Chapter 1979 — The Antique Market
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"I don't know either," Wei Zhao said flatly. There was no way he was going to tell a classmate he had known only a few days about the Zhang Lifeng notebook, so he simply asked, "If you don't know, then what are you buying a medicine cauldron for?"
"So I can study it!" Han Jingyi said. "Besides, I've dug up loads of material about alchemy masters online. I want to research it on my own first! And I browse the antique markets all the time — who knows, I might even stumble on a manual of cultivation formulas for alchemists..."
"Is that so? Well, go ahead and study, then..." Wei Zhao said nothing more. It seemed Han Jingyi had heard about alchemy masters from somewhere, gotten hooked, and started researching alchemy — only without any of the right methods.
Of course, if it were that easy for her to turn into an alchemy master, the sun would rise in the west.
At that thought, Wei Zhao let go of his suspicions. Few ordinary people knew of cultivators or alchemy masters, but the wealthy who had hired cultivators as bodyguards would certainly know of cultivators — and as for alchemy masters, the cultivators themselves surely knew.
So it was perfectly normal for a rich girl like Han Jingyi to have cultivators as bodyguards at home, and no great feat to have learned from those bodyguards that alchemy masters existed. It was just that she seemed thoroughly obsessed, so much so that she had even chosen a related major at university.
"Mm-hm!" Han Jingyi nodded emphatically. "Brother Wei Zhao, don't you like alchemy?"
"Liking it doesn't mean I can do it," Wei Zhao said flatly.
"Then once Jingjing learns alchemy, I can teach Brother Wei Zhao, and then we can dual-cultivate together!" Han Jingyi said.
"Pff—what? Dual cultivation?" Wei Zhao coughed twice, badly startled by Han Jingyi.
"Yes! Isn't cultivating alchemy together dual cultivation?" Han Jingyi said, looking at Wei Zhao in complete bewilderment.
"...Fine. Then once you've learned it, I'll dual-cultivate with you." Wei Zhao could not be bothered to waste words explaining things to Han Jingyi. The girl had probably studied alchemy and medicinal ingredients since childhood until her brains had gone soft; say too much and she would certainly ask why, so Wei Zhao simply said nothing.
"Mm-hm, wonderful! Then it's settled, Brother Wei Zhao — a promise is a promise!" Han Jingyi held out her little finger.
"What for?" Wei Zhao frowned.
"Pinky swear!" Han Jingyi said. "Only a pinky swear can guarantee you won't cheat me..."
"All right, all right, a pinky swear it is!" Seeing that Han Jingyi was about to rattle on endlessly again, Wei Zhao cut her off, held out his little finger and hooked it with hers, going through the motions just enough to get it over with.
"Pinky swear, hang by the neck, a hundred years, no taking it back!" Han Jingyi said.
"No taking it back. Can we go now?" Wei Zhao started the car and said helplessly.
"No! Aren't we going to the antique market now? I want to study alchemy, so I have to buy a medicine cauldron. If I don't study, how can I teach you, Brother Wei Zhao? You're not going to refuse to support me, are you?" Han Jingyi looked at Wei Zhao pitifully. "We've already pinky-sworn, you know!"
Wei Zhao checked the time and saw that school was still a long way from letting out, so he nodded. "Fine. We'll have a look around, then."
The antique market of Donghai City was located near the East Heavenly Gate. Wei Zhao had never been there either, so he could only follow the navigation device to one of the largest antique markets in Donghai City — indeed, in the whole province!
Since Donghai was a provincial capital, its antique market was far larger than those of other cities. Wei Zhao parked in the market's lot and was charged twenty yuan for parking, which struck him as a bit of a rip-off!
Antiques really were a rich man's game — even the parking cost more than elsewhere!