Immortal Cultivation: Starting from a Pharmacy Apprentice

Chapter 267: Chapter 267: A Chance Encounter Before the Mountain

Bai Mo tied a ring of grass around a tree stump at the foot of the mountain, then offered incense at a small, nearby temple.

With the formalities complete, he started up the mountain path.

Just ahead of them was a Demon Hunting Team. Roughly thirty strong, they were chatting and laughing as they ascended.

The burly man leading the group, shouldering a large blade, squinted and glanced back at them.

A team of their size was not to be considered small. It was strange that they hadn’t joined the initial rush, choosing to ascend the mountain only now.

"Isn’t it a bit inappropriate for you to be following us so closely?"

"Why don’t you rest for a while before continuing?"

It was a hated, yet common tactic for some Demon Hunting Teams to trail others, waiting to swoop in like a vulture after the dirty work was done.

Bai Mo had a dozen or so men with him. One of them stared at the team ahead, licked his lips, and broke into a grin.

"It’s Qi Long’s crew."

Qin Wen, standing beside Bai Mo, acted as if he hadn’t heard, his gaze fixed solely on Bai Mo.

"Shopkeeper, what are your thoughts...?"

Bai Mo asked quietly,

"Normally, how long would we need to wait?"

Qin Wen shook his head.

"Usually, we’d just pause for a moment and wait for them to disappear from view."

"But Qi Long and his men are different. I’m afraid they’ll try to waste a good deal of our time."

Bai Mo turned and saw the disdain and contempt in his own men’s eyes. Their animosity was almost completely unconcealed.

He looked thoughtful.

"In that case, we won’t wait."

"We have to take a side path in less than a mile anyway. It won’t make much of a difference."

Qin Wen nodded, then stepped forward and called out,

"We’re taking a different route. Our Shopkeeper is on a tight schedule and can’t afford to wait. Would you mind letting us pass?"

Qi Long’s expression froze, and his face darkened.

Not far off, members of other Demon Hunting Teams noticed the commotion and looked over.

Though Qi Long’s men were visibly angered, they didn’t shout curses or stir restlessly.

Instead, they turned their gazes to Qi Long in unison.

He simply raised a hand, signaling for them to remain calm.

A flicker of calculation crossed Qi Long’s eyes before he suddenly broke into a smile.

"Could this be the famous Alchemist Bai?"

"Alchemist Bai’s fame is known throughout Xianlin. If you have urgent matters to attend to, there’s no shame in us stepping aside."

He turned slightly to the side and gestured for them to pass.

"Please, go ahead!"

Bai Mo gave him a cupped-fist salute and led his dozen or so men past them.

Once they were in the forest and had traveled for some time, Qin Wen pushed aside some bushes to reveal a narrow trail.

"This is it."

With that, he ducked into the undergrowth first.

Before following, Bai Mo glanced back.

Qi Long’s crew was still back there, not advancing. It was unclear what they were up to.

A few indistinct figures were meeting with him.

The path to the great ravine was overgrown and hard to follow, thick with grass and vines. Qin Wen had to take out a machete and forge ahead, clearing the way.

Bai Mo took out a tinder-cord and handed it to Qin Wen.

As soon as the smoke from its lit end began to spread, it startled away countless critters hiding beneath the dead branches and rotting leaves.

Only then did Bai Mo ask, "Who is this Qi Long?"

Anyone who could provoke such hostility from so many men—even Qin Wen had no love for him—was clearly not a simple character.

A burly, scar-faced man beside him—who looked like anything but a good person—let out a fierce grin.

"They’re a Demon Hunting Team, too. Qi Long’s their leader."

"Alchemist Bai, you shouldn’t underestimate them. If you took any of those thirty men on one-on-one, most of us probably wouldn’t be a match for them," he admitted frankly.

"But what can you do? They’ve got powerful backers."

Bai Mo turned his head toward the man.

"What do you mean?"

