“Miss Mu,” Liang turned his head to quietly negotiate, “Tonight, the young lady of the Yan family, the second son of the Jin family, and several young ladies from the third branch of the Lian family will be coming. To take care of our business needs, we have arranged for people to serve in room three ahead of time and reported it. Please do us a favor and choose another person for us. Consider it as giving me some face.”
Liang seemed to have changed his way of addressing her, but in fact, his tone had become more sincere, from the polite compliments earlier to a more straightforward appeal. Of course, he also did not forget to remind Mu Xue of several major families in the city.
Those he mentioned were all second-generation wealthy young masters of Fulong City. They were all difficult to provoke, and their families had strong and intertwined power. Not one of them was someone Mu Xue could afford to mess with.
Mu Xue lived alone in Fulong City, had no family to rely on, and her sect had long since fallen. She was usually immersed in refining instruments and never interfered in insignificant matters.
In theory, Liang had lowered his stance and given her a ladder to climb down.
“I have a few top-quality items hidden with me. Let’s take a look?” Liang added.
Ruan Honglian also signaled to Mu Xue, “That’s enough.”
Mu Xue looked at the boy but remained silent.
She really didn’t like to cause trouble for herself, especially with such a clever and unfamiliar child.
The long arm of the small puppet loosened from the bald man’s wrist and retracted with an unpleasant sound.
The boy almost immediately understood Mu Xue’s decision. He was silent for a moment, slowly stood up, and shed the helpless, innocent, and pitiful look he had just shown. Only his true face, cold, tired, and disgusted with everything, remained.
Initially, amidst the chaos, he accurately guessed Mu Xue’s identity and needs, quickly grasped the opportunity, and showed his value. When Ruan Honglian whispered something, he realized that he had exposed too much of himself. He immediately replaced it with a scared, panicked appearance, to gain sympathy.
Now, upon hearing Liang’s words, he probably realized that his goal was difficult to achieve, and he no longer bothered to pretend.
The hand that had been tightly holding onto Mu Xue’s clothes trembled slightly before the strained joints relaxed on their own.
The boy didn’t look at Mu Xue again. He stood up calmly and was dragged away by the bald man without saying a word.
The hand that had relaxed was thin, pale, and covered in scars.
Mu Xue suddenly remembered those hands.
Those were the pale fingers that held the golden butterfly wings and appeared before her from behind the iron bars. She recalled the cold and exhausted voice that was not fitting for someone his age.
So, it was that child?
“Hey, wait a minute.” Mu Xue stopped them.
The boy that was being dragged away turned his head, and his dim eyes lit up again with a desperate longing.
Mu Xue turned to Liang, “I want this child. Liang, can you help me figure something out?”
Liang frowned tightly, he didn’t expect Mu Xue to be so persistent. “Miss Mu, you are putting me in a difficult position.”
“The person I want, I must buy,” Mu Xue was unusually assertive and gave him no room for discussion. “If you don’t do business with me, I won’t take any of your family’s jobs in the future.”
In terms of brute force and influence alone, Liang was naturally not afraid of Mu Xue. However, people in the industry all knew that she was the best craftsman in Fulong City. Who didn’t need a few powerful magic tools for protection?
After some consideration, Liang eventually gave in to Mu Xue’s request.
As they walked out of the market, Mu Xue and Ruan Honglian walked side by side, buying the items they needed along the way. Cen Xiaoshan, who had just signed a contract, slowly followed behind them.
Ruan Honglian teased Mu Xue, “You were quite impressive just now, Miss Mu.”
Mu Xue replied, “Stop laughing. It’s all because you urged me to buy someone.”
Ruan Honglian chuckled, “I’ll take the blame for that.”
While they were talking, Cen Xiaoshan stumbled a few steps behind them but quickly regained his balance and caught up in silence.
Ruan Honglian, with her sharp spiritual awareness, noticed something was off. She turned her head and took a few glances at him before asking, “Do you see anything wrong with his leg?”
Mu Xue stopped in her tracks and turned her head as well.
Cen Xiaoshan avoided their gaze and replied, “It’s just a small injury. It will heal soon and won’t affect my mobility.”
Mu Xue made him sit down on a roadside stone stool and lifted his right leg, taking off his shoe.
Mu Xue took off the worn-out small shoe and revealed the ankle wrapped tightly in layers of cloth.
The filthy cloth was dripping with blood.
Mu Xue held Cen Xiaoshan’s leg with one hand while holding the shoe in the other. The thin skin was wrapped around the protruding bones, looking unnatural. The ankle under the cloth was obviously swollen several times its normal size.
Mu Xue looked back and saw a few faint red footprints mixed in the muddy street they had just walked through, extending into the distance. He ran so fast with such a leg, not making any noises, and walked such a long way.
