27: Chapter 27: Parting Sorrow

A familiar, lovely figure was leaning against the doorframe, her head lowered, her toes unconsciously grinding against the small pebbles on the ground.

Ye Qingcen?!

Xiao Yuan's footsteps paused, a hundred question marks instantly flashing through his mind.

This former fiancée, the Senior Sister whose body he had taken using "extraordinary means," should logically hate him to the core now, wanting to kill him every single time she saw him.

How… could she be here?

Moreover, judging by her appearance, it seemed she had been waiting at the entrance for quite a while.

The afterglow of the setting sun cast a soft radiance upon her profile, and her usual aloof and cold demeanor surprisingly revealed a hint of… awkwardness at this moment?

At this moment, Ye Qingcen seemed to sense something and raised her head.

Their eyes met.

Her eyes lit up noticeably, her lips parted slightly as if she wanted to say something, and her footsteps unconsciously took half a step forward.

But the next second, she seemed to suddenly snap out of it, the expression on her face rapidly "freezing" as she recovered her aloof demeanor.

She slowly walked over to Xiao Yuan, her movements deliberately slowed down, as if she were merely passing by.

"Cough." Ye Qingcen turned her face away, refusing to look at Xiao Yuan, and unclipped a light cyan Storage Pouch from her waist, shoving it unconditionally into Xiao Yuan's hand. "This… take it back."

Xiao Yuan froze, looking down at the Storage Pouch in his hand.

"There aren't many things inside," Ye Qingcen said in a stiff tone, as if reciting lines, "but it should be enough for you to use for a while. The Xishan Mine… is not a good place."

She paused, her voice lowering slightly: "When you get there, mine honestly. Don't contend with others, don't fight with others. With… your level of Cultivate, you won't be able to contend."

Between the lines, it was filled with care.

Yet the tone in which it was spoken was prideful enough to push someone two miles away.

Xiao Yuan blinked, the sense of strangeness in his heart growing even stronger.

Was this still the Ye Qingcen he knew? That green tea fiancée who treated him like an ATM, a bootlicker, and a spare tire?

He instinctively swept the Storage Pouch with his Divine Sense—there was no Restriction set, and the items inside were clear at a glance.

Then he froze.

There were no Spirit Stones.

But there were quite a few jade bottles placed inside, with labels pasted on the bodies: Medium Grade marrow cleansing pill, Qi Recovery Pill, Blood Nourishing Pill, Yuan Replenishing Pill… all of them good things useful for the Qi Condensation Stage.

Especially the marrow cleansing pill, Medium Grade, with a market price starting at three Low-Grade Spirit Stones per pill.

There were at least thirty of them, which equaled ninety Spirit Stones.

Coupled with the other Medicinal Pills, the total value easily exceeded two hundred and fifty Spirit Stones.

This was far more than what Xiao Yuan had "funded" her with back then.

Xiao Yuan raised his head, and his gaze towards Ye Qingcen became complicated.

This woman… right now was in a critical period preparing for Foundation Establishment, and these resources should be very important to her.

Where did she get so many Medicinal Pills? And why… give them to him? Although he couldn't figure out the reason, his heart felt warm!

"Senior Sister Ye," Xiao Yuan spoke, his voice unusually sincere, "Thank you."

Ye Qingcen's body visibly stiffened, her earlobes turning red at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Who, who wants your thanks!" Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, she said hurriedly, "I just… I'm just clearing what I owed you before! We are even now! Yes, we're even!"

Hearing this, Xiao Yuan couldn't help but chuckle inwardly.

Even?

According to their previous bizarre relationship of "you give money and I string you along," as well as that later "accident," if they really tried to calculate it, it was hard to say who owed whom.

Not to mention the originally agreed-upon "one time to clear the debt"—after that matter happened, logically their grievances should have been completely settled. How could there still be any talk of "repayment"?

This woman's skill at saying one thing while meaning another had truly grown.

