Xie Shuci’s emotions come and go quickly.

As his attention was diverted, he forgot about the hidden danger lurking in the shadows. Xie Shuci and Chu Wenfeng explored the city together, full of excitement and curiosity.

Afterward, when they got tired of playing, Xie Shuci took the three of them to  “Manjiang Hall.”

From afar, the waiter at Manjiang Hall spotted Xie Shuci and his group. His eyes sparkled with flattery, waving a white handkerchief like a brothel madam and shouting, “Young Master Xie, Young Master Xie!”

With his head held high and a confident stride, Xie Shuci walked up, raising his chin while arching his eyebrows, and asked, “Is it true that your boss said my party could dine here?”

The waiter bowed, “Of course, it’s true! Our boss has been eagerly awaiting your visit along with your esteemed friends.”

Pretending to be composed, Xie Shuci waved his hand and said, “Good, bring us all the famous dishes your restaurant has to offer.”

The waiter smiled obsequiously, “Young Master Xie, we have already prepared a private room for you. Please follow me.”

“Lead the way.”

The waiter led the group, with Xie Shuci and his companions following behind.

As they passed through the main hall, many cultivators glanced at them, sizing them up with curious looks.

Being the center of attention pleased Xie Shuci’s vanity greatly.

He held his head high and chest out, seeming to disregard everyone else. In front of so many onlookers, surely no one would dare to snatch his bronze pill cauldron, right?

Seeing Xie Shuci acting so arrogantly, Chu Wenfeng sneered and whispered, “Xie Shuci, what’s the difference between what you’re doing now and people swindling for food and drinks? An alchemist? You’ve got some nerve.”

Xie Shuci was a little unhappy and turned to glare at Chu Wenfeng. “I will become an alchemist from now, so it’s not swindling. If you think I’m still a swindler, then why did you come along? You can wait at the door if you have a problem with it.”

“Why should I?”

“Then just shut up.”

Chu Wenfeng was infuriated, glaring back at Xie Shuci, who made a grimace at him.

“You…”

“Wenfeng,” Chu Guiyi interjected, frowning at him.

Chu Wenfeng was angry, saying, “Senior Brother, why do you always take his side? He’s just a swi…”

As his words were about to fall, Xie An, who was walking beside Xie Shuci, suddenly stopped in his tracks.

All three turned their gaze to him.

Xie An pursed his lips and looked back in the direction of Chu Wenfeng.

Chu Wenfeng inexplicably swallowed the words “swindler” that was about to slip out.

Perhaps because Chu Wenfeng didn’t continue, Xie An turned his head back and continued walking.

It took Xie Shuci a moment to react to Xie An’s meaning. He turned back with a smile and hooked his arm around Chu Wenfeng’s neck, saying, “Talking behind my back in front of Xie An, are you asking for trouble?”

Chu Wenfeng felt a bit embarrassed. For a moment, he was actually scared by a blind man? But Xie An was blind, so he couldn’t really confront him. He pushed Xie Shuci away with some frustration and said, “Why is everyone siding with you? It’s annoying.”

“Don’t be angry.” Xie Shuci bravely reached out to pinch his cheek, but Chu Wenfeng swatted his hand away.

“Do you wanna die?”

Xie Shuci smiled instead of getting angry and whispered in his ear, “I heard the roasted chicken at Manjiang Hall is especially delicious. Don’t be mad; I’ll give you both chicken legs later.”

Chu Wenfeng was a child at heart and instantly let go of his unhappiness. “Really?”

“Really.”

The waiter led them into a room with simple and elegant decorations, filled with a faint aroma of incense.

Coming to Manjiang Hall to have food and fun under the guise of an alchemist, Xie Shuci was actually feeling a bit guilty.

Before the waiter left, he took out a bottle of pills from his pocket. He didn’t know its effects, but it looked exceptionally clear and translucent, likely a good item. He poured out a pill and handed it to the waiter.

“Here, this is your tip,” Xie Shuci said.

Pills were very precious to ordinary people and could fetch a good price even if they didn’t use them.

