Chapter 2485 — Yu Xiaoke Arrives Too
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Once inside the cultivator market, the atmosphere grew lively after only a short walk. Along both sides of the road, many cultivators had set up small stalls, displaying all manner of fine goods—pills and elixirs, martial arts techniques, rare natural treasures, and more.
Naturally, most of what the cultivators brought out to trade was of no use to themselves. But one man's trash might well be another man's peerless treasure, so no one would sell what they did not need for a pittance. Everyone clutched their goods close, waiting to exchange them for whatever suited them best and served their needs most.
Thus, though the stalls were many and the goods plentiful, few deals were actually struck. Everyone was watching and waiting; many had attended the cultivator market time and again without ever finding what they needed.
Still, running a stall here was quite safe—no one had to worry about being forced into a sale. After all, the disciples of the Cultivator Trade Association's Law Enforcement Hall were no decoration. True, should a Heaven-rank expert come to force a trade, there was nothing they could do—but Heaven-rank experts were, by and large, not interested in wares like these.
In a secluded courtyard within the cultivator market—the temporary offices of the market, off-limits to outsiders—the Heaven-rank vice president sat in a grand armchair, his face dark as a storm cloud. Before him stood Skinny Scarecrow, trembling with fear.
"What exactly happened?" The Heaven-rank vice president shot a glance at this nominal disciple of his and barked the question.
True, these three disciples were only nominal disciples of his, but they had followed him about for years, running back and forth through every session of the cultivator market. If they had earned no merits, they had at least endured hardships—and the three of them were sharp-eyed besides, always letting their master look over and pick first from the fine things they extorted. So the Heaven-rank vice president was quite attached to them. That two of them had suddenly died naturally put him in a foul mood.
"Master... I never thought that brat would be so arrogant, that he would dare beat my eldest and second brothers to death..." Skinny Scarecrow's face was bitter, though it also bore plain anger and grief.
"Arrogant? He's far more than arrogant. A peak mid-Earth-rank expert crossing ranks to wound experts of late Earth rank and peak late Earth rank—what sort of notion is that?" The Heaven-rank vice president shook his head. "Your two brothers are not in danger of their lives. I've already revived them with pills. But to keep the strength they once had is impossible—even if they live, they'll be ordinary men, their power utterly gone!"
"Alas!" Skinny Scarecrow heaved a helpless sigh. Still, that his eldest and second brothers had kept their lives was, all things considered, the best outcome available.
"Enough. I asked you for the course of events, not for this drivel. What exactly happened?" Skinny Scarecrow's earlier account had been vague and muddled, and the Heaven-rank vice president still had not grasped why those two guards had laid hands on anyone. All he knew was that they had been trying to save face for Skinny Scarecrow.
Skinny Scarecrow dared not conceal anything, and so he recounted to the Heaven-rank vice president how his attempt to force a trade for Yang Qiqi's blue crystal had failed, and then, unwilling to let the matter drop, how he had described Wei Zhao and the others' appearance and dress to his eldest and second brothers, telling them to make trouble for Wei Zhao's group and take the blue crystal back.
"A blue crystal?" The Heaven-rank vice president's expression shifted at the words, his composure stirred. The blue crystal was of little use to him, true, but it was a rare treasure all the same! After pondering a moment, he said, "Rest easy. This face, your master will save for you!"