Xiao Yuan didn't expose her either, simply looking at her with a half-smile.

Ye Qingcen felt completely uncomfortable under his gaze, her cheeks growing hotter and hotter. She flusteredly averted her gaze, her speech speed as fast as running away: "I, I still have matters! I'm leaving first!"

Finished speaking, she practically fled in panic, her back appearing somewhat hurried in the setting sun, and even… a little cute?

Xiao Yuan watched her figure disappear at the end of the road, looked down again at the Storage Pouch in his hand, and a certain corner of his heart inexplicably skipped a beat.

"Tsk…" He shook his head, putting the Storage Pouch away into the Creation Cauldron Space—good things should naturally be placed in the safest place.

As for why Ye Qingcen did this?

Xiao Yuan couldn't be bothered to probe deeply.

He could barely protect himself now, with Chen Yin eyeing him tiger-like ahead and the life or death of the mine unknown behind, where would he have the mind to ponder his former fiancée's complicated maiden thoughts.

He turned around and walked into the courtyard of the Scrap Recycling Station.

He had stayed here for three years, and every brick and tile was familiar. Now that he was leaving, he actually felt a bit of emotion.

"Xiao brat, you're back?"

Manager Liu walked out from the inner room holding an account book, and upon seeing Xiao Yuan, he sighed.

"Manager Liu." Xiao Yuan bowed in greeting.

"Have the procedures all been completed?" Manager Liu walked over, patting Xiao Yuan's shoulder with a heavy force. "The Xishan Mine… sigh, you brat, why did you have to offend someone you shouldn't have offended?"

Xiao Yuan knew he was talking about Chen Yin.

Manager Liu had stayed in the Sect for decades and was well-informed, keeping things crystal clear in his heart. But as a minor outer Sect manager, he couldn't help, nor dared to help.

"It's fine," Xiao Yuan smiled. "Wherever I go, I can still Cultivate."

Manager Liu wanted to say something but stopped, finally just heavily patting his shoulder once more: "Take care."

The handover was very simple—Xiao Yuan didn't really have anything that needed handing over anyway.

He returned the keys to the recycling station and collected his meager stipend for the last month: five Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

When he walked out of the courtyard, the sky had already darkened.

Xiao Yuan did not return to his residence—there was nothing there worth packing either. He headed straight in the direction of the Spirit Herb Garden.

Before going to the mine, he needed to store up as much energy as possible. That girl Luo Ziyan… shouldn't refuse, right?

The night grew deeper.

Xiao Yuan's figure melted into the darkness, hurrying towards the direction of the Spirit Herb Garden.

Behind him, the courtyard of the Scrap Recycling Station stood quietly in the night, the lock on the door gleaming coldly under the moonlight.

Inside the small house of the Spirit Herb Garden, the lamplight was dim and yellow.

Luo Ziyan leaned in Xiao Yuan's arms, her fingers unconsciously tracing circles on his chest—this was a habitual action after "charging" ended.

"Senior Brother Xiao," she suddenly spoke, her voice muffled, "This is for you."

She pulled out a small cloth pouch from her bosom and shoved it into Xiao Yuan's hand.

Xiao Yuan looked down and froze.

Inside the cloth pouch was a jade bottle. Through perception, inside the jade bottle were precisely the Medicinal Pills he had given her before. There were still twenty-one marrow cleansing pills left.

"What is this…" Xiao Yuan was puzzled.

"I heard you're going to the Xishan Mine." Luo Ziyan sat up from his arms and turned around, her eyes astonishingly bright at this moment: "It's very chaotic there, people die like dead ants. You… you take these Medicinal Pills and raise your Cultivate a bit higher, at least you'll have a few more points of self-preservation strength."

Xiao Yuan's heart gave a thump.

These Medicinal Pills were enough to support a Qi Condensation Stage level six Cultivator to Cultivate to the level nine Peak, and they were Luo Ziyan's hope for Foundation Establishment.

Yet right now, she returned this hope to him intact.