Too Easy

Yin Xiaojiu was kind-hearted, and since she had never experienced real combat before, she had defeated Butcher Zhang's son entirely on a burst of courage. With utterly unskilled attacks, she had forcibly beaten him to the ground. She did not even know what "pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger" meant.

However!

Ye Tong had grasped the essence of that saying deeply and could wield it with consummate mastery.

Show weakness to the enemy, then strike where they least expected it.

Just like pill refinement, this too was... a technical craft.

Ye Tong deliberately showed two parts hesitation and three parts timidity. His feet even seemed to take an unconscious step back from cowardice before he shouted, "I won't use poison, and you can't kill anyone either. Otherwise, Young Master Tong won't let you off."

"Too noisy..."

Butcher Zhang looked at Ye Tong, who was forcing himself to remain calm, and felt utterly confident. Ye Tong was merely a little fellow at Qi Refining First Level, and his body was obviously frail. Facing such a lamb awaiting slaughter, Butcher Zhang used only seventy percent of his strength as he charged forward, convinced that he could slap his opponent half to death.

"Hm?"

Butcher Zhang's confident slap merely grazed Ye Tong's scalp. Yet what stunned him was that Ye Tong had clearly not been struck, but his thin, frail body still fell right in front of him.

What was going on?

Could the wind from his palm alone knock him down?

For an instant, he froze.

The moment Butcher Zhang raised his arm, Ye Tong fell in the direction of the incoming slap. The instant his palm pressed against the ground, his body twisted sharply. As he rolled, a fierce whip kick lashed brutally into the bend behind Butcher Zhang's left knee. Just as Butcher Zhang was kicked to one knee, Ye Tong had already straightened up, his fist smashing precisely into the back of Butcher Zhang's head.

Bang...

Butcher Zhang's vision went black, and he collapsed face-first onto the arena.

Strike while he was sick and take his life.

Ye Tong had fought through countless battles in the past, and his combat experience was incomparably rich. He immediately rushed forward in a single bound and began viciously stomping at Butcher Zhang's head with the soles of his feet. It was like a brawl between street thugs. After more than twenty kicks, Butcher Zhang was kicked unconscious.

Smack, smack...

Ye Tong stopped attacking and clapped his hands, signaling that the fight was over.

Too easy. Far too easy.

Even he had not expected that a slight trick would let him deal with an enemy of the same realm so effortlessly. Was this Butcher Zhang really a Qi Refining Third Level cultivator?

Around the arena.

Everyone had turned to stone. Even those experts who had seen through Ye Tong's deliberate display of weakness had not expected the battle they had anticipated to end in such a one-sided beating worthy of street hooligans.

Did it have to be this easy?

Could they not put on a proper show?

Filled with helpless frustration, countless people looked at the all-show-no-substance Butcher Zhang as though iron had failed to become steel. They wished they could whip him awake and make him fight Ye Tong again.

A hundred meters away.

Mu Qianlan stared dumbfoundedly at the scene atop the arena, her thoughts a complete mess. She had arrived nearby when Ye Tong poisoned his opponent. Such a minor scene would normally never have attracted her, but Ye Tong was one of the main players, so she had patiently watched. Yet the duel she had awaited with such anticipation had ended just like that?

An embroidered pillow!

Mu Qianlan silently cursed Butcher Zhang again and again, utterly uninterested.

"Would Princess honor me by entering the carriage for a chat?" A misty voice drifted from within the Kirin Carriage.

Mu Qianlan was startled. Then her eyes brightened greatly. Without the slightest hesitation, and without anyone blocking her, she strode up into the Kirin Carriage.

On the arena.

Ye Tong looked toward Tong Kaishan, whose face was blank with shock. A cold glint flashed through his eyes before a smile spread from the corners of his mouth. "Young Master Tong, shouldn't you announce the result of the duel?"

Tong Kaishan suddenly came back to his senses. He looked at Butcher Zhang, who lay there like a dead dog, then at Ye Tong. Only then did he nod with a complicated expression and announce loudly, "I declare that Ye Tong has won this duel."

Ye Tong cupped his fists. Under the gazes of the restless crowd below, he bent down and rummaged through Butcher Zhang's clothes, pulling out a stack of silver notes. After counting out enough to make seven hundred taels, he looked at the remaining two twenty-tael notes as though relieved and said with satisfaction, "A horse does not grow fat without night grass, and a man does not grow rich without windfall wealth. The ancients truly did not deceive me! Who would have thought that arena gambling, this crooked side path, could make me rich? With these thousand-odd taels of blue silver, I should be able to buy plenty of medicinal herbs and prepare even more potent poisons, right?"

More than a thousand taels?

Preparing poison?

Around the arena, quite a few adventurers whose eyes had gone red with envy over Ye Tong's winnings could no longer suppress the greed in their hearts. They quietly began planning to find an opportunity to murder him for his wealth. Yet Ye Tong's muttering was like a blow to the head, instantly sobering them up. This kid's cultivation might not be much, but he was skilled in refining and administering poison!

What if...

He had even stronger poisons? Robbing him would be the same as courting death!

For a time, more than half of them abandoned the thought of killing him for his wealth. Some even began considering staying as far away from this little poison fiend as possible in the future. After all, those skilled in using poison were never wholly kind-hearted people.

A moment later.

Ye Tong hurried away with Yin Xiaojiu.

He understood how cruel this world was. Though poison could deter some greedy people, men died for wealth just as birds died for food. Someone might still take the risk and kill him for over a thousand taels of blue silver.

"Brother Yezi, where are we going?" Yin Xiaojiu looked at the familiar street, her little face full of confusion. If she remembered correctly, they had just passed through here two quarters of an hour ago.

