Chapter 164: Xiao Ling'er

It was late at night. A spring breeze slipped through the cracks in the window, ruffling the open pages of the book on the desk. The paper rustled, as if the wind itself knew how to read and was completely engrossed.

Jiuyou sat at the desk, his gaze resting on one of the pages.

"Dream Entry Spell. It can draw someone into a dream to peek at their memories..." he muttered softly. "This is actually much more useful than the Soul-Searching Technique."

He closed the book, went upstairs to the loft, tossed it by his pillow, and lay down.

It had been a very long time since he had truly slept like a mortal. In the past, his secluded meditation sessions had spanned months or even years. Rooted as still as a mountain, the concept of sleep hadn't even applied. Now, lying on an ordinary wooden bed with the sound of the wind sweeping past the eaves, he felt a strange sense of unfamiliarity—but it wasn't a bad feeling.

In the corner of the loft sat an earthen pot. A strangely shaped spiritual plant grew quietly inside, its leaves glowing with a faint purple light—it was the Nether Soul Spirit Mushroom. Several array formations encircled the pot, firmly sealing its aura within that tiny space so not a single trace leaked out.

The Nether Capital Gate had shrunk to the size of a palm and rested nearby. Wisps of soul energy slowly seeped from the crack in its doors, and the spirit mushroom absorbed them bit by bit like a slow, rhythmic breath.

By noon the next day, Azure Jade Pavilion remained as deserted as ever. The jade pendants on the wooden shelves were arranged in perfectly neat rows. Sunlight swept into the shop, refracting a warm, gentle glow across their surfaces, yet no one had reached out to take a single piece.

Jiuyou leaned back in the rattan chair behind the counter with his eyes closed. An idle book covered his face. He looked as though he had fallen asleep, or perhaps was simply lost in thought.

After a long while, he shifted slightly and pulled the book from his face. He glanced at the empty alley outside the door, feeling a rare trace of confusion.

'My carving skills aren't bad, and the jade material is passable,' he thought. 'They even have a faint connection to cultivators. So how has half a month passed without a single piece selling?'

He pondered this for a moment before dropping the book back over his face. 'Whatever. These mortals probably just don't know a good thing when they see it.'

The days drifted by, and in the blink of an eye, half a month had passed. Using the alias Qing You, Jiuyou had gradually become a familiar face to his neighbors. He now had a rough idea of how many people lived in which household, their names, and what they did for a living.

Boss Wang at the grocery store had a glib tongue and loved to take petty advantage of people, but he wasn't a bad person at heart. The Li couple at the corner of the street woke up before dawn to steam pastries; the smoke from their stove curled into the air as they busied themselves until the afternoon. Physician Zhang ran the clinic next door, heading up the mountain early every morning with a bamboo basket on his back to gather herbs and only returning at dusk. Occasionally, Jiuyou also saw the old man's granddaughter following along with a small cloth bag, plucking ordinary medicinal herbs by the roadside.

Whenever Jiuyou had free time, he would stroll over to their shops, standing to the side to watch how they greeted customers and haggled with buyers.

He was never in a rush to speak, nor did he intentionally try to learn anything. He only watched, occasionally buying basic necessities like oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar to take back.

To anyone else's eyes, he was no different from an ordinary young shopkeeper.

As time went on, the wariness and tension he had carried over from his years of cultivation gradually began to fade. Yet, when he sat alone behind the counter, he would occasionally wonder what exactly this Mortal World Heart Tempering was supposed to temper. He had lived for over a thousand years and had seen the cold and warmth of human feelings more times than he could count, but now that he had actually taken this step, he found himself somewhat unsure.

Another day passed. As dusk approached, the setting sun cast the alley into half-light and half-shadow, and Azure Jade Pavilion still hadn't seen a single customer. Jiuyou was just about to close up when he heard the sound of staggering footsteps approaching from the entrance of the alley, heavy, uneven, and extremely unsteady.

He leaned out to take a look. Physician Zhang was just passing by his door, still carrying his woven bamboo basket on his back. However, the basket was more than half empty and scattered with stray leaves, completely unlike its usual overstuffed state. The old man's gait was awkward. One of his arms hung limply at his side, and his robes were stained with dirt and dead leaves. It looked like he had taken a bad fall.

