Shen Qi
The unfamiliar woman bowed and said in a formal manner, "I was introduced by Master Xu. My name is Shen Qi. I was originally a low-level cultivator from the Talisman Cultivation Sect. Master Xu asked me to come and help out."
It was dusk. The orange light shone from behind Shen Qi, and Xu Ya could see the person's face clearly. It was an ordinary face, but unusually pale.
The moment the woman raised her hand, a sliver of skin was revealed, covered with dark, tattoo-like markings that were impossible to decipher, as if talismans had been drawn on her body.
Shen Qi noticed Xu Ya's gaze, stiffly straightened his robes, and gave Xu Ya a pale, eerie smile.
Xu Ya was halfway through preparing the fried chicken when she realized she couldn't refuse the person sent by Master Xu, so she quickly stepped aside to let him in.
Shen Qi nodded and "floated" in like a ghost in a movie.
Xu Ya immediately got goosebumps all over her body.
She rubbed her arms and then closed the door.
Upon entering the inner room, Shi Yuzhen had already used magic to pack the fried chicken that Xu Ya had piled up in a large food box into paper bags.
Xu Ya muttered to herself: "Having magic is really amazing! It saves so much trouble!"
He started to worry again; Shen Qi's visit was clearly not well-intentioned!
How to defend against it?
She rarely took the initiative to summon the system, anxiously confirming again: "Are you sure my cheat system means that the fried chicken I make will be imbued with spiritual energy and immune to all poisons?"
[Host~ The instructions we provided are very clear: fried chicken fried by you is indeed immune to all poisons! Don't worry, if anything happens that could harm the male lead, the system will promptly notify you to make adjustments!]
Was this system really her system? It was so thoughtful, considering the male lead's needs. But in other words, both she and the system's purpose was to protect the male lead, and their ultimate goal was to get her home. She felt inexplicably relieved.
Xu Ya was completely relieved.
Since Master Xu's arrangements had no effect on her fried chicken, she could now confidently order Shen Qi around.
In this way, Shen Qi can have a high level of involvement in the fried chicken shop while avoiding being suspected by Master Xu. Let's just take things one step at a time from now on!
When Shen Qi came in, Shi Yuzhen subtly looked her up and down, her unfriendly gaze showing no regard for the difference between men and women.
But Shen Qi was, after all, a girl. Being stared at so openly by a man, Xu Ya felt a strange sense of empathy. She picked up a paper bag and stuffed it into Shi Yuzhen's arms, then squeezed him out to the back.
Xu Ya smiled sweetly: "See you tomorrow, senior brother!"
Shi Yuzhen was suddenly told to leave, but he didn't feel unhappy at all. He lowered his head, stared at Xu Ya's chubby cheeks, reached out and touched them, then smiled and flew away on his sword.
Shi Yuzhen and Xu Ya have been seeing each other every day recently. Ever since Shi Yuzhen agreed to help Xu Ya take care of her health, she has been going to the shop almost every day to make sure Xu Ya takes her medicine. Their relationship is much more harmonious than before, so Xu Ya is not worried that Shen Qi will be able to get her hands on the fried chicken that she feeds to Shi Yuzhen.
She went inside and saw Shen Qi mechanically helping A Xi tidy up the table.
Yes... machinery.
Shen Qi's entire movement gave people a sense of motion that was not like that of a living person, like the first generation of robots in a science fiction movie that were put into the market without proper social research. Their movements and expressions were very similar.
Upon closer inspection, it is indeed two eyes and one mouth, and there is no trace of a mask.
Xu Ya put aside the strange thoughts in her mind and diligently told Shen Qi all the precautions for running the shop.
Shen Qi listened attentively and answered slowly, one by one.
The next day, Shen Qi followed Xu Ya's instructions and reported through the back door. Xu Ya opened the door for her, and it was time to start working on the shop early in the morning.
Xu Ya's fried chicken has extraordinary effects, and now everyone in Xianze knows about it. Many cultivators come down early in the morning to queue up.
The shop has only been open for less than three months, but Xu Ya's fried chicken has already become a favorite food among cultivators in Xianze to enhance their cultivation.
The cultivators were also very shrewd, comparing the prices of several items that could increase cultivation level, and Xu Ya's fried chicken could be considered to be good value for money.
The price is relatively cheap, but the effects are more effective than other foods with the same price, so naturally everyone will choose Xu Ya's fried chicken.
Many cultivators who initially looked down on Xu Ya changed their minds after tasting her fried chicken.
Even while making the purchase, he would casually give her a smile.
With two more helpers, Xu Ya's efficiency increased significantly. When she was overwhelmed with work, she could take turns with A-Xi and Shen Qi to rest. If we don't consider that Xu Shi's original intention in opening the shop might have been full of malice, it did give Xu Ya a moment of true freedom.
With more and more spirit stones accumulated in her hands, after deducting the share that had to be handed over to Master Xu every month, as well as Ah Xi's pocket money and Shen Qi's salary, Xu Ya finally saved enough to qualify for visiting Danxiao Mansion multiple times.
So much so that she pestered Shi Yuzhen every day to check on her recovery progress.
However, before Shi Yuzhen could announce the good news, Aya's fried chicken shop ran into trouble.
A low-level cultivator took the fried chicken and started eating it right there in front of the shop, disregarding his image.
Logically speaking, low-level cultivators are extremely cautious and would never do something like this to lose face in public. This is the usual practice within the Immortal Marsh. Before Xu Ya could even wonder what was going on, trouble struck.
