Chapter 21

The herbal storage room was very big . It was also very neat inside . There were a lot of neatly arranged shelves with all sorts of herbs properly categorized

There was a smaller room located further into the building . The herbs in there were different from the ones in the outer room . They were specifically prepared for Berserkers and a normal member of the tribe was not allowed to go in there .

Even a common healer would require permission from the tribe leader or the elder to go into this room . It was viewed as an extremely important room in the entire Dark Mountain Tribe .

However, all these rules did not apply to Su Ming . The elder gave Su Ming a special position in the tribe since a long time ago and he could go into the room at will to learn how to identify all the herbs in there .

When he stepped into the building, Su Ming saw Bei Ling holding Chen Xin’s hand . They walked towards the small room with all the precious herbs . There was an old man sitting cross-legged outside the door . The old man wore a robe made of beast skin . He was thin, his hair was white and his face was covered in wrinkles . He originally had his eyes closed but he opened them slightly to receive the introduction letter from Bei Ling and Chen Xin . He cast a glance at it then, closed his eyes once more .

Su Ming walked slowly . He knew that Bei Ling did not want to see him . So, he chose to remain silent and did not follow them into the small room . Instead, he chose to walk towards the shelves outside and look at the large amount of herbs on the shelves . He was familiar with all of them . He had practically collected all of the herbs there before .

Bei Ling and Chen Xin had not come out of the room even after Su Ming had finished looking at all the herbs outside . Su Ming hesitated for a while then, he began to pace outside the room slowly .

"Young La Su, what are you wondering about?" As Su Ming was deep in thought, an old and wizened voice traveled into his ears . He lifted his head and saw that the old man guarding the small room was speaking to him .

"Grandpa Nan Song, I’m not a La Su anymore…" Su Ming scratched his head and smiled .

"I remember now . The La Sus of your generation have completed the Initiation a few months ago . Looks like I can’t call you young La Su anymore . " The old man grinned as his eyes twinkled with kindness .

"Since you’re here, why don’t you go in? Don’t be scared, I have your back! I even dared to compete against the elder for a woman in the past . I’m not afraid of anything!" The old man winked at him and joked .

Su Ming widened his eyes . It was the first time he heard about this . After a moment of hesitation, he smiled bitterly and went into the small room .

He was not hesitating because of Chen Xin as the old man had suggested rather, he was hesitating because of Bei Ling, whom he was indebted to . He did not know how to explain himself . Many years had passed since then and the man was still cold towards him .

‘It’s fine…’ Su Ming sighed . The moment he opened the door to the small room, he saw Bei Ling with his powerful presence . He was standing beside Chen Xin, who was choosing herbs in the room . He turned around and glared at him .

Su Ming met his gaze and went towards a shelf on the other side . He chose to ignore the two and started searching for the herbs required to create Mountain Spirit .

When Chen Xin saw Su Ming, she looked as if she wanted to say something . After hesitating for a while, she again chose not to speak . As she grew up, she began to understand a lot of things . She also understood her relationship with Bei Ling . The love she felt for Su Ming since she was young was dying away as time passed .

‘Night Marrow Grass…

‘Thousand Leaf Flower…’

Su Ming slowly walked around the room . He swept his gaze across the precious herbs and finally found the two herbs he needed to create Mountain Spirit .

‘It’s a pity I don’t have the last one…’

He had looked through all of the herbs in the room and was deep in thought .

Chen Xin and Bei Ling had also finished choosing the herbs they wanted . Once Chen Xin bade farewell to Su Ming, she was dragged away by Bei Ling . Before he left, Bei Ling stopped . He did not turn back but spoke calmly .

"These herbs are useless to you since you don’t have a Berserker Body! Instead of wasting them, you should leave it for the other tribe members . Know your place . " Once he finished speaking, Bei Ling took Chen Xin away .

Su Ming kept quiet . As he lifted his head to look at the two people leaving, he did not speak . Instead, he looked at all the herbs in the room once more . Then he took the two herbs he needed and left the room .

The old man sitting outside the room did not mind Su Ming taking the herbs from the room . On the contrary, he looked at Su Ming in amusement .

"Grandpa Nan Song… it’s not what you think…" Su Ming touched his nose .

"What would I be thinking about? I wasn’t even talking about the complicated relationship between you and the two young La Sus . I absolutely wasn’t . " The old man laughed .

Su Ming blushed lightly, feeling a little awkward . An idea suddenly crossed his mind and he squatted down to look at the old man .

"Grandpa Nan Song, did you happen to see this herb before?" As Su Ming spoke, he drew the picture of an herb on the ground .

The old man smiled and looked at the drawing . He sank into deep thought, then tapped his forehead lightly after a while .

"Isn’t this the Cloud Gauze Grass? We don’t have this herb in Dark Mountain . It can only grow in a special environment . Only Wind Stream Tribe sells this herb around the area . Why do you need it?"

"I read about it in one of the elder’s scrolls . I’ve tried looking for it in Dark Mountain but I couldn’t find it . So that’s how it is . " Understanding dawned on Su Ming’s face .

"Of course not . This is an herb suitable for lower-leveled Berserkers in the Blood Solidification Realm . It’s just that they’re sold at a high price in Wind Stream Tribe . If you want it, you can ask the elder to bring you to the trading square located just outside Wind Stream Tribe . There are all sorts of herbs sold there . " The old man shook his head and smiled .

Su Ming’s interest was piqued . He asked a few more questions, then rose up and left after bidding farewell to the old man . The old man looked at him with teasing eyes as he departed .

When he left the herbal storage, Su Ming sank into his thoughts as he walked through the snow .

"Wind Gauze Grass… I can obtain the other herbs for Mountain Spirit myself but as for Wind Gauze Grass… Grandpa Nan Song said that it’s really expensive… Haa . " Su Ming frowned . He searched through his pockets and found nothing besides a few stone coins he obtained from Black Mountain Tribe’s Yu Chi .

They usually employed the barter system within the tribe and rarely used money . Once they left the tribe though, they would need to use stone coins to buy items .

Stone coins were coins made from a special type of stone . There was an unspoken rule that they could only be created in big tribes . If any of them were created illegally, the person and his tribe would face destruction by the hands of the big tribes .

After he searched through his entire body, Su Ming only managed to find 3 stone coins . All of them belonged to the dead Yu Chi . As for Su Ming himself, he did not own a single coin .

‘I don’t have coins . How am I supposed to buy them…? If only I had 100… no, 1,000 stone coins… As for the square, I know the approximate location since the elder mentioned it before . Once any members of the tribe become Berserkers, they can go there in pairs . The location of the square isn’t far either…’

Su Ming laughed bitterly . He felt the beginnings of a headache forming in his head .