The Extreme Alchemist of the Mighty Cauldron
Chapter 1128 - Chapter 1128 Chapter 1127 Inspecting the Mansions Treasury

Chapter 1128: Chapter 1127: Inspecting the Mansion’s Treasury Chapter 1128: Chapter 1127: Inspecting the Mansion’s Treasury Since Long Zhixin had said so, the crowd was certainly going to take a trip to the medicinal herb inventory. Although Mr. Long Jiu and Long Qingyi both didn’t quite believe that the problem lay within the medicinal herb link.

If there really was a problem with the medicinal herbs, then Long Qingyi should have noticed it during his pill refining. It was impossible for him not to detect even if there was an issue with the medicinal herbs.

Long Qingyi shook his head repeatedly. He had concocted Biyun Pills more than just once or twice. If there really were any problems with the medicinal herbs, he would have noticed it long ago. Having concocted so many Biyun Pills, he had personally handled every type of herb without detecting any problems with any of them.

But since Fang Lin was going to visit the medicinal herb inventory, then they would make the visit. If it turned up fruitless, it would prove that Fang Lin also could not discern the real issue at hand.

Although this would not necessarily mean that Fang Lin was merely a poseur seeking fame, it would at least provide some comfort to Long Qingyi and his companions.

The Long Family, being a family with a heritage in Alchemy Tao and the most long-standing one at that, had many medicinal herb inventories within the clan, amassing a vast collection of medicinal resources.

Just within the Long Family Ancestral Mansion, there were more than a dozen medicinal herb inventories, and the quantity of herbs in each was vast.

Because herbs differ in age and rarity, all herbs of different years and degrees of rarity were stored in different medicinal herb inventories.

The medicinal herbs used for concocting Biyun Pills were all stored within a single inventory, which spared them the trouble of having to check multiple inventories.

Descendants of the Long Family, at regular intervals, could obtain a batch of medicinal herbs from the inventory. However, these would all be common herbs with no more than about ten years of age.

If they wanted to concoct special pills or needed specific medicinal herbs, they had to apply in advance to the medicinal herb inventory. Only after the application was approved, could they then obtain the respective herbs.

Mr. Long Jiu and his party arrived outside one of the medicinal herb inventories and saw the person from the Long Family responsible for managing and guarding it.

The medicinal herb inventory was a key location for the Long Family, naturally guarded by personnel who would regularly enter the inventory for inspections and to manage the herbs stored within, preventing damage due to neglect.

Those responsible for guarding the medicinal herb inventory needed sufficient prowess in Alchemy Tao. They had to have a deep understanding of medicinal plants and be trustworthy.

After all, this position was a coveted one, with ample benefits. If one wanted to line their own pockets, it would be exceedingly easy.

To prevent such corruption, those in charge of guarding the medicinal herb inventory were frequently rotated, and each time, several individuals were assigned to guard together, monitoring each other.

If anyone was found lining their own pockets and the others did not report it, they would all be punished for the same crime.

Under such strict management, incidents of corruption in the Long Family’s medicinal herb inventories were almost non-existent.

“Greetings to Lord Jiu,” said four middle-aged men responsible for guarding the medicinal herb inventory, standing respectfully before the group and bowing to Mr. Long Jiu, who was leading them.

Mr. Long Jiu nodded and waved his hand, “Open the inventory. We want to take a look inside.”

The four middle-aged men were taken aback for a moment, and one of them asked, “Do you require certain medicinal herbs, my lord? If so, there’s no need to trouble Lord Jiu and the others. I can directly retrieve them for you.”

Mr. Long Jiu replied, “We just want to take a look inside. Open the inventory.”

Hearing this, they looked at one another and then each took out their fragmented tokens. Only when the four fragmented tokens were put together would they form one complete token.

Only a complete Token can open the grand doors to the treasury, and the Token is divided and held by four people, making it more secure.

As the grand doors to the treasury opened, an extremely rich aroma wafted out from within. It was the scent of various herbs mixed together, settled over the years to create a pungent smell that was neither unpleasant nor particularly fragrant.

Someone with a weaker constitution, standing here and smelling this for a while, would find it unbearable.

Four middle-aged men led the way, with Mr. Long Jiu and his entourage following them into the treasury. As far as the eye could see, there were dazzling arrays of herbs neatly arranged by category.

The four middle-aged men had intended to speak, but Mr. Long Jiu and his group seemed to have a clear objective, heading straight for a particular type of herb.

Fang Lin, with his hands clasped behind his back, casually observed the herbs around him while covertly surveying the expressions of the four middle-aged men.

At first, the four middle-aged men remained composed, but as Mr. Long Jiu and his group examined the herbs one by one, beads of sweat gradually appeared on the foreheads of the four men.

It is worth noting that the climate inside the treasury was maintained cool and shaded to facilitate the long-term storage of herbs, standing here wouldn’t cause anyone to feel the slightest bit hot and stuffy.

Yet, beads of sweat were seeping out on the foreheads of the four middle-aged men, which indicated they definitely had something to hide.

Of course, with the exception of Fang Lin, none of the other descendants of the Long Family noticed anything unusual about the four middle-aged men; they were more focused on the herbs in front of them.

The several types of herbs required for refining the Biyun Pill were all within this treasury. Starting from the first herb and checking them one by one, there were no issues with any of the herbs.

“Hmm?” Suddenly, Mr. Long Jiu stopped in front of a certain herb, and when he stopped, everyone else also halted.

The four middle-aged men grew noticeably tense, their foreheads slick with even more sweat.

“What’s going on here?” Mr. Long Jiu turned around to look at the four middle-aged men, pointing at a type of herb on the wooden shelf.

The herb Mr. Long Jiu pointed to was not required for the Biyun Pill but was a different type of herb. However, there was a noticeably small amount of it. Other herbs were present in quantities of more than twenty, but there were only a few of this particular herb, which was far too little in comparison to the others.

The key point was that the herbs in this treasury weren’t rare, and the quantities of each type of herb should have been ample. But the scarcity of this one type of herb was far too abnormal.

Caught off guard, the four middle-aged men were left speechless. One of them reacted quickly, hastily explaining, “Reporting to Lord Jiu, this type of herb has not been replenished recently, and there has been some consumption over the past period, so only a few remain.”

Mr. Long Jiu looked at the four middle-aged men skeptically and said, “Then bring me the ledger that records the entry and exit of the herbs from the treasury.”

One of the middle-aged men immediately took out the ledger that recorded the movement of the herbs, flipped through it for a while, and then presented it to Mr. Long Jiu.

Mr. Long Jiu received the ledger and read through a few pages. There were indeed records about the intake and outtake of the herb, and it had not been replenished for some time.

All four middle-aged men let out a sigh of relief, thankful that they were prepared. With the ledger’s records, they should be able to bluff their way through.

“Gentlemen, there’s more to the situation.” Suddenly, Fang Lin’s voice came from not too far away.