Chapter 35
A slaughter match referred to this kind of beast-fighting duel where the gap in strength was enormous. It was purely a setup meant to satisfy the vile tastes of a small portion of people.
For example, the original body had often thrown those herbivore-type consorts in here, then paid the appearance fee for an S-rank beastman and had them fight. Her purpose was to watch those disobedient consorts struggling to survive and listen to their terrified screams.
“That was how it was supposed to be, yes. But who knew this human with no spiritual arts at all would actually survive the first half under the Lion God’s hands? I remember even that A-rank wolf-beast last time didn’t manage to last, right? The Lion God has always ended battles quickly.”
Lion God was the title of that S-rank lion beast. It was very simple and easy to understand.
“What’s this girl’s background?”
“A beggar, I think. They say she somehow broke into the Third Princess’s back kitchen and stole buns to eat. She just happened to get caught. The Third Princess also happens to have a violent temper. Who knows who mentioned it beside her, but she nodded and agreed to open this slaughter match.”
The intermission ended. The medical team that had been stopping the Lion God’s bleeding withdrew, and the person and beast, whose sizes were vastly different, returned to the two sides of the arena.
Almost the instant the referee struck the starting bell, Qiu Qi saw the girl shoot forward like an arrow, as if the wounds all over her body did not affect her condition in the slightest.
Qiu Qi had seen Yin Ci’s skill and reaction speed, and had thought that was already the limit of a living creature’s physical ability. But the one on the field actually showed signs of surpassing Yin Ci. Her thin, small figure was so fast that her shadow could barely be seen. Even when she made sharp turns and changed direction, there was not the slightest unnecessary pause.
Qiu Qi narrowed her eyes and concentrated before she could see some of the girl’s attacks clearly. She clearly did not want to drag things out anymore. Every punch struck flesh, specifically targeting weak points like the stomach, head, and neck.
The beast-fighting arena did not allow weapons, but the girl clearly did not need them. Her strength was astonishing. The lion beast’s skin was much harder than armor, yet with one punch from her, Qiu Qi even heard the sound of the other party’s bones shattering. But she did not stop after gaining the advantage. She opened her mouth and bit fiercely into the Lion God’s neck, forcibly tearing out a piece of flesh.
Qiu Qi clearly saw the excited, leaping light in her eyes. That was the bloodlust belonging only to a wild beast, something that absolutely should not appear in a girl only in her teens.
The Lion God, who had been majestic and awe-inspiring just now, let out a scream and shifted from attack to defense.
“Wow… isn’t this insane? Is she even human?” Beside them, the other spectators’ praises grew louder and louder.
“I’m starting to suspect she was holding back in the first half. If she’d fought like this in the first half too, the one who couldn’t survive the first round would have been the Lion God.”
“Maybe it’s a rabbit biting after being pushed into a corner.”
“Or maybe it was for higher odds.”
In a slaughter match, if the weaker side counter-killed, the payout was extremely high. If they survived two rounds and then counter-killed at the limit, the odds would multiply tenfold. But although the rules were written clearly in black and white, throughout history, only a few people had actually achieved it.
But if that was the case, it meant there was an owner behind this girl. Yet if she truly had an owner, how could she end up stealing buns from the Third Princess’s estate and being caught by servants?
“Madam, do you think an ordinary human can really be this strong?”
Right now, Qiu Qi felt this girl could beat ten of her without any problem. She was even more worrying than the demon race that made her tremble.
Pei Yuqing had naturally taken in everything that had happened just now too. Her expression was very deep. Hearing Qiu Qi’s question, she opened her mouth to answer,
“The human race’s muscle explosiveness and physical limits are very low. The speed and strength just now have long since far exceeded what a human body can bear.”
“So…”
So she really was not human?
Qiu Qi’s gaze toward the girl forcibly changed from sympathy to fear. If she was not human, what else could she be? A ghost?
“No need to be afraid. She is not demon race either.”
“Then excluding demon race, human race, beastmen…”
Qiu Qi stared hard at the girl’s back.
“She can’t be from the elf race, right?”
Pei Yuqing shook her head again.
“No. Among elves wandering outside now, I fear I am the only one.”
Qiu Qi could not understand no matter how she thought about it.
“Then what else could she be?”
Pei Yuqing looked into the distance and said in a low voice,
“A spirit person.”
“Spirit… person?”
Qiu Qi frantically searched the original body’s memories for information related to spirit people as if flipping through an encyclopedia.
