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Chapter 54: Lu Miaoshou

Miaoyi Pavilion, back room.

The old man sat down beside the bed, waved his hand to move the jars and cans, medicine powders and liquids on the table aside, and motioned Geng Xuan to sit down next to him.

Geng Xuan glanced at the pile of things on the table and carefully sat down beside them, as if he was afraid of getting any of them on him.

After Geng Xuan sat down, the old man asked directly: "What do you want to buy?"

Geng Xuan whispered, "Poison."

The old man's expression remained unchanged, and he didn't seem surprised at all by these two words.

Nonsense, this is the underground black market, and poison is one of the main products of his Miaoyi Pavilion. Five out of ten customers who come into his shop are here for the poison.

If he was surprised every time, there would be no point in living like this.

The old man nodded calmly and asked, "Do you want to take it orally or for external use?"

"Uh...for external use." Geng Xuan thought for a moment and replied.

"Pills? Powder? Smoke? Or liquid?"

"..."

After just two simple inquiries, a strong sense of professionalism came over him, and Geng Xuan simply started to ask for advice.

"I want to apply it on hidden weapons. Which one do you think is more suitable?"

"Quenching poison?"

"Ah."

The old man thought for a moment and asked, "What kind of hidden weapon? How big is the surface area that can be used to quench poison? ... Is it an ordinary hidden weapon, or a hidden weapon specifically used for quenching poison?"

Geng Xuan was a little dumbfounded, "What's the difference?"

"Of course there is a difference."

The old man gave Geng Xuan a professional explanation:

“There’s nothing much to say about ordinary hidden weapons. You just need to pay attention to the size of the poisoned surface.

There are many more things to pay attention to when using hidden weapons specifically in conjunction with poisons.

If it is a blade type, the blade is usually interlayered, and special poison powder can be hidden inside, which will turn into poison when it comes into contact with blood;

If it is a needle type, the needle tip is usually hollow and the venom is hidden inside. The needle tip only needs to pierce the target body and the venom will be injected into the target body.

This is just the more common ones, there are more sophisticated designs, they are all unique secrets of each school, often able to kill people without being seen."

After the old man's explanation, Geng Xuan's eyes were opened.

It's just a hidden weapon using poison, but there are so many details to pay attention to.

In front of such an old hand, he did not hide anything. He flipped his hand and a long needle that was longer and thicker than an ordinary thin needle and made of very solid and exquisite materials appeared in his palm.

"Are you going to use this needle to poison?" the old man asked.

"Yeah." Geng Xuan nodded.

The old man took the long needle and put it in front of the lamp to examine it carefully for a while, then asked: "What is the maximum damage you hope it will cause?"

"Well... of course the greater the damage, the better." Geng Xuan said.

The old man said expressionlessly, "This is my most powerful poison that can cause severe damage to a practitioner in the Marrow Refining Realm. One thousand five hundred taels of silver per penny. No bargaining."

Geng Xuan's expression froze, and he thought to himself, as expected, poverty is the original sin.

"Then... what about downgrading to a lower grade?"

"It can put the Bone Refining Realm to death. One coin costs five hundred taels of silver."

"One more level down."

"It can put the Blood Refining Realm to death and severely injure the Bone Refining Realm. One coin costs one hundred taels of silver."

Geng Xuan finally felt that the "pressure" was not so great, but then he thought again, one penny was only three grams, which was simply impossible.

Moreover, according to his observations and analysis, this does have some "toxic overflow" with respect to the objectives of this operation, and does not meet his expectations.

"One more level down."

The old man's expression became visibly dull, and he said calmly: "Severely injuring the Blood Refining Realm and hurting the Bone Refining Realm, one ounce of silver will cost one hundred ounces."

Why is it still one hundred taels?

Geng Xuan grumbled in his heart, but soon realized that the weight had changed.

It increased tenfold from one cent to one ounce.

The old man seemed to understand his doubts and said calmly, "I won't do orders below one hundred taels. If you still think it's too expensive, go outside and my grandson will take care of you."

Geng Xuan nodded quickly: "This is what I need."

The old man nodded, picked up a small jar next to him and moved the oil lamp to his side.

"Your needle is too small. Ordinary liquids have difficulty sticking to it, so the damage will be limited. I'll prepare a separate one for you."

