21: Chapter 21 Selling Spirit Rice

"Brother, take me along——"

Wang Qingcheng tugged at Wang Shouren's sleeve, hanging onto his arm like a little monkey with her two short legs dragging on the ground, leaving two shallow marks on the ridge as Wang Shouren dragged her along.

"You are already eight years old, yet you are still acting so childishly clingy."

Wang Shouren remained unmoved and continued walking down the mountain.

"So what if I am eight! An eight-year-old is still your sister! If you don't take me with you, I'll tell Mother that you are bullying me!"

Wang Qingcheng pulled out her ultimate move, raising her chubby little face and trying hard to squeeze out two tears, but after trying for a long time, her eye sockets remained dry.

Wang Shouren glanced at her, feeling quite helpless; this younger sister of his loved playing around the most and enjoyed tinkering with all sorts of bizarre gadgets.

Usually it was fine with their mother guiding her, but coming out today meant she had shed her restraints and wanted to play to her heart's content.

"Cry then. Once you cry out, I'll take you."

Wang Qingcheng pouted her small mouth, and her eye sockets instantly turned red; this time it was real.

"Brother Shouren, why not just take younger sister Qingcheng along? The market isn't far..."

Wang Shouxin couldn't bear to watch and chimed in softly from the side.

"Look, look! Brother Shouxin is even speaking up for me!"

Wang Qingcheng instantly perked up, let go of Wang Shouren's sleeve, scurried over to Wang Shouxin's side in a flash, raised her face, and her eyes sparkled.

"Brother Shouxin, what was the name of that market you mentioned? Is it the really lively one!"

Wang Shouxin scratched the back of his head and smiled honestly.

"Is younger sister Qingcheng talking about Qingfu Market? It's over at the border between Xiaoshan County and Baishan County. It opens on the first and fifteenth of every lunar month, and Loose Cultivators all like to go there. It is indeed quite lively."

"Right, right, right! That's Qingfu Market!"

Wang Qingcheng nodded her head like a chick pecking at rice, turned around, and dashed back to Wang Shouren's side, pressing her hands together in a pleading posture, her eyes filled with hope.

"Brother, listen to that, Brother Shouxin knows! Brother Shouxin is truly as clever as snow! You just have to take me along——"

"As clever as snow?"

Wang Shouxin's face instantly darkened.

"Younger sister Qingcheng, is there any way you describe a man like that?"

"Then... supremely brilliant?"

"My hair is doing just fine!"

Wang Shouren watched these two funny scamps bickering, his mouth twitching slightly as he shook his head and sighed.

"What a quirky and eccentric lass."

Then his expression turned serious, and he firmly refused.

"No. The Loose Cultivator market is a mixed bag of dragons and fish, with all sorts of people there. If a little girl like you goes and happens to run into human traffickers who abduct you to be a child bride, what then?"

"I have Big Brother to protect me!"

Wang Qingcheng said righteously.

"Then what if Big Brother can't beat them either?"

"Then... then I'll run away with Big Brother!"

Wang Shouren was amused to the point of laughter by her and reached out to flick her small forehead.

"You sure are loyal, but it's still no."

Wang Qingcheng covered her forehead and looked tearfully at Wang Shouxin, hoping this easy-going cousin would plead for her once more.

Wang Shouxin opened his mouth, but seeing Wang Shouren's uncompromising gaze, he wisely closed it again.

Wang Shouren crouched down and softened his tone a bit.

"Although the Loose Cultivator market is lively, it is a mixed bag of good and bad, without any rules to bind them. Incidents of killing people and seizing treasures have certainly happened before."

"As a young girl with low Cultivation, going there isn't going to watch the fun; you'll be the fun others are watching."

"Furthermore, the quality of Medicinal Pills and Magical Artifacts in such places varies wildly, mostly using inferior goods to pass off as superior ones. It is far less reliable than the formal market in Wanshan County."

"But I just want to go to the Loose Cultivator market..."

Wang Qingcheng pouted, her voice dropping much lower.

