As dawn broke and crossed the eastern mountain ridge, Wu Kang set off along the dusty country road. Broad-shouldered and upright, he exuded pride. On his back slung a thick bamboo pole, upon which carried two large bamboo baskets filled with silver moss and iron-leaf grass. His steps were light, all he had in mind was how much wealth he was going to earn once he sold these Liyu Town.
"Thirty copper coins for a basket?" Wu Kang muttered to himself, letting out a loud scoff as he wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead with his sleeve: "That foolish ger really thought he could hoodwink the whole village! Buying our hard work for mere pocket change while he reaps the real profits in town. Once I establish a direct trade with the grand physicians in Liyu Town, thirty coins will seem like peanuts. My family will be eating meat every single night!"
By the time the sun reached its high point, casting a fierce, muggy heat over the countryside, the towering stone archway of Liyu Town finally came into view. The main thoroughfare was alive with activity, hawkers bellowing their wares, horse-drawn carriages clattering over cobbles, and shoppers weaving through bustling stalls. Wu Kang's eyes brightened at the scene. He navigated the crowded market street until he found a good location near the center, right outside the entrance of a bustling tea house where well-dressed townspeople frequently passed by.
He lowered his burden onto the flagstones. He carefully removed the moist woven cloth covering the tops, exposing the vibrant green leaves, still glinting with a few remaining drops of morning dew. He puffed out his chest, took a deep breath, and began shouting with all the volume his lungs could muster.
"Fresh medicinal herbs! Direct from the deep mountain peaks!" Wu Kang shouted, gesturing wildly toward his baskets. "Iron-Leaf Grass and Silver-Dew Moss! Essential herbs for clearing heat, nourishing the constitution, and purifying the body! Fifty copper coins a basket! Don't miss out on these rare treasures!"
His loud shouting immediately drew the attention of nearby passersby. However, instead of the eager crowd of buyers Wu Kang had anticipated, the pedestrians merely slowed their pace to cast bewildered, amused, or downright pitying glances at him. People whispered to one another, nudging their companions and giggling as they looked from the mountain youth to the contents of his baskets.
Wu Kang felt a prickle of discomfort beneath his collar, but he quickly shook it off, a smug smile returning to his face.
'Tsk, ignorant town folk,' he thought contemptuously, raising his chin higher: 'They don't even recognize genuine medicinal treasures when placed right before their eyes. Their eyesight is as poor as their judgment!'
An hour passed, then two. The scorching afternoon sun beat down relentlessly upon the market square. The tender green leaves in the top layer of Wu Kang's baskets began to curl and wither under the dry heat, losing their luster. Not a single person had stopped to inquire about the price, let alone purchase a handful.
Just as Wu Kang was beginning to shift uncomfortably from foot to foot, a group of young town youths dressed in fine silk robes strolled out of the nearby tea house, laughing and chatting among themselves. Among them was a boy around Wu Kang's age, holding a painted paper fan and wearing an expression of casual arrogance.
The boy stopped in front of Wu Kang's baskets, fanning himself slowly as he squinted at the wilted greenery. He let out a sudden, boisterous laugh that attracted the attention of nearby shoppers.
"Hey, countryside bumpkin!" the youth mocked, pointing the tip of his folded fan at the baskets: "Are you so poor that you've resorted to digging up common roadside weeds to sell in the middle of town? Look at this garbage! Even the stray mules outside the east gate wouldn't bother chewing on these tough stems!"
The youth's companions burst into laughter, and several onlookers chuckled along with them. Wu Kang's face flushed. Blood rushed to his ears, and he stepped forward aggressively, clenching his fists at his sides.
"What do you know, you arrogant pampered brat?!" Wu Kang shouted, his voice cracking with rage: "These are high-grade medicinal herbs! They grow high up on the mountain cliffs! A prominent doctor specifically uses them to prepare life-saving medicinal baths! You're just blind and ignorant!"
"Medicinal baths?" The youth sneered, his eyes filled with mocking amusement: "My family owns three pharmacy branches in this county! I've read medical texts since I was five years old! This stuff is nothing but Iron-Leaf Grass and common ditch moss! It's useless weed that farmers burn in autumn! If this trash is medicine, then every cow in the province is a renowned physician!"
"You-!" Wu Kang raised a fist, stepping closer, but the youth's personal bodyguards immediately stepped forward, their cold, intimidating gazes halting Wu Kang in his tracks.
"Save your breath, bumpkin," the youth scoffed, flicking his fan open with a sharp snap as he turned away: "Go back to your village and pick up something useful instead of embarrassing yourself in town."
