Chapter 52 Temporary Residence in Jinjiang

Yao Sisi's call woke everyone up, as if they had just noticed the person who had rolled up the cloth and was trying to run away.

The honest-looking stall owner glanced around and said hesitantly, "I have some urgent business to attend to. Let's talk another day, okay?"

As he spoke, he slipped away quickly. At that moment, someone watching his retreating figure said, "That stall owner has cheated people more than once. I've seen him get into arguments with people before. This time, he just ran into a brick wall."

Yao Sisi stared at his retreating figure in deep thought. This man was dressed plainly, without any protective gear, and his cultivation level was not high enough to produce the materials on the list. Since he was working for someone else, how did he get the audacity to deceive them?

It's highly likely that his deceptive tricks were orchestrated by his master, with the master and servant acting in the open and the shadows, one in the dark and the other in the light.

Since she was new to the area and unaware of these people's backgrounds, she put the matter aside for the time being and addressed them, "We'll find a place to stay temporarily in a bit, and then we'll issue a list. Whoever has the materials on the list will be given priority to have magical artifacts crafted. I also have some stock, so when the time comes, you can prepare the materials and let me know which magical artifacts you need to craft. You might not have to wait long to get the magical artifacts you want."

The group exchanged glances. To be honest, they were somewhat skeptical of the new weapon refiner and didn't know the specifics of her crafting skills. However, if she had a stockpile of weapons, it would not only make it easier for them to exchange for magical artifacts in advance, but also allow them to assess the quality of her crafting abilities.

Isn't this much safer than knowing nothing at all?

Yao Sisi guessed what everyone was thinking. In reality, she didn't have much stock, but she could enter the space and activate the time array, which would make the refining speed extremely fast. It would be difficult to explain to everyone that she was just an ordinary genius. It would be fine if they thought of her as some kind of refining machine and kidnapped her to keep her for themselves.

That day, Yao Sisi chose an open space to set up the tent, while Ri Jiu was responsible for setting up the formation on the tent. She also received a large batch of refining materials.

They didn't have a peaceful night either. Not far from their tent, they saw many new tents set up, densely packed in three or four layers. Anyone who didn't know better would think they were monitoring some kind of prisoner!

Yao Sisi looked away. Those people were simply afraid that she would run away with a large amount of materials. She had not yet established true trust in them. However, it was understandable. After all, the materials were valuable, and some of them were even obtained at the risk of their lives. It was not wrong to be cautious.

After the materials were collected, Yao Sisi checked their quality while Qi Mu took notes.

He said, “There are many types of materials and many people involved. I’m good at bookkeeping, so I’ll help you categorize them so it will be easier for you to organize them.”

After everyone fell asleep that night, Yao Sisi took the ledger and teleported into her spatial dimension. She activated the time array to refine the first batch of items needed. By evening the following day, she had sorted out several magical artifacts and handed them to Qi Mu, instructing him to deliver these weapons to the person who provided the materials, according to the ledger.

The brand-new weapons were in Qi Mu's hands. He didn't know much about Yao Sisi's background, so he assumed that these were weapons she had found after she had made them before. He didn't ask any questions and simply distributed the magical artifacts.

Those who received the magical artifacts in the first batch were naturally eager to get their hands on them. Although they couldn't step into the formation inside the tent, they were also anxious while waiting outside, fearing that the materials would be wasted and worrying that the finished product would not be satisfactory.

To everyone's surprise, the magical artifacts they received were even better than they had imagined. After these artifacts were distributed, even more people gathered around Yao Sisi's tent.

The news even reached distant places, and cultivators from other scattered settlements sent people to make their way here.

Ri Jiu asked softly at the door of Yao Sisi's tent, "Sisi? Do you want to come out and get something to eat?"

Yao Sisi spent more than half a month in the space, refining several magical artifacts. She was in a state of extreme exhaustion. If she hadn't cultivated the Refining God Technique, she probably wouldn't have been able to last this long.

She lifted the curtain, looking completely drained, and said weakly, "I'm so tired, but I haven't even finished a tenth of it. By the way, is there anything good to eat?"

Ri Jiu: "Yes, there's a restaurant here run by Shi Xiu. We ordered food there."

Yao Sisi nodded and asked, "Should we bring it back to eat or eat it over there?"

Ri Jiu said, "We discussed it with Qi Mu before, and we were worried that you would be too tired to do anything, so we planned to bring it back to eat."

Yao Sisi said subconsciously, "Did you two discuss this? It's rare to see you two so friendly. You two don't usually communicate much. I thought you didn't like talking to humans!"

Ri Jiu subtly concealed how they "discussed" ordering the food, only saying, "I was indeed very careful not to communicate with him too much, because I was afraid of revealing my identity. I just don't know if he has misunderstood me."