“This is just a small injury?” Ruan Honglian said coldly, “This leg is almost crippled. It’s not decent for the Lei family to sell someone to you with such a hidden wound. Let’s return him before we get too far away.”
Cen Xiaoshan had been silent since Mu Xue started taking off his shoe.
He didn’t defend himself or plead for mercy. He lowered his head and looked at the floor without saying a word.
The blood that dripped from his shoe might as well have been flowing from somewhere else, rather than from his body.
Mu Xue threw away the worn shoe and picked up the boy, carrying him easily with her Golden Core cultivation level. She held him securely with one arm while holding the items they had purchased with the other.
The little boy who had been stoic was clearly uncomfortable now. He sat stiffly in Mu Xue’s arms, tensing up his whole body and occasionally turned his beautiful eyes to look at Mu Xue secretly.
After all, he was only under ten years old, with scars all over his body, and had been through various struggles. Now that he had quieted down and was being carried in the warm embrace, drowsiness soon overwhelmed his tired body.
The small boy almost fell asleep a few times, but immediately shook his head and sat up straight again, trying to remind himself not to fall asleep. However, he couldn’t resist the instincts of his body and slowly closed his eyes, leaning crookedly towards Mu Xue’s shoulder.
Messy hair, small chin, slightly open mouth exhaling white breath in the cold air, he frowned in his sleep, and his slender eyelashes trembled uneasily from time to time. Cen Xiaoshan, who had relaxed and fallen into deep sleep, finally showed a bit of the softness that children should have at his age.
“Actually, he’s quite pretty when you look at him.” Ruan Honglian leaned over and looked at Cen Xiaoshan leaning on Mu Xue’s shoulder. “Do you like this little thing so much? You’re acting so unusual today.”
“He’s the one,” Mu Xue replied firmly.
“Which one?”
“The one I told you about, the person who helped me catch the Xu Mu Butterfly,” Mu Xue replied.
“Oh, him. So, that’s what this is about? You don’t have to be so eager to help him. He may not have had good intentions when he helped you out. This shrewd little devil, you have no idea what he’s thinking,” Ruan Honglian paused and her face turned cold, “have you forgotten how many of our fellow apprentices died being tricked like this? He may look innocent and cute on the surface, but his heart is probably as rotten as it gets.”
“A-Lian, you might not know.” Mu Xue looked up at her longtime companion from their apprentice days, “The scales of the Xu Mu Butterfly have a very special effect.”
“Oh, what effect?”
“It can sense a person’s truest and most hidden emotions, revealing the most genuine feelings in their heart. This child once caught a butterfly’s wing, and I saw it.” Mu Xue looked down at the child leaning on her shoulder, “At that time, the light reflecting off the butterfly’s wings became pure and beautiful.”
“I had no idea. No wonder you softened your heart and helped him,” Ruan Honglian nodded.
“I am like you, I don’t like overly shrewd and worldly children. It reminds me of my own past. If the environment wasn’t so dangerous and I didn’t have to struggle so hard just to survive, how could I have forced my young self into appearing so cunning and almost demonic?”
Ruan Honglian closed her mouth and stopped speaking. She recalled her own difficult childhood with Mu Xue.
But she soon remembered something, “Wait a minute, the Xu Mu Butterfly has such a powerful effect? Its price should have skyrocketed, so how could I not have known?”
Mu Xue laughed, “I forgot to mention, this ability is basically only effective on mortals, so no one really pays attention to it. I’ve looked it up and I heard that Xu Mu Butterflies bred through training can have even more precise functions.”
As she spoke, Mu Xue suddenly froze. She felt like she forgot something important.
“Xiao Xue? What are you standing there for? Why aren’t you moving?” Ruan Honglian stepped forward and turned to look at Mu Xue, who was motionless.
“Honglian,” Mu Xue felt somewhat emotional, “If I die one day, will you still remember me?
“Xue Xue,” Ruan Honglian chuckled, “Why are you saying this out of the blue? I’m going to become the Heavenly Demon and live for thousands of years. Who has time to remember someone as silly and sweet as you?”
“Is that so? I don’t know why I suddenly thought of that,” Mu Xue said, feeling slightly emotional.
“Alright, fine. Since we’ve known each other for so many years, we’ll make a deal. Whoever dies first, the other will bury them,” Ruan Honglian said.
In Fuwang city, many people died every day, so there was nothing taboo that couldn’t be said.
As they carried their purchased goods and the young Cen Xiaoshan in their arms, the two friends joked with each other. They deliberately avoided the use of magic tools and walked slowly back home.
This familiar and peaceful atmosphere made Mu Xue feel relaxed.
