Chapter 98: Worry-Free City

Chapter 98: Wuyou City

A few days later, near the Boundary Mountain.

When they left, the Boundary Mountain was still in summer. After more than two months away, it had taken on a touch of autumn. The fruits were ripe, and some leaves had begun to turn yellow and red—deep and light shades, mingling with the equally varied greens, painting the rolling mountains into a picture.

Emerging from the city, they were to take a flying ship to Wuyou City, and Shang Yunduo finally got to see the true face of their new home.

He couldn't stop admiring it.

He ran from the bow to the stern, and then from the stern back to the bow. After three rounds, he still wasn't done.

Pei Jie sat cross-legged on the couch inside the cabin, meditating.

He hadn't followed Shang Yunduo's suggestion to change the couch to a bed—it was merely a Flying Artifact; turning it into a bed—what would that look like?

But almost everything else had been changed according to Shang Yunduo's ideas.

Space was left at the front for a living room, at the back for a kitchen, and a small corridor was added outside so Shang Yunduo could run laps from bow to stern without having to pass through the cabin. Thanks to the corridor, Pei Jie had much less disturbance.

For now, there was no water for Shang Yunduo to try fishing. He sat on the corridor, dangling his legs out, experiencing a bit of aerial fishing with no actual fish.

There were no fish, but he could sit in the fishing spot and play the zither.

After running enough, Shang Yunduo had thoroughly inspected the entire ship except the cabin, touching everything, before holding his zither and sitting by the ship's edge, looking at Pei Jie through the window. "Senior, shall I play the zither for you?"

"Mm." Pei Jie also relaxed, finally settling down.

After practicing for several days, Shang Yunduo had memorized the first piece on the score backward and forward. It wasn't to the level of Senior Sister Fairy Changhe's healing music, but playing it on the zither Pei Jie had refined for him or the one he'd traded from Senior Sister, it barely had a qi-regulating effect. Listening for a long time could soothe one's mood, making it easier to enter deep meditation.

Unfortunately, the performer couldn't keep it up all day and night. After playing for half a day, Shang Yunduo hung up the zither in the cabin and went to the kitchen in the back to fiddle with food.

He took out the cookware bought from Dianxing City and Jinjia City, arranged fruit platters, squeezed juice, and lit the stove to start grilling meat.

Pei Jie found the clatter novel. He had seen many cultivators who loved to eat, and a few who liked to brew wine, but not many cooked personally. Apart from Shang Yunduo, there were probably few in the entire cultivation world who would use so many mortal household items to keep the habit of eating like a mortal.

The aroma wafted with the wind, and Pei Jie could faintly smell it. He thought, thankfully the kitchen was at the stern, so the smoke wouldn't blow into the cabin.

A moment later, Shang Yunduo came running in with a tray. Even though he had asked for tables and chairs to be placed on the deck, he insisted on eating inside.

The smell of grilled meat filled the cabin. Shang Yunduo showed off to him: "Senior, want a taste? These skewers I barely seasoned, just a pinch of salt, a squeeze of fruit juice for grilling. Tender and fragrant, pure flavor."

Pei Jie: "I won't eat. You go ahead."

Shang Yunduo: "Just one bite."

Pei Jie picked up a skewer. The manually carved tip was burnt, but the meat was grilled just right, a great improvement.

Shang Yunduo: "Worth the two hours of hunting, isn't it?"

Pei Jie paused, then nodded.

Hunting, skinning, cutting, marinating, grilling—all done by Shang Yunduo himself.

Following the recipes he'd bought on the way, it tasted excellent. It was hard to imagine that back in the Guyuan Secret Realm, he didn't even know how to kill a fish, squatting by the water, holding a rock, getting splashed in the face by the struggling fish, and after killing it, his shoes were covered in blood, mud, and water.

Pei Jie: "You learn quickly."

The unexpected praise caught him off guard. "Me?"

Before Pei Jie could nod, Shang Yunduo had already summed it up on his own: "Right, right! I just have a weak foundation. When it comes to things I'm good at and talented in, even if I'm no genius, I'm still something."

Pei Jie: "..."

Better eat the skewers.

