“So it’s the Lord of Jiaoyue Peak,” he said. “Please wait a moment; I’ll go get the manager.”
He spoke as he walked inside, taking two steps before turning back to glance at Shen Mo.
That look made Shen Mo feel very uncomfortable.
A moment later, a middle-aged male cultivator emerged from the back.
He wore a brocade robe and was fair and plump, with a smile on his face, but his eyes were sharp.
Upon appearing, he cupped his hands. “Oh, my, the Lord of Jiaoyue Peak has graced us with his presence! Forgive me for not welcoming you sooner, forgive me!”
Shen Mo didn’t respond to his pleasantries and asked directly, “Regarding the talismans, I want to discuss them further.”
“Discuss?” The manager smiled. “What does the Lord wish to discuss?”
“The price. A 30% increase is too high. I will add 10% at most.”
The manager looked at him, beaming.
“The Lord is making things difficult for this lowly one,” he said. “The owner of this batch of talismans set a high asking price; there’s nothing I can do. If the Lord finds it too expensive, you may look elsewhere.”
Shen Mo fell silent for a moment.
“Other shops have no stock.”
“Exactly.” The manager’s smile grew even more amiable. “The Lord is a sensible person and understands the market. In this entire Marketplace, only I have this batch of talismans. If the Lord wants them, this is the price. If not…”
He didn’t finish, but the meaning was clear.
Shen Mo looked at him and suddenly asked, “Who reserved the other talismans?”
The manager was stunned for a moment. “What?”
“You said earlier that the talismans in several shops were reserved in advance,” Shen Mo asked. “Who reserved them?”
The manager smiled but didn’t answer.
Shen Mo waited for a moment. Seeing that the man didn’t intend to speak, he stopped asking.
“30% is too high,” he said. “I’ll add 15%, and not a bit more.”
“Lord…”
“If you refuse, I’ll have to try my luck elsewhere,” Shen Mo said. “The Spirit Treasure Pavilion does long-term business. Whether it’s worth offending Jiaoyue Peak for this single batch of goods is something you should weigh for yourself, Manager.”
Having said that, he turned to leave.
Just as he reached the door, the manager’s voice came from behind him. “Lord, please stay.”
Shen Mo stopped.
“A 20% increase,” the manager said. “That is the absolute minimum.”
Shen Mo thought about it and nodded. “Deal.”
The manager began to laugh, repeatedly saying “good” as he called a worker to fetch the talismans.
Shen Mo stood there waiting.
As he waited, he suddenly sensed a gaze on him.
He turned his head and saw a woman sitting at a tea table in the corner of the shop.
She wore black martial attire with a longsword hanging at her waist. She was holding a teacup, her gaze fixed on her target.
Meeting his eyes, she didn’t look away but instead raised an eyebrow slightly.
That look was like someone appraising a piece of merchandise.
Shen Mo withdrew his gaze, pretending not to have seen her.
The worker brought the talismans. Shen Mo counted them, paid the Spirit Stones, and turned to leave.
Stepping out of the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, a cold wind hit him, and he realized a thin layer of sweat had broken out on his back.
Shen Mo gripped the talismans in his sleeve and quickened his pace toward the street corner.
The snow started falling again, fine and dense, landing on his shoulders and melting into water that seeped inside his collar.
The chill pierced into his bones, yet he felt the sweat on his back grow even more clammy — that gaze was still fixed on him, like a sticky snake’s tongue that he couldn’t shake off.
He didn’t look back.
After walking about 100 feet, footsteps suddenly sounded behind him.
They were unhurried, crunching rhythmically against the snow.
Shen Mo’s heart sank. He stepped to the side to yield, but the footsteps followed him around the corner, blocking his path directly.
“Lord of Jiaoyue Peak, why are you in such a hurry?”
The voice was lazy, carrying a hint of a smile.
Shen Mo looked up.
A person stood before him in black martial attire with a sword at her waist. It was precisely the woman who had been appraising him in the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, Zhou Yunying.
She wasn’t particularly beautiful, but she had an indescribable air about her — a look of satiated satisfaction in her eyes.
When she looked at someone, it was like a cat watching a mouse, slowly appraising and slowly calculating.
Shen Mo took half a step back. “Does Your Excellency need something?”
“Something?” Zhou Yunying chuckled. “I should be the one asking the Lord that. You traveled all this way to the Marketplace, bought your items, and left without even having a cup of tea. Are you dissatisfied with the hospitality of my Spirit Treasure Pavilion?”
Shen Mo’s fingers slowly tightened inside his sleeve.
