CHAPTER 29 (PART 2)

“A demon race member?” The person glanced at Yu Youyou’s tail in surprise but didn’t seem to care much. Clearly, such things weren’t important to him.

He only lowered his voice and asked, “That storage pouch—does it contain something you need?”

Qi Nanfeng worried that this guy might steal the pouch and refuse to hand it over, so he tried to act tough, using an odd flicking tongue sound as he threatened, “Don’t ask so many questions. Bring the storage pouch, and you’ll get your five thousand spirit stones without a single one missing.”

The man chuckled, as if seeing through his act. “The second young master of the Su family must be carrying a top-grade storage pouch. It’ll have a high-level spiritual imprint that only a Nascent Soul expert can erase and open. If I take it, it’s useless to me.”

Storage pouches like the ones used by the Shield Gate disciples were common, which was why that trickster medical cultivator could steal them so easily.

“Meet me here in three days. The trade will be pouch for spirit stones, fair and square.”

Before leaving, the rogue cultivator suddenly said, “By the way, my alias is Shen Gun. If you’re ever interested in someone else’s storage pouch, just go to the Flower Wine Alley next door and ask for me.”

Yu Youyou: “…”

So, big shot, you’ve expanded your business from Tonghua County all the way to the Far West City?

….

By the time the three of them returned, it was already midnight.

Fortunately, everyone here was young and restless. Plenty of people had sneaked out for fun, so Elder Niu and Qu Qingmiao didn’t say anything about their absence.

Elder Ma still hadn’t returned from his trip, so there was no way to confirm anything.

In the following days, Extreme West City grew increasingly lively.

Not to mention the three major sects of the Western Territory, even the two great sects of the Northern Territory—the Hanging Pot Sect and the Myriad Laws Sect—had also arrived in Extreme West City.

The wealthiest cultivators from the Southern Territory didn’t use teleportation arrays. Instead, they arrived aboard an ultra-luxurious giant cloudship.

That cloudship was so massive it resembled an island, complete with pavilions and towers, appearing like a cluster of opulent palaces. No one disembarked; instead, the Western Territory’s merchants personally delivered all kinds of spiritual delicacies and wines onto the ship.

Among them were a hundred bowls of crab roe noodles—the very same noodles that Eastern Territory cultivators had queued an hour just to taste!

This sight filled the Eastern Territory cultivators with envy.

Especially the debt-ridden shield cultivators. “How many spirit stones would that cloudship cost? We can’t even afford to rent one, and we have to rely on pill cultivators and sword cultivators just to mooch a bowl of crab roe noodles.”

The sword cultivators were equally envious.

To improve, they had to fight constantly, leading to frequent weapon breakage and injuries. Their spirit stones were spent like flowing water on forging swords and buying medicines.

While everyone was focused on gawking at the Southern Territory’s cloudship, Yu Youyou and her two companions quietly sneaked off to the black market once again.

Of course, this time, Su Yizhi and Qi Nanfeng didn’t forget to bring their fake tails.

Shen Gun was already waiting at the agreed location.

Seeing the three tails, he immediately recognized them and beckoned them over stealthily. “Quick, this way.”

Under the dim glow of the black market’s illumination array, Yu Youyou saw the mustard seed pouch in his hands—delicate and exquisite, engraved with several formations. It was identical to the one Su Liubai had worn on his waist last time.

Without hesitation, Yu Youyou took out five thousand spirit stones and tossed them to him.

To avoid recognition, she had specifically bought a common low-grade mustard seed pouch from the market, though it was a pity to waste two hundred low-grade spirit stones on it.

Shen Gun didn’t even bother to count the spirit stones. He simply cupped his hands with a grin. “It’s always a pleasure working with straightforward people. I’ll take my leave now—until we meet again!”

He ran off faster than a dog, disappearing into the shadows of the black market.

Yu Youyou and the others didn’t linger either. With the mustard seed pouch secured, they returned to their lodging.

Unexpectedly, the Eastern Territory cultivators were gathered in the courtyard, chatting animatedly while snacking on melon seeds. Even the sword cultivators looked unusually excited, their faces slightly flushed.

As soon as the trio returned, Qu Qingmiao frowned. “Where did you all go?”

“We wanted crab roe noodles and went to queue for them.”

Qu Qingmiao didn’t press further. She merely nodded in acknowledgment before warning, “Do not wander around these days. The Four Territories Tournament is approaching, and many unidentified cultivators have arrived in Extreme West City. Just now, we heard that Su Liubai of the Hanging Pot Sect had his mustard seed pouch stolen.”

Elder Ma, upon hearing that the Hanging Pot Sect had suffered misfortune, was delighted. “Who knows how many spirit stones were in that mustard seed pouch? The Hanging Pot Sect is furious, and they’re scouring the city for the thief. If you ask me, that thief must be a master from the Empty Void Sect to have stolen from those bastards.”

