One Day A Strange Rumor Had Spread Among The Peak Lords About A Mysterious Herbalist Who Lived In The

One day a strange rumor had spread among the peak lords about a mysterious herbalist who lived in the mountains.

No one knew anything specifically about him, except that he seemed to possess boundless knowledge about plants and monsters of the places. For every answer, he had it. Every ingredient, he knew where to get it.

No one had ever seen him and no one had been able to get an audience with him. He was an extremely reserved person who did not dare to come down from the mountains where he lived for any reason in the world. Needless to say, everyone was very curious about such a peculiar personality who had left not a single clue about himself. No one knew whether he was an enemy or a friend, whether he was dangerous, or completely harmless. They only knew that he had never bothered anyone and had never wanted to get in the way of any of the affairs of the martial arts schools in the area. He had merely lived in seclusion in a cave that no cultivator had yet discovered where exactly it was. There were rumors circulating among the disciples that the mysterious herbalist was constantly moving around and that was why no one had ever found out where his home actually was.

What was most strange to the peak lords about this mysterious personality, however, was the name.

Everyone called him Shen Yuan, and the lords had assumed that he had some kind of relationship with the peak master Shen Qingqiu who, however, assured that he did not know anyone named Shen Yuan and that he had no mysterious relative of whom he had never spoken.

The peak lords had thought it might be a distant relative that Shen Qingqiu perhaps did not know, but the shizun of peak Qing Jing had assured them repeatedly and confidently that he had no idea who this person was.

It was just a weird coincidence.

However, it could not be said that they were not all curious to find out who the herbalist who sent letters to all of them from time to time answering questions they could not find answers to was.

How did that weirdo know what they needed? Why didn't he show his face around? What was he afraid of? Was it really necessary to hide in the mountains when no one had ever shown hostility toward him? For what reason was he hiding like that?

These were all reasonable questions to which there were no answers, though. Shen Yuan had sent several letters over time to the peak lords, but he had never once shown himself and had not left the slightest clue as to how to find him or how to reach him. Every time they thought they had an answer on their hands, they faced a dead end and had to start their assumptions all over again. How was it possible that a rookie who appeared from who knows where could fool them like that?

One day, Shen Qingqiu determined to discover the identity of this mysterious “surname thief” had sent Binghe to do some research on his own in the mountains. His task was to find the herbalist and bring him to him alive so that he could ask him some questions and figure out where he had come from and what he wanted.

At the end of the day, no matter how confident he was that there were no family members unknown to him, one could never know the truth and he wanted to see for himself the mysterious prodigy who had more than once volunteered to lend a helping hand to those in need of answers, always only through mysterious letters that the peak lords had kept as possible clues that might lead them to him.

Binghe, who was still a careful and obedient disciple in those days, had searched far and wide all over the mountain, yet finding no clue to this mysterious Shen Yuan. He must have been a really very reserved and careful person for his own safety, because no matter how persistent the boy was, he could find nothing but animal footprints, bunnies running away from him as soon as he tried to get close or traps of all kinds, which certainly served to ward off the curious. Binghe was certain he was on the right path, but he could not understand why every time he felt he was close, he eventually found himself in a dead end that forced him to turn back.

He certainly could not let the matter drop, because if he did, his shizun certainly would not have forgiven him and would have sent him back without food or water to find the herbalist whom he so desperately wanted to question in order to understand who he was and what he was trying to accomplish by sending his help to the lords who had never even asked for it. Could it have been just kindness? Or did he want something from them? And if so, what was that something? Binghe had to be able to find out, or he should not waste his time coming back.

But the boy was tired. He had traveled far and wide for a whole day, falling into all sorts of traps. To look at him, he looked like he had been in a fight with a bear, and the bear had won, the state he was in. He had really done wrong not to take more supplies with him, but he had really underestimated how ingenious those traps could be. He had gotten caught in the sack more than once, and the shame that had seized him was such that he longed to get his hands on that mysterious Shen Yuan just to make him pay for everything he had put him through in that time. And yes, he would have done it, had it been the last thing he would have done that day. He was not going to let him get away! Besides, he too was very curious to see what kind of a mastermind he was to protect his home like that and be able to keep everyone away from his abode.

