After I Failed to Reform the Female Lead of a Tragic Novel - Chapter 14

Unable to refute Gong Dongling, Xie Yu could only agree to let Senior Sister take her to buy a Recording Stone. The condition was that she would continue helping Gong Dongling learn about the pill market.

The two went to a magical artifact shop. This was Gong Dongling’s first time seeing the cultivation world’s various weapons and technologies so directly.

The best-selling items in the shop were always combat artifacts. There were large ones like fire crossbow cannons and small ones like hidden weapons worn on the wrist. They were flashy and dazzling, filling the shelves with all kinds of strange designs. Aside from those, there were also all kinds of life-saving artifacts similar to heart-protecting mirrors and golden bell shields.

Of course, all these things shared one trait that would make ordinary people back away: they were expensive! Prices casually started in the tens or hundreds of thousands of spirit stones.

When the shopkeeper saw two female cultivators with extraordinary clothing and bearing walk in, his face blossomed with smiles. He immediately came over to recommend the shop’s newest hair ornaments, jewelry, and hidden weapons.

He said that not only did they look beautiful when worn, they could also attack enemies by surprise, making them excellent choices for sneak attacks and self-defense.

Gong Dongling politely declined and only asked where the Recording Stones were.

They were sword cultivators and were not especially skilled with these hidden weapons. At most, the items would serve as decorations, so it was better not to buy them.

The shopkeeper’s enthusiasm clearly faded. Knowing that the two were not his wealthy patrons, he became listless.

Recording Stones had developed to this point and were no longer rare. There was not much profit to be made from them anymore. They were simply something every cultivator had.

He lazily pulled open a counter and pointed. “From low to high price, they’re all here. Choose whatever you need.”

With that, he changed faces as quickly as Sichuan opera mask-changing and went to receive other customers.

Xie Yu did not even look at the prices or functions. She directly said, “If Senior Sister insists on buying one, the cheapest is enough.”

Gong Dongling glanced over and discovered that even the cheapest model cost five thousand spirit stones. That truly exceeded her expectations. No wonder Xie Yu could not afford one.

She knew Xie Yu disliked owing her too much. Buying a more expensive one would probably only make her feel worse. Since the necessary functions were all there, Gong Dongling nodded.

She searched through her storage ring and discovered that the original owner did not have much wealth either, only a mere ten-thousand-plus spirit stones. In this cultivation world with its inflated prices, it was indeed hard to buy anything good.

In the end, it was because sword cultivators were mostly poor. Even Daofa Zhenren, Xu Ruozhen, was no exception. He had many heavenly treasures collected from various places, but very few actual assets. Whenever he had money, he quickly exchanged it for good things at auctions.

Although Gong Dongling had been tormented by heart disease since childhood in her previous life, at least she had been born into a wealthy family. Whatever she wanted, she only had to tell her assistant. It could be said that she had never experienced what being poor felt like.

Yet in this life, on the surface, she was admired by everyone and looked bright and glamorous. In reality, she was flat broke.

She gloomily took out five thousand spirit stones, thinking to herself that she really had to put her money-making career on the agenda as soon as possible.

Xie Yu seemed to see Gong Dongling’s thoughts in that brief moment. She bit her lip and still whispered, “Senior Sister, why don’t we not buy it… It’s so expensive.”

“Money is meant to be spent. If we run out, we can earn more. It’s not as if we can’t afford it. Besides, you’re going to be my sales assistant. Without this Recording Stone, how are you supposed to contact me?” Gong Dongling did not mind. She took that Recording Stone and went to settle the bill.

After personally experiencing the prices inside the magical artifact shop, Gong Dongling felt even more strongly that five thousand spirit stones would not support the two of them for many days.

After leaving the shop, she took out the booklet Xie Yu had organized and flipped through it. She found that the prices were quite decent, but almost all of them were proper, official shops.

Although Gong Dongling had already refined quite a few pills, she had yet to take the certification exam. Without an alchemist certificate and product qualification approval from the association, those shops would never accept these unlicensed, uncertified, origin-unknown pills that looked especially suspicious.

If not for the broadcast, she could actually go to the association branch right now and take a temporary certification exam. But so many people were watching.

Gong Dongling still did not want to expose the fact that she had suddenly learned alchemy. After all, the original owner did not know how to refine pills. If they found out, they might start suspecting her of possession again.

“Xie Yu, is there any black market here? It’s fine if the price is lower.” Gong Dongling neatly folded the papers and looked at Xie Yu.

Xie Yu froze. A faint guess rose in her heart, and she asked between laughter and tears, “Senior Sister, don’t tell me you still don’t have a certificate?”

“To be honest, you’re the first person who has ever eaten one of my pills. Luckily, you’re fine.”

Guiltily, she moved her gaze away and pretended to look at the surrounding walls. Unexpectedly, she discovered that many papers resembling small advertisements were pasted on the walls. Even from a distance, they did not look like proper advertisements.

Gong Dongling walked over and carefully read through them one by one. As expected, they were all related to “underground industries.” She simply had not expected that even in this kind of cultivation world, there would be things similar to modern advertisements for borrowing money, treating illnesses, and so on…

“Ah, I found one that buys pills,” Xie Yu suddenly said. She pointed at one of the papers. Written on it were the words: “Purchasing large quantities of herbs, pills, and demonic beast cores. Shop address: Southwest Corner, No. 43.”