"I heard the older brothers and sisters in the Family say that the Loose Cultivator market is super lively! There are people playing with monkeys, performing magic tricks, and even appraising treasures to pick up bargains! Maybe I can pick up a treasure and bring it back too!"

Wang Shouren helplessly shook his head.

"How could there be so many bargains for you to pick up? Those people setting up stalls in the Loose Cultivator market—which of them isn't a crafty old fox?"

"They have been rolling around in the Immortal Realm for decades, and their discernment is countless times stronger than yours."

"If there really were treasures, they would have tucked them away themselves long ago. Would it ever fall to an eight-year-old lass like you to pick up?"

He stood up and patted Wang Qingcheng's head.

"If you really want to pick up bargains, have the ability to truly master treasure appraisal, memorize the illustrated guides of all kinds of Heaven And Earth Treasures inside and out, and remember the Cultivation Technique characteristics of every major clan and sect. Only then will you have a sliver of a chance."

"Right now, you can't even tell spiritual rice apart from ordinary rice. What are you going to use to pick up bargains?"

Wang Qingcheng was left speechless by his words; what Big Brother said was a fact.

"But I really like those strange and quirky things."

Wang Shouren shook his head.

"Still the same saying: whenever you have learned the Family's illustrated guides of Heaven And Earth Treasures and won't be easily deceived, I will permit you to go."

The little girl pouted her small mouth over and over again, and finally let out an indignant huff.

"If we're not going, then we're not going! What's so great about that! Once I learn it, I'll go by myself!"

She turned and ran to Xiaotian's side, grabbed the black dog by the neck, buried her face into its dog fur, and said in a muffled voice, "Xiaotian, you're still the best. You never scold me."

Xiaotian tilted its head, wagged its tail, and stretched out its tongue to lick her small face.

Wang Shouren looked at his younger sister's huffy back, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly as he turned to say to Wang Shouxin.

"Shouxin, in a bit you take Qingcheng back to Lotus Pier first and collect that portion of the reward the Family gave you."

"I'll make a trip to Wanshan County Market, trade these spiritual rices for Spirit Stones, and then split the accounts with you. By the way, I'll see if there are any suitable Medicinal Pills and Magical Artifacts."

Wang Shouxin nodded and added, "Brother Shouren, will you be fine going alone? How about I accompany you?"

"No need. Wanshan County Market is guarded by county garrison soldiers and is territory governed by the Yue State imperial court. It's much safer than the Loose Cultivator market."

"After you go back, keep a close eye on Xiaotian, and don't let this silly dog go steal the dried fish in the kitchen again."

"Woof!"

Xiaotian barked in dissatisfaction.

...

Wanshan County, Market.

Wang Shouren skillfully passed through the city gate.

The Wang Family Disciple robe on his body was the best pass.

Along the way, a few Loose Cultivators squatting at the corners of the walls raised their eyes to glance at the lotus pattern on his lapel, then sensibly lowered their heads again. Not a single blind fool dared to come up and provoke him.

The purpose of this trip was clear: he headed straight for the shop in the center of the market that purchased spiritual rice.

Without stopping his feet, he mentally recalculated the accounts he had already deliberated over multiple times.

Eight bags of spiritual rice, of supreme appearance and brimming with Spiritual Qi. If they could fetch a good price like in past years, after deducting the twenty percent shared with Shouxin, his own hands would be much more well-off.

Coupled with the one thousand Spirit Stones newly bestowed by the Family and that iron rhinoceros shield, his Cultivation resources would not be a worry for a short time.

Just as he was thinking this, a banner with a yellow background and red borders turned out from the street corner ahead. Written on it were five large characters: "Wanshan Spirit Grain Firm". It was precisely the largest spiritual rice acquisition shop in the market.

Wang Shouren tidied his lapels and stepped toward the shop's door.

At the exact split second before he was about to step through the main entrance, his entire body froze abruptly.

The black lotus between his brows grew slightly warm, and a flood of complex information surged into his Sea of Consciousness like a tidal wave.

Spirit Sword Sect, Suspended Main Peak, Discussion Hall.