Binghe was about to decide to give up for a moment and sit down to rest, when he suddenly placed his foot on yet another trap of the day, ending up right in a net, hanging from a very tall tree. The net was strong, and he had lost his sword, which had slipped off and fallen to the ground the moment he was trapped. He was doomed to stay there until someone came to pull him down. Unless he could free himself with his bare hands, it was going to be hard to escape from there. Damn Shen Yuan, he had tricked him again this time!

He was about to curse, when finally, he seemed to hear what he had been searching for so fervently all day.

“So you're the one who ruined all my traps, I finally caught you little thug!!”

Finally Binghe had a chance to see it.

The boy was between fifteen and twenty years old, looked very frail, and seemed as if a gust of wind could take him away at any moment. But he could not help noticing, how handsome that face was, with his eyebrows furrowed and his lips twisted into a kind of pout. He was probably insulting young Binghe in every language, but the disciple was nevertheless thunderstruck.

He had nothing in common with his shizun except his surname. Maybe he wasn't even as elegant and perfect as he was, but for Binghe he was fine even if he kept yelling at him for ruining his precious traps. Perhaps he didn't even care that he was scolding him, for Binghe the important thing was that the boy spoke to him. Shen Yuan, muttering and cursing half-heartedly, climbed the tree with surprising ease for someone who didn't seem to have the physical abilities to do so. With a particularly sharp knife, he took care to cut the knot that tightened the net, not bothering about the fact that once Binghe was freed, he would fall to the ground. Which in any case did not happen, because Binghe leapt to the ground with ease. Shen Yuan did not seem at all surprised by this and merely checked the damage to his precious net.

He sighed, realising he could not fix it, but simply shrugged. He would build another one and move on again; he could not allow the peak lords to find him.

Binghe had many questions for this mysterious man. But suddenly the words had died in his mouth and he didn't quite know how to start the conversation. How could he tell him that his shizun wanted to question him without alerting him and making him run away? He was curious but had a feeling that Shen Yuan would not answer any of his questions. To do that, he would have to trick him somehow. But he seemed too smart to fool him as an ordinary person. Binghe decided he would opt for the truth.

"Are you Shen Yuan?"

Binghe then asked, as if he wasn't already sure of the answer. After all, he had admitted it himself that he was the creator of those traps, and who could it be if not the mysterious herbalist who had kept all the lords away until then? If Shen Yuan was smart, Binghe certainly didn't think he was any less so.

"What if I am?"

Asked the boy, giving him a hostile look. He did not seem to be intent on attacking him, but Binghe certainly had no intention of letting down his guard. He didn't want to hurt him, but he understood why the boy was so suspicious of him.

"My shizun wants to talk to you."

He only reported, watching the other boy laugh. It was obvious that he didn't intend to see anyone, he had been kind enough to show himself to him.

"What if I say no?"

Binghe had a feeling he would answer something like this. But surrendering was out of the question. At least he had achieved one thing. He knew for a fact that that young man was Shen Yuan and had found out where he lived. Something the Peak Lords hadn't been able to find out! He had also discovered that he did not appear to be a bad person. After all, he had saved him from the traps and had certainly not hurt him!

"Well that would be a problem because I would have to take you with the force."

Shen Yuan swallowed hard. He seemed to know that the boy was perfectly capable of doing what he had said. But he was trying to show composure and not let on that he somehow felt threatened by that realisation. Coughing a couple of times, he put on the best facade he was capable of and squinted his eyes.

"You should be able to catch me first."

And having said that... before Binghe could even respond, Shen Yuan fled with surprising speed. Binghe would never have predicted that move of his, he had been too quick.

Binghe could not help but mentally curse himself, because he had been stupid and allowed him to escape. He could not hold back his amused laughter when he realised the way that boy had fooled him.

He would come back.

He would come back and show him that he could bring him down the mountain.