Suddenly, the low-level cultivator turned deathly pale. After staggering, he braced himself with his large hand on his chest. A sharp gust of wind swept around him, and the other cultivators, to avoid being affected, immediately dispersed into a circle, surrounding the cultivator who had exhibited unusual behavior.
Today, Zhan Zhengzhen was standing guard at the shop entrance. It was the first time he'd witnessed such a scene. He squeezed through the crowd to the front and just happened to see something horrifying: a low-level cultivator was groaning in pain on the ground, his face swollen and, upon closer inspection, still swelling—a truly terrifying sight. In a moment, the cultivator's body began to drastically change size, then suddenly let out a wail, and before anyone could stop it, it exploded on the spot—
The onlookers saw a horrific scene of mangled flesh and splattered golden liquid.
Some of the oil splashed onto the faces of some of the monks, and it felt warm to the touch!
Zhan Zhengzhen was one of the few high-level cultivators among the onlookers. He frowned and stepped forward to examine the ruins on the ground.
The cultivator was completely dead; his flesh had been fried into dust, and he was almost unrecognizable as a human. Anyone who didn't know better would have mistaken him for some kind of beast. Only the strong smell of blood mixed with the aroma of hot oil brought the cultivators back to their senses.
Something's happened!
Someone suddenly said, "The fried chicken is poisonous!" The cultivators immediately panicked. Seeing this, Zhan Zhengzhen had no choice but to go to the shop first to prevent Xu Ya from being affected. He absolutely did not believe that there was anything wrong with his junior sister's fried chicken.
She has absolutely no reason to ruin her own reputation!
The fact that the six of them experienced the possession talisman together made Zhan Zhengzhen wonder if this was also the work of someone hiding in the shadows.
Zhan Zhengzhen frowned in thought, realizing that things were not going to end so easily at this point.
The incident occurred shortly after Aya's fried chicken shop opened, and Axi had just restocked the stock when this happened.
The cultivators are now in a state of panic. The onlookers all saw this low-level cultivator eagerly take a bite of the fried chicken he had just bought, and then die suddenly shortly afterward. Could it really destroy a cultivator's body, which is comparable to the indestructible body of a mortal? Even if it wasn't the fried chicken's fault, they should really find out the truth before buying it again!
Many monks fled in fear.
One group led to another, and everyone hesitated. As a result, Xu Ya's fried chicken experienced its first slow sales since opening the shop.
Even if the cultivators wanted to buy, Xu Ya had no interest in selling. She had a strong sixth sense that something big was about to happen, but why was it aimed at her?
She was just an insignificant cannon fodder in the story.
The people of Xianxiang probably didn't even dare to watch; as soon as the incident happened, they hurriedly pushed their goods and hid.
Yunmeng Immortal Realm responded quickly to this matter. Soon, cultivators who were in charge of solving the case descended from the sky, accompanied by their senior brothers and sisters who had come to reinforce them, including Shi Yuzhen.
The cultivators who solved the case were also high-level cultivators, and they were not afraid of Shi Yuzhen and the others. Within the Yunmeng Immortal Marsh, their status was close to that of equals.
Although An Jiaze was a cultivator responsible for solving cases, he was currently at a crucial moment of breakthrough in his cultivation and was very unwilling to spend time solving cases for others. Besides, the deceased was just a low-level cultivator, so what right did he have to trouble him to take action?
An Jiaze arrived at the scene with a displeased expression. Before even inspecting the scene, he noticed the oil stains mixed with the corpse of a low-level cultivator on the ground, and someone reported that the person had died instantly after eating fried chicken legs from "Aya Fried Chicken Shop".
An Jiaze didn't want to take too much responsibility. In his view, this was just a dogfight among low-level cultivators. Since one insignificant low-level cultivator had died, to quell public anger, he would simply deal with the other one. That's how it's always been done...
He glanced up at the sign above the fried chicken shop and confirmed that Xu Ya was one of the three employees inside.
He was about to be promoted and impatiently issued an order to his subordinates: "In that case, take those employees from the fried chicken shop back for questioning..."
After saying that, he rubbed his temples, waved his sleeve, and in the next second, even the flesh and corpses of low-level cultivators were eliminated. After dealing with these matters, An Jiaze did not linger his gaze, ignoring Shi Yuzhen and the others' desire to return to Xianze.
Shi Yuzhen arrived after receiving an urgent text message from Zhan Zhengzhen.
He had always known that those cultivators who solved cases were merely going through the motions when dealing with cases involving lower-level cultivators.
For Xu Ya's safety, he still descended the mountain as quickly as possible.
Unexpectedly, this person acted exactly as predicted, trying to hastily deal with Xu Ya and the others to quell public anger.
It was only at this moment that Shi Yuzhen truly felt the injustice hidden in the shadows beneath the layers of hierarchy in Yunmeng Immortal Marsh.
The lives of low-level cultivators are more accurately described as fuel in the Yunmeng Immortal Marsh.
Shi Yuzhen didn't care about anything else. Instantly, the veins on her forehead bulged, and the ink sword was itching to move. The spiritual energy around the ink-colored sword was circulating, just waiting for its master's command to reach An Jiaze's neck in an instant.
Rong Aoqing keenly noticed Shi Yuzhen's emotional change and quietly stepped forward to press her down.
He conveyed through his inner voice: "Don't be rash, Senior Brother."
Shi Yuzhen's eyes turned red with anger, but she was stopped by Rong Aoqing and Zhan Zhengzhen, leaving her with nowhere to vent her rage.
He heeded Rong Aoqing's reminder, but could only helplessly watch as the cultivators dragged the three of them away without any courtesy, as if they were some kind of beast, and followed An Jiaze away.
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