As Yue Rin was finishing her meal, two new people entered the tavern.
They were clad in full golden armor from head to toe, not a single patch of skin visible. A golden leaf insignia sat on the left side of their chests, and exquisitely decorated scabbards hung at their left hips, resting against the armor like they belonged there.
A staff member hurried over to greet them, but Yue Rin's table was deep inside the tavern and the noise of dishes and voices swallowed their words. Even with senses sharper than a mortal's, she only caught scraps, nothing clear enough to piece together. After a brief exchange, the two armored guards gave a small nod, and the staff member led them toward the back.
Yue Rin didn't know them personally, but she knew what they were.
City guards.
And judging by the golden insignia, they weren't the kind who stood at gates and shouted at merchants. They were higher-ranking ones. The kind that only moved when something was worth moving for.
They were likely cultivators too, though Yue Rin couldn't tell what realm they were at.
If she had to guess, they'd sensed the Qi pressure the manager used and came to investigate. Fights were forbidden in the city, especially when cultivators were involved. A single careless technique could crack walls, topple carts, or turn a brawl into a pile of corpses.
In any case, she was done eating.
Yue Rin stood, took out fifteen copper coins, and dropped them onto the table.
She'd treated herself today.
When she stepped out of the tavern, the street was still busy as ever. And she immediately spotted something ridiculous.
Someone was actually buying 'precious herb location information'.
The buyer was a young girl.
Although Yue Rin didn't see sect robes or symbols on her. That didn't prove anything. Disciples hid their identities sometimes, but they didn't do it casually. If it got exposed, it could look like you were ashamed of your sect, and that turned into a mess nobody wanted.
Most only hid themselves when there was a reason. A mission. Training. An order from elders.
So the simplest answer was also the most likely.
A rogue cultivator.
And watching her stand there, actually listening to a street vendor's rehearsed pitch, didn't sit right with Yue Rin. The girl looked like she was seriously considering it, as if the word 'guaranteed' meant anything in this world.
Yue Rin let out a quiet sigh and headed over before the girl paid a lesson fee.
* * * *
"Miss, I swear on my family's honor, the locations are real," the vendor insisted. "The herbs are still there, safe and sound."
The girl raised an eyebrow. "If you know this information, that means you found them the last time you entered the Verdant Pine Secret Realm. Why didn't you pluck them?"
"Miss, you truly overestimate me." The vendor spread his hands. "Those herbs were guarded by seventh-layer Qi Foundation beasts. With my measly fifth layer, how could I ever hope to take them?"
Then he lowered his eyes, voice turning heavier, like he wanted pity without begging for it.
"Due to… circumstances in the past, my meridians were damaged. I couldn't cultivate further. How could I obtain such precious herbs myself?"
The girl didn't look moved. If anything, her patience thinned.
"Then how can you be so sure no other, more powerful cultivator took them?"
"Because the locations are hidden extremely well." The vendor lifted his chin slightly. "If not for my family's tracking technique, passed down through generations, how could I ever find them?"
That answer made the girl pause. Not because she trusted him, but because she recognized the names he was throwing around. Meridian-Mending Kelp. Foundation-Settling Orchid. They weren't legendary treasures, but they weren't worthless either. The kind of herbs that were worth stopping for if you happened to find them.
After a brief moment, she asked, "Are you going to enter the secret realm once it opens?"
"Miss, you jest." The vendor's smile turned bitter. "My foundation is already weak. I wouldn't want to strain myself further."
Suspicion flickered across the girl's face, and the vendor moved quickly to smother it.
"But I can provide the address of my residence," he added smoothly. "If you have any issues, you can come meet me."
Just as the girl opened her mouth to press him again, a voice came from beside her.
It startled her so badly she almost stumbled back, a strange sound slipping out before she could stop it.
A cloaked figure stood there, hood low, face hidden in shadow.
The girl clicked her tongue under her breath. She could already hear a master's scolding, or senior sisters nagging her for letting her guard slip. She released a thin thread of Qi and brushed it against the cloaked figure for the briefest moment before withdrawing it.
Late Qi Foundation.
Her gaze steadied.
"Ever heard the saying," Yue Rin began softly, "there's no such thing as a good meal for cheap in this world?"
It wasn't the exact saying, but it was close enough. And it sounded mysterious when she delivered it like that.
The girl tilted her head. "Oh? What do you mean by that, Senior?"
Yue Rin held her silence for a breath. A senior didn't answer too quickly.
Also, her shoulders were shaking, and she had to swallow down the urge to laugh at the girl's reaction.
