Chapter 29: The First Cultivator to Visit the Small Shop

"Your shop? For playing games?" Lanyuan's countenance turned somewhat contemptuous. She had initially wondered what kind of business this was; if it were for trafficking precious personal effects, such a secluded little shop would indeed be fitting, or if it were a secret entrance to some black market, that too would be acceptable.

It would also make the crowd here quite understandable.

Yet what the proprietor had asked was: "Playing games?"

Could this shop truly be for nothing more than playing games?

Lanyuan looked entirely perplexed.

Xi Xiaoyun sat right beside Xu Zixin, watching as Xu Zixin used a dagger to slay the Hunter several times on the screen, until she finally could not help but ask, "Senior Sister, how is it that the moment everyone arrived today, they all seem to have become so much more formidable?"

"Because of the newly released movie version," Xu Zixin replied casually. "It contains a vast amount of combat techniques. A few of us were originally stuck on this Hunter, but after watching it once, we obtained the method to kill the Hunter with a dagger!"

"So powerful? Is that not just like the legendary martial arts inheritances?" Xi Xiaoyun uttered a soft cry of astonishment.

"Somewhat, the movie version is splendid! There is even a tide of zombies appearing! And a new monster called the Licker!" Xu Zixin introduced as she explored, and since it was rare for a girl to come to the internet cafe, she clearly showed quite a bit of consideration for this seemingly obedient and delicate girl. "Do you want to try?"

"The movie version is that powerful?" Xi Qi, who had previously been solely intent on playing his game with his head down, was startled. No wonder Song Qingfeng and the others had suddenly become so formidable today; could this be the reason?

"Proprietor! How do we get the movie version?!" several people immediately shouted.

Lin Shao and the others, who had just been laughing at Xi Qi, clutched their foreheads in unison. "They found out..."

"Everyone who came early already knows, how much longer did you think you could keep it a secret?" Song Qingfeng rolled his eyes at them.

Occasional whispers drifted from the crowd; the voices were not loud, but if one listened carefully, they could still be heard clearly.

"A mar... martial arts inheritance?" Lanyuan was shocked at first. What could this little shop possibly possess that could even be remotely associated with a martial arts inheritance?

"What martial arts inheritance?" She came to her senses, her expression turning slightly cold as she spoke to Nalan Mingxue, "This shop has truly racked its brains just to delude the minds of the people!"

It was merely a small shop, how could it possibly have anything associated with a martial arts inheritance?!

"If you do not know how to speak, can you just not speak?" Fang Qi had only just walked up when he overheard such an assessment. His face twitched on the spot, and he pointed at the small blackboard. "I have written it down very clearly: play if you love to play, and if you do not, you may leave."

"Using this sort of method to provoke people's curiosity, and then doing the exact opposite by driving people away." Lanyuan sized Fang Qi up from head to toe. "At such a young age, your scheming is quite decent!"

"..." Fang Qi was simply rendered speechless. "What a brainless fool!"

"What did you say?!" Although she did not understand what that particular phrase meant, Lanyuan instinctively felt that it was by no means a compliment. Her hand instantly pressed against the long sword at her waist!

Fang Qi was utterly indifferent to this, as though he had not even seen it, and merely pointed at the small blackboard once more. "The consequences of making trouble in this establishment have been written very clearly by me. Think carefully before you draw your sword."

Lanyuan glanced at it and smiled somewhat contemptuously. "Never to be received again? Is this the so-called resistance of the weak?"

"...Truly... the ignorant are fearless..." Fang Qi grew more and more speechless. He found that this woman was truly conceited to an extraordinary degree, so he simply waved his hand at her. "Suit yourself."

"Is someone looking to make trouble?" Liang Shi's face darkened slightly, and he stood up.

"Who dares to make trouble here?!" Song Qingfeng also looked over.

"Have they grown tired of living?" Wu Shan also cast his gaze over.

This place was not large to begin with, and many people quickly noticed the commotion on Fang Qi's side, all of them looking over with unfriendly expressions.

"This shop looks crowded, but so it turns out they are all your people?" Lanyuan reached a sudden realization. "But do you think having more people is of any use?"

"Go back to whatever you were doing!" Fang Qi immediately glared at the few who had looked over. "Anyone who strikes a blow in this shop is considered to be making trouble, and that goes for you all as well!"

"..." Liang Shi froze, saying with a bitter face, "Proprietor, we were helping you."

Wu Shan clamored, "Is there any sense in setting rules like that?"

