Chapter 13: The Miserly Old Man Who Died

“You still don’t believe me! You’re shouting at me? Let me ask you—would trusting me just once really kill you?” The old man, Wuming, yelled, and Hen Queqi felt even more wronged deep inside.

Indeed, Hen Queqi was very eager to get the remaining nine hundred gold coins from Wuming’s hand, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t offer anything to guide him in return. Besides, she had already obtained the universal system—a protagonist’s aura capable of instantly defeating all foes!

“You…” Wuming’s expression twisted bitterly. How had he become so unlucky? After so much effort, he had finally found this edge-of-the-world place, beautiful and peaceful, quiet without any disturbance, and, most importantly, secluded! Was it easy for him?

Speaking of which, one must mention the geographic location surrounding Jiuxiao City. Jiuxiao City was a third-tier city in the Tianfeng Empire, one of the four great empires on the Tianling Continent. It was hardly bustling.

Yet, Jiuxiao City still neighbored the Beast Forest. However, between Jiuxiao and the Beast Forest lay a vast Wind Whisper Forest. This forest was not rich in martial spirit, and beasts rarely lingered there, making it a natural buffer zone.

This immense forest spanned hundreds of miles, inhabited by beasts ranging from the martial artist level up to martial spirit, but their density was low, posing no real threat to Jiuxiao City. Beasts were scarce, martial artists couldn’t defeat beasts at the lowest martial artist level, and martial masters and those above looked down on the Wind Whisper Forest. Thus, except for a few struggling martial masters who hunted beasts there and some ordinary folk collecting herbs, the forest saw little activity.

Next to the Wind Whisper Forest lay the Bitter Bamboo Grove—an even quieter place, untouched by disturbance.

“You just don’t believe me! Fine, then, whether you believe it or not, you have to give me the nine hundred gold coins! Otherwise, I’ll stay here and won’t leave, and I’ll make sure to disturb you so much that you won’t even be able to meditate!” Hen Queqi’s tone hardened. If she were beginning to entertain thoughts of extorting gold, it was more because Wuming still didn’t truly understand her. She felt everyone else could see her clearly—except for this “friend.”

Huh? Why did she consider Wuming a friend? He was so ugly and old, and she was so beautiful and young! Oh, right—red flowers do need a few green leaves to complement them. Well, fine, she’d swallow her pride and accept this old fool as a friend.

With this thought, Hen Queqi didn’t even try to hide the disdain flickering in her eyes as she kept glancing contemptuously at Wuming’s face.

“Enough, enough! Stick your neck out and get cut; pull it back and get cut just the same! Since that’s the case, here’s the nine hundred gold coins. Now, immediately demonstrate your sword technique and your magic formula. Then you can leave! Don’t ever come back—I’m out of money!”

“Stingy old man!” Hen Queqi snorted. That was basically telling her never to come again! She didn’t believe a word about being out of money. If Wuming believed it, that was his problem.

“Next time, if you beg me to come, I might not even show up!” Hen Queqi snorted with pride, lifting her chin arrogantly. “Come on, to the backyard. I’ll teach you the Taiji Sword Technique and a profound magic formula. But know this—I’ll only demonstrate once. No matter how much you learn or how insightful you are, hmph!”