8: Just give away some legendary equipment

Du Ruo's gaze turned cold. With a swift wave of her hand, a phantom image condensed in mid-air, and in a flash, she held a long spear that resembled a dragon's wing.

Pointing the spear tip directly at the Consultant's throat, Du Ruo threatened, “Put that down!”

The vendor's face grew even darker, and he quickly shouted, “Stop him now!”

Facing everyone's tension, the Consultant remained unperturbed. At this moment, his eyes were only on the vendor.

He sneered, “Don't forget what you just said. If this is fake, you'll eat it!”

No sooner had he spoken than the Consultant twisted the knob on the flame pot and slammed it forcefully onto the ground!

The onlookers, including Du Ruo, had all thought the Consultant was merely threatening the vendor, never expecting him to actually dare to detonate this ‘Thunder Black flame pot’!

“Holy crap, run!”

“It's over, brothers, see you in the next life!”

“I don't want to die!”

Before the flame pot hit the ground, the surrounding people had already run far away. Then came a crisp sound... *crash*!

The flame pot shattered upon impact!

Those who ran fast were already gone, while those who ran slower closed their eyes, preparing for death.

Du Ruo quickly slammed her long spear down, and a translucent shield appeared in front of her.

However, the explosion everyone anticipated did not occur.

After a few seconds of silence, the shattered flame pot let out a 'hissing' sound of leaking gas, and then a ball of fire shot out like a firework... “Huh, what happened?”

“You scared me to death! Why was it a dud?!”

“Am I dreaming? Why am I not dead yet?”

“No, this is...”

Seeing the fire on the ground, everyone's expressions suddenly changed.

Du Ruo frowned deeply. After dispelling her shield, she coldly uttered three words: “flame pot?”

As an experienced Bounty Hunter, Du Ruo could, of course, recognize this item!

*Whoosh!*

Du Ruo flicked her long spear, and a gust of wind instantly extinguished the flames on the ground. She then turned to look at the stunned vendor—

“Tang San, what is going on?!”

“Uh... uh...” The vendor's mouth hung open, unable to utter a sound for a long time.

The Consultant also let out a sigh of relief, subtly wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, then forced a relaxed smile and said, “Little Tang, you said it yourself just now. If this thing is fake, you'll eat it!”

“You...” Seeing this, the vendor glared fiercely at the Consultant. A surge of anger rose, and he stepped forward, vowing to beat up this brat who ruined his business!

But before he could take two steps, the crowd that had been watching for a long time swarmed him.

In this Tail Feather Market, many people sold counterfeit goods, and this was allowed. But just like cheating, once caught red-handed, what awaited them was... “Murder! Murder!”

The vendor was pinned to the ground, hands covering his head, screaming like a pig being slaughtered.

Regardless of whether they had a grudge or not, everyone who saw him came to kick him. This was considered a tradition in this world.

Soon, the commotion attracted the attention of the Tail Feather Market's managers.

Some people who looked like guards ‘arrived late,’ bundled up the dying vendor and his goods, and dragged them out of the crowd—

The bustling center of the market quickly cleared, leaving only the cold-faced Du Ruo and the giggle Consultant.

After the surroundings quieted down, Du Ruo finally looked at the Consultant, “Kid, you...”

The Consultant waved his hand to interrupt, then puffed out his chest and said, “It's fine, no need to thank me, it's what I should do!”

“Also, you don't need to ask my name. I definitely won't tell you that my name is Consultant, I'm a Level 1 Beast Tamer, studying at Longjun Awakening Academy!”

“I do these things purely because I can't stand these unscrupulous merchants. You don't need to give me any reward!”

“Money is merely an external possession to me. You absolutely must not give me money, nor any rare items or materials. I will never accept them!”

“I'll reiterate, I won't tell you my name is Consultant, and I don't want to accept any items you offer!”

The Consultant spoke several sentences in a rapid-fire manner, then turned to look at Du Ruo, thinking to himself, *My hint is clear enough, right? Is the big shot going to give me some legendary equipment next? Oh, that spear just now was pretty good!*

“...”

