Cut down.
After eating, You XiaoMo and Ling Xiao leave Seven Stars tower. The manager and waiter look at them with a complicated expression as they leave. But not long after they leave, a few people come out from the shadows and start to tail them quietly.
The two them are in no hurry to leave HunJi city. Rather, they head for the Magic pill central workshop. Yesterday they already arranged with the old man from the Magic pill central workshop, to pick up the magic herb seeds today.
The Magic pill central workshop and Seven Stars tower are on the same street. It doesn’t take them long to arrive.
The number of customers coming in and out of the entrance of the Magic pill central workshop is as numerous as before. Because Magic pill central workshop is very famous in HunJi city, the entrance is always packed tightly. The noise is even greater than that in a wet market. The incessant din can be heard from very far away.
You XiaoMo stands close by and looks at the throng of people at the entrance. A drop of cold sweat rolls off his forehead.
On the other hand, Ling Xiao is more straightforward. He heads straight for the throng of people. Just when he gets close to the crowd, a bizarre phenomenon happens. The jam-packed throng of people suddenly parts into two, as if pushed outwards by some force. He then simply struts into Magic pill central workshop, not paying any attention to the people that are endlessly shouting curses at him.
You XiaoMo watches wide-eyed with his mouth hanging open. He then quickly runs to catch up.
Entering the Magic pill central workshop, the commotion outside finally gets further away, the ears are no longer buzzing.
When the both of them step inside, the female attendant that served them yesterday immediately comes up to them, as if she has been waiting for them. After a few words of greetings, she takes them straight up to the second floor. That old man dressed in black robes on the second floor is also waiting for them. Seeing them, he immediately smiles warmly.
“The two sirs are finally here. Old me has been waiting for a long time.”
The old man looks at them while chuckling *he he*. After a bit, he lets the attendant bring out the prepared magic herb seeds. Each type of magic herb seed is held in a small pouch. The pouches are of many different colors, with the name of the magic herb seeds indicated on the outside, making it easy to differentiate them.
Because there are too many seeds, the old man just puts all the pouches of seeds into a magic bag. The magic bag is a rather common thing so it doesn’t cost much.
“These are the magic herb seeds that the two of you asked for yesterday. They are all inside. You can check and see.”
The old man hands over the magic bag to You XiaoMo.
You XiaoMo takes the magic bag that the old man hands over to him. He takes a rough survey. The three types of magic herb seeds that he talked about yesterday are all inside. Altogether two hundred and seventy five small pouches. As for the seeds inside the pouches, he doesn’t check, believing that Magic pill central workshop wouldn’t cheat him, unless they no longer care about their reputation.
Seeing that he is satisfied, Ling Xiao asks the old man, “How many gold coins altogether?”
The old man smiles as he says, “Because the two of you have a level two distinguished guest card, so you can enjoy a preferential price from Magic pill central workshop with ten percent off. Originally it is eight million eight hundred thousand. After ten percent off, it’s seven million nine hundred and twenty thousand.
Eight hundred and eighty thousand less than what he expected. That old man from the auction house was right. The distinguished guest card can be used for discounts. You XiaoMo hands over the coins while smiling shrewdly.
After seeing the two of them off, the slightly smiling face of the old man suddenly becomes serious.
A gray-robed person walks out from inside. His whole body is enclosed in the gray robe, only leaving half his face exposed. The robe also seems to have the ability to block other people’s perception. The moment he comes out, the old man immediately turns respectful.
“City leader!”
“The people we sent yesterday, did they find out their background?”
Under the gray robe, a pair of cold eyes send out sinister vibes accompanying a voice that terrifies people.
“We still haven’t figured it out. These two people seem to have appeared out of thin air. We didn’t find any news at all about them. Subordinate suspects they have altered their faces.”
The old man cups his hands as he speaks respectfully.
“Altered their faces? If they are people with strong backing, why would they need to alter their faces? But it’s good like that. Them altering their faces actually benefits our plan. If people were to come investigate in the future, they wouldn’t be able to pin it on us.”
The gray-robed man lets out a low laugh, showing that he is a hundred percent delighted, as if he already has what he wants in his hands.
The old man also smiles slightly, “City leader, then should I send someone to intercept them now?”
“No need to rush.”
The gray-robed man speaks in a low voice, “There are quite a few people with the same objective as us. Surely the three powerful forces are very keen on that spiritual liquid and magic beast egg. We’ll wait for them to act first. Once both sides are bruised and battered, then we’ll make our move.”
The old man hesitates then frowns while speaking, “City leader. Is that man really as awesome as you say? Even the three powerful forces can’t bring him down?”
