Thinking Too Much

"Little Fatty, how's my junior brother's identity treating you?"

A line of small characters on the note, the handwriting utterly ordinary—there was no way to deduce what kind of person had written it from the script alone...

And at the end, there was even a smiley face drawn...

Little Fatty held the note, his arm trembling, his face nearly green.

A master, he'd run into a true expert this time. The way this person operated was watertight—the characters on the note were so ugly that anyone pulled off the street could have written them. Not a trace of flair, not a hint of individuality.

Judging a person by their handwriting, he couldn't even begin to guess what kind of person the other was.

And that fake smiley face at the end was downright hair-raising.

Putting away the note, he glanced at the cloth bundle in his hand, and the gravity on Little Fatty's face deepened.

He recognized this cloth bundle—it was that ordinary, coarse cloth kind, the sort only sold at the fence shop behind him. Because it had no distinguishing features, no one would even notice it if tossed by the roadside...

At that thought, a flicker of realization crossed Little Fatty's face.

That's it. It had to be that guy who'd disguised himself earlier. That was him. No wonder I felt a sense of déjà vu—he'd been tailing me all along. He came to see me today on purpose, even deduced my route, and got here ahead of me so I wouldn't guess he was following me!

Exactly. How could an ordinary person sell a hundred and twenty-eight low-grade Storage Bags in one go? That was that dead thief's senior brother. It was him! Definitely him! I'd always prided myself on being a peerless genius in this trade, unmatched among the younger generation. I never thought I'd be tailed for so long without a clue, only a vague sense of familiarity...

This probably meant he'd walked right past me face-to-face many times before, just like today...

When Little Fatty reached this point, he felt utterly off-kilter, as if he'd been stripped bare and seen through, all his secrets exposed right under the other's gaze, with nothing hidden.

For someone like him, reaching this stage meant he was as good as dead.

Clutching the cloth bundle, Little Fatty stood at the mouth of the alley, his face shifting between pale and green. After a moment of wavering, he gritted his teeth.

"Death is death. Since this person took the initiative to show himself, he must be trying to lure me over! That means there's room to talk!"

Muttering a few words to himself, Little Fatty took a deep breath, strode out, and followed the trail Qin Yang had left behind.

In less than half an hour, Little Fatty caught sight of Qin Yang's figure. Seeing Qin Yang actually walk into a branch of Ten Thousand Eternity Commerce, Little Fatty couldn't help but freeze...

After crouching outside and spying for a while, Little Fatty couldn't help but feel a sense of awe...

This was the pinnacle of being a thief. No concealment at all. He went not just anywhere, but to Ten Thousand Eternity Commerce, the biggest spender in Green Forest City, and spent money without even blinking. In this short time, he'd dropped at least three hundred Third Grade Spirit Stones...

Even the branch's shopkeeper had been stirred, sending someone to give him one-on-one shopping guidance. Three hundred Third Grade Spirit Stones—that was thirty thousand First Grade Spirit Stones! To be a thief at this level, even if Ten Thousand Eternity Commerce got robbed right now, no one would ever suspect him. Truly masterful.

Little Fatty crouched outside, spying, his heart churning. He felt as if he'd been reborn, realizing for the first time that a thief could live like this.

Just as he was thinking this, he saw Qin Yang walk out of the Ten Thousand Eternity Commerce branch, his face as calm as still water, heading straight down the main road.

Little Fatty's eyes flickered. It seemed Qin Yang had glanced his way with a composed expression—ten to one, he'd been spotted...

But in truth, that wasn't the case at all...

This time, Qin Yang really hadn't noticed Little Fatty. That wasn't a calm expression; his heart was bleeding.

Over three hundred Third Grade Spirit Stones, gone just like that. He'd made two hauls, totaling less than six hundred Third Grade Spirit Stones, and spent half in one go. How could he not be pained?

As for why he'd come to Ten Thousand Eternity Commerce, he'd been forced into it. Elsewhere, the quality of pills was hit-or-miss, sometimes mixed with waste pills. Magical Artifacts were even worse—few varieties, high prices, and no quality guarantee. At a critical moment, the artifact might just fail.

With no other choice, he had to buy from Ten Thousand Eternity Commerce. Here, the pill quality was complete. Besides the Qi Nurturing Pills for the Qi Cultivation Stage, there were also better Yellow Sprout Pills, sold only at Ten Thousand Eternity Commerce in the whole city. One bottle of Yellow Sprout Pills cost forty Third Grade Spirit Stones—outrageously expensive.

As for Magical Artifacts, low-grade ones he didn't fancy, mid-grade ones started at a hundred Third Grade Spirit Stones, and decent ones were three or four hundred—too expensive to buy...

In the end, he could only buy five bottles of Yellow Sprout Pills, plus a pile of the best materials for making talismans.

As for why the shop staff was so enthusiastic, they'd taken him for a genuine talisman master. Word was that the talisman master guest elder stationed at Ten Thousand Eternity Commerce had died a few days ago...

They were desperate for a supply source now...

After all, someone willing to buy so much top-tier material was definitely not a talisman master who'd just learned to craft talismans.

Carrying a pile of materials, Qin Yang took a detour and returned to "Brother Wang's" small courtyard. He was about to craft some talismans properly, and also make some of the newly learned ink talismans for emergencies...

"Knock, knock, knock..."

Just then, a knock came at the door.

Qin Yang opened it and saw that it was the familiar-looking Little Fatty from before.

"Big brother, I was wrong. I shouldn't have used your junior brother's name. Please spare me. I've longed to join your sect for ages, but I couldn't find the mountain gate. I was just reckless..."

Little Fatty launched into a torrent of words, leaving Qin Yang stunned. What was going on? Thinking back, that Divine Thief he'd buried really did have a sect behind him? No wonder he'd seemed not so simple.

"Come inside and talk." Qin Yang remained impassive, his face expressionless, but a plan was already forming in his mind...

Once Little Fatty was inside, Qin Yang led him toward a side room.

A large lock hung on the door. Qin Yang brushed his hand over it, then gave a light tug. The lock clicked open on its own. Tossing it aside, Qin Yang stepped inside.

Little Fatty, following behind, showed a flicker of understanding.

"I've always heard that in your sect's rules, no lock has a key. I didn't expect it to be true. Senior Brother, that move must be the legendary White Colt Hand, right? Truly like a white colt passing a gap—fleeting and gone in an instant. Impressive."

Qin Yang's expression didn't change. Entering the small room, he opened the fire pit's intake hatch, then shook his body as if boneless, his form halving in size as he slipped straight into the opening, barely a foot wide.

Little Fatty's eyes lit up, and he followed suit.

Once inside, Little Fatty discovered that below was an underground space about the size of the courtyard above, fully equipped with everything, but with only that foot-wide entrance.

"Big brother, my name is Zhang Zhengyi..." Little Fatty started to introduce himself, but Qin Yang raised a hand to stop him. He sat down in a chair, holding a teacup, and looked at Zhang Zhengyi coolly.

"First, tell me. Last night, at the Three Mountains Gang's place, that was you, wasn't it? How much do you know about the map?"