A muscle in Bai Mo's face twitched, a hint of resignation flashing across his features.
"Senior Lanshan, this isn't an infirmary."
He pointed toward the door.
"If you really have injured people, you should take a trip to the Myriad Dharma Sect's Saint Hand Hall. It'll just cost you more, that's all."
The skills at Saint Hand Hall were truly top-notch. Countless Cultivators who had escaped from Celestial Barrier Mountain owed their lives to that place.
It was just a bit pricey. By the time you recovered, you'd have been skinned alive by the bill.
Hearing this, Lanshan suddenly let out a low chuckle. It came out sharp and distorted, and it took him a good moment to catch his breath.
"Ha, it's not what you think, young Shopkeeper!"
Lanshan wiped a hand over his face and said weakly,
"This time, I nearly bought it in those mountains. I'm lucky I made it back at all!"
He pointed to the three people lying on the floor—two men and a woman. Their clothes were so filthy you couldn't tell what they originally looked like.
"These three are just suffering from exhaustion. Nothing serious."
By the light of the oil lamp, Bai Mo could see that the three of them had indeed suffered injuries that were far from light.
But since Lanshan had said so, Bai Mo took him at his word.
"Then, Senior Lanshan, what brings you here?"
Bai Mo asked, his brow furrowing slightly.
'It would have been better if they were just here for serious injuries,' he thought. The last thing he wanted was to get dragged into some dispute.
Lanshan slid slowly down the wall he was leaning against. "Young Shopkeeper, get me something to drink."
Bai Mo turned and went back into his living quarters. He grabbed a large porcelain bowl he normally used for medicine, lifted the lid off a pot, and ladled it full.
'In Lanshan's current state,' he figured, 'he'd prefer this mutton soup over plain water.'
Sure enough, as soon as Lanshan had downed the bowl of soup, a healthy color visibly returned to his face, and he let out a belch.
"That hits the spot! But... what's with this strange taste?"
He grimaced.
Bai Mo rolled his eyes. He knew it was the lingering taste of herbs in the bowl.
"That's a top-quality medicinal broth."
Lanshan felt strength flowing back into his body, finally recovering a bit from the aftereffects of the Qi Blood Pill.
"As expected of Shopkeeper Bai, you even have skills like this."
Bai Mo didn't take the compliment, merely watching him coolly, waiting for an explanation.
Lanshan scratched his head. "To be honest, we just came here to rest a bit... and to see if you could do something about the aftereffects of this Qi Blood Pill."
"There's no cure for that," Bai Mo said, waving his hand dismissively.
"A Qi Blood Pill damages your very lifeblood. How could that be easily replenished?"
Lanshan looked abashed. 'He's right,' he thought. 'How could such a potent Pill not come with a price?'
"Since you've all made it back to Immortal Arrival City, why not just wait for your wounds to heal naturally?"
Bai Mo voiced the question on his mind.
Lanshan let out a cold snort. Before he could answer, one of the men who had been lying on the floor like a corpse struggled to turn over.
Lying on his back, he licked his lips and forced a smile.
"Brother Lanshan showed his might in the mountains, and it was by the grace of the heavens we escaped with our lives. We can't let ourselves get bitten in a vital spot by some vicious dogs at the last moment."
Bai Mo's heart skipped a beat.
"Those powerful families... they'd dare to make a move inside Immortal Arrival City?"
"The Myriad Dharma Sect is a behemoth, true, but these local tyrants have plenty of their own little schemes."
Lanshan's words were pointed. "We're all tough men. Many of us return injured from the mountains. Do you really think we can't pull through on our own?"
"But who's to say they all make it? And how can you be sure it wasn't a sneak attack that did them in?"
'Without any evidence, who could claim it was the powerful families in the city who were responsible?'
'The Myriad Dharma Sect's enforcement team certainly wouldn't get involved.'
Seeing the grave look on Bai Mo's face, Lanshan chuckled.
"Young Shopkeeper, do you have any Condensed Dew Pills? We've used up our supply. One bottle should be enough to drive off those curs."
Bai Mo sized them up. "My shop doesn't offer credit. That's a rule I can't break."
Lanshan laughed heartily, pulling a scroll from his robes and tossing it to Bai Mo.
Bai Mo caught it and saw it was a Cultivation Technique. The large characters at the top of the scroll read: *Star-Pointing Seven Hands*.
"A famous Cultivation Technique. I'll give it to you, young Shopkeeper, in place of Spirit Stones."
