In the early hours of the next morning, night still lingered over Golden Lake Village.
Lin He stood before the bronze mirror in the wooden house, looking at his reflection, his brows twisted into a knot.
"Wife, are you sure this getup can fool anyone?"
Lin He tugged at the absurdly oversized black robe he was wearing. Su Qiuran had sewn it overnight from two old quilt covers.
Su Qiuran sat in her wheelchair, directing Lin He. "Less nonsense."
"What do people in the cultivation world fear most? What they can't see through. Looking like this, who wouldn't have doubts about you?"
Lin He sighed and resigned himself to crouching down.
Su Qiuran climbed onto his back with practiced ease and bound them tightly together with sturdy hemp rope.
Then the voluminous black robe came down over their heads, enveloping them both completely.
Beneath the black robe, Lin He's figure became extraordinarily burly, while the large bulge on his back made his posture look utterly twisted and bizarre, as though he carried a massive malignant tumor, or was himself a deformed monster.
To make it convincing, Su Qiuran had even smeared some chicken blood around the robe's collar, giving off a faint bloody smell.
Lin He tried taking a couple of steps. His tread was heavy, and the hem of the black robe dragged along the ground with a rustling sound.
"You know, you really do have a bit of that Rogue Cultivator look, like you crawled out of a pile of corpses."
"Remember, once we're in town, don't speak unless you have to. If you must speak, keep your voice low and make it hoarse."
Su Qiuran's instructions came muffled from inside the black robe, her arms wrapped tightly around Lin He's neck.
"As you command!"
Under cover of darkness, the two slipped quietly out of the village and headed straight for the town's cultivation street.
The town's cultivation market was essentially open day and night, and it was particularly lively in the early hours, even somewhat chaotic.
There were plenty of Rogue Cultivators who could not bear the light of day, coming at this hour to offload "ill-gotten gains" acquired through unknown means.
Faint smells of blood and scorching hung in the air. Many cultivators in all manner of clothing hurried past, some still bearing obvious injuries.
Carrying Su Qiuran, Lin He walked along the edge of the street like a ghost.
His bizarre build and the cold, sinister presence he gave off made the surrounding Rogue Cultivators give him a wide berth, afraid of inviting trouble they should not provoke.
"Something's off about this atmosphere," Lin He said, lowering his voice so only the two of them could hear.
"Listen to what they're saying," Su Qiuran replied from his back.
The two slowed their steps and pricked up their ears to listen to the discussions along the street.
"Have you heard? They've gone mad fighting over at Green Mountain!" A Rogue Cultivator missing half an ear was boasting to his companion by the roadside.
"How could I not have heard? People from all three great Lineages have gone in. They say a secret treasure has emerged deep in the Mass Grave!"
"Secret treasure, my ass. My cousin works for the Li Household. He heard they found a rare spirit herb that can let spirit beasts advance directly! Would the Lin Household and Su Household just stand by and watch? All three sides are killing until their eyes turn red in the mountains now."
"Exactly. The formations around the outskirts shattered, and miasma poured out, killing plenty of low-level Rogue Cultivators. Antidote pills and protective talismans on the market now cost three times as much!"
Lin He inwardly clicked his tongue as he listened. Human lives truly were worth no more than grass in the cultivation world.
Fortunately, they had pulled out early. Otherwise, not even fragments of their bones would have remained by now.
The two dawdled all the way along before finally reaching the Spirit Plant Pavilion at the end of the street.
It was the largest spirit seed shop in town, with an imposing storefront and a sign shimmering with faint spiritual light.
Lin He took a deep breath, steadied himself, and pushed open the Spirit Plant Pavilion's doors.
The shop was filled with a rich medicinal fragrance and Spiritual Qi.
Several assistants were busy at work. The moment they saw Lin He enter looking like that, they grew wary.
A shopkeeper in a blue-green silk robe approached, his sharp eyes sizing Lin He up. "Fellow Daoist, I don't believe I've seen you before. What do you need?"
Lin He strove to make his voice sound hoarse and vicious. "Shopkeeper, do you buy goods?"
The shopkeeper paused briefly, then put on a professional, insincere smile. "We do, of course we do. Have you come down from Green Mountain, Fellow Daoist?"
Lin He gave a cold snort, neither confirming nor denying it. Beneath the cover of the black robe, that snort seemed particularly sinister.
He slowly pulled a small cloth pouch from inside his robe and tossed it onto the counter.
"See for yourself."
The shopkeeper opened the pouch, and his eyes immediately lit up.
Inside was a small handful of azure jade spirit grain, every grain plump, round, and crystal clear, giving off a rich azure spiritual glow.
"Supreme-grade Azure Jade Spirit Seeds!" the shopkeeper exclaimed. He hurriedly picked up a grain and held it before his eyes for a close examination. "This quality... is truly rare. Fellow Daoist, how much do you have?"
"One jin." Lin He kept it brief. He had not dared bring much, afraid of arousing too much suspicion.
The shopkeeper made a quick calculation. "Spirit seeds of this quality are rarely seen on the market. I'll offer eight Low-Grade Spirit Stones per liang, so eighty for one jin. What do you think, Fellow Daoist?"
Lin He was ecstatic inside, but outwardly he feigned impatience. "Deal. Hand over the Spirit Stones."
The shopkeeper promptly paid him eighty Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
Lin He put away the Spirit Stones, turned, and left without the slightest dawdling.
Once outside the Spirit Plant Pavilion, Lin He felt that his back was soaked with cold sweat.
"How was that? My acting was all right, wasn't it?" Lin He asked quietly inside the black robe.
"Good enough to pass. But you heard the news in the market just now, didn't you?" Su Qiuran sounded somewhat excited.
"I heard. The three great Lineages are fighting at Green Mountain. What does that have to do with us?"
"The point is that talismans are in short supply, and prices have doubled!"
Su Qiuran stressed, "I'm at the Qi Refinement first layer now, after all. I can try drawing talismans."
"If I can make talismans, we can sell them for Spirit Stones and also gain more ways to keep ourselves alive."
"Right now, all you have is brute strength. If you run into a cultivator's Law Techniques, you'll be easily kited."
Lin He's eyes lit up. "Wife, you can draw talismans too?"
"I've never tried before, but in theory, it shouldn't be difficult."
Brimming with confidence, Su Qiuran said, "Let's buy some blank talisman paper and cinnabar, then go back and give it a try!"
With Su Qiuran on his back, Lin He strode toward a shop in the market that specialized in talisman-making materials.