Page 47

It sounded pretty impressive.

[Senior Brother, I want those little red needles.] The little dumpling wheedled in a warm, soft voice.

"We'll take the Red Lotus Flower-Burial Needles." Seeing his little junior sister eagerly stretch out two tender hands like pink lotus roots, Ye Qinghui's lips curved into a smile again. He was ready to buy them for her without even asking the price.

"Hold on." Shen Xingyan stepped forward ahead of him. "I reserved these Red Lotus Flower-Burial Needles earlier. I came to the Spirit Treasure Pavilion today specifically to collect this Artifact."

He snatched the Red Lotus Flower-Burial Needles from the Immortal Attendant's hands and tossed out a hundred Superior Spirit Stones with what he thought was a grand flourish. "Keep the change."

"Well..." The Immortal Attendant looked troubled. "Young Sect Leader Shen, these Red Lotus Flower-Burial Needles were made with Red Lotus Karmic Fire. It's a divine flame from ancient times that can burn anything in the world. A hundred Superior Spirit Stones won't come close."

"Then how many Spirit Stones do you want?"

"At least 2,500 Superior Spirit Stones per needle." The Immortal Attendant knew an opportunity when he saw one. Seeing direct disciples of the five great sects fighting over the needles, he raised the price on the spot from 1,000 to 2,500 Superior Spirit Stones.

"What? That expensive?"

"Can't afford it? Then we'll buy it." Ye Qingchuan cut in at just the right moment.

"Of course I'm buying them! How many do you have? Sell them all to me!" Shen Xingyan was as tightfisted as his father, but he held grudges. If anyone crossed him, he had to get even.

"One hundred."

"Here's 200,000 Superior Spirit Stones. Pack them all up for me." Shen Xingyan slowly pulled 200,000 Superior Spirit Stones from his Heaven-and-Earth Bag, pain showing in his puppy-dog eyes.

Why are these lousy needles so expensive? This hurts.

"That won't do, Young Sect Leader Shen. The total is 250,000 Superior Spirit Stones. You're still 50,000 short." The Immortal Attendant took the 200,000 while suppressing his glee, then put on an act to squeeze out a little more.

Hearing he had to pay even more, Shen Xingyan's face went cold. He picked up a Red Lotus Flower-Burial Needle and made as if to throw it at the Immortal Attendant. Too frightened to utter another word, the attendant obediently packed all the flying needles into gift boxes for him.

After that, whenever Ye Zhenzhen took a fancy to something and asked Ye Qinghui to buy it, Shen Xingyan swooped in and snatched it away. He even beat her to a milk bottle that could warm milk automatically.

[Seriously, what's wrong with Shen Xingyan? He's a grown man. Why is he fighting a little baby for a milk bottle?] Ye Zhenzhen glared at him with all the fury her tiny face could muster.

Shen Xingyan glanced at her with his puppy-dog eyes. "What are you looking at, squirt? I can use this bottle to warm water now, and when I have children, I can use it to warm their milk. Why wouldn't I buy something useful for so many years?"

That makes so much fucking sense.

Ye Zhenzhen decided Shen Xingyan must be some sect leader's idiot son: stupid, rich, and fond of getting under people's skin. If he loved snatching things so much, she might as well make him bleed for it.

She pointed without hesitation at every baby item in the Spirit Treasure Pavilion—milk bottles, changing pads, potty chairs, comfort toys, Robes, sleeping bags, and more. Shen Xingyan promptly swept them all up.

Shen Xingyan smiled smugly. "Hmph. Try competing with me. You won't be able to buy a thing, no matter how much money you have."

"Is Senior Brother Shen having a baby? Why is he stocking up on so many baby supplies?" His junior brothers and sisters exchanged looks and began whispering among themselves.

"I heard he and Junior Sister Luo Bingyao are about to become cultivation partners. Junior Sister Luo's even changed how she dresses lately—no more tight clothes. Could she already be pregnant?"

"Oh my heavens, Senior Brother Shen's going to be a father at seventeen! What a bombshell!"

Shen Xingyan: ?

"What are you talking about? Tell a lie often enough and it becomes a tiger! Luo Bingyao and I aren't like that at all!"

"I bought these for my future child... No, wait, I don't even have a child yet..."

"Do none of you understand the idea of mending the roof before it rains?"

But no matter what he said or how his expression changed, his junior brothers and sisters wore the same look: As if we don't know you. Their Senior Brother Shen had been a flirt since childhood. Lately, he had not only gotten involved with Luo Bingyao but had also been relentlessly pursuing Ye Qingyao of the Cloudsky Sect. Even if the child wasn't Luo Bingyao's, perhaps it was some other girl's.

Judging by the mountain of baby supplies Senior Brother Shen was buying, the baby might be about to enter the world any day now.

Ye Zhenzhen drank some milk in comfort, then felt a little pressure in her bladder and couldn't help relieving herself. She wiggled her little bottom. [How about I give Shen Xingyan a little something extra?]

Then a changing pad suddenly slid out from beneath Ye Zhenzhen's bottom.

Oh, no. It was a Talisman.

It looked familiar to Shen Xingyan. He hurried over for a closer look. Wasn't this the Spring Blossoms and Autumn Moon Talisman he had bought for Ye Qingyao for a hundred Superior Spirit Stones? Bright spring flowers bloomed across it in a riot of colors, like rosy clouds slowly rising in the dawn.

It depicted a lovely scene of spring warmth and blooming flowers, yet the sight sent him into a rage.

He wanted to pick up the Talisman and confront Ye Qingyao, who had moved on to the spirit flowers and herbs section. Why hadn't she treasured the Talisman properly? Why had she given it away?

But the unmistakable reek of baby pee rising from it made him hesitate. Had that squirt used the Talisman as a changing pad?

His hand reached out, then drew back. Drew back, then reached out again. This went on for a good while.

To his fellow disciples, though, the scene was further proof of Senior Brother Shen's thrifty habit of picking up even roadside trash.

"Look at Senior Brother Shen. He really inherited Master's virtue of never leaving a lost item by the roadside."

"Exactly. If Master spotted a low-grade Spirit Stone in a cesspit, he'd fish it out and claim it. Of course Senior Brother Shen would pick up a baby's soiled changing pad to use for his future child."

"Look! Senior Brother Shen picked it up despite the stink and filth."

Leaderboard

|

Transmigration into a Book

Wish Fulfillment

Cannon Fodder

Everyone's Darling