Unexpectedly, the other party merely gave him a quiet look, remained silent for a few seconds, then turned and left!

“Hey... wait a minute!” Seeing the other party about to leave, the Consultant panicked and quickly called out to stop her.

“What do you want?” Du Ruo turned around at the sound, her face devoid of expression, looking at the Consultant, “Something wrong?”

“Uh, well, I helped you expose a scam, and you're just leaving like that?”

Du Ruo maintained her poker face, casually dispelling her long spear into a phantom and said, “Didn't you say not to ask your name and not to give you anything?”

This woman is really too obedient!

The Consultant suddenly felt like he had shot himself in the foot, but letting it go like this was too much of a loss!

“What I meant was...” He changed from his previous righteous demeanor and said with a chuckle, “Well, actually, it's okay if you force something on me.”

“Pfft... haha.”

Hearing this, Du Ruo finally couldn't help but let the corners of her mouth curl up slightly, though she quickly forced herself back into her previous cold expression.

She casually rummaged in the pouch at her waist, then pulled out a flower and handed it over.

The flower looked like a dandelion, adorned with dark purple butterfly-shaped petals.

“I saw you seemed to be looking for this. Take it; it's useless to me anyway.”

The Consultant blinked. After taking the somewhat familiar flower, the system immediately identified it.

【poison hemlock flower: A mutated species of water poison violet, retaining its paralyzing effect while possessing extremely strong lethal toxicity!】

Seeing the flower, the Consultant realized belatedly and slapped his forehead.

Damn it, so the water poison violet that vendor was selling was also a fake?

The Consultant looked up ahead, but Du Ruo had already turned around, leaving only one sentence.

“This flower is useless to me; don't overthink it. Even without you, I could have told that what Tang San was selling was fake.”

After saying this, Du Ruo didn't give the Consultant another chance to speak and stepped into the crowd.

The Consultant chuckled softly, watching her graceful retreating figure. After putting the poison hemlock flower into his backpack, he once again wandered around the Tail Feather Market.

Tang San's incident had attracted the attention of many vendors. Many who sold fake goods had quietly retreated, leaving very few vendors behind. The Consultant searched for a long time but couldn't find any water poison violet.

Finally, he had to give up and leave the Tail Feather Market.

According to the agreed time, he rode his bicycle back to Zuo Dao's home... Zuo Dao led him to the familiar pharmacy. After locking the door, he looked mysteriously at the Consultant and asked in a low voice, “Brother, did you bring the goods?”

Seeing Zuo Dao's expression, which resembled a spy meeting, the Consultant also chuckled, patted his pocket, “No, but I found purer goods!”

No sooner had he spoken than the Consultant took out the poison hemlock flower Du Ruo had given him and placed it in front of Zuo Dao.

“Holy crap!”

As an Apothecary, Zuo Dao recognized it instantly and exclaimed in surprise, his eyes filled with fear. He quickly covered his mouth, lowering his voice even further: “Brother, this thing is deadly!”

The Consultant, of course, knew it was deadly, but he had no other choice.

He had scoured the entire Tail Feather Market, and apart from Tang San, who sold a water poison violet disguised as a poison hemlock flower, the remaining vendors simply didn't have this item.

But Tang San's stall had been raided, and if Du Ruo hadn't given him this poison hemlock flower, the Consultant would have returned empty-handed.

“Stop talking nonsense, can you make it?”

The Consultant looked at Zuo Dao and asked seriously.

Zuo Dao hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, “I can do it, but you have to promise me first that this stuff can't be used recklessly!”

“Got it,” the Consultant immediately smiled upon hearing he could do it, “Don't worry, you know me, I never harm people!”

“...” Zuo Dao looked at the Consultant, silent for a moment, seemingly recalling something. Then he sighed, carefully picked up the poison hemlock flower from the table, and walked to the alchemy furnace.

What did that look from Zuo Dao just now mean?