Chapter 150: The Gaudy Burlap Garment

In the blink of an eye, five days passed.

Qin Feiyang grasped a Qiankun bag and left the ancient castle with a hint of exhaustion.

For five days and nights, without a single moment of rest, he had continuously refined pills, producing nine thousand healing pills and nine thousand bone-mending pills.

A total of eighteen thousand pills!

On average, he refined one every twenty-odd breaths.

For him at present, this was already the absolute limit.

He pushed open the door and stepped out of the pavilion.

A biting cold wind swept over, causing him to shiver involuntarily.

The sky was also draped with a thick layer of dense clouds.

It was now the Winter Solstice.

The weather had gradually turned cold, and the piercing wind lashed against people's faces like countless sharp blades, causing their skin to sting.

Thud, thud!

The fat man and Lu Hong ran down from the second floor.

Both of them had added a thick layer of clothing to their outfits.

The fat man chuckled and said, "Fatty here thought someone had broken in, but it turns out to be you, Boss!"

Lu Hong stepped out of the pavilion, glanced at the gloomy sky, and remarked, "This ghost of a weather—it was still quite warm just a few days ago, but the temperature has suddenly plummeted these past couple of days. It will probably start snowing by next month."

Qin Feiyang smiled, turned back into the room, closed the door, handed the Qiankun bag to Lu Hong, and instructed, "During the time I am away, you two must remember to distribute the pills to everyone."

Entrusting the pills to Lu Hong was, in truth, also a test for her.

"Alright."

Lu Hong nodded, then asked, "Wait, what do you mean? Are you leaving?"

The fat man also stared at Qin Feiyang in startled suspicion.

"Hush!"

Qin Feiyang made a gesture to keep quiet and lowered his voice, "Ling Yunfei and I are going to Star-Moon City. Make sure not to let this leak out. If anyone asks, just say I am cultivating inside the ancient castle."

"Why go to Star-Moon City?"

"Is there some good fortune to be had?"

"Boss Jiang, how can there be a good fortune and you not bring Fatty along? You are being too disloyal!"

Doubt flickered in Lu Hong's eyes.

The fat man, on the other hand, wore a look of utter dissatisfaction.

"If I told you I was going to court death, would you still want to go?"

Qin Feiyang shot a sideways glance at the fat man and earnestly instructed, "Remember, no matter what happens, you must not leave the Martial King's Palace. Furthermore, tomorrow you must spread the word that from now on, when pills are distributed, commoners take priority."

"Give them to commoners?"

The two of them exchanged glances, their eyes filled with confusion.

"Just do as I say."

"Also, change the distribution from once a month to once every ten days."

"As for my reasons, you will understand in the future."

Without offering further explanation, Qin Feiyang asked, "Has Steward Li delivered the projection crystals yet?"

"Not yet. That old fox is extremely cunning. I heard from a disciple of the Martial Palace that to drive up the price, he only auctions off one supreme-grade Scarlet Fire Glazed Pill a day."

The fat man said with contempt.

Qin Feiyang smiled faintly and asked, "That's normal. What is the final bidding price?"

The fat man pondered for a moment and replied, "The first day fetched 4.1 million, the second day 4 million, the third day 4.2 million, and yesterday it was 4.3 million. Today's result isn't out yet, but it shouldn't be lower than 4 million."

"That little?"

Qin Feiyang frowned.

Calculated this way, five supreme-grade Scarlet Fire Glazed Pills amounted to just a little over twenty million.

That would only be enough to purchase four projection crystals.

"You call that little?"

The two of them were utterly speechless.

An ordinary Scarlet Fire Glazed Pill usually had an auction price of around one million.

That was a full fourfold increase; what more could he possibly want?

Besides, four million gold coins—even for those top-tier major families in Yan City—would cause their hearts to ache for quite a while.

"Don't look at me like that. Who doesn't want more money?"

Qin Feiyang rolled his eyes at them, stepped out of the pavilion, arrived downstairs below Shi Zheng, and smiled, "Elder, would it be too much trouble for you to make a trip to the Treasure Pavilion?"

