Setelah pintu Apotek Roh Hijau tertutup dengan denting keras, Kakek Langit Petir Berjubah Emas menolembangkan pandangan sekeliling dengan sejengkal. Toko ini tidak terlalu besar, dan tak terlihat mencurigakan sama sekali. Di pinggirnya ada sedikit pompa dengan panci berisi air mendidih di atasnya.
Ia menatap pemuda telentang di samping, yang mengenakan pakaian kanja. Ekspresi muda itu berdenyar antara kelihatan cemberut, pensive, dan lega. Sepertinya ia berselawer banyak puisi tak masuk akal. Anehnya, ia hampir tidak memedulikan Kakek Langit Petir.
Patriarrch pun memindainya dan menyimpulkan bahwa ia tak lain hanyalah seorang kultivator Inti Emas yang remeh. Membatalkannya, ia lalu memfokuskan perhatian pada orang lain yang menopang pedang di dekat pintu. Ia juga muda, dan tersenyum lebar ke arah patriarch.
"Selamat datang di tempat kami! Maaf ganggu, aku hanya penjaga di sini. Kalau mau beli sesuatu, silakan masuk!" lalu ia berseru ke arah counter, "Hey, Ling'er! Ada pelanggan!"
Ling'er sedang di balik counter yang cukup besar. Ia kecil, jadi saat kepalanya tiba-tiba muncul dari balik counter, ia terlihat aneh. Melihat Kakek Langit Petir di dekat pintu, matanya berbinar.
"Selamat datang, tuan!" katanya dengan antusias. "Ada yang ingin beli? Pernyanyaan putih di sini adalah yang paling terkenal di seluruh Pegunungan Bitter Life. Satu koin roh untuk satu pil. Kalau beli banyak, aku bisa memberi diskon."
Kakek Langit Petir sedikit mengerutkan kening. Setelah memandang muda berpedang dengan sejengkal dingin, ia pun memandang gadis itu. Sudah berapa lama sejak orang nekad berani santai di hadapannya? Orang-orang di sini tak bereaksi seperti yang ia bayangkan. Untungnya, tidak semua orang memiliki sikap itu. Ada satu budak kultivator di pojok yang gemetar ketakutan. Itulah reaksi yang cocok.
Lalu, Kakek Langit Petir beralih memandang dua orang yang sedang menyapu lantai.
Satu gemuk, satunya tua. Mereka sedang siuksian lantai bolak-balik. Tiba-tiba, yang gemuk itu berbalik dan menatap Kakek Langit Petir.
"Aku baru saja menyapu, lantai masih basah! Jangan meninggalkan jejak kaki di sana!"
Kakek Langit Petir makin dingin tatapannya. Semua orang yang pernah nekat berkata begini padanya sudah tewas. Namun ia tak langsung bertindak. Ia bisa menghancurkan makhluk seperti itu dengan mudah. Lalu, ia memandang orang tua yang dudak di counter bermain dengan burung camar. Orang tua itu seperti manusia biasa yang hampir mendekati kematian. Setelah memandangnya sejenak, Kakek Langit Petir mengabaikannya. Menurutnya, siapa pun yang mendukung mereka tak penting. Fakta mereka saja mengabaikannya tak penting juga.
Dengan tenang, ia berkata dengan angkuh, "Aku tak ada minat membeli pil obat. Berapa harga nyawa kalian? Beri angka, aku akan membayar."
Kemampuan setengah langkah ke dalam Kembali Kekosongan terpancar, ia mengangkat kakinya lalu menekukkan pada lantai. Seolahnya, ia bersiap untuk menyaksikan seluruh toko obat lenyap. Semua orang akanpun musnah, tak tersisa kecuali tulang mereka. Dan yang gemuk itu akan berubah menjadi abu.
Sesaat kemudian, orang tua pun mengganggung, lalu memandang ke lantai. Tidak satu hal pun berubah di toko obat. Ia terlihat persis seperti sebelumnya. Seolah energi ledak dari kakinya seperti sapi batu yang dilempar ke laut. Tak ada riak pun, tidak ada tanda-tanda sama sekali.
Namun, panci itu tiba-tiba jatuh dari kompor, nyaring di lantai, menumpahkan air panasnya. Yang gemuk yang sedang menyapu pun tersenyum cemberut dalam.
"Hey, kamu tua gila!" teriak minggir. "Aku baru saja menyapu lantai di sana!"
