Chapter 53 053 "Actually, you don't have to work so hard..."
The tall, thin young man with an unremarkable face narrowed his eyes upon hearing this, crossed his arms, and raised an eyebrow:
"What old poisoner and little poisoner... I don't understand."
"Brother, you're joking. Aside from you guys who like to play with snakes, insects, and rodents... who else would specifically ask for this trumpet creeper?"
A short boy wearing a smiling lucky cat mask bent down and took out a package from a hidden compartment in the stall. He opened it and found only a few bunches of dried trumpet vine flowers inside.
The young man immediately frowned: "That's all?"
"That's all?" The stall owner chuckled twice. "Brother, do you think this is any season or just some ordinary trumpet creeper? This is a trumpet creeper nourished by the natural hot springs of Dagushan Mountain by the Lingxiao Sect. It's a priceless treasure! Do you think the Lingxiao Sect is some place you can come and go as you please?"
The young man impatiently curled his lips, reaching for the package but not moving it. The lucky cat's smiling eyes were fixed on him.
"The rules of the Ghost Market are barter, you haven't forgotten, have you, brother?"
The young man scoffed, pulled a small medicine bottle from his pocket, and tossed it to the stall owner: "Is this enough to trade for these few tattered flowers of yours?"
The stall owner grabbed the small medicine bottle, sniffed it, and immediately raised his voice: "Nine-Turn Resurrection Pill? Although there's only one... that's enough, absolutely enough!"
The stall owner readily released his grip, and seeing the young man casually close and pack the package, he couldn't help but chime in:
"These trumpet creeper flowers are much better than before. Since the Lingxiao Sect was robbed three years ago, they have kept their mountain gates tightly shut. According to the Taoist Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, they only open their mountain gates once a month. Not to mention, every expert in the Lingxiao Sect is a force to be reckoned with, even a young Taoist alchemist is not to be underestimated..."
The young man listened silently without comment, slung the package over his shoulder, and turned to leave, but then he heard the stall owner say behind him:
"Besides that, there was also a young man I didn't recognize who came to collect trumpet creeper flowers. He was incredibly generous, giving away all sorts of things like heartbreak grass, arsenic, and yin-yang worm gu like water. Considering that my brother would be coming to collect trumpet creeper flowers soon, I only kept a few for myself..."
The young man paused abruptly, turning his head to look: "Who?"
“And the tall, thin boy is just like the older brother,” the stall owner gestured, “that young man also has a human skin mask on his face, and looks like… his skills are no less than the older brother’s.”
"Then how do you know I'm not him?"
"He claims to be the old poison master's only closed-door disciple. His entourage is so grand that ever since he came to Qing Shi Town, even in the dead of winter, snakes, insects, and rats have increased in number, and wherever he goes, not a blade of grass grows..." The stall owner paused, his smiling eyes on the lucky cat mask glancing at the young man's face, and gave an awkward smile, "It seems that the old poison master... has taken on another decent disciple."
The young man, with his unremarkable, bland face, stared down at the short stall owner with a blank expression, his voice equally indifferent, revealing no emotion.
"Since he's so generous, why didn't he just give him all the trumpet creeper flowers?"
Upon hearing this, the stall owner immediately became anxious, jumping up and down like a short, fat cat: "Brother, you're joking. No matter how good that thing is, it can't compare to your Nine-Turn Rejuvenation Pill, can it?"
The young man scoffed and ignored him. As he turned around, his peripheral vision caught sight of a red dress on the corner of the makeshift stall, and he suddenly stopped, his gaze fixed on it.
"Big brother...you want this?" The lucky cat stall owner couldn't believe his eyes. He looked back and forth between the young man and the red dress before he was sure he wasn't mistaken. He had only glanced at the rare trumpet creeper, but his gaze lingered on the red dress for a long time...
