Chapter 7: Unkindness

The West Market of Yancheng was bustling with commotion. Bai Qingchen, holding ten taels of silver, set up a stall in an inconspicuous place on the corner of the street.

On the coarse cloth spread out in front of him, a dozen small jade bottles shone with a warm luster in the sunlight.

The cork of the bottle opened slightly, and a faint medicinal fragrance wafted out, attracting the passing monks to look over.

Wang Zhengyi has been stuck at the peak of Qi Refining for more than ten years and is just one step away from success.

The shop selling Foundation Establishment Pills in the city was controlled by a large trading company, and each pill cost one thousand low-grade spirit stones, which he could not afford at all.

I can only come to the West Market from time to time to see if there are any independent cultivators selling the foundation-building pills they have refined so that I can get a bargain.

That day, he came to Xishi as usual, and at first glance he saw a mysterious man wearing a conical hat. The white fox beside him was particularly conspicuous.

From time to time, a monk passing by would come forward and ask if the little fox was for sale.

Bai Qingchen glanced at Shi Liang, who was hiding behind him, afraid that he would be sold, and opened his thin lips slightly: "Not for sale."

Wang Zhengyi approached the stall curiously and was surprised to find that what was being sold there was actually Foundation Establishment Pills!

He often visits the pharmacy in the city, and he will never forget this smell. The fragrance of the elixir is on a different level from what he has smelled before. What a good elixir!

Wang Zhengyi lowered his voice and asked, "Daoyou, how much do you sell this pill for?"

Bai Qingchen said: "One hundred."

"One hundred mid-grade spirit stones?" Wang Zhengyi was shocked.

"..." Bai Qingchen could only say again: "One hundred low-grade spirit stones for each."

"Oh shit!" Wang Zhengyi's eyes widened and he almost screamed out loud, and quickly covered his mouth with his hands.

"Give me one!" He quickly handed the spirit stone to Bai Qingchen, as if afraid that he would go back on his word. He took the pill and disappeared into the crowd at the speed of light.

Looking at Wang Zhengyi's quickly disappearing back, Bai Qingchen realized that he had sold it too cheaply.

Many people in Xishi noticed what was happening here out of the corner of their eyes, and from time to time someone would come to his stall to ask questions.

At this time, Bai Qingchen quoted a price of three hundred spirit stones. Those cultivators took out the spirit stones without blinking, and left quickly with the pills like the previous customers.

Bai Qingchen couldn't help but sigh that the cultivators in Yancheng were really rich.

In just a short moment, Bai Qingchen's stall was surrounded by monks.

"I want a bottle!"

"Leave a bottle for me!"

"Fellow Daoist, I'll take all three bottles!"

The sounds of scrambling continued, but Bai Qingchen frowned slightly. He felt several unfriendly gazes being cast at him from the outside of the crowd.

They were three monks wearing luxurious robes, with jade tokens of law enforcement in Yancheng hanging around their waists. They had fleshy faces and looked like thugs.

"Get out of the way! The law enforcement team is doing their job!" The fat man in the lead pushed aside the monks who were blocking the way and strode to the front of the stall.

His small eyes stared greedily at the jade bottle, and his thick lips curled up: "Boy, have you paid the protection fee for setting up a stall in Yancheng?"

Bai Qingchen's eyes were slightly cold, but he calmly gathered the ten taels closer to his chest. The little fox seemed to sense the tense atmosphere, and its ears pricked up in alertness.

"I'm new here and don't know the rules of Yancheng." Bai Qingchen's tone was respectful, but with obvious alienation.

"You don't know the rules?" The fat man sneered, "Then these pills will be confiscated!"

The fat man poured the pills in the bottle into the palm of his hand. The round white pills exuded a rich fragrance.

Even he, who was well-informed, could not help but exclaim, "Good pill!"

"Did you make this elixir?"

Bai Qingchen lowered his eyes and spoke in a lower voice, lying that he was just an alchemist's boy selling medicine for the alchemist, and that his master still had many high-quality elixirs.

