At this moment, Lin Qinghen looked at the darkening sky, feeling a bit helpless.

No one had come by so far; it was really too boring. He hummed a little tune, trying to bring some good luck, but it backfired.

The main issue was that time was running out. He could only stay for another fifteen minutes at most before he needed to head off to meet the garbage truck.

Even offering it for free had attracted no one, primarily because of his terrible location. Moreover, Lin Qinghen didn’t dare to make too much noise here to attract attention.

Not to mention the other vendors eyeing him like a hawk, there was also the fact that there were too many Lin family members around. After all, they were one of the top families in the Spirit World, boasting tens of thousands of Spirit Masters, and many were gathered in Dongtian Mansion.

Just a while ago, he had already seen several people wearing Lin family insignia pass by. Even if he couldn’t sell his medicine, he didn’t want anyone recognizing him.

He was nowhere near ready to expose his identity, especially in front of members of the Lin family.

In the last fifteen minutes, feeling both hungry and broke, Lin Qinghen rummaged through his belongings and pulled out a bag of dried meat.

This was his emergency ration he prepared half a month ago, something he grabbed this morning as he left home since he was too poor to afford food outside.

He had also brought along meat buns, but he had happily fed most of them to the Black Armored Elephant on his way out, leaving only the dried meat to satisfy his hunger.

Lin Qinghen squatted there, chewing away, mentally prepared to sell not a single bottle today—oh, no, he wouldn’t even give any away—and suddenly felt like something was watching him.

He looked around but saw no one.

Yet, that feeling of being watched persisted, growing stronger.

As night deepened, the light around his stall dimmed. Lin Qinghen, using the glow from the inn, spotted… uh, a little black dog at his feet?

This thing definitely looked like a little dog, small enough to fit in his palm, fluffy all over like a round black fur ball. Its eyes were round and shiny, resembling little glass beads, blending into the night. No wonder Lin Qinghen hadn’t noticed when it arrived.

Upon closer inspection, the little dog had a collar around its neck, indicating it was likely someone’s pet that had accidentally wandered off.

There were no signs of spiritual energy emanating from it, so Lin Qinghen wasn’t afraid. He reached out and touched its little head; it was indeed soft like cotton candy.

“Where’s your owner?”

The little dog didn’t run away from his touch. Instead, it stared at him and let out a few soft barks. Lin Qinghen realized that it wasn’t looking at him but rather at the dried meat in his hand.

Ah, it must be hungry.

No wonder it had been staring at him and wouldn’t leave.

Lin Qinghen was quite skilled at making dried meat, having learned from villagers in his previous life. In this world, it was unique and smelled delicious—no wonder it attracted the dog.

Since no one had come by for so long, it wouldn’t hurt to share some with the little dog.

“Alright, you can be my first customer,” he muttered to himself.

He tossed a few pieces of dried meat to the little dog.

To his surprise, this little pup could eat quite a bit. Lin Qinghen gave it four or five pieces, which it quickly devoured. After finishing, the dog became even more excited, running around Lin Qinghen’s feet, barking for more.

“Your owner won’t throw you away for eating too much, will they?” Lin Qinghen poked its little nose. “Those few pieces added together are about your size; you won’t burst, right?”

The little black ball of fur replied with a cheerful bark.

Lin Qinghen sighed, thinking that since he had to pack up and head back anyway, he didn’t have time to help it find its owner, so he decided to give it all the dried meat he had left to at least fill it up.

Just then, he heard a voice coming from a distance.

“Xiao Bao! So you’re here; I finally found you!”

A girl came running over from the other side of the street, looking about fourteen or fifteen years old, dressed in a pink and white outfit, her long ponytail swaying as she moved. The tassels in her hair jingled, making her appear cute and lively.

The little dog quickly leaped into her arms, nuzzling against her affectionately.

Looks like it found its owner.

Finally achieving something today, Lin Qinghen was just about to pack up and wrap up a day where he didn’t earn a single cent when the little dog, seeing him about to leave, suddenly became reluctant. It squirmed in the girl’s arms, trying to bite at Lin Qinghen’s clothing.

“Huh?” The girl was puzzled, holding the dog back to block Lin Qinghen’s exit. “Why is it so attached to you? I’ve had Xiao Bao for six months, but I’ve never seen it like this with me!”

“I saw it was hungry earlier, so I fed it some dried meat,” Lin Qinghen said, pulling out a piece for her. “I was originally going to eat this myself, but I didn’t expect it would like it.”

Sure enough, as soon as the dried meat appeared, the little dog raised its head to nibble at it, quickly finishing it off.

“Wow!” The girl looked amazed. “I usually feed it the best spirit items, and it never seemed this fond of them. Hey, vendor, can you give me… no, no, I don’t want to take advantage of you; just sell me a few more packs.”

Lin Qinghen replied, “Miss, you’ve misunderstood. I’m not selling dried meat; I’m selling medicine.”

He pointed seriously at the sign on his stall.

