Chapter 57

Chapter 57: Giving a Spirit Coin

The events of that night had made Xu Qing very angry. He hadn’t wanted to kill people on his first day in the Seven Blood Pupils main city, but that woman had forcibly framed him.

If it wasn’t for Xu Qing’s powerful cultivation base and uncanny battle prowess, he might not have survived that night.

So when he made his move at this moment, he acted extremely quickly. When she heard his words, the screaming woman immediately shut up, trembling all over.

However, she knew that she had an advantage in that she was a woman. Usually, a man would feel pity when confronted with a terrified woman, so she intentionally exaggerated her fright.

Xu Qing’s expression didn’t change as he walked over while chewing the last of the candied haws. At the same time, he didn’t forget to be wary of possible accomplices blended in with the crowd. Wherever he stepped, the passersby all around would give him a wide berth.

A few of them who were cultivators wanted to intervene when they saw the miserable woman, but they quickly dismissed any ideas of helping when they noticed Xu Qing’s imposing aura.

Seeing Xu Qing’s approach, the woman trembled even more. The foot that was nailed to the ground sent her waves of excruciating pain, and her forehead was covered with sweat as she recognized Xu Qing’s voice.

In fact, ever since that night when she framed Xu Qing, she had been very vigilant. She had noticed Xu Qing’s cold eyes and his vicious attacks and realized that she’d provoked a terrifying enemy.

Thus, she’d been in hiding for the past few days and didn’t go out. Today, she felt that the matter should have blown over. There was a high probability that the terrifying enemy was just passing by and wouldn’t dare to act rashly during the day.

That was why she dared to come out, but she never expected that the other party would actually appear.

Originally, she wasn’t too afraid of meeting them and was confident in her ability to escape. After all, she was a civilian, and the Patrol Department would protect her under the public security laws.

But at this moment, looking at the figure squatting down beside her, she suddenly had a premonition that she would die here before the guards could arrive.

Thus, she tried to delay time by attempting to evoke his feelings of pity by trembling and showing a terrified expression.

“Stop pretending.” Xu Qing squatted down in front of the woman and yanked the bamboo skewer out of her foot.

The severe pain that wracked her body and the fact that her intentions were seen through made the panic in the woman’s eyes become real. When she noticed how close Xu Qing was, she struggled internally, but ultimately dared not to release the poison powder hidden in her tightly clenched right hand.

At that moment, a whistling sound came over from a distant street, and a group of patrolling guards seemed to have noticed what was happening. They rushed over quickly.

The woman's eyes suddenly showed hope.

But Xu Qing quickly flashed his Homicide Department badge, and the guards immediately turned and left without looking back. The hope in the woman’s eyes was instantly replaced by despair, and she suddenly spoke in a low, quavering voice.

“What happened last time was all my fault. I’m willing to make up for it. I… I know a clue to a wanted criminal!”

She didn’t dare to bargain with Xu Qing. Someone who lived on the dark side of society like her knew very well that she wasn’t qualified to even attempt to bargain with someone stronger than herself, and absolute obedience was the only way to survive this disaster.

Thus, she didn’t wait for Xu Qing to reply and directly spilled her clue.

“There is a wanted criminal named Qing Yunzi, and he’s an abandoned disciple of the Spirit Cloud Sect. He’s been living on Banquan Road these past few days, in the inn where we met last time.”

“Wanted criminal?” Xu Qing took out the jade slip given by the captain. He checked it and indeed found Qing Yunzi’s name, with a reward of twenty spirit stones.

“Also, I heard about your Homicide Department’s recent investigations. I also know about a Night Dove stronghold.” In order to keep her life, the woman hurriedly continued to speak and informed Xu Qing of the stronghold’s position.

As Xu Qing listened to her words, he gave the woman a meaningful look and was reminded of the captain’s informant. Thus, he took out a spirit coin and handed it to her.

“If you have similar clues in the future, just wait for me here.”

The woman was stunned and hesitated for a moment. She knew clearly what this sentence meant. Soon, she gritted her teeth and nodded, taking the spirit coin and limping away quickly under Xu Qing’s watchful gaze.

As the woman’s figure disappeared into the crowd, Xu Qing stood back up. He didn’t go to personally verify the truthfulness of the Night Dove stronghold that the woman talked about. His job was only to report it back to the department, and there would naturally be others to verify it.

So after spending the rest of the day patrolling the city, Xu Qing returned to the inn on Banquan Road at sunset.

In fact, the inn was also open during the day, but more people appeared at night.

Xu Qing looked at it from a distance. Recalling the strange innkeeper, he didn’t act rashly, instead returning to the Homicide Department to report the clues about the Night Dove stronghold before leaving.

As for whether that woman had only agreed on the surface and wanted to run away afterwards, Xu Qing didn’t care. After all, she’d taken his spirit coin… and that spirit coin was poisoned.

The poison would flare up and she would need to find him for detoxification after three days.

On the way, he met a few other members of Team Six. When they saw Xu Qing, almost all of them looked away coldly, not even greeting him, with the exception of one middle-aged man who smiled and invited Xu Qing for a drink.

Seven Blood Pupils disciples weren’t allowed to kill each other openly, but it was very common to plunder from each other in secret. This abrupt invitation made Xu Qing wary and he calmly refused it.

Today was a special day. He didn’t want to kill people and just wanted to be left alone.

In addition, he also planned to go to a pharmacy.