The waiter lowered his head to look at the pill, then looked up with a dazed expression.

Thinking that he might find it too little, Xie Shuci poured out another pill. “Two of them?”

The waiter was completely dumbfounded, opening his mouth wide and staring in disbelief.

Xie Shuci frowned, about to pour out a third pill when Chu Wenfeng snatched the bottle away and said in disbelief, “Xie Shuci, have you gone crazy?”

“Huh?” Xie Shuci looked puzzled. “What are you doing?”

At the table, Xie An chuckled in a nonchalant manner.

After being stunned for a moment, Chu Guiyi also let out a low laugh.

The waiter snapped back to reality, afraid that Xie Shuci might change his mind, so he quickly hid the two pills in his sleeve. His face turned red, and tears welled up at the corners of his eyes as he deeply bowed to Xie Shuci, almost kneeling before him.

“Thank you, Young Master! Thank you, Young Master!”

Seeing his exaggerated reaction, Xie Shuci was puzzled and replied with two vague hmm.

After the group left, Xie Shuci looked at the three of them with confusion and asked, “It’s just two pills; why did he react like that?”

Chu Wenfeng gave him a disappointed look and handed the pill bottle back to him, scolding, “Are you clueless? The pills you gave him are top-grade Healing Pills. Even if he sold just one, he could buy half of Manjiang Hall! When he gets back home, he’ll probably put your name on a monument and worship it like an ancestor.”

“… ” Xie Shuci opened his mouth but remained speechless.

After a moment, he rubbed his numb face and asked, “Really?”

Chu Wenfeng said, “Is your brain not working properly?”

Taking a deep breath, Xie Shuci looked at the three of them seriously and said, “Brothers, I might have struck it rich.”

Chu Wenfeng said, “?”

Xie Shuci glanced at each of them, with Chu Guiyi’s expression calm, and Chu Wenfeng looking at him as if he were an idiot.

Xie Shuci walked to the edge of the table, took off his small bag, and shook it twice. A bronze pill cauldron and several bottles and jars rolled out onto the table.

Chu Wenfeng casually picked up a bottle, poured out a pill, and upon closer inspection, his eyes widened. He found that it contained top-grade pills!

Chu Guiyi’s gaze also involuntarily froze.

Xie Shuci didn’t say a word but continued to take out bottles of pills from his left and right sleeves, as well as some wrapped in cloth from his pocket, and even lifted his robe to reveal three or four bottles tied to his waist. He piled them all on the table, totaling more than a dozen bottles.

“There are still around thirty bottles in the inn. I didn’t bring them with me,” Xie Shuci whispered to the three.

Even someone as composed as Chu Guiyi couldn’t help but gasp in amazement.

As for Chu Wenfeng, he swallowed nervously and carefully poured the pills back into their respective bottles.

Only Xie An remained unresponsive throughout.

“Top grade… Reincarnation Pill…” Chu Wenfeng picked up another bottle and poured out a brown pill. The pill’s body was round and wrapped in a faint blue aura, exuding a strong vitality.

Chu Wenfeng tried to handle the pill delicately, staring at it fixedly, afraid he might accidentally crush it. “One top-grade pill is equivalent to ten high-grade pills. Xie Shuci, not only have you struck it rich, but with these things, you can already walk sideways with top cultivation sects in the cultivation world. Even the top one hundred sects would give you three parts of respect upon seeing you.”

Xie Shuci stared, speechless. “Is it true? Are these things really that valuable?”

Chu Guiyi’s expression was complicated as he said, “It’s not just because they are valuable. Shuci, all the pills you have are top-grade. You may not understand, but in the cultivation world, even one top-grade pill is extremely hard to come by. It’s not just because of its rarity; more importantly, there are very few alchemists who can refine high-grade pills, let alone top-grade pills.”

“Holy…!” Xie Shuci stared in disbelief, then sat down beside Xie An and numbly bumped his shoulder, saying, “Xie An, did you hear what they said?”

Xie An nodded lightly.

Xie Shuci was in shock. “So, I’m so rich…”

Chu Guiyi asked, “Shuci, where did you get these pills from?”