Of course they had passed through here!

Ye Tong remained expressionless on the surface, but inwardly he sneered again and again. Even though he had deliberately taken several detours, there was still a tail behind them. Clearly, someone was still thinking about those thousand taels of blue silver.

"To Warm Medicine Hall."

Seeing that he could not shake the other party off, Ye Tong could not be bothered to keep circling around. He led Yin Xiaojiu onto another main road and soon arrived at Warm Medicine Hall, where he met Chang Wu, who approached them with a beaming smile.

"Little Brother Ye, you didn't bring that distinguished guest along this time?" Chang Wu's smile was bright on the surface, but inwardly he was somewhat disappointed. He knew Ye Tong was a poor wretch with no money to be made from him.

Ye Tong took out eight hundred taels' worth of blue silver notes and handed them over. "I want to buy Iron Ring Grass."

Chang Wu had sharp eyes. He noticed that the stack of blue silver notes Ye Tong had taken out had a total face value of at least a thousand taels. Surprised, he asked, "You gathered enough blue silver in such a short time?"

Ye Tong said meaningfully, "The distinguished guests from Zifu County have blue silver to spare. Whichever medicine shop can satisfy them, those honored guests will naturally scatter gold and silver generously."

These words?

Chang Wu's expression shifted. He weighed those words over and over in his heart, then laughed boldly. "Distinguished guests are honored guests, and Little Brother Ye is an honored guest too! Since you have come to support my business again, you are giving me, Chang Wu, face. I'll give you a ten percent discount on the Iron Ring Grass."

As he spoke, he took out an eighty-tael blue silver note and stuffed it back into Ye Tong's hand.

"Hehe..."

Ye Tong chuckled inwardly, though satisfaction appeared on his face. "Since Manager Chang is so generous, if the distinguished guests need more medicinal herbs in the future, I'll bring them to Warm Medicine Hall first thing. Oh, and bring me two more Hundred Poisons Mushrooms and two Blood Refining Grasses as well. The older, the better."

Chang Wu's expression shifted. "Little Brother Ye, I have quite a few Blood Refining Grasses that are twenty years old. But as for Hundred Poisons Mushrooms, I have two that are three hundred years old. What do you think...?"

"I'll take them!"

Ye Tong's heart jolted, and he answered without hesitation.

Chang Wu fell silent for a moment before saying, "Two Blood Refining Grasses come to two hundred and sixty taels of blue silver. Two three-hundred-year Hundred Poisons Mushrooms cost one thousand one hundred taels of blue silver, for a total of one thousand three hundred and sixty taels. I'll give you another ten percent discount, so you need to pay one thousand two hundred and twenty-four taels of blue silver in total."

Ye Tong frowned. He had enough blue silver notes on him, but could he press the price down further?

He had obtained five thousand taels of blue silver from selling the Purple Coffin, two thousand of which he had extorted from the Medicine Slave. After deducting the blue silver spent on Iron Ring Grass, he had a total of two thousand nine hundred and sixty taels left.

Seeing Ye Tong's expression, Chang Wu could not help feeling a trace of contempt. Even his smile faded considerably as he said, "Little Brother Ye, friendship is friendship, and business is business. They cannot be confused. I've already given you a ten percent discount. If you still can't afford it..."

"If he can't afford it, I can."

A clear voice came from outside the shop. Tong Kaishan approached with an arrogant smile on his handsome face, walking with his feet turned outward as he came before the two of them.

It was him?

Almost instantly, Ye Tong clearly realized that the person following him must have been Tong Kaishan. This fellow was greedy by nature. While coveting those poisons, he was likely also eyeing the thousand-odd taels of blue silver Ye Tong had won.

Damn it!

Ye Tong developed a trace of killing intent toward Tong Kaishan, but his expression remained frosty as he said, "Manager Chang, I did not bring enough blue silver with me. Wait half an hour. I'll go back and get it."

Chang Wu naturally knew Tong Kaishan. Hearing Ye Tong's words, he hesitated briefly, then shook his head. "Since Young Master Tong wishes to buy them, I can only sell them to him. After all, there are only two three-hundred-year Hundred Poisons Mushrooms."

Ye Tong said heavily, "I was the one who wanted to buy them first."

Chang Wu said, "But you don't have enough blue silver right now."

Anger surged in Ye Tong's heart. He stared hard at Chang Wu for several moments, then sneered. "Manager Chang, today you will face a bloody calamity, and tomorrow you will face another bloody calamity. I had planned to help you resolve it after buying the medicinal herbs, but I never expected you to be so disloyal. I won't meddle in your affairs anymore. I'm leaving now. I hope you take care of yourself."

"You..."

Chang Wu had not expected Ye Tong to curse him simply because he could not buy the medicinal herbs. If he were not still thinking about the distinguished guests who might come to purchase herbs, he truly would have wanted to slap Ye Tong across the face.

"Farewell!"

Ye Tong grabbed Yin Xiaojiu's hand and prepared to leave Warm Medicine Hall.

Tong Kaishan narrowed his eyes and stretched out an arm to block their path. He sneered, "Little Brother Ye, it seems you have forgotten something! When will you give me three times the medicine?"

"Tomorrow."

Ye Tong answered without thinking.

Tong Kaishan raised a brow and sneered. "I helped you on the arena, yet you still want to drag this out until tomorrow? I want it today. If you dare waste my time, the consequences will not be pleasant."

Ye Tong did not wish to tear off all pretense with Tong Kaishan right now. At the very least, he did not wish to do so in front of outsiders. Thus, he said calmly, "Come to Precious Medicine Workshop tonight. I'll give you the full amount."

Tong Kaishan considered it for a moment, then said, "Delay it until tonight, and it'll be four times the medicine."