Chapter 37: I Like It If They’re Fighting for It

Xie Jiuniang occupied a small area within the formation, using animal hides to cushion the ground and a meditation cushion as a pillow and comfortably slept for a while.

The Xie clan disciples found it strange.

Cultivators could meditate and regulate their breathing to replace sleep, so why did Xiao Jiu still need to sleep?

When Xie Jiuniang woke up, Xie Xu asked, “Xiao Jiu, did you sleep well?”

“Very well, exceptionally well.” Xie Jiuniang sat cross-legged on the animal hide, “Uncle Xu, do you have anything to eat?”

“Do you want some Fasting Pills?”

“Never mind, I have my own.” Xie Jiuniang took out a red fruit and bit into it with a crunch. “I have jerky. Do you want some?”

Before Xie Xu could reply, Xie Siniang, who had just entered from outside, eagerly asked, “What jerky? Could it be the most unpalatable jerky in history?”

“What? Who’s talking nonsense?” Xie Jiuniang stood up abruptly, passionately refuting, “How can my jerky be the most unpalatable? I used salt! The most unpalatable ones don’t even use salt, okay?!”

The people present fell silent.

It turned out that Xiao Jiu knew her jerky was unpalatable but stubbornly refused to admit it was the worst… just because she used salt?

Xie Siniang asked with great interest, “Do you still have any jerky? Let me taste what it’s like.”

“I still have over a hundred catties unsold.” As Xie Jiuniang took out the jerky, she complained to Xie Siniang about the sect disciples’ inhumanity, actually ganging up to surround her. “Phew, luckily I escaped quickly at that time…”

Xie Jiuniang looked up and found everyone staring at her as if she were a monster. “Why are you all gawking at me?”

Xie Xu asked uncertainly, “You were really surrounded by more than a dozen people?”

Xie Jiuniang nodded, “About seventeen.”

“Were they sect disciples?”

“Yes!” Xie Jiuniang realized she had let it slip but didn’t retract her words. Currently, only clan members were inside the formation. “Perhaps to increase the assessment’s difficulty, some sect disciples were mixed in, specifically to rob everyone’s Fasting Pills.”

Xie Xu glanced at the few clan members who had been robbed. “I was wondering why they only stole Fasting Pills. So it was arranged by the sect. How despicable.”

“Right!” Xie Jiuniang thought the despicableness was perfect.

If not for that, how could she sell jerky to make money?

In fact, Xie Xu and the others were all shocked by Xie Jiuniang’s strength.

A year ago, she was still at Qi Refining third level. After a year, she had ascended four levels! Moreover, she could safely escape the encirclement of more than a dozen sect disciples with just a Qi Refining seventh level cultivation.

It was too unbelievable!

“Wow, ugh…” Unable to restrain her curiosity, Xie Siniang actually bit into a piece of jerky. “There’s a strange taste. It’s tough and salty. It is a bit unpalatable, but… it’s still edible.”

Xie Jiuniang nodded vigorously,”Right? I told you it’s not the most unpalatable.”

Xie Xu and the others turned their heads away, unable to watch.

How should they describe these two?

Before Xie Xu could come up with a suitable adjective, he saw Xie Jiuniang taking the jerky out to set up a stall.

Xie Siniang, who followed her out, considerately laid out an animal hide.

With only five days left until the end of the assessment, Xie Jiuniang felt she could still earn another wave of money, as more people had arrived today.

Xie Jiuniang shouted, “Come! Selling jerky! A perfect gift, this is the last batch.”

“The last batch! Once sold out, there won’t be any more!”

“Selling jerky! Jerky personally made by Xiao Jiu, with a unique taste that’s unforgettable with one bite!”

“Fellow cultivators, want to buy a catty? Even if you don’t eat it, you can give it to your relatives, friends, or contracted beasts. Let them taste the meat you’ve eaten and experience the hardships you’ve endured…”

“Selling jerky…”

Hearing this, the Xie clan disciples covered their foreheads and hid back inside the small isolation formation. They were genuinely worried that Xiao Jiu would get beaten up and implicate them.

