Gourd Mountain.
For many days after that early-spring rain, the weather remained bright and sunny. The sun roasted the ground until wisps of heat rose from it, and the nameless grasses along the roadside drooped listlessly beneath the glare.
It was only the middle of March, yet the air already carried the heat of midsummer.
About five kilometers from Gourd Mountain stood a small city. It was normally sparsely populated, but recently it had become unusually lively because many cultivators had gathered there.
The city was tiny, with only around a hundred households. Its gate was nothing more than a rust-covered iron door that looked so unstable a gust of wind might knock it down.
The gatekeeper was a low-level Energy Refinement cultivator. Holding an iron spear, he leaned against the city wall and dozed.
“Young Immortal Lord, please make things convenient for me.”
The voice beside his ear sounded slightly distorted. The guard half-opened his eyes and saw someone wrapped tightly in a black cloak. A hood covered the person’s head and face, revealing only the faint outline of a sharply carved jaw.
The guard paused. Just as he was about to level his spear and begin the routine questioning, a stone flew into his arms. He looked down and discovered, to his astonishment, that it was a top-grade spirit stone of excellent quality!
In a godforsaken place like Gourd Mountain, even the lowest-grade spirit beads served as currency. Low-grade spirit stones were rarely seen. Only recently, because two elders of the Sword Sect had fought the demon Sui Jian here, had cultivators flocked to watch and started spending so generously.
But the battle had already ended several days ago. Why was someone only arriving now?
The guard muttered inwardly, but still smiled obsequiously, withdrew his spear, and stepped aside. “Yes, Immortal Venerable, please, please go in.”
Sui Jian gave a slight nod and walked slowly through the city gate. He soon blended into the sparse crowd.
Gourd Mountain was usually deserted. With so many cultivators gathered nearby recently, however, a market had inevitably formed. Sui Jian had entered the city specifically for that market.
His injuries were far too severe. Keeping a ginseng spirit alone was nowhere near enough; at best, it could keep him alive. If he wanted to recover completely, he would need an enormous quantity of rare natural treasures, miraculous herbs, and elixirs.
Ten days earlier, he could have casually taken out a pile of them. Unfortunately, his divine soul had been injured. Until his condition improved, he could not open his spiritual abode or the ring-space bound to his soul.
After news spread that the demon had fallen while the two elders’ lives and deaths remained unknown, more than half the cultivators who had come to watch the excitement had dispersed. The market was no longer as bustling as it had been at first.
Stalls were scattered here and there. Only a few cultivators wandered through in twos and threes. Seeing so few customers, the vendors had lost most of their enthusiasm for hawking their wares. Some even leaned back in reclining chairs and closed their eyes to rest.
Sui Jian’s appearance attracted little attention. Instead, it was the earthenware pot in his arms that made several people glance twice.
Not because the pot was rare or precious. It was simply ugly enough to be remarkable. Its surface was rough and uneven, as though it had been shaped and fired carelessly, and several cracks and chips were visible around the rim.
Simple little flowers and a sun were painted on the outside. Yun Shen had painstakingly drawn them in an effort to make the pot prettier.
Sui Jian moved through the market at an unhurried pace. His steps were not rushed, yet he was not slow either, as though deliberately avoiding something.
Since transmigrating, Yun Shen had never suffered such indignity. His entire ginseng body was crammed into a tiny earthen pot, baked beneath the sun, and he did not even have water to drink!
The leaves on his head had curled inward, wilted as though he might wither to death on the spot.
Yun Shen felt as though he was about to dehydrate! But he did not dare ask Sui Jian for water. He was unbearably thirsty and agonized over the decision while tugging at his own roots.
If he asked for water, he might be beaten to death…
If he did not ask, he would definitely die of thirst!
Why did being a ginseng still require such difficult choices?
Sui Jian lowered his eyes and looked at the timid ginseng spirit curled in the pot. The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. Then, as though nothing had happened, he stopped in front of a stall selling spiritual pills.
The stall owner was an open and forthright sort who did not mind being watched. With no customers and too lazy to pack up and go home, he had simply begun refining pills right there on the street, apparently unconcerned that outside disturbances might ruin the batch or explode the furnace.
Sui Jian did not immediately ask any questions after stopping at the stall. He waited patiently instead.
The stall owner was very young, perhaps seventeen or eighteen, a youth who had not yet reached adulthood by local custom. Yet his pill-refining movements were fluid and seamless. That was precisely why Sui Jian had chosen him among so many vendors.
