As soon as Chen Ye finished speaking.
Wang Po's jowls trembled, more panicked than when Chen Ye had whipped her.
She urgently shouted to the messenger maid: "No, no, no, come back to me! It's just a misunderstanding!"
Wang Po was drenched in cold sweat with fright.
She was merely a servant in this miscellaneous courtyard, skimming wages was supposed to be something done in secret, it must never be brought to light.
If it affected even a tiny bit of Myat Pill Pavilion's reputation, she could forget about living.
Wang Po wiped the greasy sweat from her forehead, forcing a smile:
"Master Chen! Uncle Chen! You're the sworn brother of the Pavilion Master, how could we mistreat you! We should have compensated Master Chen with twenty-five pieces of Spiritual Sand, I'll cover it myself and give Master Chen thirty pieces! A total of fifty pieces of Spiritual Sand!"
Chen Ye took the money pouch and counted carefully, indeed there were fifty pieces. He picked out five and threw them back:
"If you knew it would come to this, why did you act that way in the first place? I'll only take what I deserve, no need for Wang Po to cover it herself. Moreover, that whip earlier was for my disciple! Also, from now on, Zhiwei will no longer come to Myat Pill Pavilion, please inform Wang Po of that."
Indeed, Chen Ye lacked money, but he understood that taking undue advantage should be avoided where possible.
In a courtyard with many eyes, if he were greedy for these five pieces of Spiritual Sand, it would give people something to talk about, distorting his demand for wages.
Wang Po glanced at the large girl's bruised and swollen ear, rubbing the five pieces of Spiritual Sand in her hand, her expression uncertain.
Well, now she's got absolutely no ground to stand on!
After Chen Ye left.
The nearby rough maids dared to gather around Wang Po, offering words of comfort.
Wang Po covered her bleeding ear, speaking with frustration: "I realize now, this scoundrel just came to Myat Pill Pavilion to freeload! And to think he was so concerned about Lu!"
One maid whispered: "Granny, should we report to the Pavilion Master..."
"No need! Even if you don't know the shame, I do! That wretch has no face, but I do!"
Wang Po laughed coldly, baring her teeth as she had the maid apply ointment to her ear,
"Saying Lu won't come to Myat Pill Pavilion? The Pavilion Master was being kind to help this rogue, how could we allow him to refuse!"
...
"Now he's truly become a rogue, a shameless rascal not afraid to die. Forget it, after all, he originally didn't value integrity."
Chen Ye chuckled to himself, weighing the Spiritual Sand, planning to return it to Zhiwei later.
Thanks to his encounter with the perverted Taoist Zhang in the morning, Chen Ye's mentality had undergone a subtle change.
Otherwise, he might have had to swallow his pride and let his apprentice be bullied in vain.
Qing Jun pouted, her master also knew he was shameless.
She recalled what happened just now, if it weren't for her master's intervention, her sister's butt would have been kicked!
The little girl murmured: "Thank you, master, for helping sister..."
Hearing Qing Jun's tender thanks, Chen Ye actually felt a bit embarrassed:
"Haha, this is what a master should do."
He glanced sideways at the imposing entrance of Myat Pill Pavilion, a surging anger from his past life boiled within him.
Yes.
In his previous life, he and the Pavilion Master Li Guangzong were sworn brothers, deeply bonded.
In their youth, they had the fortunate encounter of discovering the "Hundred Herbs Pill Scripture" together, vowing to explore the Alchemy Dao together, only for that wretch to steal the scriptures and disappear without a trace.
In the blink of an eye, Li Guangzong had become the master of Myat Pill Pavilion, while Chen Ye was merely a Medicinal Farmer.
Perhaps this was one of the reasons for his previous life's downfall.
Chen Ye was filled with emotion, continuing to observe Lu Zhiwei.
The large girl always trailed three steps behind Chen Ye, her bangs covering her eyes, obscuring her expression.
She wore a gray cloth shirt, her body thin and frail, a cascade of black hair draping over her hips.
The hair of both his disciples was so long...
Chen Ye wanted to help brush away the furnace ash from her hair, but the large girl suddenly trembled, her nape tightening into a jagged curve as she retreated two steps, alarmed.
"Dirty. It'll dirty master's hands."
