Chapter 171: Going to Market

Master Xuanmiao said: "From now on, I'll send you the deposit slips every ten days; just take them to the bank down the mountain to withdraw money. Though we don't have much, don't skimp on your cultivation supplies or food—you're still building your foundation and growing. Even if all else fails, there's still Senior Brother."

Pan Yun wasn't very confident: "Does Senior Brother have money?"

Master Xuanmiao: "Senior Brother can borrow from others—he's quite good at borrowing."

Pan Yun suddenly understood.

Just as they were speaking, the main room's door opened.

Zhang Weiyi stepped out, looked up, and saw Master Xuanmiao and Pan Yun turning to look at him. His heart skipped a beat; he swallowed hard, nervously took two steps forward, and bowed deeply: "Teacher Uncle."

At that moment, the other two doors opened, and Xue Hua and Deng Ziyu stepped out, bowing to Master Xuanmiao: "Teacher Uncle."

Master Xuanmiao grunted a cold "Mm," then turned her gaze away.

The three quietly exhaled in relief, glanced at Pan Yun, and quickly left.

Only heaven knew how terrified they'd been all night.

And it seemed they'd stumbled upon some enormous secret.

Pan Yun watched them leave, feeling as if everyone in the world knew what had happened—except her.

She sighed in regret: "I missed watching last night—what a shame, what a shame."

Master Xuanmiao didn't linger long at the academy; she stayed with them only one day, confirmed no one dared come up the mountain to trouble them, then left.

Pan Yun thought she was still worried Tao Ji would get beaten up, so she hurried off to help him.

After that day, no one ever bothered Pan Yun and the others again; their life at the academy finally settled into the normal rhythm of a regular student's.

Well, except that during every class, the teachers loved calling on Pan Yun to answer questions—nothing else was truly wrong.

Pan Yun slung a pack over her shoulder; as she stepped out, Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He were still packing. Pan Yun waited a moment: "Only take what you're going to sell. Leave everything else."

Miao He finished bundling her small pack and slung it onto her back: "Everything here is for sale."

She patted the pack, grinning toothlessly: "All the pills I made during class."

Pan Yun blinked: "Aren't these pills supposed to be turned in?"

The academy provided free instruction, and all medicinal herbs were supplied by the academy; naturally, students had to surrender all finished products—whether successful or not.

Miao He: "Some classmates couldn't succeed no matter what—they used up all the herbs the academy gave them. To finish their assignments, they had to buy their own herbs. I helped them—no, I taught them how to make pills. Besides the one we turn in, all the rest belong to me."

"Oh~~" Pan Yun drew out the sound meaningfully, then patted her own pack: "I get it—just like how I use the academy's talisman paper and cinnabar to make talismans and sell them."

The two disciples exchanged glances and giggled foolishly—everything understood without words.

Seeing Miao Zhen opened the door and stepped out.

Pan Yun and Miao He turned their eyes to her pack: "What are you selling?"

Seeing Miao Zhen: "... I'm not selling anything. I'm just bringing money to buy herbs."

Pan Yun sighed enviously: "It's great to control the finances."

Seeing Miao Zhen: "I can give the money to Little Teacher Uncle to hold."

"No, no—keep it yourself. It's better for both me and the money."

The three descended the mountain together.

The academy had two days off, and many students took the chance to go down the mountain.

After all, life on the mountain was truly austere—the academy provided everything, even a cloth merchant was absent.

So if you wanted to buy anything, you had to go down the mountain.

The once-quiet mountain path was now packed with academy students, laughing, shouting, and full of noise.

Dao cultivators moved fast—even when fooling around, they dashed forward in bursts, reaching Shangqing Town in less than half an hour.

Pan Yun and the others, focused on speed, moved even faster.

As soon as they left the academy, they activated their lightness arts, toes barely touching the ground as they shot forward, quickly leaving far behind.

Just over two tics later, they entered Shangqing Town.

Speed was that fast.

But in truth, the path from the academy to Shangqing Town was never easy—tall, dense forests lined both sides, the terrain rose and fell, and only a dirt road wide enough for two carts ran through. By day it was fine, but at night, pitch black, as if a ferocious beast might leap out at any moment to devour you.

In the past, travelers had gone missing on the mountain, pilgrims vanished, and even the academy had lost several students.

So before the holiday, the teachers repeatedly warned: "If it's late, don't rush back to the academy—stay at an inn down the mountain and return at dawn."

But few cultivators had money; staying at an inn cost coins, and most students couldn't bear to spend them.

So as Pan Yun descended, she overheard several students discussing as they walked: "Let's gather a few more people to go together—no bandits would dare rob us."

"Right, right."

"What if it's not bandits—it's a malevolent spirit?"

"Then we've even less to fear—we're cultivators! Are we scared of a few spirits? Better to capture them—might even earn merit and academy credits."

"Right, right."

