7: Chapter 7 Late at Night, a Beautiful Woman's Mission Arrives at the Door.

Feeling the warm, soft touch on the back of his hand, along with the cheap yet alluring scent of powder drilling straight into his nose, Qin Feng's heart skipped a beat uncontrollably.

But he was no fool blinded by lust.

In Servant District 666, the more beautiful a woman was, the more poisonous thorns she hid on her; one moment of carelessness could lead to total ruin.

Qin Feng withdrew his hand calmly, took the opportunity to tuck the rag pouch containing his servant coins into his bosom, and kept an incredibly calm expression.

"Sister Bai, you joke. What connections could I, a lowest-tier Menial Laborer, possibly have?"

Qin Feng patted the dirt off his pant legs, stood up, and said in an extremely perfunctory tone: "It was just a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse. I was lucky enough to find a few wild spirit tangerines in a deep ditch on the outskirts of the Luanzang Mountain Range yesterday. They're all sold out now, so there's nothing left to bring."

After saying this, he didn't even glance at Bai Yuhe's resentful gaze and squeezed into the crowd of the Servant District without looking back.

Watching Qin Feng's clean and decisive retreating figure, Chen Xiaodao spat a thick glob of phlegm onto the ground.

"Damn it, that bottom-feeding piece of trash doesn't know when he's being given face!"

Chen Xiaodao turned his head and looked at Bai Yuhe, who was still squatting in place, staring blankly at Qin Feng's retreating figure. The flames of jealousy in his heart instantly flared up.

He grabbed Bai Yuhe's arm, yanked her up roughly, and cursed through gritted teeth: "You stinking bitch, acting all slutty toward another man! What? Seeing the kid looks tender, you can't even move your legs? Don't forget who's protecting you in this dump!"

Bai Yuhe's wrist ached from his grip, so she leaned into Chen Xiaodao's embrace, extended a slender finger, and curled her lips into a bewitchingly charming smile: "What? Jealous?"

Chen Xiaodao was stunned by her appearance. The evil fire in his chest instantly transformed into another kind of fire. His breathing grew heavier, and he nodded heavily: "Yes, I just can't stand you casting flirtatious glances at other men!"

"Are you stupid? Although you have some strength, and in the nearby area, no one can beat you in a fight or when playing dirty."

Bai Yuhe rolled her pretty eyes, her tone turning resentful and realistic, and whispered: "But we don't have our own house right now, nor any spirit fields. At best, we're just a slightly fiercer Menial Laborer!"

Hearing the words "Menial Laborer", Chen Xiaodao's face instantly darkened, and a flash of unwillingness crossed his eyes.

He hated being a Menial Laborer the most, yet he was fierce and still just a Menial Laborer.

"As a Menial Laborer, working yourself to death in the mines every day, you can only manage to eat one full meal."

Bai Yuhe's voice held a trace of deep despair and ambition. "If the two of us continue to drift along like this, we will never have a chance to get ahead in our lives. Sooner or later, you will die in the mine, and I... without protection, my fate will only be even more miserable..."

Chen Xiaodao clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking, but he couldn't find a single word to refute her.

"Only by becoming a Middle-tier Servant and having our own territory, without needing to do high-risk work every day, can we squeeze out enough time to access the most basic Cultivation Technique!"

As she spoke, Bai Yuhe looked in the direction where Qin Feng had disappeared and suddenly smiled, the tear mole at the corner of her eye looking exceptionally enchanting: "I saw his eyes were full of excitement just now. I bet the spirit tangerines he found are definitely more than just the few he sold today!"

Chen Xiaodao was stunned for a moment, his brain finally catching up, and he widened his eyes: "You mean..."

"If we can figure out where he gets so many spirit tangerines, or steal his source of income..."

A glimmer of hope appeared in Bai Yuhe's eyes. "With money to purchase spirit fields and a house, won't we have the capital to become Middle-tier Servants?"

Chen Xiaodao nodded heavily, murderous intent appearing in his eyes: "Leave this to me. I'll sneak into his shed tonight; I'm not afraid he won't talk."

