Chapter 21: A Piece of Tattered Cloth!

  "Master Zhong, shall I send someone to investigate?" the woman said.

  Zhong Kui turned his head and looked at the woman, shaking his head and saying, "Others are unwilling to speak, why must we investigate? If he finds out, he'll think we're running a black shop!"

  The girl stuck out her tongue and didn't say anything more.

  "Congratulations, Master Zhong!"

  "Mustn't that wonderful melody just now have been composed by Master Zhong himself?"

  At this time, an old man and a middle-aged man came together, with smiles on their faces, and bowed to Zhong Kui from afar.

  "Master Hu, Master Yang!"

  When she saw the two of them, the woman standing beside her immediately called out respectfully. The old man's name was Hu Feng, and the middle-aged man's name was Yang Lin. Like Zhong Kui, they were both musicians of the realm.

  The two slightly nodded their heads, and their eyes fell on Zhong Kui's body. They were also attracted by the piano sound just now.

  Zhong Kui smiled wryly and shook his head, "Your ears are indeed sharp, I just received a Heaven's Lyre-level refinement melody, which cost me 300 top-grade spirit crystals."

  "What's the refinement? Three hundred top-grade spirit crystals won't be too expensive, will they?" The two people's smiles momentarily froze, and Yang Lin asked with some doubt.

  Although the Tian Lai melody is precious, being able to sell it for three hundred Ling crystals already counts as a high price. This made them somewhat perplexed - Zhong Kuiyi was always shrewd, so why would he offer such a high price?

  Zhong Kui smiled and said, "You don't understand this. What is called 'a steady trickle of water can eventually fill a large container'? Do you know?"

  Although the price is a bit higher this time, after all, it's the first transaction. As long as the other party has tasted the sweetness, they will definitely come to him for trading again next time. With one or two transactions, what should be earned will naturally be earned back. This is the most basic mind that a businessman should have.

  "Alright then, let's see the heavenly sound you paid such a high price for." Yang Lin and Hu Feng exchanged a smile, and immediately followed Zhong Kui into the store.

  "You can see it if you want, just give me the Ling Crystal."

  ……

  ——

  It was already past noon, Xiao Yun found a wine house in the city, filled his stomach, and prepared to return to Boya Mountain. If he returned late, who knows what strange things Old Man Mu would do.

  Compared with this morning, there are not many people in the temple fair now. Many monks come from far away and usually leave after noon.

  "Hey little brother, come and take a look! I've got all sorts of treasures here: musical instruments, music scores, medicinal herbs, and rare medicines. Don't miss out on this opportunity if you're passing by!"

  As I passed through the stall area, there were already very few people selling goods. A loud shout came from beside my ear, apparently calling out to Xiao Yun. Xiao Yun didn't respond and walked straight towards the outskirts of the valley.

  "Hey, little brother, don't go, come and take a look, it won't take up much of your time!" Seeing Xiao Yun about to leave, the man actually jumped out from behind the stall and grabbed hold of him.

  "Big brother, I don't want to buy anything, let me go."

  Xiao Yun felt somewhat impatient, this person's clothes were disheveled, hair was messy, and he was thin to the point of being skeletal, but his strength was not small, pulling Xiao Yun along without letting go. His mouth full of big yellow teeth, who knows how long it had been since they'd last been brushed, spoke to Xiao Yun in a completely oblivious manner, the smell was so pungent that it made Xiao Yun want to cry.

  "Just take a look, it won't take much time, you might find something you like. I've been squatting here all day and haven't sold anything, give me a break, at least let me earn back the cost of the stall!" The man held onto Xiao Yun tightly and refused to let go.

  Xiao Yun covered his nose with one hand and rolled his eyes repeatedly, "Big brother, please don't speak anymore, can't I just take a look?"

  "Alright, alright!" The man smiled upon hearing this and quickly released Xiao Yun's arm.

  With this kind of attitude towards customers, it's strange that they can get any business. Xiao Yun was speechless for a moment, and slowly walked towards the person's stall.

  The stall was not big, only about three to five square meters. A dirty black cloth was spread out on it, with all sorts of items placed on top. There was a pile of dried-up herbs that looked like leftover rotten vegetable leaves and had no appeal at all. Another pile consisted of bottles and jars that supposedly contained spiritual medicine, but they barely looked passable and probably didn't contain anything good either. There were also some musical instruments and weapons, but Xia Yun glanced over them and really couldn't find anything worth looking at.

