Stop grinding, I'm really just a free spirit.

Chapter 12 Kokenyama Market

"Heh! You're not bad off, but you'd better watch out, you might just die out there one day."

Xue Zhen sneered, simply took the spirit stones from his hand, stuffed them into his pouch, stood up, and gave the Xue brothers, Xue Pan and Xue Shan, a wink.

Now that the other party has paid the rent, all his subsequent plans have been rendered useless.

There's no point in staying here any longer; we can only wait for an opportunity to seek revenge later.

Xue Pan stared blankly with his large, round eyes, scratching his head and asking in a muffled voice, "Boss, are we still looking?"

Xue Shan, on the other hand, was much more shrewd. He just stared fiercely at Chen Bai and the other man, waiting for his boss's order before he would act without hesitation.

"Looking for what?! Didn't you see this young man has paid his rent in full?!"

Xue Zhen's eyes widened, and he immediately flew into a rage, cursing, "You pig-brain! Instead of wasting your time rummaging through junk, why don't you go find that mother and daughter from the Qi family right now!"

After saying that, Xue Zhen gave Chen Bai a cold glare one last time, and then left without looking back, surrounded by the two brothers.

Chen Bai ignored Xue Laogui's final sarcastic remark about incompetence; of course, they hadn't found anything of value.

The reason is that Chen Bai had already taken all his belongings with him, leaving behind only some broken and worthless trinkets.

After the group had walked away, Wei Bo looked dejected, his round face, which looked almost swollen, filled with despair.

What did he do to deserve this?

He was perfectly fine at home, planning to go find Chen Bai, but as soon as he arrived, he was caught, severely beaten, and interrogated about Chen Bai's whereabouts.

Wei Bo: "???"

"You won't talk, huh? Still being stubborn, beat her!"

Wei Bo: "Ugh... I really don't know..."

Just thinking about what had just happened made him feel very innocent; fortunately, Old Ghost Xue didn't hit him too hard because of his father's sake, since if he caused any problems, it would be difficult to ask his father for money.

Fortunately, Brother Bai was loyal and promptly "sold himself" to gather the spirit stones and rushed back.

As he thought about it, Wei Bo's gaze towards Chen Bai became more and more moved.

Coupled with the grievances she had just suffered, she couldn't help but burst into tears: "Brother Bai...you're so good to me!"

"what?"

Chen Bai looked bewildered, then quickly realized what was happening, his eyes darting around uncertainly.

"Isn't this a case of taking the blame in reverse? Wasn't Wei Bo's predicament caused by him? Why is he thanking him instead?"

It just goes to show that there are still more good people than bad in the world!

Chen Bai sighed silently.

……

……

After finally managing to tidy up the scattered clutter, the two lay down to rest for a while.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Wei Bo asked, "Brother Bai, did you really sell yourself for me?"

Chen Bai rolled his eyes and waved his hand, saying, "That's not true at all. I earned these spirit stones by drawing talismans."

"Drawing talismans?"

Wei Bo looked at him suspiciously and muttered under his breath, "When did you start practicing the art of talismans...? How come I didn't know?"

There are many things you don't know.

Chen Bai glanced at Wei Bo, who still didn't believe him, and decided to give him a hand because he was so reliable.

"Brother Wei, would you like to earn spirit stones?"

Without a word, Wei Bo's eyes lit up: "I've got it! Brother Bai, are you finally going to introduce me to the path of selling myself into servitude?"

Chen Bai pursed his lips helplessly and said in a deep voice, "Listen to my arrangements from now on."

"Don't say anything more, come with me to the market to buy some things, and you'll understand after you see them."

After one incense stick has burned.

Kokenyama Market. Outskirts.

The streets were bustling with people, including a few scattered cultivators, but most of the people here were ordinary mortals doing business.

"Come and take a look, everyone!"

Fresh and delicious white-feathered pheasants, two for one coin, home-raised, cheap!

First-tier, low-grade Firelight Beasts, on sale at a low price, only one spirit stone each, while supplies last.

Not far away, an ordinary person was waving and calling out from a stall. This person was quite well-off, wearing a small round hat and dressed in silk and satin. His youthful face already showed some maturity.

Several ordinary-looking rogue cultivators of the Fetal Breathing stage surrounded him, seemingly drawn by the crowd.

On the ground were two wooden cages, one large and one small. Inside the smaller one, three small red-haired animals, not yet fully grown, huddled together, their fur a light reddish color.

In another wooden cage were a dozen or so pheasants, all white, resembling domestic fowl.

The former was none other than the Firelight Beast, a demonic beast also known as the Fire Rat.

Produced in Rinan Prefecture and Huolin Mountain, 300 miles away, it must be the result of some kind of rat demon descendant degenerating for countless generations.

Chen Bai had learned about this beast from the information he extracted. Firelight Beasts reproduce very quickly, often having dozens of offspring a year, but most of them become mortals, with only a tiny fraction (two or three out of ten thousand) having the chance to develop sentience.

After their fur is burned, the essence is obtained and can be used to make fireproof cloth—this kind of cloth is often used as a material for making ceremonial robes and has some mysterious fire-repelling properties.

Raising these three fire rats until they produce fire-resistant cloth is a considerable investment, so it's no wonder this person is selling them.

As for those spirit pheasants, they only have a nice name; in reality, they are no different from domestic fowl.

The only difference is that they are raised in an environment with spiritual energy. The flesh contains a little spiritual energy, which makes them quite popular among ordinary people. It's nice to buy them occasionally for a treat.

The offering Chen Bai made when drawing the talisman was a genuine pheasant tail feather, which cost him quite a bit of money at the time.

Chen Bai glanced at it a few times before losing interest and continuing to walk forward.

Wei Bo, dressed in a long black robe that covered his entire body, followed closely behind.

Yuanfu Residence. This is a small shop on a street corner, only a few dozen square meters in size.

The shop owner was an elderly man with white hair and beard, who was dozing off.

Chen Bai stepped forward, tapped the table, and asked in a deep voice, "Do you have any cheap materials for drawing talismans for sale?"

Strangely, the old man continued snoring, but a young voice came from his stomach: "Crude yellow talisman paper, ten sheets for one talisman coin; more expensive green sandalwood spirit paper and jade-green spirit paper, ten sheets for one spirit shell, no bargaining."

The shop also offers several types of spirit ink, made with cinnabar, the blood of demons and spirits, mixed with spices and spirit wood powder. Each small ingot costs five talisman coins. Please choose for yourself, sir.

Chen Bai nodded. He had come mainly to buy talisman paper. This small shop was a place the old Taoist priest frequented, and the prices were reasonable.

After the money and goods were exchanged, Chen Bai left with a stack of talismans.

However, what he didn't know was that after the two of them left, the old man with the white beard opened his eyes and asked with some doubt, "Wasn't that old Taoist priest long ago dead outside the city, leaving no legacy? When did he gain another disciple?"

The puzzled old man shook his head, saying in bewilderment, "Strange, truly strange."