Chapter 31: Lu Sister, You Shouldn

“Isn’t it right here? You’re not exactly forgettable—how come it’s so hard to find you in a crowd?”

He Han of Shenyue Peak’s voice sounded from behind, followed by a heavy slap on his shoulder.

Zhou Qing turned his head and saw He Han looking at him with clear disdain, while beside him, Lu Yaoyao wore a face full of surprise and confusion.

She’d circled this place three times just now—how had she failed to spot Brother Zhou?

So strange.

Zhou Qing instinctively glanced at Lu Yaoyao’s expression, and suddenly felt a surge of delight.

His talent skill [Lowered Presence] had just upgraded to Level Three—meaning even Golden Core cultivators like Third Brother would start ignoring him.

Not to mention Lu Yaoyao was only at Qi Condensation; even a Foundation Establishment cultivator at peak would have a 90% chance of overlooking him.

This would save him a lot of trouble.

Wait—actually, there wasn’t much trouble to begin with, and now that he had no presence, neither she nor Li Daoxuan could grant him Heart-Insight points anymore.

How contradictory.

“Lu sister, what do you need?” Zhou Qing asked, holding the chicken.

Lu Yaoyao anxiously said: “It’s urgent—big urgent! Sister Xuanyou is leaving for Qingyu Immortal Sect tomorrow.”

Zhou Qing and He Han both froze in shock.

“Wait, if she’s leaving, so what? What’s it got to do with me?” Zhou Qing asked, baffled.

Lu Yaoyao opened her mouth, then hesitated, unsure how to explain.

“B-but she’s leaving—don’t you want to treat her to a meal?” Lu Yaoyao looked at Zhou Qing.

Zhou Qing’s face twitched involuntarily.

“Sis, come on—I only ate two leftover breakfasts from you two, do I really have to return the favor? Besides, treating someone like her to a meal—do you even know how much that costs?” Zhou Qing said, dumbfounded.

Lu Yaoyao quickly said: “That’s not what I meant—don’t you think Sister Xuanyou is beautiful? Don’t you feel anything inside?”

Lu Yaoyao made an ambiguous gesture with both thumbs.

At these words, He Han beside them immediately clapped a hand over her mouth, then realized his mistake and quickly pulled it away.

“Lu sister, you shouldn’t say things like that.”

Zhou Qing recoiled in alarm.

Trap!

This is a grave that could bury you alive!

Are you trying to set me up with Sister Xuanyou?

Crazy!

Absolutely insane!

How old am I? How old is she?

Besides, didn’t you hear that Master Sikong Yan of Cangyan Dao Palace is courting her?

Are you asking me to steal her away from him?

“Third Brother, control your sister—I’m still young, I want to live a few more years,” Zhou Qing said, giving up on Lu Yaoyao and speaking directly to He Han.

Even He Han, who had previously disliked Zhou Qing, now looked embarrassed.

Lu Yaoyao was unwilling to give up: “Don’t you want to try? What if it works?”

“Sis, I’ve only seen her twice—both times you dragged me there—and she never even looked at me properly the whole time. Where am I supposed to even start? Pfft, why am I even explaining this to you? Impossible. It’s just impossible!”

Zhou Qing flatly refused!

【Heart-Insight Points +9】

Lu Yaoyao’s head above 【So Immature】 instantly changed to 【So Cowardly】.

Zhou Qing turned and walked away.

This was utterly insane—he had no idea what she was daydreaming about all day.

Decided: I’ll stay far away from her from now on, or I won’t even know how I died.

…………

That night, back in his room, Zhou Qing took out a low-grade spirit stone; as silver runes glowed on his right hand, he slapped it down—and the stone instantly shattered into grain-sized fragments.

Zhou Qing carefully scattered them before the old hen, adjusted her head, and she immediately began pecking with rapid taps.

In just a moment, she devoured every last fragment.

Zhou Qing observed silently for a long while, confirmed no anomalies, then shattered three more stones—only then did she look satisfied, ambling lazily to a corner of the room and falling fast asleep.

“That previous spirit egg—how long must she have saved up for it? Now that she’s eating spirit stones directly, she’ll probably hatch much faster.”

Zhou Qing murmured to himself, then ignored the hen, returned to his seat, and took out the supreme water-attribute spirit stone to begin his meditation.

Early the next morning, Zhou Qing hurried to the coop to check—unfortunately, nothing.

“I was just too eager!”

But today, the old hen seemed just as usual, pecking aimlessly around with poor eyesight.

Yesterday’s inspection had shown: when idle, she needed to wander more—keep her mood cheerful, and her egg-laying chance might increase.

Zhou Qing reattached the leash and began walking the hen.

“Come on, come on—the Five Sects Exchange Fair is only half a month away, I’ve sold all my junk, maybe something good will show up—Brother will take you to broaden your horizons!”

Yan Xiao rushed toward Zhou Qing, full of excitement, dragging him down the mountain.

Zhou Qing also planned to test his new talent skill [Daily Insight]—maybe he’d find another bargain; even if not, he could at least eliminate a “wrong answer.”

Indeed, today’s Yanlong City seemed even livelier than before, with many more stalls.

“Come on, I’ll take you somewhere—the vendors here are all True Disciples and Core Disciples of the Five Sects—their goods are all top-tier!”

Yan Xiao pulled Zhou Qing toward one particular area.

As expected, upon entering this distinct zone, the noise immediately dropped.

Unlike the noisy street stalls outside, where haggling never ceased.

The vendors, as Third Brother had said, sat calmly behind their stalls, each with clearly marked prices.

Want it? Take it. Don’t want it? Walk away. They weren’t worried about sales.

“Brother, how much for this Dream-Phantom Xuantong?”

Soon, Yan Xiao stopped before a stall, staring at the fist-sized ore and asking its price.

The vendor wore thunder-patterned robes—likely a Core Disciple of Jin Leizong; the invisible pressure he radiated made Zhou Qing feel chest tightness.

“Thirty mid-grade spirit stones,” the man said coolly.

Yan Xiao frowned.

Spirit stones were classified into four grades by purity: high, mid, low, and supreme.

Generally, the exchange rate was 1:100.

That meant one mid-grade spirit stone equaled one hundred low-grade ones—this Dream-Phantom Xuantong was worth three thousand low-grade spirit stones.

Zhou Qing couldn’t help but whistle inwardly—truly, the real goods were finally appearing; nothing like his earlier petty trades.

Yan Xiao hesitated, then ultimately chose to walk away.

Too expensive!

Zhou Qing followed behind Third Brother, continuing to walk the old hen, when suddenly he spotted Sister Shi Zhen—she too had set up a stall here.

“Two younger brothers, you’ve come!” Sister Shi Zhen greeted with a smile.

Seeing the note above Shi Zhen’s head—【So Immature Brother Zhou】—Zhou Qing felt embarrassed and tugged at the hen’s leash.

The hen immediately came over and began pecking at his ankle.

Yan Xiao stared at the stall’s wares and exclaimed in surprise: “Sister Shi, didn’t know you were so hidden—how’d you get your hands on Purple Ancient Rock and Blue Jade? Impressive!”

Shi Zhen smiled: “I found these years ago during an external quest—Brother Yan, interested?”

Yan Xiao quickly waved his hands—the items were excellent, but he had no use for them now.

“Brother Zhou, there you are!”

As Zhou Qing was curiously examining Shi Zhen’s stall, a voice suddenly came from behind.

Thank you to Brother 【I Leave My Name for Black Blood】 for the 500 donation—thank you for your support!

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(End of Chapter)