Lucian hugged his knees and sat in front of the cauldron where the liquid was boiling. His hair, which had already turned a dull gray, was tied up with a ribbon he found at random and hung down behind his head.
After fading to this color, his hair color finally became less conspicuous among the demons.
The potion quickly solidified in the crucible into the color of the starry sky - deep black with broken stars hidden in it. Lucian put it in a bottle. He looked back at Wade who was still sleeping on the bed, covered his upper face with a half mask, and left the room.
The place he went to was the first floor of the hotel. It was afternoon, and there were only a few demons sitting on the tables and chairs on the first floor. The hotel waiter was listlessly wiping the wine glass, and the boss was counting the silver coins one by one at the counter. He was a thin old demon with flaming red hair. This kind of demon often has the ability to control fire, but also has a hot temper. The boss's first pot of gold in opening this hotel came from his fire ability - he was the first demon in the entire Greedy City to use his ability to boil water for guests.
In addition, he also did some brokering work. This was not uncommon. As a place for welcoming and seeing off guests, the hotel had many connections and would always use these resources to help people do business.
When facing Lucian, the boss's hot temper disappeared. Although Lucian's face was covered, his voice always had a magical power that made people want to listen.
"I came here from another city-state." Lucian said softly, "I'm not familiar with this place, but I saw some people selling things through your place..."
"Some matchmaking work has been done. Some people need to buy something, and some people need to sell something. Now it's our turn to come on stage." The boss looked at the guest in front of him. In his opinion, this guest's identity must be rich or noble. Although he was picky, he gave a lot of rewards. "I wonder if you plan to..."
"I'm a pharmacist." Lucian said, handing the bottle in his arms to his boss.
After confirming the quality of the potion in the bottle, the boss's harsh face also showed a warm smile. The potion Lucian gave was called Soul Condensation Potion. This potion was very popular among the demons because of its effect of easing emotions and concentrating magic power, but it was very difficult to refine. Moreover, there were very few pharmacists who knew how to brew potions among the demons. Most demons preferred to use spells or brute force. Potions were always in short supply in the demon market.
Lucian received half a gold coin from the boss, who told him that he might supply him for the next period of time. One gold coin was a fair and sincere price for this potion. But Lucian looked at the gold coin with sorrow in his eyes.
This amount of gold coins is too little.
He wanted to leave, but he heard voices of conversation behind him.
"The human race's royal city..."
"The Emperor of the Human Race..."
"Dusk City..."
The people of Dusk City finally couldn't hold back and brought the last little prince who had been exiled here with them to launch a restoration. Lucian only listened to a part of it and then lost interest. Then he heard his own name.
"I heard that the human race's Holy Son is still alive. The human race's church claims that they have executed him, but that's not the case. Some people think he is still alive..."
"After hearing the news, the Lord of Wrathful City sent his men to the human territory to look for him, wanting to kill him to avenge the human emperor. The Lord of Laziness City was also looking for him, as was the Lord of Jealousy City..."
"If we can catch him, there will be a huge reward!"
"Bounty hunters like us go out to hunt for this little bit of money, don't we?"
"I just don't know where to send it better."
"The price offered by the City of Jealousy is 50,000 gold coins. The price offered by the City of Rage is 30,000 gold coins. The price offered by the City of Sloth is relatively high, at 80,000 gold coins. The price offered by the City of Gluttony is 100 gold coins as long as you give any clues..."
“It’s actually worth so much money.” Lucian exclaimed.
The innkeeper listened to Lucian's sigh and thought that the pharmacist was in urgent need of money. The more business Lucian could do in his place, the more commission he would get. So he lowered his voice and said, "If you are short of money, I know a potion that is in great demand in the market and is not difficult to make. One bottle can be sold for about seventy-five silver coins. If you make it, the profit will be huge."
Lucian: "What potion?"
Boss: "A potion that can enhance sexual performance..."
Lucian: … …
The boss tried to sell the business to Lucian eagerly, but Lucian finally forced himself to hold on with a twitching mouth and said, "I'll consider it."
The conversation on the other side continued.
"The Son of Man is actually a succubus? Hahaha, he can fool so many people in the Holy See, I should call him a hero!"
"It's the City of Pride. There are so many cities in the City of Pride, but..."
"There's no way. As long as the curse is still there, no one can enter there." A thin demon in a gray robe said in the corner. His voice was very cold, which seemed a bit out of place with his fellow demons.
The tall and heroic demon who had just praised Lucian as a "hero" sat next to him and drank. They looked like a pair of bounty hunters.
"But the treasure that can be obtained by breaking the curse is also very tempting..."
"The Lord of the entire Demon Realm is now very old. I don't know who will take his place. His only child is not very capable."
"What's the point of saying all this? I don't want to think about the bounty for the Saint. It's 80,000 gold coins. After I finish this battle and get this money, I will go back to the jungle of my hometown..."
