Hair Standing on End in Rage

Qin Yu glanced at the Sword Talisman being offered, then at the smiling Long Yu. His brows furrowed slightly as he said calmly, "Miss Long, no matter how poorly Chen may be doing, I can still afford this item."

"Then let Brother Chen consider it Xiao Yu's way of offering flowers to Buddha with borrowed blooms. How about it?" Long Yu asked with a playful smile.

Qin Yu looked at Long Yu, accepted the wooden sword, then took out ten Low-grade Spirit Stones and tossed them to her. He said indifferently, "Fellow Daoist Long, if there is nothing else, Chen will be leaving first."

The previous Qin Yu had been especially enamored of Long Yu, though he had kept that affection buried in his heart. He had never even approached Long Yu directly, yet Qin Feng had still noticed. Qin Feng, who was also infatuated with Long Yu, flew into a rage out of shame and repeatedly taught Qin Yu a lesson. Moreover, Long Yu had been close to Qin Feng, making Qin Yu instinctively somewhat distant toward her.

Long Yu felt somewhat wronged. A woman's sixth sense was the sharpest; she could sense Qin Yu's disgust and aversion toward her. But she had never known him before.

Since their last parting, Long Yu had secretly investigated Qin Yu as well. Yet to her disappointment, this man seemed to have appeared out of thin air, and she could not uncover even the slightest clue.

Zi Xun'er stood too high above her, and Long Yu lacked the standing to approach her, so she had focused her attention on Qin Yu instead. Earlier, when Qin Yu had been wandering through the various shops, Long Yu's spies had noticed him. That was why she had followed him all the way here.

As a princess, Long Yu did not dare display the slightest bit of princessly authority before this mysterious Brother Chen. The Wu Kingdom was merely a puppet, and a princess only stood above ordinary mortals. Before true cultivators, the status of a princess was worthless. Her spiritual roots were mediocre, and she had no fate with the Immortal Sect, yet Long Yu was unwilling to accept that. The reason she befriended people far and wide was to obtain the qualifications to enter an Immortal Sect, though that hope was exceedingly slim.

Now that she had encountered a Qin Yu of mysterious origins, how could Long Yu possibly give up so easily? She trotted after Qin Yu, intimately hooked her arm around his left arm, and coquettishly said, "Brother Chen, do you dislike Xiao Yu that much? Did Xiao Yu offend Brother Chen somehow? Or is it because of Qin Feng?"

Qin Yu's brows creased slightly. He examined Long Yu again, only now realizing that this seemingly mischievous Thirteenth Princess was not so simple.

"If Brother Chen hadn't said so, Xiao Yu wouldn't have known Qin Feng's true nature. Before me, he was always timid and submissive, but who would have thought that behind my back, he would be so arrogant and overbearing? I heard he even bullied his own brother," Long Yu said with an innocent expression.

Qin Yu's face was cold and stern, as though he had heard nothing. Just as he was about to shake off Long Yu's hand, he spotted a familiar figure.

A young girl was bargaining with a cultivator at a stall. That girl was none other than his younger sister, Qin Xue.

"Fellow Daoist, this is a Quenching Pill. After taking it, it can allow a mortal to step through the gates of the Martial Realm. One hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones is already very cheap," the stall owner said, spittle flying as he boasted extravagantly.

Qin Xue's willow-leaf brows knitted faintly. Her eyes burned as she stared at the Quenching Pill, the size of a longan, in the stall owner's hand. She bit her red lips and asked, "Can this pill truly allow a mortal to step through the gates of the Martial Realm?"

"Of course. I obtained this by chance. At the Myriad Phenomena Pill Shop, this pill sells for two hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones. If I weren't in urgent need of Spirit Stones, I would never sell it. Fellow Daoist, once you pass this village, there will be no such shop. If you don't buy it now, don't regret it later. If someone in your family has difficulty entering the Martial Realm, this pill will definitely let them enter the Martial Realm and become a cultivator." The stall owner had a sharp face and monkey-like cheeks, his eyes constantly roving over Qin Xue's body. With one glance, he had seen through her thoughts.

