Qian Jin observed the walls on the side, and his frowning expression toned down. The road underground seemed very flat, and these bandits probably didn’t have this kind of constructions skills. It should be... it should be a ruin that existed for a number of years!
"Ruins!" Qian Jin looked more at the tunnel as he thought. The library at Qian Jin's family talked about ruins. Inside the territories of Zence Empire, Demon Empire, and the Barbarian Empire, there existed many ruins. Some of the ruins were already discovered, and some of them were still hidden.
Some people died in the ruins, and others found great treasures and became wealthy influential people. Some people also got great power called magic from the frescos, engraved art on the walls of the ruins, and god-tier weapons and other items.
One of the key reasons why Adventurer Teams were formed was because they were trying to find these hidden ruins together.
As time passed by, the rumors about the ruins were getting more and more mystical. Some people even stated that they had understood the writings and symbols that no one was able to understand before, and these words suggested that there was a mystic potion hidden in one of the undiscovered ruins that would give one the ability to live on forever.
Some people also said that ruins were the creation of the gods.
Qian Jin couldn’t tell if the ruins were actually left by the gods, but all the books at Qian Family stated that ruins were places that had great wonders.
According to stories, the ultimate holy land in numerous ordinary warrior’s mind, the [Warrior Hall] that was able to let warriors reach their full potential, benefited from ruins as well.
There were rumors in the society that the origin of the bloodlines was from mysterious powers that were found in ruins.
Qian Jin didn’t know if all these rumors were true or not. There was no record on where Qian Family’s Elf King Bloodline came from, nor where other bloodlines came from; at least, not on papers that were in reach of ordinary people.
"Come on in." Hayen Brianna took off her weapon and released her hair from the band that tightened it into a ponytail. "Why don’t you take your friends out of that wet carriage? At least, this place is safe so far. You guys can live here for a while."
"Ah?" Qian Jin looked at Hayen Brianna as he smiled. He was a little too focused on the ruins and forgot to mention that this place didn’t look like it was a settlement of Black Wind Bandit Group; there were no signs or flags of Black Wind to be seen.
"My comrade-in-arms, you shouldn’t forget us after you see a beauty." Duren Burg’s head popped out of the wet straws as he spat the straws in his mouth onto the ground. "If you don’t get us out of here, we would really turn into undead," he said.
Qian Jin’s tensed up heart relaxed, and his smile had a sense of tiredness to it. He shook his head as he praised Duren Burg, "Being this talkative with this level of injuries, damn."
"Finally~ Don’t need to be buried in the straws," Duren Burg said as he lied onto of the straws and stared at the ceiling. "It’s was way too uncomfortable."
"You guys need some rest. Ask me if you guys need anything." Hayen Brianna walked out of the room, but she soon returned as she popped her head into the room and said to Qian Jin, "There are no signs of Black Wind here is because this place doesn’t belong to Black Wind. It’s my crew’s own resting spot, and no one else knows about it. You can come out and find me later."
Qian Jin laughed as he helped Cech Flet to get out of the straws. If this wasn’t a place that belonged to all Black Wind bandits, then it was certainly a lot safer. It looked like these bandits didn’t have any hostile intents, and this place was a good place for recovery.
"Comrade-in-arm, I’m injured as well~" Duren Burg lied on the straws as he tiled his head backward forcefully to look at Qian Jin. "I want someone to help me move as well..." He said.
"Only your arms are broken, and your legs are fine," Qian Jin said as he helped Fanta Kunge who was now awake off of the horse carriage. "Even though two of your rib bones are broken as well, I think you can still walk on your own."
"Comrade-in-arm." Duren Burg said as he sat up on the straws. Movements of his muscles caused a lot of pain for him. His face changed in color, but he still tried to put up an earnest expression as he said, "I’m very saddened by your cold attitude. I’m very disappointed. Now, only cigarettes can comfort my broken heart."
Qian Jin turned around and glared at Duren Burg. "If you don’t get off of the horse carriage, I will make some poison to make you mute for the rest of your life later when I make potions!"
"Damn! Okay, you are the boss." Duren Burg slowly moved off of the horse carriage. Whenever he moved, the muscles on his face would twitch. He felt like hundreds of knives were being stabbed then pulled out of his body. Pain! A great amount of pain.
Qian Jin sighed as he walked back and helped Duren Burg to walk to another bed in the room and lie down.
"Comrade-in-arm..."
"If you say anything more, I will mute your later."
"I only want to say that, can you help me to light up a cigarette..." Duren Burg said with a wronged tone.
Qian Jin curled his lips as he thought, "If I didn’t threaten him, he wouldn’t definitely not only say light up his cigarette. "Whatever, from the [Complete Collection of Plants and Herbs. Volume 1], it said that cigarettes have some pain-killing effect."
