Chapter 88: Luo Xue, the Bargain
After learning that the twin sisters had this side business, Luo Xue had an idea.
Her energy was limited, and she couldn’t do everything herself.
Tasks like gathering information, Luo Xue had never done before. It was better to leave it to professionals.
…Although they weren’t necessarily very professional, they were definitely more professional than Luo Xue.
Sha Yiyi, after a moment of hesitation, seemed to realize something, and her eyes gradually brightened.
“You mean…”
“Yes, I’ll take care of the matter you’re worried about.”
Luo Xue searched through her storage ring and took out a small bottle of Immortal’s Kowtow, which her convenient mother had given her.
“You should recognize this. Sell it, it should be enough.”
Sha Yiyi took the jade bottle from Luo Xue with a puzzled expression, opened it, sniffed the air, and her eyes widened in shock.
“How did you get this? And so much…”
Immortal’s Kowtow was a treasure of the Everspring Pavilion, the sap of an extremely rare immortal herb.
This immortal herb resembled a cactus, maturing once every thousand years. After producing seeds, it would quickly wither.
Most of its sap would be used as nutrients for the seeds, and the small amount remaining in the withered plant was highly poisonous, hence the name “Immortal’s Kowtow.”
It was harvested once every thousand years, and each plant yielded only about half a jade bottle’s worth.
Sha Yiyi held two plants’ worth in her hand. Its value was enough to support ten of her, no, perhaps even more!
Sha Yiyi and Sha Keke looked at Luo Xue as if she were a walking treasure vault.
“Ahem, the Peerless Summit Sect…”
Luo Xue touched her nose. She didn’t know if this was considered a lot. Her convenient mother had robbed an entire gourd of it.
“A transaction between the Everspring Pavilion and the Peerless Summit Sect?” Sha Yiyi immediately understood, but she was still a bit puzzled. “No wonder. But what does the Peerless Summit Sect want with this poison? Without the Everspring Pavilion’s techniques, they can’t refine this poison into medicine…”
“Can’t poison… be used to poison people?” Luo Xue asked curiously.
Sha Yiyi almost looked at her like she was an idiot, but remembering that Luo Xue was her future benefactor, she suppressed the urge and patiently explained,
“No one would use Immortal’s Kowtow as poison. As a poison, it’s only ranked ninth among the ten most potent poisons, nothing special.”
“But as medicine, it’s an extremely rare and precious top-grade ingredient, one of the most important raw materials for several pills used to break through from Core Formation to Nascent Soul.”
“It’s both poison and medicine…” Luo Xue pondered for a moment, then said, “Is this bottle of Immortal’s Kowtow enough for you to work only for me?”
Sha Yiyi and Sha Keke exchanged glances, then said with wry smiles, “Miss Luo Xue, you jest. From now on, we sisters will serve only you.”
Luo Xue nodded. This was the answer she wanted.
“Coincidentally, the once-every-few-years auction in Ghost Demon Pass is in a few days. This time, it’s the Tianhai Gang’s turn to host it. We can put the Immortal’s Kowtow up for auction.”
Sha Yiyi immediately formulated a plan. “The Medicine Gang will definitely be interested in this, but the Tianhai Gang has no use for it, so we don’t have to worry about the item being privately acquired.”
“There’s an auction… Forget it, I’m not going. I don’t have anything I want to buy.”
Although it seemed fun to raise prices anonymously at an auction, Luo Xue wasn’t really interested.
“Are we still going to the Youxiang Restaurant…”
Nangong Mengxiang raised her hand and asked weakly.
Sha Yiyi’s expression turned apologetic, and she was about to shake her head when Luo Xue interrupted her.
“Yes, why not?” A sharp glint flashed through Luo Xue’s eyes. “I want to see who exactly wants to capture me…”
As she spoke, Luo Xue suddenly thought of something and turned to ask,
“By the way, what’s the reward for capturing me?”
Sha Yiyi’s expression turned embarrassed, and she held up two fingers.
“Two Yellow-rank Qi Condensation Pills…”
“Hmm?” Luo Xue’s eyes widened. “I’m that cheap?”
“It was originally five, but Big Sis wanted to establish our reputation for being affordable, so she lowered the price.”
Sha Keke added mercilessly.
Sha Yiyi wanted to find a hole and hide. Didn’t this little sister know how to read the room?
This was their future benefactor! Their little rich lady!
Hearing this, Luo Xue was certain that it was unlikely that they were targeting her because of her connection to the Peerless Summit Sect.
