I am just a mortal, why do you all worship me as a saint?

Chapter 36: Continuing to run the clinic in Yunling City

The sun is rising.

Gu Heng stood on the main road, looking at the markings on the map.

He spent the night on the burial mountain, and ten miles away from the burial mountain is Yunling City.

Now, the city was on the distant horizon in front of him. He traveled for about ten breaths using his Swift Boots and arrived at the city gate.

After paying some money to the city guards, I entered the city.

The scene inside the city was completely different from that in the mountains and fields outside.

This city is very prosperous and bustling, with all kinds of shops lined up one after another. There are also many people in the city, including many ordinary people dressed in gorgeous clothes, as well as rogue cultivators carrying weapons, magic treasures and spiritual artifacts. There are also some young masters and ladies from wealthy families who are accompanied by servants and maids and are strolling around the streets.

"The security here is much better than outside..."

Gu Heng looked at the bustling, endless stream of people and sighed softly.

This Cloud Spirit City is much larger than Green Wood City, and the streets are wider. The mortals in the city seem to live quite comfortably.

He suddenly realized he had miscalculated.

Qingmu City is incomparable to Yunling City, but if Yunling City is to be compared with Baidi City, then there is probably even less to compare. Although he sold his clinic in Qingmu City for a good price, is that money really enough for him to buy a shop of the same size in Baidi City?

That's probably not enough.

He's too short-sighted; staying in such a small place for too long won't broaden his horizons.

Although he could ask Bai Feier for a room, he really disliked owing favors, especially to cultivators—favors were too precious to be repaid carelessly. "Sigh, it seems I'll have to settle for second best..."

Gu Heng murmured softly, stroking Xiao Xi's head, intending to find an inn to stay in first.

He planned to spend some time figuring out the prices in Yunling City. If he had just enough money to buy a decent shop, he would settle down here.

While you're at it, find out about the powerful families and factions in Yunling City, as well as those around it. When you arrive in a new place, you need to recognize which forces you shouldn't mess with, or you'll lose your life.

After searching for a while, Gu Heng chose a "Cloud Top Inn," went inside, and asked the innkeeper for a room with a nice view to stay in for the time being.

This cost a lot of money.

"The prices here are really high..."

Gu Heng had just chatted with the shopkeeper for a while and found out that there are three powerful families in Yunling City: the Yun family, the Yan family, and the Lu family, but none of these three families are the strongest.

The strongest forces are not actually in the city, but outside.

The Nianling Sect is a sect affiliated with the Sun Flame Dynasty, with thousands of disciples. The sect leader, Zhu Ling, is a powerful expert at the eighth level of the Integration Stage. The area around Yunling City is not a good place, with many demonic beasts and it is very dangerous. However, the Nianling Sect often clears out demonic beasts, so everyone lives a comfortable life.

Even ordinary people live well.

Gu Heng thought to himself that this place was actually not bad. Just like Qingmu City back then, it didn't matter how many forces were in the city. As long as there was a number one force that could completely suppress other forces, that would be enough.

"But this place is still quite nice... Now we need to go and see if there are any spare shops for sale in the city."

He acted on his idea immediately and set off right away.

……

After wandering around for several hours, Gu Heng finally found a shop in the south of Yunling City that wasn't too remote. The shop wasn't small; it was even larger than the one he had in Qingmu City, and it had a second floor. There was also a small courtyard behind the shop, but it was overgrown with weeds and looked too desolate. However, with careful tending, it could easily be turned into a small garden.

The system shop also sells "seeds," proper plants, but Gu Heng wasn't really interested in growing green plants back then. Now... he can consider it.

"Hmm, this shop is pretty good, I'll take this one."

He shouted inside.

A man quickly emerged from inside. He had refined and elegant features and said with a smile, "Since you want this place, then I'll sell it to you."

"Okay, take a look at this land deed, is it suitable?"

Gu Heng took the land deed from the man's hand and examined it carefully. After confirming that there were no problems, he took out most of his money to pay for the shop.

The cost wasn't as high as he had imagined. When Gu Heng arrived, he had also paid close attention to this place. Most mortals lived in the south of the city, while the north, west, and east of the city were the respective spheres of influence of the three major families of Yunling City. Only the south of the city... was a mixed bag.

In other words, it's a bit messy here.

Because south of Yunling City lies a vast mountain forest known as the "Yunling Forest," inhabited by numerous wild beasts, and there are even terrifying rumors of mortals being devoured by demonic beasts. Furthermore, there are many small hills surrounding the Yunling Forest, where many forces have established themselves and formed numerous small and diverse factions.

However, none of this has anything to do with Gu Heng.

He's just here to open a clinic.

After buying the shop, I rearranged the front hall for consultations and pulse taking, the medicine cabinet, and made beds on the second floor. Finally, I weeded the small courtyard behind the clinic, got some seeds from the system store, and planted them. Overall, it looked quite clean and tidy.

