Chapter 6 (Part 1) Little Fox and Mother Tiger

  A flash of golden light.

  A bloody big hand fell on the ground.

  Hai Ji slowly withdrew her palm, the edge of which shone with a golden light, like a sharp blade. "Thud", the robust man fainted in pain on the ground, his severed wrist bleeding profusely, his right hand cut off by Hai Ji.

  I shook my head, this sturdy fellow is quite unlucky, who else would he dare to provoke, and actually dared to provoke me. Hai Da beauty, you are indeed loyal to your duty, I am very satisfied with you.

  The crowd was stunned, and after a while, someone shouted: "She is Hai Ji, the chief female martial goddess of the Hai Dian Temple of the Luo Sheng Tian Mai sect!" The crowd immediately became chaotic, and another person exclaimed: "Good heavens! The one wearing white Taoist robes is Gan Ning Zhen! It's really Gan Ning Zhen! How strange, what are they doing together?" Another person whispered: "Shh, keep your voice down, there's also someone who looks like Ju Dan Mei, don't provoke this jinx."

  We walked through the street, and the crowd parted like a cold cicada, automatically leaving an empty road. I leaned on it, just like the emperor coming out for a tour so mighty. It took a long time for the surrounding area to recover from the noise, and the people were buying and selling while secretly looking at us. I turned east and west, and the goods here are indeed very strange, flying swords, humanoid medicinal herbs, beast skins as thin as cicada wings, monster's inner alchemy...... dazzling, unfortunately, I have no money to buy. In front of a stall, I stopped my footsteps.

  On the crumpled wool blanket, a lot of things were placed in a disorderly manner. Among them was an octagonal purple copper box, inside which was a carnelian bead, round and smooth, with a bright red color. At first glance, it looked like the inner dan of the dragon butterfly.

  I crouched down, curiously examining the agate bead. The vendor, an old man wearing a Taoist robe, leaned in close to me and said mysteriously, "Want to buy it? This is the inner elixir of the Dragon Butterfly Demon King, absolutely genuine, very nourishing if you eat it."

  My internal elixir? I almost choked on a mouthful of air.

  Three beauties looked at me, Ji Danmei and Hai Ji couldn't help but giggle, even the cold Gan Ning also flashed a hint of a smile.

  The old man glanced at the beauties with a lecherous gaze, then turned his eyes to me and said with a smile: "Young brother, you look like someone who knows what's good. This inner elixir, I'll give it to you for 20% off, just one million two hundred thousand gold coins, how about it?"

  I was dizzy, he sold fake goods in front of me and had the nerve to boast about it. This old man probably never dreamed that Long Die was right in front of him. I waved my hand, just about to leave, when the old man grabbed my sleeve and said urgently: "Half price, I'll give you half price! This is Long Die's inner elixir, a rare treasure! Alright, alright, I take a liking to you at first sight, one price, 3,000 taels of gold!"

  I'm not worth three thousand taels of gold even if you sell me. I spread out my empty hands: "I really want to buy it, but I don't have the money. Since you took a liking to me at first sight, why not just give it to me for free?"

  The old man glared and waved his hand: "Go away, go away, no money to talk about. You're dressed quite well, didn't expect you to be a poor devil."

  Damn it, Beijiang and Datang are the same, they're all selfish. I hummed a sound, turned around and walked away, just took a few steps, suddenly stopped.

  It's strange, after leaving that stall, I suddenly felt a sense of loss in my heart.

  "What's wrong?" asked Yu Danmei.

  "Nothing." I replied vaguely, continuing to walk forward. It's really weird, the farther away from that stall, the stronger the sense of loss in my heart. It seems like there was something special there that I missed.

  I finally couldn't bear it and turned back. I walked all the way to that stall, and my emotions only returned to normal then. Suddenly, I felt enlightened - there must be something mysterious here.

  The old man took a look at me and ignored me, continuing to shout at other customers.

  I stared at the agate bead for half a day, and Hai Ji looked at me with a strange expression: "You wouldn't really want to buy this...this inner dan, would you?"

  I shook my head, the real dragonfly inner dan was inside my forehead, this one was certainly fake. My gaze swept over the agate bead, sizing up the other items: bronze sword, smoked sheepskin paper, blue sapphire necklace...... I touched this and weighed that, turning over all the things on the stall, but nothing made me feel unusual.

  What a strange thing. I walked away in disappointment, but the feeling of being lost and confused came again.

  Could it still be that agate bead? I suddenly turned around, grabbed the purple copper octagonal box, and brought it closer to my eyes to take a closer look at the agate bead.

  "Hum", as soon as I touched the copper box, my ears buzzed slightly, the inner elixir in my forehead suddenly heated up, and a kind of abnormally full feeling surged up in my heart.

  I get it now! What's strange isn't the agate bead, but the purple copper octagonal box that holds it!

