Chapter 289: Senior Brother, The Dandy Young Master
In a dim stone chamber, silence reigned. A woman dressed in a snowy white nocturnal robe, her face concealed by a fox mask, sat cross-legged on a straw mat, cultivating her Qi. Wisps of spiritual energy floated around her.
Ding-ling-ling~
Suddenly, a series of bell chimes rang out!!
Su Wan’er was startled, her body trembling violently. She couldn’t control the flow of Qi within her, coughing up a mouthful of congealed blood. But she quickly regained her composure, hastily calming her spiritual energy to avoid self-harm.
“Sigh—”
Su Wan’er wiped the blood from her mouth, her face filled with dread as she turned to look at the jade bell placed on a makeshift altar, feeling a lingering fear. She had tried every conceivable method to free herself from the bell but to no avail. It remained unscathed, seemingly impervious to any attempts to remove or damage it. Therefore, she suspected the jade bell might be an advanced tracking device, adding to her fear.
For the past month and a half, whenever she rested or focused, the jade bell would suddenly appear next to her ears. What was more distressing was not just the bell itself but also the fear of the old woman from the Xuanxing Sect coming after her. At any sound, her nerves were instantly on edge.
Under this dual pressure, she felt on the brink of madness. Su Wan’er looked at the bell, her face filled with frustration. Finally, she began to regret and quickly used her left hand to fan her right hand,
“Silly Su Wan’er! Why did you go and steal that young master’s stuff? If you didn’t steal her things, why would you suffer like this?”
She rubbed the back of her reddened right hand, then took a deep breath and said,
“I don’t care anymore! I won’t hide. In the worst-case scenario, I will get caught by that old lady. Even if she’s a bit petty, she’s still a Void cultivator. She can’t possibly be on the same level as a small Foundation Establishment cultivator like me. At worst, I’ll just kowtow to her, wash her feet, and give her a back rub…”
“But then again, when did Xuanxing Sect get a second miss? Judging by her appearance, she’s at least ten years old. There’s no news about this in the black market at all.”
“Ah…”
Su Wan’er sighed and clapped her hands on her cheeks, giving herself courage. Then she stood up, took out a set of clothes from her storage bag, removed the snowy white night cloak she hadn’t removed in a month, and took off the fox mask on her face.
Under the mask was a doll-like face with a large red mark pressed by the mask, eyes like water apricots, and lips like soft cherry blossoms.
She took out a bronze mirror and admired her face,
“Hehe~ This fairy is truly beautiful.”
Ding-ling-ling~
!!!
Su Wan’er was startled when the jade bell suddenly appeared on her shoulder. She jumped a foot, clenched her teeth slightly, seized the jade bell, and muttered,
“So, you’re the second miss of the Xuanxing Sect, huh! If you have the guts, let your mom come and catch me!! This fairy is waiting for her! Hmph…”
If worse came to worst, I would just kowtow.
But she didn’t say the part about losing face if she said that out loud.
Su Wan’er pursed her lips, fastened the jade bell to her belt, and with a sword-like gesture, her figure instantly transformed into a wisp of white smoke, drifting out from the crack in the stone chamber.
In the Yu Guan City, inside the Sand Pavilion Tea house. The scar-faced shopkeeper, Wu Guang, stood behind the counter. The abacus in front of him clattered, and every time a customer entered, he glanced up.
The shopkeeper’s name was Wu Guang, the owner of “Sand Pavilion.”
“Sand Pavilion” was a top-notch pawnshop in the black market, dealing exclusively in resale business. They had informants in various sects, and there was nothing they wouldn’t dare to sell, only things customers wouldn’t dare to buy.
They recently acquired a source of goods, a pair of Nascent Soul stage cultivators’ secondary Golden Cores. They had been contacting potential buyers and planning to make a move.
As he watched the tea customers enter, Wu Guang felt a bit bored. He thought that today probably wouldn’t bring much business, all the customers were just small independent cultivators coming for tea, not much profit to be squeezed. However, just as he thought this, the next moment, a gentle voice came from outside the counter,
“Boss, bring me a bowl of the best tea from the Sand Pavilion.”
