Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery

But at this moment, upon hearing that Chen Li was leaving too,

he couldn’t help feeling anxious.

He stood up involuntarily and paced back and forth, "I would like to leave too, but I’ve never dealt with the Yu Family, and there’s the burden of a daughter."

"Don’t worry about that, I’ve already settled things with the Yu Family. When the time comes, just follow us, and as for your daughter, everyone will look after her on the way," Chen Li said.

"I’ll think about it, think about it some more... I’ll give you an answer tonight."

"Then take your time thinking about it, I’m leaving now!" Chen Li said, standing up.

...

"Eh, Dad, where’s Uncle?" Zhang Shuniang, having finished preparing tea, came out from the inner room and saw that Uncle had already left.

"He left early!" Zhang Yan said with a sigh.

"Dad, why are you sighing all of a sudden when everything’s fine?" Zhang Shuniang asked.

"It’s worrisome, a lot of people are leaving. Should we leave the Green River District as well?" Zhang Yan pondered and said.

"What about Uncle and his family?" Zhang Shuniang asked.

"They’re leaving too!"

"Then we must go with them," Zhang Shuniang stated without hesitation, "Uncle is smart, well-experienced, has a high level of cultivation, and remarkable talent. He’s someone who will reach Foundation Establishment in the future. Following them is definitely the right choice!"

Zhang Yan’s face darkened, and he was barely able to resist rolling his eyes, his tone dripping with sarcasm, "Yes, yes, your father is far inferior to your Uncle Chen. Not smart, lacks experience, low in cultivation, and my talent is nothing special. I think you’d be better off living with your Uncle!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shuniang’s face turned red as she retorted in a delicate voice, "Dad, what are you talking about? That’s not what I mean. Why do you always have to compare yourself to Uncle? Suggesting I live with Uncle, how could you say that? He already has Ms. Zhou."

A pang hit Zhang Yan’s heart, and his face turned even darker.

The first few sentences made some sense, but the last part...

Is that what I meant?

What was going through my mind?

And more importantly, why does it feel more and more off?

...

That evening,

Zhang Yan visited him to express his intention to travel together.

Chen Li was not surprised at all.

Anyone with a bit of foresight would not choose to stay in this gradually dying market town.

After Zhang Yan left, Chen Li transformed back into his butcher persona and went to Zhao Lin to settle the final accounts.

"Big Brother, could you let us join you on your journey? We might not be strong and won’t be of much use in a fight, but we can take care of some miscellaneous tasks along the way without causing any trouble for you," Zhao Lin said.

Compared to Zhang Yan’s hesitation and need to think things over, Zhao Lin was much more direct and decisive.

Of course, this was because he was alone without any burdens.

"Alright, come to this address in five days before dawn..." Chen Li thought for a second and then gave him an address.

Having helped with selling goods over the past half-year, Chen Li was quite satisfied with these people.

They were competent, acted cautiously, and their characters were passable.

Moreover, going to a strange new place where they would be unfamiliar with everything and not knowing what they might encounter, having a few familiar subordinates would undoubtedly be very convenient.

"Thank you, Big Brother!" Zhao Lin suppressed his joy, "I’ll go and tell the others right away!"

...

After leaving Zhao Lin’s house, Chen Li walked the streets.

In the past month, only one mid-grade Magic Artifact had been sold. Combining the income from selling Zhang Yan’s Talismans and after deducting the shares of Zhao Lin and others, he had only earned three Mid-grade Spirit Stones in total; business was getting worse and worse.

And there were not many Magic Artifacts left.

Only three high-grade and eight mid-grade Magic Artifacts remained...

Halfway through his walk, he faintly heard the sounds of a fight.

Chen Li hurried forward to see what was happening.

He saw that not far away, three people were attacking one, and Magic Artifacts were whistling in the air, the fight intense.

To him, it was nothing more than a fight between weaklings.

A thought crossed his mind, and he decided to intervene righteously. Drawing his sword, he shouted,

"How dare you commit violence in the broad daylight right under heaven!"

Unfortunately, before he could step forward,

the robbers, who were already panicking as they couldn’t get the upper hand, fled in terror upon seeing someone come to the rescue.