  The old man snatched the copper box and said in a strange tone, "Are you going to buy it or not? If you don't have money, don't waste my time. The inner elixir of Longdie is a hot commodity in any of the nine heavens."

  I gazed at the purple copper octagonal box and pondered for a moment before making up my mind to get it.

  It shouldn't be just a copper box.

  I averted my gaze, deliberately looking at other goods, pretending to be uninterested in the copper box. I was all too familiar with this haggling routine of the marketplace. These small vendors would always raise their prices if they sensed that you were interested in buying something. I asked about the price of the curved knife and touched the blue sapphire necklace again, and the old man finally lost his patience: "Are you going to buy it or not?"

  I made a bitter face: "With just one or two silver coins, what can I buy?"

  The old man glared at me with a huff: "Even the cheapest thing here costs fifty taels of gold!"

  "I hypocritically shouted: 'What nonsense are you spouting! Is this broken box that holds the Dragon Butterfly Inner Elixir really worth fifty taels of gold?'"

  The old man was stunned: "This... this ten taels of gold should be available, right?"

  I snorted disdainfully: "A few silver coins are still somewhat decent." After finishing speaking, I turned my head and left.

  One step, two steps, three steps, my heart beats rapidly as I wait for the old man to stop me. When I reach the fourth step, a voice comes from behind: "Young fellow, don't go! This copper box is one or two silver coins, do you want it?"

  I couldn't help but laugh, just as I had expected, the old man took the bait. After intentionally hesitating for a moment, I picked up the copper box and nodded at the three beauties: "Help me pay."

  "That's your business, it has nothing to do with us."

  This was also within my expectation, I put the copper box into my arms and left with a flourish.

  "You haven't paid yet!" The old man chased after him, holding a gleaming dagger in his hand and growling viciously: "You stinky little brat, you dare to steal things even in Ruyi City?"

  I smiled slyly at him, the copper box was already in my grasp. As soon as the old man made a move, the three beauties would be forced to protect me. If they didn't want to gain a bad reputation for robbery, they could only help daddy pay up obediently.

  Three beautiful women looked at each other, and also guessed my intention. Gan Ning frowned and said: "I really don't have any money. After staying in that place for 16 years, how could I bring money? Hai Ji, do you have any?"

  Hai Ji shook her head, and Ju Dan Mei puffed out her chest, smiling at me: "Feel for yourself, can I hide money on my body?"

  I'm completely blinded, damn it! It turns out they're just four poor devils!

  "Give me back the copper box!" The old man's eyes gleamed with a fierce light, and he reached out to grab me with his dry palm, which suddenly swelled several times larger, all flesh and blood disappearing, turning into white bony claws that emitted a rotten corpse stench.

  Gan Ning patted the long sword at his waist, a clear and cold water vapor, like ice and snow, emerged from the scabbard, and a white misty light appeared in front of the old man. The latter let out a strange cry and was shocked to fly out, the dagger in his hand shattered into pieces.

  "Ji Dan's three thousand weak waters are truly famous and not in vain."

  "Thieves! Someone's stealing!" The old man scrambled up, wailing and daring not to move again. People around us gathered, their eyes fixed on us, someone whispered: "Gan Ningzhen, Hai Ji, and Ju Danyi are such big names, how can they openly steal things?" "You don't understand, it's just that with great fame comes great power, that's why they dare to break the rules of Ruyi City."

  Hai Ji awkwardly said to Ju Danmei: "Or, you can use the cat eye earrings as collateral for that old man?"

  Jū Dān Mèi smiled slightly: "No need to be so troublesome." She walked up to the old man, bent down, and whispered a few words in his ear. The old man's body shook all over, Jū Dān Mèi said another sentence, the old man's face changed unpredictably, after a while, he gritted his teeth and said dejectedly: "Nothing happened, nothing happened, I was just joking earlier. Everyone can leave now, I still have business to attend to."

  The crowd dispersed one after another. Ji Danmei winked at me, and Haiji curiously asked: "What did you say to him in the end?"

  I lazily said: "It's nothing but some threatening words, such as, Long Die's inner elixir is fake, old man, if you dare to make trouble again, I'll let everyone know that you're selling fake goods. Humph, even if I return the copper box to you, my nine-tailed scorpion demon will come for your dog life in the middle of the night. Think about it, for a worthless box, how could the old man dare to offend our beautiful pigeon?"

  Ji Dan's charming lips pouted: "Lin Fei, you really know what I'm thinking, I want to kiss you."

  "Saved! I couldn't take it." I chuckled to myself, feeling so cool inside. With three beautiful women backing me up, from now on I can eat, drink and take things for free. Isn't this just like the saying "the fox exploits the tiger's might"?

  I patted my belly and shouted to the beauties: "Now I'm very hungry, you don't have money, so I can only eat a boxed lunch. Where is the most expensive restaurant?"