Chapter 43

"So, the underground palace beneath the underground palace is really the remains of the 'King of Warlocks'? The Gemstone Throne was just blasted to pieces by you? It turns out that the treasure he left behind in his final resting place is a diary?"

After listening to Jiang Zhulang's story, Martin's face was full of disbelief.

Jiang Zhulang corrected him, "The treasure is the giant skeleton that was transformed by inputting arcane magic."

"It can't leave the island, what's the use? And the 'King of Warlocks' is actually named Tom! It sounds like the same as my Martin, nothing special, I'm so disappointed."

"Also, Lan Nuo, you are too cruel. You actually forgot about poor Martin and spent a whole day and night refining the medicine in the honeysuckle field?!"

"If it were you, would you be able to resist not doing the experiment?"

Martin didn't even hesitate for a second and replied, "No. Okay, okay, I forgive you. Anyway, I have had a pretty good time these three days."

The three of them rolled up their trousers and sleeves and squatted in the flower field without any image, digging and chatting. Martin, the chatterbox, kept talking, while Roshia worked silently.

At this time, the entire flower field had changed drastically. All the honeysuckle and their roots were carefully stored in the storage ring, leaving only soil on the ground.

Compared to Jiang Zhulang, who only has theoretical knowledge, Martin, who has a lot of practical experience, immediately figured out the cause of the change:

"I remember reading in an ancient book that there are minerals under the earth that will cause the plants growing on them to mutate. We just need to find this mineral, and then we can grow mutated silver flowers in large quantities."

So the three of them began to dig the soil.

"Found it, broken jade." Holding the crystal stone in his hand, Luo Xia's face did not look good.

Although the name of Broken Jade sounds particularly nice, it is an extremely evil mineral in the Nidos continent. It is crystal clear, like scattered stars, but in fact, the more crystal clear it is, the more it needs blood to be watered, so it is regarded as a symbol of evil.

For example, the piece of completely transparent jade in Luoshia's hand required the blood of at least three adults to be drained.

"Man Yinhua watered with blood..." Jiang Zhulang murmured. Such raw materials unexpectedly fit the purpose of "mushroom growth potion". Sin gave birth to greater sin.

Martin's focus was: "It's actually broken jade, which is a bit unlucky, but it's cheap. We can just buy some animal blood and pour it on it. But, what if, I mean what if, can we find other Man Yinhua on this island? What if we take it back and it doesn't work when we cultivate it ourselves?"

Jiang Zhulang tilted his head. He really hadn't thought about this question.

"Then we'll talk about it then?"

"Alright! So what are we going to do next? Join in the fun and look for rare herbs?"

Martin looked at Jiang Zhulang inquiringly, and Jiang Zhulang looked at Luo Xia.

Seeing this, Martin also turned his gaze and looked at Roshia eagerly.

Luoshia: "...I'm fine with it. I'll listen to Lanno."

Before Jiang Zhulang could answer, Martin answered, "Why ask? Lan Nuo must agree with my idea, right?"

Jiang Zhulang: “…”

Just like that, the trio hastily decided to go and watch the fight to snatch the herbs, even though he thought the real herbs had already been taken away by Cross.

In order to avoid unnecessary complications, Jiang Zhulang consciously guided the route and moved in the right direction.

Three days later

As we got closer to our destination, we met more and more people traveling the same way as us, and from what they said, it seemed like they all knew where we were going.

"Oh, you asked me how I knew there were rare herbs growing on the outlying islands? I heard it from others! Look, those students were so stupid that they told everyone on the island about it, and they thought they had hidden it well! You look pretty smart, don't you think you're the only one who knows this news?"

Following the direction of his fellow travelers, Jiang Zhulang saw a group of people enjoying the cool in the shade. They were the burly woman he had met once and her useless male companions, as well as the small group of men in black who were knocked unconscious by the white-bone giant in the underground palace.

"See? These fools who graduated from the Warlock Academy and lived in the ivory tower couldn't even keep the secret when they found an immature herb. If I were their leader, I would have tied their mouths up!" The fellow travelers clicked their tongues and shook their heads, then found another place under the shade of a tree to rest.

Huh? Herbs actually have a maturity period? Somehow, Prime Minister Jiang Zhulang took it for granted that this herb should be born in a mature state.