Keesungan, Kakek Langit Petir mengirimkan indra ilahinya untuk memeriksa tempat di mana ia menekakkan kaki. Lalu ia memandang ke arah panci. Sesuatu terasa aneh, dan hal itu menyebabkan pupilnya mengeras. Fakta bahwa ledakan energinya tak berdampak apa pun memusingkan. Secara realistis, langkahnya tak seharusnya hanya membakar toko obat. Ia seharusnya menghancurkan seluruh kota. Tapi justru satu-satunya hal yang terjadi adalah panci jatuh.
Perasaan gelisah mendalam muncul di sanubari. Namun sebelum ia sempat bertindak, ia beralih memandang seseorang yang bergegas masuk dari ruangan lain sambil memeluk sejumlah kayu bakar.
Ia adalah seorang gadis yang kostum seperti pelayan. Ia terlihat sangat marah, seperti vulkan yang akan meletup, seolah dia dan Kakek Langit Petir adalah musuh yang tak tahan hidup di bumi yang sama.
"Kamu tua kurd!" teriak gadis itu. "Aku pergi sebentar untuk ambil kayu bakar, air sudah mendidih. Lalu kamu datang dan menjatuhkan panci! Bodoh! Tahu tidak susahnya mendidihkan air tanpa menggunakan dasar kultivasi kamu?!"
Kemampuan kultivasi gadis itu tiba-tiba meledak, mengirimkan fluktuasi di lingkaran besar Spirit Trove, tepat di pinggang Kembali Kekosongan. Pada saat itu, semua kecurigian Kakek Langit Petir pun jernih, ia mengerti mengapa kakinya tak berdampak. Dan ia juga mengerti mengapa semua orang tidak bereaksi seperti yang diharapkan. Karena semua ini salah satu gadis. Jelas sangat kuat. Meskipun aneh ia mengenakan kostum pelayan, para ahli sering berkelakuan aneh. Meskipun sepenuhnya jujur, ia tak pernah melihat seseorang berkelakuan aneh seperti ini.
Ia sudah meninggalkan sikap sombongnya dulu. Untuk tetap tenang dan sabar, ia melambangkan tangan untuk mengirimkan panci kembali ke posisinya.
"Aku di sini karena spesiesku kehilangan barang suci," katanya dengan tenang. "Aku ingin membahas solusi yang wajar. Karena kamu ada di sini, sesama Daois, mari kita bahas hal ini."
"Aku tak peduli apakah kamu kehilangan barang suci atau tidak suci, bodoh!" sebalik balik gadis itu. "Itu tak berkaitan dengan aku sama sekali. Cepatlah mendidihkan air, kalau tidak kamu akan jadi makananku!" Ia tersenyum mengerikan.
Kakek Langit Petir kemengerutkan kening. Ia telah beralih ke sopan santun, tapi dengan sikap aslinya yang tegas, jelas ia tak takut padanya. Dengan indra ilahinya, ia memastikan tak ada ahli Kembali Kekosongan di toko obat, lalu ia beralih memandang ruangan belakang.
"Keluar selokan, pencuri!" teriak ia sambil berjalan lurus ke ruangan belakang. Ia tak mau menghabiskan waktu. Hanya dalam sekejap, ia sampai di depan tirai yang mengarah ke Xu Qing di ruangan belakang. Ia mencengkeram tirai untuk menariknya. Namun, tiba-tiba, angin kuat menghantamnya, dan sebelum ia sempat bertindak, angin itu seluruhnya membelitnya.
Gemetar, ia mundur beberapa langkah, organ dalamnya gemetar dari rasa sakit. Lalu ia memandang gadis itu dengan niat pembunuh tumpul, dingin, "Kamu melindunginya?"
Gadis itu memutar mata, lalu berseloquen, "Kalau kamu mampu membunuhnya, silakan. Aku akan dengan senang hati berterima kasih jika kamu membunuh pria di dekat pintu."
Pada saat itu, panci mulai mendidih dengan gemericik. Gadis itu mengangkat panci lalu berjalan ke arah manusia tua yang bermain dengan burung camar. Saat sampai, ia benar-benar berhati-hati berjalan.
Kakek Langit Petir menyaksap, tercengang. Inilah seorang sesama Daois dengan kemampuan yang sama dengan dirinya yang tiba-tiba berubah. Kejamnya matanya berubah menjadi kemurnian dan ketenangan, seolah-olah ia adalah sosok yang patuh total saat membuat teh untuk orang tua itu.
Jantung Kakek Langit Petir berdebar kencang, dan ia mulai merasakan sensasi yang sangat grueish. Usaha untuk tetap diam, ia mengeluarkan gantungan giok yang biasanya dipakai untuk mendeteksi semua fluktuasi kemampuan di bawah tingkat Smoldering God. Namun gantungan itu tak memberikan informasi aneh.