Xu Qing wanted to buy some medicinal herbs to refine White Pills so he could sell them. At the same time, he was running out of poisons and Black Pills, and needed to replenish his stock. Plus, he had come up with more ideas for new poisons that he had to verify.

Xu Qing followed his mental map and soon located a pharmacy.

This pharmacy was a big store, and many people could be seeing entering and exiting. All of them were dressed in gray Taoist robes.

Pills were merchandise needed by every peak’s disciples.

Xu Qing’s entrance attracted some attention because of his looks, but most of the gazes only glanced at him briefly before disappearing. Their faces didn’t show any clear expressions.

Xu Qing calmly swept his gaze over the crowd and silently walked toward the counter.

At the counter, apart from an old man who seemed to be a shopkeeper, there was also a little fatty.

This little fatty had an ordinary appearance and a gray Daoist robe that clung tightly to his skin, making him look round like a ball. His fair and chubby face had some freckles, and he looked to be sixteen or seventeen years old. He was also a customer.

At that moment, he yawned as he shoveled the medicinal herbs piled on the counter into a huge leather bag.

He swept them randomly without any care. Others might not realize, but Xu Qing could tell at a glance that the little fatty knew nothing about medicinal herbs.

Some of those herbs shouldn’t have been placed next to each other, but he just stuffed them into the leather bag carelessly.

“Shopkeeper, this time there aren’t that many herbs. Are these really all?” As Xu Qing approached, he heard the little fatty voicing his dissatisfaction.

“You come here every day and we’re already sold out. Why don’t you wait for tomorrow? The goods from the boss should arrive by then.” The shopkeeper was obviously very familiar with the little fatty. After handing over all the purchased medicinal herbs, he turned to look at Xu Qing.

“Junior Brother, what medicinal pills are you looking for?”

“I need ten-year-old butterfly-bone flowers, thirty stalks of gold-winged leaves, ten treated stalks of exquisite grass, seven colored grass of any age, and one hundred stalks of gold-button grass.” Xu Qing spoke calmly.

“I also need rhinofire flowers with their roots still attached, as well as Spirit Congealing Leaves and ten stalks of whiteroots.”

“Also, do you have any cloudrotting mud and thorns from black roses?” After thinking about it, Xu Qing mentioned a few additional snake venoms and poisonous plants before looking at the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper’s eyes narrowed, and he studied Xu Qing carefully. Normally, his customers were all disciples here to buy pills. Disciples did come to buy herbs occasionally, but they were mostly from the Second Peak, or else they were like the fatty and didn’t understand herbs at all.

But this unfamiliar young man in front of him spoke so clearly and didn’t seem to be a Second Peak cultivator. It was a rare sight.

In particular, the shopkeeper noticed that most of the requested herbs were ingredients for the White Pill, which made him fall into thought. Taking a deep look at Xu Qing, he shook his head.

“The rest cost a total of 380 spirit coins, but as for the Spirit Congealing Leaves, the last 100 in stock were already bought by him. You can come back tomorrow to buy them.” The shopkeeper pointed at the little fatty who was packing up.

Xu Qing nodded. Although the Spirit Congealing Leaves were important, it didn’t matter if he had to wait one more day. The price of the herbs was also reasonable. Depending on his success rate, he could probably produce around 100 White Pills and some new poison powder.

He was just about to confirm the purchase, but the little fatty at the side suddenly raised his head. Looking at Xu Qing, the fatty asked curiously.

“You also want Spirit Congealing Leaves? What’s it used for? I asked the shopkeeper several times, but he never told me.”

“You ask too many questions every time. If I spent time answering every one of them, how could I do business with others…” The shopkeeper sighed helplessly.

Xu Qing glanced over at the little fatty. Thinking about the time he was also so hungry for knowledge, he spoke softly.

“The Spirit Congealing Leaf has two main functions. One is to catalyze other medicinal herbs, making them mutate in the direction you want. It’s also very helpful in nourishing the skin.”

The little fatty seemed to be enlightened when he heard this and very generously took out a handful of Spirit Congealing Leaves, placing seven or eight stalks in front of Xu Qing.

“Thanks, bro. Here, these are for you.” When the little fatty finished speaking, he picked up the leather bag and left happily. He seemed to think nothing of handing out herbs for free.

Xu Qing froze. He hesitated for a moment and was about to refuse the gift, but the little fatty had already walked out the door in a hurry and taken out a jade slip, as if sending voice transmissions.

The shopkeeper on the side smiled.

“That little fatty is Huang Yan, a disciple of Seventh Peak. He’s also a weirdo who’s utterly infatuated with someone. I don’t know which female disciple he’s been charmed by, but he’s come to buy herbs from me for many years. If he continues to spend like this, all the money he’s spent will be enough for him to become my boss. However, this kid definitely isn’t simple; he’s survived until now despite being so high-profile with his wealth."

Xu Qing took a deep look at the departing little fatty, but he didn’t speak. After buying the remaining herbs, he left the pharmacy.

After returning to his berth, he checked that nothing was wrong as always and summoned his magic boat before immediately activating the protective barrier. Once the barrier appeared, he breathed a sigh of relief.

The magic boat gave Xu Qing a sense of security that he didn’t feel in the outside world. Entering the cabin and sitting down, he took out the herbs he’d bought earlier and arranged them carefully. The recipe for the White Pill surfaced in his mind.

Although this was the first time Xu Qing had been able to gather all the necessary herbs, he had never stopped his study of the White Pill’s recipe. Now that the herbs were all here, he pondered carefully before beginning to refine the pills.

Time passed slowly, and midnight finally arrived.

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