Danwu Refining Spirit

Chapter Eleven: Discussion on Selling Oneself

Qingmeng's punch landed perfectly on the spot where Xiao Chong had been hit by the blue brick last night. Although the swelling had subsided, the pain still nearly made Xiao Chong faint.

"Should we sell her? No, she's too thin, I'm afraid we won't get a good price... Marry her off to the fat man? No, the fat man is a good person, he wouldn't do this to his own brother."

Xiao Chong secretly harbored wicked thoughts.

"Why did the little girl walk unsteadily when she came out? Was she hungry? And what about that red-shelled egg? Why didn't she eat it? Was it saved for me?"

"Why is it so painful to be a good person?" Xiao Chong touched the back of his head, which was swollen again, and decided to forgive the little girl this time.

Qing Meng was completely unaware that he had just escaped death. He kept circling the pig's head on the ground, as if he couldn't see anything else except that pig's head.

"Take these medicines inside, and boil some water to dissolve them. Your young master is injured!"

"Oh," Qingmeng replied, displaying her diligent and excellent qualities as she nimbly ran into the house.

"Should we reconsider? Forget it, let's fatten it up first."

Watching Qingmeng's thin figure, Xiao Chong, lost in thought, carried the items on the ground one by one into the house.

Dinner was sumptuous, with wine and meat. An old hen and gastrodia elata were stewing in a pot, sizzling and filling the whole house with their aroma.

What's most remarkable is that the glossy white rice is topped with two vibrant green vegetables; I wonder where Qingmeng found them on such a cold day.

Aside from being a bit clumsy, Qingmeng is actually a pretty good girl; she can be trained gradually. How can you expect a girl who grew up in hardship to behave like a well-bred lady? That's unrealistic.

Xiao Chong sat at the table, looking completely absorbed.

"Young Master, you should drink your medicine first." Qingmeng walked out of the kitchen with a bowl of medicine in her hand, ruthlessly pulling Xiao Chong back to reality from his reverie.

"This medicine is really bitter! I wonder how effective it will be? Will it be worth all that money?" Xiao Chong thought as he drank.

"Young master, where did you get so much money? Did you sell yourself?"

"Ahem! Ahem!"

Xiao Chong had only taken two sips of the medicine when Qing Meng suddenly uttered a sentence that caused him to choke and cough violently.

Sell ​​yourself? If anyone should be selling themselves, it should be you! I don't know how you've managed all these years! Xiao Chong felt a sense of powerlessness, as if he was being tightly enveloped by a deep sense of defeat.

"Um... Qingmeng, where did you hear this saying from?"

After catching his breath, Xiao Chong reached out and flicked the medicine splattered on his clothes, asking in a low voice.

“That’s what Granny Wang next door said.” Qingmeng, completely oblivious to the murderous intent in her young master’s words, continued excitedly, “She even praised you for being handsome, saying you’d definitely fetch a good price.”

"Grandma Wang next door? What were the first things the little girl said when she came in? Oh, 'Young master, drink your medicine.' If you replaced 'young master' with 'elder brother,' then..."

Xiao Chong looked at the medicine bowl on the table with suspicion, and once again seriously considered whether or not he should sell the little girl.

"What's wrong with the young master? His expression is so strange!"

Qingmeng tilted his head and thought for a while, but still couldn't figure it out. So he simply stopped thinking about it and turned around to rummage through the inner room. When he came back, he was holding a bag that jingled when it was shaken.

"Young Master is truly capable, managing to bring back so much money in one go!"

Qingmeng loved the sound coming from the money bag, shaking it back and forth with extreme joy on his face.

You don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you're in charge of the household. As long as the young master can get the money back, who cares if it's from selling himself or being robbed? Having figured this out, Qingmeng shook his money bag even louder.

"Dinner's ready!" Xiao Chong, his face full of black lines, was once again defeated by Qing Meng's carefree attitude, and shouted out two words through gritted teeth.

That's right! That's the attitude you should have when faced with a table full of delicious food!

Qingmeng glanced at his young master with disdain, then buried his head in his rice bowl without any regard for his image.

After a hearty meal, Xiao Chong, holding a bowl of chicken soup, felt slightly tipsy. Because of his injuries, he dared not drink too much, but he did manage to finish more than half of the wine from the jar in Qing Meng's stomach.

"Such a huge jar of wine, half a pig's head, and two bowls of rice—where did all that food go? Aren't you afraid of bursting from being stuffed?"

Thinking of Qingmeng's thin frame, Xiao Chong shook his head helplessly, drank the chicken soup in the bowl in one gulp, closed his eyes and began to try to communicate with the furnace inside his body.

The furnace remained silently floating in his mind, unresponsive to Xiao Chong's repeated calls.

Of course, if there was any change, it was that the illusory image of the furnace cauldron had faded slightly compared to last night. This change was almost imperceptible; Xiao Chong wouldn't have noticed it at all if he hadn't been observant.

This is definitely not a good sign! I finally found a cheat system, and my life in this other world has just begun to show a glimmer of hope. Before I even had a chance to wreak havoc, if this cheat system disappears, won't my life fall back into darkness?

Those inhuman and miserable days are not something a time traveler can endure, okay? Xiao Chong is already going crazy!

Okay, what do I have to do to get you to have a chat with me about life? If you can't speak, at least say something, right? Aren't you lonely hanging there all alone?

If it's truly a matter of gaining and then losing, then I'd rather have forgotten everything and continued being that miserable young master I always was. Even if I died in a daze, at least I'd be done with it all. It's all better than someone constantly indulging in fantasies in their mental world...

Wait, the spiritual world? Does it require spiritual power to communicate with it? I've already tried all sorts of spells I heard about in my past life, and this is the only path left. You mustn't disappoint me.

As if grasping at a straw in a raging flood, or finding a lighthouse to guide him in a dark sea, Xiao Chong's heart pounded wildly, his initial frustration turning into agitation.

But where does spiritual power come from? It seems only a mind cultivator possesses such mysterious abilities, right? But the problem is, I don't understand this cultivation method at all.

Xiao Chong felt extremely overwhelmed and tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep all night.

As dawn broke, amidst Qingmeng's bewildered gaze, Xiao Chong, having eaten and drunk his fill, strode out of the house with his head held high, though his heart was filled with unease.

"What's wrong with the young master again? His eyes are bloodshot and red. Didn't you sleep well? Did you really get that money from selling yourself yesterday? Is it because you feel ashamed and your conscience is bothering you? Then why did you eat so much? Did you go back to selling yourself? Sigh, the young master is such a good person, he knows how to be ambitious."

Hearing Qingmeng's murmurs persistently carried by the gentle breeze from behind, Xiao Chong, who had already left the courtyard, stumbled and almost fell into the ditch by the street.

"It's best to get rid of her as soon as possible, otherwise the little girl will drive me crazy sooner or later."

After regaining his balance, Xiao Chong covered his ears tightly with his fingers and fled in panic.