After the talisman cultivator swept all the mosquito repellent pills off the stall and ran away without looking back as if he had grabbed a lifeline, Shen Zhaozhao suddenly had a flash of inspiration and stared straight at Xiao Jingrui with a look that seemed to say, "Could you be one of us?"
Xiao Jingrui tilted his head slightly, his face still bearing that standard harmless smile: "Is there anything else, fellow Daoist?"
Then, he suddenly heard Shen Zhaozhao ask, "Fellow Daoist, do you have a sect? What's its name?"
Xiao Jingrui paused almost imperceptibly, a faint wariness flashing in his eyes, before his smile deepened and became more insincere: "My sect ranks very low, I fear it might offend your ears, fellow Daoist."
Insignificant?
There is nothing to mourn.
Shen Zhaozhao's face instantly lit up with enthusiasm, and she immediately stepped forward: "Senior brother, it's like this, I would like to join your sect, could you please introduce me?"
Xiao Jingrui: "???"
The man's gentle, jade-like face nearly cracked open on the spot.
What the hell is this "senior brother"?
"Fellow Daoist is joking."
Xiao Jingrui's smile was a little stiff. "Judging from your attire, you don't look like a rogue cultivator. A deserter... Ha, we are a small and humble family, we dare not take in such a 'talent'."
Shen Zhaozhao clicked her tongue, and the warmth on her face vanished instantly, replaced by a frankness that said, "We're like family, stop pretending."
She leaned closer: "Senior brother, if you don't help me get in touch, I'll make sure everyone in Canglan Town knows about how you raise mosquitoes to cause trouble for people and then sell mosquito repellent pills to rip them off."
"Then, you'll see if your business can still survive."
Xiao Jingrui's pupils contracted sharply, but only for a moment. In the blink of an eye, he put on a wronged expression as if he had been unfairly accused.
However, Shen Zhaozhao didn't give him a chance to act "shocked and innocent" and went straight to the point: "Before that vengeful seed came, you had these pills neatly arranged and the bottles were so shiny that they could reflect light. Obviously, you hadn't made any sales for half a day."
"and……"
At this point, her gaze swept precisely over the barely noticeable dark stain of sweat on the inside of the man's pale white robe collar. "I see you've been standing in this blazing sun for quite some time, haven't you, Senior Brother? If what that talisman cultivator said is true, and your mosquito-repelling pills are famous far and wide, how could you not have had a single person ask about the price all this time?"
"It seems that the 'kind person' who 'happened' to meet you at the foot of the mountain and directed him to find you... was also arranged in advance by Senior Brother, right?"
The moment the words left his mouth, the feigned shock and innocence on Xiao Jingrui's face vanished completely, like the tide receding.
Instead, there was an extremely subtle, playful expression, as if saying, "Oh ho, you're an expert?"
A cold, scrutinizing, and murderous glint flashed in the depths of those gentle eyes.
He chuckled softly, and his previously harmless aura suddenly shifted, becoming languid yet carrying an invisible sense of oppression.
He leisurely dusted off non-existent dust from his sleeves, his voice still clear and melodious, but with a hint of cold mockery: "Young lady, you're getting too hot-blooded."
"What's your cultivation level? Hmm? With your meager abilities... what makes you dare to threaten me?"
The man leaned down slightly, his handsome face close to Shen Zhaozhao's, exuding an overwhelming sense of pressure: "If what you say is true, that I can create such a grand spectacle, have you ever considered that with my cultivation level, crushing a Foundation Establishment stage ant like you would be effortless?"
Okay, okay.
He admitted it!
Shen Zhaozhao felt much more at ease. Far from being intimidated by the threat, her eyes instead shone with an excited light, as if she had found a perfect match for her family.
"What you say is very true, senior brother."
Ignoring Xiao Jingrui's slightly mocking gaze, she spoke quickly and clearly: "I just think that while Senior Brother's method is certainly effective, the problem is that it's too inefficient."
“You’re swindling one idiot at a time. There are plenty of idiots in Lingzhou, but have you considered the time and effort it takes to find a target, arrange for the poisoning, release the mosquitoes, and then catch and kill them all?”
Shen Zhaozhao extended her index finger, pinpointing the crux of the matter, "Senior brother, are those mosquitoes you raise vegetarian? How many resources does it take to maintain them every day? What is the attrition rate? These costs are indirectly reducing your profit margin."
Xiao Jingrui's cold smile froze slightly.
Shen Zhaozhao smiled smugly: "Senior brother, do you know what unscrupulous merchants like us value most?"
Xiao Jingrui subconsciously followed her words and asked, "...What?"
Shen Zhaozhao: "The biggest taboo in the pursuit of quick profits and rapid monetization is prolonging the battle and increasing the risks."
"Listen to me, isn't there a newcomer competition specifically for us low-level cultivators in a month?"
Xiao Jingrui raised an eyebrow but didn't reply, though his eyes were clearly intrigued.
Shen Zhaozhao's eyes also gleamed with an excited light of "doing something big": "If you introduce me to our sect, I will have a legitimate reason to participate in the competition, and then... I will help you maximize the benefits of these mosquitoes."
Xiao Jingrui: "..."
He was silent for two seconds, then suddenly burst out laughing, his shoulders trembling slightly, as if he had heard something utterly absurd yet inexplicably reasonable.
"Little girl."
He spoke slowly, the scrutiny in his eyes fading, replaced by a strange admiration, "Why did you defect from the sect before?"
Shen Zhaozhao's expression immediately changed, switching to a pitiful mode in a second, her eyes reddening instantly: "Senior brother wanted to dig out my immortal bones to rebuild junior sister's spiritual root. I disagreed, and he threatened me and scolded me for being ungrateful."
"I'm thinking, this immortal bone is mine, why should I give it to him?"
Do I look like some kind of stupid [beep] person?
After listening, Xiao Jingrui's eyes flickered subtly. He didn't ask for details or the name of her original sect, but simply gave a thoughtful "hmm".
After a moment, he suddenly raised his hand and gently patted Shen Zhaozhao's shoulder, his tone so kind as if the murderous person from just now was not him: "Come with me."
Shen Zhaozhao: "Senior brother, does that mean you've agreed?"
Xiao Jingrui smiled slightly, reverting to his gentle and refined demeanor: "After all, it would be a pity for someone as talented as you to die."
Shen Zhaozhao: "..."
Excellent, excellent! This sect is indeed a perfect match for our expertise!
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