Venerated Venomous Consort

When Gu Xijiu traveled with Yun Yanli, they would often visit auction houses to see if they could acquire any notable items of value. More often than not, Gu Xijiu was able to find the Youth-Retaining Herb at a fairly reasonable price- a class-three spiritual stone for a finely-graded herb.

She used to find the Youth-Retaining Herb almost every time she visited an auction house, but as she was not interested in preserving her youthful looks back then, she was not very keen on acquiring the herb.

Yun Yanli wanted to buy the herbs for her, but she turned him down. She would have reconsidered his offer, if only she knew about the use of the herb earlier. Now that she desperately needed one, it was nowhere to be found. Why did the herb go out of stock all of a sudden?

Gu Xijiu was confused, so she asked the staff at the auction house. He refused to answer her at first, claiming that it was unprofessional to share the information. Secretly, Gu Xijiu offered a spiritual stone to him, and he finally talked, “Actually, the Youth-Retaining Herb is not something that is highly sought after. No one is selling the herb now because of the king of the Devil Kingdom. He is going to give the herbs to his beloved sister on her birthday. Hence, the herbs will be sold before they even make it here to our store.”

“There is a king in the Devil Kingdom? Who is the king?” Gu Xijiu was curious.

“Everything about the Devil Kingdom is a mystery. The outsiders will not be able to find out what happens within their territory. I heard that the recent years in the Devil Kingdom have been quite chaotic. Different kings took their own reigns and fought for power. The war finally ceased when the Great Devil King emerged and defeated the rest of the contenders. He managed to unite the divided lands into one unified kingdom.”

Gu Xijiu was moved. “What is the name of the Great Devil King?”

The staff responded with an awkward smile, “I do not know. I had to pay for the previous information with hundreds of gold pieces.”

Smilingly, Gu Xijiu offered him a class-two spiritual stone this time. “Young man, if you can get me a Youth-Retaining Herb, this spiritual stone will be yours.”

The stone instantly attracted the man. The value of one class-two spiritual stone was equivalent to a hundred pieces of class-three stone altogether, enough to buy a hundred pieces of Youth-Retaining Herbs. The staff knew his job very well, so he was sure that he could figure something out. Swiftly, he took her offer.

Gu Xijiu gave him a class-three spiritual stone as a deposit. When the deal was closed, she would trade that stone with him for a class-two spiritual stone. Money could, indeed, work miracles. The man had clearly proven his efficiency. That very night, he already had some news for Gu Xijiu, saying that he managed to get a Youth-Retaining Herb for her. The only disadvantage was the soaring price. The seller asked for two pieces of class-two spiritual stones instead of one, so he had to consult her to see if she would like to accept the offer.

Certainly, Gu Xijiu would take it. She asked the man to buy the herb on her behalf. When she made her way there, the man was already waiting for her, with the herb in his hand. Gu Xijiu gave the young man three pieces of class-two spiritual stone, two for the Youth-Retaining Herb and one for the young man’s service. Then, she continued politely, “I might have more business for you in the future, so there will surely be opportunities for you to make money. However, I do not wish anyone to know about me. You know what to do, don’t you?”

The young man was smart. “Don’t worry. I will never talk about you to anyone else.”

Gu Xijiu gave him a nod and left swiftly.

…

“What if the man was only lying to you? He got the herb with only one spiritual stone, but told you a different story and asked for two stones instead. Weren’t you worried that he was actually a con?” The baby was not quite pleased.