"Do not act recklessly!" Song Qingfeng's countenance appeared somewhat grave. Nalan Mingxue!

The identity of this cold, white-robed woman was something that even he held in extreme dread!

"The proprietor is doing it for your own good! Look at the emblem on this woman's sword hilt."

"A roc above a python, the emblem of the Nalan family!?"

A collective gasp of cold air instantly rippled through the crowd, and the few who had been eager to move immediately lost their fire.

Seeing the crowd halt their steps, Lanyuan gave Fang Qi a disdainful glance. "It seems your people are not very useful."

Fang Qi's expression remained very flat, making it impossible to discern his current mood. "The rules established in the shop must naturally be observed by everyone."

"Then what about yourself?" Lanyuan looked at Fang Qi with a half-smile. "Surely you do not have to observe them yourself as well?"

"My apologies," Fang Qi smiled. "If it is not necessary, I will not strike a blow either."

"Are you looking down on me?!" At this instant, Lanyuan's hand gripping the sword tightened slightly, and in the next moment, the precious sword at her waist was about to leap from its scabbard!

Even at a time like this, he actually still dared to jest at will!? She intended to teach this ignorant and arrogant shop proprietor a little lesson! After teaching him how to respect his superiors, they could talk properly!

Yet, watching Lanyuan draw her sword, not only did Fang Qi not shrink back in the slightest, the smile on his face actually grew wider and wider!

"Lanyuan." Just at this moment, a clear and serene female voice drifted over. A hand as flawless as ice and snow pressed onto her sword hilt, and the sword that was about to leave its scabbard came to an abrupt halt right after!

All the momentum vibrated into the air, turning into a light breeze that blew Fang Qi's robes backward.

Every bit of the original impending attack dissolved into nothingness!

Standing behind everyone, a warrior dressed in blue-gray coarse cloth robes with an iron sword slung across his back narrowed his eyes slightly, and the hand he had pressed against his own sword hilt was subsequently withdrawn.

"Did you notice? The proprietor did not even move, he did not even blink his eyes!" Hei Da whispered.

"The proprietor is a master, is that not something you and I knew long ago?" Liang Shi said. "The No-Damage Tyrant is nothing to be trifled with."

"Mount Tai collapsing before him without a change in countenance!" Wu Shan smacked his lips. "Definitely a master!"

"But to tell the truth, I have never seen the proprietor strike a blow in reality..." Hei Da, however, seemed a little disappointed, wishing for nothing but chaos under heaven. "I originally thought there would be a chance to see it this time, why didn't she just slash forward?"

"This woman appears to have a solitary, proud, and cold disposition, but in reality, she is shrewder than anyone!" Song Qingfeng sneered, saying to Hei Da, "For the sake of being fellow Resident Evil players, I advise you to best not harbor any reckless ideas, lest you be played to death by this woman."

"How would I dare!" Hei Da chuckled.

"...Although the proprietor is powerful, he would not be composed to such an extent." Song Qingfeng narrowed his eyes slightly. Among those present, only he was clearest about Fang Qi's background; a youth who was not even a warrior a short while ago could absolutely not grow this fast!

"There must certainly be some other reliance..." Song Qingfeng thought to himself. "By the looks of it, it should be that cultivator behind him!"

Lanyuan was clearly somewhat unable to comprehend. "Miss Nalan, why?"

The white-robed woman's cold eyes flickered with a dark and profound light, like a pool of frozen water. Fang Qi's words seemed to have touched a certain chord deep within her heart, and she stepped forward at a slow pace. "If she draws her sword, is it truly merely 'never to be received again'?"

"Although I feel that using the phrase 'merely' is somewhat inappropriate," Fang Qi chuckled, "that is indeed how it is. If you do not wish to play you may leave, making trouble is strictly forbidden; these are the rules of this establishment."

"Good." Nalan Mingxue nodded. "Then we shall wait."

"Ah!?" Lanyuan felt as though she had misheard, looking at Nalan Mingxue with a face full of astonishment. "We...? Wait... wait!?"

The others also felt a bout of breathlessness. "This woman actually said she wants to wait?!"

It had to be fake, right?!

Yet they immediately saw Nalan Mingxue incline her head slightly!

"How can this be...?" Lanyuan felt as though her brain were about to crash. "A place like this...?"

It took her a great deal of effort to snap out of it, and looking around, she quickly spotted the grand armchair Fang Qi had prepared for himself. "Miss, how about... sitting here?"

