Chapter 45 Chapter 45 Black Shop
Wait… "Yun Miao!"
Huo Xin chased after him in anger, ready to find Yun Miao to ask for clarification.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she started chasing him, Yun Miao immediately took off running. The two of them soon reached the end of the alley and saw the open gate of Grandma Hua's house and the vegetable field inside that looked as if it had been looted.
The two people in the alley stopped in their tracks, frowned and looked carefully, they saw that the vegetable patch in the yard was full of potholes and flying soil, and the vegetable seedlings in the patch had been pulled out somehow, scattered all over the ground, and it was obvious that they were not going to survive.
A ferocious chicken demon with a lean body and a rooster's head was walking out with a cloth bag in his hand. He said in a frivolous tone as he walked, "Old woman, I'll use these spirit stones first. Remember to bring me the remaining ten spirit stones later. Otherwise, I'll..."
"I'll fight!"
Yun Miao was so angry that her eyes widened. She controlled the ladder to the sky and smashed the chicken demon back into the yard.
"Where did this roast chicken come from? How dare you bully Grandma Hua? I'm telling you, I've eaten plenty of honey-glazed roast chickens like you. The last chicken demon who dared to show off his spicy chicken wings in front of me, I made him into a spicy chicken hotpot!"
The moment the chicken demon fell to the ground, the black-clothed girl in the alley drew out a knife, and the bright knife light went straight to the chicken demon's neck.
Huo Xin, who was already on the verge of a breakthrough, seemed to hear the sound of bubbles bursting in her dantian. Then the aura around her surged, and the sword energy on her horizontal sword became even more fierce.
She broke through to the third level of Qi Refining just like that. It was not as grand as Tan Xiaobai's last sudden enlightenment, but it was the result of continuous accumulation.
However, at this moment, she had no intention of caring about her temporary breakthrough. Her face was as cold as frost, her speed was as fast as thunder, and her eyes were filled with a sharp murderous intent that Yun Miao had never seen before. Anyone who saw this murderous intent would immediately understand that the knife of this teenage girl had definitely drunk blood and killed people!
The chicken demon dodged Huo Xin's sword with a quick roll and glared at him fiercely: "Stop! What are you doing? Don't think I'll be scared just because you're wearing a Xuantian Sect sign!"
[Realm: Jindan Stage 1, HP: 100,000 points]
Yun Miao's gaze swept across the prompt box above the chicken demon's head, and his mind immediately echoed with the content of his master's previous teachings.
Ordinary wild beasts, by chance, become intelligent and develop the wisdom equivalent to that of a human child of a few years old. They learn how to absorb Qi into their bodies and become demon beasts in the Qi Refining Stage.
Certain Foundation Establishment monsters, if they refine the horizontal bone in their throats, can speak human language. The man-eating monsters in mortal stories, though not very intelligent, who can imitate the cries of babies to lure humans over, are examples of this type.
A demon that reaches the Jindan stage possesses intelligence close to that of an average human and the ability to transform into a humanoid form. Therefore, the Jindan stage is considered the watershed for demons. Small demons in the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages who cannot transform are disparagingly called demon beasts, while demons above the Jindan stage are called fairies or goblins.
Therefore, Sect Leader Chang clearly warned Yun Miao at that time that if she encountered a monster that could transform into a human form outside, she must never make an enemy and try to stay away from it.
Yun Miao silently ignored the warning and used the ladder to smash it over again.
So what if he's at the Jindan stage, or his health bar is ten times thicker than hers? As long as the player wants, she'll kill him even if his health bar is a hundred times thicker!
Good luck, chicken tonight!
Huo Xin swung his sword again without saying a word, also using a ferocious attacking style without defending.
clang!
Another knife rushed out from the side and blocked Huo Xin's knife, and also blocked the chicken demon's hand that was about to attack.
Yun Miao was startled and quickly stopped the ladder that had already flown over and made it hover in the air.
"Grandma Hua?"
Huo Xin looked at the white-haired old woman who was protecting the chicken demon with puzzled eyes: "Grandma Hua?"
Granny Hua's voice was as hoarse as ever: "It's a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding..."
Before she could finish her words, the chicken demon stretched out its large hand and pulled the thin, hunched-over girl behind it. It said in a tense tone, "Old woman, these Xuantian Sect disciples have ill intentions. I'm afraid they're here to arrest me. Stay out of this. I can handle it myself."
