Chapter 340: Buying Life

Xu Yuan frowned; forcibly pulling it out was no longer an option.

The skin pill expanded to three zhang, blocking all the sunlight shooting toward the courtyard gate.

The purple-black mist on the courtyard gate weakened slightly.

Xu Yuan opened his mouth and spat out the sword pill.

A flash of cold light from the sword pill rang out with a 'ding' as it struck the door pillar—but he dared not stab the door panel itself; if the door opened and the sword pill fell into that world on the other side, he feared he would never retrieve it.

Where the sword pill struck, the purple-black mist exploded like ignited gunpowder.

The chilling aura instantly made the sword pill unbearably heavy.

Xu Yuan immediately retracted the sword pill.

On its return flight, the sword pill slowed down more and more, constantly dropping.

Xu Yuan caught it in one hand and quickly refined it with the fire in his belly, only then slowly dispersing that chilling heaviness.

"We have all tried; this thing cannot be attacked by force," Miao Yu said urgently. "No matter what it is, as soon as it makes contact, it becomes infected."

Xu Yuan nodded; it was similar to the black fire from before.

"If we cannot attack by force, then..." Xu Yuan rummaged through his clothes, finding only a hundred or so taels of silver notes.

That was surely far from enough.

Xu Yuan then asked Zhu Zhanmei, "How much money did you bring?"

Zhu Zhanmei's eyes lit up, and she immediately began rummaging through her clothes.

A total of over two thousand taels.

"Still not enough," she said.

Miao Yu's eyes rolled, and he immediately said, "Old Zhang, take my tally, go to the Qingyuan Bill Office on the next street, and borrow one hundred thousand taels of silver!"

"Two hundred thousand!" Xu Yuan estimated and said.

Zhu Zhanmei immediately took out her own tally as well: "Tell the Bill Office that my Zhu family will repay the money."

Zhang Police Inspector hurried off.

While waiting, Xu Yuan suddenly saw Dafu tilting its head, standing dazedly to one side.

So he reached out and pulled it back a bit.

But Dafu moved forward again.

"Danger!"

Dafu paid no heed, a gleam of excitement shining in its two eyes.

Zhang Police Inspector returned with a stack of silver notes; Xu Yuan took them and fully unleashed the Merchant Art.

Then, not daring to risk handing them over personally, he first retracted the beast-tendon rope, wrapped it around the silver notes, and stuffed them into the crack of the door.

Zhu Zhanmei and Miao Yu watched that door tensely.

Success or failure would soon be revealed.

The gate remained motionless, while the purple-black mist drifted upward.

The longer Zhu Zhanmei waited, the colder her heart grew; she couldn't help but feel sorrow rising within her. Was her younger brother truly beyond saving? Were her parents about to send off a black-haired person with white hair?

Tears swirled in her eyes as Zhu Zhanmei cried out miserably, "Little brother, I, I will never scold you again—"

Zhu Zhanlei revealed a smile uglier than crying: "Third sister, in our next life..."

He had not finished speaking when suddenly he felt a blur before his eyes; a white shadow suddenly darted to his feet.

"What is that?"

This thing even opened its mouth toward him—Zhu Zhanlei finally saw clearly; it was the goose raised by Xu Yuan.

I did once say I would eat roast goose, but you cannot take advantage of my misfortune at this moment and open your mouth at me, can you?

Dafu pecked off a chunk of the purple-black mist in one bite.

Xu Yuan was stunned; looking closely, he realized that the purple-black mist was actually countless tiny flying insects!

Dafu took a bite and found it very delicious.

But there was too little; it was not satisfying.

So it flapped its wings and pounced...

Xu Yuan suddenly realized that his "Merchant Art" had taken effect.

The two door panels suddenly opened, "spitting" Zhu Zhanlei out.

"Ouch!" Zhu Zhanlei, caught off guard, landed on the ground with a thud.

Then, all the purple-black mist on the gate whooshed back into the doorway.

Clang!

The two door panels slammed shut tightly; Dafu crashed headfirst into them.