Pan Yun dashed past them quickly, glancing back—mainly to see which student kept saying "Right, right"—but she only caught a glimpse before nearly colliding with someone ahead…

Oh no, too many people on the path—she was going too fast to dodge properly.

Pan Yun leapt sideways, spun half a circle, flipped over the person, and kept running.

The student facing away didn't realize he'd nearly been hit; seeing Pan Yun dart past, he praised: "Excellent lightness art!" "Thank you, Senior Brother, sorry—I didn't see you, won't happen again!" Pan Yun's voice faded as she raced ahead.

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He followed close behind, apologizing: "Sorry, Senior Brother."

"Sorry, Senior Brother."

Both chased after Pan Yun and vanished.

The walking senior brother was baffled: "Why did they apologize?"

His companion snapped: "She nearly ran into you—didn't you notice?"

"I didn't notice."

Pan Yun ran while saying to Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He, "So, don't turn back when using lightness skill—turn back, and it's no longer lightness skill. Got it?"

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He nodded together.

Seeing Miao Zhen: "If you bump into someone, you have to pay compensation—then there won't be enough money for medicine."

The three ran into town, and the crowd grew thicker.

!. Du

The three stopped using lightness skill and began walking slowly forward.

Pan Yun: "I suspect the Academy always times its holidays to coincide with the big market down the mountain."

Seeing Miao Zhen nodded. "I've suspected the same."

Because previously, every time we came down for a holiday, we always happened upon the Great Market of Shangqing Town.

There really are so many people.

Besides merchants who come here to stock up, wandering Daoist Priests, and Physicians, there are also villagers from nearby hamlets.

Some brought their own chickens, ducks, and geese to sell; others had all kinds of vegetables and handicrafts.

Some sold herbs they'd gathered themselves—in short, everything was for sale.

There were even people selling stones.

Right then, someone blocked the three: "Little Daoist Priests, take a look at my Spirit Stones."

Pan Yun was surprised. "There are Spirit Stones here?"

"Of course. I found it accidentally on Long Hushan. It's miraculous—I used to never sleep at night, but since I brought it home, I haven't had insomnia again."

Pan Yun spoke with sincere earnestness: "Good person, such a wonderful thing—how could we take something you cherish? Keep it for yourself."

"No, no, no—it's not taking something you cherish, as long as you pay enough."

"Still, we can't buy it—it would incur karmic debt. We absolutely won't buy it," Pan Yun said: "Good person, I see dark circles under your eyes—you've suffered from chronic insomnia. This stone is perfect for you. Listen to me: money matters, but your health matters more."

"As long as you live long, everything will come," Pan Yun examined his complexion from all angles, shook her head in regret, and sighed deeply.

The vendor: "..."

The vendor stopped blocking them. "Why don't you just go?"

But Pan Yun didn't leave. She grabbed the vendor's arm. "Good person, judging by your complexion, this stone alone isn't enough—it has limited healing power. You should combine it with other treatments for better results."

Miao He nodded vigorously, reminding Pan Yun: "Acupuncture and medicine both work."

"Exactly. I have a junior disciple from the Tai Su Academy who's outstanding. Believe me—I'll have her give you two needle treatments and prescribe you a formula."

The vendor realized he'd met his match and waved them off quickly: "Go, go, go—I won't do business with you. You leave too."

He'd thought these three looked young and naive, easy to fool—but they were even better at fooling than he was.

The vendor rubbed his own eyelids. Did he really look that much like someone with insomnia?

Pan Yun sighed regretfully as she walked away, calling back to the vendor: "If you need us, call out—we'll be here all day at the market. If you don't trust us, don't you trust the Tai Su Academy of our Academy? My junior disciple is the best student in the Tai Su Academy!"

Miao He's face turned bright red. She grabbed Pan Yun's arm and dragged her away. "Little Master, stop saying that..."

It was a little embarrassing.

Pan Yun scolded her: "We earn money by skill—why blush?"

Seeing Miao Zhen nodded. "Exactly."

Miao He thought about it. She let go of Pan Yun's arm. "But I've never diagnosed a patient on my own—if Master finds out..."

"He'll just beat you once—what else can he do?" Pan Yun said. "I'll definitely save you."

She added: "I feel full of strength now. Your Master might not be able to beat me."

Miao He stared in disbelief. "You can beat my Master?"

Pan Yun: "I think I can."

Miao He grew eager. "Then let's try next time?"

"Let's try."

The three exchanged glances and chuckled.

The three didn't head straight to the Daoist Goods Shop. Instead, they went to Immortal Street, found an empty spot, swept it clean, spread out their bundle on the ground, and laid out all the talismans and medicines they'd brought.

Prices inside the shop are fixed—blood is thicker than water, but even brothers keep accounts clear. Besides, we pretend not to know each other; every time we go, Shopkeeper Chen slashes the price low.

So we decided to set up a stall outside first—if we can't sell everything, we'll bring the rest to the shop for consignment.

(End of Chapter)