A Deal with Han Li

Outside the cliffside residence, Han Li stood before the tightly shut gates, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the cloth bag full of pills tucked inside his robe.

The night breeze brushed his temples, bringing a trace of coolness, but it could not dispel the gloom between his brows.

"Come in!"

Jing Wen's voice suddenly rang out from the courtyard. The heavy wooden gates silently opened, as though pushed by a pair of invisible hands.

Han Li's heart jolted. Though this was not the first time he had seen Jing Wen move things from a distance, he was still utterly astonished.

But more than anything, he felt delighted. The stronger Jing Wen was, the easier it would be to accomplish his goal.

As he stepped into the courtyard, the moonlight stretched his shadow long.

Looking at the dark silhouette he cast on the ground, Han Li suddenly remembered Doctor Mo's hawklike eyes from three days earlier.

When Doctor Mo had forced the so-called "Corpse Worm Pill" into his mouth, his fingers had been as cold as a corpse.

Doctor Mo had even threatened him with his family.

That had left him helpless.

After all, although he had learned some martial arts from Li Feiyu,

without true qi, those techniques had little power. He would struggle even against ordinary martial artists.

Using them against an expert like Doctor Mo was nothing but a fool's dream.

Thus, he had thought of Jing Wen, this senior expert.

Under cover of darkness, he had come to seek Jing Wen's help.

To persuade Jing Wen to act, he had specifically brought twenty bottles of Yellow Dragon Pills.

These represented nearly half of everything he had gained over the past six months.

Whenever he thought of giving all these pills away, Han Li's heart ached terribly.

Although Han Li had not practiced the Evergreen Technique during this time, he still knew how precious Yellow Dragon Pills were.

With a heavy heart, Han Li slowly entered the hall.

"Have a seat."

Jing Wen's rich, low voice drifted through the room, like an invisible force instantly pulling Han Li out of the whirlpool of his thoughts and back to reality.

Only then did Han Li awaken as if from a dream, realizing that he had somehow come to stand rigidly in the middle of the spacious hall.

Looking up, he saw Jing Wen sitting cross-legged in a relaxed posture on a simple, old-fashioned meditation cushion. An exquisite tea set stood before him, and curling wisps of fragrance spread freely throughout the hall like ethereal clouds and mist in the mountains.

"Senior!" Han Li's heart tightened. He instinctively straightened his back and bowed with utmost respect, but his inner turmoil made the gesture unusually stiff.

Afterward, he distractedly chose a meditation cushion nearest the door and sat down, his fingertips unconsciously tapping a disordered rhythm against his knee.

As though unaware of Han Li's unease, Jing Wen lightly lifted the teapot with his right hand. His movements flowed like drifting clouds and running water, and the clear tea poured slowly into the cup like a slender silver waterfall.

He discreetly glanced at Han Li from the corner of his eye, taking in all his anxiety. Inwardly, he felt pleased with himself, but his expression remained unchanged.

In truth, beneath Jing Wen's seemingly calm exterior, his heart was already brimming with wild joy.

He recalled how, two months earlier, Han Li had arrived with the last bottle of pills he had promised, successfully repaying his debt of gratitude.

Since then, lacking pills, Jing Wen had been forced to stop cultivating. Throughout the long wait, anxiety had burned inside him like a fire.

But his adult soul had allowed him to deftly suppress the impulse to seek Han Li out himself.

During those two months, Jing Wen had not slacked off either.

Every day, at the first glimmer of dawn, he practiced Basic Spells,

and in the afternoon, he plunged into the Alchemy Room.

"This tea was brewed with water from the Spirit Spring on the rear mountain. Try it." Jing Wen extended a hand and gently pushed the teacup toward him, his gaze lingering on Han Li as he deliberately avoided the matter at hand.

He knew perfectly well that the more distressed Han Li was now, the greater the benefits he could secure later. So he was in no hurry, merely waiting at ease for Han Li to speak first.

Han Li accepted the teacup, but he had no heart for drinking tea.

The tea rolled down his throat, yet he could not taste a thing.