Bai Mo had heard merchants chatting in the marketplace about interesting things happening in the city.
And this very Cultivation Technique had been one of the topics.
"Did you strike it rich in the mountains?"
Lanshan grinned. "How can you put it like that? These were a man's last words on the brink of death. Every word is precious. We just... brought his last words back for him."
"I'd say the bastard got lucky."
Bai Mo accepted the Cultivation Technique, retrieved a bottle of Condensed Dew Pills, and tossed it to Lanshan.
The bottle of Pills was passed between them and was empty in moments.
"What exactly did you all run into in Celestial Barrier Mountain?"
Bai Mo asked.
Lanshan said nothing. He just looked down, rolled up his pant leg, and hissed in pain, revealing a mangled calf.
Bai Mo's own expression changed. The skin on Lanshan's calf was almost completely gone, exposing raw flesh underneath.
A yellow, caked powder was visible on the wound, likely some sort of medicinal salve he'd applied.
A muscle in Lanshan's cheek twitched. "We ran into a pack of beasts that had lost their territory and were roaming around."
The man who had spoken earlier added, "If Brother Lanshan hadn't led that pack of horned wolves away, we wouldn't have fared any better."
Bai Mo shifted his gaze back to Lanshan, who grunted and said with a wry smile,
"It's all thanks to your Qi Blood Pill, young Shopkeeper. Celestial Barrier Mountain... that place is a death trap. But I managed to lead that pack of horned wolves over an entire mountain in one go."
There were no safe havens in Celestial Barrier Mountain. The Demon Beasts within were also locked in a constant struggle between life and death.
'Come to think of it,' Lanshan realized, 'it was the very horned wolves chasing me that scared off all the other Demon Beasts in our path. That's the only reason we made it through.'
He had managed to escape Celestial Barrier Mountain around noon, just before his stamina gave out, and found his companions, who were just as exhausted.
When they saw each other, they were all startled, then cried out in relief.
Once they were exhausted, they found a place to hide. Lanshan changed out of his tattered pants and applied some medicine to his calf, which had been shredded by thorns and vines, before they finally entered the city.
"To outrun horned wolves on foot... that's just..."
Lanshan was at a loss for words. His three companions were giving him the same awestruck look.
Bai Mo frowned slightly, asking with suspicion, "My Qi Blood Pill is that effective?"
The corner of Lanshan's mouth twitched. He explained, "Men like us spend our years tempering our bodies. We've built up a considerable amount of qi and blood."
"The Qi Blood Pill was like a spark landing on a pile of kindling. The power it unleashed was nothing short of astonishing."
The Myriad Dharma Sect also produced this kind of Pill, but the price was far beyond what a Demon Hunting Team of their level could even dream of affording.
Bai Mo was still skeptical and asked,
"Could I trouble you to describe the sensation in detail, Senior Lanshan?"
Lanshan's expression turned serious. "Alright."
"At the time, it felt like hot oil was being poured over my exhausted muscles, melting them away. And then it was like throwing gasoline on a fire..."
Despite not wanting to get involved, Bai Mo let them stay for another hour, mainly so he could get a detailed account of the experience from Lanshan.
Before they left, Bai Mo gave each of them another bowl of soup.
'There was no mutton in it, of course. He barely had enough for himself.'
After the blood-replenishing, qi-restoring broth, they all regained a bit of their strength. Even Lanshan could stand up straight enough to look intimidating.
"Oh, right, young Shopkeeper. That Qi Blood Pill..."
Lanshan suddenly turned back, planting a large hand on the edge of the door to stop Bai Mo from closing it.
There was a fiery spark burning in his eyes.
"I'd be willing to pay more."
Bai Mo roughly shoved the door shut. "I'm out! Don't come bothering me again."
"In a few days... I'll come back in a few days—" Lanshan's voice was finally cut off by the door.
Bai Mo turned and looked at the filthy floor.
'Great,' he thought. 'Looks like my night's not over yet.'
Just as he was about to grab a rag and a basin of water, a sudden clamor erupted outside.
He lifted the door panel a crack to peek outside and saw a clay pot, still steaming, get kicked over under the eaves at the corner of the street.
"Sons of bitches! Who sent you to tail us?"
"Hanging around all casual-like! You really think you've got us dead to rights?!"
Chaos erupted outside. Bai Mo pursed his lips and secured the door.
He casually flipped through the *Star-Pointing Seven Hands* manual again.
'Not a bad Cultivation Technique,' he mused. 'There's a lot to it. It'll probably take me a few days to figure it out.'