Spirit people were, simply put, lifeforms after death. But because they had no physical bodies, they could only be confined to Spirit Valley. Spirit people could choose to continue staying in Spirit Valley and live there, or choose to enter Spirit Valley’s Rebirth Lake to be reborn. They would lose their memories but regain a physical body and return to the outside world. In truth, it was more or less the same as reincarnation.
Qiu Qi had never expected that a casual complaint would actually come true. This girl really was a ghost?
“But aren’t spirit people unable to leave Spirit Valley’s range?”
“There are two methods,” Pei Yuqing said. “First, they can be sustained daily with fresh flesh and blood, but this is not a long-term solution. Second, someone must find their physical body, place it into Spirit Valley’s Tempering Lake to refine it into a pearl, and let them swallow it.”
Although the second method sounded very easy, it was extremely difficult to accomplish. Spirit people could not leave the valley to search for their bodies themselves. Even if they found their bodies, they could not touch them, much less bring them back to Spirit Valley.
So a living person could only enter Spirit Valley and complete the process Pei Yuqing had just described. But living people could survive in Spirit Valley for at most three days. During these three days, their physical bodies would wither bit by bit like flowers, until finally the body disappeared and became part of Spirit Valley.
A real-life version of: since you’re already here, don’t leave.jpg.
And that Tempering Lake was not some clear lake where people could play. It was a magma lake boiling all day long. Melting metal was something it could do in minutes.
With this level of mission difficulty, it forcibly drove away a large group of people. How many people were willing to gamble with their own lives? Even if there were people who did not fear death and wanted to try, they all went and never returned. Day by day, the number of living people in the world grew fewer, while Spirit Valley’s population density was about to explode. The old woman in charge of persuading people at Rebirth Lake was nearly bent over from the pressure of her performance quota.
Qiu Qi looked at the girl killing wildly on the field and shrank her neck.
“Are spirit people all this fierce?”
“No. Spirit people are only at their strongest in Spirit Valley. Once they leave Spirit Valley, they are no different from how they originally were.”
“That means this spirit person was already this powerful when she was alive?”
In the time it took to say these few sentences, the match on the field had already been decided. The enormous beast was sprawled on the ground, barely alive. The delicate human whom no one had favored stood in the center, welcoming victory. There were no excited cheers, no relief of surviving disaster.
Her expression was extremely indifferent, as if nothing other than fresh blood could stir even the slightest emotional fluctuation in her.
The match ended. There would be half an hour before the next match began. Usually at this time, the people in the audience seats would stand and go wander around. Qiu Qi’s gaze began searching the arena for that blue-clothed burly man from earlier. She had not forgotten the grudge from that foot stomp.
“Madam, come. I saw him.”
Qiu Qi took Pei Yuqing’s hand and squeezed through the crowd toward a blue-clothed man.
That man walked very quickly. If Qiu Qi slowed even slightly, she would almost fail to keep up. But as she followed him, she felt something was wrong. This person was not walking toward the exit at all. Instead, he twisted and turned, avoiding the crowd and entering a hidden passage no one noticed.
Qiu Qi thought, not good. Just as she was about to turn and leave, she saw a thin, small figure walking from the opposite direction toward the man. Her walking posture was not very smooth, like a skeleton with bent legs. Her whole body was injured, and her face was stained with quite a bit of blood. Her entire person radiated a strong bloody smell. But she seemed to feel no pain, dragging her limping body and walking very quickly.
It was precisely the human girl who had just defeated the Lion God in the arena.
“Give it to me.”
The man handed over a water flask.
The girl took it, sniffed it, then lifted it and poured it down her throat. Because she drank in a hurry, the liquid in the flask flowed down her neck and into her collar, and only then did Qiu Qi learn what was inside.
It was blood.
Her hand trembled, and she abruptly pressed down on her heart, which had grown restless because of the smell of blood.
Pei Yuqing sensed something wrong. Her hand rested on Qiu Qi’s shoulder, and she moved closer to guide her.
“Use the method I taught you last time. Don’t panic. Spread the energy little by little. Don’t let it gather together.”
Qiu Qi took a few deep breaths and worked hard to remain calm according to Pei Yuqing’s instructions. It really did not take long before she controlled it.
Because of the bloody scent, and because she was worried they would be discovered, Pei Yuqing picked Qiu Qi up and flew back a little, continuing to eavesdrop.
“Su Nian, there is also some money here.”
The man handed over another bundle.
“Master says you should treat your injuries.”
The girl looked at him expressionlessly, raised her hand, and swept the item onto the ground.
“Useless. Better to give me two pieces of venison.”
Qiu Qi looked at the gold notes scattered on the ground, and her heart nearly shattered with them. That was gold! One piece could buy a cart of venison! Could you recognize goods a little? If you don’t want it, give it to me!