"What are you going to the Treasure Pavilion for?"

Shi Zheng asked in bewilderment.

Qin Feiyang smiled and said, "Help me retrieve the projection crystals. There are four in total. Consider the remaining gold coins as your trouble fee."

Shi Zheng hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, but you are not allowed to run around aimlessly."

"Aside from the Martial King's Palace, where else could I possibly go?"

Qin Feiyang gave a wry smile.

Shi Zheng smiled, leaped down, and departed swiftly.

Qin Feiyang was just about to re-enter the room when Ling Yunfei ran over and asked, "Are you ready?"

Qin Feiyang nodded. "The only things missing now are the projection crystals. What about you? Did you find a shortcut?"

Ling Yunfei shook his head. "There are no shortcuts. All four city walls are guarded by the royal family's Black Armor Guards. If we try to scale the walls and slip out, we will definitely be intercepted, so we can only walk out through the main city gates in broad daylight."

"In broad daylight?"

Qin Feiyang gave a bitter smile.

"What on earth are you two planning to do?"

The fat man sidled over, peering at the two of them with a stealthy, cunning look.

"It's none of your business, mind your own."

Ling Yunfei glared at him, then turned back to Qin Feiyang, saying, "I have also prepared the Metamorphic Pills. Let's just wait until the middle of the night and find an opportunity to slip out."

Qin Feiyang pondered for a moment and said helplessly, "I suppose that's the only way now."

An hour or so later.

Shi Zheng finally returned. He retrieved four projection crystals from his Qiankun bag and placed them on the tea table.

Ling Yunfei, the fat man, and Lu Hong immediately crowded around, strange lights flashing in their eyes.

It was the first time any of them had ever laid eyes on projection crystals.

Qin Feiyang appeared much calmer. He stood up, cupped his fists, and said, "Thank you, Elder."

Shi Zheng smiled. "It was merely a matter of raising a hand."

The fat man chuckled mischievously. "Elder Shi, you must have acquired a massive trouble fee. Care to share a little bit with me?"

"A trouble fee?"

Shi Zheng shook his head with a wry smile, then retrieved a slip of paper from his bosom and handed it to Qin Feiyang.

When Qin Feiyang took a close look, his face turned green.

It turned out to be another IOU.

It was written upon it that Jiang Haotian currently owed the Treasure Pavilion one million one hundred thousand gold coins. If not settled within a week, the daily interest would be one thousand gold coins.

At the very bottom was Steward Li's personal signature.

"Why do I still owe him one million one hundred thousand?"

Qin Feiyang looked at Shi Zheng, completely baffled.

Shi Zheng explained, "Those five supreme-grade Scarlet Fire Glazed Pills of yours fetched a total of twenty-one million, but the Treasure Pavilion also deducts a commission..."

"Look at this brain of mine, how could I have forgotten about this?"

Qin Feiyang struck the back of his head hard with his hand.

The moment he heard the word "commission," he understood.

The rule of the Treasure Pavilion was to take a ten percent commission.

From a total sum of twenty-one million, two million one hundred thousand had to be deducted.

That left only eighteen million nine hundred thousand.

Since four projection crystals cost twenty million, deducting eighteen million nine hundred thousand naturally resulted in a deficit of one million one hundred thousand.

Ling Yunfei and the other two were also momentarily stunned.

Deducting a commission was only right.
But they were all old acquaintances by now; couldn't they have taken a slightly smaller cut?

Two million one hundred thousand was enough for an ordinary person to live a worry-free life in comfort for several lifetimes.

To actually draw up a formal IOU and even charge interest for overdue payments—this was truly extortionate!

"Ahem!"

Qin Feiyang gave a dry cough and smiled faintly, "The Treasure Pavilion isn't run by him alone either; he is merely acting according to the rules. It's understandable."

With that,

he took out his Qiankun bag, counted out two million gold coins, handed them to Shi Zheng, and smiled, "Elder, I must trouble you to make another trip. Take the extra ninety thousand to buy yourself some fine wine to enjoy."

