"Fellow Daoist Qin, I also heard about this from Fellow Daoist Zheng. Because the three major sects spent a lot of money to siege the Demon Sect, the Zhenyang Sect wanted to save money during this Northern Wilderness Trial, so they started with elixirs and talismans."
Hearing Mo Xiaolan's words, Qin Gengyun asked in confusion:
“How to be frugal?”
Mo Xiaolan said, “In previous years’ Northern Wilderness Trials, Zhenyang Sect purchased mostly second-grade elixirs such as Bingqing Pill and Humai Pill, but this year they plan to use high-quality first-grade elixirs instead.”
Qin Gengyun understood: "One Bingqing Pill costs about sixty spirit stones, while high-quality Qingfeng Powder has similar effects, and the difference in effectiveness is not too big, but the price is much lower. They use Qingfeng Powder instead of Bingqing Pill, which saves several times!"
Mo Xiaolan nodded: "So Danfu Tower is willing to buy a large amount of high-grade Qingfeng Powder at a price fifty spirit baht higher. They buy it at three spirit stones and fifty spirit baht, and sell it to Tiandan Pavilion for five to six spirit stones, so they can still make a lot of money."
"I see."
Qin Gengyun asked again:
"Friend Mo, you just deceived the owner of Dan Fu Tower. Will you get into trouble?"
Mo Xiaolan smiled and said, "I don't have any business dealings with them. I went to Danfu Building just to inquire about the market price of talisman paper. This kind of thing can also be found out at the night market."
Qin Gengyun finally felt relieved, and the two of them quickly returned to the narrow rain alley. From a distance, they saw the wretched man next door who hung out at Yihonglou all day long was knocking on his own door.
"Madam Qin, as a neighbor, I just want to show some concern. Why do you have to keep me at a distance? Hiccup!"
The guy was burping while talking and was obviously drunk.
Qin Gengyun's face changed, and he quickly stepped forward and pushed the wretched male cultivator away:
"Friend Meng, what are you doing?!"
This wretched male cultivator was named Meng Yu. He lived next door to Qin Gengyun and to the right. He spent all day hanging out in brothels and often harassed the female cultivators in the narrow rain alley.
Chen Fang had also been teased by him with words, and Zhang Chengdao had fought with him for this. However, although this man's cultivation was not high, he was a spirit beast master and raised a spirit mastiff, which was quite ferocious.
Zhang Chengdao was bitten by the spirit mastiff and had to recuperate for a while. Afterwards, the young couple tried their best to avoid Meng Yu.
Qin Gengyun was not at home during the day, but it was easy to guess that Meng Yu must have been drunk and wanted to do something bad today because he saw Qiu Zhihe when she went out one time and he became obsessed with her.
Meng Yu staggered and was almost pushed down by Qin Gengyun. His face, stained red by the alcohol, looked even uglier. He laughed:
"Fellow Daoist Qin, I just wanted to send a pot of wine to your wife. Why are you so rude?"
Qin Gengyun said coldly: "Friend Meng, my wife doesn't drink, please don't harass her anymore!"
Meng Yu's expression changed. When he saw Mo Xiaolan standing next to Qin Gengyun, greed appeared in his eyes, and he staggered and said:
"Fellow Daoist Qin, I have to spend spirit stones every day to have a close look at the beauty of Yihong Tower, but you have a lovely wife at home, and outside you have a beauty like fellow Daoist Mo who is willing to be your mistress. You don't have to spend a penny, but you are so lucky to have a beautiful wife inside and outside!"
Mo Xiaolan's face changed: "Friend Meng, please stop slandering me!"
"Oh? Since you are not Fellow Daoist Qin's mistress, how about becoming my Taoist partner?"
Meng Yu walked towards her with a grin. Qin Gengyun activated his spiritual power and slapped Meng Yu backwards.
"You have reached the third level of Qi training?" Meng Yu's face changed. He pinched his lips and whistled. In an instant, a spirit mastiff nearly as tall as a human rushed out from the house behind him.
This spirit mastiff is dark in color, as strong as a little leopard, and has sharp white teeth.
This is the lowest level of a first-grade spirit beast. If it has spiritual roots, as the spirit beast master's realm improves, its grade can be upgraded in the future and it can evolve into a stronger spirit beast, named "犭颉". Above that is "刁".
Once it is upgraded to the ninth grade, it can transform into the ancient mythical beast "Taotie".