“My lord, we should go,” Pei Yuqing reminded.
The conversation between the two people ahead was nearing its end. Very soon, they would discover them.
Qiu Qi nodded and followed Pei Yuqing toward the exit.
“That’s him!”
Blue clothes were especially eye-catching, because this kind of dye was expensive. Only people with some status could afford to wear it. Qiu Qi was very confident she absolutely had not mistaken him this time.
Pei Yuqing looked once in the direction she pointed, verified it, and said,
“Mm. It is him.”
“Madam, stay here and don’t move.”
Qiu Qi let go, leaving Pei Yuqing where she stood, then gave another instruction.
“Don’t move no matter what. Wait for me.”
Pei Yuqing had originally wanted to go with her, but seeing Qiu Qi so determined, she did not force it and nodded, indicating that she understood.
Qiu Qi crept close to the man. Taking advantage of the moment when he was speaking with his companions and had no time to observe the surroundings, she circled to his side and fiercely stepped on his shoe.
“Ah!”
A scream pierced the sky. How could Qiu Qi’s strength be something a human flesh body could withstand? The man felt as if his foot had been crushed to pieces and thrown into a furnace. It burned with fiery pain.
“Who was it?!”
By this time, Qiu Qi had already lowered her body and quickly run away. She darted in front of Pei Yuqing, grabbed her hand, and charged.
“Quick, quick, quick, Madam. Let’s run!”
The man behind them turned his gaze around and reacted a beat late. Realizing that he had been bullied by a little thing, his face flushed red with anger. He shouted for several burly men around him and charged in Qiu Qi’s direction. The crowded people were thrown into chaos by this farce, and complaints rang out nonstop.
Su Nian, who had just changed into a clean outfit and come out, happened to take this scene into her eyes. Watching the chase between Qiu Qi and the man, one after the other, she was silent for a moment, then started walking in that direction as well.
Her voice murmured faintly,
“There’s a sweet smell.”
Qiu Qi ran extremely fast. When she finally realized she was tired and stopped in a small alley to rest, Pei Yuqing reminded her,
“My lord, we could beat him.”
“Fighting and killing isn’t my style.”
Qiu Qi shook her head. Because she had run too fast, even breathing was somewhat difficult.
“And… Madam, did you see it? The way he wanted to hit me but couldn’t hit me just now was too funny. Ahahahahahahaha!”
Pei Yuqing quietly looked at Qiu Qi. Only after she had braced herself on her knees and caught some of her breath did Pei Yuqing reach out and help tidy her messy collar and hair.
“Mm. I saw it.”
The suddenly shortened distance and the unprepared touch made Qiu Qi freeze slightly. The exaggerated smile at the corners of her mouth slowly vanished. She raised her head and stared at Pei Yuqing’s natural expression.
Nice. The girl she was trying to conquer was now even more natural than her when making physical contact.
“My lord?”
“Ah? Oh, oh, oh!”
Qiu Qi returned to herself.
“Let’s go. It’s time to go to Ruyi Pavilion. I ordered a batch of goods, just right to bring home.”
While she had her bodyguard with her, she had to finish all the things that required going out, so she could continue living the happy life of staying at home.
Ruyi Pavilion was not far from the market. Pei Yuqing knew the way even better than Qiu Qi. She held her around the waist, crossed over two walls, and landed steadily in front of the shop.
Lu Ren behaved even more like someone from Heyang House than the girls at Heyang House. She had long since leaned at the door waiting for them. The eyes she used to look at Qiu Qi were full of deep affection like spring water awaiting its sponsor. Seeing the two of them appear like immortals descending from the sky, she even very politely clapped.
“My lord, Lu Ren has been waiting for you all along. You finally came.”
Qiu Qi ignored her and walked inside with her hands behind her back like a big boss.
“You’re just waiting for me and not doing business? If you go bankrupt, where am I supposed to find a purchasing agent?”
Lu Ren lowered her brows and smiled. In other people’s eyes, it looked fully shy.
“As long as my lord is here, Lu Ren will still have a mouthful of rice to eat.”
No, why did this person always speak so ambiguously?
Qiu Qi nervously went to hold Pei Yuqing’s hand first, then leaned beside her ear and said,
“Madam, don’t believe a single word she says. Not one sentence is true. She even tricked me a few days ago.”
“Mm. I only believe my lord’s words.”
With her backer present, Qiu Qi stood with much more confidence. She lifted her chin and stared into Lu Ren’s eyes.
“The reason the Saintess knew about the draft—was it you who told her?”
Lu Ren looked innocent.
“My lord, that draft was only included among the goods the Saintess purchased. I never took the initiative to converse with the Saintess.”