“Homeostasis Powder?” The girl wrinkled her nose. “That stuff is everywhere; what are you even selling? Seriously, you’re being so stubborn. Whether it’s money or something else, it’s all for sale.”

Lin Qinghen instinctively wanted to correct her out of pride for his product: “My Homeostasis Powder is different from others…”

“Ugh!” The girl shot him a glare. “Just say how much dried meat you have left.”

Lin Qinghen pulled out the small bag from his pocket. There wasn’t much left—about five or six pieces.

The girl immediately snatched the little bag from him, casually picking up a bottle of Homeostasis Powder from his stall and handing him a thin, translucent crystal chip.

This chip felt warm to the touch; it was made from compressed spirit stones, inscribed with spirit seals, which made it impossible to counterfeit. Here, it functioned like paper money, with one piece worth 1,000 Spirit Coins.

“I’ll buy your medicine, and the dried meat will be a bonus. Does that work for you?”

Lin Qinghen was taken aback. “…That’s fine.”

“But my medicine isn’t that expensive,” Lin Qinghen thought for a moment and replied earnestly, “I’m currently running a promotion—it’s free.”

“Hey, I have money; I wouldn’t just take someone’s things for free. You keep it,” the girl waved her hand, “consider it a deposit for next time or just a thank you for taking care of Xiao Bao for a bit. If Xiao Bao hasn’t gotten tired of it, I’ll come back tomorrow. You’ll still be here selling, right?”

Lin Qinghen hesitated for a moment, seeming a bit uncertain, but ultimately nodded.

With a positive response, the girl seemed to be in a hurry to do something, bouncing away with the dog in her arms.

Lin Qinghen looked at the time; he needed to pack up and head back to the Lin family quickly.

He hadn’t expected that today he sold the dried meat, with the medicine being a bonus. As he cleaned up, he found it somewhat amusing.

What he didn’t expect was that the person who had been sitting above him, listening to his conversation, was also rather amused by the outcome.

Yin Jiuxiao initially thought that the little fool selling at the foot of the wall was quite lucky today; he finally had a customer and appeared both foolish and dazed while selling.

He was clearly interested in the dried meat but insisted on selling that unwanted Homeostasis Powder, and even after receiving payment, emphasized that it was free, as if afraid others wouldn’t know.

His interest should have stopped once Lin Qinghen finished packing up.

However, the content he overheard next genuinely surprised Yin Jiuxiao, extending this unexpected amusement.

“I hadn’t noticed the pattern on that dog’s collar at first; I only realized it once there was a bit of light… and the subtle patterns on the girl’s clothes; it turns out she’s from the Fuxin Hall.

From the traces on her hand and the scent on the dog, she should also be an alchemist. I wonder if my elixirs will be tossed aside if they fall into her hands, but what if?” The little crow at the wall murmured to himself. “I wonder if this counts as a good thing; forget it, let’s do our best and leave the rest to fate.”

Being able to recognize a person’s identity within just a few encounters certainly indicated he wasn’t a foolish person.

So this little crow wasn’t really dumb after all.

At this moment, Lin Qinghen had finished packing up and was ready to leave. He thought he could already hear the sound of the Black Armored Elephant’s hooves clopping on the ground.

But as he passed by the inn’s entrance, he was stopped by someone—a small servant, likely a helper at the inn, glanced at him and called him to a halt.

“Were you the one selling Homeostasis Powder just now?”

Lin Qinghen hesitated for a moment and nodded.

“Our guest heard you calling out, and he wants to know if that Homeostasis Powder is still free.”

Lin Qinghen replied, “I said it was free, of course he can have it. Does he want it?”

The servant nodded.

Then he took a bottle from his pack and handed it to him. The servant accepted the medicine and turned to leave, muttering as he went, “Honestly, what good is free stuff? Don’t end up with a sickness.”

Lin Qinghen glanced up at the inn, wondering who had heard his shouting.

Well, I suppose it’s… fate?

Hmm, he sold two bottles today and made a thousand; that didn’t seem too bad.

With a sense of contentment, Lin Qinghen happily walked away.

At that moment, the garbage truck had arrived at the street corner, picking up Lin Qinghen on the way as they headed toward the back door of the Lin family to return home.

Meanwhile, Yin Jiuxiao, staying at the inn, also received what was purported to be the “best Homeostasis Powder in the Spirit World” for free from the inn’s servant.

Unbeknownst to Lin Qinghen, at that moment, apart from himself, someone had opened the bottle cap for the first time and examined his medicine carefully.

Then, Yin Jiuxiao was truly stunned for a while, softly murmuring to himself.

“He really wasn’t lying; this is indeed the best Homeostasis Powder.”

The little crow probably hadn’t found anyone to test the tier of this elixir carefully, nor did he have any relevant testing experience; otherwise, he wouldn’t have so easily sold it.

Because what Yin Jiuxiao held in his hand was a one-of-a-kind, extraordinary Four-Star Homeostasis Powder.

Author’s Note:

Yin Jiuxiao: Is this really something I can get for free?