The old man took the small jar and kept adding various powders and liquids into it like mixing seasonings, with different amounts. At the end, the old man suddenly paused and asked, "Do you need me to make it colorless and odorless?"

Geng Xuan nodded: "Of course." "Then you have to add another twenty taels." said the old man.

"Uh... Old man, is this the style of your Miaoyi Museum? How can you not make things clear at the beginning and then suddenly raise the price now?" Geng Xuan was dissatisfied.

The old man muttered, "I forgot... Well, this is my mistake, so I won't give you any more money."

As he spoke, he took two more spoonfuls of powder and a liquid and put them into a small jar.

After learning the old man's body shape, Geng Xuan suddenly remembered something and asked hurriedly, "What will be the target's reaction after being poisoned?"

"Extreme pain."

"Does that mean he'll yell?"

"of course."

"Can you make him shut up and not make any sound?"

"Just paralyze him. It's that simple."

"Then add this effect to me."

"Add money."

"Add...how much?" Geng Xuan was a little nervous, afraid of being ripped off.

"Twenty taels."

Hearing this answer, Geng Xuan breathed a sigh of relief.

He nodded quickly and said, "Okay."

Geng Xuan could clearly feel that when he nodded in agreement, the old man's movements became much lighter.

With his skillful mixing, the mixture of various medicinal powders and liquids in the jar gradually turned into a transparent paste.

He inserted the long needle that Geng Xuan had just taken out into the jar and stirred it gently. When he took it out, one-third of the needle tip was covered with a thin, transparent film.

If you don't look carefully, you won't even notice it.

“If you are worried about affecting the accuracy of the long needle, you can wrap it all over.

But in this case, you have to be careful when handling it, and it is best to wear gloves to avoid direct contact. "

Geng Xuan nodded. Although the old man did not know the concept of center of gravity, he understood its impact in practical applications.

While giving instructions, the old man put the poison ointment in the jar into a small wooden bottle.

"If you carry it with you, be careful not to break the bottle.

No matter how powerful the poison is, you have to have the ability to get it onto the enemy, or even into his body. This is the most difficult part of using poison.

This is also the most uncertain point. How deadly it is to the enemy is equally deadly to you.

As far as I know, there are quite a few fools who accidentally killed themselves with their own poison.

Don't be such a fool."

Geng Xuan seemed quite moved by the old man's words, and blurted out, "I understand, Master Lu."

The old man used a wooden cork to tightly stopper the wooden bottle of poison ointment and said with a chuckle, "Are you confessing that you are Su Ruiliang?"

"No, please don't talk nonsense."

Geng Xuan waved his hands and took out twelve silver bars and placed them on the table, which reduced the cash he had on him by more than half.

——Before going out this time, considering the possible expenses, he only brought fifteen silver bars with him.

The old man nodded and handed the wooden bottle containing the poison ointment to Geng Xuan.

Geng Xuan carefully put it into his sleeve, gently sealed it with his fingers in front of his mouth, and said in a hoarse voice:
"I haven't been here today, and you haven't seen me!"

"哐啷啷-"

The old man put the twelve silver bars into a wooden box at his feet and said, "

"Do you even need to tell me that? I've been running this shop for forty years. Is it just because of my good craftsmanship?"

Geng Xuan nodded, said nothing more, and walked out of the house.

When he walked out of Miaoyi Pavilion, he had already removed the black scarf on his face.

The owner of Miaoyi Pavilion is surnamed Lu, his real name is unknown, he only has a nickname, Lu Miaoshou, and people who are familiar with him call him Master Lu.

He is a well-known "nail house" in this underground black market. Many shops change every three to five years, but he has been rooted here for more than 40 years.

The biggest characteristic is that he is extremely tight-lipped. Apart from the transaction itself, he won't ask or say anything else.

The most famous record was when an elder of a victim found out that he was the person who mixed and sold the drugs, so he went to his house to interrogate him and wanted to know who he had sold the drugs to.

His response was silence, not a single word.

As a result, he was unable to defeat his opponent and abandoned his shop, escaping deep into a tunnel, only returning several days later.

The victim's elder who came to question the suspect was afraid to go deeper into the complex underground maze and left in a rage.

Two days later, he died suddenly with blood gushing from all his orifices in public.

(End of this chapter)