The man explained,

"Qi Long comes from one of the city’s powerful families. Even though they’ve declined, he inherited the entirety of the Qi family’s old network."

"The man is ruthless and daring, willing to risk his life and use any means necessary. He played the different families against each other, and over time, his group became the go-to Demon Hunting Team for all of them."

"But at the end of the day, he’s just a dog for the great families. In our profession, very few people respect him."

"Just now, if they had lost their temper and attacked us, the other hunters watching wouldn’t have just stood by and done nothing."

The man gestured behind them.

"Some of Qi Long’s men are probably just hired muscle or clansmen from one family or another. They don’t lack for resources, and their skills are top-notch."

"Right now, he’s back there making contact, seeing which family needs something done..."

Qin Wen straightened up, handing the machete and tinder-cord to an exceptionally tall Cultivator and letting him take the lead.

He then came to Bai Mo’s side and said in a low voice,

"Qi Long and his men present themselves as a proper Demon Hunting Team, and they always manage to rally support whenever something happens."

"But I know for a fact they’re responsible for the deaths of many of our peers. Shopkeeper, it’s best to have as little to do with them as possible."

As the men chatted, the path grew more uneven, the ground littered with loose stones and muddy patches.

Large boulders and rotting logs blocked their way, appearing to have been deposited by a mudslide.

Bai Mo leaped lightly over an earthen mound and heard a sharp CLINK.

It was the tall man clearing the path; his blade had struck a small, armored beast.

The creature possessed a faint demonic aura but had not yet reached the level of a true Demon Beast.

The tall man knocked it back, a look of delight on his face.

"This thing is incredibly nourishing! Looks like we’re eating well tonight!"

The words had barely left his mouth when the small beast shot up like a bolt of lightning and bit him viciously on the hand.

Reacting in a flash, Qin Wen snatched a heavy-bladed saber from a man beside him, closed the distance in a few strides, and brought the back of the blade down on the small beast’s pointed head just as it tried to dodge.

The small beast’s body went rigid and it toppled to the ground, motionless.

The tall man looked chagrined.

"Got careless for a second. Sorry to make a fool of myself in front of you all."

A row of sharp teeth marks was visible on his hand, from which dark, reddish blood was seeping.

Bai Mo tossed a bottle of Pills directly to him.

"That beast is venomous. Don’t let something like this be your undoing."

The tall man didn’t seem concerned. He simply tipped out a Righteous Qi Pill and popped it into his mouth.

He held up the bottle to return it to Bai Mo, but saw him shake his head.

"Keep it. It’ll be useful if anyone else gets into trouble."

"You got it!"

The tall man’s face lit up as he tucked the bottle into his robes.

He strode to the front and, using his size to his advantage, resumed clearing the path with great vigor.

The tingling numbness and dull ache in his hand quickly faded. The minor flesh wound was nothing to worry about.

’A Pill Master’s personal supply of Pills really is on another level!’

The man’s eyes darted about slyly.

He schemed that if someone else needed a pill later, he would give them one of the cheaper ones he’d bought for protection and keep this superior bottle for himself.

The protection Pills had also been purchased from Bai Mo’s shop, but there was a clear difference in quality.

After a brief internal struggle, the tall man dejectedly gave up on the idea.

He was afraid Bai Mo would see through his scheme.

Qin Wen picked up the small, armored beast and handed it to a nearby Cultivator.

"Check if it’s eaten anything foul."

The man took it and pressed on its belly, a smile immediately spreading across his face.

"It’s this empty, it definitely hasn’t eaten recently."

With that, he pulled out a cloth sack, stuffed the creature inside, and tied it to his waist.

Qin Wen gazed into the distance for a moment, then said,

"At our current pace, we should reach the river in the great ravine in about five more days."

"Once there, we can just follow the river downstream and take our time searching."

As he spoke, he looked over at Bai Mo.

To be honest, Qin Wen didn’t understand why his Shopkeeper was in such a hurry.

This was a rare sight indeed.

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