CHAPTER 29: Well Done

The black market in Extreme West City was a bit difficult to find. After all, it wasn’t like they could get lucky every time and just grab someone off the street and slam them into a wall.

Su Yizhi urged Qi Nanfeng, “Go on, do it like before—flash some spirit stones and get someone to talk.”

Qi Nanfeng let out a deep sigh. “My dad sent me a message saying that I’ve been spending too recklessly these past few days. He’s planning to cut my allowance so I can relive the hardships of my childhood.”

Yu Youyou gave him a sympathetic look. She could almost instantly picture Qi Nanfeng in the same state she was when she first arrived—ragged, starving, and struggling to make ends meet.

But she was loyal. Since she had once eaten the pastries Qi Nanfeng had given her, it was time to repay the favor. “Don’t worry. After we hire the assassin, we should have a few dozen spirit stones left. I’ll split half with you.”

Su Yizhi also nodded. “I’ve saved up quite a bit this year. I sent most of it to my parents a few days ago, but I still have twenty left. I’ll give you two for food.”

Qi Nanfeng crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, touched by their generosity, but he still declined. “No need. He’ll still give me something—he is my real dad, after all. He wouldn’t actually let me starve to death.”

“It’s just that I’ll only get a fraction of my previous allowance each month—about a thousand spirit stones or so.”

Hearing this number, the other two fell silent for a moment before one of them kicked him.

“Get lost!”

In the end, it was Su Yizhi who came through. He approached two local female cultivators from the Harmony Sect and asked them for information. After receiving kisses on both cheeks, he triumphantly returned with the black market’s location.

Before entering, Su Yizhi blinked innocently at Yu Youyou and casually made a suggestion. “How do you plan to deal with Su Liubai? Do you want to hire someone to secretly take him out, or have him killed in public? Poison might not work—Hanging Gourd Sect specializes in antidote pills.”

Qi Nanfeng was also excitedly plotting. “Once he’s dead, I’ll have my family’s Northern Region branch start promoting our top-tier spirit stone coffins. They’ve been sitting unsold for three years because no major figures have died recently.”

Yu Youyou remained silent. Initially, she had thought that her plan to hire an assassin for revenge would scare these two young men, but they turned out to be even more enthusiastic than she was.

As expected of cultivators—no talk of morality or kindness, only the principle that failing to take revenge means you’re not a true cultivator.

She recalled what the sword cultivators had said before—this generation’s pill cultivators seemed a little insane.

Wanting to fit in, she also proposed a rather outlandish idea. “Su Liubai has a strong background. If they trace his death back to us, we’ll be in trouble. First, we need to find someone to take the fall.”

Yes, the three of them were far too conspicuous in the black market, where grown men were everywhere. If anyone so much as pulled out a knife, Yu Youyou and Su Yizhi would immediately be singled out.

Yu Youyou turned into an empty alleyway next door. “Wait here for a moment.”

She untied the silver rope and, for the first time in a long while, let her tail out.

Perhaps it had been coiled up for too long—its fur was flattened and pressed against the flesh, looking rather pitiful.

Yu Youyou roughly rubbed it twice to fluff it up again before stepping out of the alley.

Beneath her black robe, an inconspicuous gray tail tip swayed lazily.

Qi Nanfeng’s eyes lit up—only for his expression to quickly turn into one of disdain.

“This is it?”

He had seen other people’s tails in the black market before, and they were all quite beautiful. Especially after witnessing the breathtaking tails of great demons in the Yunhua County black market, he had high expectations for Yu Youyou’s tail.

But the thing in front of him now—its fur was dull and ordinary, completely lacking in luster, looking no different from a dog’s tail.

There wasn’t even the slightest urge to touch it.

Qi Nanfeng soon grew suspicious. After hesitating for a moment, he leaned in and asked, “Are you… a dog demon?”

Yu Youyou: “…Not going to lie, I’ve wondered about that myself.”

Her sense of smell was simply too keen, and Aunt Hua’s big yellow dog, Gou Dan, was exceptionally affectionate toward her—just like a dog.

Since she was merely cannon fodder in the story, Yu Youyou’s mother was never even mentioned by race, only identified as a princess of the demon clan.

Aside from having multiple tails, she was otherwise indistinguishable from a human, making it impossible to determine her race.

It wasn’t like she could just go to the black market, grab other demon cultivators, and shove her tail at them, asking, “Hey, does this look like a dog tail to you?”