"Senior?" the girl asked again, eyebrow rising as she studied the figure's odd silence.
"Ahem." Yue Rin cleared her throat hard and forced herself still. "What I mean is… do you really think someone will sell such precious information for…"
She trailed off, realizing she didn't even know the price.
"…How much do you sell them for?" she asked, turning toward the vendor.
The vendor, Qian Laosan, stared for half a heartbeat. His expression twitched, then smoothed out like oil on water.
"Esteemed Senior, since you seem to have entered the secret realm before, you should know I'm not exaggerating about the spirit beasts inside. As I told this miss, my foundation is damaged, and I'm weaker than what guards those herbs. So I can only sell the locations instead."
"Seventy spirit stones each."
The girl nodded slightly. Considering the herbs he was advertising, seventy spirit stones wasn't outrageous on its own.
A polite smile appeared on Yue Rin's lips. One that didn't reach her eyes.
"That is indeed reasonable, if not for the fact those herbs are guarded by spirit beasts brushing the edge of Qi Condensation."
For a moment, annoyance flashed across Qian Laosan's face before he forced it back down. Then a faint smirk tugged at his mouth.
So that was the play.
A wandering 'senior' swoops in, saves the poor girl, and walks off looking righteous.
"Esteemed Senior," Qian Laosan said, chuckling lightly, polite on the surface, "how could that be? Everyone knows the spirit beasts in the Verdant Pine Secret Realm do not exceed the Qi Foundation realm. The sect limits entry to that realm. If such beasts truly reached Qi Condensation, how could anyone retrieve anything at all?"
He tilted his head, voice sharpening just a touch.
"It seems this esteemed Senior was frightened and misjudged their strength."
Yue Rin stiffened. She hadn't expected him to be this shameless.
Before she could snap back, he slid into his next move, leaving her no space to breathe.
"If Esteemed Senior insists it's true, then others who entered must have encountered them as well. Why don't we ask someone else and settle it?"
Qian Laosan pointed across the street.
"That talisman seller, Chen Liang, is a respected senior. He's dealt with countless cultivators heading in and out of the secret realm. He'll know what truly lurks inside. Let's ask him."
Yue Rin stared for a moment, jaw tight beneath her hood.
"…Fine."
Qian Laosan turned back to the girl. And Yue Rin noticed how his politeness warmed instantly when facing her, like he was guiding a customer through the final steps.
"Miss, would you like to come with us so you can confirm it with your own ears?"
"Lead the way." The girl's mouth curved, faintly amused by the spectacle.
* * * *
Chen Liang was lounging in his chair, smoking lazily.
As Qian Laosan approached, he gave Chen Liang a quick wink.
Only then did Chen Liang seem to notice who had been brought along: a cloaked figure and a well-dressed girl. He flicked the smoke aside and straightened immediately.
"Good day, my companions and I would like to inquire about a few things regarding the upcoming opening of the Verdant Pine Secret Realm."
Chen Liang nodded. "Ask. I've heard plenty from those who come and go, though I do not claim to know everything."
"Our inquiry is simple." Qian Laosan gestured toward Yue Rin. "This senior claims there are spirit beasts in the realm whose cultivation reaches Qi Condensation. Is that true?"
Chen Liang's eyes widened.
The widening came a fraction too late, as if he'd remembered mid-breath what face he was supposed to wear.
"What? how could that be? The sect limits entry to those at Qi Foundation and below. Why would they leave Qi Condensation beasts inside?"
Qian Laosan turned back with smugness barely hidden. "That satisfies our curiosity. Thank you, kind sir."
Under the hood, Yue Rin's jaw tightened.
"You two are in on this together," she said coldly. "We're asking someone else, and this time I choose."
Qian Laosan opened his mouth-
But the girl, who had watched everything unfold without interrupting once, spoke first. Polite and steady, yet edged in a way that made it clear she'd already decided.
"Senior, while I appreciate your intentions, I think this is enough."
Then she turned to Qian Laosan.
"I'll buy the locations for all three low-tier refined spirit herbs."
Qian Laosan's smile returned at once, bright and flattering, and he led her away as if he'd been waiting for those words.
As he turned, he threw Yue Rin a quick smirk over his shoulder, then continued walking as though nothing had happened.
Chen Liang sat back down and resumed smoking, just as unbothered.
As Yue Rin watched them go.
Anger rose first. Then humiliation came right behind it, hot and sharp in her chest. She puffed her cheeks under the hood and strode away, fingers tightening beneath her cloak.