The two walked along the path they had come from toward the Market; the night had completely enveloped Yunze Market.

Seeing the two walking over, Qian Fu’s eyes, deeply sunken in their sockets, suddenly lit up, and he quickly stepped forward to greet them.

“Fellow Daoist! You’ve finally returned!” Qian Fu asked with irrepressible urgency, “How did it go? Were those people driven away?”

Lai Li’an glanced at him; the old man’s mental state was much better than before.

“We beat them off,” Lai Li’an’s tone was flat. “But their leader escaped and said he was going to get reinforcements, so it’s not safe to stay there for long.”

The smile on Qian Fu’s face stiffened. “Escaped… escaped?” His lips trembled. “Then the Spiritual Field…”

“The Spiritual Field is still there.” Su Wan’er hurriedly took a Storage Bag from her robes and handed it to Qian Fu. As the mouth of the Storage Bag was opened, it was completely stuffed with various spiritual herbs.

Qian Fu’s gaze fell into the Storage Bag, and his pupils suddenly dilated. He carefully pulled the bag further open and examined the spiritual herbs inside, bundle by bundle.

When he flipped to past the tenth bundle, his brows furrowed slightly.

“These medicinal herbs…” He picked up a spiritual herb and brought it close to his eyes to look carefully. “Why were they cut like this? Cutting them this way is a waste.”

Su Wan’er stood to the side, her head burying lower and lower. She had chopped the spirit grass with her sword, as she truly didn’t know how to harvest it. She was a Sword Cultivator, not a Spirit Planter.

But in Qian Fu’s eyes, she was just a prodigal who had ruined perfectly good spirit grass.

Lai Li’an glanced at Su Wan’er. The tips of the young girl’s ears were completely red, and her fingers were twisting and wringing the hem of her skirt. She looked as if she wanted to find a hole to crawl into. He wanted to speak up for her, but before the words could leave his mouth, Qian Fu waved his hand first.

“Never mind, never mind.” The old man stuffed the spirit grass back into his Storage Bag and sighed. “I don’t want the Spiritual Field anymore. With this spirit grass, my old bones haven’t toiled in vain.”

He took out a Storage Bag from his robes and handed it to Lai Li’an. “Senior, this is the agreed-upon reward. Sixty Low-Grade Spirit Stones, please count them.”

Lai Li’an opened the Storage Bag and took a look. The fluorescent light of the Spirit Stones leaked from the opening, warm and soft. He sifted through them with his hand, exactly sixty stones, no more, no less.

His face still maintained that calm and breezy expression, but his heart was already blooming with joy.

These sixty Spirit Stones had come far too easily. From beginning to end, he had only said a few polite words, and sixty Spirit Stones were in his hands. In truth, he had even been thinking about holding back some of the spirit grass for himself.

Lai Li’an sighed slightly in his heart. Forget it, one shouldn’t be too greedy; sixty Spirit Stones was already an unexpected windfall.

Qian Fu carefully put away the Storage Bag, put his bamboo hat back on, and cupped his hands toward the two of them. “Senior, fellow Daoist, this old man will remember this kindness. I shall take my leave now. Until we meet again.”

He turned around and hurried toward the depths of the Market. His hunched back was quickly swallowed by the passing cultivators in the streets and alleys.

“Senior!”

Su Wan’er suddenly called out and chased after him. Qian Fu’s footsteps paused for a moment, but he didn’t look back; instead, he walked even faster.

“Senior, what about your Bone-Corroding Curse!” Su Wan’er caught up behind him and reached out to grab his sleeve. “The curse is still on your arm. Without the antidote, you will die! My Honored Master and I can help you…”

Qian Fu violently shook off her hand. His movement was so forceful that even he himself was stunned for a moment.

He stopped, turned his head back, and a trace of irritation flashed across his face beneath the bamboo hat, but it was quickly masked by a weary smile.

“Thank you for your concern, fellow Daoist,” he returned to his gentle tone. “As for the antidote, this old man will figure out a way himself. Since that group has fled, I will track them down. I will surely find a clue to the antidote. Fellow Daoist, there is no need to worry about this old man.”

