Chapter 30: Back and Forth

The injured soldiers were carried on makeshift stretchers, as the Elder Physician continuously applied ointment to their wounds, reassuring them casually: "Don't worry, once this ointment is applied, you'll be fine. The cold will work its way out slowly. After we return, with proper rest and recuperation for a while, you'll recover even faster."

After that rash episode, the Soldiers became noticeably more disciplined. The ragged formation slowly pulled itself back together to stay as safe as possible.

By the time Shaoke and his group arrived at the original campsite, it was already late. The soldiers, as in previous times, lit plenty of fires outside to guide the returning party and also to ward off low-level magical beasts.

From a distance, the soldiers in the camp spotted the returning group. Everyone rushed out to greet them. However, the two mages did not come out with the soldiers, instead remaining in their tent; it was unclear what they were doing.

Shaoke did not linger outside for long. After taking his leave from the captain, he took the pouch containing two porcelain vials back to his own tent and carefully placed them in a spot he thought was safe: the head of his bed.

After Shaoke finished his tasks, Mage Yija asked a bit awkwardly about the situation over the past two days and apologized for his own actions: "Mage Xueye, it's our fault for holding you up."

"Mage Yija, it's really nothing. When I first arrived, I also held up Mage Feiyi and the others, and it was even worse than you," Shaoke replied, not wanting to dwell on the matter. Just as he was speaking with Mage Yija, the young physician requested to enter for a conversation outside.

"What is it, Physician Ino? Why aren't you tending to the wounded?" Shaoke stared hard at Physician Ino's eyes. He had already guessed that the old physician must've let his son in on it.

"Sorry, Mage Xueye, for disturbing you. The wounded are much better now. My father is personally taking care of them; his medical skills are far better than mine. I... I just heard from my father... that you discovered some very rare empty stone liquid this time. Could I take a look? I know this request is quite impolite, but I hope to gain more knowledge." Physician Ino nervously made his request, lowering his head with rare unease.

"Empty stone liquid...?" Hiss! Mage Kiya sucked in a sharp breath, looking in surprise at the pouch Shaoke had placed at the head of the bed upon entering. Even Mage Yija looked over. "Mage Xueye, you really obtained some empty stone liquid? Good heavens! What luck," Mage Kiya said with a face full of envy.

"Yes, there is some empty stone liquid. Just good luck, that's all," Shaoke inwardly shook his head. He knew this matter couldn't be kept secret. Although he was prepared to reveal it, he hadn't expected the physician to bring it up so quickly. Thinking this, he glared fiercely at the physician, who kept his head down in silence.

"How old is it, Mage Xueye? If there's an empty stone bead, that would be even better. That bead could probably be used up to the Great Mage rank," Mage Yija was much calmer compared to Mage Kiya, not shocked by the sudden news of his companion obtaining something valuable.

Shaoke wasn't surprised by Mage Yija's calmness. He believed Mage Yija must be from a noble or mage family background. Only mages from such families wouldn't be interested in these actually low-grade medicines for mages, as they were things that could be obtained without spending too much money.

"Hmm, there is an empty stone bead. I'll take it out in a moment to have a look," Shaoke glanced at Mage Kiya and Physician Ino, who were watching his every move, then prepared to take out the medicine for them to see. After all, he wasn't losing anything.

Shaoke used a tool to take out the bead. The bead, the size of a little finger, looked absolutely enchanting under the firelight. Mage Kiya and Physician Ino both stared at it mesmerized. Physician Ino even kept sniffing the air, as if trying to catch some scent.

No one was discourteous enough to ask to hold the bead. Shaoke carefully placed it in the inner pocket of his robe, planning to sew a small pouch to hold this bead.

Then, Mage Kiya suddenly spoke up: "Mage Xueye, could you let us taste the empty stone liquid? After all, it's over ten thousand years old. Those merchants wouldn't sell such undiluted liquid to low-tier mages like us."

Mage Yija thought his companion was out of line and quickly tried to gently dissuade him: "Mage Kiya, these items were obtained by Mage Xueye himself; they belong to him. If you need some, you can return to the town and have the merchants bring you some ordinary ones. After all, undiluted empty stone liquid of such age is still quite precious."