He stole a glance at Jing Wen, only to find him perfectly composed.

After three rounds of tea, Han Li finally could not hold back any longer. "Senior, last time you said... I could pay you in pills to kill someone. Does that offer still stand?"

The moment those words left his mouth, the boy himself froze.

The word "kill" sounded so unfamiliar and jarring coming from his own lips.

He was only fifteen this year, and in all his years at the Seven Mysteries Sect, he had never killed anyone.

Jing Wen took a light sip of tea and slowly set down his cup. The corners of his mouth rose slightly in a calm, unhurried smile. "Naturally. I have always been a man of my word."

"I want to ask you to kill someone, Senior," Han Li suddenly cut in, his voice lowered to a near whisper.

"Who?"

Naturally, Jing Wen knew what Han Li had come for.

But at this moment, he still played along and asked.

"My master... Mo Juren."

Having spoken those words, Han Li seemed to have exhausted every ounce of his strength.

Trembling, he took twenty small celadon bottles from inside his robe and arranged them in two neat rows on the table.

Every bottle contained Yellow Dragon Pills. They represented most of his savings from the past six months.

Jing Wen glanced at them and shook his head.

Han Li's face paled.

He gritted his teeth. "If you think it isn't enough, Senior... I can gather another twenty bottles! I'll just need some time."

This was his final limit. Any more... and he feared he might awaken the other man's greed, prompting him to kill Han Li and seize his treasures outright.

Jing Wen saw everything as clearly as a polished mirror. However deep fifteen-year-old Han Li's schemes ran, he had nowhere to hide before Jing Wen, who had transmigrated into this novel.

As for limits?

Heh...

Weren't limits made to be broken?

Jing Wen had previously considered snatching the Little Green Bottle first, and he had also considered killing with a borrowed blade.

But Jing Wen's greatest advantage at present was his knowledge of the plot.

He did not know whether Han Li's temporal loop existed.

But as a seasoned practitioner of the art of lying low, Jing Wen would not take risks unless his life was at stake.

Given his current circumstances, losing Han Li, his "spirit medicine supplier," was something Jing Wen absolutely could not afford.

Besides, Jing Wen had a better solution: a deal.

Ownership of the Little Green Bottle can belong to Han Li, but the right to use it...

That naturally has to belong to me.

Silence fell over the room.

Jing Wen lightly tapped the tabletop with his fingertips, while his mind raced through calculations.

With Han Li's current ability, he could refine roughly seven bottles of Yellow Dragon Pills each month.

Securing a steady, ongoing supply would be far safer than returning to the Black Fiend Cult and risking his life to obtain Blood Pills.

To leave Han Li with the impression of a fair deal, Jing Wen began explaining patiently.

"If it were only Mo Juren, forty bottles would indeed be enough," Jing Wen suddenly said. "After all, his cultivation is merely at the mortal Transformation Realm."

"Transformation Realm?!" Han Li cried out involuntarily.

Having spent this time with Li Feiyu, he was no longer entirely ignorant of martial cultivation realms.

A Transformation Realm expert was someone who could establish his own sect!

Ignoring Han Li's shock, Jing Wen continued, "But Mo Juren also has a Black Armored Man beside him. Blades and spears cannot harm him, and his strength exceeds even the Transformation Realm. That will also cost forty bottles."

Han Li's pupils abruptly contracted.

He had indeed seen that strange Black Armored Man, but he had never imagined he was so terrifying.

"The most troublesome one is the Cultivator possessing Mo Juren," Jing Wen said, dropping another bombshell.

"A Cultivator?" Han Li sprang to his feet, knocking over his teacup. Tea snaked across the tabletop. "Then... is he an immortal?"

Jing Wen sneered and formed a hand seal with his right hand. A crimson fireball suddenly appeared out of thin air, melting a bowl-sized hole into the stone pillar beside him as white smoke rose.

Han Li staggered backward, his face as pale as paper.

This had completely surpassed his understanding of "martial arts."

