41: By the time you finish, the daylily will be cold.

The Feng Family specially prepared a victory banquet to celebrate this success.

Feng Ming and Jiang Shuwan only arrived late after finishing their busy work.

However, when they reached the hall, the scene was different from the expected one where everyone was present except for them.

Inside the main hall, except for the Maids setting up the banquet, none of the Feng Family's masters were there.

The Maids, however, looked excited upon seeing Feng Ming and Jiang Shuwan.

“Second Young Master, Second Madam, you've finally arrived. The Family Head, the Eldest Master, and the Second Master are all waiting for you in the study.”

Feng Ming was a bit dumbfounded; they had agreed on a family banquet, so why were they working in the study?

“Did something happen?”

Gathering in the study at this time clearly meant something had gone wrong.

“In reply to the Second Young Master, this servant doesn't know the specifics. You and the Mistress should go see for yourselves.”

Feng Ming nodded and headed straight for the study with Jiang Shuwan.

Just as he reached the outside of the study, Feng Ming heard Shopkeeper Liu's voice and couldn't help but be startled.

Why is Old Liu here?

“Family Head, Eldest Master, Second Master, what do you think should be done about this?”

Feng Ming didn't hesitate and immediately pushed the door open and walked in.

“Shopkeeper Liu, what happened?”

Everyone looked up at Feng Ming.

“Minger, Shuwan, you've finally come. Sit down quickly; something big has happened.”

Feng Muqing hurriedly ushered Feng Ming and Jiang Shuwan to their seats.

Feng Ming and Jiang Shuwan greeted the old man Feng Xiaotian and several elders before sitting down.

In reality, at this moment, no one cared about these formalities.

After sitting down, Feng Ming looked directly at Shopkeeper Liu.

“Shopkeeper Liu, what's the matter? Why didn't you come find us instead of coming here to disturb my grandfather and Eldest Uncle?”

Shopkeeper Liu's mouth twitched.

Was it that he didn't want to find them?

He had to be able to find them first.

“Second Young Master, Second Madam, as soon as it happened, I went straight to the Qingfeng Courtyard to look for you two. But Feng Da said you gave a strict order that no one was to disturb you. I had no choice but to come find the Family Head and the two Masters.”

Feng Ming smiled awkwardly.

Indeed, he and Jiang Shuwan were working overtime and had Feng Da block everyone.

“Let's just talk about what happened!”

Feng Ming quickly changed the subject.

Shopkeeper Liu then recounted the matter roughly once more.

After listening, Feng Ming gained some understanding of the situation.

“In other words, our caravan transporting Alchemy herbs ran into trouble at the Haoyue Temple. They encountered Yao Beasts, and the herbs can't be brought back.”

Shopkeeper Liu nodded repeatedly.

“Haoyue Temple is a mandatory path on the trade route to Qingyang City. Within a radius of dozens of miles, there's only one alternative route, but that road is even worse than Haoyue Temple.”

“That road is called Ten Mile Slope. Because it backs onto deep mountains and old forests and is in a remote location, the dead from the surrounding villages are buried there. Some bodies are even just dumped there—adults and children alike. Over time, strange things have started happening there.”

“Most people don't dare to take that road.”

Haoyue Temple is a temple built with a statue of the master of the Bright Moon Dynasty, King Haoyue.

Its main purpose is to deter the evil spirits at Ten Mile Slope.

Feng Ming had heard of it many times but had never had the chance to see it.

He didn't know what King Haoyue looked like.

“The current problem is that our Feng Family caravan is blocked there. Yao Beasts are blocking the way back, so they can't return, and the shop's herbs won't last more than a few days.”

“And most importantly, the Lingxiao Sect's selection team will arrive at Liumian Prefecture around tomorrow evening. Cultivators are all waiting to buy Medicinal Pills to boost their strength.”

“Sales will definitely skyrocket tomorrow afternoon, and our herb reserves and Medicinal Pill stock are running low.”

“If the herbs don't arrive in time and Linglong Pavilion has no pills to sell, it will destroy the reputation the Feng Family has built up over many years.”

Feng Ming nodded. “This is indeed a major matter.”

A large part of the Feng Family's prestige and popularity comes from the Medicinal Pill industry, such as Linglong Pavilion.

To put it simply, the main selling points are stable prices, stable supply, and stable quality.

There won't be price hikes during shortages or price drops during the off-season.

There won't be stockouts or unavailability.

The quality is also top-notch.

But if this happens when the Lingxiao Sect comes to recruit Disciples, and the Feng Family has no pills to sell and can't refine any...

It will affect those cultivators participating in the Disciple assessment.

In other words, in the end, those who fail won't reflect on whether it was their own fault but will instead shift the blame onto the Feng Family.

They'll resent the Feng Family for not providing pills in time and ruining their futures.

And ruining someone's future is the same as ruining their livelihood; it's like killing their parents.

It goes without saying that Feng Ming could imagine the situation the Feng Family would face.

However... Feng Ming frowned.

“Linglong Pavilion's herb reserves have always been plentiful, enough to last four or five days. Why is it suddenly not enough?”

Before Shopkeeper Liu could speak, Feng Ming's Eldest Uncle spoke first.

“Minger, don't blame Shopkeeper Liu for this. If you want to blame someone, blame your Eldest Uncle's Wife. She couldn't stand seeing independent cultivators being bullied by the Huangfu Family.”

“Plus, selling to anyone is still selling, and it increases sales, so she agreed to those independent cultivators' requests for wholesale pills.”

“Yes, I just didn't expect there to be so many independent cultivators and that they would buy in such large quantities, leading to our reserves being insufficient.”

The Eldest Uncle's Wife chimed in, looking guilty.

“Minger, it's all because I didn't think it through, which caused this trouble.”

Feng Ming waved his hand.

“Eldest Uncle's Wife, you don't need to blame yourself. We do business to make money; selling to anyone is still selling.”

“It's just that this whole situation feels strange to me.”

As soon as he said this, everyone looked at Feng Ming in confusion.

“Do you have some thoughts on this?”

Feng Ming shook his head. “I'm not sure yet. Let's resolve the current issue first.”

After saying that, Feng Ming looked at Shopkeeper Liu in confusion again.

“Didn't my Big Brother and the others write before saying they were dealing with Yao Beasts at Ten Mile Slope? Why not take the Ten Mile Slope route?”

Shopkeeper Liu sighed.

“That's the helpless part. The Eldest Young Master and the selection team did fight Yao Beasts at Ten Mile Slope, but because of the battle, the road was damaged. There's a ten-meter-wide crater; I'm afraid it won't be fixed anytime soon.”

Feng Ming frowned.

“So, to solve the problem, we must deal with the one who created it—the Yao Beast?”

Jiang Shuwan also felt the matter was a bit tricky.

“Regarding Qingyang City, doesn't the City Lord's Mansion have a Garrison of cultivators? They are responsible for eliminating demons. Haven't they gone?”

Shopkeeper Liu shook his head. “It's not that they haven't gone, but it takes at least three days for them to rush over from Qingyang City. For dealing with Yao Beasts, that's not too late, but for us...”

Jiang Shuwan didn't speak further, silently calculating in her mind.

Garrison Soldiers arrive, then the Yao Beast is removed, then the caravan returns.

Get the herbs, refine the pills.

It would take at least five days.

By then, the day lily will be stone cold.”