Chapter 105

Chapter 105: Meeting Again

“Fellow Daoists, you’re in luck. The Tian Lin Flying Ship Line in Chong Ming City is running a huge promotion. Any cultivator who rides a flying ship during these three days only pays half the spirit stones. And if at least three people ride together, you can bring one guest along for free.”

“That good of a deal?” Mu Ning Zhu’s eyes lit up. “What’s the catch?”

Cultivators never believed in spirit stones falling from the sky.

The innkeeper smoothly replied, “A deal this good always has conditions. It’s only for three newly opened routes. Since it’s their first flights, they’re offering this discount to draw in customers.”

Qin Tong Shuang was tempted. “Martial Aunt Mu, should we go ask about the routes? If one matches our path back to the sect, we can take the flying ship. It saves time, and it won’t be easy for anyone to follow us.”

As for who might be following them, everyone already knew.

“Alright.” Mu Ning Zhu nodded. “I’ll take Zhang Yan and go ask about the exact routes. If one matches our way back, I’ll buy the tickets right away. If not, we’ll rest for a day like usual, then leave.”

“Okay, we’ll listen to Senior Sister,” Yun Xi said. Qin Tong Shuang agreed as well.

Mu Ning Zhu soon left the inn with Zhang Yan, while Yun Xi and Qin Tong Shuang went together to stroll around Chong Ming City.

Chong Ming City was huge. The two of them headed to the street where independent cultivators set up stalls. Their plan was simple: look more and buy less, and only spend if they truly found something they wanted.

They changed into plain, unremarkable artifact robes and followed the flow of people, browsing one stall after another.

Qin Tong Shuang focused on ice-type spirit plants, artifacts, and ores. When Yun Xi saw spirit plant seeds, she bought a few too. Once they got back, she could ask Zong Hao to help plant them. She still hadn’t forgotten that, to cover her tracks, she had even rented a patch of herb field from the sect.

When Qin Tong Shuang bought ice-type ore, Yun Xi also picked up two pieces.

Halfway through their shopping, they saw a crowd gathered at a stall ahead. It looked like an argument had broken out. Yun Xi immediately spread her divine sense—how could she miss a good show?

And she spotted someone familiar: the refined male cultivator they had run into three days ago.

Right then, a female cultivator was grabbing his artifact robe, her face full of accusation. “Brother Zhou, how can you treat me like this?”

The male cultivator—called Senior Brother Zhou—looked impatient. “Daoist Zuo, what do you mean? How have I treated you?”

Just from the way they addressed each other, Yun Xi could tell it was a classic case of one person uninterested and the other fully invested. She grabbed Qin Tong Shuang and squeezed closer. If she was going to watch gossip, she wanted front-row seats.

Zuo Die Er frowned. “Brother Zhou, you already accepted my pills. How can you still get involved with other female cultivators?”

Zhou Lang Chen looked speechless. “Daoist Zuo, I was injured during a mission, and I happened to be out of pills. That’s why I borrowed your healing pills. But yesterday I already gave you the spirit stones to buy them back. I don’t owe you anything.”

He continued coldly, “As for ‘getting involved with other female cultivators,’ where did that even come from? I cultivate the Ruthless Dao. I don’t get close to women.”

The cultivators nearby, who were pretending to browse, all perked up their ears. No one even moved their feet.

Yun Xi and Qin Tong Shuang had already taken the front row, acting as if they were choosing items on the stall. The stall owner didn’t chase anyone away. He simply smiled and let the crowd pack in.

Yun Xi was there for the gossip, but she had truly taken a liking to the items. The stall owner seemed to be an artifact refiner. The stall was filled with things he had made to practice—artifacts, plus two spirit artifacts. The highest was Third Rank, and everything was small and delicate, perfect for female cultivators.