The gray-robed man paces on the spot. After a while, he says with a solemn face, “That man is very strong. According to my probing just now, he should be no less than Star level. Furthermore, this person dares to bring out his treasures so brazenly, so he must be very confident of his own strength. But the young man at his side has no combat ability whatsoever, something that can be exploited.”
“Subordinate understands!”
The old man immediately understands what the city leader means. In order to achieve their objective, treacherous moves are necessary.
While the two of them think that they have made a seamless heavenly robe, they are unaware that Ling Xiao had discovered the presence of the gray-robed person the moment he entered Magic pill central workshop. Although the gray robe he wears can cut off a person’s aura, nothing is absolute.
After detecting the presence of the gray-robed man, Ling Xiao at first thought that he was after him. But after observing for a while, he discovers that the mysterious person hiding in Magic pill central workshop is mostly looking at You XiaoMo.
“Elder brother Ling, are we going back to TianXin sect now?”
After leaving Magic pill central workshop, You XiaoMo thinks about how his objectives for this trip have been achieved. Then he remembers that it is almost four days since he left. Two days for the auction, two days for the journey here. But thinking of the two days on the road, his face crumbles. Even now, he still can’t forget the taste of the ‘shaking carriage’.
“En, it should be time for us to head back.”
Ling Xiao nods.
“Then, then are we going to take the Raging fire horse back again?”
You XiaoMo asks gingerly, grimacing slightly.
Ling Xiao looks at his crestfallen face. His lips twitch as he says, “No, this time we won’t take the Raging fire horse. We will use another method to go back ba. You will find out when we leave HunJi city.”
The last sentence simply stops You XiaoMo from asking what other method.
And so, the knowing Ling Xiao brings the clueless You XiaoMo around the shops on their way back to Seven Stars tower. This stroll takes over an hour. The sun sets while You XiaoMo buys a huge heap of things.
Although he bought a lot of mid level magic herb seeds from Magic pill central workshop, You XiaoMo still feels that it is too little. Furthermore, the higher the level, the more types there are. Like the level six magic herbs. He bought one hundred and twenty one types from Magic pill central workshop but in reality, this is not all there is. There may be some that have not yet been discovered. There are also some that Magic pill central workshop did not manage to collect.
But if even Magic pill central workshop doesn’t have them, other magic pill shops also may not have them. So You XiaoMo only manages to buy some level four magic herb seeds. Level five and level six are not commonly seen.
That evening, they spend the night in Seven Stars tower.
The next day, at first light, under the numerous pairs of hidden watchful eyes, Ling Xiao and You XiaoMo leaves Seven Stars tower, one in front of the other.
This time, the two of them don’t wander about and instead head straight for the city gates. Half an hour later, the two of them arrive at the city gates. The guards are no longer the two they saw before. Instead, they’ve turned into two martial artists with powerful auras. The two of them seems to recognize them, letting them pass without delay.
Out of the city gates, Ling Xiao immediately calls the Raging fire horse. Amidst the sound of frenzied hooves, the Raging fire horse spirits them away from HunJi city. In less than half an hour, they reach green plains, boundless green plains cloaked in a thin layer of white mist.
Just when the Raging fire horse gallops into the boundary of the green plains, three black figures suddenly flash out of the misty scene in front. They form a triangle sealing off the any forward progress for the Raging fire horse.
The Raging fire horse rears upwards and neighs before coming to a stop. Still, no one comes out from the carriage.
After a moment of silence, the three black figures shoot towards the horse carriage. Their explosive momentum seem to want to pulverize even the air. In a flash, weapons appear in their hands, the blades flashing coldly as they charge towards the horse carriage. Although it is a fine carriage, it still can’t withstand the assault of three Moon level martial artists. It explodes with a *hong*, fragments shooting out in all directions.
At the same time, a white figure flies up from the top of the horse carriage, and then comes straight down and lands on the flat ground.
The white figure is Ling Xiao. As for You XiaoMo, he is wedged ……. under his arm.
Upon landing, Ling Xiao first puts You XiaoMo down. Without stopping for a moment, he changes into a sharp arrow shooting towards the three black-clothed men. The speed is so fast that his targets have no time to react. Two bursts of purple flames shoot out from his body. In a blink of an eye, they pierce into the bodies of the two black-clothed men on the sides. Before the two of them could struggle, they fall to the ground screaming, never to get up again.
As for the third man in black, after jumping in fright at how the other two died, he didn’t even have time to raise the sword in his hand before Ling Xiao reaches him. With a booming fist, the black-clothed man’s head flies off in an instant, blood and brain matter splattering everywhere …….
The still Ling Xiao slowly turns around to find a knife on You XiaoMo’s neck.
Notes:
seamless heavenly robe – something flawless
shaking car – also used to describe car sex
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I don’t speak Chinese. Corrections welcomed.