Chapter Eighty-Nine: An Unexpected Delight

The day passed far more quickly than he had imagined.

Yi Shen had merely gone home to catch up on sleep, and by the time he woke, it was already the following afternoon.

When he looked again at his status panel, he was astonished to find that his attributes had risen by more than fifty percent once again.

During the battle the previous night, the strongholds of the major guilds had originally stockpiled a great quantity of potions, equipment, and other supplies in preparation for a prolonged fight.

But after the lines were suddenly broken apart, most of those supplies had simply been left behind in the camps.

The majority of people had been too busy fleeing for their lives. Explorers like Yi Shen, who could move without restraint, were rare. After dealing with the more dangerous aberrant beasts at the forefront, he had taken advantage of the coming dawn to sweep through the battlefield once more and clean it up thoroughly.

Yi Shen had known that his attributes would improve.

But the situation had been too urgent then, and he had had no time to examine them carefully.

He had never expected that after one night’s sleep, the increase would be so dramatic. His Intelligence had even broken through sixty thousand, and every other attribute had also risen across the board, a welcome surprise indeed.

Beyond that, because he had obtained a massive number of Moonlight Fragments and Sources of Moonlight, his research points had also undergone a tremendous surge, soaring past fifty thousand.

If he continued to pick off monster hordes from time to time, then by the end of this month he should have a chance of advancing the Mage’s Heart to the fifth tier. Everything was moving faster than expected.

He casually ate the meal his mother had left for him at home. While eating, he opened his information tablet, connected to the internal network of the Jingmen Safe Zone, skimmed through the forum posts, and logged into the communicators tied to both of his accounts.

Both of Yi Shen’s accounts could now be used normally, and he had no fear that anyone would dig into his background.

One was the account he had always used before. The other was a new one he had bought on the black market back when he was trying to avoid investigation.

There were not many messages on his regular account, mostly notes from his mother, some class-related updates, and greetings from a few old friends.

The other account, the one he had used to stay in contact with Zhu Qing and the others, was mainly for reaching Zhu Qing, Zhu You, and Bai Hongjiang.

Yi Shen had thought everything was already back on track, and that there would be nothing left for him to deal with.

Yet the moment he opened the communicator linked to Zhu Qing and the others, he found a whole string of messages. Trouble had struck them all at once.

Bai Hongjiang’s problem was the smaller one. After hearing that Yi Shen had joined Bloodslaughter, Bai Hongjiang had gradually worked his way into Bloodslaughter’s inner circles. Now he wanted to use his network to climb even higher, and he also had no wish to be dragged to the front lines. What he needed was a source of contribution-point resources.

Yi Shen dealt with that directly by giving him an account from Peach Blossom Hollow, from which he could withdraw funds through the Peach Blossom Hollow Merchant House. He had once belonged to Peach Blossom Hollow himself, so it was unlikely to arouse suspicion.

Zhu Qing’s problem, however, was more serious.

She had been managing the materials shop on his behalf. Over the past few days, things had finally started running smoothly, and she had gradually been able to provide Yi Shen with materials for research. She had even acquired two fairly good skill books.

But today, for no apparent reason, a group of people had come looking for trouble.

Perhaps because Zhu Qing’s level was rather low, their tone was anything but polite.

Some had simply snatched goods straight from Yi Shen’s shop.

Others had stayed there, saying they wanted an explanation.

This was not a case of business rivals causing trouble.

Rather, these were clients who had sold materials to them over the past two days and had now come knocking at the door.

A few days earlier, they had sold their materials to Zhu Qing at low prices. In some cases, the payments had not even been settled yet. But now that the monsters had broken through the defensive lines and the major guilds had begun tightening control over materials, prices across the market had more than doubled. Some alchemical materials had even risen three or fourfold to terrifying levels. Naturally, they were no longer willing to sell at the original prices.

There was no Peach Blossom Hollow insignia displayed on Yi Shen’s shop, so many assumed it belonged to some small guild. Naturally, they wanted to squeeze what they thought was the softest target.

Jingmen Safe Zone.

A street near the central urban district.

The Little Town Story Materials Shop.

Though the shop had only recently opened, it had never had much of a presence. In total it employed fewer than five people, all of them young women from martial academies. Its main business was buying materials cheaply and dealing in equipment.

Ordinarily, a shop like this would not attract disputes.

Yet at this moment, at least a dozen people had gathered inside.

Most of the contents of the counter had already been smashed and carted away. Those independent wanderers preparing to leave the Jingmen Safe Zone had no intention of honoring previous transactions or contracts. The ones who remained were all larger-volume sellers who wanted to speak to the person behind Zhu Qing.

Zhu Qing’s expression was grim.

These people were all far higher level than she was. Even when they teased and mocked her, she could only endure it.

The entire city was in chaos now, with many people fleeing outward. If a conflict broke out, there was no guarantee she would be able to get away.

On top of that, the schools had suspended classes these past two days. Zhu Ke and Zhu You had both come to help at the shop. Her two younger sisters and the newly hired clerk were all hiding in the back room, and Zhu Qing truly did not dare act rashly.

She had already sent Yi Shen a message, but no reply had come, so all she could do was hold the situation in place.

“We’ve been waiting here more than an hour,” said one of them. “Little sister, we’re not trying to make things difficult for you. Just return the materials to us at the original price, and that’ll settle it. The goods were only sold the day before yesterday. Don’t tell me they’ve already all been shipped out by today.”

“Or you can just raise the price and pay us according to market rates. This shop of yours is decorated pretty nicely. It’s already been smashed into this state. That bunch earlier is probably planning to leave the Jingmen Safe Zone anyway. We’re being reasonable here, but that doesn’t mean we’re willing to take a loss.”

The one speaking was a giant of a fat man weighing well over two hundred pounds, named Xia Zhuang.

Xia Zhuang was the head of a small guild affiliated with Jingbei Industries, and he usually led his men in quietly trafficking materials on the side.

Originally, he had thought Zhu Qing was offering a fairly decent price and had sold off a batch of goods two days ago. But who could have imagined that such a major incident would erupt in the Jingmen Safe Zone, sending material prices skyrocketing? Naturally, he had begun entertaining ideas of his own.

“Exactly. My payment hasn’t even been settled yet,” another man in glasses chimed in. “Why can’t I just decide not to sell anymore? What kind of guild shop are you people running, anyway? You don’t even hang up a sign.”

The others at once joined in with a noisy chorus of complaints.

Many of the shop assistants were martial academy students working part-time, so Zhu Qing could only personally pour water for everyone and try to soothe them.

It was not until Yi Shen finally replied to her message that Zhu Qing explained that the shop owner would be arriving very soon.

The bespectacled man, however, was in no hurry. He began teasingly asking which school Zhu Qing and the others attended, even prying into matters that were far too private. Under such circumstances, Zhu Qing could only force herself to continue speaking with them.

End of Chapter.