"The road is wide open, let's go our separate ways. No need to pay attention to each other," Xiao Man pressed Yue Ran. She didn't know what kind of relationship these two had; they fought like sworn enemies the moment they met.
Yue Ran intended to obey and ignore them. However, Mu Qi walked out from his hiding spot and sat down opposite him. "It smells delicious. You don't mind if I join you, do you?"
"If I say I mind, will you leave?" Yue Ran asked coldly.
"Xiao Qin, you won't mind, will you?" Mu Qi looked at Xiao Man with a smile. As the saying goes, one doesn't hit a smiling face. He had no conflict with Xiao Man, so Xiao Man shouldn't dislike him. Moreover, based on his observations over the past two days, if he could handle Xiao Man, Yue Ran would be unable to do anything to him!
"We are not familiar," Xiao Man said indifferently, without looking up.
Yue Ran's previously gloomy face instantly lit up like a flower upon hearing Xiao Man's words. He cast a provocative glance at Mu Qi.
"Did you hear what my second brother said? Scram!"
"This East Yue Forest isn't your territory. Where I stay has nothing to do with you," Mu Qi remained unfazed. His beautiful peach blossom eyes looked at Xiao Man with a hint of grievance. "I'll pay, is that okay?"
"Yes," Xiao Man replied without hesitation.
"Second Brother!" Yue Ran was anxious. They weren't short of money; how could they let Mu Qi succeed for a pittance?
"One thousand gold coins per bowl."
"You're price gouging!" the guard immediately exclaimed angrily.
"Eat it if you want, or scram if you don't. No one is forcing you to eat," Yue Ran said gleefully, wishing Mu Qi would refuse so he could drive the man away.
"Alright, I'll buy the whole pot," Mu Qi generously took out a bag of spirit crystals and threw it to Xiao Man. "One spirit crystal is worth a thousand gold coins. The spirit crystals inside are enough to buy your entire pot."
Xiao Man looked at the spirit crystals, then threw them back to Mu Qi. "I said one thousand gold coins per bowl, so I only want gold coins, not spirit crystals."
Mu Qi was stunned for a moment. He quickly searched his spatial storage, but only found a hundred gold coins. Cultivators valued spirit stones and spirit crystals more, so he carried mostly spirit crystals.
"Spirit crystals are more valuable than gold coins."
"I only want gold coins." Xiao Man glanced at the meager amount of gold coins on the ground, not even enough to buy a single bowl. "If you don't have them, I can exchange them for you."
"Good, exchange this entire bag of spirit crystals for gold coins," Mu Qi said without hesitation.
"Okay, but here, one spirit crystal can only be exchanged for ten gold coins."
"This is robbery!" The guard's face turned green. The spirit crystals the young master had were of excellent quality. Even if she exchanged them for a thousand gold coins, she would still profit, yet she was now saying ten gold coins for one spirit crystal. What was the difference between this and robbery?
"This is a fair trade. It's voluntary," Xiao Man lifted the pot lid and stirred the soup with a ladle. The rich aroma of meat mixed with medicinal fragrance made one's mouth water and evoked a desire to taste it. "If you think the price is unreasonable, you don't have to buy it."
"Young Master, this person is clearly deliberately making things difficult for you. Let's go."
Mu Qi remained unfazed. He took out another bag of spirit crystals and threw it to Xiao Man. "Is this enough to pay for a bowl now?"
Xiao Man weighed the bag in her hand, her eyes lit up with joy. "It's enough."
Yue Ran looked at Xiao Man with admiration. This was the first time he had seen Mu Qi suffer a loss, and Xiao Man had tricked Mu Qi out of one hundred spirit crystals for a bowl of meat soup. Mu Qi would probably be so upset he'd want to vomit blood.
Xiao Man finally sprinkled some powder into the pot. Mu Qi recognized what it was. "What is this?"
"Seasoning. It'll be ready soon, please wait a moment." After stirring thoroughly, Xiao Man scooped a bowl and offered it to Mu Qi. "You're a guest, please go ahead."
Mu Qi took the bowl. A spoon appeared in his hand. He stirred the meat soup in the bowl, scooped a spoonful, blew on it to cool it, and then tasted it carefully.
"How is it? My second brother's cooking is something you can't find anywhere else."
Mu Qi didn't speak, only sipping the meat soup in small, unhurried bites, his demeanor exceptionally elegant.
Xiao Man served a bowl each to Yue Ran and Bai Chen, then took out some snacks she had made in her free time. A mouthful of hot soup, followed by a snack, was quite leisurely.
Yue Ran reached out and popped a piece into his mouth. "Second Brother, your pastries are delicious."
"If they're so delicious, why don't you shut up and eat them?" Xiao Man teased. "Eat slowly, don't choke."
Yue Ran laughed as he quickly stuffed pastries into his mouth. Seeing this, Bai Chen quickly grabbed two pieces. "Third Brother, eat slowly. You're eating all mine."
"I'm growing, so I need to eat more," Yue Ran said shamelessly. "You're not growing, so why eat so much?"
Mu Qi watched the two of them arguing over a piece of pastry, each wanting the last one but neither willing to yield. Mu Qi reached out and snatched the last pastry, popping it into his mouth.
The two who were about to fight looked at Mu Qi in unison. "Should we beat him up?"
Bai Chen gritted his teeth, but instinctively looked at Xiao Man. Xiao Man lazily put down her empty bowl. "Who's doing the dishes today?"
Bai Chen pointed at Yue Ran. "I did them yesterday. It's Third Brother's turn today."
"It's my turn again?" Yue Ran shrugged. "Alright, I'll do the dishes. Big Brother, when I get back, we'll beat him up together."
Bai Chen didn't speak. He secretly glanced at Mu Qi. Mu Qi's status was not low. Traveling with so many guards indicated he was likely a noble young master from a prominent family. Yue Ran dared to lay hands on him, but he didn't. He was afraid of bringing trouble to the Qianji Sect.
"Your meat soup contains a total of forty-two rare medicinal ingredients, processed in a special way, correct?"
Xiao Man leaned against a tree trunk, crossing her legs. "Wrong, it's forty-nine."
"Forty-nine kinds?" Mu Qi savored it carefully, trying to find the herbs he had missed. But in the end, he could only identify forty-six. Three kinds remained impossible to distinguish.
"You're an alchemist," Mu Qi stated confidently. Such a large number of medicinal ingredients, forty-nine in total, were used in a single pot of meat soup and blended so perfectly. If he hadn't been proficient in pharmacology, he might not have even been able to taste them.
"You could say that."
"I heard you're a disciple of Hundred Medicines Hall, and Lu Qing is your master?" Mu Qi inquired. Among the seven sects, besides the sect leaders, Lu Qing was considered a prominent figure, with considerable skill in alchemy.
"I studied by his side for a while," Xiao Man replied slowly, her voice devoid of inflection. They spoke as if they were old friends, casually chatting about personal matters.
"Then who is your master?"
"Hundred Medicines Hall's number one beauty, Jun Fei'er."
Bai Chen's eyelids twitched. Why did she emphasize the title "number one beauty"? Did she become a disciple of Master Jun because she coveted Master Jun's beauty? Did Master Jun know about this?