116: Chapter 116 Encountering a Lame Old Man

Shopping was not the thing that made Xia Shaoxin feel the most uncomfortable; buying snacks was.

Liu Tingting had never been down the mountain. In the Sect, she ate spiritual rice and drank Spiritual Brew.

Cultivation emphasized simple food and drink, not pursuing taste.

Once she let herself go, she couldn't control herself.

She had shopped here for three months before, mastering the snack secrets of the entire city.

Wherever they went, she would force Xia Shaoxin to buy food.

Xia Shaoxin had already seen this on the way to the Chiyan Sect, so it wasn't that novel to him.

Unable to withstand Liu Tingting's enthusiasm, he had no choice but to eat a bit and praise her for her good taste.

Before long, his hands were full of food.

As Liu Tingting stepped into a jewelry store, Xia Shaoxin saw a lame old man walking toward them, looking haggard, with lifeless eyes, swaying as he walked.

So he stopped the old man and said with a smile, "Old sir, I see you must be hungry. Here, all this food is for you."

The old man was startled, took a step back, and waved his hands, saying, "No, no."

Xia Shaoxin grabbed the old man's hand.

Instantly, a powerful rebounding force instinctively came from the old man's wrist.

Xia Shaoxin was stunned. So strong!

Was this person a Cultivator?

That force vanished instantly. Xia Shaoxin fell into a daze. Was that force just an illusion?

The old man timidly drew his hand back. "What are you doing?"

Xia Shaoxin came to his senses and stuffed all the snacks into the old man's hands. "Old sir, my treat."

The old man was taken aback, then stepped forward of his own accord to take the snacks, forcing a smile onto his tired face. "Thank you, young man."

Holding the snacks, he bowed several times, took his leave, and departed without taking a single bite.

Xia Shaoxin stepped into the store and peered out through the crack in the door. The old man walked to the corner ahead and threw the snacks in his hand to the foot of the wall.

"What are you looking at?" Liu Tingting asked curiously.

"I just met a Fellow Daoist with cultivation," Xia Shaoxin said, frowning.

"Oh, what's so strange about that? There are already many Fellow Daoists in the imperial capital."

"But he pretended to be a lame, aging... Mortal."

Liu Tingting poked her head out to look into the distance, but the old man was already gone.

She turned back and said to Xia Shaoxin, "This is the Imperial Capital of the Yue State. Sects and Loose Cultivators all come here. Why do you care about what others do?"

Thinking about it, that made sense. Xia Shaoxin had no choice but to accompany Liu Tingting to look at jewelry.

After shopping with her for half the day, his patience was exhausted, and he strongly requested to visit the Yue State Immortal Market.

Liu Tingting snorted coldly. "Our aspirations are different, and our Daos do not align..."

"Stop!" Xia Shaoxin said quickly. "We just have different talents, and the immortal techniques we master are different, that's all."

"Then go by yourself, I don't want to go!"

"Alright, let's meet at the Yuelai Inn tonight and have dinner together!"

Without thinking further, Xia Shaoxin dashed off to the immortal market.

The Imperial Capital was indeed the largest city in the Yue State, and its market was also the largest in the Yue State.

He browsed for half the day until closing time. When the market shut, he had spent four hundred Spirit Stones to buy over thirty kinds of un-sacrificed herbs.

The Storage Pouch holding his Spirit Stones was also nearly empty.

Returning to the Yuelai Inn, he asked the innkeeper and learned that Liu Tingting had already returned.

He hurried to the room next door. Liu Tingting was currently meditating with her eyes closed, resting her mind.

"How long have you been back?"

Without even opening her eyes, Liu Tingting said coldly, "Since you ran off, I didn't continue shopping either, so I came back."

"Why didn't you continue shopping?"

"I've already shopped here for three months, there's nothing new. I wanted to show you around, but you ran off. What's the point of me shopping alone!"

Xia Shaoxin said in surprise, "Then why didn't you go check out the Immortal Market City? There are so many good things there."

