243: Chapter 241 You dare to accept this money?

The burly man saw the young man's appearance clearly, and instead of panicking, he calmed down.

It wasn't that he wasn't afraid, but rather that he had seen too much.

He had walked this path for over a decade and had seen all sorts of people.

There were villains more evil than him, ruthless men more savage than him, and also those Cultivators who dropped down from the sky.

Some of those Cultivators were aloof and wouldn't even spare him a glance; some were bored and would stop to ask a few questions; and others, like the one before him, would drop from the sky in the dead of night, standing before you expressionless and silent.

He had seen too many of this type. They weren't here to save people; they were here for amusement. The more they appeared calm and indifferent, the more perverted they were at their core.

The burly man loosened the rope around the girl's feet, stood up, and patted the dust off his knees.

He looked at Yun Ming, grinned to reveal a mouthful of uneven yellow teeth, and smiled. "Immortal Master, are you also here to inspect the goods?"

Yun Ming did not speak.

Taking his silence as consent, the burly man laughed even louder. He stepped back two paces and spread his arms wide, as if displaying a piece of merchandise. He pointed one hand at the girl on the ground, his thumb sticking up high. "Look at this quality, this Face, this figure. She's a bit thin, but she'll be fine once she's nourished. She's not old, fifteen or sixteen, just at the prime age." The man crouched down, pried open the girl's mouth, and showed two rows of neat teeth. "Look at these teeth, so good. Her Face is fine too, no scars. If you take her back and train her well, she's guaranteed to be obedient."

The girl's tears flowed again.

She wanted to hide, she wanted to scream, but her body wouldn't obey her.

She no longer had any strength; she couldn't even make a sound while crying.

The burly man stood up, crossed his arms, and looked at Yun Ming. His gaze swept over Yun Ming's moon-white robe several times, then looked at the white fox perched on his shoulder, and finally landed on the golden flying boat in the distance.

His eyes lit up—not with greed, but with excitement.

This kind of rich person was the easiest to fleece.

"One hundred High-Grade Spirit Stones." The man held up a finger and waved it in front of Yun Ming. "Don't think it's expensive. These days, living people are hard to find. Especially one of this quality—she's hard to find even if you search with a lantern. If you went to the human market in Tianyuan City, she'd be at least a hundred and fifty. I'm doing volume here, so I'll give you a cheaper price."

Yun Ming looked at him and remained silent for a moment.

Then he smiled.

The smile was very faint, so faint that one could hardly tell he was smiling.

But the corner of his mouth did indeed twitch slightly, as if he had heard something interesting.

A Cultivator at the Qi Refining Stage was haggling with him.

He didn't find it funny; he found it absurd. So absurd that he didn't know what to say.

He even wondered if the public security of the Zifu Immortal Dynasty was too good—good to a fault.

Seeing Yun Ming smile, the burly man thought he had guessed correctly and felt even more at ease.

This kind of wealthy Cultivator cared most about Face.

The more you haggled with them, the more they felt it lowered their status.

If you just opened with a high price, they wouldn't bother wasting their breath. One hundred High-Grade Spirit Stones was just a drop in the bucket for such a person.

"Immortal Master, if you think it's expensive, I can give you a discount. Eighty. Eighty High-Grade Spirit Stones. I can't go any lower." The man looked sincere, as if he were conducting a very legitimate business transaction.

Yun Ming smiled and shook his head, reaching into his sleeve to pull out a handful of Spirit Stones.

High-Grade Spirit Stones—each one was translucent and lustrous, with Spiritual Qi so dense it almost overflowed. He stacked them one by one on a nearby withered tree stump, stacking exactly one hundred.

The burly man's eyes widened like copper bells, his mouth hanging open, unable to close.

He had seen Spirit Stones, but never so many High-Grade Spirit Stones.

In the decade or so he had spent on this path, his accumulated wealth added up to less than ten Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.

The person before him had just casually pulled out a hundred.

He swallowed hard and reached out to take them.

His hands were trembling. The moment his fingertips touched the Spirit Stones, a wave of warm Spiritual Qi traveled from his fingertips throughout his entire body, making him shiver with comfort.

"Thank you, Immortal Master! Thank you, Immortal Master!" The man stuffed the Spirit Stones into his shirt one by one until it was bulging. He even dropped two, bent over to pick them up, blew off the dust, and carefully tucked them away.

He cupped his hands toward Yun Ming, grinning from ear to ear.

"This little girl is yours. Enjoy her, Immortal Master. This lowly one will take his leave."

He turned and strode away with large steps.

After taking two steps, he suddenly felt the world spinning.

He saw his own body—that burly frame was still standing in place, but there was nothing above the neck. Blood gushed from the neck cavity like a red fountain.

His vision was spinning and falling, finally fixing on a single image—Yun Ming standing not far away, moonlight illuminating his Face. That faint smile still hung on the corner of his mouth—cold, indifferent, as if looking at an ant.

The man's head landed in the withered grass, rolled twice, and stopped.

His eyes were still open, his mouth still agape, his expression frozen in that instant—triumph, greed, and excitement, all mixed together and twisted into a terrifyingly hideous look.

Then those expressions faded bit by bit, and the light in his eyes dimmed little by little.

Yun Ming looked down at the headless corpse that was still spurting blood and shook his head.

One hundred High-Grade Spirit Stones... you really dared to take them.

If you take them, you must have the life to spend them.

Unfortunately, you don't have that kind of fate.

He turned around and looked at the girl on the ground.

The girl was curled up in the withered grass, trembling all over. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth was open, but she couldn't make a sound.

