Selling cards at a street stall

With a curl of his fingertip, Xing Yao first tucked the jet-black aura pistol securely into his mental world. He couldn't casually show off this treasure he kept up his sleeve.

He looked up and swept his gaze around, a roguish grin curling his lips as he spoke with brisk, infectious enthusiasm. "All right, quit standing around in a daze. Get ready to move!"

"Put your masks on. We're going out to harvest a big batch of resentment and make some serious cash. Once we've saved enough, we'll buy ourselves a huge villa. It's all about enjoying life!"

At those words, the clones perked up instantly as though pumped full of stimulants, their eyes shining as each swiftly grabbed a playing-card mask.

Some pulled out a three of hearts, others snatched up a three of diamonds, while others put on a three of spades or a three of clubs. Every single one was a three, and not one of them wore the mask that originally belonged to him.

Xing Yao took out a four of diamonds and placed it over his face.

"All set." He casually surveyed them and snapped his fingers. "Invisibility!"

Then he added, "We'll head straight for Qingning City's busiest special-item trading district. Split into two groups, and don't take the same route as me."

"We may be invisible, but there's no telling whether some big shot can see through it. Splitting up is the safe bet, so we're less likely to crash and burn."

Several dozen minutes later, they silently regrouped outside the shopping mall, each concealed by invisibility and keeping an exceedingly low profile.

Xing Yao leaned casually against a wall, radiating presence as he gave his orders. "You four, go scope things out. See what the other stalls are selling, what their prices are like, and whether their stuff sells well. Keep a close eye on all of it."

"I'll find a spot here to set up a stall and focus on making money and collecting resentment. Clear division of labor!"

The moment he finished, the four masked clones accepted their orders and began wandering around the bustling area surrounding the mall, covertly observing the various stallholders and buyers.

Seeing this, Xing Yao first stirred his thoughts slightly and put the four-of-diamonds mask on his face back into his mental world.

He glanced around, picked an empty spot with the heaviest foot traffic and a good view, and got straight to work. Bending down, he deftly spread out a stall cloth, then pulled a thick stack of cards from his mental world and laid them neatly across it with a rustle. The sheer variety was enough to dazzle the eye.

Once he finished, he took out a small sign and planted it in the ground, its large lettering blunt and catchy:

Xing Yao's stall: no bad deals, no getting swindled!

With everything ready, he wasted no time. Another thought brought a comfortable lounge chair out of his mental world, which he snapped open and set on the ground.

Xing Yao slowly slumped into the lounge chair and slipped on his sunglasses, going straight into retirement mode and resting right there. His approach was all about running a laid-back stall and enjoying life, brazen and at ease.

While everyone else ran themselves ragged, he lay there making money, his swagger dialed all the way up.

Before long, several curious gazes drifted over.

A casually dressed middle-aged man who looked quite shrewd strolled up to the stall. He glanced down at the neatly arranged cards, then up at Xing Yao lounging with outrageous ease in his chair, and broke into an amused smile.

Folding his arms, he said with a smile, "Young man, this is quite a distinctive stall you've got. Just lie down here and you're open for business?"

Xing Yao didn't even lift his eyelids. Hidden behind his sunglasses, he answered lazily, utterly unruffled. "It's all right. Laid-back business."

The man raised his eyebrows and pointed at the cards. "What are all these? They look pretty flashy. You're not using them to fool people, are you? Do they actually work, or are you selling fakes?"

Only then did Xing Yao slowly prop himself up, his fingertips tapping casually against the chair's armrest as an unreadable smile curled his lips.

"Real or fake, won't you know once you try?"

"I can't guarantee anything else about this stall, but 'no bad deals, no getting swindled' is absolutely the truth."

The man laughed at his confidence, his curiosity fully piqued. "Oh? That cocky? Then I'd better take a good look at just what's so special about these cards of yours."