Finally confirming he wasn't joking, the smiling cat-like mask stared at the young man for a moment, then presented the red dress to him with both hands, carefully choosing its words:
"Brother, I run a small business, so I don't always barter for rare items... Like this red dress, it costs money. But... if I could also have a Nine-Turn Rejuvenation Pill..."
The young man narrowed his eyes upon hearing this. The narrow street was packed with people, shoulder to shoulder. Just then, an old man brushed past him, perhaps jostled forward by the crowd. The young man reacted swiftly, grabbing the old man's arm firmly.
"Be careful."
However, he quickly let go as soon as he touched it.
The old man, lying face up, wasn't wearing a ghost mask; his eyes were closed, revealing him to be blind.
The old man breathed a sigh of relief, as if relieved, and bowed towards the young man, saying, "Young man... thank you."
The young man smiled wryly but said nothing.
After the old man strode away, the young man threw a heavy bag of money at him, which hit the stall owner's smiling lucky cat mask squarely!
His face was unremarkable, but his dark eyes were strikingly beautiful. At this moment, his eyes were sharp, like a bone-scraping knife or a venomous snake, coldly staring at the stall owner.
"Touch it with your dirty hands again, or I'll chop your hands off."
The vendor selling lucky cat figurines was startled, not even daring to catch the scattered coins. He quickly offered up the red dress with both hands, grinning sheepishly.
"This...this is the Little Poison Master I know."
The young man, also known as Little Poison, let out a cold sneer, and instantly his plain face came alive with a fragrance that was chilling and ghostly.
He took the red dress, turned and left, disappearing in a few breaths behind the crowd of ghosts and spirits thronging the street.
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By the time the little poisonous creature returned to the inn, covered in the frost of the night, it was nearly dawn.
It was almost dawn.
He tiptoed into the house, ripped off the human skin mask from his face, and threw it under the window, where it was soon covered by heavy snow.
Before entering the house, he remembered to use his internal energy to warm his cold body. During this time, he thought of the boy the stall owner had mentioned, and how the old poison master had actually stepped into Qing Shi Town before them...
The wind and snow seemed to accumulate on his handsome features, and his complexion was terrible. The Gu worm seemed to sense his bad mood, or perhaps it was showing off for its master, because a small bump suddenly swelled up on his fair neck, flushed red.
It's flared up again.
And only a few hours have passed since the last time.
He tore off the trumpet creeper flower from his hand without expression, chewed it, and swallowed it. Strangely, the moment he swallowed the flower, the flush faded, and the arrogant, swollen Gu worms instantly went silent and obediently disappeared.
The little poisonous creature closed its eyes, slowly exhaled a breath of pent-up frustration, and then quietly climbed onto the bed.
However, as soon as they got into bed, Jiang Ling'er's muttering could be heard:
"Where did you go?"
The little poisoner froze instantly, and after a moment of silence, he opened his mouth to say something, but Jiang Ling'er turned her head, found a comfortable position in his arms, even rubbed against his shoulder, tilted her head, and fell asleep.
Little Poison: "..."
The little poisoner finally breathed a sigh of relief, then embraced the person curled up like a shrimp in his arms, and the two of them, like intertwined vines, fell into a deep sleep.
--
For the next few days, they stayed at this inn, settling down and making a living in Qing Shi Town.
To make up for their lodging costs, they would do chores for the innkeeper, such as chopping wood and carrying water, and during the day they would go to find the Lingxiao Sect.
You may encounter setbacks everywhere.
They couldn't reach Dagushan Mountain to find the Lingxiao Sect, nor could they find the person known as Little Immortal Daoist.
Not to mention that the birch forest at the foot of Dagushan Mountain, which was also under the jurisdiction of the Lingxiao Sect, seemed to be a maze. Jiang Ling'er went there ten times but was still lost in the birch forest, unable to find the way up the mountain. After inquiring, she learned that the Lingxiao Sect had refused to allow outsiders to visit for three years. That was fine, but she had been asking around day and night and no one had ever heard of this so-called little immortal Taoist priest!