So that means you leaked it.
Qiu Qi smoothed her breath and continued confronting this thick-skinned person.
“Do you think I will still be willing to cooperate with a merchant like you, who doesn’t value client privacy?”
Lu Ren nodded.
“You will.”
I %…&%%!
“Then will you still do this kind of thing in the future?”
Lu Ren thought for a moment.
“If my lord does not wish certain information to be known by outsiders, Ruyi Pavilion also offers confidentiality services. One piece of information only costs five gold.”
In the end, wasn’t that just hush money? Crooked merchant! Extortion!
Qiu Qi furrowed her brows and put on an impatient expression.
“Too expensive. Make it cheaper. I don’t want every little move I make here to spread outside.”
“What Lu Ren knows is not limited to what happens in Ruyi Pavilion.”
Lu Ren smiled and corrected her.
“From my lord’s birth up until what happened one second ago, I know everything clearly. However, if my lord needs me to provide confidentiality services for you, then since you are an esteemed guest, I can introduce a more cost-effective package to you. A yearly package. Only one thousand gold.”
Qiu Qi’s hand holding Pei Yuqing trembled somewhat.
“How much?”
Lu Ren was still so considerate and attentive. She cupped both hands like a trumpet beside her mouth.
“My lord! One thousand gold! Only one thousand gold! You won’t suffer a loss or be cheated!”
“Then I won’t buy it.”
Qiu Qi said,
“Maybe someone else will offer a higher price than me, and you’ll turn around and sell me out again.”
Lu Ren twisted the long hair hanging over her shoulder around her finger, her tone ambiguous.
“My lord saying this would make Lu Ren sad. Are you not the clearest? Lu Ren is a principled businesswoman.”
That was true. Money had to be earned, but reputation also had to be established. If Lu Ren were like grass bending whichever way the wind blew and had no principles, she probably would not have so many returning customers.
“Think about it again. Just the single piece of information about that draft last time sold for three thousand gold. A thousand gold for a year is absolutely a guaranteed profit for my lord.”
Accounts could be calculated like this?
Qiu Qi pinched her own philtrum wildly, then raised her head to ask Pei Yuqing for help.
“Madam, can you bargain this thing down like that earring just now?”
“My lord, the goods at Ruyi Pavilion are all clearly marked with prices.”
Pei Yuqing offered a friendly reminder. But seeing those eyes that were about to burst into tears, she still sighed and looked at Lu Ren.
“Half price. In exchange, you also get a one-year pass to Guluo Spring.”
Guluo Sacred Water could not only help elves recover spiritual energy and nourish wounds, it also had the same effect on human spiritual practitioners. For ordinary humans, it also had beauty and skincare effects. It sold especially well among spiritual practitioners and noble young ladies. Its sales made up thirty percent of Ruyi Pavilion’s total performance, a proper major product.
The current method for humans to obtain sacred water was extremely complicated. They could not enter Guluo Mountain and could only collect what dripped out from cracks between rocks downstream. After bringing it back, they still had to filter out mud and sand, distill it, and go through a series of troublesome steps. Every liter of Guluo Sacred Water required extremely high labor costs. This was also why a mere bottle of elf bathwater could sell for an astronomical price.
But now, Pei Yuqing, as the elf princess, opened her mouth and wanted to give Lu Ren a pass. That meant she would only need to pay shipping costs later to obtain large amounts of sacred water. The profit was easy to imagine!
Lu Ren had not expected that Pei Yuqing in front of Qiu Qi would be this easy to talk to. She was so pleasantly surprised that she could barely hold back the smile on her face. In her heart, she only wanted to say to Qiu Qi: Please, when you come to my little shop in the future, remember to bring your madam! I will welcome you even more!
“What? You don’t want it?”
Seeing Lu Ren take so long to reply, Pei Yuqing continued,
“Then we can discuss other solutions again. But Boss Lu, don’t blame me for not reminding you. This should be the best option I can give you.”
Those words were enough to make Lu Ren’s back chill for quite a while. She hurriedly waved her hand.
“Miss Pei, you misunderstand. I was thinking that since the two of you take such good care of Lu Ren’s business, how should Lu Ren repay you? Why don’t you look around and see if there is anything in this room that you like? Just pick it.”
“Really?”
“Of course, my lord. Lu Ren never lies.”
Qiu Qi sneered inwardly: You only don’t lie when facing money. If my Steward Yan’s daughter weren’t already dead, I would have thought the two of you were mother and daughter.
“Then I won’t be polite. That batch of goods I ordered—give me a fifty percent discount on it too.”
