Chapter 13

The night was deep and quiet, the lights were dim.

Zhou Lin walked toward his home with a hurried expression, his mind already made up to lay everything out to his uncle.

After all, the volume of pills Lou Qinghe refined was not small, amounting to a profit of one Middle-grade Spirit Stone a month.

Even his uncle, who was a Dao Soldier, would not let go of such a large sum of wealth.

Suddenly, Zhou Lin felt a faint sound behind him.

It was footsteps!

"Hmm!?"

He raised an eyebrow, his body preparing to turn back to check.

"Bang!"

The next moment.

Zhou Lin's head suffered a massive, heavy blow; his vision went black and he fainted directly. At the moment he closed his eyes, he still hadn't discovered who had knocked him out.

"Hoo—!"

A figure stood behind him, holding a small tripod furnace in his hand. Fresh blood dripped from the furnace onto the ground, appearing extremely eerie under the cold moonlight.

It was none other than Lou Qinghe.

He quickly came to Zhou Lin's side and searched the latter for a moment.

Once everything had been thoroughly searched, he silently recited a spell, and a huge fireball slammed into Zhou Lin, burning him to nothing but ashes in the blink of an eye.

Apart from a patch of scorched earth, it was as if nothing had happened here.

Lou Qinghe's expression remained calm as he walked into the distance, disappearing into the small alley in the blink of an eye.

Everything was done without the slightest hesitation.

He was no pushover; he had known from the very beginning that Zhou Lin was squeezing him.

But at that time, he had been cautious and pretended to know nothing, only choosing to strike once he had investigated Zhou Lin's background and daily habits.

Zhou Lin's cultivation was at the Qi Refining Third Layer, and he had never left Huangshi City, belonging to the traditional Literary Cultivation Sect.

He was able to be an apprentice at Long Men Tang entirely because he had an uncle who was a Dao Soldier in the Zhou Family.

He was a small person, and his uncle was also a small person.

In this world, it has always been small people who make things difficult for other small people.

Even if his uncle really wanted to investigate, it would be impossible to trace it back to him.

"Since I want to hide myself, I will have to change my identity when selling herbs in the future."

After hurrying home, Lou Qinghe shut the door tight.

Once he was sure it was safe, he went to the bedroom and took out the items he had taken from Zhou Lin.

A bottle of pills.

A book.

A bag of spirit stones.

Lou Qinghe first picked up the pills and looked at them, unable to help but feel happy, "It's actually ten First-Grade Low-Grade Spirit Gathering Pills; these are the real deal."

As the name suggests, Spirit Gathering Pills can gather spirit energy and promote cultivation.

These pills have the highest demand in the cultivation world.

A single First-Grade Low-Grade Spirit Gathering Pill costs three Low-grade Spirit Stones, which shows how precious they are.

This was also the next type of pill Lou Qinghe wanted to refine.

He picked up the book and looked at it; it was a precious alchemy manual, which listed the four basic pills of contemporary alchemy.

Spirit Gathering Pill, Huiqi Pill, Healing Pill, and Quhua Pill.

Among these, the Spirit Gathering Pill and Quhua Pill are the most difficult to refine, and naturally, they are also the most expensive.

Of course, the pill recipes here are for refining First-Grade pills; to refine Second-Grade pills, one must add certain herbs and gather more medicinal spirit energy to reach the second grade.

However, recipes for Second-Grade pills are rarely passed on, and they are very difficult to obtain.

Finally, Lou Qinghe opened the bag, and a bag of spirit stones spilled out.

Two Middle-grade Spirit Stones.

Thirty-two Low-grade Spirit Stones.

Seeing the spirit stones, Lou Qinghe was overjoyed, "How could a small, greedy apprentice have so many spirit stones? He must have been taking kickbacks and lining his own pockets."

"Now they are all mine."

With so many spirit stones, his urgent needs were perfectly resolved.

Afterward, Lou Qinghe put the spirit stones away and began flipping through the alchemy manual, quickly memorizing the recipes for the Quhua Pill and the Spirit Gathering Pill.

"Knock, knock!"

