Can You Afford to Pay It Back?

Perhaps it's because most female cultivators in the Cultivation World are straightforward and magnanimous. Therefore, someone as weak and pitiful as Su Fuyun seems particularly rare.

She frowned, and the other male cultivators in the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion couldn't help but have some opinions about Gu Hongyi, who was still throwing a tantrum.

However, Gu Hongyi naturally ignored her persuasion. Moreover, not only did Gu Hongyi not appreciate it, but the manager of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion also retorted, "Why are you leaving? Didn't you two ladies want to seek justice? If you leave so quickly, it will make Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion seem guilty."

Everyone made way for the chubby shopkeeper, allowing him to squeeze into the crowd.

The shopkeeper's demeanor was different now; he was cold and hard, unlike his polite and amiable manner when facing Sang Ying. However, he still bowed to the two ladies, putting on a show of respect. "Ladies, I am the shopkeeper of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion. May I ask what you need my guidance?"

"You're asking me? My Storage Bag is lost here!" Gu Hongyi held the whip, desperately suppressing the urge to hit someone.

The shopkeeper smiled upon hearing this, "Is the young lady certain that the Storage Bag was lost at my Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion? If you can provide proof, Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion will naturally be willing to compensate you."

"That's more like it..."

"But!" the shopkeeper shouted again, "If the young lady can't produce a receipt, she'll have to compensate us for all the things she broke!"

The shopkeeper pointed, and the two suddenly noticed the trampled talismans and shattered magical Law Artifact on the ground.

"These were all damaged by them, what does it have to do with me?" She only casually lashed out with the whip a couple of times, how could it be such a serious matter as demanding compensation?

The shopkeeper snorted coldly, "If it weren't for the trouble caused by you, young lady, how could our Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion have suffered such a sudden disaster? Besides, if your Storage Bag really is missing from the shop, why worry about compensation?"

These few words left Gu Hongyi speechless, but she truly couldn't produce any evidence that the Storage Bag had been lost there. She had no choice but to back down, saying, "I can't produce any evidence, and you can't prove there's no thief in your Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion. At worst, I won't ask for compensation, but you can't make me pay!"

Gu Hongyi spoke with righteous indignation, unaware that this was exactly what the shopkeeper was waiting for. "Since you've put it that way, Miss, then Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion will naturally show you our evidence!"

The shopkeeper clapped his hands, and a waiter carried a delicate, translucent white bead from a pillar by the door.

Sang Ying had never seen anything like it before, but everyone present immediately recognized it. "This is a... Image-Retaining Stone!"

Image-Retaining Stone?

It's said to be the masterpiece of a master craftsman, and there are probably only a handful of them in the world. Yet Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion actually placed it at their main entrance—truly a display of their wealth and power.

Just as Sang Ying finished her reflection, she heard the shopkeeper instruct the waiter to retrieve the image stored in the Image-Retaining Stone.

This thing truly lives up to its reputation as a masterpiece. With just a slight adjustment, it allowed people to clearly see the entire process of Gu Hongyi's arrival and subsequent disturbance. Whether there were any thieves in the shop was now crystal clear.

Gu Hongyi was completely speechless at this moment. Her face turned red, and she was at a loss for what to do.

Even so, her pride as a young lady wouldn't allow her to back down. "Since that's the case, then I'll compensate you. How many Spirit Stone do you need in total? I'll have my senior brother give them to you!"

As she spoke, she subconsciously reached for her Storage Bag again, only to find it empty. That's right, her communication talisman was in the Storage Bag, and it had been stolen along with it.

Fortunately, Su Fuyun was still there, so Gu Hongyi turned to her and instructed, "Could you help me find my senior brother and tell him to come over and pay them the Spirit Stone as soon as possible?"

It was something that was perfectly reasonable, but Gu Hongyi made it sound like she was doing charity for the other person.

Sang Ying shook her head, deciding not to join in the fun anymore.

As soon as she started walking out through the crowd, someone rushed up to her and tried to grab her hand.

Sang Ying was a sword cultivator, and her senses were much more acute than those of ordinary cultivators. Naturally, she wouldn't give her opponent a chance to touch her, and immediately dodged away. When she looked back, Su Fuyun's pitiful face came into view.

"What do you want to do?" Sang Ying took a step back, her thumb subtly pushing open the scabbard.

Seeing her resistance, Su Fuyun put on a deliberately sad expression. "Junior Sister, why did you leave as soon as you saw me? Besides, the girl in Hongyi and I had an accident at the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion. You and the girl in Hongyi are old acquaintances, why didn't you come to help her?"

Sang Ying instantly understood her meaning: was she trying to make her a sucker again?

At this moment, Gu Hongyi couldn't care less about anything else. She followed Su Fuyun and blocked Sang Ying's path, saying, "You must have quite a few Spirit Stone on you, right? Lend me some first, and I'll pay you back tenfold later!"

The shopkeeper, who had been watching the commotion from the sidelines, stepped forward with a fawning smile, "Are these two young ladies your fellow disciples, Fairy? That's truly an incredible coincidence..."

"No!" Sang Ying interrupted him, "I'm not very familiar with them."

The shopkeeper immediately shut up, his expression instantly becoming arrogant again. "Ladies, stop with the nonsense. It's just a high-grade Spirit Stone; I'm sure you can afford it, right?"

After all, Sang Ying had spent over a dozen high-grade Spirit Stone on the second floor before. If these two were really her fellow disciples, they probably wouldn't be short of money!

The shopkeeper had a good plan, but little did he know that Su Fuyun was indeed short of money.

She was used to putting on an act in front of Gu Huaiwei, so naturally she wouldn't ask for Spirit Stone on her own initiative. The aid she received from Zhou Heng'an was also used to do favors and gain a good reputation.

Zhao Yunhe is paying for all the inn rooms these days, so where would she get the Spirit Stone to compensate him?

But Gu Hongyi saw that Sang Ying refused to pay and started pestering her again, even refusing to contact Zhao Yunhe. But even if she wanted to contact him, she couldn't. Su Fuyun had already tried, but Zhao Yunhe was doing something else and there was no response no matter how she sent him messages. This person was probably unreliable, so now she had no choice but to turn her attention to Sang Ying.

Anyway, Sang Ying had paid for her before, so it wouldn't make a difference if she did it this time.

Thinking this, Su Fuyun spoke again, "Junior sister, why don't you pay for the Spirit Stone for Hongyi? After all, it's just a high-grade Spirit Stone, nothing to you, right? Hongyi is already so pitiful, can you bear to let her be harassed by the people from the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion?"

Looking at Su Fuyun, Sang Ying finally understood why Gu Huaiwei liked her more; after all, the two were remarkably similar in character.

"I certainly don't lack these Spirit Stones, but I'm curious if you can still afford this debt, Senior Sister?" She raised an eyebrow slightly, as if recalling something interesting, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

"I suddenly remembered that when you wanted to buy a demon pet, you borrowed Spirit Stone from me. You haven't paid me back yet, so who does your Spirit Stone Gale Hound belong to?"

The gentle voice, carrying a terrifying penetrating force, entered the Beast Ring. The black ball of fur, which had been worried about its master inside, froze as if it had been Body-Immobilizing Technique.