Liu Tingting raised an eyebrow. "I've already looked and bought things there long ago."

"Why do I feel like you're a bit unhappy?"

"Your feeling is correct. There are so many fun places in the city that I wanted to introduce to you, but you ran off."

"Let's go tomorrow, alright? It doesn't hurt for us to stay a few more days. I also want to refine some Medicinal Pills, and there are Alchemy Rooms for rent here."

Liu Tingting snorted. "So you only want to perform Alchemy here!"

She immediately issued an eviction order, kicking Xia Shaoxin out of her room.

Having been busy all day, Xia Shaoxin went back to his room to sleep.

He thought to himself that the little girl loved to play, and because she had no one to accompany her, she got angry.

If he accompanied her properly for a whole day tomorrow, she would have nothing left to complain about.

He didn't Cultivate either, just fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

In the middle of the night, he was suddenly startled awake.

A powerful aura surged like a tide from outside the window.

Peering out through the crack in the window, he saw a figure skimming across the rooftop tiles like a dragonfly touching the water, flying past him.

Even though it was just a fleeting glance, he could tell it was the very old man he had given snacks to during the day.

During the day, he had looked decrepit and walked with a limp, but now he ran as fast as the wind, stepping on the tiles without making a sound.

Behind him, three people were in hot pursuit. Looking closely, they were actually Cultivators of the Yue State Court!

All sleepiness was instantly swept away.

Suddenly, with a loud bang, the room door was kicked open.

Liu Tingting said nervously yet excitedly, "There are people fighting over there, did you see?"

"I saw it."

"Come on, let's go up and take a look."

"Are you going to meddle in other people's business?" Xia Shaoxin was very surprised.

"It's not meddling, it's just watching the fun."

Xia Shaoxin frowned and said, "Didn't Master teach you not to blindly join in on the excitement?"

"No!"

"The old man being pursued ahead is the very one I mentioned during the day, who pretended to be a Mortal and passed by the jewelry store. We might have stumbled upon a conspiracy."

Curious and excited light shone in Liu Tingting's eyes. "Then isn't it the perfect chance to see what conspiracy it is?"

Xia Shaoxin also found it very strange and cautioned, "We will follow behind and watch from a distance. Absolutely do not step forward. At the first sign of trouble, we run."

Having obtained Xia Shaoxin's agreement, Liu Tingting's body flashed. She pushed open the window, landed on the roof outside, and stepped on the tiles, turning into a shadow that left no trace.

The Middle Stage of Qi Refining already allowed one to easily control their body, enabling them to avoid breaking others' tiles while making no sound.

Xia Shaoxin had no choice but to jump out of the window after her.

He was only at the Third Layer of Qi Refining, so he was extremely cautious and moved slower.

After running for a distance, Liu Tingting lowered her body, lying flat on the slope of the roof.

As he drew closer and looked, Xia Shaoxin secretly groaned.

They had clearly agreed to 'watch from a distance,' but Liu Tingting was practically right on top of them.

A few Zhang ahead was an open area, completely unobstructed.

The old man was surrounded in the center by three Yue State Cultivators.

"Why are you getting so close?" Xia Shaoxin said anxiously.

"I can't see clearly from far away."

"Xia Shaoxin could do nothing but smile bitterly."

He didn't know if the two parties had noticed them, but they certainly had no time to pay attention to them for the moment.

"How should we address Your Excellency? Do you dare to state your Sect?" The person from the Yue State was the first to speak and question the old man.

The old man did not reply. He stood there quietly, showing no signs of aging or fatigue, his heroic spirit striking.

"Your Excellency broke into the Inner Imperial Palace at night. What are your intentions?" the second Cultivator asked.

Xia Shaoxin was greatly shocked. So this old man had broken into the Inner Imperial Palace at night.

He had heard that the imperial palace of the Yue State was different from the imperial palace of a Mortal court; it was actually equivalent to the Sect Head's residence, the core area of the Yue State.

The Yue State Court was, in essence, also a Sect.