Chapter 76: 74. Getting to Know Each Other (1/3)

74. Getting to Know Each Other (1/3)

The Market, Zhenbao Hang.

When Chen An arrived, the sky was only just beginning to brighten, and Zhenbao Hang had not yet opened for business.

However, in the vicinity of Zhenbao Hang, many rogue cultivators were already setting up street stalls.

Some were selling Talismans, some were selling medicinal pills, and some were selling Wuji.

Anything that could be bought at Zhenbao Hang could also be bought at these street stalls.

The only difference was that the items sold at Zhenbao Hang were more expensive, but they came with after-sales guarantees.

Meanwhile, the items sold at the street stalls were cheaper, but there was a certain probability of being swindled by buying defective goods.

Chen An had nothing to do, so he scanned the goods laid out on these street stalls from afar to see if there was anything interesting he could buy.

When his gaze swept under a towering tree, he saw Dabao and that old cultivator setting up a stall to sell Spirit Fish.

Dabao was very diligent; as soon as he saw a cultivator passing by, he would shout to attract customers.

Chen An glanced at the Spirit Fish on the stall; they were quite fresh and plump, and he thought he could buy one to take back for soup or steaming.

Eating Spirit Fish was good for a woman's skin, and he wanted to make his three concubines' skin even smoother.

"Creak—"

A sound suddenly came from the Zhenbao Hang behind him.

Chen An thought Zhenbao Hang had opened its doors.

But when he looked back, he discovered that the main door of Zhenbao Hang was still tightly shut; it was a window on the second floor above the door that had opened.

Looking up, what came into view was a woman dressed in plain white silk robes standing in front of the window, her fair hands resting on the windowsill, slightly pushing up her proud, semi-circular curves, her plain, beautiful face turned toward the sky, eyes closed as she took deep breaths of the fresh air outside the window.

This woman was beautiful, as beautiful as the three concubines at home.

But it was a different style of beauty.

Song Huaying was lively.

Gu Xinyue was cold and aloof.

Wen Zhiyun was charming.

And the woman at the window upstairs gave people a sense of pure, flawless beauty that could not tolerate the slightest stain, yet made one unable to help but want to stain it.

Chen An's heart stirred.

He had not expected that in this small Bamboo Leaf Forest, there would be hidden such a fairy-like female cultivator.

In an instant.

The desire to take a concubine, hidden deep in his heart, began to stir again.

Hmm?

As he watched, Chen An suddenly frowned.

He always felt that this fairy at the window upstairs looked a bit familiar.

He searched through his mind.

Matching continuously.

Finally, a name flashed through his mind.

—Shen Qingyi.

What the hell?

This voluptuous woman at the window was that cold-blooded female disciple of the Xuanhuang Sect?

For a moment, Chen An thought he had seen wrong.

In his impression, Shen Qingyi's upper body was almost flat, looking worse than many men with slightly developed pectoral muscles.

But now, her body looked no less than his proud and spoiled concubine Wen Zhiyun; the places that should be there were not lacking at all, and she could be described as graceful and curvaceous.

It seemed that when Shen Qingyi usually appeared in her Black Tight Suit, she mostly used cloth strips to bind her body.

This was for the sake of convenience in her actions.

Otherwise, the burden on her upper body would be too great, making it inconvenient even to swing a sword.

By the way, he wondered what attributes could be improved after having intimate relations with this Shen Qingyi?

While sizing up the womanly Shen Qingyi standing at the window upstairs, Chen An thought about these random things in his heart.

At this moment, Shen Qingyi sensed that she was being watched; she looked down and saw Chen An staring at her motionlessly from below, and she could not help but slightly knit her willow brows, turning around to leave the window and disappear.

Chen An thought to himself that it was bad; he seemed to have left a bad impression on this female Foundation Establishment expert.

"Creak—"

"Eh?"

"Alchemist Chen, here so early?"

As soon as Manager Liu of Zhenbao Hang opened the door, he saw Chen An standing tall and straight in front of the door and could not help but feel a bit surprised.

Chen An smiled and greeted him: "Morning, Manager Liu."

"Alchemist Chen, morning."

Manager Liu replied politely, then continued: "Alchemist Chen, the person sent by the Treasure Pavilion to audit the accounts won't be here so early; you've come too early."

"Coming early is better than coming late; after all, if I miss this time, I'll have to wait another half a year."

"That's true."

Manager Liu nodded and said.

Chen An smiled without speaking, went into Zhenbao Hang, found a random place to sit down, and waited for the person in charge of auditing from the Treasure Pavilion to arrive.

Business at Zhenbao Hang was good today; not long after opening, people came in to patronize one after another.

Manager Liu was busy beyond measure.

No one was speaking, and Chen An, having nothing to do, wandered around by himself to see if there were any new goods for sale at Zhenbao Hang.

