Green Parasol City

"Junior Brother Fang, although Lin Yu is the only Mystic Sword Sect disciple left, we still can't let our guard down."

Pu Ren'an looked displeased as Liu Ye tried to drag Fang Huai out to experience the "bustle of everyday life."

At the critical moment yesterday, Fang Huai and Cheng Zhaozhao had stepped forward, while Liu Ye had cowered behind them, playing dead to avoid trouble.

On top of that, Cheng Rui's threats had made Pu Ren'an detest Liu Ye.

By contrast, Fang Huai had left him with a good impression. He was worth winning over.

"Senior Brother Pu is right!"

Cheng Zhaozhao immediately added, "If Senior Brother Liu wants to go for a stroll, he can go by himself. Perhaps he wants to buy a gift for someone."

Liu Ye caught the sarcasm in their words and stood there awkwardly, unsure what to do.

Seeing the standoff, Fang Huai knew he had to smooth things over himself.

"My household's maidservant likes jewelry from the mortal world. Before I left, she asked me to buy some for her. Senior Brother Liu happens to know about these things, so we agreed to go together."

"Is she a maidservant from the Mystic Sword Sect?" Cheng Zhaozhao asked.

"Indeed," Fang Huai replied frankly.

Cheng Zhaozhao's thoughts raced. Fang Huai was a wealthy man.

A maidservant from the Mystic Sword Sect was a rare commodity.

Most of them were beautiful, and they also knew many Mystic Sword Sect techniques, so they commanded a high price.

Fang Huai must have had a substantial fortune to keep a maidservant at just the fourth level of Qi Refining.

Thinking of her own meager cultivation resources, Cheng Zhaozhao tentatively asked, "Senior Brother Fang treats his maidservant so well. You must be even more attentive to your Dao companion, right?"

"I'm ashamed to say it," Fang Huai replied. "I'm nearing thirty, yet I'm still alone."

His answer was just what Cheng Zhaozhao wanted to hear. She immediately looked him up and down.

He was only at the fourth level of Qi Refining, but he stayed calm and collected when trouble arose, adapted quickly, and seemed upright and reliable.

She thought of how she had drifted through the sect for years, starved of cultivation resources and making little progress.

If she could become Fang Huai's Dao companion, she would gain a reliable support and could use his wealth to ease her dire cultivation troubles.

Her voice softened. "When I was still living among mortals, I was a young lady from a respectable family. I like mortal jewelry too, so I could accompany you to pick some out in the city."

With a single sentence, she had made clear her respectable background and, quite naturally, extended an invitation. She had judged the moment perfectly.

She was confident that her looks would make Fang Huai fall for her.

Fang Huai coughed twice, then turned her down. "Thank you for the kind offer, Junior Sister, but Junior Brother Liu and I already made plans. I wouldn't want to trouble you."

After the two left Spirit Dew Mansion, Liu Ye wanted to head straight for the location of the Vegetation Sha, but Fang Huai stopped him and said quietly, "No rush. Cheng Zhaozhao's following us. Let's lead her on for a while first."

So they strolled from one street stall to another.

Cheng Zhaozhao had hidden her face beneath a black robe and applied a Concealment Talisman, convinced that Fang Huai and Liu Ye couldn't detect her.

But how could her utterly foolish attempt at tailing them escape Fang Huai's notice?

A black robe over her face, trailing right behind them—any fool could spot her!

Good thing she hadn't been sent to the battlefield as a spy. Otherwise, the Mystic Sword Sect would have cut her down with a flurry of swords in less than half an hour.

Cheng Zhaozhao furrowed her brow.

She had been following them all this time, and the two had done nothing but shop.

Could they really just be close, with no other secret between them?

Fang Huai kept his spiritual sense fixed on Cheng Zhaozhao. Seeing that she refused to leave, he simply started enjoying the everyday bustle of Green Parasol City in earnest.

At the sugar-painting stall, the vendor gripped a copper ladle and swiftly traced designs across a stone slab, drawing delighted cheers from the children.

