Linglong had no trouble accepting the idea that Hua Jian might not be human.
After all, she herself was not human, so it wasn’t a problem at all if Hua Jian wasn’t, either.
In fact, after realizing Hua Jian might not be human, Linglong only felt even more at ease with her, as if she had finally found a kindred spirit.
But that slightly ambiguous look in her eyes left Hua Jian anxious all day long.
“Is it too chilly in here? Why do you keep shivering?”
Chai Xianyun, holding a teacup, stared in confusion at Hua Jian, who had curled up into almost a ball.
Her room wasn’t cold at all.
Though Tianbei City was in the northern part of the Central Continent, it wasn’t really the cold season yet, so Hua Jian’s behavior was rather odd.
She couldn’t have been possessed by some evil spirit, right?
“I’m fine, really, don’t worry about me.” Hua Jian took a deep breath and forcibly ignored the strange look in Linglong’s eyes.
She straightened her expression, her usual flippant tone gone. “I actually came here today to ask if you have any plans for the future.”
That question took Chai Xianyun by surprise. She hadn’t expected Hua Jian to ask something like that.
As for the answer, she had none.
It was all arranged—she would be married off in a political alliance, what else?
She wasn’t particularly clever or talented, so this was the only use they had for her.
“No, I don’t. Once my Eldest Brother becomes Patriarch, I’ll probably be married off soon after.”
Chai Xianyun shook her head gloomily.
She didn’t have a good relationship with the Chai Clan’s Great Young Master; at best, they were cordial on the surface.
And after he took the position, for the sake of the clan’s interests, he would surely hurry to marry her into a good family and win the Chai Clan another ally.
The Chai Clan was in a time of crisis right now, so it was only reasonable for him to do so.
In all this, Chai Xianyun herself had no say. There was no way she could just refuse to be married off because she didn’t want to.
That’s how large clans worked—raising you for a thousand days, using you in one moment.
“Have you ever thought about fighting your brother for that position?” Hua Jian quietly revealed the true reason for her visit.
Chai Xianyun’s eyes flew wide open. “Me?”
She had no idea what Hua Jian was thinking. How could she possibly compete with her brother for the position of Patriarch?
Whether in strength or talent, she couldn’t compare to the Chai Clan’s Great Young Master, who had been groomed from the start as the next Patriarch.
This wasn’t something she could just claim for herself.
She didn’t have loyal supporters, nor outstanding talent. Who would ever back her?
Was Hua Jian just making fun of her?
“Yes, you.” Hua Jian nodded earnestly.
Chai Xianyun stared at Hua Jian for a long while, only growing more confused inside.
Hua Jian wasn’t lying, which meant she really did want Chai Xianyun to vie for the Patriarch’s seat.
But it was just too unreasonable.
“I can’t win.”
“Have some faith in yourself. I’m only asking if you’ve ever thought about it. If you have the will, I can give you the opportunity.”
Chai Xianyun bit her lip. How could she not have thought about it, even a little? It felt terrible to have her fate in someone else’s hands.
Not to mention, she truly didn’t want to marry a stranger she’d never even met.
But how much trust could she put in Hua Jian’s words? She wasn’t sure.
To her, this was a gamble—one where she didn’t even know the odds.
Seeing Chai Xianyun’s conflicted expression, Hua Jian knew there was hope. Since she had the thought, that was enough.
She had come to sound out whether Chai Xianyun had any ambitions.
Now that she knew she did, she could let her friends from Wanhuagu come persuade Chai Xianyun in earnest.
Hua Jian was just an intermediary this time, introducing Wanhuagu to Chai Xianyun—her job was done.
“You can leave the house, can’t you? Come with me to meet a few people.” Hua Jian raised her brows at Chai Xianyun.
“So you mean… there are outsiders who want to get involved in Chai Clan affairs?” Chai Xianyun understood right away. Hua Jian was bringing in outside forces.
If she went out and met those people, wouldn’t she become a traitor betraying her own clan?
That didn’t seem right.
“Just go meet them. If you don’t get along, you can always come back and keep on with your marriage plans.” Hua Jian patted Chai Xianyun’s shoulder.
