Huh? Isn't this an adventure kingdom building game?!
Chapter 199: Three Clues

Chapter 199: Chapter 199: Three Clues

As the sky gradually brightened, Miss Hu Jiu was getting anxious!

Once the Wilderness Ascension Market closes, she won’t be able to go back. If she gets caught up in gossip and misses the return, wouldn’t that give her an excuse to stay temporarily in the little gentleman’s courtyard?

"By the way, before the gentleman opened the grocery store, this shop location had been vacant for a long time." She racked her brains trying to come up with more interesting rumors to delay time, and had a sudden idea to gossip about the geographical location of Cloud Grocery Store, "I saw with my own eyes the shop open, thrive, and then get completely trashed, unable to carry on."

Within a short time, Jiang Yuan heard a large amount of gossip, including but not limited to two restaurant owners fighting over attracting a top chef, which ended in the chef intervening in their brawl, getting mistakenly injured, and dying from it;

The Auction House employed a bunch of accomplices, snapped up many Secret Technique Manuals, weapons, elixirs, etc., with obvious defects at low prices, solely relying on those accomplices to trap newcomers;

The Cyan Fish Mountain Market master, who didn’t care about anything, only focused on receiving gifts and cultivation, waiting till he could successfully break through and be transferred to a higher-level market, etc.

This little fox spirit was really skilled at gossiping, probably due to being too idle usually, she even reminded him that selling elixirs at the shop easily caused dissatisfaction from the Auction House, warning to be wary of their dirty tricks.

But the third piece of information just couldn’t be uncovered no matter what, hearing her mention the previous owner of the grocery store, Jiang Yuan casually asked, "Why was it trashed? Isn’t fighting forbidden in the market?"

"Prohibiting fighting is one of the methods the array uses to manage the market, but if it provokes everyone to have the market master uphold justice, attacking and smashing the shop is not impossible." Miss Hu Jiu slightly leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand, and slowly said, "That shop, oh, was a pawnshop run by an old Black Bear Spirit lady who had four sons, each one strong and dominant.

Because they took in everything and offered a lot of gold coins and spirit stones, their business thrived immediately after opening. Many loose cultivators who were short on money would temporarily pawn things they didn’t need but were reluctant to sell just to have some cash to spend.

As a result, that family of Black Bear Spirits used some means to create counterfeit goods indistinguishable from the original items! When customers came to redeem them, they would keep the genuine articles and replace them with fakes. To avoid exposure, they would occasionally even follow and rob, making sure customers never discovered the pawn shop’s trickery!

The pawnshop prospered for more than half a year, but it was eventually discovered, causing many victimized cultivators to raise the issue to the market master for investigation. After the shop was trashed, the mother and sons were never seen again, probably killed."

[Mission 2: Investigate Cyan Fish Mountain Market rumors, Clue +1: Betraying trust and swapping real goods with fakes, and then robbing the fake goods to shift blame]

[Mission 2 completed, rewards have been issued]

[Mission 3: Harvest Moon Illusion Grass (0/300) and produce at least ten portions of herbal powder. Reward: Timed item +1]

[Side mission for special herb Moon Illusion Grass has refreshed, can be found in dark corners of mines. Limit 24:00:00]

"What the heck!" Jiang Yuan, seeing the conclusion from the side mission completion, was completely stunned.

He thought the Yin Mountain Female Corpse must have encountered an advanced scam artist!

Since she was willing to buy at a high price, she must have verified the goods. But during delivery, it could have been easily deceived by fakes, and then robbed afterward, diverting her attention to the robbers while missing the crucial part.

But why, after verifying the goods, didn’t the Yin Mountain Female Corpse take the items immediately?

Such valuable and important items, why not procure them in person? Or perhaps, was the Yin Mountain Female Corpse robbed on her way back to the Netherworld with the goods?

The system provided limited clues, just when he was completely baffled, the countdown suddenly started.

A huge red countdown was displayed prominently in his vision, rapidly increasing Jiang Yuan’s urgency.

