Chapter 12 - Not Today
1763 Words
Zheng Jin was walking around the city when suddenly, a loud rumbling noise sounded out from his stomach.
"I'm about to starve to death..."
He had already spent a few spirit crystals as he bought some items for his journey back in the forest, right after he left Ying Yue's weapon pavilion. And until now, he had not eaten a single bite for who knows how many days, not to mention, fighting a battle-crazed woman really did not help either.
"I just hope this city isn't full of strange people like her."
Dealing with Ying Yue really exhausted him. He remembered his encounter with her earlier. The woman was incredibly strong. He knew that she stayed true to her word and did not even use a hint of her spirit energy. Moreover, he could tell that what she displayed earlier was just a fraction of her raw strength and skill. He still had a long way to go to be able to match her, he thought.
Though after all that has been said, he held a certain amount of respect towards her, in regards to her swordsmanship. Even if he called her "auntie", his real age was actually a bit higher than hers, that's why he was amazed that a girl her age would have such a high degree of mastery in the ways of the sword. But in the ways of being a gentle lady...not so much. In Zheng Jin's eyes, Ying Yue was kind of a musclehead, despite her surprisingly slender frame.
...
After a bit more walking, Zheng Jin finally saw a restaurant. He found a seat and ordered a few items on the menu, which had quite a variety. It seems that in addition to wild demon beast meat, they also had ones that were from livestock; whereas only rich cultivators could enjoy the former, as the latter had been included as a cheaper alternative for poor cultivators and even non-cultivators.
With Zheng Jin not being able to hold back his hunger, he immediately ordered a demon beast dish. His extravagant choice of food led him to spend 150 spirit crystals, which was apparently enough to buy hundreds of cattle meat, not only that, the meat that he ordered was only from a Level 5 Mortal demon beast! In the end, Zheng Jin could only blame his curiosity as to how food in this world tastes like. Besides, he'll be able to make more spirit crystals when he returned from the forest anyway.
When his food had finally arrived, Zheng Jin was a little disappointed. It looked no different from a normal piece of meat, as even the coloration was the same. Moreover, it looked like the cheapskate cook didn't even make the dish look appetizing and just slapped a piece of meat on the plate...
"Unbelievable..."
But as soon as the meat touched Zheng Jin's tongue, a symphony of different flavors exploded inside his mouth. He was really taken aback by the taste as he took another bite at the dull-looking piece of meat. It seems that his spirit crystals were well spent after all.
...
After finishing his meal, Zheng Jin could not help but praise the food he just ate. He did not experience the same sensation as he ate some meat of the Five-tailed Crimson Rats from before, and this dish really opened his eyes to the potential of demon beast meat. It turns out that he had a lot of "experimenting" to do when he gets to kill different demon beasts in the forest.
Before Zheng Jin left, he decided to tell the girl that served him to give his compliments to the chef. To whereas the girl reacted by just looking at him as if he was some kind of a weird i***t.
"Sigh, no need to look at me like that. Who knows that even a little courtesy isn't popular in this world..."
Zheng Jin then reminded himself that he was now in a different world. As irritating as it may be, it seems that he will need to study the mannerisms and how speech works in this place.
...
"Great, another sect disciple. It seems that this day is a lucky one for me..."
Near the restaurant, a girl could be seen eyeing Zheng Jin and the pouch where he had put his spirit crystals earlier. This girl had been striking it rich lately, and her prey mostly consists of the "young masters" from the Golden Dragon Sect. Actually, she had just gotten a lot of spirit crystals earlier today from one of those "young masters". Not only that, but seems that the heavens favored her and gave her another one.
After seeing that Zheng Jin finally left his seat, she immediately made her move...
...
"Ah! Big brother...that hurt!"
Zhang Jin was just on his way back to the forest when suddenly, a girl suddenly bumped into him and "fell" exaggeratedly. He was sure that this girl was plotting something, but he decided to play along for now. The girl was about his age, with a short, verdant green hair and fair skin which did not really match the dirtied commoner clothes she's wearing; something that told him that there was something amiss.
"Oh, sorry about that."
...
