Chapter 43

Chapter 43: Entangled Again

Wei Yun Xi followed the trading method from that Senior Brother earlier. She wanted to trade pills she did not need for blank talisman paper, so she clasped her hands politely. “Senior Sister, I don’t have spirit stones. Can I trade pills with you for blank talisman paper?”

The stall owner glanced at Wei Yun Xi and asked bluntly, “What pills are you using to trade?”

“I have Nourishing Spirit Pills. I saved them up and couldn’t bear to eat them.”

“Let me see.”

Wei Yun Xi was not afraid the other party would rob her. She handed over the bottle holding the remaining five pills to the young woman across from her.

The young woman opened the lid and sniffed, then smiled. “These are mid-grade pills. How much blank talisman paper do you want to trade for?”

Wei Yun Xi hesitated, then said, “Senior Sister, I’m a beginner. I’ll definitely waste a lot of blank talisman paper. I want to use five pills to trade for all the talisman paper on your stall.”

The stall owner looked over her stall. There were ten stacks of first-rank blank talisman paper and one stack of Second Rank blank talisman paper. One stack was one hundred sheets. She calculated it against the pill price, then gritted her teeth. “Fine. Since Junior Sister is sincerely trading, I’ll trade them to you. Consider it making a friend. But in the future, when you need blank talisman paper for drawing talismans, you have to buy it from me.”

Wei Yun Xi understood immediately. This Senior Sister wanted to pull in a long-term, stable customer. She smiled and agreed. “Thank you, Senior Sister, for taking care of me. In the future, I’ll definitely order my blank talisman paper from Senior Sister.”

The stall owner stuffed the pill bottle into her storage pouch and smiled. “My name is Hua Xuan Zi. I’ve cultivated in the Outer Sect for five years. Just call me Senior Sister Hua.”

“Yes. This junior sister is Wei Yun Xi. I just entered the sect this year. Senior Sister can call me Yun Xi,” Yun Xi said, then put all the blank talisman paper on the stall into her storage pouch.

“Junior Sister Yun Xi, this is my message talisman. If you can’t find me at the marketplace, send me a message. I can deliver to your door.”

Hua Xuan Zi was a tall girl with a straightforward way of speaking. Her cultivation was at the fifth level of Qi Refining, and she seemed to have a bright future. Wei Yun Xi decided to accept the olive branch Hua Xuan Zi offered.

“Thank you, Senior Sister Hua, for looking after me. Unfortunately, I don’t have any message talismans on hand…”

Hua Xuan Zi immediately patted her storage pouch. “I have some. I’ll give you a discount. One low-grade spirit stone for ten message talismans. Want them?”

Wei Yun Xi thought about it and decided to buy them. It would be useful once she left the sect later, so she deliberately put on a pained expression and poured out one Qi-Nourishing Pill to hand to Hua Xuan Zi.

Hua Xuan Zi’s mouth twitched, but she did not mind. She took the pill, gave Yun Xi ten message talismans, then rolled up her mat with a flourish. “Junior Sister Yun Xi, do as you please. I’m going to browse other stalls.”

“Alright. Senior Sister, please go ahead.”

Wei Yun Xi then looked at Wei Yun Qing and Wei Zong Hao beside her. “We’ve bought the talisman brush and blank talisman paper. Now we just need cinnabar ink for drawing talismans. Let’s look around ahead.”

Wei Zong Hao had no objections. He even added, “I heard that mixing beast blood into cinnabar ink increases the power of talismans. Why don’t you buy some beast blood and try it too?”

“That’s true. Uncle said the same thing. Let’s see if we can run into suitable beast blood first.” Wei Yun Xi then looked at Wei Yun Qing. “Sister, are you done checking the brush? What do you think?”

Wei Yun Qing returned the brush to Wei Yun Xi with disappointment. “It’s old, but it’s fine for you to practice with. Just make do for now.”

Wei Yun Xi took the brush, carefully put it away in her storage pouch, and said, “Yeah. That’s what I’m thinking too.”