Sui Jian lingered for so long that Yun Shen grew curious and secretly poked his head out of the soil. He happened to see the youth turn spiritual power into a blade, chop a ginseng as thick as a baby’s arm into eight pieces, then wave his hand and throw it into the blazing pill furnace together with the other ingredients.
The ginseng spirit winced all over at the sight, feeling pain in every part of his body. Trembling, he scooped up a mound of soil and bundled himself beneath it.
Eek. Humans were far too savage. They were not friendly to ginseng at all. Boohoo…
Sui Jian was so amused that he could not help laughing aloud. The movement pulled at his internal injuries, and he immediately began coughing in muffled fits.
The youth, absorbed in refining pills, finally noticed that a customer had arrived. The pills in his furnace had just taken shape, so he withdrew his spiritual power, extinguished the fire, and collected the round pills into a porcelain bottle.
Instead of introducing the medicines displayed on his stall like an ordinary vendor, he shook the bottle in his hand. “Fellow cultivator, are you here to buy the Foundation-Nourishing Pills I just made?”
Everything else on his stall consisted of common pills that could be bought anywhere. There would have been no need for this customer to wait specifically for him unless what he wanted was the Foundation-Nourishing Pills he had impulsively decided to refine.
Foundation-Nourishing Pills were only basic medicines used to stabilize one’s foundations and nourish the soul. They were not especially rare. The youth glanced at the other person but could not make out anything beneath the tightly wrapped cloak.
Sui Jian had already stopped coughing. He was accustomed to enduring pain. With a casual motion, he placed a restriction around them that blocked sound and divine-soul probing. Only then did he speak as though nothing were wrong. “You can refine Heaven-Restoring Origin Pills, can’t you?”
It was not phrased as a question. He sounded completely certain. A trace of surprise flashed across the youth’s face. “How do you know?”
If the Foundation-Nourishing Pill was a basic soul-nourishing medicine, then the Heaven-Restoring Origin Pill was one of the finest in that category. It was a top-grade Earth-rank pill and also happened to be the most difficult formula the youth could currently refine.
He could not help taking another look at Sui Jian, secretly startled.
Who was this man in black, and how did he know his abilities so well?
“How many Heaven-Restoring Origin Pills can you refine with the medicinal ingredients you currently have? I want all of them.”
“This is both the deposit and the final payment.”
Sui Jian did not answer the youth’s question. Instead, he removed two storage pouches from his belt, one large and one small, and opened them in front of the youth. Both were packed full of top-grade spirit stones, easily more than a hundred altogether.
The youth had seen plenty of top-grade spirit stones. He could earn a great deal by selling pills alone. But pill refiners also burned through money at a frightening rate.
The other party was offering far too much. The youth, whose expenses always exceeded his income, immediately became dazzled by the money. Beaming, he accepted the smaller storage pouch with both hands. “Then where should I find you afterward, Senior?”
Who cared what this man’s background was? The one paying the money was the boss.
Sui Jian said, “I will only stay in the city for two days. Once you finish refining the pills, you may find me at the largest inn in the city.”
“All right, all right.”
The youth put the storage pouch into his storage ring and happily packed up his stall. Before leaving, he even gave the freshly refined bottle of Foundation-Nourishing Pills to Sui Jian as a gift.
Yun Shen, who had served as background scenery throughout the entire exchange, watched the youth’s departing figure and could not help asking, “You paid him first. What if he takes the money and runs?”
“Then we’ll see whether he lives long enough to spend those spirit stones.”
Sui Jian’s tone was calm, but Yun Shen somehow sensed killing intent from it.
He shuddered, silently shrank back into the soil, and became even more determined never to ask for water.
After completing the transaction, Sui Jian left the market. He was in no hurry to go to the inn and continued wandering around the city instead.
He nearly walked through the entire small city, stopping here and there. His gaze swept lazily around him, making it appear as though he had no particular purpose. Occasionally he would pause somewhere for quite a while, then continue onward.
Poor Yun Shen was forced to wander along with him for ages. The closer it got to noon, the fiercer the sunlight became. Already nearly dried out, the ginseng spirit had no choice but to expose half his body again, trying to capture moisture from the air to wet his mouth. Naturally, it was useless.
Sui Jian was dragging around a seriously ill body and had only dared walk this long because of the Foundation-Nourishing Pills he had just obtained. By now, he too was almost at his limit, so he finally headed toward his intended destination.