Even an outer sect disciple of the Peerless Summit Sect shouldn’t be this cheap…
Wait, why was she suddenly calculating this?
Luo Xue rubbed her temples and said,
“When we get to the Youxiang Restaurant, follow the original plan first, then make a small change…”
Luo Xue looked at the bored Nangong Mengxiang and smiled faintly.
“Give them a little… Nangong Mengxiang shock!”
Hearing this, Nangong Mengxiang blinked, a question mark appearing above her head.
What? What are you talking about? Why are you mentioning me again?
…
Amidst the bustling crowd, all were ordinary beings.
Everything returned to its essence, whether good or evil, alone in the world, silent and unspoken.
This was the way of the Silent Temple.
Master Wumu, with his eyes closed, walked among the crowd, yet no one noticed his presence.
He walked slowly, and even when it started to rain heavily, and most of the surrounding cultivators cast water-repelling spells, he continued walking, letting the rain soak his clothes.
Suddenly, a thought came to him, and Master Wumu stopped, looking up in a certain direction.
“An irreversible fate… seems to have already begun. She still hasn’t heeded my warning.”
He retracted his gaze and sighed softly.
“When the final outcome arrives,” Master Wumu whispered, “your regret will be too late.”
The disciples of the Silent Temple observed the myriad forms of the world, the changing times, never interfering with fates that didn’t belong to them.
But Master Wumu was one of the few exceptions. He remained in the world, trying to salvage something.
But he had never succeeded in changing anything.
Master Wumu looked up at a nearby building with a signboard hanging brightly above.
—”Youxiang Restaurant”
“The demons of the Demonic Ghost City want to rekindle their past karmic ties, but this shouldn’t happen.” Master Wumu shook his head. “Let this humble monk make the decision for you, take away this karmic entanglement, and sever this mistake.”
Master Wumu continued walking, but not towards the Youxiang Restaurant. He turned and walked towards a magnificent golden building beside the restaurant.
A signboard, carved from a single piece of spirit stone, hung above the entrance of this building.
—”Tianhai Auction House.”
The place where the grand auction would be held in a few days.
…
The Youxiang Restaurant could be said to be the most expensive place in Ghost Demon Pass.
A single dish could deplete the life savings of an ordinary Spirit Condensation cultivator.
Of course, the dishes at the Youxiang Restaurant weren’t ordinary dishes. They were all extremely precious heavenly treasures, and even some unknown, legendary spirit beasts, said to come from the sealed ancient demon lands.
Only the prodigies of major factions or the higher-ups of the three gangs could afford to dine at the Youxiang Restaurant.
It was rumored that the owner behind the Youxiang Restaurant was the previous Holy Maiden of the Temple of the Nether Spirit—of course, this was just a rumor and hadn’t been confirmed.
After all, after the previous Holy Maiden’s downfall, the Youxiang Restaurant continued to operate normally, unaffected.
At the appointed time, the Medicine Gang arrived at the Youxiang Restaurant, unhurried.
The Tianhai Gang had already booked a room, waiting for their arrival.
This tense banquet had attracted the attention of many smaller factions in Ghost Demon Pass. They were affiliated with the three major gangs, sharing their fortunes and misfortunes.
There had always been friction between the Tianhai Gang and the Medicine Gang, and it had intensified recently. The incident at the alchemy shop a few days ago was essentially just a fuse.
Of course, even if the cultivators of Ghost Demon Pass wanted to watch this rare spectacle, they couldn’t enter the Youxiang Restaurant.
They could only gather outside, speculating whether the Medicine Gang and the Tianhai Gang would come to blows.
However… there were still some who could witness the excitement firsthand.
Sima Ye and Shangguan Lengyan, the most famous prodigies of the Evil Ghost lineage of the Demonic Ghost City, weren’t short on money.
“What’s the situation now?” Sima Ye played with the wine cup in his hand, savoring the wine. “The Medicine Gang and the Tianhai Gang… heh, isn’t it just a clash between the Everspring Pavilion and the Iron Sea Sect?”
The Everspring Pavilion and the Iron Sea Sect were both immortal sects in You Province. The Iron Sea Sect was ambitious and had long wanted to replace the Everspring Pavilion among the nine major sects.
The Medicine Gang and the Tianhai Gang in Ghost Demon Pass, supported by these two factions, were just a microcosm of their conflict.
“They haven’t started fighting yet.”
One of Shangguan Lengyan’s eyes flickered with a sinister scarlet light, peering into the scene where the Tianhai Gang and the Medicine Gang were negotiating.
