Rainy Night Pursuit

On the small path through the peach forest, Ye Tong walked with his hands behind his back. He could feel that the spiritual energy in the Peach Garden Inn area was much denser than outside. He even had a vague feeling that the entire Peach Garden Inn was enveloped by a formation, though he observed for a long time but couldn't come to a conclusion.

The sound of gurgling water came from not far away.

Ye Tong followed the path and soon saw a sparkling river. However, what made him stop in his tracks was that as he crossed the river, he saw a familiar face.

Mu Qianlan?

Why was she here?

Ye Tong's gaze swept over Lan Tianyu, who was wearing a veil beside Mu Qianlan, then he turned around without hesitation and returned the way he came.

He didn't dislike Mu Qianlan, but he was afraid of trouble.

As the saying goes, "A beautiful woman can bring disaster."

Mu Qianlan's beauty was too outstanding. Her phoenix eyes and captivating gaze held a soul-stirring charm, her delicate nose and skin as white as snow, her ruby lips like a touch of red plum in the snow, aloof and enchanting, as if she were a fairy who had stepped out of a painting. Such women were like sweet nectar, attracting bees and butterflies wherever they went.

Ye Tong was new to the county town and didn't know much about it. Even if he had a few acquaintances, it wouldn't be a happy thing if he got into trouble, so Ye Tong wanted to avoid Mu Qianlan.

Passing through the peach forest, Ye Tong saw the Medicine Slave standing at the entrance of the pavilion, looking around for him. The female attendant named Duo Lan stood quietly behind the Medicine Slave. When Ye Tong walked over, he asked, "Is it done?"

The Medicine Slave smiled and said, "It's done, the Ren-character Pavilion."

Duo Lan stepped forward a few paces and said with a smile, "Please follow me, honored guests. I will take you to the pavilion you've rented."

"Thank you for your trouble." Ye Tong nodded slightly.

Ren-character Pavilion, Room 208.

Although this ancient-style pavilion was not small compared to the nearby ones, Ye Tong had seen larger pavilions in the Peach Garden Inn. Perhaps those were the Di-character Pavilion or the Tian-character Pavilion!

Inside the building, the carvings and paintings were exquisite and elegant.

After Duo Lan took her leave, Ye Tong went to the second floor and looked at the layout inside, sighing, "A small Di-character Pavilion like this costs two hundred taels of Blue Silver daily. It's really expensive, what a shame!"

The Medicine Slave asked, "What a shame?"

Ye Tong said, "It's a shame that we won't be staying in the county town for long. Otherwise, we would buy a large piece of land and build an even bigger, more beautiful inn with more buildings. Then, we wouldn't do anything all day but count how much silver we collect with an abacus."

"Cough cough..."

The Medicine Slave was amused by Ye Tong's "grand ambition" and said, "Young Master, land in the county town is very valuable. Moreover, without power or influence, even with money, it's difficult to buy a large plot of land."

Ye Tong smiled and said, "Although we have no power or influence, we have connections! Don't forget, the son of the Prince of Zifu County, Mu Xiaochen, still owes me a favor. If I were to make such a request, wouldn't he eagerly help me arrange it? I'm afraid he could even help me get the price down to the lowest."

"That's true!" The Medicine Slave chuckled in amusement.

Mentioning Mu Xiaochen, the Medicine Slave's expression stirred, and he asked, "Young Master, we've already arrived in the county town. Do you want to go see Mu Xiaochen?"

Ye Tong hesitated for a moment and said, "I do want to see him, but not immediately. Let's wait! Let's sell the pills we brought first and save some money."

The Medicine Slave smiled and said, "Pills are treasures that every cultivator dreams of. Selling them won't be difficult. On our way here, you must have seen it, right? Many pavilions have people setting up stalls to sell items. Tomorrow, I just need to set up a stall in front of the pavilion, and people will come to buy them."

Ye Tong said, "Pills are not cheap. Who can afford so many pills?"

The Medicine Slave smiled and said, "This is the Peach Garden Inn. Everyone who can stay here is wealthy. However, whether anyone is willing to buy pills is another question."

Ye Tong said, "Set it up! We'll sell what we can. We only need to keep what we need."

For dinner, the Medicine Slave bought food from the Peach Garden Inn's kitchen. Ye Tong stayed in the room to cultivate. His injuries from the previous few days had not fully healed, but the biggest impact on Ye Tong was the burden of severe blood loss. As night fell, red lanterns were lit throughout the Peach Garden Inn, decorating it beautifully.

At some point, a light rain began to fall from the sky. The usually crowded roads were now sparsely populated. Occasionally, inn messengers would hurry past, disappearing at the end of the road moments later.