As the group walked away laughing, Wu Kang stood frozen in the middle of the street, his chest heaving in humiliation. The surrounding crowd dispersed, leaving him alone under the fading light of the afternoon sky. Panic, and cold, began to settle in the pit of his stomach. He looked down at the withered herbs in his baskets. Not a single coin had been earned, and the day was rapidly drawing to a close.
Refusing to yield to despair, Wu Kang hoisted the heavy pole back onto his aching shoulders: "They just don't understand," he muttered through gritted teeth, his eyes darting frantically down the street: "The street vendors are ignorant. I need to go directly to the physicians. The physicians will know the true value!"
He rushed down the street, searching for the hanging banners of medicine shops. He dragged his heavy load into the sleek, aromatic hall of the largest pharmacy in town, Baicao Hall. The head clerk behind the counter glanced at him and the overflowing baskets with a frown.
"Shopkeeper! I have fresh medicinal herbs!" Wu Kang gasped: "Iron-Leaf Grass and Silver-Dew Moss! I can sell them to you for just forty copper coins a basket!"
The clerk picked up a stem of the Iron-Leaf Grass, examined it briefly with contempt, and tossed it back into the basket: "We have no use for ditch weeds. Take them away, you're blocking the doorway for actual customers."
"Please, shopkeeper! Look closer!" Wu Kang pleaded, his voice trembling slightly: "They're used for medicinal baths! They clear heat and detoxify…"
"Nonsense!" the clerk interrupted sharply: "Without specialized processing methods or balance from rare neutralizing agents, these raw plants carry zero medicinal properties when boiled! They're completely useless! Out, out!"
Driven out of Baicao Hall, Wu Kang went from pharmacy to pharmacy, begging every clerk and physician he could find. He visited the second shop, then the third, then the fourth. Everywhere he went, the response was identically cold and dismissive.
To ordinary physicians without the specialized alchemy recipes from Bai Jing's System manual, these wild plants were truly nothing more than worthless weeds.
As dusk settled over Liyu Town, the street lanterns were lit one by one. The night air grew chilly, and the streets gradually emptied. Wu Kang collapsed onto a stone step near a small, modest apothecary at the end of an alleyway. His legs burned with agony, his shoulders were bruised and raw from the heavy pole, and his throat was parched.
Looking at the two baskets of completely wilted, limp herbs resting beside him, the reality of his failure crushed him. Tears of frustration, exhaustion, and overwhelming humiliation finally broke through his proud face, streaming down his dirt-streaked cheeks. He buried his face in his hands, letting out helpless sobs in the darkening alley.
The creak of a wooden door interrupted his weeping. An elderly physician with a silver beard and a weathered face walks out from the small clinic, carrying a lantern. He paused, looking at the crying young man and the two large baskets of weeds.
"Sigh... Young man, why are you sitting here weeping in the cold?" the old physician asked gently, stepping down to his side.
Wu Kang wiped his face frantically with his filthy sleeve, sniffling as he looked up. "Doctor... please... please buy these herbs from me," he choked out, his arrogance entirely gone, replaced by desperate begging: "My mother and I worked so hard to pick them... I walked all the way from Longxu Village... I just want to sell them..."
The old physician looked into the baskets and shook his head with a soft sigh: "Child, you've been misled. These are merely common wild weeds. No pharmacy in this town will ever buy them from you because they carry no value in standard medicine."
"I know... I see that now..." Wu Kang sobbed, hanging his head in shame: "I have no money to buy food, and I can't take them back home..."
The elderly physician looked at Wu Kang's bruised shoulders, dusty clothes, and tear-stained face. Taking pity on the foolish country youth, the old man reached into his pouch and pulled out ten copper coins, placing them into Wu Kang's trembling palm.
"Take these ten coppers," the old physician said kindly: "I have some dry fire-kindling in my backyard that's running low. I'll keep these baskets and burn the dried leaves for stove fuel. Buy yourself a warm steamed bun and head back home before the night grows too dark."
Clutching the ten meager copper coins in his hand, Wu Kang felt an overwhelming sting in his heart. Two full baskets of herbs, representing a whole day of agonizing manual labor, had been sold off as mere kindling for ten copper coins.
"Thank you... thank you, Doctor..." Wu Kang bowed repeatedly, his voice barely audible.
Leaving with the empty baskets, Wu Kang walked out of Liyu Town under the dim moonlight. The long, lonely walk back to Longxu Village was quiet and agonizing. Every step he took felt heavy. As he thought of the fact that he had permanently lost his family's guaranteed thirty copper coins a day, Wu Kang felt an endless wave of regret and frustration.