"A Cultivator's strength far exceeds the Transformation Realm." Jing Wen dismissed the spell. "Dealing with him will cost at least eighty bottles."

Han Li stood rooted to the spot, his mind buzzing.

One hundred and sixty bottles of pills. Even if he refined them day and night without stopping, it would take nearly two years.

But on second thought, a Cultivator only cost eighty bottles. That seemed... not too expensive?

For the sake of his own life and his family, Han Li had no other choice now.

Without even realizing it, Han Li had already begun finding justifications for this deal.

He merely felt that the price was steep, not that the deal was unfair.

"I... agree," Han Li said with difficulty, his voice dry and hoarse, as though repeatedly scraped with sandpaper. "I'll just need some time..."

The corners of Jing Wen's lips lifted slightly, forming a meaningful smile.

Earlier, he had deliberately broken down the price in detail precisely to create the illusion of a "fair deal" for Han Li.

Now, Jing Wen knew that Han Li was still reeling from the enormous shock, his thoughts in disarray.

Once Han Li recovered his senses, he would inevitably sink into deep worry.

On the one hand, he would worry about whether he could gather such an enormous quantity of pills within the allotted time;

on the other, he would worry about whether a pill transaction on this scale might bring disaster upon his head.

After all, the medicinal ingredients required for one hundred and sixty bottles of Yellow Dragon Pills were no small amount.

"Put your mind at ease." Jing Wen spoke at just the right moment, his voice softening somewhat,

"Mo Juren has spent these years scouring far and wide, so he must have stockpiled plenty of medicinal ingredients.

Once this matter is settled, all those ingredients will belong to you."

Hearing this, Han Li was taken aback and wondered inwardly, Since when has Doctor Mo had any great stockpile of medicinal ingredients...?

Seeing Han Li's expression, Jing Wen knew that he had not understood his meaning.

So he continued explaining patiently. "I hear Doctor Mo owns several Medicine Fields, planted with all sorts of precious medicinal herbs. When the time comes, those will belong to you as well."

Only then did realization dawn on Han Li, and he understood Jing Wen's intention.

So this senior was worried that he would lack the ingredients to deliver the pills on time.

The misunderstanding left Han Li unsure whether to laugh or cry.

In truth, what really troubled him was not the source of the ingredients, but the time needed to use the Little Green Bottle to accelerate the growth of spirit medicine.

Even with the Little Green Bottle's help, gathering so many pills within the allotted time would probably require him to work day and night without rest for nearly two years.

But on second thought, if spending two years refining pills could rid him of Doctor Mo's threat for good and restore his freedom, this deal did not seem like a loss...

Moreover, using Doctor Mo's stockpiles and Medicine Fields as an excuse would largely conceal the source of the medicinal ingredients.

Jing Wen took in every shifting expression on Han Li's face. Only when he finally saw relief appear did he nod in satisfaction.

"Rest assured. I'll make Doctor Mo disappear." Jing Wen's gaze was deep, and the words leaving his lips carried an air that brooked no doubt.

Hearing this, Han Li instinctively equated "disappear" with death, without examining the deeper meaning behind Jing Wen's choice of words.

In his mind, Doctor Mo was like a sharp blade suspended above his head, threatening his safety at every moment. Once Doctor Mo was removed, the crisis that had plagued him for so long would unravel like bamboo beneath a blade.

Thus, Han Li asked eagerly, "Senior, when will you act?"

Unhurriedly, Jing Wen uttered a single word. "Tomorrow."

A flash of delighted surprise instantly crossed Han Li's eyes.

He had thought this matter would involve considerable trouble, requiring a period of waiting and preparation. He had not expected Jing Wen to move so swiftly.

At the thought that he could escape Doctor Mo's shadow after tomorrow, Han Li felt as though a great boulder had fallen from his heart, and even his steps became lighter.

"Then I'm sorry for the trouble, Senior. Please accept my thanks in advance!" Han Li bowed respectfully, then turned and left.

Watching Han Li's retreating figure, Jing Wen's lips curved slightly into a meaningful smile.

He had his own plans for what "disappear" meant.