The Heavenly Knight

Chapter 14 - Forbidden Harvest

Shinra Kazan crept toward the building—a resource storage warehouse belonging to the Golden Lion Sect.

There were two disciples guarding the place, but neither of them realized that Shinra Kazan had sneaked in easily.

“Turns out there’s an advantage to having a small body after all!” Shinra Kazan thought to himself, smiling.

Shinra Kazan first checked his surroundings before moving to look for the items he needed. Once he was sure no one else would come in, Shinra Kazan immediately searched every nook and cranny.

Shinra Kazan checked every basket, big and small, and one by one, he found the items he needed.

“A Hundred-Year-Old Black Ginseng! This is very useful for increasing my Black blood cells, and it’s also great for boosting my stamina and making my lungs feel lighter! I have to take three seeds for my future supply.”

Shinra Kazan was delighted to have found the hundred-year-old Black Ginseng; after that, he searched other areas and discovered other rare plants.

“Blood Orchid! Oh, and these are purple potatoes—where did this sect get these two items? I’d better take these and keep them until I reach the First Circle of Ki,” Shinra Kazan said as he stowed all his items inside his clothes.

Shinra Kazan tidied up the mess he’d made; he didn’t want anyone to suspect that an intruder had snuck in and stolen some magical resources.

Once everything was in order, Shinra Kazan intended to leave the room. He had almost reached the exit and was about to check on the two guards out front when, suddenly; the door swung open.

Shinra Kazan clearly startled and panicked;

"Did I just hear a noise coming from this room?" One of them said.

"Maybe it was just a mouse! Besides, we’ve been standing right in front of the door this whole time—do you really think anyone would’ve come in without us noticing?"

"You’re absolutely right. Besides, this place still looks neat and clean. Let’s get out of here!"

Shinra Kazan, who was hiding and covering himself with a pile of sacks, could only listen; he even held his breath so the two student guards wouldn’t notice him.

“Wait a minute! I think that pile of sacks just moved a little,” one of them said, staring at Shinra Kazan’s hiding spot, where he thought he’d seen movement.

“I see nothing moving!” his partner objected.

“Let me look! If it’s a rat, I’ll cut it in half,” he said, and one of the guard students reached out to lift a sack.

“Damn…!” Shinra Kazan thought to himself.

Shinra Kazan swallowed hard; he’d never been this panicked in his entire life, but this time he was truly anxious.

“Hey, you two! What are you doing in there?”

Just as the sack was about to be lifted, someone suddenly called out from outside. The student guard abandoned his plan to lift the sack, and the two of them went outside.

“Sorry, Senior! We heard a noise inside earlier, and after we checked, it turned out there was no one there!” said one of the student guards.

“Did you two see anyone go in?” asked the senior.

"N-no, Senior!" they replied, shaking their heads.

“It might have just been a rat! Close the door again and keep a close watch on this place!” said the senior, then left the two of them.

The two guards immediately closed the door, and strangely, the door didn’t have a lock. They should strictly guard a storage area as important as that and implement strong safety measures.

Shinra Kazan breathed a sigh of relief; he quickly emerged from his hiding spot and then slowly, carefully opened the door, peeking at the two student guards who had their backs to it.

“Finally, they let their guard down!” Shinra Kazan thought to himself. He then slowly stepped out, carefully closed the door behind him, and, tiptoeing, made his way back home.

***

Shinra Kazan immediately took out all the items he had stolen from the resource warehouse; what he needed most at that moment was the 100-year-old black ginseng, while the rest he stored away carefully.

Shinra Kazan used only one ginseng root, while he stored the remaining two and hid them in a safe place.

He chopped the black ginseng into small pieces so it would be easy to grind, then boiled it in a large amount of boiling water.

He also mixed in the finely ground Rain Dew Pills and boiled the mixture until the water reduced.

Once the liquid reduced to about fifteen bamboo cups, Shinra Kazan took the medicinal decoction away from the heat and let it cool.

When night fell, Daigo Renji came to Shinra Kazan’s house and stayed the night to keep Shinra Kazan company, as Kenzou Arata had instructed.

The two of them only exchanged brief greetings; according to Daigo Renji, there was no point in talking or playing with a child as young as Shinra Kazan, while Shinra Kazan also could not converse with Daigo Renji.

Shinra Kazan waited until Daigo Renji had fallen asleep before drinking the mixture of the pill and black ginseng.

After a long wait, the moment Shinra Kazan had been anticipating finally arrived. Daigo Renji was fast asleep, so Shinra Kazan immediately went to another room to drink the mixture.

“If my estimate is correct, this should be enough for me to drink, and I won’t drink any more until a week from now!” muttered Shinra Kazan.

Shinra Kazan poured less than half a glass for himself and poured the rest into a small jar, which he hid in a safe place.

Shinra Kazan took a deep breath while sitting cross-legged; he closed his eyes and then bolted the medicinal concoction until it was gone.

The medicinal decoction tasted very bitter and also had a spicy kick. The bitterness came from the Rain Dew Pills, and the spiciness came from the ginseng.

Shinra Kazan sat cross-legged and concentrated on absorbing the benefits of the potion he had made. After some time had passed, nothing happened, and Shinra Kazan felt nothing.

“Did I make a mistake in preparing it?”

Shinra Kazan scratched his head—even though it wasn’t itchy—out of confusion; he felt just like the Mad Demon Yuzuki Aira, who often failed at making potions.

“It really does seem wrong!”

Shinra Kazan stood up and intended to walk toward the jug he had hidden, but after taking only a few steps, he suddenly felt an intense heat rising from within his body.

Shinra Kazan immediately sat cross-legged and concentrated fully; he was certain this was the effect of his potion finally taking effect.

Sweat soaked his clothes; he felt as if his blood were boiling, like hot water flowing through every vein in his body.

Shinra Kazan’s body trembled; he felt unable to withstand the heat in his veins, but he did his best to endure it and absorb the potion’s properties.

If he failed, his blood vessels could burst, and he could lose his life.