Leave!

"Seventh Uncle, Brother Wang here has come to see you."

Wang Ba's arrival seemed to have disturbed the entire courtyard. He could see the windows of several rooms being cautiously pushed open a crack, with tense, frightened gazes behind them.

He could not help sighing inwardly.

It was hard to imagine that this lineage had once produced an outer sect senior disciple.

A member of the Lu Lineage led Wang Ba into a side room in a somewhat cramped, two-courtyard compound.

The moment he stepped inside, a thick, choking smell of medicinal herbs greeted him.

Looking at the old man lying on the bed with his eyes closed, so gaunt he was little more than skin and bones, Wang Ba could not possibly connect him with Shopkeeper Lu of West Garden Market, who had been so witty in conversation and so deft in dealing with people.

How had he changed so much in just over a month?

He could not help casting a questioning look at the Lu Lineage member beside him.

The rather haggard-looking middle-aged man's eyes were filled with grief.

"After Second Uncle from the main branch passed away, Fifth Uncle and Sixth Uncle couldn't accept it and both fell ill at once. Seventh Uncle had to take charge, but a few days ago, someone Second Uncle had once defeated came knocking. He didn't strike to kill, but Seventh Uncle is only a mortal, after all. How could he withstand it..."

As he spoke, the corners of his eyes reddened.

Clearly, the drastic rise and fall of the past month or so had already battered down his mental defenses.

Wang Ba, too, fell briefly silent at his words.

Shopkeeper Lu seemed to have heard the commotion from his sickbed. His eyelids slowly opened as he struggled to match the figure before him to someone in his memory. Only after a while did a trace of surprise and mixed feelings appear on his gaunt face.

"B-Brother Wang... you actually came?"

That short sentence alone seemed to have cost him tremendous effort.

He struggled to sit up, and the middle-aged man hurried forward to support him.

Wang Ba also stepped forward and supported his terribly thin arm. It was like a reed, feeling hollow and weightless in his hand.

Yet Shopkeeper Lu caught Wang Ba's hand.

His expression was deeply moved.

"I never... never imagined you would come!"

Feeling the faint strength coming from that chicken-claw-like hand, Wang Ba forced a smile. "Shopkeeper, I'm a regular customer of yours. With you away from the shop, how could I not come have a look?"

"True, true. What a shame, though... you asked me to buy Precious Chickens for you, and I failed..."

Shopkeeper Lu sat upright, a smile finally appearing on his face. He seemed a little more spirited, too.

"It's all right. I'll still come to you to buy them in the future."

Wang Ba smiled as he comforted him.

"Then I'll have to fleece... entertain my customer properly."

Shopkeeper Lu forced himself to joke.

The two exchanged smiles.

Only then did Shopkeeper Lu notice the bamboo basket by Wang Ba's feet, and he looked at him questioningly.

"This is..."

"I raise chickens. What else would I come to you for? To sell chickens, of course."

Wang Ba smiled.

"Sell chickens?"

Shopkeeper Lu froze. Before he could speak, the middle-aged man beside him could not help looking troubled. "Brother Wang... we've already transferred the shop..."

But Shopkeeper Lu shot him a glare and cut him off. "Even if we've transferred the shop, we... cough... started out as traveling merchants. We must never forget our trade!"

Then he turned to Wang Ba with an apologetic look. "Brother Wang, your still coming to sell me chickens shows you think highly of me. But our lineage really has fallen on hard times, and now... the market price of Precious Chickens has soared. I'm afraid I can't offer you a high price..."

"That's fine."

Wang Ba smiled. "A hundred taels of silver will do, or ten Spirit Stones."

"Ten Spirit Stones?!"

The middle-aged man beside him nearly cried out.

What Precious Chicken could possibly be worth ten Spirit Stones?

Could this man be here to loot a burning house?

Shopkeeper Lu did not think that way. He merely found it a little strange. After some thought, he instructed the middle-aged man directly.

"Anwu, go. Fetch half a Spirit Stone."

"Brother Wang, I'm afraid half a Spirit Stone wouldn't buy even a male Precious Chicken these days, but it really... really is all the Spirit Stones our lineage can spare."

Shopkeeper Lu's eyes dimmed a little.

Once, dozens or even a hundred Spirit Stones could pass through his hands in a single day.

Now, a mere half a Spirit Stone left him stretched thin. How could that not pain him?

"Seventh Uncle... this... our Spirit Stones..."