Turning his gaze to Yu Youyou, he smirked. “Didn’t you earn ten thousand spirit stones recently? Come, let this Elder safeguard them for you—better than having a thief steal them.”

At this moment, Yu Changan, who had remained silent in the corner, recalled something and gave Yu Youyou a quiet glance.

He still remembered how she charged him ten thousand spirit stones while only demanding a thousand from Kuang Langsheng—blatantly playing favorites.

Yu Youyou mercilessly rejected Elder Ma. “Handing them to you is no different from getting robbed. No thanks.”

The shield cultivators standing nearby, however, remained unbothered. They weren’t afraid—after all, they were drowning in debt and had no spirit stones to steal.

Jiang Yuan crossed his arms and frowned. “I heard that Su Liubai even brought along the Twin Soul Furnace that Su Feibai used three years ago. With such an uproar, could it be that the furnace was stolen?”

Qi Nanfeng immediately perked up, sensing that it was time for him to showcase his acting skills again.

“What’s the Twin Soul Furnace? I’ve never heard of it before.” He feigned complete ignorance, his expression brimming with innocence and curiosity.

“That’s a pseudo-immortal-grade treasure of the Hanging Pot Sect. Though not a true immortal artifact, it far surpasses ordinary high-grade treasures.”

Qu Qingmiao explained further, “More importantly, it has no cultivation restrictions—even a Foundation Establishment cultivator can use it. That’s why it has always been held by the Su family’s direct lineage. It was previously in Su Feibai’s possession, so Su Liubai must have obtained it for the Four Territories Tournament.”

Yu Youyou and her companions exchanged glances.

Damn. They had only known the furnace was valuable, but they hadn’t realized it was this valuable. They had truly struck gold!

The uproar caused by the theft spread throughout Extreme West City.

By the time the Eastern Territory cultivators went out for dinner, even the city’s mortals had caught wind of the news.

As Yu Youyou and her group feasted on roast lamb, snippets of conversation drifted into their ears.

“I heard that this afternoon, notices were posted all over the city. Anyone who retrieves the mustard seed pouch will be rewarded with a hundred thousand spirit stones, and even those providing clues will receive ten thousand!”

Su Yizhi, feeling tempted, leaned toward Yu Youyou. “That’s a tempting offer. I’m half-inclined to turn ourselves in.”

Unfortunately, they couldn’t capitalize on that opportunity, because just as they finished their last bite of lamb, the latest news arrived—

Someone had provided information, claiming that three demon cultivators had plotted in the black market to steal Su Liubai’s mustard seed pouch.

Not only that, but those three demon cultivators were allegedly so audacious that they had even tried to hire an assassin to kill Su Liubai!

The Hanging Pot Sect was notorious for its extreme racial discrimination. During the ancient war between humans and demons, they had poisoned demon clans’ water sources, wiping out several major demon tribes. It wasn’t far-fetched for a demon cultivator to want Su Liubai dead.

Upon hearing this, Su Liubai completely abandoned the search for his mustard seed pouch. From that point on, he holed up in his quarters, refusing to eat anything except his personally refined Fasting Pills, afraid that he might be poisoned like those demons of the past.

Everyone speculated about who had provided the information and who had stolen the mustard seed pouch.

Only Yu Youyou remained unfazed.

Without a doubt, the one who had reported them was Shen Gun—the same man who had taken their money and now pocketed a reward from the other side as well. As expected of the most infamous con artist in Tonghua County.

But that person probably never expected that among the so-called three demon cultivators, there was only half a demon.

When it came to scheming, Yu Youyou was still a notch above him.

….

Late at night, Yu Youyou and her two companions knocked on Elder Ma’s door.

“What are you three sneaking around for instead of sleeping?” Elder Ma squinted at them.

Yu Youyou didn’t say much and simply took out the storage pouch and handed it over.

Elder Ma was initially amused upon seeing it. “Little girl, are you really so afraid your spirit stones will be stolen that you want me to safeguard them? Let me be clear, once it’s in my hands, there’s no taking it back—”

Halfway through his sentence, his voice abruptly stopped. He examined the storage pouch repeatedly, his expression growing serious. “Where did you get this storage pouch?”

Yu Youyou lied without blinking. “Found it on the way to eat crab roe noodles.”

Elder Ma only took a quick glance before his expression turned complicated. “You little rascal, don’t try to fool me. This isn’t something just anyone can afford, and do you really think the ‘Su’ character embroidered on it is just decoration?”

The three of them, who hadn’t had the chance to inspect the storage pouch closely: Mistake.

But Elder Ma didn’t have time to interrogate further. His eyes were practically glued to the storage pouch as he rubbed it, still finding it hard to believe. “Could this really be Su Liubai’s?”

