Mountains and giant beasts, cabins in the woods

As the sun set, Liu Xingmo put down his work and prepared to go home.

Heading east from the city, the suburban roads were crowded with people.

People looked around, asking, "Where does the queue go? Is there any stock left?"

Someone said dejectedly, "Let's call it a day, everything's sold out."

Some people didn't give up: "There will be new stock tomorrow night, I'm sure I'll be able to get it next time."

Liu Xingmo felt that he had underestimated people's tendency to follow the crowd.

Unexpectedly, the simple and honest villagers of Heilongzhai are just as eager to join in the fun and follow the trend as netizens in the information age.

Liu Xingmo continued walking forward and saw pine trees and chimneys. He knew he was almost home. He took two steps at a time and finished the last uphill stretch.

The area around the fortress was in complete disarray.

Most of the once lush wildflowers and weeds have fallen flat and withered, and I wonder how many people crowd here during the day.

There was also litter on the ground, left by people queuing to buy medicine.

Su Mali, Su Dabo, and Du Xiaomei, holding brooms, are diligently cleaning.

Liu Xingmo also helped tidy up: "You've all worked hard! How was today?"

Du Xiaomei stretched and said with a wry smile, "Mr. Liu, today has been awful! Back home, even during the busy farming season, I've never been this tired!"

Su Dabao was equally exhausted, but couldn't hide his joy: "We've made a lot of money! We should be able to buy plenty of elixirs, right?"

"Of course! Our Black Dragon Village's currency can always be exchanged for spiritual herbs. I just came back from the Great Pharmacy and got some good stuff. Take a look, everyone!" Liu Xingmo showed off his package.

Ten exquisite, slender-necked white porcelain bottles, from which a rich medicinal aroma wafted through the gap between the cork and the bottle neck. A square piece of red paper with the character "宏" (Hong) written on it was affixed to each bottle.

"It's actually a Dao-refining pill produced by Hongyitang?" Du Xiaomei was surprised at first, then suddenly realized, "Oh, I see, that's how they get their high-quality spiritual herbs."

Sumali picked up a porcelain bottle, uncorked it, smelled it, and asked, "Hongyitang? What kind of organization is that?"

"Aunt, let me tell you. Hongyitang is a well-known alchemy force in the Central Plains region, located within the Ba Kingdom. They possess divine-level cultivation techniques and recruit alchemists from all over the world." Su Dabao's expression changed as he said this. "However, there are rumors circulating that the founder of Hongyitang, the Golden Toad Medical God, was originally the Toad Demon of the Five Poisons Sect! So..."

At this moment, Du Xiaomei reached out and tugged at Su Dabao's sleeve, while also glancing at Liu Xingmo without making a sound.

Liu Xingmo said helplessly, "Alright, no need to be wary of me. I know that Black Dragon Stronghold originated from Blood Shadow Sect, and like the Five Poisons Sect, it is a demonic and evil sect."

Su Dabao scratched his head and said, "Uncle, the steward specifically told us not to talk about these things..."

"Never mind that, take this medicine and share it! Come find me when you've finished it, we're rich now!" Liu Xingmo laughed heartily, handing over the porcelain bottle. "Keep up the good work, don't let your old classmates fall behind."

"Thank you, Uncle!" "Thank you, Mr. Liu!"

It took most of the day to tidy up the area around the fortress.

Su Dabao and Du Xiaomei said goodbye and left.

When Liu Xingmo returned to the house and turned on the light, he saw a glittering silver light on the coffee table in the living room.

Iron coins, copper coins, silver coins, and even a few gold coins were laid out on the table.

Liu Xingmo picked up a handful of heavy coins. These metal discs, engraved with flowers, birds, insects, and fish, slipped through his fingers with a cool touch, clinking and tinkling against the other coins with a particularly pleasant sound.

His eyes reflected countless glittering metal as he murmured, "Wow, so much money... This is the first time I've ever seen so much in my life... So this is what it feels like. No wonder people fill treasure chests with gold coins..."

Su Mali coldly reminded him, "Xingmo, pay off the debt by tomorrow. I'm not comfortable with owing such a large sum of money."

"Don't rush, let me have some fun tonight! Hehehe..."

Liu Xingmo actually found an exquisite wooden box and neatly arranged the gold, silver, yellow, and black coins into categories.

It's worth at least tens of thousands of yuan!

Holding the treasure chest in my arms, its heavy weight gave me a sense of security, and I didn't want to hand it over.

During this period, only a small amount of the Blood and Qi Potions produced were traded to caravans, with the rest stored in the warehouse. The other product, the Healing Potion, also yielded no profit.

Therefore, the capital chain had long been broken, and the workshops were kept running entirely on credit by the two major caravans, White Horse and Wild Goose.

Now that the inventory has been sold out, a large sum of money has been made. Half of it was used to pay back the caravan for the cost of the medicinal materials, and the other half became the profits of Mushroom Fortress.

In nearly two months, I earned 8 yuan.

If the market supply falls short of demand, and the factory operates at full capacity, the monthly gross profit will be 5!

the next day.

The doorbell rang softly.

Liu Xingmo got up.

Upon opening the door, one could see three business partners and several other unfamiliar people in the open space in front of the entrance.

One of the men stepped forward first; he was a man with graying temples. He smiled kindly and said, "Do you still recognize me? I'm your seventh great-uncle!"

"Ah, good morning, Seventh Uncle." Liu Xingmo clicked his tongue, greeting the elder, and then said, "What brings you here so early in the morning?"

"I'd like to exchange my elixir for your potion, is that alright?" The man pulled out a green leaf pouch.

Upon opening it, one finds small, transparent spheres, each about the size of a fingertip, with a black dot in the center; these are presumably frog eggs. A wisp of bloody aura is hidden within, suggesting they were laid by a second-tier frog, such as Huang Pinzhong.

Liu Xingmo nodded: "Sure! This medicine can be processed into a potion. How would you like to exchange it?"

The man held up three fingers: "Three pills for one bottle! I'm not ripping you off."

"Okay!" Liu Xingmo agreed calmly.

In fact, a frog egg costs one yuan, which is quite a bargain.

The Blood Nourishing Elixir requires Blood Channel Elixir, which comes from the Grand Pharmacy, but not even from the most cost-effective window number 13. The price goes up after being marked up by multiple middlemen.

Unexpectedly, yesterday's GG attracted a visit from the supplier.

After my seventh maternal uncle, the others also began promoting their own miraculous medicines, all of which were of good quality and reasonably priced.

Another older woman shoved a herb seed into Liu Xingmo's hand: "Young man, do you think this medicine will work? Your factory is so big, yet you only produce blood-qi potions and not wood-qi potions. That's not quite right, is it?"

"My wife is still researching it; the Wood Dao Pill will be ready sooner or later." Liu Xingmo carefully examined the shape and thorns of the grass seeds. "Auntie, is this a foxtail grass spike?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"Sell them all to me, I'll think about it carefully."

The woman held up one finger: "This is much more nutritious than frog eggs! One finger for a whole bottle, how about it?"

"Let's do it this way."

Liu Xingmo now has his own supplier of medicinal herbs. He has also gained membership, which allows him to participate in regularly held medicinal herb trade fairs.

Those who possess medicinal herbs will seek to exchange them at a fair price; this is the most widespread form of trade.

Liu Xingmo felt that he had indeed entered another social stratum.