Chapter 14: There Are Always Some Unseen Things Trying to Disturb Me

Last night, after successfully refining the pill, Su Wan took advantage of everyone still being asleep to secretly feed them each a pill. Since Su Xinyao was still young, she was only given half a pill.

Because the pill lacked sufficient spiritual energy nourishment, its effects were somewhat limited. Taking just one pill was unlikely to produce significant results. It was estimated that six to nine pills would be needed to effectively improve one’s constitution. If it weren’t for those five thieves, Su Wan had originally planned to refine a tendon-repair pill at the same time.

At breakfast, Xia Xian saw that Su Fu’s complexion looked good and praised her, “Sister, your face is rosy and you look well today.” Xia Xian noticed that not only Su Fu but everyone in the family seemed visibly healthier. Even the elderly Su couple looked much more spirited than usual.

“I slept exceptionally well last night,” Su Fu replied with a smile. During the twenty days since returning home, she had constantly worried about safety and was often plagued by nightmares when sleeping. Now back at home, she could sleep peacefully until dawn.

Su Mingshan’s gaze unintentionally fell on Xia Xian, and a simple smile appeared on his face.

Xia Xian lowered her head slightly, a faint blush coloring her cheeks, then focused on drinking her porridge.

Now that the Su family’s financial situation had improved, their diet had naturally become more abundant. Previously, each person only had one steamed bun; now they had three.

After the meal, Su Mingshan took a horse-drawn carriage and brought Su Fu to town to select a shop, with Su Wan insisting on going along.

Soon, the three arrived at Qinghe Town.

They parked the carriage at the town entrance and walked inside.

Compared to yesterday’s bustling market day, Qinghe Town was much quieter today.

Passing by a sugar figure stall, Su Fu smiled and bought a string of sugar figures for Su Wan. Su Wan took it happily and said, “Thank you, mother.”

The three strolled and browsed until after about an hour, they found a shop with a newly posted “For Sale” sign. Su Fu quickly went forward and asked, “Shopkeeper, is this shop for sale?”

The shopkeeper mistook them for a family of three. His expression flickered briefly but he finally said, “Yes, it’s for sale. Come inside to discuss.”

Su Fu and Su Mingshan did not suspect anything and smiled while asking about the price.

“Eight hundred taels, including a side room at the back and a storeroom,” the shopkeeper said, his hands on his knees tightening slightly. He looked somewhat anxious and kept glancing outside.

Before coming, they had already inquired about shop prices, and this was not expensive. Su Fu also really liked the location and decided to buy it.

The shopkeeper was decisive and immediately said he would go inside to get the seal.

“Mother, I’ll go check the back,” Su Wan said and quickly followed the shopkeeper into the backyard.

Her small body flashed, blocking the shopkeeper’s way.

The shopkeeper’s expression flickered with momentary panic, then he forced a smile and said, “Little girl, your mother is out front. You can’t go through the back door right now. Please go outside.” The shopkeeper reached out to pull Su Wan—

But he couldn’t move her at all.

Meeting Su Wan’s unusually calm gaze for her age, the shopkeeper’s face changed. “Little girl, what are you trying to do?”

Su Wan crossed her arms and lightly kicked a pebble on the ground with her right foot, her childlike voice carrying an unsettling chill: “That’s a question I should be asking you. Tell me the truth—what’s wrong with this shop? Otherwise…”

Her tone made people uneasy, but after all, she was just a little kid. The shopkeeper didn’t take her seriously. “Go away, don’t block…”

Before he could finish, he suddenly clutched his neck in terror. Su Wan’s cold voice rang out again: “I’ll ask one more time—what’s wrong with this shop?”

“…Cough, no, nothing’s wrong.” The shopkeeper’s face turned pale as he struggled to breathe, his expression full of panic.

The little girl hadn’t moved an inch, so why did he feel like he was suffocating—and it was only getting tighter?

“I… I… I’ll tell you.” Upon hearing this, Su Wan flipped her wrist and retracted the illusionary vine.

Tilting her head, she calmly stared at the man, which made him feel an intense threat.

“Cough cough…” After recovering, the shopkeeper looked at Su Wan with fear.

“The shop… the shop isn’t problematic. It’s just that I offended someone and they urgently want me to sell it. I’m worried that person might come looking for trouble. I wanted to sell it to someone influential, but I feared my enemies might come after me, so I’m rushing to sell it.”

Seeing that the little girl was no ordinary child, his slight guilt faded. He said, “Since young lady has some skill, there’s no need to fear.”

Su Wan tilted her head and smiled, “I’m not skilled, but I have a very powerful master.” Half-joking, she said seriously.

The shopkeeper soon brought the seal and led the three of them to the government office to complete the paperwork.

After all this, the shop was officially under Su Fu’s name.

The front of the shop was three zhang long and two zhang wide, with a small side room and a storage room in the back.

The three of them cleaned and organized the shop together. It was only when dusk fell that they rode their horses back to the village.

“Sister Wan!” As soon as the carriage stopped, Su Xinyao happily jumped forward and threw herself into Su Wan’s arms.

Su Wan easily lifted her and, sitting down on the bench under the eaves, magically pulled out a sugar figurine.

“Wow, little sugar figurine, so cute! Thank you, Sister Wan!”

Su Wan, like a little grown-up, rubbed her head gently. “Next time, I’ll bring you some mung bean cakes, alright?”

“Okay.” Su Xinyao smiled with narrowed eyes, eating with great enjoyment.

At the dinner table, the adults talked about the day’s events. Su Wan didn’t want to worry Su Fu, so she didn’t tell her about the incident.

After all, she was there to protect them.

At night, as usual, Su Wan sent a wave of spiritual energy over them to help them sleep deeply. Then she took out the cauldron and started refining the Muscle Restoration Pill.

The Muscle Restoration Pill, like the Body Refining Pill, didn’t have spiritual energy nourishing it, so its effect wasn’t as remarkable as in the cultivation world.

Time passed quickly. When a medicinal fragrance came from the cauldron, the Muscle Restoration Pill was ready.

After taking out the pills, Su Wan was about to refine the Body Refining Pill when her sharp hearing caught a faint noise from the back mountain. It sounded like a heavy object dropping.

Su Wan didn’t want to pay attention at first, but soon the sound of clashing swords came, growing closer and closer.

She vaguely heard voices:
 “Ji Sang, you can’t escape.”
 “You bunch of dogs are really despicable, but I, Ji Sang, won’t let you succeed.”

As the voices approached, Su Wan couldn’t remain indifferent any longer. “There’s always some uninvited trouble.” With that, she darted out like a phantom.

With a twist of her wrist, she struck away a man in black who was leaping up with a raised knife.

Su Wan’s small figure, hidden in the shadows, was hard to detect. The man on the ground, who had been saved earlier, sensed something was wrong and searched around but saw no one.

This sudden situation left several men in black confused.

The man Su Wan had knocked away was seriously injured and terrified, but he did not detect the presence of anyone else besides their group.