Its flat beak, like a chisel, stabbed into the door panel, awkwardly hanging itself in mid-air.

Flap, flap, flap...

Dafu panicked, beating its wings for its life, yet how could it possibly break free in the short term?

After Xu Yuan saw the purple-black mist retract, this courtyard gate had turned back into an ordinary door.

So he let out a long sigh of relief.

He could not distinguish whether it was his Merchant Art or Dafu that had saved Zhu Zhanlei.

Or perhaps, both played a role?

"Little brother!" Zhu Zhanmei rushed toward her brother, but halfway there her slender body went limp and she fell to the ground.

Xu Yuan was the person closest to Zhu Zhanlei and had the opportunity to support Zhu Zhanmei, but Lord Xu cared more about his goose, so he rushed quickly to Dafu's side and pulled it out from the door.

When he turned back, Zhu Zhanmei was already lying on the ground.

Zhu Zhanlei was actually unharmed; he quickly helped his sister up and said earnestly, "You just said you would never scold me again."

"I won't scold you again." Tears streamed uncontrollably from Zhu Zhanmei's eyes; she wiped them away with her hand only for them to flow down again: "Whatever you want to do from now on, I, your sister, will support you. If you want to stay in Zhan City, I will find a way to transfer you here."

Da Fu was pulled out from the rice pot, his soul still shaken.

He had never experienced such an ordeal before; he was in a panic, terrified that he might end up hanging on the door for the rest of his life...

If that happened, I wouldn't be able to open my mouth; wouldn't I starve to death?

Thinking this, Da Fu sneakily circled behind Zhu Zhanlei and suddenly pecked the back of his head.

"Ouch!"

Zhu Zhanlei let out a piercing scream, but then a wisp of purple-black mist rose from his hair bun!

Da Fu leaped up and swallowed it all in a few quacks!

The Zhu siblings stood there with their mouths agape.

Xu Yuan took the opportunity to pat Zhu Zhanlei on the shoulder and said solemnly, "From now on, don't say anything about eating roast goose in front of it."

Zhu Zhanlei nodded like a chick pecking at rice: "Definitely, definitely!"

But then he said to Xu Yuan, "Are you selling this goose? Name your price; I won't bargain..."

Da Fu flew up and pecked him again.

This time it was pure damage, with no other reason behind it.

Zhu Zhanlei wore a mournful expression, rubbing the swollen cheek Da Fu had pecked, and dared not mention the matter again.

"Alright, I must return. On the Forbidden Gaze Day, I cannot feel at ease if I am not in the government office."

Xu Yuan waved his hand and prepared to leave with Da Fu.

The Zhu siblings escorted Xu Yuan all the way out of the Shanhe Office, thanking him repeatedly at the gate.

Zhu Zhanmei kept watching Xu Yuan until he reached the end of the street, turned the corner, and vanished completely, only then saying to her younger brother, "I will return to Luo City tomorrow and write to the family to explain this matter.

Our family has always been clear about gratitude and grudges; Xu Police Inspector saved your life, so the family must reward him handsomely."

Zhu Zhanlei casually remarked, "It would be best if you could help him get a promotion. Pity that no one in our family is in the Quhui Office."

Xu Yuan, accompanied by Da Fu, did not dare to walk too fast either; by the time they returned to the Nancheng Patrol Station, it was already dinner time.

The sun tilted westward, its light fading from the earth.

The ominous things that had been stirring in the void layer throughout the day finally ceased their activities.

Only on this day would everyone eagerly anticipate the arrival of night.

After enduring another hour or so, the sky finally turned completely dark.

Inside the Nancheng Patrol Station, everyone breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.

While eating dinner, Xu Yuan's thoughts still dwelt on the matter of the "True Seed."

"Could it be that this True Seed truly does not suit me?"

"Ever since I learned of this True Seed, things have been going very poorly."

"Something always delays or hinders me, preventing me from setting out for Ghost Wushan..."

Xu Yuan thus felt an ominous premonition.

(End of this chapter)