"Dan Tong?" The fat man narrowed his eyes and looked Bai Qingchen up and down. Seeing that he was dressed simply and his eyebrows and features under the bamboo hat suggested that he was young, he did not look like someone who could refine top-grade foundation-building pills. He believed it about 70% of the time.

"We would like to invite your master to visit our house. I wonder if you could introduce him."

Anyone with a discerning eye can understand what their real plan is, as they are calling it hiring someone. The law enforcement team has played an indispensable role in the monopoly of elixirs in the city.

Gradually, the cultivators surrounding them dispersed. They just came to buy things and didn't want to cause trouble. It was a pity that they didn't buy such a cheap and high-quality Foundation Establishment Pill.

"Master is cultivating in a temporary cave outside the city." Bai Qingchen acted embarrassed. "Master has a strange temper and doesn't like to meet strangers."

The fat man exchanged glances with his two companions and suddenly grinned: "Take us to see your master! The rules of Yancheng are that no matter whether you are an alchemist or an alchemist child, you must be registered!"

Bai Qingchen pretended to hesitate for a moment, then finally nodded helplessly: "Then... please follow me, sirs."

He stood up holding the ten taels. Some of the monks watching showed sympathy in their eyes, but most of them were indifferent as if it had nothing to do with them.

Leaving the bustling West Market, Bai Qingchen led the three of them toward the less populated area outside the city. Shiliang twisted restlessly in his arms, her little claws gently scratching at his sleeves.

"Hurry up! What are you dawdling for!" The fat man pushed Bai Qingchen impatiently, and the greed in his eyes became even more intense.

He had already made up his mind. When he met the alchemist, he would blackmail him in the name of the Yancheng Law Enforcement Team. If the other party knew what was good for him, he would arrest him and take him to the Alchemy Pavilion in the city to make the elixir. If he didn't... it would be normal for a cultivator to die in the wilderness.

Bai Qingchen stumbled a few steps, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. He led the three of them around a forest.

Realizing that the tree in front of him had appeared many times, the fat man stopped vigilantly.

"Where is your master? You must have been here quite a few times. How dare you tease your grandfather!" The fat man looked fierce, as if he wanted to teach Bai Qingchen a lesson.

Bai Qingchen suddenly turned around, a sneer on his face: "It's right here."

"But it's not a master, it's your burial place!"

Just now, he took three people around and secretly set up a formation here.

The spiritual energy activated the core of the formation, and the runes lit up instantly. Several spiritual powers turned into chains that shot out from the ground and wrapped around the feet of the three people.

"You little bastard, you're courting death!" the fat man roared, his early foundation-building cultivation bursting forth as he forcibly broke the spiritual power chains. He hadn't expected this seemingly timid Dan Tong to be so scheming.

Bai Qingchen's heart sank. He had underestimated the fat man's strength.

I originally thought that all three of them were in the Qi Refining Stage, but I didn't expect that the leader was actually a Foundation Establishment cultivator! His formation was more than enough to deal with Qi Refining cultivators, but it was not enough against Foundation Establishment cultivators.

"Die!" The fat man grinned and took out a short knife. The knife was wrapped in evil black air. It was obviously an evil magic weapon!

At the critical moment, a clear laugh suddenly came from above the treetops: "It is not a good habit to bully the few with the majority~"

Bai Qingchen only felt a flash before his eyes, and a young monk in a blue robe floated down.

This man has a handsome face, smiling eyes and a white jade folding fan in his hand, looking very elegant and dashing.

He waved his fan seemingly casually, and the blood-red dagger seemed to hit an invisible wall and fell to the ground with a clang.

"Who are you?" The fat man's face changed drastically. This person was able to block his full-strength attack so casually. His cultivation was higher than his.

"Me?" The blue-robed monk smiled and put away his folding fan. "Just a kind person passing by."

As he spoke, a beam of white light suddenly flew out from his sleeve and circled the field at lightning speed.

