I am the Holy Poisoner, the Empress advised me to calm down

"Master, do we really have to go to that kind of place?" Liu Ying followed closely behind me, frowning as she looked at the bustling medicinal materials market in front of her.

This wasn't a high-end place, with stalls stacked side by side, the aromas of various herbs mingling together, the air thick with the rich fragrance of Chinese medicine. I glanced around and had an idea of ​​what was going on.

"If you want to find truly good medicinal herbs, you have to come to places like this," I said calmly. "Those beautifully decorated pharmacies mostly sell artificially grown herbs, which are far less effective."

Liu Ying nodded, not quite understanding, and followed me as I moved between the stalls.

"Boss, how much is this wild Gastrodia elata per pound?" I stopped in front of a stall and picked up a piece of brown Gastrodia elata to take a look at it.

"This gentleman is a real expert. He can tell at a glance that this is wild!" The stall owner, a middle-aged man in his forties, smiled broadly. "I collected this from the deep mountains. It's absolutely authentic. 800 yuan per pound. No cheating."

I weighed the Gastrodia elata in my hand and gently folded it. The cross section revealed a pale yellow keratinous substance. I sneered and threw the Gastrodia elata back onto the stall.

"How dare you claim that this artificially cultivated Gastrodia elata is wild?"

The stall owner's face changed: "Sir, what you said is..."

"Wild Gastrodia elata has a hard texture and should be white or pale yellowish white when broken, and it has a unique aroma." I pointed at the piece of Gastrodia elata. "Not only is yours the wrong color, but it breaks when you bend it. It's obviously a fake, artificially grown one."

Several stall owners around him cast their attention, and the middle-aged man was embarrassed: "Sir, you are destroying my signboard..."

"I'm just telling the truth." I turned and prepared to leave. "If you really want to do business, bring out some real stuff."

Liu Ying was stunned watching from the side, and only came to her senses after we walked away: "Master, how do you know it's fake?"

"Experience," I replied simply. "In this business, vision is everything."

We continued walking through the market and came across several stalls selling fake medicines. Some used low-quality herbs to pass off as high-quality, some used cultivated herbs to pass off as wild, and some simply used chemical products to imitate them.

"Master, why are there so many fakes here?" Liu Ying was a little disappointed.

"The more profitable an industry is, the more counterfeit goods there are," I explained. "But it's not all fake. There are always a few honest people doing legitimate business."

As we were talking, we walked to the corner of the market where there was a shabby little stall. The stall owner was a man in his seventies with gray hair and wearing a washed-out Zhongshan suit.

There weren’t many herbs on the stall, but I could tell the difference at first glance.

"Grandpa, how much is this blood ginseng?" I picked up a dark red ginseng and looked at it carefully.

The old man raised his head, a gleam of light flashed in his cloudy eyes: "Are you an expert?"

"I know a little bit." I nodded.

The old man stood up and looked at me seriously. "I dug this blood ginseng deep in Changbai Mountain two years ago. It's at least thirty years old. Since you are an expert, you should be able to tell."

I carefully examined the blood ginseng in my hand, and it was indeed as the old man said, the ginseng was plump, the fibrous roots were intact, and it had a special fishy and sweet smell.

"Old man, besides these, do you have any other good things?"

A hint of hesitation flashed across the old man's eyes, and then he whispered, "I still have some precious medicinal herbs at home, but..."

"But what?"

"But it's not convenient to talk about it here." The old man looked around and said, "If you really need it, you can come to my house and take a look."

I thought about it and realized this situation wasn't uncommon. Some precious medicinal herbs really weren't suitable for public sale. Firstly, the prices were too high, and secondly, it could easily lead to unnecessary trouble.

"Then I'll trouble you, old man."

The old man packed up his stall and led us out of the market. Liu Ying nervously tugged at my sleeve, and I gently shook my head, signaling her not to worry.

After we left the market, the old man took us on a dilapidated tricycle. The tricycle drove through the old streets of the city and finally stopped in front of an old residential building.

"This is it." The old man said, pointing to a three-story building.

The building looked old, with the paint peeling off, but the overall structure was still intact. We followed the old man up to the second floor. He took out his key and was about to open the door when he heard a loud noise coming from upstairs.

"Zhang Laosan, when will your son pay back the money he owes?"

"Please, give me a few more days. I will definitely find a way..."

The old man's face changed, and he hurried upstairs. Liu Ying and I looked at each other and followed him.

Five or six people gathered at the entrance to the third floor, led by a bald man with several younger followers. They were surrounding a middle-aged man in his thirties, who was probably the old man's son.

"Dad, you're back." The middle-aged man showed a bitter smile on his face when he saw the old man.

"Xiaojun, what is going on?" the old man asked breathlessly.

The bald man sneered: "Old man, your son owes us three hundred thousand. He must pay it back today, otherwise..."

"What else?" I stepped forward and asked calmly.

The bald man finally noticed us, looked us over, and sneered, "Where did this pretty boy come from? What does it have to do with you?"

"He's my friend." The old man said quickly, "Sorry, sir, this is our family matter..."

"Old man, since we've met, we're no longer strangers." I looked at the bald man. "Three hundred thousand is indeed not a small sum, but isn't the interest a bit high?"

The bald man's face darkened: "Kid, what do you know? Borrowing money and repaying it is only natural."

"It's okay to borrow money and repay it, but usury is illegal," I said calmly. "According to the law, the interest rate for private loans cannot exceed four times the bank's loan interest rate for the same period."

"Law?" The bald man laughed. "Boy, do you know who I am?"

At this moment, I noticed that a younger brother behind him had a strange look on his face. He was secretly looking at me with a hint of fear in his eyes.

"Boss, let's retreat first." The younger brother said in a low voice.

"Why are you retreating?" the bald man said impatiently, "No one can leave unless we get the money today."

"Boss, he is..." The younger brother wanted to say something, but was glared back by the bald man.

I was a little confused, but I didn't think much about it. Since I had encountered something like this, I couldn't just stand by and watch.

"I told you I can pay you back, but not the interest." I took a step forward. "You can leave now."

The bald man was furious: "Boy, do you know who I am? I am..."

"You're Brother Long's subordinate." I interrupted him. "Your boss just apologized to me in the hospital two days ago."