While she and Qi Nanfeng were huddled together, whispering complaints about her tail, Su Yizhi was already staring at them in utter shock.

Yu Youyou suddenly realized she had never actually told him the truth. As she hesitated on whether to explain, Su Yizhi suddenly clapped his hands together and gave her a thumbs-up.

“Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!”

“Huh?”

“As expected of you! Since everyone is wearing masks and black robes that block spiritual perception, no one can tell human cultivators from demons. Just shift the blame onto the demon race—this plan is genius!”

“Su Lao’er, actually—”

“Say no more. Just wait here!”

Su Yizhi dashed off at full speed.

A while later, he came running back, holding two tails in his hands.

“Here, go to the latrine next door and tie these on. Now we can all pretend to be demons.”

He handed a white fox tail to Qi Nanfeng while keeping a black cat tail for himself.

Out of selfishness, Su Yizhi had picked the more refined cat tail, which even had a small, delicate bell attached. It was more expensive than the fox tail.

Qi Nanfeng frowned in distaste. “The tail is fine, but this handle on top is kind of poky.”

Without hesitation, Su Yizhi snapped off the wooden handle and tossed it away, leaving just the plush tail. “There, all set. Hurry up and put it on.”

The more Yu Youyou looked at the thing, the more it seemed off. Why would a normal place sell fake tails like this? Wasn’t this… that kind of plug?

“Su Lao’er, where did you get this?”

“Over there, the shop with all the pink gauze curtains.” Su Yizhi had an expression of supreme confidence. “I just asked a fellow cultivator from the Hehuan Sect where I could buy fake tails, and she enthusiastically led me there. That place had all sorts of tails, as well as strange pills and weapons I’d never seen before. Must be a specialty shop of the Western Territory. We should check it out after we’re done.”

Yu Youyou: “…”

Technically speaking, that was indeed a specialty shop of the Hehuan Sect in the Western Territory.

Qi Nanfeng, intrigued, readily agreed. “A specialty store sounds great. I’ll buy some gifts for my dad and send them home. If he’s happy, maybe he’ll give me more pocket money.”

“…”

Your dad might leave you his best coffin instead and burn you an endless supply of funeral money.

The adult inside Yu Youyou was already numb. She no longer had the energy to explain.

Forget it. Let them grow up and recall this shame on their own—until they dig a whole Westernmost City with their curled toes in embarrassment.

….

Once the two innocent boys had strapped on their tails, donned black robes, and put on masks, the fully-equipped trio sneaked into the black market of Westernmost City.

As expected, it was a familiar setup.

But perhaps because this was the liveliest human city, the black market here was enormous, and the number of demon cultivators inside was far greater than in other places.

Humans and demons discriminated against each other in their own ways. Humans looked down on the beastly features demons retained, while demons took pride in those very traits and often flaunted them intentionally.

Thus, many demon cultivators swayed their tails, perked up their fluffy ears, or flapped their wings, looking especially striking against their black robes.

Qi Nanfeng and Su Yizhi, too, deliberately let the tips of their tails show as they walked through the market.

Their tails were so realistic that, under the formation enchantment of their black robes, they looked indistinguishable from real demon traits!

The three of them stopped in front of a massive wall covered with various notices.

Su Yizhi personally took out the bounty notice they had prepared earlier and tried to stick it on.

But he was too short, so he could only reach the most inconspicuous bottom layer. Qi Nanfeng took over, tiptoeing to paste it in the most prominent spot.

These notices were put up daily, and people were always nearby, waiting to take on suitable jobs.

Rogue cultivators lived far harder lives than major sect disciples. Without a master to teach them, they had to fight for their own techniques and treasures.

Those with a silver tongue could go to the mortal world and pose as revered immortals, but those who only knew how to fight had to stake their lives on the edge of a blade. Many would commit murder just for a low-grade magical artifact.

So when this notice was posted, it quickly attracted those rogue cultivators who made a living taking money to do dirty work.

At the same time, curses and murmurs spread throughout the crowd.

“Ten thousand high-grade spirit stones for Su Liubai of the Hanging Cauldron Sect… Hiss! Damn, which bastard has such guts to even dare touch the Su family of the Northern Territory!”

“Damn, doesn’t everyone know that the Su family has two Nascent Soul ancestors? If someone really kills Su Liubai, they might not even live long enough to collect the payment before they drop dead.”