When Xie Siniang saw that the people around were all staring at Xiao Jiu with a somewhat frightening gaze, she also quickly slipped back.

Xie Jiuniang didn’t notice her clan members’ abandonment. She was smiling brilliantly, and waved her little hand at the crowd. “Fellow Daoist Cheng! Fellow Daoists Gan, we meet again. Come, come, let me treat you to some jerky.”

If no one bought it, giving it to acquaintances to eat wasn’t bad either.

The first thought of the surrounding people was that the little swindler had a grudge against the three!

Before the three could respond, an exquisite little boy walked out of the crowd. He appeared about eight years old, wearing expensive silk robes, a high-grade defensive jade pendant at his waist, and top-grade magic tools, the flowing cloud shoes on his feet.

Not only that, he was adorned with top-grade magic tools from head to toe, including the small jade crown on his head.

Xie Jiuniang felt that the little boy was a walking treasure trove, utterly lacking in humanity.

The little boy squatted in front of the stall, blinking his pure and innocent black eyes. “Sister, let me treat you to some meat.”

Xie Jiuniang no longer found him cute and sternly refused, “Sorry, my parents taught me from a young age that we cultivators should be independent and self-reliant, not eating food that comes unearned.”

“Sister, you said it so well!” The little boy laughed, his eyes sparkling. “But I want to be friends with Sister.”

Xie Jiuniang silently placed a basket of red fruits on display. “Red fruits! Delicious spiritual fruits, fragrant, sweet, and crisp. One spirit stone each. Do you want to treat me?”

“Of course.” The little boy took out a spirit stone.

Xie Jiuniang accepted his spirit stone and pushed the fruit basket toward him. “You pick one to give me.”

The little boy lowered his head and began carefully selecting, comparing them in pairs for quite a while. He handed the largest one to Xie Jiuniang and shyly said, “Sister, I’m treating you.”

“Thank you.” Xie Jiuniang smiled and accepted it, then grabbed a handful of jerky and stuffed it back into his little hand. “A return gift. Eat it. Sister made it herself.”

The little boy blinked, looking like he wanted to cry from the grievance.

The onlookers, seeing their interaction, instantly found it amusing.

They were indeed children, so immature.

Xie Jiuniang had no psychological burden of bullying a child because she was also a child. Besides, she even treated him to meat.

Next, Xie Jiuniang gradually displayed some other items, a miscellaneous assortment. It seemed to be for the sake of making up the numbers. Even daily necessities like hair ties and wooden combs were put out, with a wooden hairpin mixed in.

Xie Siniang quietly came over again. “Xiao Jiu, why are you even selling hair ties?”

“Fourth Sister, look at those people’s messy hair…” Xie Jiuniang whispered that there needed to be a demand to sell at a good price.

Xie Siniang was somewhat skeptical. Who wouldn’t have a few daily necessities in their storage pouch?

“Sister, how much for this wooden hairpin?” The little boy reached out to take the wooden hairpin.

A hand was faster than his.

Cheng Huaixin suppressed his inner excitement and said, “Fellow Daoist Xie, we meet again. At first glance, this wooden hairpin looks familiar. It seems to be one my mother once wore. Can you sell it to me?”

Xie Jiuniang was about to nod when another person spoke up.

“Fellow Daoist Xie, I also want to buy it.” Gan Long suddenly appeared.

The little boy said aggrievedly, “I was the first to say I wanted to buy it.”

The item that three people were fighting over immediately entered everyone’s sight.

Was it a treasure?

Xie Jiuniang took the wooden hairpin back, turning it over, looking left and right, pretending to be puzzled. “It’s just an ordinary wooden hairpin. What’s so good about fighting over it?”

Cheng Huaixin said, “I’m reminiscing about my mother. It has nothing to do with whether the item is valuable or not.”

“I like it at first sight,” Gan Long said, unwilling to show weakness.

Everyone simultaneously looked at the little boy again.

The little boy blinked and said, “I like it if they’re fighting for it,”

The crowd was speechless.

What a genuine reason!

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