Chapter 168: Pay with Wealth, or Pay with Your Life

The night was as dark as ink, wrapping Haoyang Alley tightly in its embrace. Even the moonlight could only slip through the clouds in a few sparse threads, casting shallow shadows on the ground.

Three dark figures slipped silently through the alleys, like wisps of smoke blending into the night.

The woman leading them issued precise hand signals, and the two men beside her went to work, each searching different houses. After checking two in a row, one of the men in black—a slightly plump figure—suddenly stopped, his gaze falling on the doorboards of a shop.

He frowned slightly, muttering to himself, "Strange. This is the first layer of Hundred Declarations City, where spiritual energy is incredibly thin. Why is it so much denser inside this shop?"

He paused as if realizing something, then cursed under his breath. "Dammit. If it weren't for the spirit pet in that kid's hands, we wouldn't have had to chase him all the way here and waste so much time."

Refusing to dwell on it, he quickly approached the shop. Channeling spiritual energy into his feet, he moved without a sound, touching down as softly as a falling leaf.

He had no choice but to do this. Probing the area with his Divine Sense would absolutely beat the grass and startle the snake. That kid surnamed Yang was incredibly slippery, and tracking him all the way here had been hard enough. If he alerted the boy at the final moment, all their efforts would be wasted.

Taking a deep breath, he blurred into motion and landed silently inside the shop.

The shop was quiet, lined with neat wooden shelves displaying rows of carved jade pendants. Some were exquisite, while others were rather rough. He swept a glance over them and his gaze narrowed slightly; faint traces of spiritual energy were actually clinging to a few of the pieces.

He casually picked up the most exquisite piece and weighed it in his palm. "Low-grade spirit jade isn't exactly rare, but for each one to retain just a sliver of spiritual energy... the carving technique is quite precise," he muttered. "Seems the owner of this shop stumbled upon some minor, unimpressive stroke of fortune."

Gripping the jade pendant, he was suddenly reminded of their exhausting pursuit of that kid surnamed Yang. They had chased him all the way from Yunqing City, crossing over a hundred thousand miles without rest for four days and four nights. A surge of irritation welled up in his chest, and his grip unconsciously tightened. With a sharp crack, the jade pendant shattered in his hand. The fragments slipped through his fingers and tapped lightly against the stone tiles, the sound exceptionally clear in the silent night.

He glanced down at the fragments and was just about to turn and leave, only to feel something blocking his path.

He slowly raised his head, locking gazes with a pair of golden eyes. They were as calm as a deep pool of water, staring at him in total silence. Terror rooted him to the spot; his entire body went stiff, and he forgot to even breathe.

A moment later, a short distance away in the alley.

"Senior Sister, you called me over in such a hurry. Where is Second Senior Brother? Did he find that guy surnamed Yang?" a youth in black asked as he hurried over.

He was slightly short in stature, with clean-cut features.

The woman addressed as Senior Sister nodded, her tone uncharacteristically light. "That's right. Second Brother just sent a sound transmission saying he found him. He's waiting for us to head over."

"Then what are we waiting for? We can finally report back and be done with this," the youth said, relaxing considerably.

The two immediately quickened their pace and soon arrived at the entrance to Azure Jade Pavilion. The shop door was half-open, and the interior was pitch-black, making it impossible to see inside. The woman probed briefly with her Divine Sense. Sensing that her companion's aura was still present, she pushed the door open without hesitation. The youth followed closely behind.

The instant they stepped over the threshold, the doorboards closed soundlessly behind them. Moonlight slipped through the cracks in the door, illuminating a small patch of the floor. They saw their Second Senior Brother from behind. He was kneeling on the ground with his head bowed, looking as if he had been there for a long time.

Hearing them enter, the figure slowly turned his head. His face was swollen beyond recognition, his eye sockets bruised purple, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He looked as if he had been pinned to the floor and severely beaten.

He opened his mouth, his voice slurred. "Senior Sister... Junior Brother... you're finally here..."

Before they could even react, a spiritual pressure as heavy as a mountain pressed down from thin air, crushing their shoulders like an invisible weight. Their knees gave out and they crashed to the ground, spiderwebbing the bluestone floor with several hairline cracks.

Both of them jolted in shock. 'This is the spiritual pressure of a Nascent Soul cultivator! How could a Nascent Soul cultivator appear at the very bottom of this tiny Hundred Declarations City?!'

They raised their heads in terror, only then clearly seeing the person sitting behind the counter. It was a young cultivator in a golden robe, leisurely flipping through a book. As if he had just finished reading a page, he slowly lifted his gaze.

His indifferent gaze swept over the three of them. It felt as though he was looking at them, yet simultaneously as though they were completely beneath his notice.

"Good. Everyone is here."

The woman was the first to react. She threw herself to the floor and kowtowed repeatedly, her forehead smashing against the floor tiles and immediately drawing blood.

"This junior had no intention of trespassing in Senior's residence and disturbing your peaceful cultivation!" she said, her voice rapid but clear. "Please forgive me, Senior. I am willing to pay anything in compensation. I only beg Senior to spare my life!"

Seeing this, the youth behind her also began to kowtow, keeping his forehead pressed tightly to the ground and not daring to lift it an inch.

"Enough. You're dirtying my floor tiles," Jiuyou said lightly.

Only then did the two gradually stop, but they remained prostrate, not daring to move a muscle.

Jiuyou turned a page of his book and tapped his index finger twice on the counter, as if he were truly calculating an account.

"Since you've quieted down, let's discuss compensation," he said. His tone was completely flat, devoid of any killing intent. It sounded more like he was simply bargaining.

"Com... compensation?" the woman asked, her voice trembling.

"You broke into my shop, smashed my jade pendant, and cracked my floor tiles with your kneeling." Jiuyou turned another page, his tone as unhurried as ever. "Shouldn't you compensate me? Otherwise..." He paused. "...you can pay me with your lives."

"We'll pay! We should pay!" The woman nodded frantically, her voice tight.

She hastily untied the Storage Pouch at her waist and turned to signal her junior brother to do the same. The youth hurriedly removed his own Storage Pouch, and the two of them respectfully offered them to the counter simultaneously. Three Storage Pouches—including the one belonging to their Second Senior Brother—were lined up neatly on the desk.

Jiuyou cast a glance over them. He clicked his tongue, as if reviewing a less-than-satisfactory ledger. The sound wasn't loud, but it made all three of them cringe back simultaneously.

"A bit poor, but it will barely suffice." He closed the book and swept his calm gaze over the three of them. "Consider yourselves lucky. I don't feel like killing anyone lately. Go back and deliver a message to your master: if you dare come here again, you will die."

How could the three of them dare say anything else? They kowtowed repeatedly in agreement. The two who had arrived last hurriedly hoisted up their Second Senior Brother and stumbled out of the shop. Only when they were far enough away did they dare turn into Escape Lights and flee in panic.

The shop door closed once more. Jiuyou gently waved his sleeve, and the shattered jade and bloodstains vanished from the floor. He sat back down behind the counter, but instead of returning his gaze to his book, he looked through the crack in the window toward the clinic. His Divine Sense spread out silently, and the aura inside the clinic gradually became clear.

He observed for a moment before muttering to himself, "Heh. To think he actually noticed my Divine Sense. This little guy is quite interesting."

He withdrew his gaze. His fingertip paused on the edge of the page for a moment before turning it.

The night breeze slipped in through the crack in the door, blowing the shallow cracks on the floor a little cleaner.