Simple black words on white paper. The ink had already been soaked by rain and blurred into a mess.

“But it doesn’t say no proof is required. What if it’s a proper shop?” Gong Dongling used her hand to press the shaky little advertisement back onto the wall.

“It won’t be. There are unspoken rules here. Shops related to the black market are usually hidden in corners and use this method to attract business. Let’s go take a look. I thought proper shops would be safer before, so I didn’t investigate these shady shops. Now it seems necessary after all.”

Xie Yu often came here to help some outer sect disciples buy and sell things, earning a little money for running errands. She understood these rules fairly well.

“But before going in, we may need to make some changes…”

As Xie Yu spoke, she took a black bamboo hat from her bundle. Long gauze trailed down from it, almost covering half the body.

…

After disguising herself, Gong Dongling finally dawdled her way over.

The farther inside she went, the fewer people there were. In their place were a few scattered cultivators wearing black veiled hats, their figures and appearances impossible to make out.

At this moment, Gong Dongling was just like them, her identity concealed as she walked alone through the narrow alley.

In order not to expose their suspicious movements, one of them had to stay outside with the Recording Stone that was currently recording. Gong Dongling knew Xie Yu did not understand pills well, so she firmly ordered her to wait outside while Gong Dongling walked alone into the depths of the market.

Xie Yu had never been to that kind of “restricted area” either. She watched Senior Sister’s figure from afar, a trace of worry gathering between her brows.

Perhaps it was only an illusion, but Gong Dongling felt that even the temperature inside was much colder than outside. It was gloomy and eerie. As the sun set and dark clouds pressed over the city, the sky grew increasingly heavy.

No one was calling out to sell goods along this street. The shops only had numbers and no signboards. At a glance, everything was pitch-black, and it was impossible to tell what any of them did. It was rather chilling.

After glancing around a few times, she no longer dared look about and focused only on walking her own path.

Gong Dongling tightened her grip on the Recording Stone that belonged to Xie Yu. Before they parted, she had already set her own Recording Stone as the first contact. As long as Xie Yu started recording, the message would be sent over.

No. 43 was close now. It did not look all that different from the proper shops she had seen before. At least, in terms of decoration, it did not openly write the words “shady shop” on itself.

She relaxed slightly and walked into the shop. Inside, she saw only a woman in green standing at the counter, organizing herbs.

“Shopkeeper, may I ask if you purchase pills here? The kind without proof.” Gong Dongling weighed her words carefully and asked with caution.

The woman turned around, a smile appearing on her gorgeous face. “You flatter me, guest. Our master is in the inner room. Please wait a moment while I go inform him.”

As she stood before the counter and waited, Gong Dongling looked around. One item caught her attention.

On the counter lay a bone ring. At its center was embedded a scarlet gemstone. The ivory-white surface was interwoven with fine strands of blood-red lines, like blood vessels flowing from a ruby heart that was still beating.

This description… She seemed to have heard it somewhere before. Doubt rose in Gong Dongling’s heart, but she simply could not remember.

Just as she was thinking, the woman came out from the inner room. The frivolity from before had lessened, and she said respectfully, “My master invites you in. Guest, please follow me.”

Gong Dongling took one last look at the bone ring, then followed in a few steps.

After passing through a long, narrow corridor, they reached a half-closed door at the room at the very end. There was not the slightest sound around them. Only her own footsteps could be heard, tapping straight into her heart.

The woman escorted her only to the doorway. Once Gong Dongling walked in alone, the door was shut behind her with a bang.

Inside the room, a figure turned around at the sound.

It was a young man. He looked especially weak, his face as pale as paper, as if a single gust of wind could knock him over.

“You may call me Mr. Mu.”

The name Mr. Mu awakened Gong Dongling’s memory. She finally knew why that bone ring had looked so familiar!

Because this legendary Mr. Mu before her was Qiu Yan’s superior, the undercover agent sent by the Demon Realm to the cultivation world to control the black market and purchase supplies. The bone ring was precisely his weapon, capable of devouring souls.

Thank goodness Xie Yu was not the one meeting him. In the original novel, Qiu Yan had only discovered that there was a seal inside Xie Yu and had not told any of his fellow demons, wanting to enjoy the fruits of breaking the seal alone. But after Mr. Mu met Xie Yu, he saw the clues beneath the seal at a single glance.

What was she still selling pills for? She needed to take Xie Yu and run as soon as possible!

…

At the same time, inside Qiu Yan’s residence.

“Report. Gong Dongling has gone to meet Mu Chenlin.” A voice came from the other end of the Recording Stone.

Qiu Yan shot to his feet in shock, suppressing his anger as he asked, “Why would she know Mu Chenlin?!”

In that case, his own identity might have been completely exposed long ago.

Not only that, he also connected it to Gong Dongling’s sudden change in attitude toward Xie Yu recently. Perhaps it was because Mu Chenlin had discovered Xie Yu’s existence and had Gong Dongling investigate her background for him.

The other side fell silent for a moment before saying, “Gong Dongling found Xie Yu. The two of them seemed to have gone there after looking at the paper pasted on the wall. She may not necessarily know Mu Chenlin.”

“What could the two of them possibly have to sell?! Didn’t you just say Xie Yu didn’t go with Gong Dongling to meet Mu Chenlin? Isn’t that because they have some unspeakable secret to discuss?”

The more Qiu Yan thought about it, the angrier he became. He immediately flew down the mountain on his sword.