Fellow students conflict

  Such a grand gathering of medicinal herbs is rarely seen in the Pingzhou region even after one or two decades, and only large organizations like the Medicine King Gang have the qualifications to host such an event.

  In the past, the Medicine King Festival was always held directly in the capital of Pingzhou Prefecture, but this year, for some unknown reason, it was decided to hold it in Zhujici County, the most remote county in Pingzhou.

  It is said that the master Li Daxin, a kind-hearted man, had gone to great lengths to persuade the Medicine King Gang's leader to hold such a grand event. If it could be held in Zhuxi County, it would undoubtedly greatly enhance the reputation of the Medicinal Herb Hall in Jianghu.

  This pharmaceutical material trading conference naturally caused a sensation among the Jianghu people in Pingzhou, and they came in droves.

  Secret books, precious weapons and armor, and medicine have always been the three essential items for people in the jianghu.

  Secret manuals are usually treasured alone, unless they have fallen to the extreme, otherwise few people will take them out for sale. Precious swords and armors are hard to come by, requiring a master craftsman to forge, with small transaction volumes. Only medicinal materials have an extremely high demand, all large and small gangs need this stuff.

  When a person walks in the world, who can avoid being stabbed by a knife. Once stabbed, one has to rely on medicine to save their life. Apart from saving lives, there are also some rare medicines that can enhance internal strength and cultivation, which is a treasured medicine that people in the world eagerly pursue.

  Zhugou County Town has recently seen a large influx of people from other parts of Pingzhou, which is not surprising at all.

  There are still three or four months before the conference, and most of those who have come to Zhugui County now are preparatory personnel from various gangs. They all came early to book their food and accommodation in advance. The real high-level leaders of the gangs have not arrived yet.

  The real peak of people arriving in Jianghu will appear about half a month before the start of the Trading Conference.

  The Medicine Hall in Zhugou County Town, as the local branch of the Medicine King Gang, has already started preparing for this rare grand occasion that occurs once every decade or so.

  Many senior medicine collectors of the Medicine Valley have not returned yet, and there is currently a shortage of manpower in the valley. Master Li decided to suspend the external collection of medicine for the disciples inside the gate and try to mobilize personnel to maintain order in the county town.

  Wang Caizhen told Ye Qin that for now he didn't need to go out and gather herbs, but rather stay inside the gate and do odd jobs, waiting for orders.

  Ye Qin immediately nodded in agreement and respectfully exited Wang Cai's residence.

  For this Wang Cai, he only has superficial respect, and there is no intimacy in his heart. His relationship with Wang Cai can be described as an employee and employer rather than a master-apprentice relationship, one works hard for the money, and the other sits back and collects it.

  Ye Qin had been waiting in the Medicine Pavilion for three or four years, and he was well aware that the upper and lower levels of the pavilion did not talk about emotions at all. Almost everything was valued by money. If he couldn't collect medicine and earn money, what awaited him would be the most severe punishment. In the Medicine Pavilion, unless they were disciples taught by the same master or familiar people, there was usually no emotional connection to speak of.

  Ye Qin no longer had to rush into the mountains to gather herbs, and the load on his back was temporarily lightened as he returned to the small stone house in the courtyard of the herbal medicine hall.

  The apprentice of the medicine collector was not qualified to live in a separate room, so he still lived with Yang Yicheng and Feng Xiaoer. The male and female apprentices had already been separated, and Qian Ruoxiu and Sun Ying were living in a stone house next door. Because many medicine collectors' children and apprentices had died in the past few years, the stone houses in the small courtyard were actually quite spacious and not crowded at all.

  Ye Qin returned to the small courtyard with a sense of nostalgia, having been away for nearly half a year, everything felt somewhat unfamiliar.

  Suddenly, he heard quarreling sounds coming from ahead.

  Only four people were seen in front, two men and two women, standing in the small courtyard, seemingly arguing about something.

  A seventeen or eighteen-year-old young man with a muscular body like iron, his eyes full of anger, his iron palms clenched into fists, shouting loudly, as if furious and wanting to punch someone.

  There was also a young man of sixteen or seventeen years old, who was not very tall and had lively eyes. His tone was hesitant.

  A sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl in a green blouse, with a powdered face and a resolute attitude.

  The last one was a slender, fifteen or sixteen year old girl in a yellow shirt, with two small braids and carrying a sharp sword on her back. Her eyes were slightly red and swollen, and there were still tears hanging on her cheeks, filled with grievance.

  Ye Qin was slightly stunned, weren't those Yang Yicheng, Feng Xiao, Qian Ruoxiu and Sun Ying? What a coincidence, running into them as soon as she got back. In half a year, Yang Yicheng and Feng Xiao had both grown much taller, while Qian Ruoxiu and Sun Ying, the two little girls, already had some heroic spirit of Jianghu.

  But what's wrong with them?

  Ye Qin calmly walked past.

  Sun Ying was sobbing, and when she saw Ye Qin, her face revealed an unexpected surprise. "Second Brother?! It's Second Brother who has returned, that's great! We now have one more person. Second Brother, you must help me!"

  Yang Yicheng, Feng Xiao and Qian Ruoxiu also saw him.

  However, only Qian Ruoxiu nodded in agreement with Ye Qin.

  "Second Master is back, what's the big deal? With his skills, can he beat those disciples from the inner sect? What difference does it make if there are four of us or five? One less person might even mean one less burden. When we can't win and have to run away, we can probably run a bit faster."

  Feng Xiao shrugged slightly disdainfully.

  "Old Three, how can you talk to Old Two like that!" Yang Yicheng glared at Feng Xiaoyi, then turned to Ye Qin and said loudly, "Old Two, it's good that you're back. The more people we have, the more strength we'll have later on."

  Ye Qin nodded and turned to ask Sun Ying.

  "Fifth Young Miss, what exactly happened?"

  "It's still not those turtle sons from the inner hall. Yesterday, when Fifth Sister and several sisters from the outer hall went out, they encountered some disciples from the inner hall, who actually took advantage of their numbers to make lewd remarks at Fifth Sister. If I were there at the time, I would have definitely punched these turtle sons to death."

  Yang Yicheng explained on behalf of Sun Ying with a huff.

  "Oh, such a thing actually exists?"

  Ye Qin's eyes flashed with a hint of cold light, and his tone also turned three points colder: "What else is there to consider? Find an opportunity to teach them a lesson! Do they think all the disciples in our outer hall are vegetarians?"

  He is not a person who likes to cause trouble, and many times even when trouble comes his way, he often endures it and will not react excessively. However, if his fellow disciples get into trouble, he cannot ignore it.

  In the entire Takegahana County, there were only a handful of people who could be considered his companions. Even if they had conflicts among themselves in the past, it was a matter between fellow disciples, not being bullied by outsiders. His own companion being bullied by an outsider was something he couldn't tolerate.

  "Second Brother, you're not unaware of the skills of those inner disciples. They've been learning more than us since they were young. When we learn one skill, they learn two; when we learn basic martial arts, they already know intermediate ones. How can we fight? Take a look at our five: Eldest Brother and Fourth and Fifth Sisters are learning external skills and swordplay, which is somewhat manageable. But the two of us - I'm learning lightness skills, and you're learning an art that's not for fighting... We fundamentally can't beat them. If the five of us go looking for trouble, we'll just end up getting beaten for nothing."

  Feng Xiao obviously didn't want to make a fuss and couldn't help but advise.