He then took a step forward, his eyes glaring fiercely at Yun Miao and the others. His gaze paused for a moment on Niu Rao, his sharp beak flashing a cold light in the sunlight. His unpleasant rooster voice was shrill.
"Hey, isn't it said that the Xuantian Sect is the most tolerant, compassionate, and universally beneficial sect? I may be a demon, but I don't kill or eat anyone. I just came to Luohua Town to make a living. What gives you the right to arrest me?"
"Could it be that the Xuantian Sect's good reputation is all inflated? If that's the case, today, even at the risk of my life, I will expose the true face of you hypocrites to the world!"
Niu Rao, who was walking quickly towards him, glared at him and said, "Stop talking nonsense!"
Huo Xin: "Grandma Hua, do you know him?"
Tan Xiaobai, who was last in line, quickly ran into the yard, only to find that the fight was over. He hurried to Yun Miao's side, arcs of electricity appearing on the folding fan in his hand: "Boss, who are you going to hit? I'll help you shock him!"
The chicken demon immediately turned around and cursed, "You're just a sixth-level Qi Refining Stage cultivator, and you dare to electrocute me? Believe it or not, I'll peck you to death!"
Granny Hua quickly stepped forward again: "It's a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding..."
Then she quickly explained the situation. The chicken demon was named Ji Huangmao and had lived in Luohua Town for several years. Recently, a group of Qi-refining stage moles came to West Street and made a mess of the surrounding fields and vegetable gardens.
A few days ago, Grandma Hua saw that the moles were causing trouble in the vegetable garden she had carefully maintained, so she squatted outside the mouse hole to get rid of them. However, she didn't expect that moles are best at escaping by digging holes, so they are very difficult to catch. She missed the target and instead disturbed them.
A nest of moles had retreated deeper into the ground, and Granny Hua couldn't do anything about them. Instead, they'd been constantly coming to her for revenge, day and night. They'd first killed her chickens and ducks, then torn apart her cabinets and defecated on her clothes and food. Last night, they'd even chewed the legs of her bed until they were as thin as chopsticks.
So when the unaware Grandma Hua went to bed, she heard a loud bang. The wooden bed that had been with her for decades since she settled in Luohua Town collapsed, and her old waist was also sprained.
Granny Hua was furious and decided to spend a fortune to find Chicken Yellow Hair and ask him to deal with these cunning and annoying rats. They agreed to act tonight, and the chicken demon just came to collect the deposit.
Then Grandma Hua explained to Ji Huangmao the relationship between Huo Xin, Yun Miao and herself.
The rooster's voice was extremely penetrating: "Did you hear that? Did you all hear that? This is a serious business."
Huo Xin's eyes flashed with embarrassment, and she sheathed her knife: "I'm sorry, I wronged you."
Yun Miao said sincerely, "I'm sorry, Huangmao, I judged a woman by her appearance."
"Just an apology? I won't accept that!"
The chicken with yellow hair rolled its eyes, and it fell to the ground, rolling around.
"As a powerful demon in the Golden Core Stage, I'm already condescending to help this old woman catch mice for only twenty low-grade spirit stones."
"But you, these arrogant Xuantian Sect disciples, beat up a good chicken like me without any reason, leaving me with a black eye and swollen face. In the end, you want to let it go with an apology? Don't even think about it! Pay me! You must compensate me with a sum of spirit stones as money to buy medicine. Otherwise, this matter will not end!"
The yard was silent. Grandma Hua tried to pull Ji Huangmao up, but Ji Huangmao dodged her.
"Oh, old woman, please don't get involved in this. I can't afford to be beaten up for nothing. I heard that the Xuantian Sect is very rich, so they must have a lot of spirit stones in their pockets. If they don't compensate me today, I will spread the news all over the streets tomorrow that the Xuantian Sect disciples beat people up at will!"
Yun Miao: "Is he blackmailing us?"
Huo Xin: "After all, we were the ones who attacked first."
Niu Rao nodded honestly, "Yes, I just saw it. Junior Sister Yun hit him first, then Junior Sister Huo hit him again, and Junior Brother Tan was about to shock him. After all, we were the ones who made the mistake first, so compensation is what we deserve."
He stepped forward and asked Ji Huangmao how much compensation he needed. This time he had not looked after his fellow junior brothers and sisters, so naturally he, as the senior brother, had to pay.