After that, the three continued wandering through the marketplace. Wei Yun Xi was truly there to buy cinnabar ink. Wei Zong Hao was basically there to keep her company. Only Wei Yun Qing kept staring at Wei Yun Xi. Anything Wei Yun Xi’s gaze swept over, Wei Yun Qing would pretend to be interested and pick it up to look at it, and she even bought two items she was unsure about.

After seeing what the female lead was doing, Wei Yun Xi’s brows lifted slightly. She became even more certain that the novel content she had read was mixed with truth and lies. The truth was that she, the cannon-fodder female side character, did have good luck. The lie was that she would definitely not hand over any resources she obtained. It must have been the female lead who got them through scamming and trickery.

And every time Wei Yun Xi had an opportunity, Wei Yun Qing’s female lead halo would start acting up, making her like a shark that smelled blood, biting down and refusing to let go. Luckily, Wei Yun Xi was on guard. Otherwise, she really could have missed her own opportunities.

Take those empty pill bottles, for example. If Wei Yun Qing had said, “I’m refining pills and I happen to need them. Trade me two empty pill bottles,” then without knowing the truth, Wei Yun Xi definitely would have traded those bottles away. That way, Wei Yun Qing could openly steal her opportunity.

But now that she was here, that would never happen.

The three browsed all afternoon, and each gained something. Wei Yun Qing picked up two pieces of junk that looked like treasures. Wei Yun Xi traded for a full set of talisman-making tools. Wei Zong Hao bought dried spirit beast meat to restock his supply.

Then all three returned satisfied to their residence. After Wei Yun Qing got back, she dove into her room and started knocking and tapping at the things she bought, trying to find whatever might be hidden inside.

After Wei Yun Xi returned to her room, she first opened her isolation array. Then she took out six empty pill bottles and lined them up, examining them one by one. When she reached the fourth bottle, she found something strange.

The bottom of this bottle was thicker than the others, as if it was not made in the same batch. She was sure the Heaven-Patching Pill should be inside this bottom.

Yun Xi tried smashing the pill bottle on the ground, but it was completely unharmed. The quality was clearly excellent.

After confirming she could not open the bottom through brute force, Yun Xi tried using the spells she had just learned. After trying Fireball Technique, Water Arrow Technique, and Metal Spike Technique, she shattered the bottle with Thunder Strike Technique before her spiritual qi ran out. A pill rolled out from the bottom.

Wei Yun Xi’s face lit up. She walked over, picked up the pill, sniffed it, put it into an empty pill bottle, then moved it into her space. Her mutated supreme-grade spiritual root had a full root value. The Heaven-Patching Pill did not do much for her, so she planned to keep it to trade for resources later.

Just as Wei Yun Xi cleaned up the residue on the ground, she sensed someone knocking on the array. Her spiritual sense swept out, and she frowned. It was Wei Yun Qing again. What a piece of sticky doghide.

Wei Yun Xi flicked her sleeve and set the blank talisman paper and cinnabar ink she bought on the table. She held her talisman brush, waved her hand to open the array, and frowned as she asked, “Sister, what do you want?”

Wei Yun Qing seemed like she wanted to enter Wei Yun Xi’s room, but she was blocked. She could only force a smile and ask, “Little sister, what are you doing?”

Wei Yun Xi replied with a displeased face, “Practicing talisman drawing. You knocked on the array just now and ruined a first-rank talisman that was about to take shape. What do you want, exactly?”

Wei Yun Qing glanced over the table. Seeing the spread-out blank talisman paper and the cinnabar ink that was a third used up, she suppressed her irritation. “Little sister, won’t you invite me in to sit? Since entering the sect, we sisters have grown distant.”

Wei Yun Xi rolled her eyes in her heart. Anyone could see what their relationship was like. Why pretend to have deep sisterly affection here?

“Yun Qing, Yun Xi, what’s going on with you two?” asked Wei Yun Ting, who had just returned from the cultivation hall.