He silently finished eating the skewers. "Once you get the Foundation Building Pill, you can go into seclusion and cultivate."

Shang Yunduo: "Mm!"

Pei Jie's plan was to rent a cave dwelling in Wuyou City, wait for the Guyuan Pill to be refined, and at the same time go into seclusion for Foundation Building. Foundation Building within the city wouldn't be too conspicuous, and it would be convenient if they needed to buy or refine anything. But they never expected that after only two months away, Wuyou City had fallen into chaos.

As soon as they entered, they almost got caught in a brawl. The streets were a mess, with explosions all over, and people lying on the ground—either dead or unconscious. Shang Yunduo casually helped a man who was staggering and about to fall. Before he could ask what was going on, he almost had his storage pouch stolen.

Angry, he dropped the man on the ground, only for the man to lie there motionless.

Was this a con?!

"..." Shang Yunduo stood there bewildered. "I didn't hit him!"

Pei Jie gave an "mm" and walked forward calmly. "Straight to the medical clinic."

Shang Yunduo: "Oh!"

He picked up the man from the ground. Pei Jie frowned. "Why are you picking him up?"

Shang Yunduo: "Aren't we going to the clinic?"

Pei Jie: "He won't die. Just leave him."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

He looked at Pei Jie, then at the con man who was injured, put the man down, and moved him to the roadside to prevent someone from stepping on him in case he was unconscious.

The city was basically a warzone. They picked their route, and the fighting only lessened near the clinic. But the rockery at the clinic's entrance—either smashed by someone in the chaos or accidentally blown up—was reduced to a small stump, looking pitiful but dutifully blocking the way.

Shang Yunduo moved it aside, and it still called out in that tone, "Foundation Building," "Foundation Building," "Poor man, don't enter. If you're seeking death, go elsewhere. No credit, no credit, no credit!!"

Shang Yunduo: "..."

It had added new lines?

Passing through the passage into the clinic, there were even two demon cultivators guarding the door. The two, apparently gambling, glared at them. "What do you want?"

"Oh, thought you weren't coming anymore." The old man from the shady shop put down his medicine pestle and greeted them, looking more tired than last time. "Come in."

Shang Yunduo looked at the patients sitting or lying in the courtyard, some even on the ground, and asked in confusion, "What's going on?"

"What's going on?" The old man exploded angrily. "It's those idiots from the Hehuan Sect again! Fighting, fighting, can't win but still fighting! Every one of them has a dog's head on their shoulders! A pig's head! Even demon beasts aren't as fond of biting and fighting!"

He handed five bottles of Foundation Building Pills to Pei Jie, then slapped a piece of medicine onto the wound of a cultivator dozing by the door. "Go sleep somewhere else! You're blocking the door!"

The cultivator yelped, "Can't you be gentler?"

The old man: "Give me spirit stones, and I'll have a place inside for you to lie down comfortably."

The cultivator cursed and went to find a corner against the wall.

Shang Yunduo noticed several mortal children carrying trays of medicine, walking back and forth among the patients.

Shang Yunduo: "Who is the Hehuan Sect fighting?"

Old man: "Who else? Themselves! That scoundrel Wuxian heard someone in the city was looking for snake bone worms, even those under twenty years of age. He thought Jinzhu's Golden Pearl Dan toxicity was acting up and she had run out of medicine, desperate enough to overlook the age, so he gleefully brought his people back to grab territory. Turned out to be a huge blunder—the Golden Pearl was fine! He was avoiding Jinzhu, and now he came straight to her door. How could Jinzhu let him off easy?"

Snake bone worms under twenty years?

Shang Yunduo couldn't help glancing at Pei Jie. No way, right?

Old man: "This Wuxian is shameless. Back when he was in the city, he at least tried to maintain some face as an elder of the Hehuan Sect. After Jinzhu kicked him out, he abandoned all pretense. He actually had people monitoring who bought snake bone worms in Wuyou City, guessing when Jinzhu's toxicity would flare up based on the quantity. Too clever for his own good."

He clapped his hands: "Well, he got caught. Now Jinzhu is furious. She drove him off but still wasn't satisfied. She wants to dig three feet into the ground and kill everyone who tipped him off."