Suddenly, a voice sounded outside the door, "Is Fellow Daoist Shengkui there? It's me, Hou Peng!"

Hou Peng!?

Hearing this, Lou Qinghe opened the door.

Hou Peng was right in front of him, his expression somewhat solemn.

Behind him followed several others, all loose cultivators living in the surrounding shanty area, including Pei Siyu.

She stood silently at the very back, looking at the ground, appearing somewhat socially anxious and out of place with the others.

Hou Peng greeted, "Fellow Daoist Shengkui, come out for a moment, I have something to say."

Lou Qinghe was curious and nodded, then walked out.

"Since everyone is here, I'll get straight to the point."

Hou Peng glanced around and said in a low voice, "The Zhou Family is expanding its influence and is currently recruiting external Dao Soldiers; anyone with a cultivation level of at least Qi Refining Third Layer can join."

External Dao Soldiers!?

Lou Qinghe thought to himself. Cultivator families often raise Dao Soldiers to maintain their rule.

However, these Dao Soldiers are mostly raised from childhood and have extremely high loyalty.

Recruiting external Dao Soldiers directly usually means they are just being used as hired thugs and cannon fodder.

But in these chaotic times, this could also be considered a chance to survive.

Especially since the Zhou Family has been riding high lately, faintly suppressing the Xu Family.

To many loose cultivators, they look like a big tree to lean on.

Suddenly, a glimmer of light appeared in the eyes of many.

Hou Peng took a deep breath and said, "Everyone here is a neighbor, and we know each other well. I, Hou Peng, won't hide anything. I plan to join the Zhou Family as a Dao Soldier tonight. Is anyone willing to join me?"

After finishing, Hou Peng looked at the reactions of those present.

"I'm willing!"

The first to speak was a middle-aged man with a goatee wearing a tattered Daoist robe.

His name was Bai Mao, a Qi Refining Fourth Layer cultivator, also a loose cultivator on Qingyun Street.

"This is a good opportunity."

"I've been pushed to the edge."

Several others spoke up, wanting to join the Zhou Family as Dao Soldiers with Hou Peng.

Some wanted to ask about their future, while others were forced by necessity to make a living.

Lou Qinghe shook his head secretly; he had no interest in being a Dao Soldier for the Zhou Family, especially since Longmen Market had been very chaotic lately, and a bloody battle could break out at any time.

Hou Peng looked at Pei Siyu, "Fellow Daoist Pei, what about you?"

Pei Siyu's cultivation was at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, which could be considered a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivation.

The impression everyone had of her was that her appearance was different from others, even ugly; she usually covered her face with a veil, rarely showed herself, and was extremely insecure and unsociable.

The notorious loose cultivators of Qingyun Street, who did all sorts of evil, had no interest in her whatsoever.

Although she was a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator, she lived very frugally, eating only First-Grade Low-Grade Spirit Rice, was never seen buying meat at the market, and wore very plain clothes.

She belonged to the lowest of the low among the loose cultivators.

Seeing everyone's gaze, Pei Siyu buried her head even deeper and said, "Um, I... I think I'll pass..."

Hou Peng nodded and looked at Lou Qinghe, "Fellow Daoist Shengkui, what about you?"

Lou Qinghe said, "My strength is low; I'd better focus on my cultivation."

Hearing this, Hou Peng didn't mind; after all, Lou Qinghe's strength was at the bottom among the loose cultivators, making him an expendable character.

Besides him, two other loose cultivators also refused Hou Peng's invitation.

Afterward, the crowd dispersed, and everyone walked toward their own homes.

"Fellow Daoist Pei."

Lou Qinghe called out to Pei Siyu.

Pei Siyu turned around and said somewhat nervously, "W... what is it?"

Lou Qinghe said distractedly, "Be careful lately."

Longmen Market is no longer peaceful.

Pei Siyu was slightly stunned, as if she hadn't heard, and her footsteps became more hurried as she ran toward her home.

She gently closed the door and leaned against it, panting continuously.

She didn't know why.

Just a simple word of concern made her feel some inexplicable strangeness.