Chapter 45: Grand Aunt
As they passed a stall, Ying Tong suddenly stopped.
Seeing this, the other three halted as well.
“Grand Aunt, what’s wrong?”
Since they were out in public, Ying Tong had asked Ying Xuechen and the others to address her differently, forbidding them from calling her “Venerable.” Quick-witted as ever, Ying Xuechen had decided to call her “Grand Aunt” instead. After all, given Ying Tong’s seniority, this title suited her just fine.
Ying Tong looked over at the stall—not because the items on it had caught her attention, but because she had sensed that the stall owner’s aura was unusually unstable.
The disturbance in his soul suggested that he had just experienced a failed soul-possession attempt.
As for the items on display, they were all dull, worn-out objects, some even filthy and covered in dust. These were either recently excavated from an ancient cultivator’s long-abandoned cave or freshly dug up from the earth.
Ying Tong was more inclined to believe the former.
With her discerning eyes, she could see that most of these objects were too deteriorated to be of any use due to the passage of time. However, a small number were intact, merely concealed under a thick layer of seals.
The cultivators frequenting this market, including the stall owner, lacked the level of cultivation needed to see through these seals, which was why these items remained unnoticed.
Ying Tong approached the stall and, like a picky customer, casually examined the items on display.
Finally, she noticed a rather plain, pitch-black bracelet in the corner and took a slight interest in it.
Picking up the bracelet, she also picked up a few dusty bottles beside it and asked, “Elder, how much for these items?”
The old man looked up and scrutinized Ying Tong for a moment. Seeing her dressed in fine attire, clearly different from the average cultivator, a gleam flashed in his eyes.
“You, young lady, have a keen eye. These are precious items I nearly lost my life retrieving from an ancient cultivator’s cave not long ago. If not for my severe injuries, I wouldn’t have considered selling them. But since it seems you’re fated to come across them, let’s say ten mid-grade spirit stones.”
A single mid-grade spirit stone was equivalent to a hundred low-grade spirit stones.
Previously, when others had inquired, the old man had quoted ten low-grade spirit stones. Now, raising the price a hundredfold, he felt uncertain but hopeful.
When Ying Tong didn’t respond immediately, he thought she might be dissatisfied with the price. Just as he was about to say the price was negotiable, he heard her say, “Ten mid-grade spirit stones, that’s fair.”
With that, Ying Tong tossed ten mid-grade spirit stones into the old man’s hands, then left with the items in hand, accompanied by Ying Xuechen and the others.
On the way, Ying Shao’an looked puzzled as Ying Tong carefully stored the items. He asked, “Grand Aunt, these things clearly aren’t worth that price. Why did you give that old man so many spirit stones?”
“And who told you these items aren’t worth that price?” Ying Tong replied meaningfully. “What you see isn’t always the truth—it may also be a disguise.”
…
Meanwhile, on the other side, the old man held the ten mid-grade spirit stones in his hands. In the past, he would have been overjoyed to encounter such a generous, unsuspecting buyer. But today, he couldn’t bring himself to smile.
What had she meant by her words?
Could those items she picked out really be worth ten mid-grade spirit stones?
Lost in thought, the old man didn’t notice a veiled young girl stopping briefly in front of his stall. After a quick look around and finding nothing of interest, she shook her head in disappointment and walked away.
“Forget it. Even if those things were actually valuable, it’s clear they’re not meant for me if I can’t recognize their worth. Keeping them would just be a waste—far less practical than these ten mid-grade spirit stones.”
Just as Ying Tong had suspected, this old man had indeed gone through a failed soul-possession attempt recently while exploring an ancient cultivator’s cave. Although the attempt didn’t succeed, it left him seriously weakened, compelling him to sell the items he’d taken from the cave in exchange for spirit stones to treat his internal injuries.
The items he had retrieved were so ancient that even specialized appraisers couldn’t identify them. To do so, he’d need to hire a higher-level appraiser, which would require a large sum of spirit stones. Lacking the funds, he had no choice but to come here and try his luck.
*
Meanwhile, after wandering around the market, aside from the items Ying Tong purchased from the old man and a few tasty-looking snacks, they didn’t find anything else worthwhile.
Back at their lodging, Ying Tong laid out the plain black bracelet and three dusty green porcelain bottles she’d bought from the old man.
Her elegant, slender fingers tapped each item in succession.
Ying Xuechen and the others heard four crisp taps, and then the items on the table began to tremble slightly.
After a few seconds, spider-web-like cracks appeared across their surfaces, and a white light seeped through the gaps.
In the next instant, it was as if all the dirt and grime had been stripped away, revealing their true forms.
The once dingy black bracelet remained black, but now it exuded an understated, luxurious sheen instead of looking dirty or worn.
A bit of sunlight passed through the bracelet, revealing that it was actually a deep green jade—specifically, dark jade.
The three porcelain bottles had turned completely white, with flawless surfaces. Although their openings were sealed, a faint medicinal fragrance wafted from them.
Ying Shao’an looked on, wide-eyed. “Master, what’s inside these bottles? They smell amazing!”
“They should be pills,” Ying Tong replied. “See if there’s anything you all need.”
Her words implied that these items were theirs to take.
Ying Tong herself had no shortage of pills, and the ones inside these bottles wouldn’t be of much use to her. The dark jade bracelet turned out to be a large spatial artifact, likely a commonly-used tool of its previous owner, given all the various items stored within.
Inside were clothing and some basic supplies, though due to the passage of time, the clothing had become fragile, crumbling like paper at the slightest touch.
Then there were some spirit stones, which, having lost all their energy over the years, had turned into a pile of useless rocks.
In one corner, a neatly stacked collection of books could be found.
Finally, there were a few magical artifacts and various bottles designed to store pills.
Judging by the contents, the bracelet’s former owner was likely an alchemist—a man, based on the style of the clothing. However, with his life now long extinguished, these details no longer held any significance.