Yu Youyou nodded and then dropped another bombshell. “Mhm. If nothing goes wrong, the Twin Soul Furnace you were talking about earlier should also be inside.”

The usually shameless Elder Ma was completely stunned, at a loss for words.

Yu Youyou pondered for a moment and, in a rare show of seriousness, said, “Elder Ma, we’ll need you to open this storage pouch. If the Twin Soul Furnace is indeed inside, I’d like to ask you to pass it on to Senior Sister Qu. I heard that three years ago, the fifth-grade spiritual herb she found was stolen by Su Feibai, so let’s consider this as compensation for her.”

She quickly added, “But I want the spirit stones inside.”

After all, she had spent five thousand to obtain this!

Before Elder Ma could respond, Qu Qingmiao and Elder Niu emerged from the room. They were holding some medicinal herbs, clearly having been discussing something inside Elder Ma’s room all along, though the three hadn’t noticed.

“….” The trio immediately tensed up. For some reason, it was fine for Elder Ma to know they had hired a thief, but being caught by the other two made them feel like they were about to be reprimanded.

That was precisely why they had unanimously decided on Elder Ma when discussing how to break the storage pouch’s seal.

Probably because Elder Ma didn’t seem like a proper person?

Sure enough, the ever-righteous Elder Niu marched over with a stern face, his entire body trembling as he raised his hand—he was about to hit them!

But the anticipated smack never came. Instead, all three of them received heavy pats on their shoulders.

“Well done!” Elder Niu’s hands were shaking with excitement, his old eyes shining, his voice even slightly choked with emotion. “Three good children!”

The ‘good children’: “……”

Elder Niu spoke with solemnity. “The Hanging Gourd Sect used underhanded tactics, causing two of our sect’s most outstanding disciples to lose their paths to cultivation, leaving Qingmiao severely injured, and even stealing the fifth-grade spiritual herb that our sect had rightfully obtained first. Now, we’ve given them a taste of their own medicine—this is well done!”

Qu Qingmiao, standing nearby, simply stared at Yu Youyou for a long time without speaking.

The latter felt a little guilty. She wondered if Senior Sister Qu, who was known for her upright nature, might be displeased.

However, the next words from Qu Qingmiao were—

“Well done!”

She actually praised her too!

Qu Qingmiao gently patted Yu Youyou’s head, her voice filled with gratitude and warmth. “But your kindness is already received. The Pill Cauldron Sect has its rules—whoever obtains something with their own abilities rightfully owns it. I imagine you went through some trouble to acquire the Twin Soul Furnace, so you should keep it.”

Yu Youyou coughed lightly. “It was actually pretty easy, and besides, I already have the furnace you gave me—it works just fine.”

Qu Qingmiao, however, did not agree. Instead, she changed the subject and continued, “I need to take it first. The Twin Soul Furnace is too well-known and too conspicuous. If anyone finds out you have it, it will bring you disaster. Once we return, I’ll have our sect master reforge it so that no one can recognize it.”

Qu Qingmiao’s master was, of course, the sect master of the Pill Cauldron Sect—a Nascent Soul-stage powerhouse.

Good heavens, so the entire sect was like this.

While Elder Ma was focused on erasing the divine sense imprint from the storage pouch, he casually asked, “But didn’t they say three demon cultivators stole this storage pouch? Where exactly did you get it?”

Yu Youyou didn’t want to expose the black market, since she still needed to go there to make money in the future.

So she vaguely replied, “Spent some spirit stones to disguise ourselves as demon cultivators and hired a rogue cultivator to do it.”

Elder Ma frowned. “Demon cultivators? Since when did you get acquainted with the demon race?”

Before Yu Youyou could answer, Qi Nanfeng and Su Yizhi had already proudly pulled out two fake tails.

“We used these to disguise ourselves as demon cultivators!”

Su Yizhi even demonstrated his new discovery. “There’s a mechanism here—when activated, it moves on its own to mimic a real tail swaying!”

Elder Niu and Qu Qingmiao looked puzzled, seemingly unfamiliar with the true purpose of these items.

They even took the vibrating cat tail in their hands to inspect it, nodding in approval.

“This is quite ingenious. The mechanism is delicate, nearly indistinguishable from the real thing. It even has an additional spirit array engraved on it to simulate demonic aura. No wonder that person was fooled.”

No, the one who’s confused right now is me. Yu Youyou stared in despair at the endlessly wiggling cat tail.

Not wanting to appear out of place, she had no choice but to pretend she didn’t recognize it either.

Just as she set down the storage pouch, Elder Ma, who had been watching the scene, suddenly exclaimed, “Oh ho! Isn’t this a 〇塞—”

Yu Youyou immediately shot him a sharp glare. Elder Ma, you’re acting suspicious!