Ia benar-benar bingung, tapi secara instingtif ia merasakan ada sesuatu yang salah di toko ini. Sesuatu yang mendalam. Makin mencurigakan, ia lalu memandang orang-orang yang sedang menyapu lantai, pemuda dengan pedang, dan kultivator yang bersikap bingung.
Akhirnya, ia memandang counter. Semua orang tetap melakukan hal yang sama seperti sebelumnya. Semua hal ini terasa sangat aneh.
Sementara Kakek Langit Petir ragu untuk memutuskan apa yang akan dilakukan, orang tua yang mengendungkan burung camar itu berhenti bermain lalu mengangkat cup-nya untuk minum teh.
Gerakan itu mengungkapkan tangannya kirinya, yang memegang sebuah mutiara. Perhatikan, ada wajah yang kikuk dalam mutiara itu, dan itu adalah... Guru Blackeyes. Meskipun kemampuan Guru Blackeyes tak luar biasad, untuk melihatnya kikuk di tangan seseorang lain, itu membuat ujung kuping Kakek Langit Petir terasa numeris. Ia mulai mundur. Yang ia inginkan sekarang hanyalah pergi. Toko obat ini menakutkan. Dan kurangnya informasi dari gantungan gioknya hanya bisa berarti satu hal.
Meskipi terkesan tidak mungkin, saat ia memandang sekeliling, ia menyadari kemungkinan yang tak terduga itu sebenarnya sangat mungkin.
Keringat dingin menembuk di keningnya, dan ia mulai gemetar. Jantungnya berdebar kencang. Ternyata, ini adalah reaksi yang sama persis yang ia duga dari orang-orang di dalam toko ini saat mereka melihatnya. Penuh cemas, penuh penyesalan, ia menyadarinya sungguh ceroboh. Ia tak seharusnya pernah menaklukkan pintu toko kelontong kecil ini.
Jika aku benar, ini bukan toko obat. Ini adalah... Nine Serenities underworld!!
Melhat patrinya gemetar, Ling'er menyighati. "Kamu tidak akan membeli pil obat kami? Mereka benar-benar luar biasa!"
Kakek Langit Petir ragu, lalu mengeluarkan kantong penyimpanan dan meletakkannya di counter.
"Tentu saja, aku akan beli!"
Ekspresi Ling'er mencerah. Ia mengambil kantong penyimpanan, lalu memberikannya satu pil putih.
Patriarch mengambilnya, lalu perlahan mundur, berusaha tidak menyekutukan lantai lebih dari sebelumnya. Di samping itu, ia tak bisa tidak memandang orang tua yang sedang minum teh.
Orang tua itu mengangkat kepalanya.
Saat mereka bertemu pandangan, Kakek Langit Petir merasa seperti pikirannya ditimpa oleh 1.000.000 petir. Ia gemetar lebih hebat lagi, dan keringatnya merendam jubah emasnya.
S-smoldering... God....
Gelombang ketakutan menyapu melalui dirinya, menghantam pikirannya. Setiap bagian daging, darah, dan tulangnya berteriak bahwa ia berada dalam situasi yang luar biasa, luar biasa, luar biasa berbahaya.
Fakta, berbagai sensasi bahaya yang begitu banyak terasa seperti punya kehidupan sendiri, menyantap daging, jiwa, dan inderanya. Penuh penyesalan yang tak teriklani, ia menyadari bahwa datang ke toko obat kecil ini adalah kesalahan terbesar dalam hidupnya.
Bagaimana ini bisa terjadi...?
Saat keringatnya mengalir seperti hujan, ia secara instingtif jatuh berlutut.
Itu saatnya Penerus Muncul. "Datang ke sini."
After the Green Spirit Pharmacy’s door slammed shut, the golden-robed Patriarch Wind Guardian looked around coldly. The shop wasn’t very large, and didn’t look unusual in any way. There was a little oven off to the side with a steaming kettle of water boiling atop it.
He noted the young man sprawled out to the side, clad in a hemp garment. The young man’s expression flitted between a frown, a thoughtful expression, and a pleased look. He seemed to be mumbling some sort of incoherent, nonsensical poetry. Surprisingly, he hardly took note of Patriarch Wind Guardian.
The patriarch scanned him and found that he was nothing more than a measly Gold Core cultivator. Ignoring him, he turned his attention to the next notable person, who stood next to the door holding a sword. He was also a young man, and he was smiling broadly at the patriarch.