  "What's up? Found something you like?" Xiao Yun looked uninterested, while the stall owner was beaming with enthusiasm.

  Xiao Yun flipped through it a few times and finally shook his head, "Didn't you just say there was Le Bao?"

  "Le Bao?"

  The stall owner was taken aback for a moment, and that was just his gimmick to attract customers, but he didn't expect Xiao Yun to take it seriously.

  "Never mind, I'm not buying it!"

  Xiao Yun felt somewhat disappointed, propped himself up with his legs and stood up, patted his buttocks, ready to leave. He wasn't a fool, these things were all too inferior, no wonder they hadn't opened yet even though it was already afternoon.

  "Wait, wait! Take another look!" The stall owner jumped out again. "It's just a Lebao, I have it, I have it, as long as you can afford the price."

  "Huh?" Xiao Yun was taken aback, hesitated for a moment, then squatted down again and said to the stall owner, "Take it out and let me see."

  The stall owner looked around nervously, with a worried expression, and then reached into his clothes to rummage for something. He pulled out a long, narrow object wrapped in cloth, reminiscent of Ji Gong pulling out a dan.

  The cloth of that package, I don't know what the original color was, anyway, it's now a yellowish-brown color, and who knows how long it's been stained with oil, Xiao Yun couldn't help but cover her nose, with a face full of disgust, "What is this?"

  The stall owner smiled foolishly and carefully opened the outer layer of yellowish-brown cloth, revealing a small golden sword, no more than a foot long, perhaps it would be more suitable to call it a dagger.

  "Is this the Le Bao you were talking about?" asked Xiao Yun.

  The stall owner nodded, took out a dagger, bent his fingers on the blade and lightly plucked it, making a soft humming sound, very clear and pleasant. The sunlight shone down at an angle, and a bright light moved from the hilt to the tip of the sword, flashing coldly for a moment before disappearing.

  "This sword is called Poisonous Gold, it's the relic of a master who has reached the Realm of Music. This sword can be large or small, unbreakable and contains poisonous energy that can harm people invisibly. If you reach the Realm of Music, you can even use it to fly." The stall owner said proudly to Xiao Yun.

  Xiao Yun took the sword in his hand, the blade was very cold and heavy, with a lot of weight to it, it should be a good sword. "The hilt is still covered in dirt, I hope this isn't some kind of cursed object? If its origins are unknown, I don't want it."

  The stall owner is dressed almost like a country bumpkin, and it's hard to say where this thing came from, maybe it was stolen from some ancient tomb.

  "How is that possible?" The vendor smiled wryly and said, "The soil on top was just dropped from the ground and stuck on."

  How can this thing fall to the ground when it's wrapped in cloth and covered so tightly? Looking at the stall owner's expression, Xiao Yun guessed that this thing was probably just unearthed.

  "Huh?"

  Just as Xiao Yun was about to say something, his face suddenly paused for a moment, and a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes. What made him doubtful was not the poisonous golden sword, but the dirty cloth used to wrap it.

  The cloth was only a foot wide, looking like a handkerchief. In the center of the cloth seemed to be a large character, unknown whether it was written or embroidered, because the cloth was stained with oil stains, so the strokes were somewhat blurry. However, when Xiao Yun's gaze touched that character, the spiritual platform in his mind slightly shook, as if reacting to that character.

  Xiao Yun was taken aback for a moment, feeling somewhat strange. Could it be that this tattered cloth hid some kind of mystery?

  Seeing Xiao Yun's expression, the stall owner thought that Xiao Yun had taken a liking to his Poisonous Golden Sword and immediately said with a smile, "How about it, young brother? This is a genuine treasure, and if you want to buy it, I'll only ask for ten top-grade spirit crystals."

  "Ten high-grade spirit crystals? Do I look like someone who has that many spirit crystals?" Xiao Yun smiled wryly, the spirit crystals on him added up to only six high-grade ones, how could he take out ten?

  "The... " The stall owner's face changed upon hearing this, "Big brother, this is Le Bao, ten pieces and you're still complaining it's too much?"

  Lebao, that's a treasure that only a cultivator of the Lezong realm can refine. As for this poisonous golden sword, ten top-grade spirit crystals are already an ultra-low price. If he wasn't in a hurry to sell it, even if you killed him, he wouldn't accept just ten top-grade spirit crystals.