Yao Sisi waved her hand generously and said, "Don't worry, it definitely won't happen. Young Master Qi Mu is a rare good person!"

Ri Jiu: "..."

They tried to trip him up but ended up tripping themselves up instead.

A moment of embarrassment flashed across his face. "Sisi said not to worry, but that makes me anxious."

Yao Sisi was taken aback: "Did I hear that right? Annoying?"

Ri Jiu took a breath, realizing he'd blurted out the truth, but that didn't stop him from blatantly lying: "I said don't worry! Sisi, are you hard of hearing?"

Yao Sisi paused for a moment, then said without much thought, "She's probably tired."

She leaned close to Ri Jiu's ear and whispered, "Remember the time array plate I asked you to repair before? I just used it. It was a magical artifact that took a long time to refine, and I was so exhausted that my soul felt like it was ascending to heaven."

Ri Jiu liked her closeness, and also cleverly discovered the key issue: "Only I know about this, Qi Mu doesn't?" Otherwise, why would she whisper it to him!

Yao Sisi nodded: "How can you just tell people this kind of thing!" If you hadn't helped me repair the array plate back then, neither of us would have told you.

Ri Jiu couldn't hear her true feelings, only the first half of her sentence: "He said it himself, in her heart he was a million times better than that hypocritical young master!"

Yao Sisi didn't understand why the person in front of her was suddenly so happy, and even the atmosphere around her was much more cheerful than before. She looked around and realized that Qi Mu was not nearby.

"Um, where is he? Did he go to order food himself?"

Ri Jiu nodded. "They should be back soon."

Yao Sisi pointed to his cloak and said, "Aren't you uncomfortable wearing this all the time?"

Rijiu didn't want to wear it either: "But my ears and tail can't be permanently retracted yet. How about I come into your tent to eat later?"

Yao Sisi shook her head: "That's just treating the symptoms, not the root cause. Besides, it's not very polite for us to eat alone in the tent when we're eating together. Wait for me to see if I can make you a headband or something to hide your ears."

Rijiu: "What about my big tail?"

Yao Sisi: "Cover your tail with your clothes first. To be honest, I've almost forgotten what you look like since you're always dressed so warmly every day."

Riku: "!"

He was such a handsome man, how could she just forget him like that!

Yao Sisi noticed that Qi Mu and Liu Yuan had returned. She reached out to greet them, but only halfway through did she realize that she was being a bit silly. In their eyes, she had only disappeared for a day, not the half month she thought. Why did they need to be so enthusiastic?

She silently withdrew her hand. "I heard from Ri Jiu that you went to order food?"

Seeing how close she was to Ri Jiu, Qi Mu felt a pang of unhappiness.

Yao Sisi saw him smile gently and wave to her, saying, "Miss Sisi, come and see if this is your favorite dish?"

Yao Sisi was immediately drawn to this statement. This was the first time she had ever tasted food prepared by a proper food cultivator. After all, anyone who came to this place to break through their own limitations must have a high level of cultivation, so this food cultivator must also be very capable.

Wouldn't the food he makes be incredibly delicious?

Seeing that her attention was indeed drawn to him, Qi Mu smiled even more genuinely. He took out a food box from his storage bag, while Liu Yuan set the table. Dinner was ready.

Yao Sisi didn't forget to turn around and call out to Ri Jiu: "Come and try it, don't just stand there like an idiot, it'll get cold soon."

Ri Jiu: "..."

It was just a bite to eat, yet it was more important than him.

"Sisi, would you like to eat fox meat?"

Yao Sisi had just picked up her chopsticks when she heard him say that she felt something was amiss.

Qi Mu, who was standing to the side, didn't know what kind of riddle the two were playing, but that didn't stop him from getting involved. He picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks and put it into her bowl. "I haven't used my chopsticks yet. Miss Sisi, try this meat and see if it's good."

Yao Sisi was caught in a dilemma. There was only one piece of meat in her bowl, but it felt as if there was another piece out of the blue. It would be wrong for her to eat either one.

What's going on? It must be your imagination!

She quickly changed the subject, "Aren't you curious about how long we're going to stay here?"

Neither of the two men responded, and even Liu Yuan, who was usually lively and talkative, seemed to have aphasia, remaining completely silent.

Alas……

She continued, "We had a great harvest yesterday, with so many materials. We might not be able to leave for another month. In the meantime, you should all take the time to improve your cultivation."

Qi Mu responded, a slight smile appearing on his gentle, jade-like face. Everything seemed so natural, but he would have preferred not to respond at all.

"Miss Sisi, the meat will get cold if you don't eat it soon."

Yao Sisi choked up. Was tonight's banquet a trap?