"Oh~ So good..." Duren Burg blew out the smoke out of his nose as he looked at the other two of his peers who were also lying on the bed. "Do you guys want some? It will kill some pain. I don’t have many of them on my hand, so I can give one to each of you."
Two cigarettes that were lit up soon appeared in between the other two people’s index and middle finger. When Qian Jin turned around, he heard Fanta Kunge’s cough, just like how he coughed after he smoked for the first time.
"It stinks." Fanta Kunge threw the cigarette onto the ground as he inhaled mouthfuls of fresh air. Coughing moved almost every part of his body, and that caused more pain. The pain-killing effect was nonexistent.
Cech Flet, who had the lit up cigarette in his finger, also throw it on the ground after seeing Fanta Kunge’s reaction.
"Wasteful, such a waste!" Duren Burg said with a sad expression on his face. He suddenly started to laugh. "Hey, Cech, you are really smart. You waited to see Kunge’s reaction before you started smoking."
Fanta Kunge was stunned for a second. He then looked up at the ceiling and sighed as he thought, "Damn, so stupid. Why didn't I wait for Cech Flet to smoke first?"
"Hey, Cech." After Duren Burg saw Qian Jin left the room, he relaxed and started to talk again, "We know each other for a day or two now. Except for Kunge and Qian Jin, I haven’t heard you talk too much. I didn’t expect you to be so playful. Although you don’t talk, you are still very smart. Damn, you must be a very playful person... I mean a player demon?"
Cech Flet’s emotionless eyes glanced at Duren Burg. He didn’t answer and went back to staring at the ceiling.
Ruins, different books had different documentation on it. In some records, some ruins were so big that a deer would die from starvation after walking and running in there for a few days, and some ruins were only as big as the size of two rooms.
Qian Jin walked on the open and wide street as he looked around at the walls and buildings. There was some vague magic power surging on the surface; they were the reason why this underground cave had light in it.
Although this ruin wasn’t as large as the stories that traveling poets told, it still wasn't so small that it couldn’t fit people.
It was almost the size of the Revetment Battle Fort. The space looked very empty with only more than a dozen bandits living here. An underground river flowed in the middle of the space, and it looked like these bandits could live here forever if they had enough food.
"Hey."
On the empty street, Hayen Brianna was wearing a bright red warrior suit and no longer that black wooden armor. This tight warrior suit had emphasized her body more, and it made her body look more elastic. Her wet hair that was on her shoulders made her look more intriguing. With a half broke sword in her hand, it made her look more valiant.
The black mask was still on her face, but it didn’t disrupt her sexy appeal; instead, it added a more mysterious feel to her. It made Qian Jin want to take off her mask and reveal what kind of face she was hiding under the mask.
"Follow me."
Hayen Brianna turned around, and her wet hair fluttered in the air. Her butt that was covered in the red warrior suit had a curve that was even hotter, and her leg took a big portion of her body; even the most popular girl at Oakland’s Warrior and Mage Academy Julius couldn’t match up to her.
After walking through the long road and two turns, Qian Jin sniffed his nose as there was a nose-piercing smell that was very familiar: the smell of potions!
Qian Jin’s eyes lit up as he unconsciously murmured: "Felis Blue Leaves? Tri-colored Flower? Winter Grain Tips...?"
Hayen Brianna turned around and curiously looked at Qian Jin. "Is this real? He can tell what herbs are being used by just the smell? What? Impossible! Is he a warrior? Let me asked Grandma Medi later." She thought.
Hayen Brianna pushed opened an old looking door, and the thick smell of herbs and potions rushed into the street like an erupting volcano. Qian Jin who was standing by the door murmured again with his eyes lit up, "Golden Corn?"
"Is it Hayen? Come on in."
In the room filled with the thick smell and steam, there was a very eye-catching copper pot hanging from the ceiling; maybe a water tank was a better description.
Beside the water tank, there was a ladder, and an old granny was standing on it; her thick waist was quite a good match to the water tank. She said so without looking up as she stirred the blue liquid in the water tank with a black wooden stick. "Did you get injured again while fighting with other people? Where did you get injured this time? You know, a girl should take care of her body. Quickly undress and let me see where you got injured this time..."
Although Hayen Brianna had a mask on, Qian Jin could feel that this sexy female bandit was blushing.
"Grandma Medi~" Hayen Brianna’s tone didn’t sound like she was a bandit but rather a little girl throwing a tantrum. "I didn’t get injured. I brought someone with me, don’t say anything weird~"
"Brought someone?" Grandma Medi pushed the glasses that she had on her nose as she stared at Qian Jin with her yellow eyes. "He is really healthy and doesn’t have any problems; he is able to kill a tiger with his bare fists. If you want to marry him and give birth to his kids, your kids will be very healthy..."
"Grandma Medi~" Hayen Brianna ran below the latter and grabbed onto her as she looked up and said, "If you are going to continue like that, I will shake your ladder."