This left Chen Li feeling quite regretful.

Had he known, he wouldn’t have called out.

"Li expresses his gratitude to Fellow Daoist for your attempt to rescue me," the besieged man said gratefully as he approached, introducing himself with a deep bow and sincere thanks.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou is taking it too seriously, I merely shouted out; it was no trouble at all!" Chen Li returned the greeting.

"Hey!" Li sneered sarcastically, "Other than you, Fellow Daoist, who else would dare to come out here, even just to put on a brave face? If I didn’t have some skill myself, I would have lost my life today!"

"Everyone has their own difficulties," Chen Li said.

You can’t expect everyone to have courage.

The cost and price of courage are too high.

Even for him, if he weren’t so skilled and bold, he would flee as far as possible.

As long as one doesn’t commit evil, then they are a good person.

After exchanging a few words, the two parted ways.

...

On his way, Chen Li suddenly remembered Lin Gui.

How is he now?

Over the course of a year since he came here, he hadn’t met many acquaintances, and even fewer friends.

Lin Gui was one of them.

Since he was going to leave, he decided to see him one last time to say goodbye.

He still knew where Lin Gui lived.

But when he got there,

he found that the place was empty, with no one around.

He asked a neighbor, only to learn that Lin Gui hadn’t been seen for a while.

The neighbor was a thin, plain-looking young woman with a sharp tone and a look of disdain:

"It’s been seven or eight days, maybe even ten, I can’t quite remember. I guess he must be dead outside by now. That old man wasn’t quite right in the head, always talking nonsense, acting all crazy every day. Even if he didn’t die out there, he probably wouldn’t have lived much longer... Who are you to him? He still owes me money!"

"Uh, just an acquaintance," Chen Li said, "How much does he owe you?"

"Are you going to pay his debt? About twenty taels of gold, really, I’m not lying," the young woman’s eyes lit up as she spoke:

"Two months ago, he was so hungry he couldn’t stand it, and he borrowed grain from me. He was so pitiful that I gave him a big bag of wild sweet potatoes, and he hasn’t repaid me until now. It was a big bag, this big!"

She gestured with her hands to show the size of the bag: "If it were sold in the market, tell me, wouldn’t it be worth twenty taels of gold!"

Chen Li didn’t know what to say for a moment, so he just replied, "Definitely worth it!"

The life of a destitute cultivator probably goes like that.

He reached into his sleeve and took out a Low-grade Spirit Stone.

"I’ll go get the money for you," the young woman said with a delighted face as she took the Spirit Stone.

"No need for change!" Chen Li said.

Upon hearing this, the woman’s face froze for a moment, sizing up Chen Li from top to bottom, seeing his thick and prominent features, she couldn’t help but smile coquettishly, "You’re really generous. But I’m not the kind of person who takes advantage of others. Come on into the house, I’ll make it up to you."

Saying this, she turned and entered her house.

Chen Li was puzzled but listened intently and heard no sounds like breathing from inside the house, indicating that there were no ambushes.

As the saying goes, the skilled are bold.

He followed the young woman into the house, curious to see what trick she was up to.

The interior was tidy, with a scent of makeup and powder.

As soon as Chen Li entered, the woman softly closed the door, and her soft body quickly pressed against him, her breath hot, "Come on, I don’t do this often; it has to be someone I actually like."

...

"Phew!"

He pushed open the door and shook his head speechlessly.

"What a bizarre situation, what is all this!"

Smelling the residual scent of makeup and powder on his body, he quickly used a Cleaning Talisman to remove the odd smell.

It wouldn’t be good if Ms. Zhou misunderstood.

After all, it would be a shame to cause a big stir without getting any benefit.

"Luckily, I have strong willpower!" Chen Li muttered to himself.

...

In the following days, Chen Li kept to his routine.

He either sat and practiced Qi Cultivation, or worked on his swordsmanship and Spell proficiency.

During this time, Zhou Hong sewed a tent for their travels, filling the storage bag to the brim.

Five days passed in a blink.

On the sixth day, before dawn.

The sky was still pitch dark.

Chen Li and Ms. Zhou got up early, and after they got ready and ate breakfast, they opened the door.

Under the dark night, a group of people had already been waiting outside.