Chapter 5 Stunning Erin

The woman was 25 or 26 years old. Although she was dressed in plain clothes, her outfit couldn’t conceal her perfect figure and pretty face. Her pair of long legs were straight and fair, while her slim waist resembled a flexible snake that could be easily held in one’s arm, arousing the imaginations of the observers. Her arched eyebrows and pink cheeks, as well as her almond-shaped eyes, gave people an enchanting impression. “Erin.” Bradley recognized the beautiful woman as Erin Scott. As far as he could remember, before he went to jail, Erin got married to a villager from Sierra Village. She was just 18 at that time, but her beauty had astonished the whole village. Unfortunately, after she had gotten engaged to Dean Lane, Dean’s house caught on fire, and his parents passed away in the fire. When they got married, he passed away on their wedding night. Therefore, there had been rumors circulating among the villagers that Erin was a jinx, which had caused her to be ostracized by the villagers despite her beauty. However, Bradley knew that Erin was gentle and kind. When he was in high school, his family was so poor that they couldn’t even afford his school fees. It was Erin who had helped him back then. With such thoughts in mind, he strode toward her. Before he got close to her, she greeted him, “Hey, Brad. I heard that you came out from jail yesterday. I intended to come to meet you, but…” Bradley understood that she was afraid that the villagers would gossip about her. After all, she was not only a widow but also a jinx. “Erin, it’s fine.” As he was speaking, his gaze suddenly landed on her calf—two bite marks were found on her fair complexion, and there were tiny streaks of black blood flowing out from her wounds. “Erin, were you bitten by a snake?” he solemnly asked. “Yeah. Brad, I…I think that I’m poisoned,” she weakly replied. Bradley cast a glance at the wound on Erin’s calf before using his finger to dab on the blood stain and sniffed it. The next moment, he uttered, “This is the poison of a Green Leaf Snake.” He looked at her. “Erin, do you feel weak, numbness in your calf, and dizziness?” he asked. Erin weakly nodded. Without saying anything, he immediately took her leg and placed his palm on the wound on her calf. “Ah! Brad, you...” Her face flushed red. Although she understood that he was just helping her to treat the poison, she still felt shy when a young man like Bradley hugged her leg. Hugging her leg, a unique fragrance of a woman’s body crept into his nose, which caused him to lose his focus for a moment. He quickly gathered himself and circulated his little amount of Qi all over his body to force out the poison that he had absorbed into his body. After a while, he uttered, “Phew! Erin, it’s alright. You are fine now.” He then put down her leg and wiped away the blood stain at the corner of his lips. “Thank you, Brad.” Erin’s gaze on him was filled with charms as she bit on her lips. “Brad, how about you carry me back home?” “Erm…” Bradley was stunned, but he quickly understood that it was because her calf was still numb, so she was naturally unable to walk the mountain paths. Hence, he had no choice but to agree. He then immediately squatted before Erin. With her face reddened, she slowly got on his back, while her fair slender arms wrapped around his neck. At that time, all he could feel was a soft body on his back. Her smooth, tender skin made him feel hot in his nether region. Trying his best to suppress the evil thoughts in his mind, he carried her on his back and headed down the mountains. “Hey, look over there! The brat from the Jackson Family got together with Erin, the widow, right after he came out of jail!” “Tsk! Such shameful behavior!” “That widow is a jinx, yet the brat from the Jackson family has the guts to be with her. We shall just wait and see—he will soon become unlucky.” Along their journey, when some of the villagers saw Bradley carrying Erin on his back, they discussed among themselves. “Brad, I’m sorry.” Erin apologized in embarrassment. “It’s fine. Don’t listen to their nonsense.” Ever since he had inherited the legacy and spent five years in jail, his state of mind had gone through tremendous changes. She didn’t say anything else, but she tightened her fair arms around him. I guess that Bradley is the only person in the village who doesn’t think that I’m a jinx. Soon, he arrived at Erin’s house with her on his back. “Erin, I have to go into the mountains to collect some herbs. I shall take my leave first,” said Bradley after he put her down. “Hey, wait up.” She stopped him before entering her house by skipping on one foot. She then soon skipped her way out with a bankbook in her hands, which was then handed to him. “Brad, this is the money I’ve saved up all these years. There’s about 30,000 in it. Take it.” “Erin, I can’t do this. I can’t take it.” He rejected and pushed it back to her. “Brad, I heard that Emily had borrowed some money from Patrick, and she needs to return it by tomorrow. If you think of me as a friend, just take it.” She grabbed his hand and placed the bankbook in it. “Alright, Erin.” He accepted the money, but it wasn’t because he really needed that money—it was because he saw the hint of eagerness in Erin’s beautiful eyes. If he were to reject her, she would definitely be upset. “Erin, I will surely return them to you after I earn some money in these two days.” “Sure, you should head into the mountains to collect some herbs now.” Bradley nodded and headed outside. When he was halfway through his way out, his gaze suddenly landed on some weeds that were dried in the sun at the corner of the yard. He quickened his steps over there and picked up a weed to look at it. He then brought it under his nose to take a sniff before he became overjoyed. “Haha! It’s the Soul Sunweed!” “Brad, what’s up?” Erin asked in puzzlement. “Erin, where did you get this herb from?” Bradley was a little excited as he asked. After drying and extracting the seeds of the Soul Sunweed, one could use Qi to catalyze its medicinal properties. It could then be used to make wine, which contained aphrodisiac effects. The effect would be better if it was used together with other herbs; it could also be used to make other medicines with different medicinal effects. “Herb?” Erin frowed. “This is a weed that I use to feed the rabbits. There is a place in the mountains where this type of plant can be found everywhere.” “Then, Erin, can you please bring me...” Before he finished his sentence, he suddenly remembered that it wasn’t inconvenient for her to enter the mountains now. “I’ll take you into the mountains to look for it after this.” She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ears. “You can take all these weeds—I mean, herbs, if you need it.” “Sure, Erin. I’ll take some first, then.” He didn’t reject her and directly took a basket and put some Soul Sunweeds in it before leaving Erin’s house. Upon reaching home, Bradley couldn’t wait any longer and immediately locked himself in the house to start extracting the seeds on the Soul Sunweed. An hour later, he managed to collect half a bag of Soul Sunweed’s seeds. Sitting on the bed with his legs crossed, he took a handful of Soul Sunweed’s seeds in his palm and started to circulate the Qi in his body to catalyze the medicinal properties. Miraculously, under the catalysis of his Qi energy, the initially green seeds actually turned purple. In about three hours, he managed to catalyze all the seeds. He found a jar and poured all the seeds into it. But his job wasn’t done yet! Bradley was then seen making a decoction using the Soul Sunweed. The medicine was boiled until afternoon before he poured the medicine into a jar. After the jar was sealed, he finally controlled the Qi to circulate in his body to form a fingernail-sized mystical seal on his fingertips, which he then stamped onto the jar. Using the same method, he placed his mystical seal on all 36 jars before he wiped away the sweat on his face. The 36 mystical seals would form mini mystical formations with functions such as spiritual condensation and cooling effects, which were extremely suitable for wine making. Wine making was originally a long process, but with the help of these formations, it would only take at most one night to complete the fermentation process to make wine. However, since Bradley was merely in the Qi introduction stage, it was incredibly taxing for his body and mind to form all 36 mystical seals in one go. Therefore, at that moment, he directly slumped on the floor and fell into a deep sleep due to extreme exhaustion.