There was blood on her Face—not hers, but the burly man's.

She had seen the scene just now clearly.

Yun Ming didn't walk over; he knew she was afraid.

He stepped back a few paces, crouched down, took a clean cloth from the map of mountains and rivers, wiped the blood from his hands, and threw it aside.

"It's alright now," he said, his voice not loud, very flat.

The girl's lips were quivering, and tears flowed silently.

At that moment, the fox perched on Yun Ming's shoulder moved.

Xue Ji jumped down from Yun Ming's shoulder, her nine tails fanning out behind her like a white fan.

She walked with light steps to the burly man's corpse, lowered her head to sniff it, and then picked up the bulging Storage Pouch with her mouth.

The Storage Pouch was heavy, filled with Spirit Stones, but she held it steadily.

She lowered her head again, picked up the few Spirit Stones scattered on the ground, and stuffed them into the Storage Pouch.

Then, carrying the Storage Pouch in her mouth, she jumped back onto Yun Ming's shoulder.

Yun Ming reached out to take it.

But Xue Ji pressed a paw onto the Storage Pouch, and then with a flick of her tail, she hid the Storage Pouch within her tails.

Yun Ming's hand froze in mid-air.

He was stunned for a moment, looking at Xue Ji. Xue Ji squinted her eyes, the corners of her mouth curling up slightly as if she were smiling.

Her tails swayed gently behind her, with his Spirit Stones hidden inside.

Yun Ming knew her tails had a storage space—it was an innate ability—but he didn't know when she had learned to snatch things.

Xue Ji's tail brushed against Yun Ming's Face—fuzzy and itchy—and then she coiled back around Yun Ming's neck, her nine tails hanging down, hiding the Storage Pouch securely.

Yun Ming's hand stayed in the air, frozen for a moment.

Then he let out a soft chuckle and reached out to rub Xue Ji's head.

"You've learned bad habits," he said softly.

Xue Ji squinted her eyes and rubbed her head against his palm, letting out a low hum, as if acting spoiled, yet also triumphant.

Yun Ming withdrew his hand and turned to look at the girl.

The girl had already sat up from the ground, but she didn't dare approach.

Clutching Yun Ming's outer robe, she huddled under the withered tree roots, far away from him.

Her eyes were red and there were tear stains on her Face, but she had stopped crying.

She looked at Yun Ming with a gaze containing something complex and indescribable.

Yun Ming knew what it was.

It was fear, unease, and the dread of having 'just escaped the tiger's den only to enter the wolf's lair'.

Yun Ming did not approach.

He stood where he was, looking down at her. "What is your name?" he asked.

The girl lowered her head, not daring to look at him. "...Ah Yuan." Her voice was very small, almost inaudible.

"Ah Yuan," Yun Ming repeated, then looked at her Face. Moonlight leaked through the gaps in the clouds, illuminating the girl's Face. Her Face was very dirty, covered in dust and bloodstains, but the contours of her features were still clear.

It was a Face he had seen before.

It was a Face that had once lain in a coffin—serene, pale, and devoid of Life Qi.

The granddaughter of the coffin shop old man.

The girl who had been cursed by an enemy and whose life had been extended by the old man using his own Lifespan.

The girl he had seen in the coffin when he once traded an eternal longevity pill for a Rank Four Spiritual Vein.

A long time had passed, so long that he had almost forgotten that Face. But at this moment, as the moonlight shone on the girl's Face, those memories suddenly flooded back, as clear as if they had happened only yesterday.

Yun Ming remained silent for a moment, not revealing the truth.

He didn't know why this girl was here, didn't know if her curse had been lifted, and didn't know if her grandfather was still around. He only knew that some things were not coincidences.

"Do you recognize me?" Yun Ming asked.

The girl lowered her head and shook it. "I don't. But thank you, Immortal, for saving my life." She knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Yun Ming. She did it heavily, her forehead hitting the gravel in the withered grass, breaking the skin. Even as blood seeped out, she didn't make a sound.

Yun Ming looked at her and didn't speak.

The wind blew through the withered woods, stirring her hair and the oversized outer robe she wore.

The moonlight spilled over her, casting a long, thin shadow.

Yun Ming watched her for a long time, then looked up at the greyish sky in the distance. Dawn was approaching, and a sliver of white was already appearing on the eastern horizon.

He withdrew his gaze and looked at the girl.

"Get up," he said. "The ground is cold."

The girl raised her head and looked at him. Her eyes were red again, but she didn't cry. She bit her lip and slowly stood up, her legs trembling and unstable. She leaned against a withered tree, barely supporting herself. She stood there with her head lowered, not daring to look at Yun Ming.

Yun Ming took a piece of dry rations from the map of mountains and rivers and handed it to her. "Eat."

The girl looked at the dry rations and swallowed, but she didn't take it. She raised her head and looked at Yun Ming, her eyes full of hesitation.

"Eat it. It's not poisoned." Yun Ming stuffed the rations into her hand.

The girl lowered her head and began to eat in large gulps. She ate so fast that she choked and coughed a few times, but she was reluctant to stop. Yun Ming took out a flask of water and handed it to her. She took it, gulped down a large mouthful, and continued eating. After finishing, she looked up at Yun Ming, her lips moving as if she wanted to say something, but she swallowed it back. Yun Ming didn't ask where she came from, where she was going, or why she was here. Those matters could be discussed later.

He turned and walked toward the void-piercing boat. After a few steps, he stopped and, without looking back, said, "Follow me."

The girl was stunned for a moment, then clutching the outer robe, she stumbled and followed him.