Zhiwei gazed down at her cracked nails, her voice so calm it was laced with a trace of deathly stillness.
Chen Ye helplessly withdrew his hand, this girl's hair covered her eyes, how did she see his movement...
He was troubled, wondering why the future Righteous Fairy felt colder than the Great Demoness Qing Jun?
Moreover, Chen Ye belatedly realized a problem.
Where did Qing Jun get the poison from?
She spent her days doing chores in the ruined house, taking care of the asshole, rarely venturing outside.
Though in his past life he had squandered his life to only twenty-two years of lifespan, he was a Fourth-Layer Cultivator!
Even if seriously injured, ordinary mundane poison should not have been able to kill his former self.
But if Zhiwei obtained the poison from Myat Pill Pavilion and gave it to Qing Jun.
Everything would make sense.
The white furred ball, truly not easy to deal with...
Chen Ye barely finished appreciating his thoughts when he heard the rumbling of the cold white furred ball's stomach.
He revealed a knowing smile: "Qing Jun, aren't you going to let your senior sister taste the Osmanthus Cake? Your master will buy you more later."
"Oh!"
The white furred ball had long wanted to let her senior sister taste the best food in the world.
She hurriedly handed the oil paper package in her arms to her senior sister, showing a big, bright smile:
"Senior Sister, this is really delicious. It was... bought by Master."
A breeze ruffled the girl's bangs, briefly revealing a pair of chillingly cold eyes, before stilling into silence as the wind ceased.
Lu Zhiwei paused in her steps, a slight smile curling her lips as she gazed at the weathered figure of the man:
"Zhiwei thanks Master."
"As long as you like it, as long as you like it."
Chen Ye, having received another disciple's gratitude, secretly rejoiced.
Hmph hmph!
He truly was something!
These two little furballs, handled with ease!
He believed that one day he could make the two little furballs cling to his leg, sweetly calling him Master!
Just imagining such a scene filled all of Chen Ye with energy.
...
The sun was setting, and Chen Ye had spent half the day wandering around the free trade area.
He had bought four pounds of beef totaling twelve pieces of Spiritual Sand, plus vegetables and rice, altogether twenty pieces of Spiritual Sand. Enough for the master and disciples to eat for five or six days.
"Black, Myat Pill Pavilion is really black, only giving Zhiwei twenty pieces of Spiritual Sand a month!"
Chen Ye even suspected Wang Po might be skimming wages in other areas as well.
The good news was that the Spirit Ointment worked wonders; at this point, Qing Jun's leg was completely healed.
The little girl was busy carrying large bundles along with her senior sister behind Chen Ye, much like two little tails.
Chen Ye sighed with relief, to be honest, Qing Jun was light, but this body was truly frail, his hands had been numb long ago.
But for the sake of his master's dignity, he grit his teeth and said nothing...
Chen Ye, with his hands behind his back, led the black and white furballs with his head held high, continuing to wander to other places.
He also bought four sets of girls' clothing, cheap though they were, buying in bulk added up.
Inner and outer garments, plus two pairs of small cloth shoes, altogether costing forty pieces of Spiritual Sand!
Chen Ye had considered buying a set for himself too, but then thought, after all, his old clothes weren't unusable...
So he simply bought a pair of Six Harmonies Boots, which felt extremely comfortable on his feet, albeit quite expensive, twenty pieces of Spiritual Sand.
"Qing Jun, Zhiwei, how do you find Master's boots?"
Chen Ye gleefully stepped on the ground, jumping around.
But before his disciples could respond, the stall owner yelled: "If you've bought them, hurry up and leave, don't block other customers!"
Whoa, this auntie sure had a fiery temper!
Chen Ye glared: "Auntie, I bought this many clothes!"
"Yo, are you looking for trouble?" the Qi Cultivation Third-Layer auntie was undaunted.
Zhiwei suddenly softly said: "Auntie Ye's partner is a Qi Cultivation Seventh-Layer Demon Hunter Cultivator, she does this just to pass the time, selling clothes."
Well, can't afford to provoke her.
Chen Ye shrank his neck, sheepishly leading his two disciples to the next destination.
Auntie Ye indifferently watched Chen Ye's embarrassed retreating figure, clicking her tongue:
"Which refugee cultivator is this? So poor and dirty, but rather kind to the kids..."