"Benefactor, it's you!"

When he walked to a shelf near the main entrance, Chen An heard a woman's voice from behind him.

Turning his head to look, he discovered it was the female cultivator who had been saved by him and Shen Qingyi that day.

After some conversation.

Chen An understood a little bit about the female cultivator.

The female cultivator was named Pan Hui, a low-level female cultivator at the Qi Refining Third Layer.

She had a husband at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.

But because they were unable to afford the rent, her husband had been taken to the battlefield by people from the Bamboo Leaf Gang two months ago.

He had not returned home once since then, and his life or death was unknown.

"By the way, Alchemist Chen, since you came so early, you probably haven't had breakfast yet, right? I boiled a pot of Spirit Fish porridge and brought it over. If you don't mind, would you like to eat together in a moment?"

Pan Hui lifted the clay pot she was holding slightly and invited him with a look of enthusiasm.

Chen An wanted to say there was no need, but before he could manage to decline, Pan Hui, who was in front of him, suddenly walked quickly toward the stairs.

"Qingyi, I specially boiled a pot of Spirit Fish porridge for you. Let's quickly find a place to sit down and eat!"

Pan Hui said with a face full of smiles to Shen Qingyi, who had just come down from upstairs.

Chen An looked over, his gaze falling upon Shen Qingyi.

At this moment, Shen Qingyi had already changed into a Black Tight Suit, and the long hair that had originally been scattered over her shoulders was tied up high; compared to the appearance he had seen by the window just now, she had a bit less femininity and a bit more heroic, chivalrous spirit.

"Alchemist Chen, come over and eat with us!"

After Pan Hui took Shen Qingyi to find a seat and sat down, she immediately beckoned to Chen An and called out.

Chen An responded: "Mm, coming."

This was an opportunity to get close to Shen Qingyi, and he had to grasp it well.

After all, being able to get to know a Foundation Establishment expert would be of great benefit to his future life.

After sitting down for a moment, the three of them ate and chatted.

Although it was said that the three were chatting, it was basically Pan Hui chatting back and forth with the other two.

Chen An and Shen Qingyi did not have a direct conversation.

During this time, Chen An curiously asked how the relationship between the two had suddenly become so good.

Clearly, they hadn't even known each other half a month ago.

Afterward, he learned from Pan Hui that in order to repay Shen Qingyi for her help, Pan Hui had specifically inquired that Shen Qingyi lived at Zhenbao Hang, and then came to Zhenbao Hang every day to bring food and drink to Shen Qingyi, repaying Shen Qingyi as much as possible within her capabilities.

As time went on, Pan Hui learned that Shen Qingyi hated evil as much as she hated a personal enemy and often went out to punish the wicked and eliminate evil.

Consequently, she took advantage of the fact that she had lived in the Bamboo Leaf Forest for many years to inform Shen Qingyi which wicked people were in this Bamboo Leaf Forest.

With her assistance, the efficiency of Shen Qingyi's punishing the wicked and eliminating evil increased quite a bit.

As time passed, the two, who shared common topics, got along very well and became good friends.

"Alchemist Chen, the fact that the public order in the Bamboo Leaf Gang is so good now, that is something I, Pan Hui, have contributed to."

Pan Hui said with a look of pride.

Chen An politely complimented her: "So that's how it is. I think all the residents of the entire Bamboo Leaf Forest, as well as the patrol teams of the Bamboo Leaf Gang, should properly thank Fellow Daoist Pan."

He said this with his mouth, but in his heart, he couldn't help but feel worried for Pan Hui.

This kind of approach of Pan Hui's, while good, was very easy to offend people, be held in hatred by others, and form feuds.

To put it bluntly, it wouldn't be strange if this Pan Hui died on the street one day.

After all, this approach of hers had already directly threatened the personal safety of those wicked people.

However, Chen An found it difficult to say these things; it was easy to offend people and thankless work.

Because Shen Qingyi needed a whistleblower like Pan Hui, and Pan Hui also needed to use this method to befriend Shen Qingyi, who was a Foundation Establishment expert.

This was a way of interacting that had both advantages and disadvantages for the two of them, a mutually beneficial arrangement.

As an outsider, Chen An felt there was no need for him to get involved, lest he end up being disliked by both sides afterward.

But in the end, this was actually just his own personal thought.

Even in troubled times, not everyone likes to stay out of things that don't concern them; there are always people who like to see injustice and draw their swords to help.

Perhaps Pan Hui didn't care at all whether she would offend people and only wanted to make a contribution to the public order of the Bamboo Leaf Forest.

The "cautious cultivator" lifestyle does not apply to everyone.

PS: Setting out my bowl, begging for monthly tickets and recommendation tickets.