Shang Yunduo: "Did she catch them?"

Old man: "No! Who would admit it? That's just asking for death. So she decided to kill everyone who might be involved. Anyone who ever had any connection to Wuxian or said a good word about him—all of them. She's made Wuyou City a living hell."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

The old man ranted on: "I'm just a doctor. When people come into my place and pay for medicine, do I have a choice not to sell? 'A physician's heart is benevolent,' right? How can they accuse me of harboring them? They're not staying forever. Once they run out of spirit stones, I kick them out. What happens to them after that is their own business."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

He thought to himself, *You call that a physician's heart of benevolence?*

The old man angrily wrapped a newly pounded medicine packet: "If it weren't for the Great Demon King protecting this place out of respect for my master, they'd have smashed my clinic by now! What did I do to deserve this? I never wronged anyone! The women, young and old, of the Hehuan Sect also come to me for treatment!"

"Who told them snake bone worms had to be alive? That woman Jinzhu is certain only my master and I knew snake bone worms are plants. Isn't that a trap?"

Shang Yunduo: "..."

Old man: "Hmph, so what if I did tell them? A person shouldn't be too kind-hearted. If I hadn't told them, I wouldn't be in this mess. Let her wait. When Jinzhu's Golden Pearl Dan toxicity really flares up, let's see if Wuxian will reason with her as gently as I do."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

He couldn't help stealing another glance at Pei Jie, who looked utterly unbothered. Then he looked at the unlucky patients in the yard. *No wonder they're all men,* he thought. "They're not from the Hehuan Sect, are they?"

Old man: "No, no. Would I dare treat Hehuan Sect members? They're just unlucky. Someone took advantage of the chaos to kill and rob. These fools, not knowing their own strength, went out to watch the excitement. Lucky they weren't killed."

Shang Yunduo was shocked: "Ah?"

Pei Jie: "What about these children?"

Old man sighed deeply: "Ah! If you ask me, they're the most unlucky. Those cultivators can at least block or dodge a bit. But these mortals? A stray brick might cost them their lives. Look around the streets—there's nowhere peaceful anymore."

He paused. "Well, not entirely. But the peaceful places they dare not go. At least here I can take them in. They help out with chores."

He sighed again: "Oh, right. I haven't heard any news about the Yuanhu Bark you're looking for. I suggest you find somewhere to lie low for a year or two before coming back."

A year or two?

Shang Yunduo quickly said: "We found it."

Old man blinked: "Huh?"

Shang Yunduo pulled out his storage pouch and laid out a whole tableful of bark and branches.

Old man: "..."

"?"

"!!!"

His eyes widened from astonishment to disbelief. He hurriedly picked them up for a closer look, stunned: "Where did you get so much poison? And all over a thousand years old?"

Shang Yunduo thought, *That's a long story.*

Pei Jie: "Is there Yuanhu Bark among them?"

Old man: "Let me see, let me see."

Pei Jie: "Take this seriously. If you mess up the medicine, forget the Hehuan Sect, I'll smash this place up first."

Old man said indignantly: "You want me to refine medicine and threaten to wreck my shop. Tell me, why are cultivators always like this? This one looks like it, this one too... Tsk..."

He picked up two branches, sniffed them, muttered something under his breath. But even without hearing it, Shang Yunduo could tell—he wasn't sure! He wasn't sure!

Shang Yunduo couldn't help asking: "Doctor, are you up to the task?"

Old man: "Do you think Yuanhu Bark is like buying radishes on the street? I've only seen processed ones. Who told you to bring raw ones, and they all look so similar? Don't worry, if I can't identify them, my master can."

And if the master can't, there's still the uncles, aunts, and grandmasters of the Jade Void Palace.

Pei Jie: "Your master is alive?"

Old man: "Indeed. This wretched mess brought him back from the dead."

Just then, someone said: "Who's talking about me?"

Shang Yunduo looked up and saw a man in his thirties, wearing a light gray robe similar to the old man's. He had the air of a physician, and also...

Hmm...

Shang Yunduo thought, *How should I describe it? A worn-out vibe?*

Author's note:

Doctor: Who cultivates immortality and gets a worn-out vibe? Me! Me!