According to legend, six hundred years ago, when the The Smith Clan migrated with their entire family and built a city here, giant birds and fierce beasts rampaged through this place almost every day. It wasn’t until two hundred years later, after countless deaths on both the side of the The Smith Clan and the monsters, that these creatures gradually disappeared. Some of the older and more intelligent high-level beings even regarded this place as a perilous land to be feared, and during their daily hunts, they hardly dared to approach.

Olivia Smith's home was on the north side of the city, near the back mountain. However, it was only a little past the hour of Si, still a full four hours away from noon as mentioned by The Smith-Bolton Family. For one, Olivia Smith didn’t want to disappoint his ‘mother’; for another, he didn’t want to be lectured by someone only a few years older than himself; and third, he did have things to do, so he had no intention of going home at this time. He turned around and walked toward the south side of the street. Following the steps downward, as he neared the city gate, a large shop with a sign reading ‘Yue’s Pharmacy’ came into view.

Chapter 0006: The Bone of the Winged Rat

Smith Family City is a mountain city. When it was first built, for the convenience of defending against monsters, the The Smith Clan patriarch chose to build it against the mountain; the more important the clan’s industries, the higher up they were placed. However, only the pharmacy, which needed to purchase large quantities of medicinal herbs, and the weapon and armor shops, which collected rare monster corpses and materials, were set at the foot of the mountain near the city gate. First, for business, the storefront had to be in the most prominent location. Second, it saved manpower, which was already scarce, and was more convenient for customers. Of course, the most precious medicinal materials and the places for making medicine and forging would not be kept down here. What was sold here were only some ordinary pills and weapons.

When Olivia Smith entered the pharmacy with William Parker, he saw that the spacious shop was full of hunters wearing ragged leather jackets and carrying bows and arrows. There were many selling herbs, but few buying medicine. Still, he didn’t dare underestimate them; the wilderness in this world was extremely dangerous. These hunters could come and go, and hunt monsters, not only because they had strong survival skills, but also because they were at least martial artists or above.

His gaze swept across the room, and when it landed on a fat man working an abacus, Olivia Smith's eyes lit up and he hurried over.

“Uncle Brooks—”

Olivia Smith bowed deeply, but before he could speak, the fat man brushed his sleeve impatiently.

“Here to identify herbs again? Fine! Go in yourself, but be careful and don’t mess around. Don’t touch what you shouldn’t, and even if you can, take it easy!”

Olivia Smith smiled slightly, bowed respectfully again, and then stepped over the counter, heading toward the back of the shop.

At this moment, beside the fat man, a thin man dressed as a bookkeeper frowned slightly at the scene. “Master Youde, I’m afraid this isn’t quite proper. If something happens, we’ll have a hard time explaining—”

“It’s just an ordinary medicine storeroom, what could happen? Besides, this kid has been here a few times before and knows his limits.”

Henry Smith first frowned indifferently, then sighed. “This child’s father was once a good friend of mine. Since he’s come to me for help, I can’t just ignore him. He’s destined to achieve nothing in martial arts, so turning to medicine might be a way out. Just help me keep an eye on him!”

At this, Henry Smith looked with a complicated expression toward the inner curtain behind the counter. “Come to think of it, this child is quite pitiful. The fields his father worked so hard to earn over decades—he probably won’t be able to keep even a single acre. Yet even so, there are still people who can’t wait—”

Olivia Smith naturally couldn’t hear these words. He walked familiarly down the corridor behind the pharmacy. When he pushed open the last door, a hall that took up at least half the building appeared before him, and Olivia Smith's mood suddenly soared.

This was a large herb storeroom. The walls on both sides were lined with medicine cabinets about three adults tall, with more than ten thousand drawers neatly arranged. Some servants were busy inside, either putting processed herbs into the cabinets or weighing them out and packaging them, then passing them through a narrow window.

Olivia Smith knew that behind this pharmacy was a place for making medicine. The commonly used wound medicine, trauma medicine, and qi-replenishing pills were made over there.

But that had nothing to do with his purpose here. Olivia Smith first looked toward the innermost part of the storeroom, at a cabinet covered in gold leaf. This was what Henry Smith had said not to touch; any rare medicine received that day would be temporarily stored here. Olivia Smith was quite envious of this medicine cabinet. Unfortunately, with his current status, if he really touched it, he probably wouldn’t be allowed back again.

With a regretful sigh, Olivia Smith shifted his attention to the sides, then headed straight for the area of cabinets numbered twenty-eight to thirty.