Dragon's Origin

Chapter 234: One Missing (Part 2)

Five rings are now in Wang Sheng's hands. The original owners of the rings died hundreds of years ago, so Wang Sheng can easily open the rings to see what's inside.

In front of the female proprietor, Wang Sheng displayed the contents of the rings one by one.

Scrolls, a large pile of scrolls. In the first ring, there were only exquisitely sealed scrolls. Each scroll had a name written on it, either this pill or that bolus, or some powder, some plaster, some ointment. From the names, it was clear that these were various pill formulas and prescriptions.

Inside the second ring were also scrolls, of average size, average sealing, and average exquisiteness. The third, fourth, and fifth rings were all the same, except for the different names marked on the scrolls; everything else was identical.

The scrolls were all sealed, and Wang Sheng didn't intend to open them in this environment. He just looked at the names and neatly arranged them aside, waiting for the female proprietor to count them.

"Is that all?" The female proprietor, who had counted over four hundred, was stunned when she saw Wang Sheng stop.

"That's all!" Wang Sheng arranged the five rings in a row and placed them next to the pile of scrolls.

"What about the divine pill?" Baoqing Surplus Hall's purpose for this trip was the divine pill. The female proprietor's pretense was also for the divine pill. Up until now, all she had seen in the sect's treasured rings were scrolls, without any pills. This was abnormal!

"There is no divine pill." Wang Sheng reiterated this point: "These rings don't have formations to preserve medicinal effects. It's impossible to store any pills in them."

This problem was actually easy to understand, but the female proprietor couldn't accept it all at once. After understanding this, she had to accept the fact.

"You have to understand that these things are a sect's true inheritance," Wang Sheng said, pointing to the pile of scrolls. The various pill formulas, prescriptions, research records, and utilization methods for ground fire recorded on these scrolls were the sect's greatest treasure, not just one or two pills.

"I understand!" How could the female proprietor not know that these were the true inheritance? But she just couldn't get over the fact that the divine pill she had found ended up belonging to someone else.

The rings couldn't have formations to preserve medicinal effects, so the formation in that stone cave was the only one. The jade box must have contained the real divine pill. Now that the divine pill had been snatched away by the Song family's three experts, Wang Sheng and the female proprietor could only watch helplessly. This feeling was really uncomfortable for the female proprietor.

The divine pill was the key to whether the female proprietor could make a comeback this time. If she could get the divine pill, she might be able to exchange it for the support of some influential figures using their lives, and making a comeback wouldn't be a dream. But without the divine pill, only this pile of scrolls and pill formulas, though valuable, might not be as direct as the divine pill.

"Don't overthink it." Wang Sheng seemed to understand the female proprietor's thoughts, but he didn't say anything to provoke her. Instead, he silently began to put the scrolls back into the rings.

These things had been stored for many years. It was okay to take them out for a look, but it was better to seal them back up. Even if they were to be opened, they should be studied by some alchemy experts. Wang Sheng himself would definitely not open them rashly.

The female proprietor was still somewhat absent-minded, and she didn't recover until Wang Sheng had almost finished packing everything up.

"Was I particularly unsuccessful this time?" The female proprietor asked, her mood low and a bit dejected.

"It's alright, not a complete defeat." Wang Sheng wasn't very good at comforting people, and his answer wasn't very encouraging: "At least you're still alive. As long as you're alive, there's a chance."

The female proprietor pointed at Wang Sheng, suddenly not knowing how to respond. Was that how you comforted people? What did he mean by 'still alive'?

"If I were you, I'd be thinking about whether your shopkeepers are safe," Wang Sheng had talked with the female proprietor before, so he knew that the shopkeepers should still be alive, but he still reminded her: "This is the Thousand Serenity Ground. It might be okay for a short time, but after a long time, they won't be able to cope with the dangers of the Thousand Serenity Ground."

"Crap!" The female proprietor had been focused on the divine pill and had forgotten about the loyal shopkeepers. Only after Wang Sheng reminded her did she remember that this wasn't outside, this was the Thousand Serenity Ground, and the shopkeepers were still facing danger.

They had left the shopkeepers for two days, and it took another two days to find the place and ventilate. It took another day to find things after coming down. If you add the time to go back and meet up, the shopkeepers would have to hold on for at least seven days. Even if Wang Sheng had found them a relatively safe hiding place, who knew what would happen in the Thousand Serenity Ground in seven days?

"Let's go quickly!" The female proprietor disregarded everything else and helped Wang Sheng stuff the scrolls back into the rings, wishing she could grab Wang Sheng's hand and leave the underground space right now.

Wang Sheng, however, was not in a hurry. After tidying everything up, he once again picked up the female proprietor horizontally, preparing to run across the lava lake.

This time, the female proprietor was very proactive, taking the initiative to wrap her arms around Wang Sheng's neck, pressing herself tightly against him. She knew very well that the closer they were, the faster Wang Sheng would run, and the safer they would be when crossing the lava lake.

With the experience of the first time, Wang Sheng crossed the lava lake without much danger and returned to the underground space where they had come from.

To the female proprietor's surprise, Wang Sheng didn't leave with her immediately. Instead, he searched everywhere and gathered the corpses together.

"Are you planning to bury them?" The female proprietor asked curiously, then saw Wang Sheng's solemn face.

"One is missing," Wang Sheng suddenly said out of nowhere.

"What's missing?" The female proprietor asked strangely.

"There were thirty people when we came. Subtracting you and me, five died when we opened the stone cave, and one died on the ground fire vein. There are twenty-one corpses now," Wang Sheng raised his head and asked, "Where did the other one go?"

The female proprietor had never thought that Wang Sheng would be so cautious, even counting the corpses on the ground. But when she discovered that one was indeed missing, she couldn't help but be surprised. Where did the missing one go?

It was impossible for the Song family to let anyone go. Wang Sheng and the female proprietor had been watching them when they made their move, and they didn't seem to have noticed anyone disappearing. This was strange.

Could it be that that person had already set up an ambush, preparing to launch a sneak attack? The problem was that the stone gate of this underground space must have been closed by the Song family. Even if that person was still alive, shouldn't they jump out and work together to find a way out?