"Ah... tss, go easy."
"Sorry, I used a little too much force."
"It's fine. Keep going, lower down."
"Boss, is this medicine any good? It's not going to be useless, is it?"
"It'll kick in soon. Don't worry."
"Why don't I start with your back? It looks like it needs more attention. I'll do the front afterward."
"Sure. Be gentle in front, and put more pressure on my back."
"..."
Late that night, inside the office, a young man and woman were exchanging hisses and chuckles.
Yue Wen was bare-chested, his body covered in bloody scratches and bruises. The purplish-black marks looked alarming.
They had won decisively in their fight against the tiger demons, but he'd still suffered quite a few injuries. Some were claw marks, others from the tigers' tails. The wounds on his front weren't too bad, but several deep gashes on his back came close to the bone. They looked terrible.
Zhao Xing'er was holding a jar of salve and smearing it over his body.
Her Martial Spirit Red Light seemed to have defensive and healing effects. Though she'd taken more hits than Yue Wen during the fight, her skin was still smooth and fair, without a single wound.
Meanwhile, Yue Wen, who'd spent the fight keeping his distance, had ended up more badly hurt than her, the frontline fighter.
That made her even angrier.
Cultivators had hardy bodies. Though his external injuries looked bad, given enough time, he could repair them himself by expending some qi and blood. As long as the wounds weren't being further damaged by lingering true qi, they weren't much of a problem.
Especially after reaching the Sixth Realm and forging a Dharma Body, one could regenerate even after losing all five limbs, or come back to life after being decapitated. Their vitality became terrifyingly tenacious.
As she continued applying the salve, Zhao Xing'er's cheeks turned faintly red.
Objectively speaking, Yue Wen had a pretty good physique. He was the classic lean, handsome type, with a toned but streamlined build.
But she wasn't blushing out of shyness. She'd spotted a knife wound on his back.
It was obviously not the tiger demons' doing.
"It's fine. Given the circumstances, a little friendly fire is understandable," Yue Wen said, guessing what she was thinking and trying to comfort her.
"Boss, you're not mad at me?" Zhao Xing'er asked, touched.
"I'm not mad. Everything that happens is fate; meeting you has been a blessing," Yue Wen said with a smile. "You only worked one day, so I'll prorate your base pay to a hundred yuan. Your cut from the job comes to two hundred and fifty. I'll transfer you three hundred and fifty later. We all have our dreams, so let's each go our own way..."
"Boss, are you firing me?" Zhao Xing'er stopped what she was doing.
"Why call it firing you?" Yue Wen corrected her. "It's an optimization."
"Why?" Zhao Xing'er asked.
Yue Wen turned halfway around and showed her the knife wound on his back again. That said it all.
"I'll be more careful next time..." Zhao Xing'er lowered her head, twisting her hands together as she spoke softly.
"I believe you. It's just not something you can control," Yue Wen sighed. "Xiao Zhao, I'm not strong enough to hold you back when things get out of hand. You should find a bigger organization..."
"I've already tried a lot of jobs," Zhao Xing'er said with a pout, her voice soft. "But I either hurt the boss or hurt my coworkers. You know how it is. Bosses always have a thousand ways to make you angry..."
Yue Wen nodded in understanding.
He'd never had a job himself, but he'd heard a thing or two. Three-legged toads were hard to find, but lousy bosses were everywhere.
Who hadn't felt like punching their boss in the pig face at some point while at work?
But Zhao Xing'er was different from everyone else.
She couldn't keep her temper in check.
"I really thought I'd be extra careful this time..." she continued to mutter. "I didn't expect to hit you by accident anyway."
"The main issue isn't that you hit me by accident. I'm worried you'll cause trouble later," Yue Wen explained. "Our line of work..."
"Waaah." Zhao Xing'er seemed not to hear what he was saying. The more she spoke, the more upset she got, her voice turning tearful. "It took me so long to find such a good boss. You're not greedy or lecherous, you're kind, and you're handsome..."
"Xiao Zhao, you—oh, come on." Yue Wen didn't know how to comfort her, and blurted out, "Why are you saying such obvious truths?"
"If even you don't want me, I really won't be able to work anymore. I'll have to sleep on the streets, starve and freeze, and die far from home..." Zhao Xing'er looked up at him with tearful eyes. "I hope I'll have a few matches in my arms when I die. That way, I'll have one last chance to see my grandma..."
"Zhao Xing'er!" Yue Wen called her name sharply, then helplessly added in a quiet voice, "If you really don't want to leave, you can stay."
"Yay!"
Zhao Xing'er immediately broke into a smile. Her tears vanished in an instant, leaving only her sweet grin.
Yue Wen: "?"