Ji Huangmao was delighted and asked for a thousand low-grade spirit stones.
"What's there to compensate for? I won't compensate."
Yun Miao once again displayed the Heavenly Ladder and gestured to Niu Rao, "Brother Niu, since we're at the end of the alley and there's no one around, why don't we just go all out and just..."
A mere monster dares to blackmail the player? This chicken is really brave!
Ji Huangmao was startled: "Hey, hey, aren't you disciples of Xuantian Sect? You beat someone up and not only don't you want to compensate them, you also want to kill them to silence them?"
Yun Miao put the disciple token on his waist into his storage bag, his face grim. "What Xuantian Sect disciple? I don't know you. I'm actually the number one killer at Caiyuan Gungun Building. A customer specially ordered wolfberry chicken soup today and was very willing to pay for it, so... I'm sorry!"
The ladder transformed into a turquoise meteor and slammed down towards the chicken feather on the ground. He dodged the blow with a somersault and angrily said, "You mean the Fortune-Inducing Treasure Tower? What assassin would get their name wrong? Besides, I'm a rooster, how can I make hen soup? You even got the target's gender wrong, and you think you're worthy of being the number one assassin!?"
Yun Miao controlled the ladder to heaven and chased after him, smashing it: "Ah, that's not important. What's important is that as long as I kill you, I can save a thousand low-grade spirit stones. Xiaobai, go!"
"Yes, Boss!"
Tan Xiaobai shouted loudly, then waved his fan, and three bolts of lightning shot towards Ji Huangmao's feet.
Ji Huangmao dodged with a swift leap, then he rushed out of the yard, shouting as he ran: "Murder, murder! A disciple of Xuantian Sect beat someone up and not only refused to pay compensation but also wanted to kill him to silence him. Everyone, come and see!"
Yun Miao also chased out and shouted loudly: "I already told you that I am not a disciple of Xuantian Sect. I am the number one killer of Caiyuan Gungun Building. Someone paid me to take your life!"
Chicken Yellow Hair: "I already said it's a treasure house for attracting wealth!"
Tan Xiaobai: "You bastard, give me your life!"
Chicken Yellow Hair: "I am a chicken, not a dog!"
Tan Xiaobai: "Oh, you thief, give me your life!"
Bang!
Two earth walls appeared out of thin air in front of them, and the three of them ran too fast and crashed into them directly.
The chicken's pointed beak instantly pierced into the earthen wall and hung on the wall like a cured chicken: "Mmmmm!"
Tan Xiaobai cried out in pain, crouching on the ground with his head in his hands, tears welling up in his eyes. His fair, delicate forehead quickly became red and swollen, showing the first signs of injury.
Yun Miao didn't feel any pain. She just sat down on the ground and subconsciously touched her rapidly swollen forehead: "What is this?"
Grandma Hua had a sprained waist last night and had difficulty walking, so she walked out with a hunched back supported by Huo Xin. She was relieved to see that the three people were stopped safely.
"It's the water in your brain."
Huo Xin pulled Yun Miao and Tan Xiaobai up with a cold face. He sneered at Tan Xiaobai and said, "Do you feel the pain now? Wasn't it quite fierce just now?"
"When the boss gets up, the younger brother must follow."
Tan Xiaobai looked at Yun Miao with tears in his eyes: "Boss, are you okay?"
Yun Miao pretended to pat the dust off the hem of her skirt and said, "Oh, it's just a little dirty."
Huo Xin: "Your head is almost the same as the birthday man, and the hem of your skirt is even slightly dirty."
Yun Miao, with a large bump on his head, said calmly, "People say people with big foreheads are smart. This is just my wisdom expanding."
Tan Xiaobai touched the big bump on his forehead, immediately raised his sleeve to wipe away his tears, and said with a look of enlightenment: "Really? After hearing what the boss said, I do feel like I have become a little smarter."
Huo Xin: ...
She silently turned her head to look at Niu Rao, hoping that her senior brother could take care of these two fools.
Niu Rao did give Yun Miao and Tan Xiaobai a serious lecture. As disciples of Xuantian Sect, their every move when they were outside represented Xuantian Sect, and they must never bring discredit to the sect, otherwise he, as a senior brother, would be angry no matter how good-tempered he was.
Niu Raoniu was tall and strong, and the way he scolded others with a dark face was very oppressive. Tan Xiaobai immediately shrank behind the boss.