"I heard from those demon soldiers who retreated from the battlefield that the Holy Son is a rare beauty. If I can catch him, I must take a good look at his face before sending him to exchange for the reward..."
"It's really interesting that so many city lords are looking for him at the same time!"
The demons didn't know about the entanglement between Lucian and Vader, they only knew that he was still alive - the common saying was that he had escaped by faking his death and was now at large. Compared with the affairs of the human race, they were more interested in talking about the demon's supreme city lord and the reason why they wanted Lucian.
Lucian understood it very well.
The mayor of the City of Rage is a martial arts fanatic who only likes fighting, so he unilaterally sympathizes with Vader, the human "God of War" with whom he has fought for a long time. In the original novel, he is a loyal brother and subordinate to Vader. He issued a wanted order because he wanted to take his head and offer it to Vader to vent his anger for his friend whom he respects very much.
The pride of the city of the city is only held by the old deacon. He is more interested in his money than Lu Xian.
The Lord of Jealousy was beaten up by Lucian on the battlefield. The Lord of Gluttony was one of the fish in Lucian's pond. As for the Lord of Laziness... Lucian couldn't remember when he had provoked him.
After listening to all the gossip with great interest, Lucian went back to the room and promised the boss that he would sell potions (of course not aphrodisiacs). The boss felt a little disappointed after being rejected, and secretly asked Lucian, "Can you make a hair growth potion?"
Lucian looked at the boss’s shiny head and it was hard not to feel that in this business, the boss was just a middleman who made a profit from the price difference.
When entering the room on the second floor, Lucian bumped into two demon hunters, one thin and one tall, in the corridor. The slightly thinner demon hunter had a pale and handsome face under his hood. This hotel is large and the price is reasonable. Many demons who have just arrived in this city-state will choose to stay here temporarily and stay for ten days or half a month before finding a formal residence.
On the way, they were discussing the issue of going to the mercenary market in the city to get some work, perhaps assassination, or collecting some things. It seemed that they made a living from this. They came from other city-states and planned to settle down in Greedy City-State, a place with a relatively developed economy.
But what surprised Lucian was that the two of them actually lived in the same room. After the door of the room where the two of them lived was closed, Lucian couldn't help but pause on the handle of his own door - if he was not mistaken, it should be the same type of room as his, with only one large bed.
When Lucian entered the room, he saw Wade sitting up from the bed. His face was still pale, but his complexion was much better. Lucian blinked at him, closed the door and said, "How are you?"
Wei De nodded slightly, his voice still a little hoarse: "Okay."
Lucian looked at him suspiciously: "Really? Don't lie to me."
He casually placed the half gold coin on the table and sat down beside the bed. He lowered his eyes, lifted up Wade's pajamas, and touched his lower abdomen...
Vader grabbed his hand.
"It's healed now. I remember there was a bloody hole here before." Lucian touched his muscular abdomen, his soft palm brushing over the smooth skin. "Even the scar is gone... Why did you grab my hand?"
He raised his head, and looked at Wade with his wine-red eyes, as if puzzled, and with a smile.
"... Stop." Wade said hoarsely.
He got off the bed, changed his clothes, and told Lucian that he would go out to investigate. Lucian took off his shoes and sat on the bed, shaking his slender legs and said, "Then come earlier in the evening, I'm hungry."
As he spoke, he lifted a strand of his hair and said to Wade: "You slept all day, and my hair has turned gray."
Wade didn't answer. He glanced at the crucibles, and Lucian said to him, "I just went downstairs to sell the potion I prepared to the boss, and I heard some interesting things... Do you want to listen?"
Wade raised his eyebrows. Lucian then said, "Now many demon city lords are offering money to arrest me. 50,000 gold coins for the City of Jealousy. 30,000 gold coins for the City of Rage. 80,000 gold coins for the City of Laziness..."
"so what?"
"Would you like to try and sell me over there for the reward? That's a lot of money." Lucian winked at him and said, "Then remember to bring me back and sell me to the next city lord. I'm very expensive."
"… What a joke." Vader sneered.
Lucian: "Master Wade, I am now worth 80,000 gold coins."
Wade seemed to have not heard him and was still changing his clothes. He put on a black windbreaker, put his legs into his boots, turned his back to Lucian and said, "Don't walk around until I come back."
"Did you listen to me?" Lucian said dissatisfiedly.
He was a little unhappy.
Wade ignored him and pressed the doorknob. Lucian then said, "By the way, bring me some herbs when you come back."
"What herbs?" Weed asked him.
Lucian named seven or eight herbs in a row. Wade frowned and stopped. "What are you going to do with them?"
He seemed to have never heard of this prescription.
"The innkeeper said that this potion is very profitable. Twenty bottles can be sold at a time, and each bottle can make ten silver coins." Lucian pretended to be indifferent and said, "This medicine is used by the demons..."
"Aphrodisiac..."
As soon as he finished saying this, he heard the crisp "click" sound of the door handle being twisted off.