He had a vague feeling he'd been tricked.
He hurriedly added, "You can stay, but we need to agree on three rules."
"Okay." Zhao Xing'er obediently put away the salve and nodded with a smile. "Go ahead, Boss. I'll be good and do as you say."
"First, you're not allowed to hit the boss." Yue Wen raised his fingers one by one as he listed his conditions. "Second, you're not allowed to hit customers. Third... if you really have to hit someone, you're not allowed to use a weapon."
"Huh?" Zhao Xing'er looked a little troubled. "Those rules are pretty strict."
"Pfft." Yue Wen burst out laughing. "If you really think they're too much, I won't force you to stay."
Sometimes, you just couldn't keep a straight face.
"But I'll do my best!" Zhao Xing'er said, as if she'd made a tremendous decision. She held up three fingers and nodded firmly. "Mm!"
After the two of them had spent the whole night at it, dawn had already begun to break by the time they finally got into bed to rest.
Yue Wen was used to keeping an irregular schedule. As usual, he planned to lie in bed and scroll on his phone for a while before going to sleep.
As soon as he opened the Cultivation Chat forum, he noticed several new messages in his inbox and quickly tapped to check them.
Of the four precious materials needed for Chaos Dragon Gang, Purple Jade Branch, Grand Unity Profound Blazing Cinnabar, and Dragon Breath Fire Seed were all heavenly treasures, beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Only Blazing Flame Powder could be refined by cultivators, making it the easiest of the four to obtain.
The medicine helped build up the fire in one's dantian after a spiritual flame had ignited in the sea of qi. Its refinement had to be extremely precise, without the slightest mistake. Alchemists with that level of skill were rare, but there ought to be a few in Jiang City.
So Yue Wen had anonymously posted on the Jiang City section of Cultivation Chat, asking to buy high-quality Blazing Flame Powder and inviting anyone with a source to contact him.
Requests like this on Cultivation Chat usually involved posting an ad to buy or sell. If someone replied, the two parties would get in touch to confirm details, then pick a relatively safe place in the city to inspect the goods and complete the transaction. It was all standard procedure.
If he could arrange a cross-city deal, it would definitely be easier to find a supplier.
But first, inspecting the goods in person across cities was inconvenient. Without inspecting them, there'd be no platform guaranteeing a private transaction, and he didn't dare take that risk. Second, cross-city shipping was expensive these days. The cost of traveling through the vast Wasteland Zone was enormous, and items that made it through might as well have doubled in price.
So an in-city deal was still the priority.
A whole day had passed, and his post had received a few replies. Most were useless comments or spam.
["A Shit-Smeared Spear Kills Whoever It Stabs": Blazing Flame Powder? That's the highest-grade fire-boosting medicine. Usually people use it when breaking through to the Gang Realm, right? Wonder which Immortal Gate's disciple is asking.]
["Ziche Chenju": Are you serious about buying? If you're not serious, I don't have any... If you are, then forget I said anything.]
["Please, God, Give Chen Bo Back to Me": I'm jealous. I'm fifty-eight this year and still have no hope of Refining Gang...]
["Legal Scholar Li Dakang": Add me if you want to watch porn.]
["Old Bai": I've got some. My own secret, top-grade Blazing Flame Powder.]
["momo": I recently discovered a new fire-boosting medicine. It's no worse than Blazing Flame Powder, and it costs dozens of times less. Want to try it with me?]
"..."
Yue Wen looked through the replies. The only one that seemed reliable was the user named "Old Bai." He opened the user's profile and saw videos of medicines being refined using a secret method. It seemed he really was an alchemist, though he had very few followers and hardly any business.
He wondered if Old Bai was trustworthy.
Hoping to get lucky, Yue Wen sent him a private message: "Hello. Do you really have high-quality Blazing Flame Powder?"
"Yes." A few minutes later, the other person replied. He was clearly a night owl too. "Three liang, five hundred thousand."
The price was enough to make anyone's hand tremble, but Yue Wen had looked it up before. Blazing Flame Powder could sell for two hundred thousand per liang on the market. Though three liang for five hundred thousand was a huge sum for him, it was actually on the cheap side.
"Would it be convenient to meet and inspect it tomorrow?" Yue Wen immediately messaged him.
He planned to check whether the goods were reliable first, then figure out how to come up with the money.
The other person replied directly: "Building 208, 167 You'ai Road, Banshan District, City Number Six. Just give my name at the entrance and they'll let you in."
Yue Wen stared at the very specific address and slowly furrowed his brow.
Was he really supposed to go straight to the guy's home the first time they met?
They were just online acquaintances.
Wasn't this moving a little too fast?
Before you continue