After a long period of silence, the girl could not hold back and said something, keeping an adorable expression on her face while trying to hide her irritation.
"I-is big brother not going to pick me up?"
"You aren't hurt that bad, are you? And also, why are you calling me big brother? Are you perhaps..."
After the words that the girl just spoke, Zheng Jin couldn't help but pause. Could it be that this girl is his little sister? It's strange. He couldn't even find a single similarity in their features...
"Ahh, and you dare call yourself a man...I-"
Before the girl could say more, she suddenly stopped and remembered what she's doing all this for. In a split-second, she changed her expression back to what it was before, looking charmingly at Zheng Jin once again.
"I hurt my foot big brother. I can't stand up...you must help me!"
Zheng Jin couldn't help but be confused by the girl's display. Calling him her brother for nothing...Isn't this going too far? Maybe this town might have a bunch of weird people after all. At this point, Zheng Jin was getting tired of this situation. He needed to be someplace else right now. He then decided to get this over with and picked the girl up from the ground.
"Here, now please stop embarrassing yourself."
"What do you mean-...Ah, thank you, big brother!"
Just as the girl was about to snap back, Zheng Jin suddenly pulled her up with a hand. Her chance now presented itself as she quickly snatched the spirit crystal pouch without Zheng Jin noticing. As a distraction, she fell into Zheng Jin's arms and looked up with a cute look on her face.
"Aiya, I'm so clumsy haha! Thank you, big brother!"
The girl uttered to Zheng Jin, her last words carrying a double meaning to it. With that, the two separated as the girl gloated inside her head. What an easy catch!
However, just as she was about to go on her way, she suddenly heard the boy say something...
"No. Thank you."
At those words, she felt relief. She almost thought for a second that she had been caught. But as it turns out, the boy was still as clueless as could be, and a little bit strange too apparently. As she thought, her charming act might have gotten through to him after all.
...
...
...
"Ah, what the hell is this! Only 21 spirit crystals...what a cheapskate!"
After a while, the girl counted her spoils, only to be disappointed by the results. The boy just bought a demon beast meat for a meal and wore a sect robe, for heaven's sake! Who knew that he was actually this poor!
After being quite irritated by this ordeal, the girl suddenly calmed herself down and remembered that this wasn't the only catch she made this day, after all, she managed to obtain a large amount from another person. She was at least satisfied with that.
...
"Wha- where is it?!"
Her mind was suddenly thrown into panic. That spirit crystal pouch had this day's worth of spoils after all. How could she let it go missing! She remembered that the pouch was still on her just earlier before she stole from the strange boy, so it is impossible that she lost it before that...
"Could it be...him!?"
No. Thank you...
The boy's strange words echoed inside her head, giving her an image of the boy as she looked at her with a s**t-eating grin on his face. No wonder...he had actually managed to turn the tables and steal from her instead!
"Y-youuu...bastard! I won't forgive you!!!"
Needless to say, the girl was furious. A day's worth of spirit crystals...gone! She swore that if she saw the boy again, she will definitely rob him blind for all he's worth!
...
...
...
"Oh wow. Not bad!"
Zhang Jin was now on his way back to the Forest of Nine Deaths, just outside of the gates of Goldenridge City. He had never thought that he would make a lot of spirit crystals on his way out, nor that the weird girl was actually a thief.
In the pouch was a total of 3,500 spirit crystals! It was actually a lot more than what he'd earned from selling demon beast cores, much to his surprise.
"This day just keeps on getting weirder and weirder. First, I wake up without the slightest hint of injury from before, then a musclehead lady merchant tried to cut me in half for a discount, and finally, a cultivator that disguised herself as a commoner tried to steal from me! Well, at least I know now that I won't be bored in this world after all..."
As soon as Zheng Jin touched the girl's hands, though not as strong, he immediately felt the same kind of energy that Ying Yue had. As to why the girl was stealing in public despite being a cultivator, he did not know. Maybe some kind of a sick hobby of hers or something?
After Zheng Jin chuckled at the thoughts that he just had, he suddenly stopped walking as he had finally arrived at the entrance of the forest.
It was about time to hunt down some demon beasts.
- Writer
