Chapter 72 First Published on Jinjiang Literature City - Lan

In the wilderness thousands of miles away, a little fox was running swiftly, its fur bristling as if it had encountered some danger. Its four hooves were bleeding from running. But then, as if sensing something, it looked up into the distance, towards the direction of Maoling City.

In that moment of distraction, a sharp buzzing sound came from not far behind it, and a swarm of palm-sized blood mosquitoes flew towards it with their sharp, bloody mouths.

The little fox continued its desperate escape. These endless blood mosquitoes were not very strong individually, but a group of them could suck its fur dry without even a single bite.

It tripped and fell while running, tumbling a considerable distance with the force of the fall. It quickly dropped a lightning talisman, killing several of the blood mosquitoes that were clinging to it. However, this number was negligible compared to the entire swarm. Without looking back, it got up and continued running.

In a courtyard in Maoling City, Yao Sisi was calculating the days. The day of departure was getting closer and closer. At this time, she had saved up quite a few spirit stones and was no longer as penniless as before.

She left her residence and wandered around the market for a while, finding some local specialties to buy. She bought these based on the goods that the merchant guild regularly collected. Although the prices were low here, these materials would not be so cheap and of such high quality in other places.

Taking advantage of her own space, she didn't care about the size of the things she bought, and even packed several portions of local delicacies to take with her.

It will take another month to arrive by ship. Not only food, but also some fasting pills need to be prepared. She doesn't need to worry about that, as the young master should bring them.

After she finished touring the market, she went to Lingbao Pavilion and headed straight for the rare and unique items shelf on the third floor to see what new and unusual items were on display.

She rummaged through the shelves but didn't find anything worth buying, so she gave up on the shelf in front of her and went to look at other shelves. Anyway, she had money now!

Lately, she has been spending her time either making talismans or cultivating divine techniques, which has caused her to neglect her own cultivation. She is still in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. However, making talismans and cultivating divine techniques complement each other perfectly. The two complement each other very well. The Divine Technique can not only quickly restore mental fatigue, but also affect the success rate of making talismans.

Although she didn't see any significant improvement in her cultivation level, she did improve considerably in other areas.

Now their small stalls in the market are quite famous. People around know that these stalls not only sell spirit herbs and square basins, but also pills, talismans and magic tools. No one knows who makes these things, but they know that there must be a small team behind the stall, and a team with outstanding talents.

They can earn money through their skills, unlike most cultivators who have to frequently go out to fight monsters to gain income, which is not only dangerous but also doesn't guarantee they'll earn as much as others.

Not only Yao Sisi went out to buy supplies, but Qi Mu and Liu Yuan also went out to buy things. In addition to special ingredients, they also bought a lot of spiritual herbs and plants. They felt that the skills they had learned should not be lost. Now, not only Qi Mu can cultivate spiritual plants, but Liu Yuan can also take over this job. In the future, among them, there will be someone who can refine pills, someone who can cultivate spiritual plants, and a teammate who can forge weapons. They will be able to survive well wherever they go.

As the day of departure drew closer, Yao Sisi became increasingly restless. Why hadn't the little fox, Rijiu, sent any news yet?

I sent two message tokens, but haven't received a reply.

Is this guy out having some fun? She thought about it and figured that he was probably a demon and preferred living in the jungle to coming to human cities. "The little fox said before that he didn't like getting close to humans. Is it not right for me to invite him like this? When we were planning to break out of the Mystic Beast Forest, we didn't talk about the future. Has this guy already left and gone to live among the demons?"

He said he would come looking for me when he left, didn't he?

Yao Sisi was completely baffled and finally decided to wait. After that, Qi Mu saw her climbing onto the roof whenever she had nothing to do, and he didn't know what she was doing.

One day, after Yao Sisi finished her cultivation, she felt that her cultivation level had increased slightly. She estimated that she would be able to break through soon. She habitually jumped onto the roof and looked into the distance. When she looked down, she saw a little girl walking on the street. She was the customer from her first day setting up her stall, the little girl who had praised her as a pretty older sister.

She sprinted down from the rooftop and landed not far from her. Her large movements caught the girl's attention, and the little girl recognized her immediately.

"She's the pretty lady who sells square basins!"

Yao Sisi smiled and asked, "How have you been lately, young friend?"

Girl: "I'm doing well. Thank you for the storage bag you gave me before, my little fish loves it."

Yao Sisi: "Thank you so much for introducing us to so many customers."

The little girl smiled modestly, "Your stall is really popular now. The things you buy are more practical than elsewhere, and the prices are very reasonable. There are often long queues of people buying things!"

Yao Sisi wanted something from her, so she asked, "Does this young Daoist live around here?"

Girl: "Yes, I've seen her several times, but I haven't gone up to say hello. I've also been seeing her on the rooftop quite often lately!"

Yao Sisi: "Is there anything else you need? We're leaving soon and won't be setting up our stall anymore."

Girl: "Oh, are you leaving, sisters and brothers? Your business is so good, why are you leaving!"

Yao Sisi: "Because we plan to join a sect. Little girl, what's your name?"

Girl: "My name is Lanlan. Sister, I'm still missing a flying magic weapon, but I don't think I'll have time to collect enough spirit stones. You're leaving soon."