Coincidentally, the Wilderness Ascension had occurred, and daylight broke.

Hu Jiu was smugly pleased, feeling her plan to use her gossiping skills to delay time was successful, granting her a whole day to closely interact with the little gentleman and nurture feelings.

But just as she was fantasizing about showcasing her greatest fox spirit assets, she saw the little gentleman hurriedly rise and declare he had urgent matters to attend to.

"Xiao Bai, Mingchuan, Yun Mo, hurry up with breakfast, I have something very urgent that requires your full dedication!" He couldn’t bother with anything else; at the very least, he had to quickly gather the herbs and grind them in the mill.

Although the reward for this task was vague, the potential to enhance one’s strength with heart and soul clues was too important for Jiang Yuan to fail over something as trivial as gathering herbs.

But without any contracts binding the Hu Zhile sisters to him, they were not obligated to help, and the secret of the World Tree in the old dragon cave couldn’t be shared with them.

"Something urgent?" Bai Yunqi perked up upon hearing that, his snake body slithered down from the cherry tree, transforming into human form and spoke in a deep voice, "Since the venerable family has urgent matters, why bother with breakfast? We’re cultivators; we can skip a meal or two."

Yun Mo also swooped down, "Missing one meal won’t starve us. Eating isn’t as important, feel free to instruct us on what needs to be done, sir."

"Are we going to fight?" Wan Mingchuan asked, half-dazed, as he rushed over with his shoes on, "Count me in!"

Hu Jiu looked at everyone and thought how impressive it was that the little gentleman could rally support with just one call.

Especially that senior white snake, who seemed to have a higher cultivation and wider knowledge than her third sister. If she wanted to stay by the little gentleman’s side, besides gossip, what else could she offer?

Jiang Yuan considered, thinking that even if they worked in the mines, they could still take breaks to eat, and given the special circumstances, he needed a flexible approach!

Thus, the group hurriedly and grandiosely marched towards the old dragon cave, leaving the Hu Zhile sisters exchanging looks.

Hu Zhile thought for a moment and said, "Let’s not idle either, let’s join your sister in collecting spices and herbs in the nearby forest. I can also teach you some practical little spells."

"Third sister, doesn’t the little gentleman need any rest or cultivation?" Miss Hu Jiu found it strange and asked quietly, "I observed that he’s constantly making paper cuts, incense making, and you said he single-handedly manages all these matters in the courtyard like farmlands, poultry houses, workshops.

But during the night when the wilderness descends and Spiritual Energy is abundant, it’s the perfect time for cultivation. If you calculate it, what time does the little gentleman have left for cultivation and improving his realm?"

Unexpectedly, her gossip-loving little sister had such keen observation skills. Hu Zhile was taken aback and speculated, "Perhaps, the gentleman’s way of cultivation is closer to some human world methods of practice.

I once roamed the human world when I was weak, and discovered that their understanding of cultivation is quite diverse. Many even believe that every drink and meal is cultivation. They think that living every day of one’s life is cultivation, seeking closeness to nature and understanding the fundamental truths, doing every desired task well.

I think the gentleman’s cultivation path might be similar, as you can see he’s dabbled in many areas yet achieved success in all, perhaps comprehending cultivation through these mundane daily activities."

It sounded impressive, so Miss Hu Jiu whispered even softer, "But he doesn’t seem to leak any Spiritual Power at all. Third sister, if we practiced Dual Cultivation with him... could I absorb his essence and elevate my realm?"

Hu Zhile lightly punched her, "Always thinking about Dual Cultivation! If you truly win the gentleman’s favor, how could you lack Spirit Elixirs, Weapon Techniques? Resources won’t be a concern, and as long as some effort is made, your cultivation realm will skyrocket!"

"Oh~" She responded with a slightly reluctant long drawl in her voice, thinking that she still had to find a way to stay, only through day and night interactions could she spark a connection and possibly win the little gentleman’s heart and affection.