Just as her hand extended toward it, it was pressed down by another hand.

Following that, she beheld Fang Qi's thoroughly ordinary face. "This chair is mine."

"!!??"

"Apologies, this establishment has not prepared that many chairs." Fang Qi sat astride the grand armchair, continuing his slouching posture in the style of Ge You.

"You—?!" Lanyan's face turned completely livid. Was this man even a shopkeeper?

Were they not the customers?

She glared fiercely at Fang Qi, her eyes gleaming with murderous intent!

Naturally, Fang Qi ignored this completely.

"Origins?" Right at that moment, a youth clad in a white robe and yellow tunic stepped through the door.

Behind him followed two other youths dressed in the exact same attire, one tall and thin, the other short and stout; a single glance sufficed to show they belonged to the same sect.

"These past few days at the Clear Breeze and Bright Moon Pavilion, I have heard much talk of a curbside shop called 'Origins'." A flicker of disdain crossed Xiao Yulu's eyes. "They say this little shop is quite miraculous. I would like to see just how wondrous a mere roadside den can be."

He pushed open the door and entered, his gaze quickly falling upon the script written across the small blackboard.

"A wretched shop like this actually refuses gold coins and demands crystal shards directly?"

"Who is the proprietor?!" he shouted out at once.

"I am."

Fang Qi showed a faint hint of surprise.

Suspended from the youth's waist was a piece of white jade radiating spiritual aura; he wore a silken sash of cerulean jade, and his hair was bound by a crown of purple gold. From his attire alone, his extraordinary status was obvious, to say nothing of the faint spiritual mist drifting around the trio the moment they appeared, which laid bare their identities: these were three cultivators!

Having cooped himself up in this remote little shop for years, even when cultivators passed by the road in the past, they did so in grand carriages under feathered canopies, never revealing a glimpse of their faces.

To encounter a true cultivator like this was a historical first for him.

Of course, Xiao Yulu's background was far grander than that of a mere cultivator!

Xiao Yulu was the grandson of Xiao Changlong, a Heavenly Dipper Elder of the Flowing Cloud Daoist Palace within the Wuwei Daoist Alliance!

In his youth, Xiao Changlong had fought in the wars that founded the Great Jin Empire, later rising to the rank of Elder and serving as the Grand Chancellor of Sacrifices in the Imperial Capital for a full century; even after retiring back to his sect, he still commanded an immensely exalted status across both the Imperial Capital and the Jiangnan region!

"A cultivator?!"

"They are actually cultivators?!"

Not just anyone present possessed the right to associate with cultivators, and thus surprise flickered through the eyes of many.

Even Song Qingfeng and his companions felt their expressions darken; ordinary cultivators were one thing, but Xiao Yulu...

This would not be an easy matter to handle!

Xiao Yulu knitted his brows, a touch of disdain surfacing in his eyes; nobles would have been acceptable, but he had not expected such low-status martial artists to be mingling here as well.

His gaze swept over Fang Qi, the contempt in his eyes deepening by several degrees: "I hear your shop is very interesting, very miraculous?"

"You could put it that way." Fang Qi's expression remained calm, as though to him, the other man's identity was no different from that of a common peasant.

He gestured with his finger toward the chubby youth beside him: "Junior Brother Liu, go and test how wondrous the wares of this wretched shop truly are."

"Right away!" The fat youth named Liu grinned broadly. "Come on then, let Lord Fatty see just how amusing this shop of yours is."

"If it satisfies this lord, well and good, but if it fails to satisfy me..."

"There are no seats right now. If you want to try, go line up at the back." Before he could finish his sentence, Fang Qi interrupted with considerable impatience.

"Line up...?" Not only was Fatty Liu dumbfounded, but almost everyone standing aside looked utterly stupefied!

This was no longer a question of playing a game, but rather...

Fatty Liu laughed; this brat actually wanted him to line up? Did the boy not know who he was?

"Are you courting death?!" Fatty Liu's face contorted fiercely as he reached out and grabbed Fang Qi by the collar. "Why not just make them all scram out of their seats?! What bloody queue?!"

Fang Qi remained entirely unmoved.

Fatty Liu flared up with even greater fury; a mere shopkeeper not only made him line up, but actually dared to disregard his words?

"Do you believe this master will break your dog legs with a single slap?!"

"With this posture, is he really looking to cause trouble?" Blackie and the others watched on, utterly stunned.

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