Dongzi said this on purpose; he was afraid the old fellow was trying to swindle him. Following that, Dongzi swung his queue, crouched down, and began helping the clerk count the tallied goods.

"I truly admire you, little brat. Fine, I’ll help you dispense this Forget-Red Flower. Honestly, I have no idea what you need this Forget-Red Flower for." The clerk, after all, dealt with medicinal herbs daily; he knew perfectly well that soaking Forget-Red Flower resulted in nothing of consequence.

Dongzi was unaware of the underlying mystery and asked, "Then tell me, what exactly is the use of this Forget-Red Flower?"

"It's for regulating blood flow. Regulating flow means when the blood moves too freely, there are times when the flow needs to be somewhat obstructed to ensure the medicinal effects take hold. In other words, this Forget-Red Flower acts as an antagonist." After explaining, the clerk followed Dongzi, helping him count the items. Count and recount, the number he remembered was still correct. Afterward, the fellow picked a handful of Red Flower from the sack and then opened his water canteen, tossing the handful of herbs inside.

"Clerk, what are you doing?" Dongzi asked urgently.

The clerk smiled, "My legs aren't good, so I constantly drink Red Flower water. You happen to need Forget-Red Flower, and I need Red Flower water, so absolutely none of this medicine will go to waste. You take the Forget-Red Flower, and I’ll drink the Red Flower water myself."

Dongzi realized this fellow was quite calculating. Dongzi spent the entire night accompanying the clerk, finally reaching the dead of night before he managed to finish counting the batch of goods before him. He then asked the clerk, "Brother, the work for today is done. Do I get the Forget-Red Flower now? My master is waiting for me back home!"

"Your master, what does he do?"

"He deals with the dead, nothing major. But you can't let him die, can you?" As Dongzi spoke, he snatched the clerk’s water canteen, forced the water into the clerk’s mouth, making him gulp it down, then scooped out the remaining Red Flower himself, asking, "Which one is the Forget-Red Flower?"

The young clerk glanced over, then pointed to a large one in the middle. "You have good luck. See, this is it. That single piece should be enough for your dosage. Alright, you can go now; don't interfere with my work!"

"Oh!" Dongzi looked at the herb in his hand, stretched his back to loosen his joints, and headed toward the inn where he was staying, bathed in moonlight. Upon entering, he found he was the last one back.

"Why are you all back so quickly?" Dongzi asked, quite puzzled.

Tianlang replied, "We were all successful and found the herbs we needed. Let me see yours?"

Dongzi handed the Forget-Red Flower he held to Tianlang. Tianlang looked down. "This is wrong. This is just Big Red Flower. Where is the Forget-Red Flower?"

"I asked that clerk just now. He said this is the Forget-Red Flower, and he got it by soaking the Red Flower," Dongzi explained.

Tianlang then said, "I’ve truly never seen this Forget-Red Flower before, but surely the effect couldn't just leach out of the Red Flower, could it? That would be too absurd."

"It’s not absurd. Once Red Flower is soaked, its medicinal properties usually dissipate. The medicinal property of Forget-Red Flower remains in the petals and stems, so its efficacy hasn't gone anywhere; in fact, it's the opposite, which is why it’s called Forget-Red Flower!"

It was Xiao Yun who spoke. Xiao Yun had lived in the mountains with his grandfather for over ten years and had heard his grandfather lecture on medical knowledge, so he knew this Forget-Red Flower well.

Dongzi looked at the Forget-Red Flower in his hand and laughed, "See? Even little Yun knows; you're just uninformed. Alright, measure it out according to the formula and give it to the Master to see if he gets better. If he doesn't, I'll go back to that mountain fortress and burn the whole place down."

"Fine, stop boasting. Come here and help!"

Following the recipe provided by the Mountain Stronghold's Chief, everyone prepared the medicine for Zhou Huan, spooning it into his mouth one by one.

Everyone watched. Zhou Huan showed no reaction all night, so one by one, they drifted off to sleep, unable to hold on any longer. Sleep, for them, was a form of release.

A few birdsongs broke the tranquility of the early morning. Suddenly, sounds of movement erupted in the courtyard outside—people getting up to practice martial arts, cheering, sparring, and vendors shouting about food. This was likely the start of the day, and such activity would continue until the commencement of the Dharma Assembly.

To welcome the Dharma Assembly, over a dozen inns in the capital had been reserved exclusively for attendees. Moreover, the place where Zhou Huan and his group were staying was relatively central, meaning the morning clamor was even louder.

The few people in Zhou Huan's room were jolted awake by the noise. They looked at each other, and when their gaze fell upon Zhou Huan’s sleeping mat, they were stunned—it was completely empty. Where was Zhou Huan?