His strange thoughts were interrupted by Roshia, who came up to him and said, "The blond guy is not here."

Jiang Zhulang looked around and nodded.

To be honest, the current scene looks extremely funny:

In the small open space, a group of people sat in twos and threes, most of them were in tattered clothes and looked like they had suffered a lot. From time to time, they looked towards the mountain trail in front of them, greedy and wary, but no one took that step to move forward towards the goal.

Martin asked a soul-searching question: "So, why don't you wait in front of the herbs? Do you wait here until the herbs are ripe, then choose the winner and go in to pick them? Also, how do you know when the herbs are ripe? What if you wait too long and it's too late?"

After saying this, everyone looked at him. Finally, the burly woman answered, "It's not that we don't want to, but we can't. My companions and I were the first to find this place, but we found that as soon as we set foot on the path, we would get dizzy and turn around as if we were in a maze, and finally return to the same place, as if something was blocking us. So we guessed that no one could get close before the herbs matured."

Jiang Zhulang tilted his head in confusion. He didn't remember arranging such a mechanism? Besides, what about automatically lifting the ban when the time comes? It sounds like a setting from the fairy world next door, which is completely incompatible with the world view of "Warlock"!

There is no doubt that this fancy arrangement must be the work of Cross.

Jiang Zhulang suddenly thought of something he had seen on the black market in the royal capital: the Arcane Cube.

According to the seller, the Arcane Cube is the masterpiece of the master of alchemy. Multiple pieces can be buried underground and manipulated by a sorcerer to form a "ghost wall", which is most suitable for pranking snakes.

Jiang Zhulang was silent.

If this is what he really wants, does it mean that Cross is hiding among this group of people in disguise?

He scanned them one by one calmly, and suddenly everyone he saw became suspicious.

"Wait, I don't understand. You came here and found a ghost wall in front of you, and you concluded that there were immature legendary herbs inside, and you thought that you could only enter when the herbs were mature?? Why don't I understand the connection between these two? How did you come to this conclusion?"

Martin nudged Jiang Zhulang with his elbow in confusion.

Upon hearing this, someone immediately shouted loudly, glaring at the burly woman: "That's right! What if there are relics in here? Are you kidding us? In fact, your people have already sneaked in to loot the property?!"

"…When my companions and I set foot on the trail, we smelled a strange fragrance that lifted our spirits. After just one sniff, the pain from the hidden wounds on our bodies was gone. If this isn't the legendary herb, then what is it?"

"No, wait a minute? Why do I remember you saying the same thing a few days ago when you were talking about honeysuckle? Where do you get so many hidden wounds on your body?"

As soon as Martin said this, Jiang Zhulang did not miss the slightly unnatural look on the burly woman's face, as well as the increasingly agitated expressions of the people around her.

One of the men in black who took off his hood came to the rescue and said, "My companions and I are wandering adventurers, so...if you don't believe me, you can go up and try it yourself."

Jiang Zhulang: Great, so you are a team!

The man in black, who had no idea that he had been exposed, gave him a friendly smile and Jiang Zhulang looked away.

Soon, someone couldn't hold back and stepped forward to test it out.

Jiang Zhulang moved his feet, and with the help of Roshia's cover, he observed the people who had not moved, trying to find Cross among them.

This one is too short and fat, it shouldn't be.

Well, the height does fit, but he's a bald guy. Even if he's disguising himself, the sacrifice shouldn't be so great, right?

This one has light blonde hair and a tall figure, but unfortunately is the wrong gender.

Does Kloss know how to dress like a woman?

Not sure, try again.

…

Jiang Zhulang looked around, and finally his sight stopped on a young man who was resting his eyes with one hand behind his head and the other hand hidden under his wide robe.

Although his face is plain, he has a slim waist and long legs, and seems to have a very well-proportioned body. Not to mention his exposed hands, which are slender, white, with distinct joints, and even his nails are a healthy and attractive pink.

——It looks suspicious at first glance.

You know, Close was sculpted from head to toe by him, and his hands look like something he would like to draw.

Of course, the most important thing is that, in this situation where everyone is nervous and staring at the attempters, he is the only one who closes his eyes and pretends to be great, while one of his hands is doing something sneaky and no one knows what he is doing.

This is really suspicious!