Not a single person!
To everyone's astonishment, not a single person has ever heard of it!
Every time I went to inquire about information with hope, I returned disappointed.
After inquiring further, she even began to doubt whether such a person existed at all.
The clue we finally found has been lost again.
It broke again.
Jiang Ling'er could only vent her frustrations on chopping firewood every noon.
For the first two days, she used a wood-chopping knife to chop wood, but then she remembered the legendary female demon from the Shura Duo, who wielded a wood-chopping knife with great power... and her teeth ached so much that she stopped using it and switched to using a wooden knife instead.
He used the Thunderclap Palm to split the firewood one strike at a time.
During this time, the little poisonous creature leaned lazily against the wall with its arms crossed, watching her, and even yawned, until—
Jiang Ling'er accidentally missed her target with her palm, and the wooden splinter left a long, bloody gash in her palm.
The little poisonous creature paused, then leaped forward and appeared in front of Jiang Ling'er, holding her injured right hand. The instant their skin touched, the ghostly flames on the little poisonous creature's body frantically flowed into Jiang Ling'er's injured palm, and the wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, stopping the bleeding instantly.
But the little poisoner was still furious. He snatched the firewood from Jiang Ling'er's hand and threw it to the ground, then gripped her wrist tightly and stared at her:
Do you know what you're doing?
Jiang Ling'er seemed indifferent:
"Isn't it because you're here with me?"
"So you can hurt yourself at will?!"
The little poisoner's chest heaved slightly as he took a deep breath, barely managing to suppress the surging anger within him. How could he not see that Jiang Ling'er had been injured out of spite?
"Why are you so angry?" Jiang Ling'er looked at him strangely. She was feeling frustrated and wanted to vent her anger, but it wouldn't hurt her like that.
This was purely accidental, but Little Poison clearly didn't believe it, and she was too lazy to explain.
He was right about at least one thing.
She was angry, and she wanted to vent that anger herself, punch by punch!
Jiang Ling'er struggled to break free from the little poisonous creature's restraints, walked straight to the pile of firewood, raised her palm, and with a "Thunderclap" move, split the half-person-high crossbeam in two!
He was startled when that palm strike landed.
Jiang Ling'er stared blankly at her palm, where the charred palm print, unique to the Thunderclap Palm, was still visible.
She belatedly realized that her internal strength seemed to have increased quite a bit.
The wound on my palm, which had just healed, split open again in the blink of an eye.
The little poisoner's brow twitched, and his already gloomy handsome face grew even colder. He gazed at Jiang Ling'er's fair and beautiful face, and suddenly said:
"Actually, you don't have to work so hard."
Jiang Ling'er was still staring blankly at her palm when the little poisonous creature came over and pulled her into the room, half-forcing her to sit on the couch, before she came to her senses.
"...What? What did you say?"
The little poisoner didn't answer her. Instead, he fetched a basin of clean water, a handkerchief, and some medicinal wine. This time, he didn't choose to use the ghostly fire to heal Jiang Ling'er's palm wound. Instead, he wet the handkerchief with water and knelt on one knee in front of Jiang Ling'er. The cold handkerchief touched the wound on her palm, and Jiang Ling'er hissed softly. She immediately tried to pull her hand away, but the little poisoner grabbed it. He scoffed, his handsome face still sullen.
"Now you know what pain is?"
She said this, but her hands moved even more gently. Even so, when it came to applying the medicinal wine, she still grimaced in pain. But she gritted her teeth and endured the pain, her eyes reddening.
She knew this guy was deliberately trying to make her suffer and beg for mercy, but she couldn't let him have his way!
Sure enough, the little poisonous creature's face turned even uglier:
"Give in."
Jiang Ling'er belatedly realized that she had bitten her lip, but she still turned her head away and ignored him, biting her lip even tighter. Firstly, to resist the temptation of the ghostly flames on the little poisoner's body, and secondly... there was a faint aroma of medicinal wine floating in the air. She didn't know what the little poisoner used to make this medicinal wine. It was very strong. She felt like she would get drunk after just two sips.