Steam billowed from the iron pot at the wonton stall. People cradled coarse porcelain bowls, blowing on their food before slurping it up.

A blue-and-white cloth curtain hung in the doorway of a fabric shop. The shopkeeper sat on a bamboo chair and smiled as she waved the two over.

The people of Green Parasol City lived comfortable lives, far better than those under the rule of the Corpse Sha Sect.

Liu Ye had no interest in appreciating the lively scene. "Junior Brother Fang, these mortals know the Mystic Sword Sect was defeated. Why do they still seem so calm?"

"They've been protected by the Mystic Sword Sect for too long. They assume that with the sect backing them, the Corpse Sha Sect wouldn't dare act rashly. Naturally, they see no need to flee."

He sighed softly. "Born into comfort, they've known no danger for too long. They don't realize Imminent Death is upon them. It's truly tragic."

The words Imminent Death reminded him of the label on himself.

Even now, it still appeared from time to time. He couldn't imagine how to break it.

"Demonic cultivators! Corpse Sha Sect demonic cultivators!"

The two were chatting intermittently when a piercing shout erupted from the crowd.

Fang Huai looked toward the voice and saw a man pointing at him and Liu Ye in alarm. "I saw these two yesterday! They're demonic cultivators from the Corpse Sha Sect!"

"Didn't Immortal Lin drive the demonic cultivators away? Why are they still here?"

"They actually disguised themselves as mortals and sneaked into the city. What beasts!"

"There are so many of us. What have we got to fear? Let's attack together and kill these two fiends!"

"..."

A single stone stirred up a thousand waves. The shouts grew louder, and Fang Huai and Liu Ye's faces grew darker.

Liu Ye turned his wrist, gathering blue-black poison qi around his fingertips, ready to strike.

Fang Huai hurriedly stopped him. "Senior Brother Liu, don't act rashly."

"These lowly mortals dare to run wild in front of us?"

Liu Ye believed in the law of the jungle and the supremacy of the strong. Now that a bunch of mortals without a shred of cultivation dared to provoke him, rage surged straight to his head.

"Don't kill anyone, or Lin Yu definitely won't let you off!" Fang Huai warned again.

Before he had finished speaking, a dull thud sounded as a fist-sized stone slammed into Liu Ye's shoulder.

When the mortals saw that the two weren't fighting back, they grew bolder.

"Beat these two fiends to death!"

Someone shouted again, and stones, rotten vegetables, and dirt came flying at them like raindrops.

"Junior Brother Fang, enough talk! I won't kill them, but I'll cripple this pack of idiots who don't know their place!"

Liu Ye's eyes turned bloodshot as he barked, "Poison Mist Technique!"

Blue-black poison qi spread in every direction. The mortals who inhaled it suffered damage to their internal organs and collapsed to the ground, wailing in pain.

"The demonic cultivators are killing people! Hurry and find Immortal Lin!"

Seeing this, the mortals surrounding them looked terrified and scattered with screams.

Fang Huai sensed Cheng Zhaozhao slip away as soon as Liu Ye attacked. She had probably gone to inform Pu Ren'an.

Fang Huai rebuked him. "Junior Brother Liu, how could you be so reckless? Do you know what consequences your attack will bring?"

Liu Ye was unconcerned. "All I did was make a few mortals suffer from Poison Sha. I didn't kill them. Lin Yu can't blame me for that!"

"The mortals are only staying in the city because they think we wouldn't dare kill them!"

Fang Huai clenched his fingers until his knuckles turned white. "Now that their lives are in danger, do you think they'll wait obediently?"

He continued, "Once every last one of them flees, you can get ready to face Senior Brother Pu's wrath!"

Liu Ye broke out in a cold sweat. "Then what do we do now?"

Fang Huai frowned. "Junior Sister Cheng has already left. She probably went to complain to Senior Brother Pu.

"While we have the chance, let's quickly find the Vegetation Sha, then return to Spirit Dew Mansion and apologize."

The two cast Light Body Technique and hurried forward, following the Sha-Seeking Rat.