"Pills!"
After finally hearing the word "pills," Su Xinghe immediately perked up.
He hurriedly looked toward the voice.
A thin, dark-skinned girl was crouching against the wall at the mouth of an alley off to one side.
Her hair was tied in a loose high ponytail, and she wore coarse hemp clothes. The fingernails of the hands poking out of her sleeves were packed with black dirt and ash.
She looked young, fifteen or sixteen at most. In his perception, faint fluctuations of qi-blood emanated from her.
She was probably an aspiring martial warrior who had just reached inner tempering but had yet to enter a grade.
The girl tilted her head up, watching him with eager hope written all over her face.
Su Xinghe stopped and twitched his nose slightly.
A faint, cool scent of mint drifted from the girl.
Now that was the right scent.
"What pills do you people have?"
He had said "you people."
After all, alchemists were rare. A child who had yet to enter a grade could only be an apprentice at best.
The girl slowly stood up, a trace of wariness surfacing in her eyes. Her small face twitched slightly, and she instinctively looked away.
"Sir, what pills are you looking for?"
"Bone-Forging Pills!"
Afraid of frightening her, Su Xinghe did not ask for Force-Forging Pills right away. Everything else could wait; he would grind up his Head-Cleaving Technique first.
At that, the girl's expression relaxed a little.
"Bone-Forging Pills are twenty taels each. How many would you like, sir?"
Hearing the usual Black Market price, Su Xinghe nodded inwardly. Still, this was their first transaction, so he did not dare buy too many.
"Give me ten bottles to try first."
At that number, her small face instantly flushed red. Several breaths passed