Chen Muxue pulled out the iron pan from her back and weighed it in her hands.
"I am neither stealing nor robbing, yet you keep sending people to pick a fight with me. Can't I ask for compensation?"
She has always been someone who persuades others through reason.
"The first time, you kicked over a furnace of mine, and a pot as well. I only got a purse in return, just two taels of silver. That pot is actually a magic treasure of our Qian Ding Sect, the Earth God Tripod! Two taels of silver isn't even enough for the residue in the pot."
"The second time, this Hidden Forest Hermit smashed my Golden Silk Nanmu Table. Everyone knows what Golden Silk Nanmu is, right? He only had forty taels on him, not enough to pay for a single table leg!"
"Not to mention the loss of work, the mental distress..."
Chen Muxue counted on her fingers one by one: "Asking for just a hundred taels is really merciful!"
The shopkeeper and cook's faces turned dark. Who would put something like the Earth God Tripod or a Golden Silk Nanmu Table out for a stall display?
Besides, everyone knows your Qian Ding Sect is so poor that you have to farm yourselves, and your houses are in disrepair. If you really had such good things, why not sell them?
Chen Muxue, as if reading their minds, added, "These are all treasures filled with Spiritual Energy, the sect's collection. They can't be pawned or sold unless it's a critical moment. I put them out for stalls just so customers can enjoy the Spiritual Energy. Everyone knows that Spiritual Energy is a good thing, right!"
Surprisingly, some passersby indeed started believing her nonsense!
"The Sect Leader is so enlightened!"
"The reason is so heartwarming!"
"Heartwarming? More like burning hot, you actually believe her?"
Chen Muxue's smile was so bright, revealing a set of gleaming white teeth, making the shopkeeper and cook feel a bit dazzled.
"Alright... I admit defeat." Finally, after a while, the shopkeeper admitted.
The cook bumped him hard: "You're not seriously going to pay, are you?"
"There's no evidence for what she said, and even if the Immortal Investigation Bureau came, they wouldn't trouble her," the shopkeeper replied, "Besides, a mere hundred taels is nothing in the eyes of those in cultivation."
The cook, pointing at Chen Muxue, was at a loss for words: "This isn't someone in cultivation?"
"Except her!" Internally, the shopkeeper screamed of having never seen such shamelessness.
Having received a hundred taels, Chen Muxue left contentedly. Halfway, she felt like she had forgotten something. Looking back, four children were silently following behind her. She shrugged her shoulders, probably just an illusion!
Cen Lizhui glanced at the Hidden Forest Hermit still unconscious on the table, struggling to speak up.
"He—"
"Boom!"
In the end, he couldn't say anything, as the northern sky suddenly erupted with a clap of thunder. Without any warning, the previously clear sky was instantly overcast with dark clouds.
Amid the thick clouds, lightning crackled, shining an ominous red and black light, bringing an extra sense of unease.
Tribulation clouds, the Demon Clan's tribulation clouds?
No, it doesn't seem like it...
Cen Lizhui glanced towards the direction of Qian Ding Sect, sighed, and turned northward to investigate.
In Qingshan County, Huo Lian had just finished reviewing the reports sent from the small town's inn. Looking at the innkeeper's complaints about the Qian Ding Sect Leader, he massaged his temples with a headache.
He originally didn't regard such a small place seriously, so the person he assigned was a bit careless. He didn't expect it to be such a fool, not recognizing the Qian Ding Sect Leader, and still managed to ruin relations over some petty cash.
If not for the Second Prince suddenly taking an interest in the Qian Ding Sect, he wouldn't have traveled all this way to such a small place. He hadn't even reached the small town yet, and this inn was already in such a state unfit for habitation.
In truth, the upper room he stayed in was already quite nice in the eyes of most ordinary people.
Suddenly, a rumbling sound rolled from the sky, deafening, and an inexplicable unease welled up in his heart.
Huo Lian looked out the window, somewhat disbelieving.