Chapter 2485 — Yu Xiaoke Arrives Too

Once inside the cultivator market, the atmosphere grew lively after only a short walk. Along both sides of the road, many cultivators had set up small stalls, displaying all manner of fine goods—pills and elixirs, martial arts techniques, rare natural treasures, and more.

Naturally, most of what the cultivators brought out to trade was of no use to themselves. But one man's trash might well be another man's peerless treasure, so no one would sell what they did not need for a pittance. Everyone clutched their goods close, waiting to exchange them for whatever suited them best and served their needs most.

Thus, though the stalls were many and the goods plentiful, few deals were actually struck. Everyone was watching and waiting; many had attended the cultivator market time and again without ever finding what they needed.

Still, running a stall here was quite safe—no one had to worry about being forced into a sale. After all, the disciples of the Cultivator Trade Association's Law Enforcement Hall were no decoration. True, should a Heaven-rank expert come to force a trade, there was nothing they could do—but Heaven-rank experts were, by and large, not interested in wares like these.

In a secluded courtyard within the cultivator market—the temporary offices of the market, off-limits to outsiders—the Heaven-rank vice president sat in a grand armchair, his face dark as a storm cloud. Before him stood Skinny Scarecrow, trembling with fear.

"What exactly happened?" The Heaven-rank vice president shot a glance at this nominal disciple of his and barked the question.

True, these three disciples were only nominal disciples of his, but they had followed him about for years, running back and forth through every session of the cultivator market. If they had earned no merits, they had at least endured hardships—and the three of them were sharp-eyed besides, always letting their master look over and pick first from the fine things they extorted. So the Heaven-rank vice president was quite attached to them. That two of them had suddenly died naturally put him in a foul mood.

"Master... I never thought that brat would be so arrogant, that he would dare beat my eldest and second brothers to death..." Skinny Scarecrow's face was bitter, though it also bore plain anger and grief.

"Arrogant? He's far more than arrogant. A peak mid-Earth-rank expert crossing ranks to wound experts of late Earth rank and peak late Earth rank—what sort of notion is that?" The Heaven-rank vice president shook his head. "Your two brothers are not in danger of their lives. I've already revived them with pills. But to keep the strength they once had is impossible—even if they live, they'll be ordinary men, their power utterly gone!"

"Alas!" Skinny Scarecrow heaved a helpless sigh. Still, that his eldest and second brothers had kept their lives was, all things considered, the best outcome available.

"Enough. I asked you for the course of events, not for this drivel. What exactly happened?" Skinny Scarecrow's earlier account had been vague and muddled, and the Heaven-rank vice president still had not grasped why those two guards had laid hands on anyone. All he knew was that they had been trying to save face for Skinny Scarecrow.

Skinny Scarecrow dared not conceal anything, and so he recounted to the Heaven-rank vice president how his attempt to force a trade for Yang Qiqi's blue crystal had failed, and then, unwilling to let the matter drop, how he had described Wei Zhao and the others' appearance and dress to his eldest and second brothers, telling them to make trouble for Wei Zhao's group and take the blue crystal back.

"A blue crystal?" The Heaven-rank vice president's expression shifted at the words, his composure stirred. The blue crystal was of little use to him, true, but it was a rare treasure all the same! After pondering a moment, he said, "Rest easy. This face, your master will save for you!"

"Thank you, Master!" Skinny Scarecrow was overjoyed and hurried to express his gratitude.

Wei Zhao, Han Xiaohu, and Yang Qiqi wandered among the stalls, yet never paused in their steps—for nothing on offer was anything Wei Zhao needed, and most of it he had already seen in the hidden Han family's treasure vault. Nor could it be called especially rare natural treasure.

In truth, it was hard for low-rank cultivators like these to produce anything of real quality.

Yu Xiaoke had come today as well—not to trade with anyone, but to see whether there was anything of value here she might spirit away. Wei Zhao had helped the orphanage obtain a great sum of money before, true, but the orphanage was being expanded now, and there were more and more children inside. They could not live forever on the charity of Wei Zhao and Lai the Fatso!

Wei Zhao had said he wanted nothing from her, but Yu Xiaoke could not shake the feeling that she must not owe him too much. Owe too much, and the accounts would grow impossible to untangle; and when the day came that Wei Zhao truly asked her to repay it, what would she have to repay him with?

So Yu Xiaoke meant to stand on her own two feet, and a market where fine things could be spirited away was naturally not one she would let slip by.

Her eyes swept back and forth across the crowd and the stalls, searching for her quarry, when suddenly her eyes lit up, and a flicker of inexplicable delight and excitement passed through them!

She had seen him again—it really was him! He had actually come to this cultivator market too?! Yu Xiaoke was both startled and thrilled. This man was the male thief she admired most, most of all in her heart; she had not seen him for so long, and a sense of loss had gathered in her heart, more or less. To meet again—words could not say how happy she was.

But then Yu Xiaoke noticed Han Xiaohu and Yang Qiqi beside the male thief, and she did not know what they were. These two were plainly not the female thief Qiu Lingshan and the hanger-on Chen Yuxuan who had followed him in the ancient tomb. Though the two had their faces covered, Yu Xiaoke could still tell them apart by the differences in their dress and bearing.

So Yu Xiaoke hesitated and did not rashly step forward to call out to Wei Zhao. She did not know what his purpose was on this trip, and she feared to disturb him or delay whatever plan he had. Yet she did not want to lose this chance to make contact with him either, and so she could only watch Wei Zhao and the others from afar in silence, meaning to wait for a fitting opportunity.

What Yang Qiqi sought was very simple—something to keep Little Nine's condition in check. So she, like Wei Zhao and Han Xiaohu, needed only a glance at each stall to know what it held.

Before long, Wei Zhao had all but finished going through the stalls the cultivators had set up, and he was rather disappointed—there was no colored steel such as he had imagined. So he turned to Han Xiaohu and asked, "Pure yellow jade... none to be had?"

"Boss, that can't be. The word I got was that there really is pure yellow jade for sale at this cultivator market," Han Xiaohu said. "But if it's not in these cultivators' hands, then it may well be in the hands of the Cultivator Trade Association. They'll be selling it by auction in a little while—we'll know once we go and look."

"An auction? Bidding with cash? Or..." Wei Zhao asked. RQ