The fat man and his two companions didn't even have time to scream before they fell on their backs, expressions of fear still frozen on their faces, and they were no longer breathing.

"Is fellow Daoist okay?" The blue-robed monk turned and looked at Bai Qingchen with a gentle smile, but his eyes vaguely glanced at Shi Liang who had hidden back in Bai Qingchen's arms.

Bai Qingchen took a half step back cautiously: "Thank you for your help, fellow Daoist."

"Hey, don't be so nervous~" The white-robed monk waved his hand, snatched the storage bags from the waists of the three people, and threw them to Bai Qingchen without even looking at them.

"These guys have a lot of money on them, all yours."

Shiliang suddenly poked his head out from Bai Qingchen's arms, bared his teeth at the white-robed monk, and let out a threatening growl.

Far from being angry, the blue-robed monk smiled even more brightly: "This little fox has quite a temper."

He gave Bai Qingchen a meaningful look and said, "I helped you, why don't you just give it to me?"

Bai Qingchen's eyes turned cold, and he guarded Shi Liang even tighter: "No, Shi Liang is my partner, you should make another request."

"Really?" The blue-robed monk tilted his head and suddenly lowered his voice. "You know, if I can kill them, I can kill you, too."

A cold light flashed in Bai Qingchen's eyes, and his voice was terrifyingly calm: "If you want to take action."

He raised his eyes and looked directly at the other person, his spiritual power surging around him, "You can try it now."

Shiliang wanted to jump down and bite the monk who dared to bully his master, but was held down by Bai Qingchen.

The blue-robed monk was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "Interesting! Really interesting!"

He took a few steps back, waving his folding fan. "Never mind, it seems like it's doing well by your side, so I won't bother it for now."

His figure suddenly became blurry, but his voice was clearly heard by Bai Qingchen: "We will meet again, Little Alchemist~"

As the last word fell, the figure of the blue-robed monk disappeared into the air like mist, leaving only a faint floral scent.

Bai Qingchen frowned and looked down at the ten taels in his arms. The little fox seemed relieved and licked his fingers ingratiatingly.

"Who are you?" Bai Qingchen murmured softly.

He checked the storage bag that the blue-robed monk threw to him. There were at least thousands of low-grade spirit stones and hundreds of medium-grade spirit stones in it, as well as a large number of elixirs and some hidden weapons. It seemed that this was not the first time these three people had done this.

He quickly cleaned up the scene, took out the bone-dissolving powder from his storage bag and sprinkled it on the three people. After making sure that no traces were left, he returned to Yancheng with Shiliang in his arms.

Over the next two days, Bai Qingchen could clearly sense a heightened tension in the city. The law enforcement team searched for a young man with a white fox.

On the morning of the third day, Bai Qingchen stood in front of the bronze mirror in the inn, looking at the completely unfamiliar face in the mirror, an old man with wrinkles all over his face and a hunched back.

This was a disguise he had carefully prepared, even his breath was changed with powder.

He dyed the ten-liang horsetail into khaki, trimmed its ears and tail, and made it look like a small local dog.

"Ten taels, I'm sorry for putting you in such a difficult position." Bai Qingchen touched the little fox's head apologetically.

Unexpectedly, Shiliang seemed very satisfied with his new image. He wagged his tail happily and barked twice like a dog.

Bai Qingchen laughed: "Silly child."

They swaggered towards the teleportation array in the city center. On the way, they encountered several teams of law enforcement monks searching for them. Some even stopped them to ask if they had seen a young monk with a white fox.

Bai Qingchen replied in an old voice, "I only have this local dog with me, and I have never seen a white fox."

After successfully paying the spirit stones and stepping into the teleportation array, Bai Qingchen finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The light flickered on and off, and a noisy sound came from my ears.

"We've arrived at Yumengze!" the monk guarding the teleportation array announced loudly.

Bai Qingchen stepped out of the teleportation array holding Shiliang. The man and the fox had already taken off their disguises. He muttered in his heart that he was one step closer to recovering his memory.