The Rich Woman's Scent

The midday sun hung high, its warmth slightly chasing away the late winter chill.

Yan Shuyi, who had dozed off at her desk, woke to find Ji You packing his belongings.

During their casual chat by the fire yesterday, the two had already discussed the strange occurrences happening across Qingyun World recently.

Young Master Jian knew that his trip was to the ruins, but he had a different opinion about the Celestial Academy's arrangements.

"Have you ever considered that if this is truly a prolonged conspiracy, it must have been meticulously planned? You might not find anything at those three ruins, and you could even be in danger of losing your life."

"I suppose so, but... the matter of the Evil Seed still needs to be resolved."

Yan Shuyi looked at him. "Why?"

Ji You recalled the lanterns he saw on the north side of Wanzhuo Mountain that day. "I don't care how many cultivators die, but if those things, as the Affairs Management Courtyard's investigation suggests, are no longer confined to the ruins and like to eat people raw, then they must be dealt with."

Yan Shuyi tilted her head, looking at him. "What about the Inner Court spots?"

"People always have to make choices. Sometimes I'd rather follow my intuition."

"I want to go out and play."

"?"

Ji You turned to look at her. "Your thoughts jump around too much."

Yan Shuyi stood up, looking at the red sun outside the door. "Take me out to play. I haven't explored Shengjing yet."

"I haven't finished packing."

"Pack when we get back. I want to eat candied fruit. Buy me some."

Afterward, at the Celestial Academy's mountain gate, the Young Master Jian from Spirit Sword Mountain, pulling along an unremarkable disciple from the Outer Court, left Mount Ni and arrived at Yong Sheng Street in the west city.

As they passed the Shengjing Bookstore, Ji You paused slightly, feeling as though he had forgotten to meet someone.

It didn't matter; it wasn't an important person anyway.

He came back to his senses and saw Yan Shuyi had already gone ahead, entering a massive ancient building. The plaque above the entrance bore three large characters: Qionghua Pavilion.

This was a thousand-year-old merchant house catering to cultivators, specializing in selling spirit pills, spirit stones, and various magical artifacts.

Its shops were spread throughout Qingyun World, and they could even procure top-grade spirit pills produced by the Pill Sect.

Ji You had never been there before, as the imposing entrance seemed to declare that the penniless were not welcome.

He walked closer, took out his money pouch, and looked inside. This will at best buy a small trinket to appease her, he thought.

Instructor Cao is really poor!

Doesn't he realize how hard I've worked all these years?

Ji You smacked his lips and followed her into Qionghua Pavilion. Coincidentally, there were some disciples from the Celestial Academy on the first floor.

Among them were Lu Qingqiu, Du Zhu, and Qian Yunxiao.

The three of them were disciples of Instructor Ma, whose birthday was approaching. They had come to buy gifts.

Yan Shuyi didn't know them. She pointed to a Green Jade Gourd on a shelf and asked the shopkeeper to take it down. After playing with it for a moment, she held it in her palm and then skipped upstairs.

Lu Qingqiu watched for a long time before turning to Ji You. "Young Master Ji, bringing a friend to buy magical artifacts?"

"Just looking around."

"I've long suspected that Fang Ruoyao claiming to be your fiancée was suspicious, and it seems my suspicions were correct."

Lu Qingqiu pursed her lips and looked upstairs. "Is that young lady the daughter of some noble family? She picked out the best storage artifact in the shop at a glance. That's something worth several hundred taels of silver."

Yesterday, after Ji You took away the sudden Fairy, there was much discussion in the Outer Court.

Combined with the fact that Ji You and Fang Ruoyao had never interacted before, many guessed that the so-called engagement was nothing more than a fabrication.

However, the young lady from Yunzhou was somewhat displeased, as she had always believed Ji You was infatuated with her.

Du Zhu couldn't help but turn his head at this moment. "Coming to a place like this, Brother Ji, did you not dare to tell her about your family's poverty?"

Ji You ignored him and whispered into Qian Yunxiao's ear, "Go back and tell Instructor Cao that I'm not going to explore the ruins. I might have to stay here and work to pay off my debts, for all eternity..."

Qian Yunxiao swallowed. "Brother Ji, please try to stop her. The things upstairs are even more expensive..."

"?"

Ji You hissed and immediately hurried upstairs. The others, with a sense of schadenfreude, followed.

By now, Young Master Jian had already picked out many items, all of them quite expensive, making Du Zhu and his companions' scalps tingle.

She then set her sights on a bow hanging at the very top and ordered someone to take it down from the shelf.

Lu Qingqiu saw the bow and arrow were covered in mystic light and thought that the price of this single bow was likely equivalent to all the items purchased previously.

However, when she saw Ji You following her, Yan Shuyi suddenly stopped and then turned her head to look at a man's brocade robe next to her. She took it down and held it up against him, making him slightly stunned.

Qionghua Pavilion did not sell ordinary goods; this brocade robe was naturally a defensive magical artifact.

"This one, I want three."

"And boots, get several pairs."

Yan Shuyi took off the jade token at her waist and tossed it to a steward in the building.

Qionghua Pavilion also has a so-called VIP system, but the jade tokens are not sold to the public; instead, they are gifted to the Seven Great Immortal Sects or top aristocratic families.

With a jade token, there's no need to pay at Qionghua Pavilion; the bill is directly sent to the sect the jade token belongs to.

Young Master Jian opened his palm, and a spiritual light emerged from the Green Jade Gourd. Everything he had previously bought was then stored inside the gourd.

Afterward, the gourd was handed to Ji You.

"Seeing you play with those chopsticks today made me decide to buy you a set of hidden weapons. Perhaps they can save your life at a critical moment."

"Also, Evil Seeds aren't strong individually, but there are many of them. Using arrows against them will at least prevent you from being surrounded."

"The Green Jade Gourd can store things, so you won't need a bag."

"I... I lied earlier. I actually don't like peace and quiet."

After Yan Shuyi finished speaking, she noticed Ji You staring blankly, a thoughtful expression appearing on her flawless face.

She had never bought anything for a man before, and it felt a bit strange, not the same feeling as gifting something to a senior or junior sister.

Just then, she suddenly felt a hand approach hers, and when it was close, she could feel the warmth of its palm.

Then she realized her cheek had been pinched by this hand.

This isn't a dream. This incredibly wealthy woman is real!

Ji You took a deep breath and realized he had just pinched her cheek. He held his breath and looked over.

Unexpectedly, Young Master Jian, whose cheek had just been pinched, didn't stomp away. Instead, his expression was somewhat dazed.