The moment she heard the word “marriage,” Chai Xianyun’s eyes cleared at once.
That’s right, just go and see. Meeting someone wouldn’t kill her!
Having successfully coaxed Chai Xianyun out of the clan and sent her to the Beijing Church, Hua Jian paid no more attention to the rest.
Whether Wanhuagu and Chai Xianyun could reach an agreement had nothing to do with her. If it worked out, great. If not, so be it.
She probably wouldn’t have much reason to come here again. And even if she did, by then she might not even care about the Chai Clan anymore.
Leaving the church, Hua Jian finally turned to Linglong, who had been silently following behind her the whole time.
She couldn’t hold it in any longer and asked the question she’d been bottling up.
“Why are you looking at me like that? It’s creeping me out.”
“It’s nothing, just ignore me.” Linglong’s answer was all the proof needed that she was hiding something.
But the thing Hua Jian wanted to know most was what was in Linglong’s mind—she just couldn’t get her to say it.
“I’m heading over to the market. How about you?”
“I’ll come too.”
It was a spur-of-the-moment idea for Hua Jian.
Since they were near the church anyway, it was just a few steps further to the Cultivator Market.
She figured she might as well see what new wares had shown up in the past few days.
At the market, Hua Jian noticed that nearly all the personal stalls had rotated—the wares had all changed as well.
She even spotted that old shrewd merchant setting up a little stall, blending right in with the locals!
The moment Hua Jian saw the Old Woman, the Old Woman also looked up and noticed her.
“Well, well, little girl’s back again?” The Old Woman grinned and beckoned Hua Jian over.
Once Hua Jian drew near, her gaze fell on Linglong behind her. “Is this your friend?”
Hua Jian nodded. There was nothing to hide about that.
Glancing down at the Old Woman’s stall, Hua Jian’s expression instantly turned peculiar—weren’t these all things from her own hometown?
Why was this old fox selling her hometown goods here, and at even higher prices than back home?
How outrageously cunning!
“Aren’t these goods from over there? Why are you selling them for so much here?”
“Supply and demand, my dear. What’s common as dirt where you’re from is rare and precious here, so of course I’m charging more.” The Old Woman chuckled, but she was telling the truth.
Her wares were indeed rare in Tianbei City, so a higher price was only natural.
But there was no way Hua Jian would just fork over money for things like this.
“Then go on waiting for a sucker. I’ll go see what else is around.”
The Old Woman didn’t try to stop her, but as Hua Jian was about to leave, she offered a reminder.
“Little girl, looks like someone over there is selling something good. You should take a look.”
This old fox was actually giving her directions? Hua Jian couldn’t help making a face, glancing in the direction indicated. Sure enough, a crowd was gathering over there.
Well, even if the old fox hadn’t said anything, she’d have been drawn over anyway.
“Thanks.” Grabbing Linglong’s wrist, Hua Jian said her goodbyes and squeezed into the crowd.
Halfway there, Linglong curiously asked about Hua Jian’s relationship with the Old Woman.
This was her first time seeing the Old Woman, so naturally she was interested in someone who seemed on friendly terms with Hua Jian.
Hua Jian simply recounted a few of her previous run-ins with that shrewd old lady.
In every way, the Old Woman was just a little more cunning than she was.
It was thanks to the Old Woman that Hua Jian realized her own cultivation and shamelessness still had room for improvement.
“So that’s how it is…” Linglong didn’t sense anything unusual. The Old Woman seemed to be just an ordinary merchant.
As they spoke, the two of them squeezed through the crowd, making their way to the very front.
There, they saw a cultivator whose whole side was wrapped in cloth.
On his stall, he’d laid out a variety of Spirit Items brimming with spiritual energy, clearly higher quality than what was available elsewhere in the market.
A sign beside the stall read: “Spend one hundred Spirit Stones and get the location where these Spirit Items were found.”
Obviously, this was a new kind of promotion—one could even say he was selling information for Spirit Stones and throwing in some nice-looking Spirit Items as a bonus.
Hua Jian glanced at the prices and found them all badly inflated.