“Welcome to our establishment! Don’t mind me, I’m just the guard here. If you want to buy something, step on in!” Turning to look in the direction of the counter, he yelled, “Hey, Ling’er! We have a customer!”
Ling’er was behind the counter settling the accounts. Hearing her name, she looked up.
The counter was rather large, and she was petite, so when her tiny head suddenly popped up from behind the counter, it looked a bit strange. Seeing the patriarch by the door, her eyes lit up.
“Welcome, sir!” she said enthusiastically. “What would you like to buy? The white boluses here are the most famous in all of the Bitter Life Mountains. They’re a single spirit coin each. If you buy a large number, I can give you a discount.”
Patriarch Wind Guardian frowned slightly. After looking coldly at the young man with the sword, he glanced at the girl. It had been many years since anyone would dare to be so relaxed in his presence. The people here weren’t reacting quite the way he’d imagined they would. Thankfully, not everyone was behaving in that manner. There was one little cultivator in the corner who was trembling in terror. That was a more appropriate reaction.
Next, the patriarch shifted his attention to two people who were currently cleaning the floor.
One was fat, the other was old. They were hard at work scrubbing this way and that. All of a sudden, the fat one turned to look at Patriarch Wind Guardian.
“I just scrubbed over there, so it’s wet! Don’t leave your footprints there!”
Patriarch Wind Guardian’s eyes turned even colder. All people who had ever dared to speak to him in this manner were dead. However, he didn’t immediately take action. He could crush a bug like that with no effort at all. Next, he turned to look at the old man seated at the counter, who was playing with a parrot. The old man looked like any other mortal hovering on the brink of death. After looking at him for a moment, Patriarch Wind Guardian ignored him. In his opinion, it didn’t matter who these people had backing them. The fact that they were basically ignoring him wasn’t important.
Clasping his hands behind his back, he coolly said, “I have no interest in buying medicinal pills. How much are your lives worth? Give me a number and I’ll pay it.”
Tapping into power that was a half a step into Void Returning, he lifted his right foot and then stamped it onto the ground. As he did, he prepared to watch the entire medicine shop be leveled. Everyone would be shredded out of existence, leaving behind nothing but bones. And the fat one was going to turn into ashes.
A moment later, the old man’s jaw dropped, and he looked down at the ground. Not one thing had happened to the medicine shop. It looked exactly the same as before. It was as if the explosive energy that had flowed out of his foot was a stone ox thrown into the ocean . There weren’t even any lingering ripples, or any other sign that anything had happened.
But then the kettle slipped off the stove, clanging onto the ground and spilling all the hot water. The fatty scrubbing the ground suddenly looked up with a deep frown.
“Hey, you old codger!” he snapped angrily. “I just scrubbed the floor there!”
Bewildered, Patriarch Wind Guardian sent his divine sense out to check the spot where he had stamped his foot down. Then he looked over at the kettle. Something was off, and it caused his pupils to constrict. The fact that his burst of energy hadn’t resulted in anything was obviously a cause for concern. Realistically speaking, that stamp of his foot shouldn’t just have incinerated the medicine shop. It should have turned the entire city into ruins. But instead, the only thing that happened was that a kettle fell.
A feeling of deep unease welled up in his heart. But before he could do anything, he turned to find someone hurrying in from another room with an armful of firewood.
It was a girl dressed like a maidservant. She looked extremely angry, like a volcano about to erupt, as if she and the patriarch were enemies who couldn’t tolerate living under the same sky as the other.
“You damned geezer!” she yelled. “I went out for a few seconds to get some firewood, and the water was already boiling. Then you came along and knocked over the kettle! You fool! Do you know how hard it is to boil water without using your cultivation base??”
The maidservant’s cultivation base suddenly flared to life, sending out fluctuations in the great circle of Spirit Trove, just on the edge of Void Returning. At that moment, Patriarch Wind Guardian’s suspicions were all cleared up, and he knew why the stamp of his foot had been ineffective. He also understood why all these people hadn’t reacted in the way he expected. It was all because of this girl. She was clearly very strong. Although it was unusual that she was dressed up like a maidservant, top experts often behaved freakishly. Although, truth be told, he had never seen anyone behave in this freakish manner.
He had already abandoned his previous arrogant attitude. Trying to be calm and even-tempered, he waved his hand to send the kettle back to its previous position.
“I’m here because my species lost a holy relic,” he said calmly, “and I’d like to broker a fair resolution to the situation. Since you’re here, Fellow Daoist, let’s discuss the matter.”
“I don’t care if you lost a holy relic or an unholy relic, idiot!” the girl shot back. “That doesn’t have one goddamn thing to do with me. Hurry up and get the water boiling, otherwise I’m having you for dinner!” She flashed a grim smile.