“I know that too. If they were fighting, it wouldn’t be this quiet.”
Sima Ye shook his head.
Shangguan Lengyan hesitated for a moment.
“Hmm… They haven’t even started arguing yet. They’re still talking about the incident at the alchemy shop a few days ago.”
“A Foundation Establishment body cultivator who could escape from a Core Formation cultivator?” Sima Ye narrowed his eyes. He directly ignored the rumored accomplice. After all, how could an early Innate Realm cultivator be involved in such a matter? “Indeed, it sounds like a cultivator from the Iron Sea Sect. They’re best at taking a beating.”
“But the Tianhai Gang thinks it’s someone from the Medicine Gang, because she used a pill suspected to be the Nine Revolutions Soul Returning Pill, instantly recovering from serious injuries to the point where she could move.”
Shangguan Lengyan continued reporting. She wasn’t interested in this spectacle, but Sima Ye insisted on watching.
“Interesting, interesting. I thought we chose a secluded spot to have a good talk with that little sister, but we encountered such a thing.”
Sima Ye smiled faintly, took another sip of wine, and praised,
“Such fine wine, worthy of Wine Immortal’s creation! She disappeared hundreds of years ago, I didn’t expect the Youxiang Restaurant to still have some in stock.”
“It’s a pity that after this small cup, it will be difficult to find another…”
“The appointed time is almost here. If nothing unexpected happens, that so-called Shadow Gang should be bringing the person over soon.” Shangguan Lengyan retracted her gaze and said in a low voice, “Do you really think that girl knows something?”
“Just a hunch. It’s not a loss to meet her. Didn’t you reduce the reward from five Yellow-rank Qi Condensation Pills to two?” Sima Ye teased. “You usually even use Heavenly Mountain spirit water to wash your face, why are you so stingy… frugal in this matter?”
“I already said I didn’t lower the price…”
Mentioning this, even Shangguan Lengyan’s usually indifferent expression couldn’t hide her speechlessness.
At the same time, outside the Youxiang Restaurant.
A tall man in a bamboo hat, his face grim, led a girl in tattered clothes, pushing through the crowd and entering the Youxiang Restaurant.
It seemed like they hadn’t spoken a word to each other, but they had actually been chatting through mental voice transmission.
“Your disguise technique is quite powerful. Even I can’t see through it, much stronger than my Thousand Faces Cultivation Art…”
“Just talent. My sister and I can temporarily merge together through telepathy and decide on the merged form—but we can’t change our appearance, so we can only use a bamboo hat to conceal ourselves.”
If the bamboo hat was lifted, one would see that this man was just a shadow with form and substance.
“Great Thousand Worlds, full of wonders.”
Luo Xue could only sigh.
Nangong Mengxiang didn’t follow them but hid nearby, keeping an eye on Luo Xue and the Sha sisters.
If anything unexpected happened, she would immediately take action and rescue them.
With Nangong Mengxiang’s condition a few days ago, even a Core Formation cultivator would have a hard time tracking her if she wanted to escape.
After confirming that her panel status wasn’t showing any dangerous events, Luo Xue followed the man in the bamboo hat with a timid expression.
“The Youxiang Restaurant is so lively today…”
Sha Yiyi said with emotion. She wasn’t used to it.
This was her first time appearing in this form in broad daylight. She had thought that because of its high prices, the Youxiang Restaurant was usually deserted, so she wouldn’t have to worry about feeling uncomfortable.
But today, there were many onlookers gathered around, and she didn’t know what was going on.
Fortunately, these onlookers didn’t dare to get too close, which made Sha Yiyi relieved.
However, this strange duo still attracted a lot of attention.
“Is the Youxiang Restaurant usually empty?” Luo Xue asked curiously.
“It’s a rip-off! Very expensive, and the food isn’t even that good,” Sha Keke said resentfully. “They just use good ingredients, it’s such a waste… I could make it much better.”
Compared to her sister’s sharp mind, Sha Keke focused on making money and cooking, or rather, she cooked to make money.
Luo Xue had tasted Sha Keke’s cooking before; it was indeed excellent.
It was a pity that most cultivators had long since stopped needing food and weren’t concerned about taste, focusing more on the effects of the heavenly treasures.
They chatted all the way until they finally reached the entrance of the Youxiang Restaurant.
Looking up, they saw a waitress approaching.
She politely nodded at Luo Xue and the Sha sisters and said,
“Mr. Sima and Miss Shangguan invite the two of you in.”
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