Yao Sisi: "It's okay, Lanlan, do me a favor and I'll give you a flying artifact, how about that?"

Lanlan: "Is it dangerous? What does my sister want me to do?"

Yao Sisi: "My sister has a friend who is still out there, but we have to leave and we don't have time to wait for him, so could you please give him something?"

Lanlan: "Huh? It's such a simple thing, sister, you can just let me do it. Lanlan can't accept your magic weapon. You already gave me a storage bag before. My mother said that as a cultivator, one must cultivate one's mind and not overexert oneself, lest one destroy one's Dao heart."

Yao Sisi smiled and said, "Lanlan is really an excellent little cultivator. As long as Lanlan has saved up enough spirit stones to cover the cost of refining materials, I won't lose out. Can you help me out too? Otherwise, I'll feel uneasy having such a young child help me."

Lanlan: "I still have five hundred left... Sister, how many days do you need to refine it? I can gather a little more!"

Yao Sisi: "Five hundred is about right. The materials I got myself didn't cost much. You can come back to pick them up in three days. Since it's a custom order, does Xiao Lanlan have a style she likes? Maybe I can make it into the shape you like!"

Lanlan looked down at her toes hesitantly. "Really? But... I heard that pretty magical artifacts are more expensive!"

Seeing how cute the little girl was, Yao Sisi couldn't help but pat her head. "Anyway, it's something I made myself, so it's just something I did."

Lanlan blushed, her feet shuffling on the ground as if she were embarrassed about what she was about to say, "Then, sister, could you make me a flying magic artifact shaped like a white lotus flower, so I can meditate and cultivate on it..."

After hearing her words, Yao Sisi instantly recalled a scene from Journey to the West, but the lotus flower there was pink, which was different from what she wanted. "I didn't expect you to have the heart of a fairy, little friend. Alright, I'll see if I can refine one for you later."

After listening to her, Lanlan was happy but shy, as if her little secret had been discovered. Heaven knows that although she usually seems rough around the edges, she really loves lotus flowers!

After saying goodbye to Lanlan, Yao Sisi returned to her room. She first cut off a lock of her hair, then took out the fare for Rijiu's boat, put a large amount of spirit stones into a small bag, and then braided her lock of hair with fine thread into a tassel and hung it on the seal of the small bag.

Three days later, Yao Sisi flew onto the roof again, playing with a lotus-shaped object in her hand. This time, her gaze was not directed into the distance, but towards the street outside.

But she didn't expect to wait so long for Rijiu, and she couldn't wait for Lanlan either. Yao Sisi couldn't help but frown. Was the little girl delayed by something?

Just then, another child came to her yard. He was about the same age as Lanlan, a teenager. Yao Sisi flew down from the roof and said, "I remember you. Lanlan brought you to the stall to buy things."

The young boy had delicate features but wasn't particularly outstanding. She was able to recognize him at a glance among the group of boys that Lanlan was with because he had a scar on his face.

The boy said, "Lanlan ran into some trouble and couldn't come, so she asked me to help deliver the spirit stones and the items that her fellow Daoist asked her to pass on."

After the young boy finished speaking, he handed over a bag containing a neatly stacked thousand spirit stones.

Yao Sisi raised an eyebrow: "Didn't we agree on five hundred spirit stones? Why is there more? Where is Lanlan now?"

The young boy seemed a bit old-fashioned, dressed in a somber black outfit. He didn't answer Yao Sisi's question, but simply pushed his spirit stone bag away, appearing taciturn.

Yao Sisi had no choice but to accept it and handed him the small lotus flower in her hand: "This is the magic artifact that Lanlan wanted." Then she took out a small bag, "This is an item that she needs to pass on, but it cannot be put in the storage bag, it can only be kept with you."

The boy pursed his lips, indicating that he understood, then picked up his things, turned around, and left without saying goodbye.

Yao Sisi stood in front of the courtyard gate watching him walk away, thinking to herself: What a stubborn child.

Seeing that the other person had walked far away, she sensed the location of the small bag that had been handed over and walked step by step in a certain direction. Soon she saw a dilapidated courtyard not far away, and the small bag was located in a room in that courtyard.

She shouldn't have done that, coming to someone's place without permission, but she sensed something was wrong and only knocked on the door when she smelled blood.

The boy who had just opened the door was the same one. Their room was simply furnished and you could see right through it. Lanlan was huddled on the small bed, covered in blood.

Yao Sisi took a breath, staring at the young boy, her tone somewhat urgent: "What happened?"

She hurried to the bedside and saw a hole in front of Lanlan's body. Although it was covered with hemostatic powder, it was still bleeding slightly. She quickly took out a pill from her storage bag and put it into Lanlan's mouth.

Then the boy spoke: "Lanlan had an accident while she was working today. The leopard she was guarding escaped and scratched her."

Yao Sisi: "Isn't this a work-related injury? Why isn't anyone treating her?"

The boy stammered, "The place Lanlan went to wasn't very legitimate. She was trying to raise money recently because it was a high-paying place, and these kinds of things don't happen often."

We were just unlucky.

Yao Sisi: "Where's her mother? Why didn't she come to take care of her?"

The young boy paused for a moment, then stammered, "She doesn't have a mother."

Yao Sisi: "???"