"Idiot, what if he refuses to talk? Do you dare to kill someone in the residential area? The guards at the Management Hall aren't just eating for free..."

Bai Yuhe rolled her eyes and lowered her voice. "Leave the matter to me, just don't get jealous. Dealing with a naive rookie who hasn't seen the world, soft tactics are better than hard ones..."

On the other side, Qin Feng had already crossed most of the Servant District and arrived in front of the Trading Shop.

It was daytime, and the doors of the Trading Shop were wide open, with a crowd of people bustling inside.

Carrying a huge fortune of exactly 20 servant coins, Qin Feng unconsciously straightened his back.

In front of the grain stall on the outskirts of the Trading Shop, Qin Feng took a deep breath.

"Big brother, give me ten catties of Low Grade spirit rice, cut two catties of cured beast meat, and also, take a small jar of coarse salt!"

Hearing the menu Qin Feng recited, the stall clerk's originally lazy eyes instantly lit up. He hurriedly weighed and packed the items with a smile: "Yo, this young master looks unfamiliar. Did you strike it rich? Ten catties of Low Grade spirit rice for 5 servant coins, two catties of dried meat for 8 servant coins, and coarse salt for 2 servant coins, that's 15 servant coins in total!"

Qin Feng didn't hesitate to count out 15 copper coins and handed them over, taking the heavy grain bag and dried meat.

Although he had spent most of his savings in one go, leaving only 5 servant coins, he felt no heartache at all.

The body is the capital of revolution. He had been so hungry for the past two days that he felt lightheaded; if he encountered any danger, he wouldn't even have the strength to run.

Moreover, as long as the spirit tangerine tree in the cave was still there, this money could be earned back at any time.

After returning to Shed No. 10086, Qin Feng immediately started a fire.

In the worn-out earthen pot, spirit rice mixed with chopped dried beast meat rolled in the boiling water, emitting a meaty aroma so rich it could make one shed tears.

"Slurp—"

Qin Feng didn't even care about the heat; he lifted the pot and shoveled the food into his mouth in big mouthfuls.

The chewiness of the meat mixed with the faint Spiritual Qi of the spirit rice slid down his esophagus into his stomach, as if it were sweet rain after a long drought.

A warm force quickly spread through his withered muscles.

"Refreshing!"

After finishing everything, Qin Feng lay comfortably on the new cotton quilt gifted by Yang Liu, feeling that he was finally living like a human being.

"With food, I don't need to go to the mines every day. Next, I need to slowly accumulate capital and get a Cultivation Technique..."

Qin Feng calculated in his mind. Although there were rules in the Servant District, there were places where rules didn't apply.

Without strength, no matter how much money he earned, he would just be a pig fattened up waiting to be slaughtered.

To escape the fate of being enslaved, one must become stronger!

Early the next morning, the sky hadn't fully brightened yet.

Qin Feng ate a bowl of hot meat and rice porridge and left the shed with high spirits.

He bypassed the crowd, circled around the outskirts of the Luanzang Mountain Range a few times, and after confirming that no one was following him, he slipped into the hidden cave covered in poisonous vines.

Inside the cave, the spirit tangerine tree, ripened by the "Water of Maturity", was still full of vitality.

Qin Feng skillfully picked thirty golden spirit tangerines and wrapped them in a cloth pouch. He didn't dare to pick too many; firstly, he was afraid that taking too many out at once would cause a stir, and secondly, he wouldn't be able to sell that many at once.

When the sun rose and the Servant District became noisy again.

Qin Feng switched to a more secluded alley entrance and continued to set up his spirit tangerine stall.

"Fresh spirit tangerines! Two for one servant coin, replenishes stamina, a must-have for survival in the mines!"

The familiar hawking soon attracted passing Menial Laborers. With yesterday's reputation spreading, today's selling speed was ridiculously fast.

"Give me four!"

"I want six, this thing is damn filling!"