This was the secret signal of Sand Pavilion, indicating valuable items for sale.
Wu Guang paused, looked up, and saw a little girl entering from the main door. Despite her short stature, as he noticed her Foundation Establishment cultivation, he refrained from judging her based on appearance.
“Isn’t this Miss Su? How come… You’re making a move again?”
“That’s right, a big move.”
Su Wan’er grinned, walked to the counter, and took an oil-cloth-wrapped spirit sword and two seventh-grade talismans from her storage bag.
“Boss, take a look and give me a price.”
Wu Guang hesitated for a moment, glanced at the two fire-type talismans, then picked up the spirit sword, measured it, and pulled out half an inch from the oilcloth, raising his eyebrows,
“Oh! This is good. Eighty thousand spirit stones. Miss Su, you’re a regular customer. How about I give you eighty-nine thousand?”
“Boss, I’ve been in the cultivation world for decades. This price might scare a kid, but not me.”
“Ahaha…” Wu Guang was slightly surprised, “I didn’t realize Miss Su had just arrived in Yu Guan these past few months. I thought you were a newcomer to cultivation. My apologies.”
“Since that’s the case, give me an honest price. I don’t want to haggle with you.”
“How about a round figure, 220,000? I’ll make a small profit of 50,000. Selling the sword for 250,000 is reasonable. If you encounter a generous buyer, it might be more. I’ll give you 10,000 for each talisman…”
Just as they were discussing this, suddenly, a “Ding-ling-ling” sound interrupted Wu Guang’s words. Su Wan’er was startled, immediately scanning the surroundings, afraid someone had come looking for her.
Seeing her reaction, Wu Guang smirked and calmly said,
“It seems, Miss Su, that your item was stolen. According to the rules, we’ll give you a fifty percent discount.”
It was a rule in the business that stolen items were sold at a fifty percent discount. After all, there was a risk of someone coming to claim their stolen property, and it was often unclear from whom the items were stolen. If it was just a regular cultivator, it was manageable. But if the stolen goods belonged to someone dangerous, it could be troublesome.
Su Wan’er, hearing this, clenched her teeth and shot a fierce glance at the bell on her waist but didn’t say anything. She waved her hand,
“Fine.”
Wu Guang raised an eyebrow and squinted, asking, “Could it be that you took it from some cultivator here in Yu Guan? These things take at least a month to circulate. It’s a rule. Breaking the rules could tarnish your reputation, and you might find it hard to do business in the black market later.”
“I got it a month and a half ago. I know the rules of the trade better than you.”
Su Wan’er gave him a disdainful look and waved her hand, urging him to pay.
And at that moment, the bell rang again. Simultaneously, a young man with his hands behind his back, dressed in scholarly robes, walked in.
At that very moment, the bell rang once again, and a young gentleman, hands behind his back and clad in scholar’s robes, walked in.
Ye Anping stepped across the threshold, glanced at the shopkeeper and Su Wan’er, then approached and said,
“Boss, bring me a bowl of Sand Pavilion’s second-best tea.”
This was the secret signal indicating he was here to gather information.
Wu Guang furrowed his brows, craned his neck to glance at Ye Anping, and then looked at Su Wan’er beside him. Why are all the customers today so short?
“This young sir, did you just arrive in Yuguan? You look unfamiliar.”
Ye Anping smiled and replied,
“I used to run a shop in the market at Xuanxing Sect. Unfortunately, the boss disappeared, so I’ve come here to make a living.”
“Wow, running a shop in the market of Xuanxing Sect is quite impressive. What does the young sir want to inquire about?”
“For example…” Ye Anping squinted his eyes, looked at Su Wan’er beside him, and glanced at the bell on her waist. He put on a playboy expression and said, “The name of this beautiful lady, perhaps!”
Hearing this, Wu Guang’s face instantly darkened.
Damn, he thought the guy came for business, but it turns out he’s here to flirt with the ladies.
“Tsk…”
