The two brushed past each other, and Jun Lintian immediately stopped and turned around to look at the two people leaving behind him.

Soon, the two arrived at the foot of the snow-capped mountain. Although the thick fog had dissipated, the wind was still strong.

Looking out, the snow-capped mountains stretch out in a continuous, undulating pattern, layer upon layer, like a giant dragon. The pale morning sun shines on the snow-capped mountains, casting a dazzling light.

The dense black dots in the distance are those people who have entered the snow-capped mountains.

Ji Jiuying frowned slightly. There were no green plants on the snow, so there was no way to find the snow lotus using the language of nature.

We can only search step by step.

After walking for about 15 minutes, they saw a group of people blocking people coming down from the snow mountain. Ji Jiuying and Yingyue exchanged a glance and followed them.

"Buying snow lotus at a high price! Buying snow lotus at a high price!"

A group of guards shouted loudly, while another group kept a close eye on the people coming down the mountain.

Ji Jiuying was speechless at the city lord. Snow lotus is a common medicinal herb in the snow mountain area, but it is more expensive in other places.

Many people also choose to go to the snow-capped mountains to find snow lotus flowers in order to earn some extra money for their families, and then sell them to alchemists who come from afar or to pharmacies.

Now, not only are they buying up snow lotus flowers in the city just to find that man, but they're also trying to intercept him here in the snow mountain!

However, this is indeed a good idea.

Ji Jiuying quickly leaped past the guards, her eyes involuntarily searching for a target in the crowd.

Finally, Ji Jiuying focused her attention on an older woman who was on her way to the guard post. Pretending to run into an acquaintance, she went up to her and put her arm around her. "Aunt Zhou, what a coincidence! You're coming down the mountain so soon?"

Aunt Zhou stared at Ji Jiuying with a bewildered expression. "Who are you?"

"Oh dear, look at you! Me! Little Flower from next door, don't you remember? You even held me when I was little." Ji Jiuying turned her head as she spoke, and sure enough, several guards were staring at them.

Seeing this, Yingyue touched her nose, actually using her hand to cover the corners of her mouth that were turning up. The mistress of the house really had a lot of ideas.

"you······"

"Don't make a sound. We'll buy your snow lotus at a high price! Three times the price they offer," Ji Jiuying interrupted her with a smile.

Aunt Zhou's eyes darted around a few times upon hearing this. "It would be foolish not to make money," she thought, glancing at the approaching guards.

"Oh my! It's Xiaohua! I have such a bad memory! I didn't expect you to have grown so tall!" Aunt Zhou exclaimed in surprise.

Upon hearing this, the approaching guards abandoned their suspicions and turned back.

"I've already made it clear, the city lord's guards will charge two hundred spirit stones for each snow lotus," Aunt Zhou said in a low voice.

Upon hearing this, Ji Jiuying exclaimed, "Good heavens!" Even if the snow lotus were transported to Cangyue, it would only sell for fifty spirit stones per plant, but the price had quadrupled!

However, finding snow lotus flowers in this vast snow-covered mountain is no easy task, and she didn't want to waste her time here. So what if it's a bit expensive? She had plenty of money anyway.

“No problem, let’s talk from a distance.” Ji Jiuying pointed behind her.

Aunt Zhou immediately understood. "Xiao Hua, it's been a long time since you've come to the snow mountain to look for snow lotus flowers. Aunt Zhou will take you there." With that, the two of them walked hand in hand, their backs to the guards, to a protruding snow-covered area.

"Little girl, how many snow lotus flowers would you like?"

"Auntie, I'll take as many of the plants you have on you."

Upon hearing this, the auntie's face lit up with joy. What incredible luck she had today! Usually, she couldn't find even one plant in half a day, but this morning she found three.

She happened to hear that the city lord was buying snow lotus flowers for two hundred spirit stones each when she went down the mountain, so she rushed down the mountain without stopping, afraid of missing the opportunity to make a fortune.

He never expected to meet this young girl, who offered three times the price of the city lord to buy the snow lotus from her. It all felt like a dream.

The aunt quickly took out three snow lotus flowers from the ring and handed them to Ji Jiuying.

Ji Jiuying didn't hesitate and directly handed over two thousand spirit stones to the aunt.

"Oh dear, young lady, you've given too much!" The auntie, thinking Ji Jiuying had done nothing wrong, hurriedly took out the extra spirit stones.

Although she didn't mind having too many spirit stones, she still had principles. The little girl's offer of three times the price was already a profit for her, and she couldn't go against her conscience and take even a penny more.

"Auntie, please accept this. Consider the extra money a reward for your trust in me!"

After Ji Jiuying finished speaking, she turned and left without waiting for her to say another word.

Seeing this, the aunt pondered for a moment and then went up the mountain again to look for snow lotus flowers. Although she had already made a profit, this was the first time the city lord's mansion had offered such a high price for snow lotus flowers, and she couldn't miss it.

Ji Jiuying then emerged from the shadows. The reason she bought up all the snow lotus flowers in her possession at once was because she was certain that the woman would resell the rest to the guards, thus exposing her and implicating the old woman herself.

It's clear that the woman relies on finding snow lotus flowers to sell to supplement her family's income, so when an opportunity to make money comes her way, she will definitely go up the mountain to search again.

Ji Jiuying changed her clothes and went down the mountain openly.

Back at the inn, there were suddenly several more people in the room, including Ye Qingchen, Lian Qingcheng, Qingling, and others.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Ji Jiuying return!

"Miss, you're back!"

"Hmm~"

Not long after Ji Jiuying left, they came looking for her, and Feng Che had no choice but to tell them the general outline of what had happened, including the matter of Qinghu.

"Xiao Jiu, you went up the snow mountain?"

"No, I only planted a few snow lotus flowers and then came down," Ji Jiuying replied.

"Xiao Jiu, what happened?" Feng Che noticed that something was wrong with her.

"Ugh~ It was that damned city lord who intercepted me at the foot of the mountain, shouting that he was buying snow lotus flowers at a high price. I had no choice but to buy a few halfway through the journey." Ji Jiuying told the whole story.

Arriving in front of Qinghu, he picked up her silver needle and pierced it. Qinghu's face instantly turned red, and her pupils, which had turned black, immediately turned back to gold. She—she actually pulled her!

Ji Jiuying had no time to pay attention to his expression. After taking a few drops of blood, she hurriedly went to Qingling's room next door to refine pills.

Qinghu stared blankly at his bleeding fingers for a long time.

It was the first time Ye Qingchen and his companions had seen someone with golden eyes, so they didn't give them much of a second glance.

Qinghu narrowed his bloodthirsty and cold golden eyes, a flash of blood-red light appearing as he glanced at the group.

Lian Qingcheng and Qingling felt a chill run down their spines. It was terrifying. The man's eyes seemed to be filled with the feeling of death descending upon them. They dared not stare at him any longer.

For some reason, Ye Qingchen suddenly thought of the demon race the moment he saw the man's golden eyes.

He had never thought of it or seen it before, so how could he know? And it felt like he had seen it often before.

The room was eerily quiet.