In less than half an hour, twenty spirit tangerines were sold out again, and Qin Feng's bosom had gained another 15 servant coins.

"This money is faster to earn than to steal."

Qin Feng suppressed the smile at the corners of his mouth, quickly rolled up the rag, and prepared to retreat.

However, he didn't know that on a dilapidated roof dozens of meters away from the alley entrance, a pair of eyes filled with fox-like charm and greed were staring fixedly at his every move.

Bai Yuhe lay in the pile of withered grass on the roof, watching Qin Feng tuck a large handful of servant coins into his bosom, her breathing becoming rapid.

"I guessed right... This kid definitely found a spirit tangerine tree, and the yield is not small."

Bai Yuhe bit her red lips, a trace of charm flashing in her eyes. "Tonight, I'll take care of you..."

That night, the cold wind was like a knife.

The Servant shed area was already in a remote location, and after nightfall, it was as quiet as a ghost town.

Inside Shed No. 10086, the fire emitted a faint red light.

Qin Feng sat cross-legged on the quilt, counting the servant coins he had earned today one by one, wrapping them tightly in a rag, and stuffing them into his bosom.

"Even though I spent some today, I still have 20."

Qin Feng stroked his chin in thought. "As long as I sell for a few more days, gather 50 to pay this month's servant tax, the remaining money can be used to go to the black market area of the Trading Shop and ask if there are any fist techniques..."

Just as Qin Feng was imagining the future, "Wuwuwu..."

Outside the shed, a faint, intermittent sound of sobbing suddenly came.

The sound was very light, mixed in the howling cold wind, and it sounded particularly sorrowful and gentle. "Wuwu... Brother Qin Feng... are you asleep?"

Accompanied by a burst of suppressed sobbing, the worn-out wooden door of the shed was gently knocked from the outside. It was Bai Yuhe's voice?!

"Brother Qin Feng... please, open the door... save me..."

The voice outside became increasingly miserable, even carrying a tremble of despair.

Qin Feng didn't make a sound. He slowly moved to the very wide crack in the wooden door and squinted his eyes to look outside.

By the faint moonlight, the scene before him made his breath hitch involuntarily.

He saw Bai Yuhe slumped on the muddy ground outside the shed. Her usually tight floral dress was now torn to shreds, revealing large patches of snow-white, plump skin.

Her hair was disheveled, and there were several clearly visible red, swollen slap marks on her face, with a trace of blood hanging from the corner of her mouth.

Her originally soul-stirring eyes were filled with tears. Her pitiful appearance, combined with the vaguely visible spring scenery, was enough to make any normal man's sanity collapse instantly.

"Xiaodao has gone mad. I just said a few words to him, and he beat me to death..."

Bai Yuhe cried and complained while pressing her body tightly against the worn-out wooden door, her full curves pressed firmly against it. Her voice carried extreme begging. "Brother Qin Feng, it's so cold outside, I really have nowhere to go... Please, have mercy, take me in for the night, let me hide in the room, okay? As long as you are willing to save me, from now on... from now on I will listen to everything you say, I will be your beast of burden and serve you, anything is fine..."

Listening to the begging that melted into his bones from outside the door, and looking at the visually impactful scene, Qin Feng's Adam's apple rolled up and down with difficulty.

A hero saving a damsel? Throwing herself into his arms? Or is there something fishy?

"Hum—"

At this moment, in Qin Feng's mind, the cold mechanical prompt sound rang out again without warning:

[Ding! Detected a qualified person seeking help—Bai Yuhe.]

[Triggered System mission: Take in and comfort the injured Bai Yuhe, give her warm protection.]

[Mission reward: One Low Grade Marrow Cleansing Pill (can shed mortal body and exchange bones, officially step into the threshold of Cultivation)!]

Qin Feng's hand holding the wooden stick trembled violently. Low Grade Marrow Cleansing Pill?! Step into the threshold of Cultivation?!

It was simply sending a pillow when one was sleepy! In the man-eating Servant District, there was no temptation more maddening than immediately obtaining the qualification to Cultivate.