At high noon, the warmth of the sun slightly dispelled the chill of late winter.
Yan Shuyi dozed off at her desk and woke up to see Ji You packing his bags.
Yesterday, during their casual chat by the stove, they had already discussed the various strange occurrences in the Qingyun World recently.
The little Master Jian also knew that he was going to the ruins, but she had a different opinion.
“Have you ever thought that if this is truly a protracted conspiracy, the plan must be meticulous. You might not find anything at those three ruins, and there’s even a risk of losing your life.”
“I think so too, but… the matter of the Evil Seed still needs to be resolved.”
Yan Shuyi looked at him: “Why?”
Ji You was silent for a moment: “They eat people. I don’t care how many cultivators die, but if those things are truly no longer restricted by the scope of the ruins, as the Master's Courtyard investigated, and they like to eat living people raw, then killing one more is one more.”
“You’re not going for the ruins?”
“I’m going for the Hongshan Mine. After it was attacked, the Tianshu Academy Disciples were nowhere to be found, and there were Evil Seeds everywhere. Some miners have lost their Sect and homes.”
Ji You recalled the lanterns he saw on the north side of Wanzhuo Mountain that day: “I plan to first trick some people in the team to help me thoroughly eliminate the Evil Seeds.”
Yan Shuyi tilted her head and looked at him: “What about the Inner Courtyard slot?”
“People always have to face choices. Sometimes I’d rather follow my intuition.”
“I want to go out and play.”
“?”
Ji You turned to look at her: “Your thoughts are too erratic.”
Yan Shuyi stood up and looked at the red sun outside the door, saying, “Take me out to play. I haven’t explored Shengjing yet.”
“I haven’t finished packing my things.”
“Pack when we get back. I want to eat candied fruit. Buy me some candied fruit.”
Subsequently, at the Tianshu Academy mountain gate, the little Master Jian of Lingjian Mountain pulled an unremarkable Outer Courtyard Disciple out of Ni Mountain and headed to Yongxing Street in the West City.
As he passed the Shengjing Bookstore, Ji You paused slightly, feeling as if he had forgotten to meet someone.
It didn’t matter, it wasn’t anyone important anyway.
He snapped back to reality and saw Yan Shuyi had already gone ahead, entering a huge ancient building. On the plaque above the building were three large characters: Qionghua Xuan.
This was a thousand-year-old business specializing in cultivators, reportedly supported by a Sect, and dedicated to selling Spirit Pills, Spirit Stones, and various Magical Artifacts.
Its shops were spread throughout the Qingyun World; they could even obtain High Grade Spirit Pills produced by the Dan Sect.
Ji You had never been here, because the grand entrance seemed to say that paupers were not allowed inside.
He walked closer, took out his money pouch, and peered inside, thinking that at most he could buy her a small trinket to humor her.
Cao Instructor is really poor!
Didn’t he consider if he had truly worked hard all these years?
Ji You clicked his tongue and followed into Qionghua Xuan. Coincidentally, there were some Tianshu Academy students on the first floor of Qionghua Xuan.
Among them were Lu Qingqiu, Du Zhu, Qian Yunxiao, and others.
The three of them were all students of Instructor Ma. Instructor Ma’s birthday was approaching, so they came here to buy some things as gifts.
Yan Shuyi didn't recognize them. She pointed to a green jade gourd on the shelf and asked the Master-in-charge to take it down. After playing with it for a moment, she held it in her palm and then trotted upstairs.
Lu Qingqiu watched for a long time, then turned to Ji You: “Ji Gongzi, are you bringing a friend to buy Magical Artifacts?”
“Just casually looking around.”
“I’ve long suspected that Fang Ruoyao’s claim of being your fiancée was suspicious, and now it seems it’s true.”
Lu Qingqiu pursed her lips and looked upstairs: “Is that Young Miss from a Worldly Family? She picked out the best storage Magical Artifact in the shop at a glance; that’s worth hundreds of taels of silver.”
After Ji You took away the sudden Fairy yesterday, the Outer Courtyard was abuzz with discussion.
Combining the fact that Ji You and Fang Ruoyao had never interacted before, many people guessed that the so-called engagement was actually baseless.
However, the Young Miss of Yunzhou was a bit uncomfortable, because she had always thought Ji You was fond of her.
Du Zhu couldn’t help but turn his head at this point: “Coming to a place like this, Brother Ji, did you not dare to tell her that your family is poor?”
Ji You ignored him, leaning into Qian Yunxiao’s ear and saying, “Go back and tell Cao Instructor that I’m not going to explore the ruins. I might have to stay here and work to pay off debts, endlessly…”
Qian Yunxiao swallowed: “Brother Ji, hold back a bit, the ones upstairs are even more expensive…”
“?”
Ji You hissed, immediately lifted his foot and went upstairs. The others, with a mind to watch the show, followed him up.
At this time, the little Master Jian had already picked many things, all of which were very valuable, making Du Zhu and his group’s scalps tingle.
She then set her sights on a bow hanging at the highest point, ordering someone to take it down from the shelf.
Lu Qingqiu saw that the bow and arrow were entirely covered in Mystic Light, thinking that the price of this single bow probably equaled all the items bought previously.
However, as Ji You followed, Yan Shuyi suddenly stopped, then turned her head to look at a men’s brocade robe nearby. She took it down and held it up to him.
Qionghua Xuan did not sell mundane items, so this brocade robe was naturally a defensive Magical Artifact.
“This one, I want three.”
“And boots, prepare several pairs.”
Yan Shuyi took off the jade token from her waist and tossed it to a Master-in-charge in the building.
Qionghua Xuan also had a so-called VIP system, but the jade tokens were not for sale to the public. Instead, they were given to the Seven Great Immortal Sects or top Worldly Sect.
With a jade token, one did not need to settle the bill when shopping at Qionghua Xuan; the account would be sent directly to the Sect to which the jade token belonged.
The little Master Jian opened her palm, and as a Spiritual Light emerged from the green jade gourd, all the previously purchased items were collected into this green jade gourd.
Then, the gourd was handed to Ji You’s palm.
“Seeing you play with those chopsticks today, I decided to buy you a set of hidden weapons. Perhaps they can save your life at a crucial moment.”
“Additionally, Evil Seeds are not strong in combat but are numerous. Facing them with a bow and arrow will at least prevent you from being surrounded.”
“The green jade gourd can store things, so you won’t need a bundle.”
“I… I lied before. I actually don’t like quietness.”
After Yan Shuyi finished speaking, she noticed Ji You was in a daze, and a thoughtful expression appeared on her flawless face.
She had never bought anything for a man before, and it felt a bit strange, not the same feeling as giving gifts to Junior Sister or Senior Sister.
Just then, she suddenly felt a hand touch her, and she could feel the warmth of his palm as it drew near.
Then she realized that her cheek seemed to have been pinched by this hand.
It wasn’t a dream; such a rich woman was actually real!
Ji You took a deep breath, realizing he seemed to have pinched her face just now, so he held his breath and looked over.
Unexpectedly, the little Master Jian whose face was pinched did not lift her foot; instead, her expression was a bit confused.