Ye Tong couldn't sleep. For days, he had either been cultivating or sleeping on the back of the Dragon Lion Eagle, so his energy was very abundant. He stood alone by the window, watching the misty rain outside, silently calculating how long it would take to break through to the Qi Refining Fifth Level at his current cultivation speed.

He knew he had to become stronger.

At the mountain peak camp opened by the Baishun Merchant Guild, the not-so-large beast tide had already given Ye Tong a sense of urgency. He didn't want to have regrets when he was weak, so he had to speed up his pace of becoming stronger.

He looked up at the sky.

Ye Tong's heart suddenly trembled. An absurd yet bold idea sprouted in his heart without warning. He had failed his tribulation and his soul had inexplicably traveled to this world. This meant that this world truly existed, and it was only separated from Earth by spatial dimensions, or spatial barriers, or perhaps distant cosmic galaxies.

If his strength could become stronger and stronger, and even one day break through the spatial barrier of this world and traverse the cosmic galaxies, would he then have the ability to find Earth and return to it?

Or, after the cultivators of this world reached a certain level of cultivation, could they ascend to the immortal realm? If they could go to the immortal realm, could they find his senior brothers?

Thoughts after thoughts churned in Ye Tong's mind. The excitement made his Blood Essence boil, and it wasn't until a wave of energy fluctuation from afar that he was pulled back from his fantasy.

"What's going on?"

Ye Tong clearly saw a thin man in a black training suit, with a mask covering his face, flying rapidly from a distance. Behind the mysterious man, dozens of elite warriors in armor, holding swords, were fiercely pursuing him.

"A prisoner or a bandit?" Ye Tong showed a curious expression, but his figure retreated backward, so as not to be seen by the mysterious man and the elite warriors behind him.

"Young Master." A low voice came from behind.

The Medicine Slave, hunched over, glanced out the window and slowly said, "It's raining, the weather is getting cold, you should close the window and rest."

Ye Tong didn't close the window because he knew that closing it now would definitely alert the people outside.

A moment later, after the figures outside disappeared, Ye Tong closed the window and turned to the Medicine Slave, saying, "This Peach Garden Inn doesn't seem very peaceful either! In this county town, can you often see soldiers chasing people?"

"That's not usually the case."

The Medicine Slave shook his head and said, "Actually, the security in the county town is very good because the Prince governs effectively. Everyone knows one thing: do not kill wantonly within the county town. If it's a private fight between cultivators, no one will interfere, but if it affects ordinary people, then city guards will arrest them."

"Mm!" Hearing this, Ye Tong stopped asking. For him, the scene just now was merely a small interlude in life, not even involving his own participation.

In the early morning after the rain, the world seemed washed clean. The sky was a brilliant blue, the air fresh, and everything around Ye Tong seemed full of life. He pushed open his door and found the Medicine Slave already up, chopping wood and starting a fire outside. He had somehow managed to procure a simple stove and an iron pot.

"Doesn't the Peach Garden Inn have a kitchen building? Why are you cooking yourself?" Ye Tong asked, as staying here was supposed to be for convenience.

The Medicine Slave shook his head and said, "This old servant just went to the kitchen building to borrow their cooking utensils to simmer a medicinal meal, but they refused to lend them. So, I bought a simple stove and an iron pot from outside. Young Master, please wait for an hour, and you'll have your medicinal meal."

Ye Tong gave a wry smile and shook his head.

He knew the Medicine Slave meant well, so he didn't bother with his fussing. Seeing the abundance of peach blossoms outside, he turned back into the pavilion, brought out a long table and a chair, and set them up by the roadside in front of his door. Then, he took out the pills he had refined and placed them on the table.

"Pills for Sale." Ye Tong wrote four characters on a piece of Xuan paper in a flamboyant style. Finally, he found a sign and pasted the Xuan paper onto it.

"Oh ho, someone's selling pills here? Is it real or fake?" a surprised voice rang out.

Two young men had arrived. The one who spoke looked honest and sturdy, while the other had a scar near his eye and a cynical demeanor.

"It's definitely fake. This rundown place has pills for sale? What a joke! I'd rather believe a girl from the Fragrant Hall would warm my bed than believe there are real pills for sale here," the cynical young man said, rolling his eyes.

"That's true!" As they spoke, the two gradually walked away.

Ye Tong watched their retreating backs, a hint of helplessness on his lips. It was truly difficult to run a small business these days. Where was the trust between people?

Afterward, a few more people came to the stall, but they looked skeptical and never bought any pills. However, a middle-aged man played with a jade bottle for a while, asking Ye Tong about its price.

An hour later, the Medicine Slave brought a bowl of medicinal meal to Ye Tong. He glanced at the few people who had just arrived at the stall before saying, "Young Master, your health is important. Eat the medicinal meal first!"

"Mm!" Ye Tong noticed that the people in front of him had no intention of asking the price and didn't want to wait any longer. He reached out and took the porcelain bowl.