Shi Zheng smiled. "How could I possibly accept this?"

Despite saying so, he did not seem to stand on ceremony at all, directly putting the coins away.

Are you kidding?

Ninety thousand gold coins were a very substantial fortune for an executive elder like him.

The moment Shi Zheng left, the fat man began to grumble: "You throw out ninety thousand without even blinking, you really are extravagant. How come I never see you give Fatty ninety thousand?"

"I say, you dead fatty, that supreme-grade Scarlet Fire Glazed Pill you snatched was worth four million! What more do you want? Do you want me to hand over all my worldly possessions to you?"

Qin Feiyang rebuked angrily.

"That won't be necessary, just giving me eighty or a hundred thousand to spend will do."

The fat man chuckled unabashedly.

Qin Feiyang felt utterly exhausted in both body and mind. Why was everyone around him such an extraordinary eccentric?

"Do your jobs properly, and when I return, there will be no shortage of benefits for you."

"One projection crystal each, quickly drip your blood to bind them."

Qin Feiyang was the first to grab one, bite his finger, and drip a drop of blood onto it. The projection crystal immediately emitted wisps of faint crimson light.

However, the crimson light quickly dissipated.

"Do I get one too?"

Lu Hong pointed at herself, somewhat incredulously.

"En."

Qin Feiyang nodded.

Giving one to Lu Hong was for the convenience of communication.

After all, Lu Hong was currently working for him.

Lu Hong was deeply excited.

One had to know that even martial dao monsters like Feng Ling'er and battle kings like Shi Zheng did not possess projection crystals at present.

Yet she now had one.

It felt simply like a dream.

Once they had all dripped their blood for the spiritual bond, the four of them each dripped another drop of blood onto one another's projection crystals.

In this way, a contractual bridge was established. Whenever they wished to communicate with one another, they only needed to activate their projection crystals and move their thoughts accordingly.

After storing the projection crystals into their respective Qiankun bags, Qin Feiyang looked at Ling Yunfei and said, "There is no time to lose, give me the Metamorphic Pill and let's move out immediately!"

Ling Yunfei was taken aback and asked, "Didn't we agree to wait until midnight?"

Qin Feiyang replied, "If we wait until midnight, I won't know how to dispatch Shi Zheng away."

Ling Yunfei enlightenedly said, "So giving him ninety thousand was actually your way of getting rid of him. You are truly cunning."

"Nonsense, I did that purely out of gratitude for his care during this period."

Qin Feiyang glared at him righteously and with absolute composure.

Yet Ling Yunfei and the other two rolled their eyes to the heavens.

If there were outsiders present, they would surely exclaim that birds of a feather flock together—none of them were any good.

After swallowing the Metamorphic Pills, both Qin Feiyang and Ling Yunfei transformed into somewhat robust young men.

Naturally, Ling Yunfei's most eye-catching sky-blue hair and eyes had also turned black.

"How is it?"

Having finished their disguises, the two asked the fat man and Lu Hong.

Giving the two a careful up-and-down inspection, Lu Hong frowned and said, "Ling Yunfei is fine, but this burlap outfit of yours is far too glaring; you need to change it."

"A burlap outfit is glaring?"

Qin Feiyang frowned.

"Go take a look around—who in the Martial King's Palace is still wearing these street-stall items? Only you. There's no other place like it, unique to you alone. Don't you think it glares?"

Lu Hong said with helpless resignation.

"You don't understand this, Boss Jiang is playing the pig to eat the tiger. To put it more accurately, he's acting cool."

The fat man smiled evilly.

"Uh!"

Qin Feiyang was stunned.

He was utterly helpless.

With no other choice, he had to ask Ling Yunfei for a set of Martial King's Palace disciple robes to wear over his clothes.

"That's about right now."

Lu Hong nodded.

"Then let's set off."

With a solemn expression, Qin Feiyang led Ling Yunfei out of the pavilion, rapidly left the Meditation Lake, and headed toward the main gates of the Martial King's Palace.