The Fruit

"Uncle Sect Master, look at that ugly naked man up ahead! He's got a huge snake coiled around him!"

"Ruyi, look! There's a big sister over there who looks naked too!"

They had just entered Linghe Market. The market was actually very small, with hardly any shops. It had simply been put together by a few of the somewhat larger Qi Refinement forces in the surrounding area, so it did not even charge an entrance fee.

Most of the cultivators coming and going were at the lower or middle stages of Qi Refinement. After all, there were not many Late Qi Refinement cultivators in all the nearby counties put together.

Even so, the two inexperienced boys, Changsheng and Ruyi, were so astonished that they began shouting.

Though Xuanwei City was large, Yuan Jin had yet to complete his training, and the boys' mother was only a mortal. She rarely took them out.

They probably spent most of their time playing in the cramped little courtyard Yuan Jin had rented, so it was no wonder they were so excited.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Kang Dabao hurriedly covered the two boys' mouths and eyes. Fortunately, his hands were big and their faces were small; otherwise, he really would not have had enough hands.

"Sect Master Kang, your children are rather cute." A young female cultivator wearing very little fabric walked over with her shirtless male companion, a faint smile on her face.

"Please excuse them, Lady Chong. Children speak without restraint. We meant no offense; please don't take it to heart." Kang Dabao stepped aside to let Jiang Qing cover the boys' eyes and mouths, then cupped his hands and smiled apologetically.

"I don't mind, but I wonder whether my dear Shen is displeased?" The female cultivator looked up at the ugly man beside her.

"I am Kang Dabao of the Chongming Sect. Might I ask your name?" The smile on Kang Dabao's face grew even wider.

"Shen Tu, Zi Maple Valley."

The ugly man who called himself Shen Tu did not have an unpleasant voice. A Black-Fanged Viper coiled around him, constantly slithering over his body, its scarlet tongue making him look even more sinister.

This mid-grade, first-tier Demon Beast was violent by nature, and few people could tame one as a spirit beast.

"So it's Fellow Daoist Shen. A pleasure, a pleasure." On hearing this, Kang Dabao's smile grew wider still.

"Mm. Teach your children how to speak properly. Huan'er, let's go." Shen Tu's ugly face grew long as he put an arm around Lady Chong's slender waist and walked toward a shop.

"Senior Brother, that Shen Tu is no match for me." A sharp glint flashed in Jiang Qing's eyes. He was clearly quite displeased with Shen Tu's attitude.

"So what? Are you going to go over and chop him up? We cultivate immortality and seek the Dao; we're not street thugs. Must we fight to the death over a wrong look?"

Kang Dabao looked at Jiang Qing and felt a headache coming on. If Jiang Qing went out like this and the eldest of the He family did not use him as a knife, that would really be a marvel.

"And you two little fellows, keep your voices down. Don't let other people hear you, or there'll be no candy for you today. Understand?!" Kang Dabao rubbed the boys' noses as he warned them.

"But Uncle Sect Master, Ruyi and I didn't lie."

Changsheng was older and seemed to have more thoughts of his own. Wrinkling his nose, he protested in his babyish voice.

"It's because the truth is unpleasant to hear that I told you to say it quietly!"

Kang Dabao smiled affectionately and gave Changsheng a pat on the head. Han Yundao and Duan Anle exchanged wry smiles; neither of them had the temper to object to their master's words.

Kang Dabao took the group to a shop he knew and left the donkey cart there. Only after everyone had eaten lunch did they stroll leisurely through the streets.

"That Lady Chong from earlier is young, but she has quite a temper. She doesn't have much ability, though. She can't even bear to put in the effort to master the Grass Witch Cult's witchcraft Cultivation Method, which doesn't even amount to wild fox Zen. Her fighting skills are nothing special.

"Her master, Chen Ye, the leader of the Grass Witch Cult, is someone to be reckoned with, though. Years ago, he forcibly attempted Foundation Establishment, but unfortunately he failed. He also suffered serious internal injuries and spent many years recuperating.

"Even so, he's still one of the strongest Late Qi Refinement cultivators. There's another thing: Lady Chong fishes for rich men and is very close with quite a few male cultivators.

"I've also heard a little about that Shen Tu. He's a core disciple of Zi Maple Valley. That's a major Foundation Establishment sect in these parts, and becoming a core disciple is no simple feat. Maybe one day he'll become a lower-ranked Foundation Establishment seed.

"It's no surprise for someone like that to be a little proud. As long as we don't deliberately offend him, he won't really come looking for trouble. In these times, people like him are already not that hard to get along with."

With nothing else to do, Kang Dabao chatted to his junior brother and disciples about the improperly dressed man and woman they had met that morning.

"He doesn't look like someone who can reach Foundation Establishment." Jiang Qing was still angry when he recalled how Shen Tu had looked down on Kang Dabao.

"If you had the final say on that, I wouldn't need to go out and do business anymore. I could stay home every day, living in extravagance and debauchery while waiting for you to point me toward enlightenment.

"Why such a temper? You're a grown man, so how can you still not understand that you should treat others kindly and not make enemies so easily?

"Shen Tu only heard the children say a few unpleasant things and put on a little airs, and you couldn't stand it. If you run into someone who curses you without knowing right from wrong, are you going to charge into his sect or clan and fight your way in and out seven times?"

Frowning, Kang Dabao began lecturing him again.