"Big brother, can you make it cheaper? I... I don't have that many Spirit Stones," Qin Xue pleaded, biting her red lips tightly and looking at the stall owner pitifully.

"How many Spirit Stones do you have?" the stall owner asked.

"I only have eleven Low-grade Spirit Stones..." Qin Xue said embarrassedly. She had saved up these eleven Low-grade Spirit Stones herself. Though Qin Xue's treatment was far better than Qin Yu's, her aptitude was exceptional, and cultivation had consumed quite a few Spirit Stones. On top of that, the matriarch Cui Liu had secretly obstructed her, so the Spirit Stones she received were not many.

Seeing Qin Xue's shy appearance, a wicked flame rose in the stall owner's lower belly, and his gaze upon her gained a trace of lewdness.

Qin Xue had been born a little beauty. Though she was only thirteen, her mind had matured early. Years of diligent cultivation had made her body slender and well-proportioned, and with her slightly raised chest still in development, she carried the feeling of a flower bud on the verge of blooming.

If it had been anyone else, the stall owner would likely have made the sale long ago. And how could the Quenching Pill in his hand be a real Quenching Pill? It was merely made from ordinary medicinal herbs, probably not even worth ten taels of silver. Because of the grand gathering, Tianwu Main City was a jumble of fish and dragons. Many mortals wanted to step through the gates of the Martial Realm, so opportunists brought ordinary goods to swindle others. And there really were people who took the bait.

The stall owner pretended to ponder for a moment, then said with some difficulty, "Fellow Daoist, this pill costs two hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones at the Myriad Phenomena Pill Shop. One hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones truly isn't much. Fine, I am a kind-hearted man. If Fellow Daoist agrees to one condition, I'll only charge you ten Low-grade Spirit Stones for this pill. How about it?"

"What condition?" Qin Xue asked with a face full of delight. Over the years, it was not as though she had never tried to buy Quenching Pills for her brother Qin Yu, but their prices had far exceeded her imagination.

"Ahem. As long as you spend one night with me... this Quenching Pill will..." The more the stall owner spoke, the brighter his eyes became.

In the distance, fierce hostility burst from between Qin Yu's brows, and killing intent shot from his eyes. He lifted his right foot, about to step forward, when his gaze suddenly narrowed.

Before the stall owner, immersed in his fantasies, could finish speaking, a large hand sent him flying with a slap. A burly young man over six feet tall, clad in armor, suddenly appeared beside Qin Xue.

Qin Xue had also been angered until her face flushed red. Though she lacked experience, she was no fool and understood what the stall owner meant by spending a night with him. Just as fury rose within her, she suddenly felt as though a great mountain stood before her. She slowly raised her head, and upon seeing the burly young man, froze for a moment before asking fearfully, "B-Big Brother?"

"Big Brother? You are not qualified to call me Big Brother. Where is that beast?" The newcomer's voice was deep and resonant as a bell as he shouted sternly. He was Qin Yong, the eldest son of the Qin Family. Behind Qin Yong stood Qin Feng, both cheeks swollen, along with more than ten soldiers likewise clad in armor.

"Big Brother... what... what are you talking about?" Qin Xue asked in confusion.

Qin Yong sneered. His large hand directly slapped Qin Xue across the face, leaving her dizzy and disoriented. His right hand clamped around her fair, tender neck and lifted her straight into the air. He said coldly, "I refuse to believe I can't drag that beast out!"

Though Qin Xue's cultivation was only two levels below Qin Yong's, how could Qin Xue, whose combat experience was nearly a blank sheet of paper, possibly be a match for Qin Yong, who had long been tempered by slaughter?

In the distance, Qin Yu's eyes turned bloodshot, his body shaking violently as fury nearly burst from his chest. He suddenly strode forward, but before he could speak, he heard Long Yu cry out, "Stop!"