Of course, this is the case when both the spirit beast and the spirit beast master have sufficient talent and have huge resources to support them.
At the beginning, Meng Yu used all his fortune to buy this young spirit mastiff, but found out that it was extremely ordinary and could only be a first-grade dog for the rest of its life. After that, Meng Yu gave up completely, abandoned cultivation, and spent all his time in brothels.
However, the combat power of spirit beast masters is much higher than that of the cultivators of the same level. With the help of this spirit mastiff, Meng Yu caused a lot of trouble in the Narrow Rain Alley and rarely suffered losses.
At this moment, this sturdy first-grade spiritual beast was baring its teeth at Qin Gengyun, ready to pounce at any time.
"Friend Meng, you are drunk. It is not too late for you to stop now."
Mo Xiaolan stepped forward and stood beside Qin Gengyun, with more than ten pieces of talisman paper suddenly appearing in her hands.
Qin Gengyun didn't know how to fight, but he had some life-saving items hidden in his chest. He also had a few talismans and a thunder pill in his hands.
This is a first-grade elixir used in combat, and it has the power of a full-strength attack from a peak cultivator at the third level of Qi training.
The spirit mastiff kept roaring, and Meng Yu also reached behind him. It seemed that a fight between the two sides was about to break out.
Suddenly, the fierce roar of the mastiff turned into a whimper, and it ran back to the house.
Meng Yu was startled, and turned back and shouted, "Ji Feng, come out quickly!"
The spirit mastiff named Ji Feng was silent, as if it was frightened by something and refused to come out no matter what.
Seeing that he couldn't get any benefit, Meng Yu immediately put on a smile:
"Friend Qin, Friend Mo, I was just playing with you guys just now, don't take it seriously, haha, I'm going back now."
After saying that, he quickly slipped back into the house and slammed the door.
Qin Gengyun breathed a sigh of relief, took back the talisman paper and the Thunderbolt Pill, and said to Mo Xiaolan:
"Friend Mo Dao, I'm sorry for causing you trouble."
Mo Xiaolan also took back the talisman paper, with a gentle smile on her face:
"Fellow Daoist Qin, what are you talking about? This Meng Yu has been harassing the female cultivators in our Narrow Rain Alley. Today you helped me teach him a lesson."
Then he whispered, "But you have to be careful, Fellow Daoist Qin. Tell your wife not to go out alone when you are not around. She is very beautiful and it is inevitable that she will be noticed by others."
At this time, the door behind Qin Gengyun opened, revealing a petite figure.
She was wearing a plain double-breasted skirt, and she and Mo Xiaolan, who was wearing a plain long gown, looked like a pair of sisters.
The two women looked at each other, and Qin Gengyun suddenly felt that this scene was somewhat familiar.
He quickly remembered that on the night when Mo Xiaolan helped him move the bronze furnace back, Qiu Zhihe was also wearing this colorful double-breasted skirt and looking at Mo Xiaolan in the same way.
Mo Xiaolan smiled at Qiu Zhihe and said, "Fellow Daoist Qiu, I didn't scare you just now, did I?"
Qiu Zhihe shook her head slightly and said to Qin Gengyun:
"It's time to go home."
Qin Gengyun bowed to Mo Xiaolan and said, "Friend Mo, thank you very much today."
Mo Xiaolan also bowed: "Fellow Daoist Qin, you don't have to be polite. I'm going back too."
After saying that, she nodded to Qiu Zhihe, turned and walked into the room opposite.
Qin Gengyun and Qiu Zhihe also returned to their rooms and closed the door. Qin Gengyun asked with concern:
"Fellow Daoist Qiu, are you okay?"
Qiu Zhihe shook her head and pointed to the kitchen: "I was just cooking porridge."
Sure enough, the house was filled with the aroma of porridge. It seemed that Qiu Zhihe was really in the kitchen just now. From the look of her, she didn't seem to care about Meng Yu's harassment.
Qiu Zhihe brought out some porridge from the kitchen and they sat down to eat.
While eating, Qin Gengyun talked about what happened when he went to Danfu to sell Qingfeng Powder today, and also mentioned that Mo Xiaolan pretended to be a buyer to help him raise the price.
"Thirty-eight bags of Qingfeng Powder were sold for a total of 133 spiritual stones. Fellow Daoist Qiu, we can eat spiritual rice and spiritual meat every day from now on! By the way, what do you think about the two hundred bags of Qingfeng Powder?"