Qian Jin stared at the granny on the ladder in surprise. "So I guess those bandits learned the b*llsh*tting from this master?" He thought.
"No?" Grandma Medi looked at Hayden Brianna as if she didn’t know what was going on. "Looks like I was wrong. Then why are you here? Tell me, does he want to join your crew? This kid has the murderous spirit, but not the wildness of bandits. I don’t think he is fit to be a bandit; he would be a good butcher. Okay, I told you all the stuff I could observe. Don’t stop me from making this potion."
"He is not here to join my crew." Hayen Brianna said as she looked up at the granny, "I’m here to ask for some potions. Three of his friends are injured, so we came here ask you, the pharmacist, to help us."
"Injured?" Grandma stared at the potion she was cooking in the pot as she stirred it with the stick that she had in her hand with different speed at different times. "What happened?" she asked.
"Three of them, some of their arm bones were broken and so are their shoulder bones. One of them also had all the bones in his back except the spine broken..." Hayen Brianna repeated the answers that she got from Qian Jin on the way here. "One of them is a level 9 Demon Fighter, another one is a level 6 Demon Fighter, and the last one is a level 3 Demon Fighter. They were injured by a level 2 tier 2 Bulk Demon Bloodline Warrior."
"Level 2 tier 2? A Demon Capturer? And a demon warrior with Bulk Demon Bloodline?" Grandma Medi still didn’t look up. She shook her head and said, "The difference in strength between the two sides are just too big. They couldn’t have survived. Even if they did, their internal organs are probably torn apart. You are better off finding a place to bury them."
"They had been injured for more than two days, and they are still alive." Hayen Brianna lightly shook the latter as she said, "They are lucky this time. The demon warrior of Bulk Demon Bloodline wanted to capture them alive, so he went easy on them..."
"Still alive?" Grandma Medi smacked her lips as she said, "That’s really lucky. The difference between Demon Fighters and Demon Captures... Whatever! I’m not going to say anything more. Since they are still alive, you can bring the white ceramic bottles with the red cap to help them heal their bones first. In terms of healing the damage done to their energy connections in their body, use the ceramic bottle with a silver band on it."
"Thank you, Grandma Medi." Hayen Brianna took the bottles on the table and threw them to Qian Jin. "Take it, you guys are lucky. Grandma is a real pharmacist. Otherwise, you can only find a pharmacist trainee at the military to make the potions for you if you are lucky."
"Brianna, be humble, be humble."
A joyful smile appeared on Grandma Medi’s face. She raised her head and looked at Hayen Brianna, proudness filling her eyes.
Pharmaceuticals! It was a deep subject. Memorization wouldn’t make a good pharmacist; they actually had to understand the theories behind it. Only after knowing the theories could a pharmacist combine the herbs together and have great effects. This subject required a lot of comprehensions. Some people could only be a pharmacist trainee with a life of work although they wanted to be a pharmacist. They were the people who garnered a lot of respect.
Then entire Black Wind didn’t even have a pharmacist! Grandma Medi waved her hands. "Okay then, if you are injured, you can come and find me. You are someone who Brianna brought to me. Now, don’t trouble me from making the great [Bull Potion]."
Qian Jin took off of the cap of the bottle and took a smell, and a smile appeared on his face. "This [Bone Re-attachment Potion] made from Tiger Bone, Scorpion Grass, Disordered Grass, and Earth Flower was purified and made into an ointment, and brought this level 5 potion that should be a low-medium tier medicine to a medium-top tier medicine."
"Granny, you are really creative." Qian Jin put the wooden cap back onto the bottle and said, "I don’t know, can I use some of the herbs here and make my own medicine?"
"You? You know pharmaceuticals?" Grandma Medi pushed her glasses on her nose out of habit as a curious light flash through her eyes. "Even if this young warrior put all of his energy on training warrior power and fighting techniques, there probably wasn’t enough time. Where did he find the time to learn about pharmaceuticals? This girl doesn’t have a good pair of eyes in terms of looking for a man. So after all, she picked this man who is very fickle. It didn't matter if he chose the profession of a warrior or a pharmacist, but to master any of them would take an entire lifespan."
The curiosity soon turned into unpleasantness and disdain in Grandma Medi’s yellow eyes. An anxious expression also appeared on her old face that had more than ten wrinkles. "My herbs here are very precious. Don’t destroy them for me."
"I will use a little, just a little. I will pay for them as well." With his hands behind his back, Qian Jin wandered around in the big pharmacy room.
Grandma Medi looked at the potion that was boiling in the pot and pulled the wooden stick that was in it. She got off of the latter and said, "Kid, this is a pharmacy and not your warrior training room. If you mess up the theories, you will kill your friends..."
"Ox Tail Grass?" Qian Jin saw a brown plant that was as thick as a pinky finger in a bunch of firewood. He picked it up and turned around. He asked as he almost bumped into Grandma Medi who was walking towards him with an angry expression, "Where did you get it from?"