When they passed a tea stall, he lowered his gaze toward the ginseng spirit that looked as though it was barely clinging to life and deliberately slowed his steps, seemingly waiting for something.
Yun Shen clung to a chipped section of the flowerpot and stared longingly as the tea-stall waiter poured tea for several cultivators chatting loudly. Even from two meters away, he could almost smell the fragrance of the tea.
He could not help licking his lips. The curled leaves on his head had twisted together like braids. In the end, a plant’s instinctive craving for water overcame his fear of Sui Jian.
Using the pot and cloak for cover, he secretly stretched out one thin ginseng root and poked Sui Jian’s forearm. Pitifully, he whispered, “I’m thirsty. I want water.”
Sui Jian lowered his head and looked at him without speaking.
Perhaps because he received no response, the ginseng spirit lost his courage again. The root slowly retreated. He continued staring at the tea stall with aching longing, every inch of him radiating grievance.
For the first time in his life, Sui Jian felt a trace of guilt. He pinched the ginseng spirit’s leaves and turned toward the tea stall.
“Immortal Lord, please have a seat! Our signature Snowfall Pine Fragrance has a mellow, refreshing flavor. It’s an exceptionally fine tea, specially supplied to the imperial court. If it pleases you, I’ll bring you a pot immediately.”
The waiter had been waiting nearby. The moment Sui Jian sat down, he enthusiastically began promoting the tea with extravagant praise. In reality, it was only ordinary mortal tea.
Mortal tea contained many impurities. In the past, drinking it for amusement would have been harmless; at most he would waste a little spiritual power expelling the impurities. In his current state, however, it might actually kill him.
Sui Jian raised a hand and interrupted the waiter. “Plain water will do.”
By “plain water,” he meant nothing more than cooled boiled water.
“Yes, of course. Please wait, honored guest.”
The waiter’s enthusiasm visibly vanished. As he turned away, he even rolled his eyes and muttered, “I thought he was some generous Immortal Lord. Turns out he can’t even afford a pot of tea.”
His voice was not particularly quiet. Anyone who was not deaf could hear him clearly. Yun Shen secretly glanced at Sui Jian, but the latter calmly swallowed a Foundation-Nourishing Pill as though he had heard nothing.
Since Sui Jian had at least paid one spirit bead, the waiter brought over a large pot of cooled boiled water. He slammed it down on the table with a bang, dropped off a teacup, and turned away.
Sui Jian lifted the pot and was about to pour the water directly over Yun Shen when Yun Shen hurriedly stretched out a ginseng root and lightly pressed it against the back of his hand. “Too much water at once will damage the roots.”
There was obvious implication in his words. Sui Jian raised a brow. “You want to use the teacup too?”
The leaves on Yun Shen’s head trembled. “I mainly want to drink it myself. That way I can control how much I take in.”
Sui Jian clicked his tongue. “Raising you really is troublesome. Now you’re even ordering me around.”
His mouth complained about the trouble, yet his hand moved the teapot over the cup.
When the cup was eighty percent full, Sui Jian flicked it with a fingertip, sliding it beside the flowerpot.
“Thank you!”
Yun Shen thanked him politely. Several thin ginseng roots plunged impatiently into the cup. After so long without water, the ginseng spirit happily unfurled his leaves, rustling them in delight.
“Who would’ve thought it? Back then, the great demon Sui Jian wiped out every cultivation sect throughout Accompanying Prefecture with one man and one blade, yet in the end he died at the hands of his former junior brother.”
“I heard Zhao Suiyun ran a sword straight through his heart.”
“He killed so many people. Dying that easily was far too merciful. In my opinion, he should’ve been cut to pieces before anyone could vent their hatred.”
The cultivator at the next table slapped the tabletop as he grew more excited, lamenting only that he had not been the one to slay the demon and become famous across the world.
The ginseng spirit, now full of water, suddenly straightened his leaf stalks.
The great demon Sui Jian? That name sounded a little familiar.
Wasn’t the man who had yanked him out by the roots named Sui Jian too?
And hadn’t the greatest villain in the cultivation novel he had been reading on a web-fiction site before dying suddenly also been called Sui Jian?
How had the great villain died in that book again?
It seemed that, at the very end, the male lead Zhao Suiyun had pierced his heart with a single sword.
The coincidence was far too extreme. The slow-witted ginseng spirit finally sank into deep thought.
