Repaying the Debt

He paid the vendor two hundred Demon Spirit Coins, and Chang Ping bought out the entire pot of noodles.

Under the astonished gazes of passersby, he picked up the steaming iron pot and, with loud slurps, swallowed the entire pot of noodles, broth and all, into his stomach. He wasn't eating the noodles anymore; he was drinking them.

The onlookers couldn't help but swallow. It made them all hungry.

"Are their spring onion noodles really that fragrant? Fragrant enough for someone to drink the pot?"

"Whose kid is this? Such a huge appetite. An entire pot of noodles, dozens of pounds, and he finished it in less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn.

"The most ridiculous part is, after drinking such a large pot of broth, an ordinary person would probably feel as bloated as a woman seven or eight months pregnant. But this kid's stomach didn't even bulge. What an appetite, he's practically a human Demon Beast."

The vendor stood there dumbfounded, watching Chang Ping finish the pot of noodles. He was both shocked and embarrassed. He had been selling on Academy Street for so many years, and this was the first time he'd encountered such a peculiar person.

The commotion on the street drew Lu Piao out of the apothecary. He loved a good spectacle.

"What's going on? What happened? Why is everyone gathered here?" Lu Piao hopped around behind the crowd. He was too short to see what was happening.

A kind uncle told him, "A remarkable person showed up at the noodle stall and drank an entire pot of noodles in one go. And he did it without breaking a sweat or even blinking."

Remarkable person? More like a glutton.

Speaking of gluttons, Lu Piao immediately thought of the man who had left a deep impression on him.

"Could it be Chang Ping came to the street to eat?" Lu Piao's curiosity was too strong. He gritted his teeth and squeezed through the legs of the crowd, arriving at the noodle stall.

Looking up and seeing the face of the remarkable person, Lu Piao brushed the dirt off his hands and stood up, a look of "As expected" on his face.

Chang Ping was using chopsticks to scrape the noodles stuck to the side of the pot. Seeing Lu Piao approach, he quickly put down the iron pot.

"Brother Lu, you're here just in time. I was looking for you!" Chang Ping beckoned to Lu Piao, signaling him to sit down and chat.

The vendor thoughtfully brought over a pot of free tea and poured some for the two men who had sat down.

He was very grateful to Chang Ping. If not for him, his noodles wouldn't have sold out so quickly. As it happened, his back hurt today, so he could go home early and rest.

Without the spectacle of someone drinking noodles, the onlookers lost interest and dispersed shortly after. However, thanks to Chang Ping's promotion, everyone remembered the noodle stall and planned to try their noodles tomorrow to see if they were truly that delicious.

"What did you need me for? First things first, I don't have money to treat you to an early meal," Lu Piao picked up the warm tea and took a small sip.

He wasn't as beastly as Chang Ping, directly pouring boiling water into his mouth.

"Good news!" Chang Ping smiled, then took out thirty banknotes from his Space Ring and slapped them on the table, pushing them towards Lu Piao. "Here! Not too much, not too little, exactly three thousand Demon Spirit Coins. I felt bad about you treating me to a meal, so this is compensation."

This way, he wouldn't keep bringing up how he treated him to a three-thousand-Demon-Spirit-Coin meal every chance he got.

Lu Piao grabbed the banknotes, counted them, and asked in surprise, "Where did you get so much money?"

"Yesterday afternoon, I went to the Trial Ground to hunt Horned Sheep. This money is from selling the spoils," Chang Ping replied truthfully, as there was no need to hide anything.

Yesterday, he had captured the Black Fox, a great contribution, and Ye Sheng no longer pursued the matter of him wiping out the Horned Sheep. Therefore, there was no need to keep it a secret.

"Horned Sheep?" Lu Piao blinked, then his eyes lit up in realization. "No wonder we couldn't find a single Horned Sheep last night. So you wiped them all out? That's really not cool, you didn't even leave one for us."

He was truly a beast.

There were at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, Horned Sheep in the Trial Ground, and he had killed them all in one afternoon, not leaving a single sheep hair behind. They had wasted half the night searching the Trial Ground for nothing.

"I didn't know you guys were going to hunt Horned Sheep, and no one told me! Besides, if I didn't hunt the Horned Sheep, how could I pay you back?" Chang Ping retorted without hesitation. He pointed at the apothecary and asked curiously, "What were you guys doing at the apothecary?"

Could it be they were buying Purple Mist Grass?

Lu Piao's pocket money was eaten by him, and the Horned Sheep in the Trial Ground were also snatched by him. Where did Nie Li get the money?

"Mwah!" Lu Piao kissed the banknotes and pocketed them without any false politeness. Although he was the son of a noble family, he didn't have a Space Ring yet.

A Space Ring with a volume of a few cubic meters cost tens of thousands of Demon Spirit Coins, far beyond his means.

If he were as diligent as Du Ze, his Family Head father might happily gift him one. Unfortunately, he was too lazy and often got into trouble, whether it was peeking at a girl bathing or stealing a girl's bellyband.

His father wished he could beat this good-for-nothing scoundrel to death with a broom, so how could he possibly buy him such an expensive ring?

"I'll tell you, but you absolutely cannot tell anyone else," Lu Piao bent down and whispered conspiratorially to Chang Ping, "Nie Li led us to the apothecary to buy Purple Mist Grass, saying he'd help us make a fortune."

"Are you crazy? He bought one hundred thousand Demon Spirit Coins worth of Purple Mist Grass. How can this mosquito-repelling weed make us rich?"

Chang Ping was taken aback. It was as he had expected.

Nie Li was going to speculate on Purple Mist Grass to make a quick fortune.

Due to his intervention, Nie Li couldn't hunt the Horned Sheep and thus didn't meet Xiao Ning'er.

Without the financial support of this little heiress, Nie Li wouldn't make much even if he speculated on Purple Mist Grass.

Then again, what did it matter to him whether Nie Li made a lot or a little?

"One hundred thousand Demon Spirit Coins? Where did you get so much money?" Chang Ping asked doubtfully. Could Nie Li have gotten help from Xiao Ning'er in another way?

"It was Shen..." As if realizing something was wrong, Lu Piao quickly covered his mouth. "I drank too much tea, I need to pee. Sorry, Brother Chang."

Lu Piao chuckled, clutched his crotch, and dashed back to the apothecary like a gust of wind.

He could clearly feel that he and Chang Ping were not on the same path. Chang Ping was too outstanding, and his future achievements would undoubtedly be extraordinary, something he, a loser, could not aspire to.

Compared to Chang Ping, Lu Piao preferred to be with Nie Li. Their talents were equally trash, and they were both sons of noble families, so there was no sense of distance between them.

Therefore, he couldn't betray Nie Li and reveal that Nie Li intended to team up with Shen Yue to deal with Chang Ping.

"Shen Yue or Shen Fei?" Looking at Lu Piao's hasty departure, Chang Ping narrowed his eyes, a sharp glint appearing.

Why would they sponsor old man Nie Li? What benefit would it bring them?

Could it be