By the time Gu Heng finished his work, it was already dark.

Xiao Xi was lying in the front hall, wagging her tail boredly. Gu Heng gave her a candy pill to eat, then sat down beside her and took the ancient lamp out of his system inventory.

"Old Xuan, how is it?"

Gu Heng stared at the faintly glowing white ball of light inside the ancient lamp.

"It's quite nice here, the environment is good. I'm very grateful to Mr. Gu for giving me such a good place to recuperate."

Jian Xuan's voice sounded much gentler now. Although Gu Heng didn't know why he was so happy inside the lamp, and although he had planned to let him out to fly around, seeing how happy he was, Gu Heng decided to let him stay inside.

"Hmm, it's time to write the signboard."

Gu Heng stood up, took out Xuan paper and a brush from his system backpack, dipped the brush in ink and prepared to start writing, but then suddenly stopped.

Because there was a commotion outside.

"You brat, you really deserve a beating!"

"They actually dared to go back and steal our stuff! Don't they know how powerful the Black Forest Gang is?!"

"Kneel down and kowtow right now! Or I'll beat you to death!"

Gu Heng frowned, picked up the ancient lamp and walked to the door. He saw that there were seven or eight strong men surrounding the alley across the street. The leader had a scar on his face and his fierce eyes were staring at the thin figure in the center.

Among the burly men, a boy dressed in drab gray clothes and with sallow skin huddled up, clutching a tattered quilt, his face full of panic. He was trembling all over, his eyes were red and swollen, and his lips were quivering.

Gu Heng stared blankly at the thin figure.

Because he could see that the boy didn't seem to be afraid, but rather harbored hatred and a very deep sense of rebellion!

Although the boy had already taken a lot of punches and kicks, and his body was covered in bruises, he didn't utter a sound or show any sign of weakness.

"Ha, this kid's really something else." "Our Black Forest Gang is one of the major gangs in Cloud Spirit City, how dare he offend someone from our Black Forest Gang? He's practically asking for death!"

Several men were talking and chanting.

Gu Heng stood behind the window, listened silently for a moment, and couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth—

The Black Forest Gang is not large.

At least from the information he had gathered, the forces that had set up camps and held their positions on the mountains south of the city were actually quite weak—weak for cultivators, but still not easy to deal with for ordinary people.

But Gu Heng glanced at them and felt that none of these guys were cultivators; at most, they were just mortals who had practiced some martial arts.

Should we go and help him?

Gu Heng was conflicted. Arriving in a new place and provoking the local bullies was not a good thing, but he felt even more guilty watching the boy be beaten to the point of near death.

"What, still won't kneel down?" The scarred, burly leader sneered when he saw the boy gritting his teeth and refusing to give in. He waved his hand and shouted, "Brothers, charge! We'll beat him to death today!"

"Yes!"

The others agreed and rushed forward.

The men were burly, while the boy looked extremely thin and even malnourished. Yet, the boy remained calm, rolled up the blanket beside him to cover his chest, and clasped his hands in a defensive stance, seemingly prepared to withstand their blows.

His eyes were resolute, showing no sign of cowardice.

Such spirit compelled Gu Heng to admire it.

Let me help you out.

After all, no matter what the child did, it would be too cruel to beat him to death like this, and he would feel guilty for the rest of his life.

Gu Heng stepped out of the room and walked straight in that direction. "Everyone, could you please stop for a moment?"

His gentle voice made everyone stop what they were doing and turn to look at him. It was dark, and a young man carrying an ancient lantern and dressed in simple robes suddenly appeared on the road, which really surprised them.

But soon, the scarred man cursed, "Damn it, where did this brat come from! Get lost!"

"Oh, I'm sorry to bother you." Gu Heng smiled apologetically, "I just wanted to tell you all something."

"what's up?"

“I just moved into this shop. If you kill someone here, I’m afraid I won’t be able to do business in peace.”

"Can you please let him go?"

"……what?"

The burly men exchanged bewildered glances, but the scarred man was quick to react, looking at him menacingly: "You brat, you want to stand up for him?" "I advise you not to stop us, otherwise, after we deal with this little bastard, it'll be your turn!"

He walked up and stared intently at Gu Heng.

"Get out of here! We're from the Black Forest Gang. If you get in our way, I'll kill you too!"

"Is that so?" Gu Heng still smiled. "Then I can't leave even more. You're threatening me now."

The scarred man thought that after scarening him a bit, the man would know to leave, but to his surprise, Gu Heng remained standing there, looking completely unafraid.

You won't listen? Then just take action!

The scarred, burly man sneered and threw a punch!

The fist came fast and fiercely, bringing with it a gust of wind. It was clearly made with all its might, intending to break Gu Heng's face!