Chapter 26: Enchanted Herbs
After sitting quietly for five minutes, ensuring that her mind was completely clear, Su Mu stared at the herbs. She tried to concentrate the abstract, imagined power described in the book into her palm, touching the herbs and visualizing her needs in her mind.
“I gather you…” Su Mu chanted.
The witch’s incantation was chaotic; it wasn’t fixed to any particular language. Strictly speaking, any language could be used. However, the incantations of predecessor witches were often passed down because translating them into another language would make their meanings less accurate.
This led to incantations existing in various languages.
A few minutes later, the enchantment was complete. Su Mu extinguished the flame and placed the enchanted herbs into a magic bag to reinforce and preserve their power.
“Prosperity…” Su Mu murmured in the dimly lit room.
The power of allspice was for prosperity. Su Mu enchanted it to test its effect.
She got up and drew the curtains; outside, the city lights were already on. When she turned on her phone, it showed that it was seven o’clock in the evening.
Su Mu thought for a moment and decided to go to the supermarket to buy some things.
Because she had been so busy lately, she hadn’t stocked up on supplies in her home. Now that she finally had some time, she decided to buy everything she needed since she would be living there for a long time.
As usual, she put on a mask and went to a large shopping mall a bit farther away.
She moved quickly, buying what she needed and then heading straight home to read.
The brand clothing stores on both sides were brightly lit. Su Mu glanced around and saw a young woman dressed in designer clothes with an elegant and noble demeanor.
She was standing there selecting clothes, with three men in black suits next to her, looking like bodyguards.
She was probably a daughter of a prominent family, Su Mu thought casually as she walked past the clothing store. Her shadow cast half on the ground as she continued forward.
At that moment, the young lady who had been selecting clothes in the store glanced outside unintentionally. She paused, overwhelmed by a sudden and strong desire to give money to the person she saw, and before her mind could process it, her body had already started running towards Su Mu.
“Wait a moment…”
Su Mu heard the sound of high heels clicking against the ground behind her. She turned around and saw the young lady who had been shopping in the store running towards her.
Su Mu stood there, looking at her calmly.
“Hello, there’s five million in this card. It’s for you.” The young lady handed over a black card, her eyes fixed intently on Su Mu.
“…?” Su Mu.
“Take it quickly!” The young lady urged, pushing the card into Su Mu’s hand.
The three men in black suits followed her out, standing behind the young lady and watching Su Mu warily, making the scene look like an illegal transaction.
Su Mu looked down at the black card in her hand, then looked up at the young woman whose entire demeanor screamed “wealth.”
“What’s wrong? There’s no need to thank me. I don’t know why, but when I saw you just now, I felt a strong urge to give you money.” The young lady’s smile was noble and reserved.
“…” Su Mu.
She thought about the magic bag in her pocket, which contained the enchanted allspice.
Its purpose was prosperity.
“…” So, this is how prosperity works?
She was at a loss for words; this was too outrageous.
“The password is 520520. I didn’t bring much money today, so please accept this. I apologize if it’s too little… Goodbye, I still need to buy more clothes.” The young lady waved her hand and left without waiting for Su Mu to say a word.
The three men in black suits gave Su Mu a cold look before following the young lady back.
Su Mu was left standing there alone, with only the card containing “too little” money to remind her of what had just happened.
Su Mu’s usually cold eyes were unusually filled with confusion.
Was a witch’s power truly this frightening?
She didn’t need to run a business or anything. Just by walking down the street, someone came up to her and gave her money…?
The absurdity of this event made Su Mu feel it was highly unscientific even when she recalled it in the following days.
But… this world didn’t seem scientific to begin with.
People believed in ghosts and gods, revered witches, and even had institutions like the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation. It had nothing to do with science.
Nevertheless, this five million proved the power of enchanted herbs.
…
For the next few days, Su Mu focused on studying herbalism, and the system did not assign her any new tasks.
During last week’s live stream, Su Mu had mentioned that she might not stream this week, and she indeed kept her word.
However, even in these calm days, something happened that caught Su Mu’s attention:
“Isn’t Witch Man’er just trying to drag down Shanshan?” Feng Sa said indignantly.
The two were currently in an empty classroom at C University.
“Yes.” Su Mu nodded.
Just this Wednesday, a new live stream called “Witch Man’er” suddenly appeared. Clicking into it, there was a mysterious background similar to Shanshan’s. The black-haired witch performed exquisite witchcraft with a wave of her hand.
Compared to Shanshan, Man’er’s witchcraft was even more eye-catching, with a variety of techniques that made it look like an endless magic show.
Feng Sa opened Man’er’s live stream, sneering as he watched Man’er conjure flames out of thin air: “It seems she is quite skilled, but this doesn’t hide her malicious intent to step on Shanshan to rise to fame!”
Su Mu asked in surprise, “How dare you speak about a witch like that?”
Feng Sa realized what he had said and abruptly stopped talking. He looked around nervously, his expression becoming unnatural, but he still managed to say, “Sansan, your nickname is almost the same name as Shanshan. Can you tolerate Man’er behaving so excessively?”
Since Man’er started her live streams, she had repeatedly stated publicly that Shanshan was the lowest in the witch community, claiming she knew nothing and was just fooling people with a few small bottles.
If an ordinary person said this, people might think they were looking for trouble, but coming from a witch who seemed more skilled than Shanshan, it gave people a strange feeling.
Shanshan’s loyal fans believed that Man’er repeatedly mentioning Shanshan was just her trying to ride on Shanshan’s fame. They thought she was insulting Shanshan while seeking attention—essentially being hypocritical. Of course, while this was what they thought, they didn’t dare to say it out loud.
Others happily switched to supporting Man’er. Although they weren’t bold enough to criticize Shanshan openly, they became fervent supporters of Man’er.
It wasn’t unusual for a witch to be popular, but stepping on another witch to rise to fame was a bit too much.
Feng Sa was among those who felt indignant on Shanshan’s behalf.
However, Su Mu—who was also known as Shanshan—wasn’t particularly angry.
Because—
This Man’er was also a fake witch.
