James Thompson nodded with satisfaction and turned to instruct the others.

At that moment, the martial arts school’s main door was knocked on, and a refined-looking middle-aged man in his fifties, dressed in a blue silk long robe, stepped inside.

“Shopkeeper Brooks, what brings you to my place today?”

James Thompson greeted him with a smile.

“To be honest, I’ve come to ask Master Thompson for a favor.”

“Come, come, let’s talk inside.”

James Thompson seemed to have a good relationship with him, smiling broadly as he led him into the inner hall.

Seeing James Thompson leave, quite a few disciples started slacking off, sitting directly on the ground to rest.

Samuel Thompson sidled up to Adam Harper, a bit curious, and asked, “That’s the owner of Shenghe Hall, Brian Brooks. What’s he doing at the martial arts school?”

“Shenghe Hall? The pharmacy?”

Adam Harper thought for a moment, recalling that Shenghe Hall was indeed a pharmacy.

“It’s the largest pharmacy in all of Heishi County!

Other pharmacies only sell regular medicines, at most things like wound ointment.

Only Shenghe Hall sells spiritual herbs, the kind used for martial artists’ medicinal baths.”

Adam Harper nodded in understanding.

Martial artists soak in medicinal baths to strengthen their qi and internal power—this isn’t something like banlangen.

These are specially cultivated spiritual herbs, with potent medicinal effects that only martial artists can absorb.

If an ordinary person were to soak in such a bath, they’d probably get a nosebleed within minutes, unable to handle the potency.

Meanwhile, in the inner hall of the martial arts school.

James Thompson had someone serve Brian Brooks a cup of tea before asking, “Shopkeeper Brooks, just tell me what you need. We’ve known each other for years—no need for formalities.”

Back when James Thompson was establishing himself in Heishi County, he also needed all kinds of spiritual herbs for medicinal baths to boost his strength.

At that time, Brian Brooks hadn’t yet taken over Shenghe Hall and was only responsible for dispensing medicine and consultations.

That’s when the two met, and Brian Brooks provided James Thompson with several medicinal bath formulas, all of which were highly effective.

James Thompson has always bought spiritual herbs from Shenghe Hall—their friendship goes back over a decade.

Brian Brooks sighed and said, “Our Shannan Dao has poor land—not only do we have to import grain from Huainan Dao, but almost all the spiritual herbs at Shenghe Hall also come from there.

But now, the Wenxiang Sect is causing quite a stir in Huainan Dao. I’ve heard they’ve even taken several prefectural cities, and the whole city is filled with incense offerings.

The sects I used to work with, the ones specializing in growing spiritual herbs, can’t be reached anymore, and Shenghe Hall is about to run out of stock.

But the problem is, I previously signed big contracts with the The Sullivan Family, The Scott Family, and even the Black Tiger Society, Eagle Society, and Triad Society, promising to deliver spiritual herbs to them on schedule—and I’ve already taken their money.

Now that we’re out of stock, if even one of these groups comes knocking, let alone all of them at once, I won’t be able to handle it.”

James Thompson let out a hiss.

“Shopkeeper Brooks, you’ve really gotten yourself into something big this time.

If it were just one group, I could still try to mediate for you.

But all five at once? Why would they give face to a mere martial arts school master like me?”

Brian Brooks quickly shook his head. “I’d never let you take on such a big risk for me. Actually, I’ve already come up with a solution.

It was risky to supply all five groups at once, and I was worried something might go wrong in Huainan Dao.

So after signing the contracts, I also found a plot of land in Jingzhou Prefecture to grow spiritual herbs, just in case.

But that place is a bit far—over five hundred li from Heishi County, between Huainan Dao and Shannan Dao.

There’s a manor on the spiritual herb field, and I’ve had people guarding it for half a year now. By now, some of the herbs should be mature enough for emergency use.

But you know how things are these days—never mind five hundred li, even going fifty li outside the city isn’t safe.

All the major escort agencies in Heishi County are out on jobs, and there’s no one around. I don’t trust the people from the gangs, either.

So I can only turn to you.”

Chapter 10: Meat Dishes

James Thompson had thought the other party wanted him to act as a mediator, which would indeed be difficult.

But from what he was saying, it seemed he just wanted to find escorts to go to the spiritual herb manor.

“You want my martial arts school disciples to escort you to the spiritual herb field? But this batch of disciples has only been here for less than half a year—they’re not fully trained yet.”

Brian Brooks smiled and said, “Who doesn’t know about your skills, Master Thompson?

Even if your disciples have trained for less than a year, they’re still better than those gang members who’ve been fighting for years.

I heard your first assessment is over, so the ones who stayed must be the elite.

Don’t worry, I won’t ask for this for free.

For each elite disciple you select, I’ll pay fifty taels for the trip—the same rate as the heads of the escort agencies.

For the other disciples, thirty taels each, which is more than what the regular escorts get.”

James Thompson took a sip of tea and thought for a moment before saying, “You really came at the right time.

This batch of disciples is quite talented—probably the best in recent years.

But they all paid to learn martial arts here, so I have to get their consent for this kind of thing.

I’ll call in the best few and let them decide for themselves.”

James Thompson had a servant call Adam Harper and the other four over and explained the task of escorting Shenghe Hall’s people to the spiritual herb manor.

Of course, he didn’t mention Shenghe Hall’s current predicament—just that they needed an escort.

Out of the five, Miles Gordon and Ethan Scott refused outright.