Patriarch Wind Guardian frowned. He had shifted to being polite, but considering how rude the maidservant was being, it was obvious she didn’t fear him. Sending out his divine sense to check and make sure there weren’t any Void Returning experts in the medicine shop, he turned to look coldly at the back room.
“Get the hell out here, thief!” he snapped, walking directly toward the back room. He didn’t want to waste any more time. Therefore, it only took a moment for him to reach the curtain that led to Xu Qing in the back room. Reaching out, he grabbed the curtain to yank it aside. However, at that moment, his face fell. Out of nowhere, a wave of force hit him, and before he could do anything, it had completely wrapped him up.
Trembling, he walked backward several paces, his internal organs shivering with pain. Turning to the maidservant with killing intent surging, he coldly said, “You’re protecting him?”
The maidservant rolled her eyes and impatiently said, “Kill him if you can. And I’d love it if you killed that guy by the door. If you do, I’ll offer you my thanks.”
By that point, bubbling sounds could be heard from the kettle as the water started boiling. The maidservant picked up the kettle and walked over to the mortal man with the parrot. As she neared the old man, she made sure to walk very quietly.
Patriarch Wind Guardian looked on, stunned. Here was a fellow daoist with the same cultivation base as himself, who had suddenly changed personalities. The vitriol in her eyes transformed into something pure and tranquil, and she seemed like the picture of obedience as she made tea for the old man.
Patriarch Wind Guardian’s heart started pounding, and he suddenly felt a very gruish sensation. Trying to be as surreptitious as possible, he took out a jade pendant that he used to scan the old man. That jade pendant was a special treasure belonging to his species, which could be used to identify cultivation base fluctuations from anyone under the Smoldering God level. However, the jade pendant wasn’t giving him any unusual information.
He was really puzzled, but could tell on an instinctual level that there was something wrong with this medicine shop. Something profoundly wrong. Feeling more suspicious than ever, he looked at the two people scrubbing the floor, the young man with the sword, and the cultivator mumbling poetry.
Finally, he looked at the counter. All of them were behaving exactly the same as before. And all of that seemed extremely bizarre.
As Patriarch Wind Guardian hesitated about what to do, the old mortal behind the counter stopped playing with the parrot and lifted his cup to take a sip of tea.
That action revealed his left hand, within which was a pearl. Looking closely, it was possible to see a terrified face in that pearl, and it belonged to none other than Guru Blackeyes. Although Guru Blackeyes’ cultivation base wasn’t that impressive, to see him so terrified in the hands of another caused Patriarch Wind Guardian’s scalp to go numb. He started edging his way backward. All he wanted to do now was leave. This medicine shop was a scary place. And the lack of information from his jade pendant could mean only one thing. Although it seemed extremely unlikely, as he looked around, he realized that the unlikely possibility... was actually very likely.
Beads of sweat popped out on his forehead, and he started shaking. His heart also started racing. As it turned out, this was the exact same reaction he’d expected from the people inside the shop when they saw him. Feeling wildly nervous, and full of deep regret, he realized that he had been extremely careless. And he should never have charged through the door of this little medicine shop.
If I’m right, this is no medicine shop. This is the freaking Nine Serenities underworld!!
Seeing the patriarch trembling, Ling’er sighed. “You’re really not going to buy any of our medicinal pills? They’re truly amazing!”
Patriarch Wind Guardian hesitated, then took out a bag of holding and put it on the counter.
“Sure, I’ll buy some!”
Ling’er’s expression brightened up. Scooping up the bag of holding, she handed him a white bolus.
The patriarch took it, then slowly backed away, trying to retrace his footsteps so that he didn’t make the floor any dirtier than he already had. What was more, he couldn’t help but glance at the old mortal with the tea.
The old man looked up at him.
When their gazes met, Patriarch Wind Guardian felt like his mind had been struck by 1,000,000 lightning bolts. He started shaking even harder than before, and sweat began to soak through his golden robe.
S-smoldering... God....
Waves of terror swept through him, battering his mind. Every inch of his flesh, blood, and bones were screaming at him that he was in incredible, incredible, incredible danger.
In fact, those numerous sensations of danger felt like they had lives of their own, and they were chewing at his flesh, soul, and senses. Filled with incomparable, unsurpassable regret, he came to the realization that coming to this little medicine shop was the worst mistake he had ever made in his entire life.
How could this be happening...?
As sweat poured off of him like rain, he instinctively dropped to his knees.
That was when the Heir Apparent spoke. “Come here.”
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