Hearing the price of the low-grade longevity pill, Fox slipped and fell from Shen Yijin's shoulder into Shen Yijin's arms.
Its eyes widened. "Three hundred gold for a low-grade longevity pill from the Medical Pill Pavilion? This wandering merchant is selling fake pills, right? This price is only enough to buy a small amount of pills."
Other things are fine, but the elixirs from the Medical Alchemy Pavilion are well-known in the world of immortal cultivation. Even the quality of the low-grade elixirs is better than the mid- and high-grade elixirs sold elsewhere.
If this is really a pill from the Medical Pill Pavilion, any mortal who takes a lick of it can extend his life by ten years!
"It's the real thing." Bei Lanshan snorted coldly, "It's just not a low-grade longevity pill. It's just scraps left over from the Medical Pill Pavilion's longevity pill refining process. Wandering merchants like to buy these things at low prices and then resell them to ordinary people who don't know much about the business at a high price."
Bei Lanshan had always disliked these wandering merchants. He had once kindly advised mortals not to buy the rotten medicine sold by wandering merchants, but ended up being scolded by the mortals instead.
From then on, he never meddled in other people's affairs again.
There are a lot of impurities and mild toxins in the waste pills. These impurities and toxins are difficult to excrete from the body even for cultivators. For mortals, buying waste pills and eating them is like taking chronic poison.
It seems that he has added ten years to his life, but in fact he has accelerated his death.
The fox heard this for the first time and said indignantly, "They are so evil! We should stop them!"
After saying this, the fox was about to run over to expose the true identity of the wandering merchant.
It jumped up from Chen Yijin's arms, and just as it was in the air, Chen Yijin grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and pulled it back. "Don't meddle in other people's business. The villagers won't believe you. Don't forget why we came down the mountain. If the villagers remember our appearance, it will be difficult to find out anything from the village."
The fox pouted and was not very happy.
Shen Yijin gave her some merit power, and the fox felt better instantly.
"You actually have the power of merit!" Bei Lanshan suddenly looked at the fox in Chen Yijin's arms, his eyes full of regret.
Merit is not so easy to obtain. Chen Yijin actually used these precious merits to feed the fox. It is really a waste of God's gift.
Bei Lanshan lowered his head with regret. "When we get back, can you give Yunrong some merit? Merit is similar to offering incense. It should be able to replace incense and maintain Yunrong's life."
Merit was hard-earned, and Bei Lanshan knew that asking Chen Yijin to use his merit to maintain Hu Yunrong's life was a bit unreasonable. No cultivator would agree to such a request, no matter how much reward was offered.
When Bei Lanshan thought that Chen Yijin would definitely reject him, he heard Chen Yijin say, "Of course, but my cultivation path is different from Hu Yunrong's, so I may not be able to provide her with much help. I think the incense of a mortal is more suitable for her."
Bei Lanshan was surprised: "You're willing?"
“Hu Yunrong is also my friend. Merit is used to save friends, so of course I am willing.” Shen Yijin said.
Hu Yunrong is Bei Shitao's mother, so of course Shen Yijin has to save her.
Bei Lanshan was deeply moved. "I cannot thank you enough for your kindness. When Yunrong gets better, if you encounter any problems, just come to me. I will help you even if it costs me my own life!"
Shen Yijin smiled: "Okay, I hope you won't forget this sentence in the future."
Chen Yijin actually hoped that Bei Lanshan a thousand years later would really be like what he said now. Unfortunately, Bei Lanshan a thousand years later did not repay her, but instead kept plotting against her.
The arrival of the wandering merchants made the villages at the foot of the mountain lively, and the streets were full of people, which made it much more difficult for Shen Yijin and others to search for clues.
After squeezing on the street for an hour, several people were exhausted and sweating, but they didn't find any clues.
"Did we come out at the wrong time? Should we come back at night?" The fox was so tired that he spread out on the ground like a fox cake, sticking out his tongue to cool down.
Bei Shitao wiped the sweat off her face and disagreed, "It's too dark at night, what can we see clearly?"
The fox wanted to say that it was no different from daytime, but when the words came to his lips, he remembered that Bei Shitao was just an ordinary person, so he had to shut up in disappointment.
After squeezing for an hour, it was not entirely in vain.
Chen Yijin took out a bottle of medicine and waved it in front of everyone: "Although there is no actual evidence to point to it, I suspect that the plague in the village should be related to this medicine."
The pill in Shen Yijin's hand was exactly the low-grade waste longevity pill sold by the wandering merchant.
Among the people present, except for Shen Yijin who knew a little about elixirs, the others knew nothing about elixirs.
Bei Lanshan took the medicine bottle, took out a pill, and sniffed it. "This tastes similar to the low-grade longevity pills I once took. What could be wrong?"
"There is an extra medicinal ingredient in it, and this medicinal ingredient is highly poisonous to animals." Shen Yijin said.
If a mouse accidentally eats it, it will die within a second.
It just so happens that the smell of this medicinal herb is particularly attractive to animals. Rats have a keen sense of smell and they sneak into the homes of people who bought the elixir under the cover of night to steal it. After the death, the villagers felt sorry for the elixir they had spent three hundred gold on, so it is not impossible that they cooked and ate the rat.
During the famine, not to mention dead mice, the villagers even ate tree bark and soil.
What's more, this rat that ate three hundred golden pills is no ordinary rat.
Bei Shitao understood what Chen Yijin meant: "The villagers think that after eating the elixir, the rat also has the effect of the elixir. As long as they eat the dead rat, they can also prolong their lifespan?"
Although she understood what Shen Yijin meant, Bei Shitao still found it outrageous.
The mouse died after eating the elixir. Doesn't this prove something? Why don't the villagers think that they might also die if they eat the dead mouse?
Bei Lanshan had a say on this point: "The villagers were raised in poverty since childhood, and they all think they have a strong life. Rats will die if they eat the elixir, but they won't."
The villagers were poor and tried to save as much as possible on food, clothing and other daily necessities. They felt bad about wasting three hundred gold coins.
Although rat meat tasted a bit unpalatable, it was not inedible, so the villagers just ate it.
There are many viruses and bacteria on mice, and you never know which one is infected.
The villagers would at most get stomach upset if they ate the rats poisoned by the elixir, but if the rats were infected, they would suffer from plague.
Bei Shitao frowned: "Then how can we stop the villagers from eating the dead rats?"
There are rats everywhere in the village. They can't go from house to house to intercept the rats and prevent them from stealing the elixir, right?
Bei Lanshan hesitated and said, "How about letting the cat catch it?"
The cat he was talking about was not an ordinary cat in the village, but a civet cat.
Civets can tell whether mice are healthy or not and will not mistakenly eat sick mice.
There happened to be a group of civet cats on the mountain, and Bei Lanshan wanted to ask them to come down to help.
Chen Yijin: "You can try. Then go and invite us. We will wait for you in the village."
Bei Lanshan shook his head repeatedly: "I can't go. They definitely won't come if I ask them to!"
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