Suddenly, a sound echoed in the room, and a shadow appeared at the door. Yan Xiaobao focused his gaze on the shadow, and as the shadow took human form, he instinctively held his breath.
This woman was as unusual as Yan Xiaobao. Yan Xiaobao’s hair was as white as freshly fallen snow, but this woman had golden hair that reminded him of cascading sunlight. Her curls frad her face, and her eyes were a golden hazel brown. When Yan Xiaobao looked into those eyes, he felt as though his soul was being drawn in, a wisdom incongruent with her youthful appearance lurking beneath them.
After a few monts, Yan Xiaobao found himself unable to breathe, his eyes gradually widening, and he lost control over his body. A feeling of weakness flooded his limbs, but as soon as it ca, it disappeared, for the woman blinked.
She had a well-developed figure, and Yan Xiaobao estimated her age to be around twenty, yet her eyes betrayed an ancient essence. Yan Xiaobao imdiately regretted stepping into this shop.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" the woman asked in a friendly voice as she walked to the counter, leaning against the glass, enthusiastically observing Yan Xiaobao.
Yan Xiaobao felt how Lan Feng had concealed herself, just as they did when encountering Lord Rong Liang. His gaze turned wary as he quickly retrieved a jade bottle from his pocket.
This transaction had to be completed quickly.
"I heard from a friend that you might be interested in buying dicine pills," Yan Xiaobao said hurriedly, but he didn’t approach the counter or the woman. A sense of danger was lingering in his mind, and though he managed to suppress the impulse to flee imdiately, he couldn’t convince himself to move forward.
Upon seeing the wariness in Yan Xiaobao’s eyes, the woman’s smile broadened. With a gesture of her hand, the jade bottle flew swiftly into her palm, a speed so impeccable that even Yan Xiaobao’s refined Flow couldn’t intercept it.
The woman paid no heed to the flicker of concern in Yan Xiaobao’s eyes. Instead, she sniffed the dicinal fragrance wafting from the opened jade bottle. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly, then she nodded again, resealed the container, and casually tossed it into the room behind her.
The loud clatter of the bottle colliding with other objects could be heard, but the woman seed indifferent to the noise. Instead, she reached to her belt, retrieved a mory Stone, and from it extracted a large burlap pouch. The tallic scraping sound imdiately tipped off Yan Xiaobao—it was a coin purse.
Yan Xiaobao knew mory Stones were often used as storage tools, but they were far more expensive than ordinary ones. Though the shop appeared dilapidated, it was evident the woman wasn’t rely a poor pharmacist.
Without ever taking her eyes off Yan Xiaobao, she slipped her slender hands into the pouch, pulled out a few coins, and handed them to the white-haired boy. Without even looking at the coins, Yan Xiaobao gave the woman a slight bow and imdiately exited the shop. He felt that lingering any longer might lead to him being preyed upon by a powerful beast.
Outside the shop, Yan Xiaobao once again donned his conical hat and darted into a busier street, blending into the flow of pedestrians and disappearing amidst the crowd.
After walking for a while, Yan Xiaobao turned into a narrow alleyway. Sitting in the shadows, he looked at his hands and was stunned to see the woman had given him three silver coins.
The currency of this new world was strikingly similar to the one he knew. One silver coin equaled a hundred copper coins, and one gold coin was worth a hundred silver coins. Beyond gold coins, there were even greater denominations—a thousand Gold Coins.
Though the dicine pills were expensive, three silver coins were a high price for Qi-capturing pills. These pills, crafted by apprentice alchemists during their practice sessions, were considered standard rewards from the Royal Academy for students. Normally, the pills would sell for around one silver coin, perhaps two, but the woman had given him three. Her generosity unsettled Yan Xiaobao instead of reassuring him, making him more wary. It was clearly an attempt to lure him back to her shop next month, but as Hui Ya pocketed the coins and disappeared into the crowd, Yan Xiaobao smirked faintly. He had no intention of returning next month.
"Smart," Lan Feng agreed with satisfaction. "Though the woman tried to tempt you, she didn’t use her Spirit sense to scan you or employ Wu Wei. She has no way of noticing , but I’d advise against approaching her in the future. She’s clearly more than she appears."
Yan Xiaobao nodded in agreent as he headed toward a shop specializing in mory Stones. The next phase of their plan—the most critical part—was about to unfold.
Back in the sa dilapidated shop, the golden-haired woman remained at the counter, a radiant smile on her face and a glimr of light in her hazel eyes—a light that hadn’t been there before. As the woman gazed out the window, the image of the young white-haired boy lingered in her mind. Her lips curved into a chuckle as she turned and disappeared into the dark room at the back.
The sun towered high in the sky, bathing the streets in light, while waves of heat shimred upward from the scorching pavent. The streets and roads were cramd with crowds of bustling people weaving through throngs of citizens.
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