Chapter 10 Catching Up with Chu Tianfeng

“Same old rule, those who see it get a share.” As Chu Tianfeng stepped out of the shop, Old Bai reached out his hand to Old Du.

If Chu Tianfeng witnessed this scene, he would surely be astonished.

“Get lost! Who told you to undermine me earlier?” Old Du turned toward the back hall, “You made me give away a gold card, I haven’t settled that with you yet.”

Forced to hand over the gold card, Old Du was deeply unhappy.

“If I hadn’t said what I did, would that young man have sold you the prescription so readily?” Old Bai followed closely behind, relentless, “Besides, that kid might only buy herbs once in his lifetime. Why are you so upset?”

“That’s impossible. Who knows which sect that kid belongs to? Didn’t you notice the spiritual energy in his dantian?” Old Du said meaningfully.

Clearly, Chu Tianfeng’s guess was right—both Old Du and Old Bai were indeed highly skilled cultivators.

“So what? He’s only just started gathering energy in his twenties and hasn’t reached the Ming Jin stage. His aptitude must be terrible. Any sect that would take him in can’t be very impressive either,” Old Bai scoffed.

From his perspective, a disciple who only begins to gather energy in his twenties isn’t just mediocre, but outright hopeless. Any sect that accepts such talent isn’t likely to amount to much.

“I’m not worried about his sect’s strength. I’m worried if they find out about that gold card in his hands. If they use it daily to buy herbs, I’ll lose everything!” Old Du said anxiously.

Old Du had worked hard to build his current fortune and didn’t want it destroyed by a mere list of spiritual herbs.

“They probably won’t. Which sect doesn’t know Du Sancai? Who’d want to offend you?”

Old Bai waved his cane in front of him.

“You, Bai Yunfei, offend me every day.”

Du Sancai spun around, glaring at Old Bai.

“Just say it—what do you want?” Bai Yunfei had to lay his cards on the table; faced with such a tough character, he was at a loss.

“Give me half of the monkey wine you got last time.”

Du Sancai answered without hesitation, clearly having coveted Old Bai’s monkey wine for some time.

“No way!” Bai Yunfei cried out, “That’s genuine wine brewed by monkeys. I worked hard to get just over twenty pounds. You want half? Absolutely not.”

“Fine, then I’ll study the prescription alone.” Du Sancai turned again, heading deeper into the hall.

With the prescription in his hand and knowing Bai Yunfei well, he didn’t believe Bai would forsake the formula for a mere monkey wine.

“Alright, one pound,” Bai Yunfei trailed after him.

Du Sancai walked on as if he hadn’t heard.

“Two pounds, that’s cutting into my own flesh,” Bai Yunfei gritted his teeth.

Du Sancai reached the back hall and picked up the teacup from the table.

“Three pounds. Is it a deal or not?”

Bai Yunfei wanted to beat him with his cane.

The only response was Du Sancai calmly sipping his tea.

“You old bastard, you’re a real profiteer. Fine, five pounds, and if you ask for even an ounce more, I’ll fight you,” Bai Yunfei was nearly frantic, his cane almost poking Du Sancai’s face.

Du Sancai brushed the cane aside: “Alright, since you’re so sincere, I’ll meet you halfway—ten pounds. If you give me even an ounce less, I’ll fight you.”

Bai Yunfei gritted his teeth: “Profiteer! After all these years, our friendship isn’t worth an ounce of monkey wine.” He stomped his foot. “Deal. Let me see the prescription first.”

A flash of triumph crossed Du Sancai’s eyes as he handed the formula to Bai Yunfei: “Take a photo. When you get back, we’ll study it separately and meet once a month to discuss our findings.”

“Are you really going back to Tianhai?” Bai Yunfei asked, “What about the treasure at Thousand Bird Lake? Are you just going to give it up?”

Du Sancai pondered for a while, then looked toward the door: “We’ve searched for more than half a month and found nothing. I suspect there’s no treasure at all. Even if there was, it’s probably already taken.”

“You may be right, but going back empty-handed is hard to accept,” Bai Yunfei slumped at the table.

Both had some reputation in their field, and returning home like this would cost them their dignity.

“Forget it. What’s destined will come; what’s not, don’t force. I’ll head back first and have my chief disciple Fang Han keep watch for me,” Du Sancai sighed.

He wasn’t as concerned about face as Bai Yunfei; money mattered more to him.

“Alright, I’ll have my chief disciple Su Zhenguo come as well.”

———

Chu Tianfeng had no idea those two old men valued his prescription so highly. He was still worried they’d feel shortchanged and come looking for him.

No matter what, he’d acquired the herbs for a batch of Essence Cultivation Pills without spending a cent, and he was quite pleased.

According to his plan, he needed to buy a pill cauldron. Of course, not the kind used in the Blue Moon Star cultivation world—those were artifacts, far beyond his reach.

He knew his own financial limits; a regular pill furnace would suffice.

He’d researched online and found that pill furnaces on Earth differed from those on Blue Moon Star. Here, they lacked water inlets or outlets, and some didn’t even have lids.

A short distance from the pharmacy, Chu Tianfeng suddenly sensed someone watching him from a corner. When he turned to look, the person quickly turned away and hurried off.

Uneasy, Chu Tianfeng feared the old men had sent someone to tail him.