After he finished speaking, he smiled again, turned, and quickly walked into the crowd.

Su Wan’er stood where she was and slowly drew back her outstretched hand. She walked back to Lai Li’an’s side, lowered her head, and stayed silent for a good while.

“Honored Master,” she said sullenly, “did this disciple do something wrong?”

Lai Li’an did not answer her question. He merely patted the Storage Bag at his waist, where sixty Spirit Stones clinked crisply inside.

“Let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“To have a feast, of course.”

Yunze Market was even more bustling at night than during the day, with more than double the number of cultivators coming and going on the streets.

Lai Li’an led Su Wan’er along the main street for a while and stopped in front of a building with a signboard that said, “Hundred Flavors Pavilion”

A Qi Condensation Stage servant boy standing at the entrance saw the two stop in front of the door and immediately put on a beaming smile to greet them.

“Please come inside, esteemed guests! Our shop has fresh Blazing Deer Meat today, as well as Jade-Scaled Fish just shipped from the Eastern Border. They are kept alive in fresh water and prepared to order.”

Lai Li’an nodded and stepped inside.

The first-floor hall of Hundred Flavors Pavilion was furnished with over a dozen square tables, more than half of which were occupied. The servant led the two of them to an empty table in the corner.

Lai Li’an sat down and took the menu from the waiter. His gaze swept over the prices one by one, calculating rapidly in his head.

With sixty Spirit Stones, how many dishes should he order? He gritted his teeth and named a few dishes. The waiter responded with a beaming smile and trotted off toward the back kitchen.

Su Wan’er sat opposite him. Seeing her Honored Master’s feigned calmness while his eyes actually sparkled as he ordered, the corners of her mouth curled up involuntarily. But she quickly suppressed the smile and resumed a perfectly proper sitting posture.

The dishes were brought out one after another. Looking at the table full of food, Lai Li’an’s eyes went wide.

He quickly calculated the cost of this meal in his head: sixteen Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Nearly thirty percent of his sixty Spirit Stones were gone in a flash. It hurt! But the moment the aroma drifted into his nose, that heartache was tossed out the window.

He picked up his chopsticks and was just about to start eating when a sudden flurry of heavy footsteps echoed from the street outside.

A group of people surged through the doors of the Hundred Flavors Pavilion. They were uniformly dressed in black martial attire, with a mountain peak pattern embroidered on their chests.

There were eight of them in total. After entering, they silently fanned out, sealing off all the exits to the lobby.

The leader was a tall man in his thirties with a cold, stern face. His Cultivation Base, Lai Li’an could sense even without using the system—

Late Golden Core.

The other cultivators in the hall all lowered their heads. A few quick-reacting ones had already quietly stood up and were edging towards the door along the walls.

The eight black-clad cultivators did not stop them; from beginning to end, their gazes were locked in only one direction.

The table in the corner. A man and a woman sat beside it. The man still held chopsticks in his hand, the tips suspended over the dishes, while the rising steam blurred his face.

The leading man in black crossed the hall, walked up to that table, and stopped.

“Law Enforcement Hall business!” His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried an unquestionable oppressive might. “I am Li Xiuyuan, Patrol Manager of the Law Enforcement Hall, here to apprehend someone under a Hall Order.”

He paused, his eyes turning even colder and sharper. “Someone has filed a report under their real name, accusing you two of forcibly occupying the Spiritual Field of the Rogue Cultivator Qian Fu at Sunset Slope in the Western Suburbs, looting mature spiritual herbs, and even attacking and injuring people, which violates the laws of Yunze Market. Now, you two will follow me back to the Law Enforcement Hall for questioning. Do not resist!”

Su Wan’er’s face instantly turned pale. She stood up abruptly. “We didn’t forcibly occupy the Spiritual Field! That Spiritual Field belongs to a Senior surnamed Qian. He had his field seized by someone else, which is why he asked us…”

The leader of the men in black raised a hand, interrupting her words.

“No need to say more. You two, please.”