Shaoke hadn't expected Mage Kiya to make such an unreasonable request, especially in front of a physician. This made Shaoke quite angry, but after a moment's thought, he realized Kiya would find out sooner or later. Him asking now was his discourtesy, not mine. He comforted himself: it's just a dozen or so common gold coins; I don't really mind.

Shaoke agreed to the request. Finally gritting his teeth, he carefully took three drops from the pure porcelain vial. Since one drop was already a freebie, giving away two more wouldn't hurt—just consider those drops never existed.

Physician Ino hadn't expected to receive such precious medicine. After patting himself down for a while, he finally pulled out a jade vial the size of a baby's fist, carefully placed the medicine Shaoke gifted him inside, and said to Shaoke: "Thank you, Mage Xueye. I didn't expect you to give me this. I'm really overwhelmed. I want to take it back for my father to see; perhaps he can gain some experience from it!" After obtaining the mages' permission, the physician hurriedly left to report the good news to his father.

After refusing a few times, Mage Yija finally accepted, his face red, and said he wouldn't forget today's event.

After the two mages took the medicine, they each sat on their beds and began Meditation and observation to see how it worked.

Shaoke hastily ate some dinner and also began meditating. With the empty stone liquid available, Shaoke decided the purification of his mental energy no longer needed his focused attention. Now, the main task was to purify his magical power, which was inherently less pure than his mental energy, to the greatest extent possible, to gain more benefits for his future advancement.

The night passed without incident. Early the next morning, everyone ate breakfast and began dismantling the camp's tents and other items that needed to be carried. Destruction is always easier than construction. Although they weren't destroying things, the tents and other objects were quickly loaded onto the long sleds they'd brought for easier transport.

No one wanted to be delayed on the road by encounters with magical beasts. They needed to reach the cave where soldiers were stationed the day before yesterday before the entire Misty Forest was plunged into darkness. If it got too late, besides stopping their journey, the only other option was the scary possibility of getting lost.

Following the old path they took the first time, relying on the still-fresh trail, they weren't worried about getting off track for the moment. After all, Shaoke's map only recorded a general route, insufficient to guide them accurately to their destination.

Shaoke and the others were fortunate. Before the sunlight vanished in the forest, the scouts up ahead had already discovered traces of yesterday's battle. This proved they were almost there. If not for the obstruction of the tall trees, they probably would have seen the little hill where they'd made camp by now.

No matter how far the journey, as long as you keep going in the right direction, you will always reach your goal. The somewhat excited physician muttered, hoping to closely examine the place where these medicinal materials were obtained and the stones that encased them.

The trees gradually thinned out. The soldiers who had been here before already knew their destination was near. After going a little farther, everyone could see the small mound.

Just as it was getting dark, they could see the flicker of firelight at the cave entrance. The young physician, with his keen sense of smell, quickly smelled the scent of baking bread. "Heavens! These lazy soldiers are already enjoying dinner so early? It's so unfair. What they should be doing now is building defensive works, not roasting bread on a grill, even if it smells wonderful," the young physician complained as they finally arrived at the camp.

They were greeted by precisely the bread roasted by the soldiers that the physician had complained about earlier. Since they hadn't hunted any magical beasts this time, the only two Snow Tigers were chopped into pieces by the soldiers, cooked with some wild vegetables into a meat soup. Bread with meat soup struck Shaoke as pretty good. Finally, the stationed soldiers served the mages a small jar of Snow Peak honey, which thrilled Shaoke greatly, as it tasted way better than regular honey.

Before enjoying these delicacies, Physician Ino apologized to the stationed soldiers. He hadn't known that what the soldiers were doing was an order the captain gave before leaving. This made the usually cheerful young physician feel ashamed: "Heavens! I complained about you without any evidence. How wrong of me!" The soldiers quickly forgave him and promptly roasted him a big, long loaf of bread to comfort him.

Shaoke, leading Mage Kiya and Mage Yija, quickly completed the external Alert Ward. Just as they were preparing to rest, Mage Yija brought up a new request, which meant more work for the soldiers.

It turned out Mage Yija didn't want to stay in the cave with the soldiers. He hoped a new tent could be put up for him. Mage Kiya also said he didn't want to stay in the cave with the soldiers. Upon hearing this, the captain quickly apologized to the two mages, as he had forgotten the mages' particular needs.