"Physician Zhang, are you injured?" Jiuyou asked, his tone betraying no real sense of urgency.

Physician Zhang waved a hand and smiled. "It's nothing. I lost my footing on the way up the mountain and took a little tumble. I'll be fine once I get back and apply some medicine," he said, not stopping as he continued his unsteady trek forward.

Jiuyou watched his trembling back. He reached out and raised his hand, but then lowered it again.

Just then, Boss Wang came rushing out from the grocery store at the other end of the alley. He grabbed the old man's arm to support him, his tone both anxious and exasperated.

"Old Zhang! Did you go gather that Brilliant Flame Herb again?" Boss Wang scolded. "Is Li Daniu's wife acting up again? Your body isn't made of iron! If you keep running up that mountain every single day, aren't you afraid you'll completely fall apart?"

Physician Zhang only let out a few dry chuckles at the scolding, offering no rebuttal.

Boss Wang sighed heavily and helped him toward the clinic. "Come on, come on, let's not just stand here talking. Your granddaughter already has dinner ready. I could smell it from halfway down the street! If you don't hurry back, the food's going to get cold."

Supported by Boss Wang, the old man limped along, their silhouettes stretching long across the ground in the setting sun. Jiuyou stood by his doorframe, wordlessly watching their backs until they disappeared around the corner of the alley.

After a long while, he slowly withdrew his gaze, turned back into the shop, and gently closed the door.

Early the next morning, the sky was just beginning to brighten, and the thin mist had yet to fully disperse.

Jiuyou pushed open the shop doors. The hinges let out a soft creak, sounding as though they hadn't quite woken up yet.

He stood by the threshold and glanced at the empty alley. Just as he was about to turn back inside to tidy up the counter, a quirky little head peeked around the edge of the doorframe, timidly peering inside.

It was an eight or nine-year-old girl dressed in plain, faded clothes. There were a few neat patches sewn into the hem of her skirt, but her outfit was impeccably clean and tidy. She had a delicate face and a pair of large, round eyes that were carefully studying the jade pendants in the shop. Looking as if she were afraid of being caught, she kept her body hidden behind the doorframe, leaning only half of her head inside.

Jiuyou looked down and recognized her face.

"You're Physician Zhang's granddaughter," he said.

The little girl nodded. Having her identity exposed made her shrink back in embarrassment. She looked down, nervously rubbing the fabric of her worn clothes. "My name is Zhang Qingling, but the neighbors all call me Xiao Ling'er..." she said, her voice pure but as quiet as a mosquito's hum. "Shopkeeper, I just wanted to come in and look. I won't break anything."

Jiuyou didn't say anything else. He stepped aside to clear the doorway and went back to his seat behind the counter.

Xiao Ling'er walked inside on her tiptoes. She moved incredibly slowly, as if she were afraid of hurting the floorboards with her steps. She circled the wooden display shelves twice, her gaze sweeping over the rows of jade pendants. After hesitating for a long while, she finally stopped at the innermost corner.

She squatted down and carefully picked up a jade pendant. She held it in her hands, inspecting it for a long time before finally walking up to the counter. Setting it gently onto the surface, she asked in a low voice, "Shopkeeper... how much for this?"

Jiuyou lowered his book and glanced at the jade pendant, pausing in slight surprise. It was the very first piece he had practiced on when he began learning jade carving. The knife work was unrefined, the lines were crude, and it hadn't even been carved into a proper shape. It could only be considered a piece of scrap jade. He had originally meant to throw it away, casually tossing it into the corner of the shelf. He never expected it to actually be picked out.

He looked at Xiao Ling'er, then back at the scrap jade. After a moment of silence, he reached out his hand, paused midair, and then gently pushed the jade pendant back toward her.

"It's just a piece of scrap jade. It isn't worth any money," he said, his voice flat. "If you like it, you can just take it."

Xiao Ling'er's face immediately lit up with joy, but she quickly pursed her lips and shook her head. Using both hands, she pushed the jade pendant back across the counter.

"No," she said, her tone as serious as a little adult's. "Grandpa taught me that I can't take other people's things for free."

Jiuyou raised an eyebrow, feeling a bit bewildered. In his worldview, why would anyone ever refuse something given to them for free?