Xie Shuci replied, “I… My fellow sect brothers gave them to me.”

Chu Guiyi’s expression turned solemn. “May I ask which sect Young Master is from?”

Confused, Xie Shuci replied, “My family is just a small sect, and I’ve been expelled from it.”

Chu Wenfeng said, “A small sect? Which small sect can produce top-grade pills? There are no more than five alchemy sects in the entire cultivation world that can do that.”

“Really?” Xie Shuci looked bewildered as he carefully recalled the memories of the original body.

In the memories, the Xie family was indeed just a small immortal sect with nothing remarkable. Even a few years ago, when a disciple was seriously injured, the entire sect couldn’t produce a single pill to save them, ultimately watching the disciple die. If they were capable of refining so many top-grade pills, how could they have been unable to save a wounded disciple?

Originally, there were no details about this small immortal sect in the book. Could it be that because he, Xie Shuci transmigrated into the story, the plot had changed, and a complete background for the small immortal sect was added?

“Xie Shuci, as long as I kill you, all these things will be ours,” Chu Wenfeng said, looking at Xie Shuci with a sinister smile on his face.

Xie Shuci shivered and instinctively moved closer to Xie An’s back, threatening, “Stinky boy, you’d better not have any ideas. My brother Xie An is highly skilled in swordsmanship. Do you know that he can kill a person from ten steps away? If you dare to lay a finger on me, you’ll immediately die under his sword!”

Xie An paused and raised his head, facing Chu Wenfeng with a seemingly amused smile.

Remembering that he was intimidated by this blind man just now, Chu Wenfeng touched his nose uncomfortably and muttered, “You only know how to hide behind others. Are you still a man?”

“Enough,” Chu Guiyi said helplessly. “Wenfeng, stop teasing him.”

Chu Wenfeng snorted coldly, put the pills back, and sat cross-armed.

Then, Chu Guiyi turned to Xie Shuci again and said, “Shuci, you have a simple mind, and Young Master Xie is visually impaired. Having these things may not be a good thing for you. When innocent people possess a precious treasure, they might be falsely accused of wrongdoing. In the future, remember not to reveal these things in front of outsiders.”

Chu Wenfeng sneered, “Him? Even if someone sells him, he can still count money for others. In my opinion, these things might change hands someday.”

Xie Shuci thought about it and found his words reasonable. Just holding the bronze pill cauldron had already attracted the attention of others. If they were to find out that he also had so many top-grade pills, Xie Shuci felt that he wouldn’t survive for more than a few days before meeting the same fate as Little Blind.

Silently, Xie Shuci began to open his small bag, preparing to put everything back inside.

Halfway through, he suddenly looked up at the two opposite him. “Take a look and see what you need. I’ll give it to you. Each person can only take one, no more. I still need to save money for Xie An and my future wife.”

Chu Guiyi and Chu Wenfeng were both stunned, looking at Xie Shuci in surprise.

“You want to give them to us?”

“Are you out of your mind? You know how precious they are, and yet you want to give them to us?”

Xie Shuci smiled and said, “Consider it as a gift for meeting you both. Thank you for helping me out that day.”

After saying that, he turned to Chu Wenfeng and continued, “Kid, did you see that? This is how a true hero behaves. A hero treats his friends with generosity. If you stop opposing me, follow me, and call me ‘brother,’ I can offer you even better things.”

Xie An furrowed his eyebrows, his hand holding onto the bell pendant at his waist, looking displeased.

Chu Wenfeng rolled his eyes, unable to resist the temptation of the top-grade pills, but he kept his mouth shut.

Chu Guiyi laughed heartily and was the first to accept the offer, “Shuci, I’ll take you up on that ‘friend’ term. I won’t pretend to be polite. We do indeed need the pills. Thank you.”

Chu Guiyi and Chu Wenfeng each selected one pill, and Xie Shuci packed up the rest.

At that moment, Xie An, who had been silent all along, tapped the table twice.

The three of them looked up, and Xie An turned his head to look out the window. Simultaneously, they heard faint footsteps stop outside the door, deliberately muffled.