The moment the words “Spirit Treasure Pavilion” reached his ears, he knew this matter would not be so easily resolved. ‘So she’s the owner behind the scenes, the one truly in control.’
He steadied his voice. “I didn’t recognize Your Excellency in the shop earlier.”
“What does it matter whether you recognize me or not?” Zhou Yunying took a step forward, getting close enough to be considered intrusive. “It’s enough that the Lord recognizes this batch of talismans.”
As she spoke, her gaze slowly slid down Shen Mo’s face to his neck, his chest, and then slowly back up.
The look was too blunt — so blatant that it reminded Shen Mo of the Loose Cultivators in the Spirit Beast Garden picking out merchandise, flipping eyelids, checking teeth, and weighing the goods.
Blood rushed to his face before suddenly draining away, leaving it icy cold.
“The goods have been paid for and delivered,” he said, his voice steadier than before. “If Your Excellency has nothing else, I shall take my leave.”
He stepped aside, intending to go.
Zhou Yunying reached out her hand, blocking his path.
“Don’t be in such a rush, Lord,” she smiled. “In the shop just now, I suddenly remembered something — it seems we haven’t reached a proper agreement on the price of that batch of talismans.”
Shen Mo’s footsteps halted.
“Thirty-six talismans with a 20% increase is 1,080 low-grade Spirit Stones,” he said. “I’ve paid in full.”
“Paid in full?” Zhou Yunying tilted her head, looking innocent. “It’s true the Lord paid the Spirit Stones, but those were just for the cost of the talismans. There is another bill the Lord has forgotten to settle.”
Shen Mo looked at her. “What bill?”
“The shipping fee.” Zhou Yunying laughed. “This batch of talismans was transported from Chaoyun Peak to the Marketplace. They had to pass through three checkpoints, and people had to be hired for the escort, and to handle various relations. Surely the Lord should share some of these expenses?”
Chaoyun Peak.
Upon hearing those words, Shen Mo’s heart sank completely.
Chaoyun Peak was the lineage among the Thirty-Six Peaks that specialized in Talismans.
The Peak Master, Yun Fuling, was at the middle stage of the Nascent Soul realm.
She had no prior dealings with Su Wan’er, but she was related to the Female Sovereign of Yunyin Mountain.
Yun He.
The moment that name surfaced, Shen Mo knew today’s matter would not be simple.
“How much is the shipping fee?” he asked.
Zhou Yunying held up one finger.
“100?”
She shook her head with a smile.
“1,000?”
She still shook her head.
Shen Mo stopped asking.
Zhou Yunying slowly leaned in closer, near enough for him to smell the mixture of powder and alcohol on her.
“I don’t want Spirit Stones,” she said, her voice dropping to a whisper like a feather brushing against his ear. “I want something else.”
Shen Mo recoiled.
But at some point, several people had appeared behind him — three female cultivators blocking his path out of nowhere.
They were all in the Foundation Establishment stage; they weren’t particularly high-level, but they were more than enough to handle him.
“Your Excellency,” Shen Mo said, steadying his voice and enunciating every word. “I am the Lord of Jiaoyue Peak and the Husband of Peak Master Su Wan’er. Have you considered the consequences of your actions today?”
Zhou Yunying froze for a second before bursting into laughter.
That laughter sounded exceptionally grating in the snowy landscape.
“Su Wan’er?” She laughed so hard she couldn’t stand up straight. “Is the Lord referring to that Peak Master who has been in Seclusion for many years, whose peak resources have been endlessly depleted, and whose rank among the Sixteen Peaks has plummeted again and again?”
Shen Mo’s face turned a shade paler.
“The early stage of the Nascent Soul realm — what a grand title.” Zhou Yunying finished laughing and straightened up, looking at him with pity in her eyes.
“Lord, if your wife truly had any ability, why would she let you out to show your face in public? Why would she make you come here to haggle over prices personally? Why would she — “
She paused and leaned closer, so close her breath brushed against his face.
“Why would she leave you to guard an empty room alone for seven years, without even someone to warm your bed?”
Shen Mo’s hands clenched, his nails digging into his palms.
“Your Excellency, watch your words.”
“Watch my words?” Zhou Yunying laughed as she grabbed his wrist.
Her hand was slick and warm, like a snake coiling around him. “Don’t worry, Lord. I am naturally afraid of Peak Master Su’s reputation. But as long as the Lord doesn’t say anything, everyone here is one of us. Who would ever know?”
As she spoke, her fingers gently stroked his wrist.
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