The middle-aged man, Lu Anwu, looked troubled.

"Cough... do my words carry no weight anymore?"

Shopkeeper Lu turned and glared.

Though pained at the expense, Lu Anwu carefully settled him against the head of the bed before turning to leave.

Before long, Lu Anwu returned with half a Spirit Stone cupped in his hands and presented it to Wang Ba.

Wang Ba accepted it without hesitation.

Displeasure showed on the middle-aged man's face, but he held it back.

Until he picked up the bamboo basket, saw the creature inside, and could not help exclaiming.

"This... is a Spirit Chicken!"

Shopkeeper Lu froze at his words, then looked toward the opened bamboo basket.

Inside was a large rooster with a robust physique and an exceptionally lively bearing, looking left and right, full of swagger.

"This... Brother Wang, I can't accept this!"

At this point, how could Shopkeeper Lu fail to understand Wang Ba's kindness?

He was simply selling it cheaply on purpose to preserve his dignity.

"Say no more, Shopkeeper. Consider this a deposit. If you have any more Precious Chickens in the future, remember to sell them to me."

Wang Ba smiled.

Lu Anwu could not help urging him, "Seventh Uncle... with this Spirit Chicken, both Fifth Uncle and Sixth Uncle can be saved."

Shopkeeper Lu, who had been about to refuse again, fell silent.

After a slight hesitation, he said softly, "Anwu, go check on your Fifth Uncle and Sixth Uncle."

Though he did not understand why his Seventh Uncle wanted to send him away, Lu Anwu obediently left.

Only Shopkeeper Lu and Wang Ba remained in the room filled with the smell of medicine.

Shopkeeper Lu said quietly, "Brother Wang, sorry for the trouble, but please check whether anyone is outside."

Wang Ba was somewhat puzzled, but he still went to the door and carefully surveyed the surroundings.

Then he looked at Shopkeeper Lu and shook his head gently.

Shopkeeper Lu breathed a sigh of relief, then beckoned Wang Ba closer.

He leaned toward his ear.

And softly spoke just one word.

"Leave!"

Walking through South Lake Village, where excrement lay everywhere, Wang Ba could not help recalling what Shopkeeper Lu had just said.

"A major upheaval is about to happen within the Sect?"

"Shopkeeper Lu seems to know something, but he doesn't dare say it."

"He only told me to find every possible way to leave the Sect."

"Just what could make him so urgent? Even frightened?"

"And what kind of upheaval would, in Shopkeeper Lu's eyes, affect a servant disciple like me?"

"Besides, why would the Lu Lineage rather huddle in South Lake Village and refuse to leave, even knowing a major upheaval is coming?"

"Are they taking a dangerous gamble, or is there something else behind it?"

Wang Ba's heart was full of questions.

He had only come out of gratitude for Shopkeeper Lu's past advice, making a special visit and even lending a helping hand. That was doing all kindness and duty could demand, and he could answer to his own conscience.

He had never expected to receive a warning from Shopkeeper Lu.

He did not doubt it much.

After all, the man had absolutely no reason to deceive him.

Yet in his heart, he did not want to leave the Sect.

It was not that he was particularly loyal to the Sect. In fact, as a servant disciple, he found it hard to feel any affection for it.

But here, despite the risk of exposure, he was safe overall.

As long as he followed the rules, did not overstep them, and was not unlucky, he could live perfectly well.

Moreover, despite the recent surge in prices, this place could still provide cultivation resources such as Precious Chickens, which were extremely difficult to buy outside.

Once outside the Sect, obtaining so many resources as a mere mortal would be far, far too difficult.

Even if he could go to a market where rogue cultivators gathered, he would probably be dismembered the moment he walked in with a Spirit Chicken.

Even concealing himself with Yin Spirit Power would hardly help.

Not to mention that outside the Sect, there might still be a group watching him because of the Yin Spirit Great Dream Scripture.

If those people truly existed, given the ruthlessness with which they had watched Old Sun for a full fifty years, there was no guarantee they would not strike at him as well.

In short, to Wang Ba, staying in the Sect and quietly building himself up was the ideal approach.

Yet after receiving Shopkeeper Lu's warning, he still could not help wavering.

Leave, or stay?

That was the question!

After he passed through South Lake Village, the thick stench was finally left behind.

Looking at the lush greenery and clear blue lake of South Lake Market in the distance, his mood improved a little.

Then he heard a cold, stern voice behind him.

"Your name is Wang Ba?"