Even the cheapest ones cost several dozen Spirit Stones, while the most expensive were nearly a thousand.
That was at least half again as much as the going rate for similar Spirit Items.
But the steep prices hadn’t dampened anyone’s enthusiasm.
People were still forking over Spirit Stones, buying the items, and receiving a little Jin Nang from the seller.
No way they were spending that much just for these Spirit Items.
Clearly, these cultivators were really after the locations where the Spirit Items were found—that was the true prize!
A place that could produce so many Spirit Items at once had to be a Blessed Land, rich with Spirit Items.
Anyone who went there and grabbed a few would make back the hundred Spirit Stones in no time.
Linglong was tempted; she was very interested in the place.
Just as she was about to spend some Spirit Stones for the information, Hua Jian suddenly pressed her hand down.
Why bother? The Jin Nang wasn’t even a storage pouch—they could just piggyback off someone else’s purchase.
“Let’s follow one of those buyers and peek at his Jin Nang,” Hua Jian whispered to Linglong.
Linglong frowned, feeling this wasn’t quite right.
But as she hesitated, Hua Jian had already dragged her out of the crowd.
“Aren’t we just freeloading?”
“If you pay, then we’re the ones being freeloaded from. Look at those guys over there—they’re thinking the same thing.”
Hua Jian pointed to a few cultivators who looked like they were just wandering the market.
If she could think of this, there was no way others hadn’t.
Especially since the clue-holding Jin Nang had no security features whatsoever—anyone could snatch it.
It wasn’t wrong to avoid being the sucker who paid a hundred Spirit Stones.
And apparently, plenty of people felt the same way.
“We’re not freeloading—we’re protecting the buyers from real bad guys. Once we save him, he’ll gratefully share the info he got with us. Isn’t that how it should work?”
Hua Jian sounded so righteous, but her meaning was clear—they’d let the other freeloaders act first, then swoop in to clean up, becoming the fisherman who reaps the reward.
After all, the true bad guys wouldn’t care if they injured the buyer. Hua Jian and Linglong were different—they’d be the heroes, helping out those in need.
They didn’t want material rewards for saving anyone—just a quick look at the info inside the Jin Nang.
It was clearly sophistry, but it was enough to convince Linglong to join in.
After all, that person was going to get robbed anyway. Better they step in and knock out the bad guys.
The buyer and the tailing group were all Spirit Masters—within the range that Hua Jian and Linglong could handle.
Tianbei City was remote and poor, so most unaffiliated cultivators were Spirit Masters at best.
They trailed the two groups out of the market. Hua Jian saw the buyer circle around several times, trying to shake off his pursuers, but to no avail.
The tailers not only failed to lose him but managed to surround him in a dead-end alley.
“Hand over the Jin Nang if you know what’s good for you! Or don’t blame us for getting rough!” The leading pursuer snarled, his expression clearly unfriendly.
“This is Tianbei City—you guys…”
“We know exactly where we are, and we won’t pick a fight with you in the city. But you’d better think carefully—are you planning to spend your whole life inside the city walls?” The tailer sneered.
They would obey the rules inside the city, but outside, things were different.
If the buyer had the guts to leave the city, they’d make him pay the price for not cooperating.
“We of the Gang Wolf Legion aren’t exactly known for our kindness!”
Hearing that name, the buyer trembled all over.
“Gang… Gang Wolf Legion?!”
That name was like a nightmare, making the buyer’s face go deathly pale.
Seeing him so scared, the tailers burst out laughing. “Heard of our reputation, huh? Better be smart and hand it over!”
To them, the job was almost done. Their terrified target would definitely hand over the Jin Nang without a fight, saving them a hefty fee.
The leader’s breathing quickened at the thought.
Huh? Was there a faint fragrance in the air?
Suddenly feeling a little dizzy, the tailer shook his head hard, just as a sense of danger pricked at his mind—a sharp pain struck the back of his head.
Not good! Ambush!
His vision darkened. Struggling not to collapse, clutching his neck, he turned to see who dared attack them.
But all he saw were two figures in white robes, faces masked, with not an inch of skin exposed.
One was holding a thick wooden club—clearly the one who had just attacked.