Qiu Qi directly threw out a king bomb the moment she moved.
“My lord, the price of that batch of goods has already been pressed to the lowest. It was already a low-profit deal that doesn’t make money. Fifty percent…”
“Fifty percent is not sincere enough, is it?”
Pei Yuqing smiled and looked at her.
“Shopkeeper Lu is truly polite. We are not people who greed for small benefits either. If we say fifty percent, then it will be fifty percent. We won’t ask for a single coin more.”
Not a single coin more, but absolutely not a single coin less. Was that what she meant?
Without even looking into Pei Yuqing’s eyes, Lu Ren could read the pressure in her tone. Money was worthless before one’s life. Lu Ren could only grit her teeth.
“Fifty percent it is.”
Lu Ren: Treat everything I said just now as farting. Please, when you come next time, definitely do not bring this Pei woman!
After finishing the bargaining, Qiu Qi paid very straightforwardly.
“My lord, your goods.”
Lu Ren handed her the compression sphere.
Through the transparent compression sphere, Pei Yuqing saw the shrunken things inside. They were neatly arranged plants that looked like black bamboo poles.
“My lord, what is this?”
“This thing doesn’t exist where we are. It only grows in the Jiu tribe’s territory. They plant it specifically to raise blood rabbits. Usually, they casually call it black bamboo, but I gave it a new name: sugarcane.”
Blood rabbits were a unique rabbit species that grew in the Jiu tribe. Originally, most lived in the wild. Later, humans accidentally discovered that their blood tasted sweet, so they began capturing and raising them in large quantities. The people raising them discovered that they usually liked to find black bamboo to eat, so they set aside special planting fields. But because this thing looked black and ugly on the outside and did not seem to have much juice, it was automatically categorized as an inedible plant.
Also because no one had discovered its value yet, it sold extremely cheaply.
“Then what use does this sugarcane have? Why do you need to stockpile so much of it?”
“Once I make the thing, Madam will know.”
Qiu Qi smiled mysteriously.
“For now, let’s go. The agreed time has arrived. Everyone should be waiting for us.”
“All right.”
They met the others at the street corner agreed on beforehand. Qiu Qi had originally thought she had already bought enough little trinkets, but these three truly broadened her horizons.
The basket Lan Tang carried in her hands was bigger than her head. It was mostly filled with food and drinks, which Qiu Qi could still guess. But Yin Ci—someone who looked so mature and steady—was now holding two swords in her hands, carrying a long and heavy Tang blade on her back, and had several curved knives hanging at her waist. She looked like a walking weapon rack.
And Yan Wan had a potted plant on her head, a bag of seeds in her left hand, and a pushcart full of fertilizer in her right hand. Once again, she refreshed Qiu Qi’s definition of shopping… Were these people here to buy stock too?
Qiu Qi: “Do you people not know what it means to save money?”
Yin Ci’s gaze swept up and down Qiu Qi, who was holding sugar paintings in both hands.
“You don’t look like you understand either.”
Qiu Qi was unconvinced.
“These sugar paintings were bought for all of you. I drew them myself! I even saved a manual labor fee!”
“Oh.”
Yin Ci looked uninterested.
“Little Ci, is it because you don’t like it that you’re unwilling to accept it?”
Qiu Qi flattened her mouth, and her green-tea acting came as soon as she wanted it.
“But I even specially drew your favorite knife for you. Drawing it was so tiring…”
Yin Ci’s back molars tightened, and her breathing grew heavier by several beats. It was this name again, dancing wildly on top of her sore spot. Was this demon deliberately provoking her?
“Yin Ci.”
Pei Yuqing’s gaze drifted toward her.
“Answer my lord’s words.”
Yin Ci clicked her tongue.
“Thank you. I’ll accept it.”
“Here, little plump bird, this one is yours.”
Qiu Qi handed the remaining wing pattern to Lan Tang.
Unlike Pei Yuqing’s, the wings she drew for Lan Tang were feathered wings. They were less transparent but had a very full sense of layers, suitable for her as a bird-beast.
Lan Tang already favored sweet foods, and this sugar painting was indeed beautiful. Her eyes filled with surprise, and she very sincerely said to Qiu Qi,
“Thank you.”
Only, before her outstretched hand could touch the stick of the sugar painting, a gust of wind suddenly swept before everyone’s eyes. Before half a breath had passed, the sugar painting in Qiu Qi’s hand was gone.
She looked into the distance with the original body’s eyesight that exceeded 5.2 several times over.
“Fuck. Isn’t that the spirit person?”
Children stealing candy from children wasn’t illegal, is that it?
Author’s Note:
You’re about to be educated.
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