Jiang Qing was clearly not very convinced by Kang Dabao's words, but he did not want to hear him nag any further, so he said nothing more.

"I really don't know how our little household raised a fellow like you who doesn't know how high the heavens are or how deep the earth is."

Seeing this made Kang Dabao even angrier. He cursed and went into a spirit talisman shop.

He had used up his entire stock in the last fierce battle and needed to replenish it. Next time, the black-glazed gourd, which only worked when it felt like it, might not be able to save his life.

Kang Dabao was accustomed to being careful with his money. Even after coming into a windfall, he remained true to form, wearing down the shopkeeper over the price for a long while.

Only after the old shopkeeper was stroking his grizzled beard with an unhappy look, and his junior brother and disciples had turned crimson, did Kang Dabao get the old man to knock a few Spirit Stones off the total. Then he strode away in complete satisfaction.

"What? Did that embarrass you young masters?"

After leaving the shop, Kang Dabao gathered both boys into his arms and lifted them high. He looked back at his junior brother and disciples, whose faces were still flushed, and spoke teasingly.

Then he led them to a spirit medicine shop. He picked out several fine medicinal ingredients for tempering the body and two sets of excellent wound medicine, then carried them out of the shop and waved them a few times in front of Jiang Qing and the two young men.

"Young masters, see that? These were bought with the Spirit Stones I just saved. Was it worth it or not?"

"Well..." Jiang Qing's face alternated between red and white, and it was unclear what he was thinking. Han Yundao and Duan Anle, on the other hand, suddenly saw the light and repeatedly admitted they were wrong.

"Third Brother, for people like us, drawing in Qi and practicing swordsmanship aren't the only ways to cultivate immortality. These things count too."

Kang Dabao handed the two sets of wound medicine to Jiang Qing.

"I wish everyone in our sect could be like immortals who live on wind and dew. How wonderful that would be. But we can't become immortals. If our luck is bad, we might even be collected into an Evil Cultivator's little banner and turned into ghosts!"

Before Jiang Qing could say anything, he tossed the medicinal ingredients to his two disciples. "When we get back, simmer these the way I taught you last time. The medicinal potency is stronger this time, so I reckon you'll be able to draw spirit into your bodies sooner."

"Uncle Sect Master, stop talking. There are sugar-oil fruit fritters up ahead."

Ruyi gave Kang Dabao's hair a hard yank. A cultivator's child really did have a strong body; he actually pulled out a small tuft.

"All right, all right, Xiaobao, stop pulling. Uncle doesn't have much hair left." Kang Dabao grimaced and immediately stopped his lecture.

"Changsheng! Why are you copying your little brother too? Stop pulling, stop pulling!"

"No! Ruyi pulled out Uncle's hair, so I can do it too!"

"Little ancestor, what's there to compete over?! Stop fooling around, or the sugar-oil fruit fritter stall will close!! You selling the fritters, how much? What?! Five gold leaves apiece? Damn it, you make money more ruthlessly than I do!"

After buying Han Yundao and Duan Anle a few more odds and ends, Kang Dabao and the others headed back.

As for things the three brothers could use, Kang Dabao decided they would go together to Xuanwei City and look in a few days.

Linghe Market was too small and had hardly anything good. Even if they found something, the price was far too high.

As they passed a general store, Kang Dabao suddenly stopped and turned back. "Wait outside for me. Don't come in."

Creak.

Kang Dabao pushed open the aged wooden door, rummaged in his Storage Bag for a while, then took out the red mountain fruit and tossed it onto the high counter.

Tilting his head up, he said, "Appraise this for your Daoist master."

The one-eyed shopkeeper looked surprised behind the counter. "You miser, you're actually willing to spend five Spirit Stones to have this lousy fruit appraised?"

"Cut the chatter. I'm paying you anyway." Kang Dabao's tone was unfriendly.

"One ordinary fruit from an unknown tree, with no tier or grade. Have you come to hand me money?" The one-eyed shopkeeper raised an eyebrow in the dim shop.

"Is it poisonous?"

"No."

"Take a careful look."

"If I'm wrong, you can have my whole general store."

"All right." Kang Dabao waved his hand to retrieve the fruit, then tossed one Spirit Stone onto the counter.

"Hey, Kang, you're breaking the rules." The one-eyed shopkeeper stood up with an unfriendly expression, his head nearly touching the roof.

It turned out he had actually been sitting behind the counter just now. The one-eyed shopkeeper was far taller than he looked from outside the counter. What a towering giant of a man!

"Rules, my ass. You were right. Your Daoist master damn well came here to give you Spirit Stones. Where else in Cloud Horn Prefecture are you going to find a deal this good?"

Kang Dabao cursed brazenly, paid him no further attention, and turned to leave.

The one-eyed shopkeeper's face went from livid to red and back again. Heaven and man battled in his heart, and it was unclear what he feared, but in the end he sat back down.

"That doesn't count as breaking the rules. That bastard just came to give me Spirit Stones, that's all."

Kang Dabao looked much happier once he was outside. He broke the red mountain fruit apart and was about to toss half to Jiang Qing, but pulled it back halfway.

He broke the smaller piece again before pressing it into Jiang Qing's hand. "You've grown up, so I can give you a bit more this time."

Ignoring the bewilderment on his junior brother's face, the sect master of the Chongming Sect tossed the rest of the fruit into his mouth and chewed in great bites.

The crisp flesh was sweet, with a faint hint of greenness.

"At least the fruit you left me was still clean."