"Everyone split up and search! See where Master Zhou went. Maybe the medicine had issues and made him sick," Since the man was missing, various speculations flooded their minds.

When they finally opened the courtyard gate, they saw Zhou Huan standing in the center of the yard, gazing up at the rising sun, hands clasped behind his back, completely motionless.

"Master, Brother, Brother Huan!" They called out using various names. Zhou Huan turned around and smiled, "You all have worked hard these past few days. Thanks to your care, I wouldn't even know what day it is today!"

"Brother, it's good you're alright. You scared us half to death; we thought you were gone!"

"I’m fine, Big Brother. I feel much better now. I have an idea: I want to familiarize myself with the site of the Dharma Assembly. I feel that training or visiting the site daily will definitely benefit my participation in the competition." Zhou Huan stated this, and everyone unanimously agreed it was a good idea.

But before Zhou Huan finished speaking, a man holding a long staff, his eyebrows raised in anger and his eyes fixed on Zhou Huan, roared from the courtyard, "Heh, people like you actually dare to attend the Dharma Assembly? Do you even qualify?"

"Who says we don't qualify? Do you think you do?" Dongzi immediately retorted.

The fellow struck his chest hair with one hand. "Hmph, I am a master of the Huashan Slender Stick art. If you really plan to compete, watch out or my staff will break your legs!"

"Hahaha, Sir worries too much. I just want to go and observe. My main purpose is merely to look around," Zhou Huan explained with surprising ease.

But this so-called Stick Master was startled. What was going on? He claimed to be a master, yet he hadn't considered Zhou Huan’s intention. He hadn't expected Zhou Huan to have such a thought. Could he be a true expert?

The Stick Master carefully scrutinized Zhou Huan, feeling that the internal energy emanating from him was profoundly dense—not just a loose ball of zhenqi that would scatter upon impact. Zhou Huan’s internal energy seemed capable of holding his own body stable while simultaneously splitting into two different streams of zhenqi techniques.

"Kid, it looks like you actually have something inside you!" the Stick Master remarked, testing him deliberately.

Zhou Huan certainly wasn't one to suffer such a slight and immediately shot back, "Why would anyone attend the Dharma Assembly if they didn't have a few tricks up their sleeve? Wouldn't that just be asking for death!"

Zhou Huan’s counter-question completely deflated the Stick Master, who fell silent, merely glaring fiercely at Zhou Huan. He wanted to devour Zhou Huan immediately, but he felt he still had a chance, so he decided to wait and contend with Zhou Huan properly at the Dharma Assembly.

Zhou Huan, hands behind his back, ambled out of the inn's doors, looking around everywhere. After all, this was his first time in Beijing. Firstly, Zhou Huan wanted to survey the basic layout of the Dharma Assembly grounds, and secondly, he wanted to find a secluded spot to practice his wrist movements and loosen his muscles.

Zhou Huan sent Tianxiong and Dongzi away and strolled casually out of the inn doors. He had originally intended to observe things closely within the inn, but since he still had unknowns regarding his own living situation, Zhou Huan decided to scout out the techniques of other masters first so he could prepare countermeasures, thereby minimizing potential losses—though no one dared claim they could avoid losses entirely.

Zhou Huan’s body seemed much improved, not as fragile as before when chaotic air currents were constantly surging within him, which he found hard to resist. However, one thing was clear: the Chief’s treatment method here was indeed correct and beneficial to him. At least now, he no longer felt those messy air currents running wildly through his body, which was quite a relief.

Accompanied by the moonlight, Zhou Huan took his first stable step in the capital. Indeed, the capital under the Emperor’s feet was heavily guarded. Even when leaving the inn at night, patrol officers could be seen everywhere. It was all for this Dharma Assembly; it seemed these people had put considerable effort into it.

"Don't run! Stop right there!" As Zhou Huan was exploring alone, a loud shout and a cluster of chaotic footsteps came from behind him.

With a "Swish!", a dark shadow darted past Zhou Huan. The shadow moved incredibly fast. Zhou Huan watched it go; even his own special running skill might not be able to catch him. This truly surprised Zhou Huan. Logically, few people should be able to surpass his speed, yet this fellow was only slightly faster, if not equal to his own pace. Unless...

Thinking of this, Zhou Huan suddenly grasped a problem, one of potentially severe gravity. Unless the runner was a ghost, there was no way their speed could surpass his by such a margin—it simply made no sense.

Speaking of which, we must mention that Zhou Huan had become overly confident after waking up, which brought many subsequent troubles upon him.