She heard a soft sigh, followed by footsteps—the sound of someone going out and then coming back. Jiang Ling'er couldn't help but prick up her ears...
Suddenly, her knees sank, and Jiang Ling'er paused slightly, turning around to be completely stunned.
The little poisonous creature knelt on one knee in front of her like a big dog, holding the red dress in its hands and placing it on her knees.
"The moment I first saw it... I knew it belonged to you. Let's not... go through all that trouble, okay? Have you forgotten what your father said to you in his last moments?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Ling'er's long eyelashes trembled suddenly, and she clenched her hands tightly.
On the day the old镖头 (bodyguard/escort) committed suicide, Little Poison, hiding in the shadows, naturally saw it all.
The little poisoner stared at Jiang Ling'er's slightly pale profile, speaking each word clearly:
"Didn't the old镖头 (bodyguard/escort) make you swear not to seek revenge? Didn't you promise your father?"
His lips were bitten until they were almost white, and his fingernails dug deep into the flesh of his palms.
Seeing her long eyelashes flutter slightly, the little poisonous creature softened its heart and let her go. Its dark eyes looked up at her, then it spoke in a light, persuasive tone:
"If there really is such a person as the 'Peaceful Little Immortal' Daoist, how could no one know about him? Even if we went up Mount Dagu and to the Lingxiao Sect, we still wouldn't find him. Now the people of Sun and Moon Fortress are looking for us, and the Demonic Sect has also issued a kill order against us... If people find out that we have the 'Longevity Manual,' then everyone in the world will see us as a thorn in their side! Let's go, the farther the better."
"We can disguise ourselves and travel across mountains and rivers to go wherever we want."
The little poisoner took Jiang Ling'er's hands in his. Those hands were delicate and slender, but they were covered with calluses, frostbite caused by the cold winter, as well as the cracks in her palms and the charred tips of her fingers...
The little poisoner stared intently at Jiang Ling'er's injured palm, where blood was gushing out again, and suddenly poured the medicinal wine onto it!
The moment the pain, spiciness, and burning sensation struck, the little poisoner pressed her wine-scented hand against her cheek. Jiang Ling'er suddenly opened her eyes wide and stared blankly as the little poisoner leaned closer to her. The instant her burning palm touched his cool cheek, a torrent of ghostly flames instantly enveloped her, and the wound on her palm healed in an instant.
The ghostly blue light of the will-o'-the-wisp reflected in the little poisoner's dark eyes, as vast as the night sky. A faint scent of wine wafted through the air, as if the stars themselves were drowning in this dark river shimmering with a ghostly blue glow. He held her hand against his cheek, and with his other hand handed her the red dress.
Do you like it?
Seeing Jiang Ling'er's gaze finally settle on the red dress in his palm, the little devil's eyes gleamed, and he seemed impatient to grasp her hand:
"Do you know 'the ends of the earth'? Let's leave here and go south, to the ends of the earth, okay? There we won't get frostbite, there we won't see nothing but white everywhere, there... there we can wear red dresses all year round!"
After speaking, the little poisoner stared at Jiang Ling'er with bright, sparkling eyes. In contrast to the little poisoner's excitement, Jiang Ling'er remained indifferent. She quietly gazed at the red dress in the little poisoner's palm for a long time, then pursed her lips and finally spoke:
"Where did you get the money to buy it?" Jiang Ling'er asked, then suddenly remembered something, her brows furrowing as she abruptly looked up at him. "You stole it again?"
In the blink of an eye, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over its head, the little poisonous creature's eyes suddenly turned cold, as if the stars had died out, and it released its grip.
The red dress fell to the ground.
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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 01:37:49 on January 19, 2024 and 21:14:05 on January 21, 2024!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Ugly Orange Isn't Ugly, and Sanshui Miao (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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