“But that’s ten thousand high-grade spirit stones… Damn, this better not be some rich young masters from these aristocratic families fighting among themselves and using us as tools.”

“Although Su Liubai is only at the Foundation Establishment stage, I heard that the Su family’s direct descendants all carry high-grade defensive artifacts. Anyone below the Nascent Soul stage wouldn’t be able to harm him in the slightest. I’m not worthy of taking this job.”

…

Hiding in the corner, Su Yizhi was already frowning, deeply troubled by the fact that no one dared to kill his cousin. “What do we do if no one dares to take him out?”

Qi Nanfeng whispered, “Is the price too low? I still have a few thousand spirit stones. Should we add them all in?”

Only Yu Youyou remained calm, crouching there without the slightest sign of worry or disappointment.

She had actually anticipated this situation long ago.

After all, on the first day she visited the black market, she had thoroughly researched the pricing for hiring assassins.

At that time, Yu Youyou had not yet formed her spiritual veins and perhaps would never be able to cultivate. Naturally, she could never hope to defeat Yu Bumie in a fight.

So she had also considered whether she could hire someone to kill her father.

After observing for half a year, she realized that the boldest request was only for the assassination of a Nascent Soul rogue cultivator. And even that mission had never been accepted—it was still pinned on the wall of the Tonghua County black market.

The price of taking the life of a cultivator from a major family or sect was vastly different from that of a rogue cultivator. A Nascent Soul rogue cultivator’s life might be worth ten thousand high-grade spirit stones.

But if the target was someone from an aristocratic family or a major sect, even a hundred thousand spirit stones might not be enough to make anyone dare act.

After all, true heirs of these great families were well-equipped with countless life-saving artifacts, guarded by hidden experts. No matter whether the assassination succeeded or not, the assassin would end up being hunted down relentlessly.

For those who had cultivated to this level, every step forward had been hard-won. The stronger they became, the more cautious they were.

“Tsk, as expected, not everyone in this world is Long Aotian, brazenly cursing the heavens and killing aristocratic geniuses at will,” Yu Youyou said, crossing her arms and sighing.

“What are you talking about?” Su Yizhi scooted closer, clearly anxious about not being able to buy someone to kill his cousin. “If no one takes the job, what do we do?”

“No rush.” Yu Youyou waited for a while longer, then pulled out another notice and handed it to Qi Nanfeng. “While everyone is still gathered around, go find an inconspicuous spot and put this one up.”

Qi Nanfeng looked down at the paper. “Five thousand high-grade spirit stones for Su Liubai’s storage pouch? Huh? Weren’t we trying to kill him?”

He made a slicing gesture across his neck.

Yu Youyou patiently explained, “No, from the beginning, I knew no one would risk their lives for just ten thousand spirit stones to kill Su Liubai.”

Maybe a hundred thousand spirit stones could tempt someone to be reckless, but unfortunately, she didn’t have that kind of money.

“So from the start, my real target was that storage pouch. More specifically, the pill furnace inside it.”

Su Yizhi was confused. “Then why didn’t you just post a job for someone to steal the storage pouch in the first place?”

“The Su family’s name alone is enough to intimidate rogue cultivators into hesitating. That’s why I put up an impossible mission first. In contrast, the second mission now seems much easier, making it more likely that people will take the job. And we get to save half the spirit stones.”

This was a tactic Yu Youyou had picked up from dealing with desperate people in the post-apocalyptic world.

Among rogue cultivators, there might not be many who could silently kill someone carrying a high-grade defensive artifact, but there were plenty who could slip by unnoticed and steal a storage pouch.

Hadn’t that medical cultivator trickster stolen all the storage pouches from the Shield Gate disciples?

Most skilled thieves among rogue cultivators weren’t highly cultivated—typically below the Golden Core stage—but their technical prowess was top-notch.

Seeing that Su Yizhi still looked confused, Qi Nanfeng smacked him on the head.

“If I offer you a hundred spirit stones to eat her stinky intestine sashimi fasting pill, you wouldn’t eat it, right? But if I turn around and offer you fifty spirit stones to eat the regular one, wouldn’t you—”

Su Yizhi muttered, “If you give me two hundred, I’d eat both!”

Qi Nanfeng: “…”

He forgot—his buddy would do anything for spirit stones.

Yu Youyou designated a meeting point in a certain corner of the black market on the notice. Not long after, someone came looking for them.