Yun Miao asked with great interest, "So Senior Brother Niu will butt me with his horns?"
In reality, she has only seen cows in scenic spots and zoos, and has never been gored by a cow!
Niu Rao's eyes flashed with confusion. He didn't understand what Junior Sister Yun, who always had strange ideas, was expecting. He said in a muffled voice, "No, but Senior Brother will plant you in the land of Danfeng."
Yun Miao continued with interest: "It sounds quite interesting."
Niu Rao glanced at her and added sullenly, "And when I fertilize the land, I'll give you a bucket of fertilizer too."
Yun Miao: "...This is boring."
Seeing that Yun Miao was scared, Niu Rao finally breathed a sigh of relief. Then he strode forward, grabbed Ji Huangmao's head, and pulled his head off the earth wall like pulling out a nail.
"You just said you wanted a thousand spirit stones..."
Ji Huangmao was so frightened that he quickly shook his head to say that he was joking and nothing happened to him and he did not need compensation.
"No, it was indeed our fault in this matter, and we should compensate you."
Although Niu Rao also felt that Ji Huangmao's request for a thousand low-grade spirit stones was too much, in order to set an example for his junior brothers and sisters, he still gave Ji Huangmao a thousand low-grade spirit stones as compensation. Then he turned around to look at the expressions of Yun Miao and the other two. Seeing that Yun Miao had a thoughtful look in his eyes, he couldn't help but touch the ox horn and smiled foolishly.
Seeing Junior Sister Yun's expression, she must have been inspired, right? Hey, this senior brother of his must have done a very good job.
Yun Miao looked at Ji Huangmao's back as he left happily: I understand. I can get a thousand low-grade spirit stones by lying on the ground and blackmailing him.
*
Niu Rao took back Hua Po Po's deposit from Ji Huangmao. He originally planned to help Hua Po Po get rid of the moles himself, but Yun Miao rushed to help.
"It's just a mole. I can handle it."
She threw a piece of silk scarf embroidered with a picture of beautiful mice into the air. Immediately, several male and female mice with charming postures floated down from the scarf and flirted with the mouse holes in the vegetable garden and the corner of the yard. A strange smell, which was hard to tell whether it was pleasant or unpleasant, filled the air.
In just a moment, several moles that were larger than cats excitedly came out of their holes and pounced on the mice in the paintings with drooling mouths. The small robe floating in the air immediately grew larger and flew over the moles.
The moles disappeared in an instant, but there were a few more mice on the embroidered painting on the robe.
Granny Hua was first stunned by the spring and love pattern on the scarf, and then she was surprised by its efficient mouse-catching ability. She kept praising the scarf as a good treasure that helped her a lot.
She gave Yun Miao the twenty spirit stones that she had agreed upon with Ji Huangmao as a reward.
Yun Miao happily collected the quest reward, then took out a basket filled with fire chives and handed it to Granny Hua: "I grew these myself. My uncle-master said that eating these is good for cultivators with fire spiritual roots."
Huo Xin and Tan Xiaobai also prepared gifts, and upon seeing this, they immediately took them out of their storage bags. Huo Xin prepared a medicinal bath pack for strengthening the body, while Tan Xiaobai prepared a lightning-inducing talisman he had drawn, both of which were perfectly suited for use by cultivators in the Qi Refining Stage.
Granny Hua immediately said that these gifts were too valuable for her to accept. The medicinal bath bag and the lightning-attracting talisman were already good things that she would never buy on a normal day.
Ordinary casual cultivators would simply sell the low-level spiritual plants they dug up, while consuming spiritual plants as meals was a luxury only enjoyed by wealthy cultivators. Only aristocratic families and major sects would specifically construct spirit gathering arrays and painstakingly cultivate spiritual plants daily.
She did a rough calculation and figured that this basket of top-quality fire leeks could fetch a hundred low-grade spirit stones if sold. The child didn't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil, and salt were, and spent money lavishly, but she couldn't bear to accept it.
Seeing this, Yun Miao stuffed the basket into Granny Hua's arms with great pride: "Granny Hua, you can keep it. I'm very rich and can afford this."
Granny Hua: "But you just wanted to kill Huang Mao for a thousand spirit stones."
"That's different. I'm just being stingy."
Yun Miao calmly revealed her identity. She was the beloved disciple of the leader of Xuantian Sect and had no shortage of spirit stones or flowers.