The corner of Xing Yao's mouth lifted. He leisurely pulled a large portable loudspeaker from his mental world and lightly pressed its record button, letting it quietly record without playing anything aloud. Lowering his head toward it, he read out the card descriptions clearly, sentence by sentence:

"This one's function: tear it to activate. Teleport anywhere within a hundred-meter radius of yourself three times. Sneak attacks, running away, showing off-it does them all. Maximum practicality."

"This one's function is simple and brutal: tear it to trigger it. Your whole body turns into a flame form for half an hour, massively boosting attack, defense, and speed across the board. Fight up close or at range, with explosive power dialed all the way up."

"And this one: tear this card, and for the next half hour, you can harness the power of earth to form a suit of earth armor around your body. A purely defensive item."

He paused, his tone casual yet dependable. "Let me make this clear beforehand: there are some minor side effects when you use them, but they're absolutely harmless and won't affect your body in the slightest. Use them without worry."

As for what those side effects actually were, he didn't breathe a word, keeping them tightly under wraps.

Standing beside him, the middle-aged man heard every word clearly. His eyes widened further and further, and he froze on the spot, his mind struggling to keep up.

As soon as Xing Yao stopped, he could no longer contain himself. Staring at the cards in shock, he blurted out:

"Holy shit... teleportation, flame form, earth armor? They're that powerful?!"

The middle-aged man stared at the cards for a long while, then looked up at Xing Yao lounging in his chair. Still somewhat uneasy, he frowned and asked, "These things of yours... they're not fake, are they?"

Xing Yao scoffed, sliding his sunglasses down to reveal half an eye, his tone carrying a hint of offhand certainty. "Fake? How could they be?"

He leaned back against the chair and patted his chest, speaking decisively. "At this stall, you get tenfold compensation for any fake. I keep my word. If you can find a single fake card, I'll pay you ten times its price, no fuss."

The man was taken aback by his confidence, and his doubts dwindled further. His gaze wandered over the cards, clearly tempted.

The middle-aged man stared at the cards for a long while, doubt and desire tugging back and forth inside him. Finally, he gritted his teeth, looked up, and asked, "Then... how much is one of these?"

Xing Yao slumped back into his lounge chair, his tone breezy. "Not much. Just 1,000 Huayuan coins each. Honest prices for young and old alike."

"Holy shit?!" The man swore on the spot, his eyes going round. "A thousand? Are you robbing people? Why so expensive?"

Xing Yao scoffed and said leisurely, "How could something that saves your life be cheap? At a critical moment, this thing is worth far more than your life."

Those words drew over several passersby who had already been watching curiously. They gathered around to examine the cards on the stall, murmuring among themselves.

Seeing this, Xing Yao pressed the loudspeaker's loop-playback button. His recorded card descriptions and promise of "tenfold compensation for any fake" spread through the crowd over and over. More and more people gathered, drawn by the extravagant effects and prices.

Under everyone's gaze, the middle-aged man found himself riding a tiger he couldn't get off. The effects of teleportation and flame armor also had him itching to try them. Finally, he stamped his foot hard, pulled three thousand Huayuan coins from his wallet, and slapped them onto the ground. "Fine! I'll buy one of each! I'll take a gamble today and try them right now. If they're fake, I'll come back and expose your stall!"

He stuffed the three cards into his pocket and raised his chin at the onlookers. "You all heard him! The owner promised tenfold compensation for any fake! I'm going to test them now. We'll know soon enough whether they're real!"

With that, he turned and strode toward the secret realm in this part of Qingning City.

The crowd instantly erupted into chatter, everyone craning their necks toward the alley entrance as they waited for the result. The atmosphere of spectators eagerly watching the drama was in full swing.

Xing Yao snapped his fingers and, with a thought, quietly switched back the four clones wandering nearby, having them conceal themselves around the crowd. Their eyes were sharp as eagles'; if anyone dared harbor ill intentions toward the stall or Xing Yao, they would immediately strike and subdue them.

He himself remained comfortably reclined in his lounge chair, his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses and a confident smile curling his lips, waiting to see the man's reaction after trying the cards, and waiting for more people whose interest had been piqued to gather around.