Yun Xi’s favorite was a pair of stud earrings shaped like little rabbit heads. The rabbit eyes were purple crystals the size of rice grains, vivid and adorable. She fell for them at first glance, but she pointed at a bracelet instead. “Senior, what does this bracelet do?”

“It can change your appearance for a short time. It can help you shake off someone tracking you,” the stall owner said, then sent her the price by voice transmission.

Yun Xi quickly pulled back her finger. She felt like her storage pouch was about to go flat.

The stall owner didn’t care. He knew the little girl in front of him hadn’t been interested in that treasure in the first place.

Zuo Die Er still refused to let it go. “If Brother Zhou doesn’t get close to women, why do you smell like face powder?”

“I don’t know,” Zhou Lang Chen replied stiffly.

As he spoke, his eyes caught sight of the two female cultivators at the stall who were absentmindedly “shopping.” They were two of the four people who had witnessed his awkward moment before. He wanted even less to tangle with Zuo Die Er now, so he turned and left.

“Hey! Brother Zhou!” Zuo Die Er stomped her foot, sounding annoyed.

A female cultivator beside her lowered her voice. “Die Er, doing this will embarrass Brother Zhou.”

“Xiao Ya, why didn’t you remind me earlier?”

“I kept giving you looks. Didn’t you see them?”

“No! Hurry up—Brother Zhou is already gone!” Zuo Die Er grabbed the woman next to her and disappeared into the crowd.

Yun Xi and Qin Tong Shuang watched the drama fizzle out and felt a little unsatisfied. Still, they turned their attention back to the stall.

In the end, Qin Tong Shuang bought the bracelet. Yun Xi bought the rabbit-head earrings and swapped out the cracked ruby studs she had been wearing.

This time, her storage pouch truly cried. She handed over all ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones she had gotten back from counter-robbery. The earrings had a face-changing illusion function. It only lasted one hour, and every time it was used, one purple crystal in the rabbit’s eyes would shatter, making it a consumable. But it could fool even a Golden Core cultivator’s divine sense, so she felt the spirit stones were worth it.

The stall owner hadn’t expected Yun Xi to buy so decisively. He bought back her cracked ruby earrings at a depreciated price, then gave her two red wrist cords as a bonus. Once tied around two people’s wrists, the cords would ensure they wouldn’t get separated—perfect for traveling together.

Yun Xi thought it was pretty useful, so she accepted them. To avoid drawing attention, the two of them stopped browsing and hurried back to the inn.

Mu Ning Zhu and Zhang Yan were already back. After they met up, Mu Ning Zhu told them, “I bought the tickets. We can take a day-long flight and get off at Twin Mountain City. That’ll save us half the time. After that, we’ll enter the Hao Ran Sect’s territory, and the danger should drop.”

“That’s great!” Yun Xi blurted happily. “We won’t have to travel by flying sword.”

It wasn’t that she was being picky—standing on a sword in midair made her feel extremely unsafe.

Once everything was settled, Yun Xi and Qin Tong Shuang handed Mu Ning Zhu the spirit stones for the tickets. They also mentioned running into that male cultivator from the ruined temple at the stall street.

“Just act like you don’t know him,” Mu Ning Zhu said with a wave.

“We did,” Yun Xi said. “We were just worried those women around him might turn their anger on us.”

Zhang Yan frowned. “Anyone who cultivates the Ruthless Dao is probably from the Famed Sword Sect. Their disciples serve a single sword for life.”

“The Famed Sword Sect?” Mu Ning Zhu raised her brows. “Then his combat power should be strong. How did he fall for it so easily back at the ruined temple?”

“He was probably still injured,” Zhang Yan said. “That female cultivator used the pills she ‘gave’ him as an excuse. She wanted to lock down their relationship, but he refused.”

The four of them talked about Daoist Zhou for a moment, then dropped the topic. But the next day, when they boarded the flying ship, Yun Xi saw Daoist Zhou, Daoist Zuo, and Daoist Zuo’s friend all on the ship as well.