Huo Xin also explained that she had a plentiful supply of medicinal baths under the master of Ti Peak, and that Tan Xiaobai, as the second young master of the Tan family and a disciple of Qian Duoduo, the master of Fu Peak, had never been short of spirit stones. After all, his master's motto was: "Fu Peak may not have much else, but it has the most spirit stones, and you can't spend them all, absolutely."
Granny Hua was surprised by the identities of the three people, then the wrinkles on her face relaxed, she showed a comfortable smile, and finally agreed to accept the gifts from the three people.
Because all the food in the house was destroyed by groundhogs, Grandma Hua simply closed the gate and prepared to take everyone to a big restaurant for a good meal to celebrate Yun Miao, Huo Xin, and Tan Xiaobai's successful admission into the Xuantian Sect, and also to celebrate that she could finally get a good night's sleep tonight.
*
The streets that had been disturbed by the winged tiger had returned to their bustle. The magnificent Yunlai Restaurant was five stories high and was the tallest building in the entire Luohua Town. It was very conspicuous and quickly caught Yun Miao's attention.
At this moment, Tan Xiaobai poked her with his folding fan: "Boss, look over there, it's that chicken again."
Yun Miao turned around and saw Huangmao, a human with a chicken's head, casually walking into a tavern with his back to them. On the tavern's old plaque were four large characters, "Huangmao Tavern," written in crooked handwriting that looked like they had been scribbled by a chicken's claw.
Yun Miao became interested and pointed at the tavern and asked Granny Hua, "Granny Hua, what is that?"
Granny Hua took a quick glance and said simply, "It's a shady shop."
Yun Miao: ???
Just as she was wondering, a quarrel suddenly broke out in the tavern not far away, and a pot-bellied man dressed in silk walked out angrily with a servant.
"You're a complete scam! You're asking me for a couple of taels of silver for a few vegetables! You're truly ruthless! I won't pay you today. I'll see who dares to stop me!"
Ji Huangmao then walked out of the tavern door angrily and kicked the door before leaving.
"This big brother is absolutely right. You shop owners are so cruel! I just bought some millet from you and you asked me to pay five taels of silver. Isn't this bullying an honest chicken? I won't pay you today. Let's see who dares to stop me!"
The pedestrians on the street paused, then quickly retreated to the surroundings like the tide, leaving a large open space. The pot-bellied man was stunned, and before he could react, eight burly men rushed out of the tavern and surrounded him, the servant and Ji Huangmao.
An obese woman walked out of the tavern door with a domineering look. She sneered and the flesh on her face trembled.
"Alright, you two ate without paying, and you're being so arrogant. Did you come here just to dine for free? Beat me up! I want to see who's stronger, our fists or their mouths!"
"Okay!"
The eight burly men shouted together, then raised their fists and hit Ji Huangmao. The rain of punches made Ji Huangmao, who had been tough just now, squat on the ground with his head in his hands and screaming in pain.
"Ah! Stop it!"
"Oh, stop pulling my comb!"
"Ouch! My gizzards are about to be beaten out!"
"Help! Can anyone save the chicken?"
One of the big men probably felt that using fists was not satisfying enough, so he directly tore down the door of the hotel and smashed it towards Ji Huangmao. Bang! Blood splattered everywhere!
This brutality frightened the pot-bellied man so much that he stepped back and stumbled to the ground. The servant hurriedly helped him up and wanted to run away, but was horrified to find two burly men walking towards them with a grin.
The master and servant were so frightened that their legs went limp. The man hurriedly shouted, "Don't hit me, I'll pay you, I'll pay you!"
The two burly men stopped when they heard this. The man trembled as he took out money to promise his safety. When he saw that the two men really made way for them after receiving the money, he was surprised and thanked them repeatedly, then he and the servant supported each other and got into the carriage.
As the carriage sped down the street and disappeared, the burly men who were punching and kicking stopped fighting. Ji Huangmao, who had been knocked to the ground, jumped up with a somersault. One of the men handed over the silver ingots he had received.
"Boss, here you go."
Ji Huangmao weighed it skillfully and smiled cunningly: "Oh, it's still ten taels. I'm making a profit this time. Come on, come on, my throat is dry after howling for so long. Bring me a pot of wine to moisten it."
The fat woman said stingily, "Boss, please drink less. These are all for selling."
Then he ordered the big men to clean up the mess on the ground so as not to scare the next batch of fat sheep... Oh no, distinguished guests.
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