One Stroke, All Gone! (Requesting Monthly Votes)

Heavenly Auspice Sacred City.

Lower City District.

This place was a den of dragons and snakes, with every sort of teahouse and tavern imaginable.

One of its streets was packed with small grain merchants and medicine dealers.

Dongye Fantian was the shopkeeper of one such small grain store.

That day, as usual, he opened for business. After giving a few instructions to his clerks, he carried a pot of tea over to the grain shop across the street.

Compared to his own shop, the grain store opposite clearly had much worse business. The spacious storefront had only a handful of clerks in it, lending the place a rather desolate air.

Inside the shop, a middle-aged man in a brown robe was busy with his head lowered.

The robe was of decent material, but it had been washed until it was somewhat faded. Even the cuffs had frayed, making it obvious that he had worn it for many years.

"Brother Bohong." Dongye Fantian took a sip of tea and smiled at his former competitor, his tone unhurried. "Still selling your Spirit Rice? Tsk, tsk. It's not that I want to criticize you, but Spirit Rice prices have been lingering at rock bottom for more than ten years, and sales are sluggish besides. Can you really survive like this?"

A hundred years ago, Dongye Fantian and Beigong Bohong had still been friends. But ever since they had opened grain shops directly opposite each other, their relationship had gradually grown cold and distant.

Competitors were natural enemies, after all. That was understandable.

Yet more than ten years ago, both families had stockpiled considerable Spirit Rice, only to encounter a halving collapse in its price. After each held out for a year or two, Dongye Fantian proved more flexible. Feeling that the depressed grain