and I will play a few more songs for you?"

Disciple Xu seemed to have regained consciousness and bowed his head. "That sounds good. Thank you, fellow Taoist. But... my junior brother and I have important things to do, so we won't bother you any more."

The sound of the piano and the fragrance seem to have a special magic that makes people indulge in it.

The overly sweet taste made Zhongli Jin feel a little uncomfortable.

Although people don't hate fragrance, everything will be damaged if it is excessive, so the boy did not fully immerse himself in it and quickly got out of it.

"Thank you, senior sister, for the music and the fragrant tea. However, I am currently busy with tasks and time is tight. Please forgive me and my senior brother for not being able to enjoy tea. I am really sorry." Zhongli Jin also leaned forward slightly and responded politely.

Hearing their words, the woman seemed unwilling.

She walked slowly forward towards Zhongli Jin.

As early as when the five of them went up the mountain, she had taken a liking to this young man.

Although her cultivation level is not high, her appearance is so attractive that he has to give it a try no matter what. He doesn't care about cultivation and just wants pleasure.

"My brother, just take a break. There's no need to be so strict." She curled her lips and smiled charmingly. Her jade-like hand held a cup of tea and passed it to Zhongli Jin's lips. Her sweet breath fell on the boy's neck and lightly touched his earlobe. She slowed down her voice and said seductively, "Could it be that... you won't even give your sister a chance to drink a cup of tea?"

The woman's scent was close at hand.

Zhongli Jin looked normal.

His handsome, fair face looked very calm.

The young man's black eyes passed through the cup on the woman's fingertips and he asked softly, "If Junior Brother drinks this cup of tea, Senior Sister, can you let me and Senior Brother leave?"

The woman chuckled and said, "Okay, brother, drink it, and I won't force you two anymore."

Upon seeing this, Disciple Xu said with disapproval: "Junior Brother Zhongli, this——"

Senior Sister Cang reminded me before leaving that I must not drink the tea of ​​the women from the Lingxia Sect.

"It's okay, don't worry, senior brother." Zhongli Jin gave the young man a soothing smile, then took the tea handed to him by the woman and drank it in one gulp.

The woman's eyes sparkled with excitement, and she asked with a smile, "Is my sister's tea delicious?"

The young man took two steps back, raised his hand to salute, and said with a smile: "It's delicious. Since you have also drunk the tea, can this senior sister let me pass?"

The woman stared at the boy's eyes, but found that there was no confusion in his eyes after drinking the tea. She was stunned for a moment: "You——"

"Senior Sister?" Zhong Lijin reminded again: "Can you let me go?"

woman:"……"

The boy's eyes revealed his thoughts. The other party also knew that there was something wrong with the tea and he didn't even react after drinking it.

"Okay." She seemed to be discouraged. "Please go away. I am sorry for being rude."

The woman was a little disappointed and waved her sleeves. The surrounding scenery suddenly changed back to the steps at the beginning. She returned to the pavilion and lay down on the couch again. She played with the hair beside her ears and said, "However, although I have given up, there are still my fellow sisters behind me. Their methods are much better than mine. Moreover, sisters can share cultivation——"

Her red lips formed a meaningful smile: "Anyone who is succeeded by any of these sisters, young man..."

The woman looked at Zhong Lijin and narrowed her eyes slightly: "Well, everyone can do it."

Zhongli Jin: “…”

Even though he appeared very calm just now, he was after all just a 14-year-old boy who had never been overly teased like this.

I could only turn around and hurriedly leave this place with Senior Brother Xu.

Zhongli Jin felt a little regretful. He should have gone to the back mountain with Senior Sister Cangying. At least the disciples of Lingxia Sect didn't like to go there, so it could have avoided a lot of trouble.

"Are you okay, Junior Brother Zhongli?" When the two of them reached the edge of a forest, Disciple Xu frowned slightly, looked at Zhongli Jin and asked, "Your face is a little red."

The young man took a pill from his sleeve and swallowed it, saying, "The tea room should contain aphrodisiac drugs, so there will be some reaction. Brother, don't worry, I have medicine to cure it."

"That's good." Disciple Xu breathed a sigh of relief: "If anything happens to you, I won't be able to explain to Senior Sister Cang."

After taking the pill, Zhongli Jin felt his mind became much clearer, and even the sweet smell that had been lingering on his nose finally dissipated.

Baijie Pills.

Sure enough.

——No wonder Shi Qing always wanted it.

Thinking of Shi Qing, Zhongli Jin suddenly remembered the last time he accidentally fell into the girl's arms in Baicao Pavilion.

The girl's body, after taking a medicinal bath, had a very comfortable fragrance, which was completely different from the feeling I had just smelled.

The former is comfortable, light and refreshing, while the latter is sweet, rich and a bit uncomfortable.

Zhongli Jin has a very good nose and is sensitive to smells, so Shi Qing's scent can be remembered until now.

"Junior Brother Zhongli, is your medicine effective?" Disciple Xu suddenly asked again.

"Of course it works, what's wrong, brother?"

Disciple Xu: "...your face lost some color when you took the medicine just now, but now it's suddenly red again. Why?"

Zhongli Jin: “…”

*
In order to avoid other disciples of the Lingxia Sect, the two chose to take a more remote mountain road to collect some cockroach grass.

Although the mountain road is steep, there are few pavilions and towers of the Lingxia School, which gives it a different kind of safety.

It was not until the evening that the two teams finally met outside the room where they had taken a lunch break.

Today's harvest was quite a lot, but only in terms of quantity. In order to avoid Lingxia disciples, Zhongli Jin and Disciple Xu also did not collect many kinds of medicinal herbs.

Cangying was particularly shocked when she learned about what happened to the two today, "What?! Junior Brother Zhongli, did you drink the tea?!"

Zhong Lijin apologized, "I'm sorry, Senior Sister, I made you worry. But if we hadn't drunk the tea at that time, I'm afraid we wouldn't have been able to leave. The influence of the strange fragrance on the brain is getting heavier and heavier. Even if we don't drink it, we will fall into hallucinations."

Cangying nodded: "You are right, the incense of Lingxia Sect has the effect of inducing hallucination and aphrodisiac, and even the sound of the piano has a strange attraction. It's my fault. I shouldn't have let you stay in the front mountain. For the next few days of picking, let's switch. You go to the back mountain, and I will stay in the front mountain with my junior sister."

　Here we come!!! Good night, babies~~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)