Terrified, he flagged down a taxi and handed the driver a hundred yuan, asking him to drive around Jianmen Market Street.

He’d thought of returning immediately to Thousand Bird Lake scenic area but worried he’d lead the tail back there, so he circled the area, hoping to shake off his pursuer before deciding what to do.

As he left, two figures emerged from the corner.

One fat, one thin. If Chu Tianfeng had been there, he would have recognized them—and certainly wouldn’t be so frightened by these two.

Seeing Chu Tianfeng leave in a cab, the thin one urged the fat one: “Quick, flag a car.”

The fat one stepped to the curb, scanning for taxis.

Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on their side—there were no taxis anywhere.

The thin one kicked a lamppost in frustration: “Let’s go have some fun somewhere.”

Having lost track of their target, they were understandably upset and wanted to vent.

“You’re not going to look for Chu Tianfeng?” the fat one asked, bewildered.

“Of course we are. Let’s look for him at the foot spa.” The thin one grinned slyly, “Be sharp when we get back, don’t give ourselves away.”

Whether they were going to the foot spa to find Chu Tianfeng or someone else didn’t need to be spelled out.

The fat one caught on and gave the thin one a thumbs-up: “Impressive! But Liang just gave us two hundred yuan—isn’t that a bit stingy?”

Strictly speaking, they had less than one hundred and fifty left; the morning’s taxi fares had cost over fifty.

“You don’t get it. Two hundred yuan can be spent in plenty of ways. Just follow my lead.”

Both laughed heartily, waited a long time, finally flagged a cab, and asked the driver to find them a foot spa.

The driver, eager to earn more, took them on a circuitous route before delivering them to a nearby foot spa.

They’d just gotten out and were about to head inside.

“Seriously? Is that for real?” the fat one suddenly shouted in delight.

The thin one, preoccupied with how to spend the remaining hundred and fifty, was annoyed: “Now what?”

“Look, over there.” The fat one pointed toward a foot spa by the road.

The thin one glanced over, saw only an ordinary hair salon, and snapped: “Don’t tell me your old flame’s in there.”

He thought, even if it was your old flame, I won’t let her off.

“Damn it, look again! Chu—Chu—Chu Tianfeng…” The fat one was so excited, he stammered.

His chubby finger still pointed at the foot spa.

“Get lost! Stop mentioning Chu Tianfeng here, you’re ruining my mood.”

The thin one was thinking about women, and the fat one’s focus on Chu Tianfeng was spoiling everything.

“I’m telling you, Chu Tianfeng is right there.” The fat one finally managed to say it.

“What?” The thin one widened his eyes, looking carefully where the fat one pointed.

About ten meters from the salon, a man moved quickly like the wind.

Chu Tianfeng!

The thin one couldn’t tell if his luck was good or bad. After finally finding a foot spa for some fun, he ran right into Chu Tianfeng.

He cursed Chu Tianfeng for being a fool, running around all morning only to be tracked down.

If possible, he’d give Chu Tianfeng a hundred yuan to keep running and not let himself be seen.

“What do we do?” the fat one asked.

The thin one’s eyes darted about, and after a moment’s thought, he instructed the fat one: “You go across the street, I’ll stay on this side. We’ll split up and keep an eye on him.”

The fat one immediately waddled across the street.

———

Chu Tianfeng had no idea that the tail he’d worked so hard to lose had caught up with him again.

He’d spent two hundred yuan, even switched taxis midway.

After observing carefully and seeing no trace of pursuit, he nervously entered the antique market, searching for a pill furnace from one shop to the next.

He knew pill furnaces were in low demand and rare in the market, most being fakes.

But he wasn’t afraid of fakes. In fact, he was here to buy one.

Yet he underestimated the greed of the shopkeepers.

After over an hour, he found only two shops selling pill furnaces.

Obvious fakes, yet the owners insisted they were antiques—one priced at twenty thousand, the other at eighteen thousand. Chu Tianfeng was so annoyed he didn’t even bother haggling.

Checking the time, it was nearly noon.

He decided to leave the antique market for now and find a small place on the street to grab a bite.

Just outside the market, he noticed a familiar figure by the road.

He approached, curious.

The man was looking down, seemingly engrossed in his phone.

But his gaze was shifty.

Zheng Haorui, nickname Zheng Mouse, another extra like Chu Tianfeng—of course he recognized him.

A few days ago, Zheng Haorui, Peng Yongliang, Yuan Qi and others had an unpleasant run-in with Chu Tianfeng in the cafeteria.

Later, at the lakeside, they met again on the set, even drawing blades.

Chu Tianfeng remembered it well.

He looked around and saw only Zheng Haorui.

Seeing Zheng Haorui’s distracted look, Chu Tianfeng suspected the person tailing him all morning might not be one of the old men’s people, but this guy right here.

“Was it you who followed me all morning?” Chu Tianfeng suddenly asked.

“Huh?” Zheng Haorui clearly hadn’t expected such a direct question, and was flustered, “No, it wasn’t me.”

Given Zheng Haorui’s response, even a fool would know what was going on.

Chu Tianfeng smiled faintly, pointing to a noodle shop by the road: “I’m going in for some noodles.”

Knowing it was this fool who’d been following him, Chu Tianfeng felt at ease.

He walked into the roadside noodle shop, ordered a bowl of pork rib noodles.