Xiao Fei followed the golden-furred old rat into a small courtyard. The courtyard was rather messy, and a faint, fishy odor lingered in the air.
Many demon races grew up in such environments; they were accustomed to dirt and disarray. Concepts like civilization and hygiene were irrelevant to most of them.
"Please, come in, fellow Daoist."
The golden-furred old rat pushed open a large door. Xiao Fei saw that the room inside was piled high with Qing Sui Jade.
The golden-furred rat then opened several more doors, each revealing stacks of high-quality Qing Sui Jade.
The courtyard had only a few rooms. The golden-furred old rat opened them one by one, leaving only the last one unopened.
As Xiao Fei was about to offer help to open the last door, the golden-furred rat stopped him.
"Wait a moment, fellow Daoist. A patient resides in this room, and it would be inconvenient to disturb them."
"My apologies! I was presumptuous!"
Xiao Fei apologized. In truth, as he entered the courtyard, he had scanned the area with his divine sense and sensed that this particular room was different, which was why he had deliberately tried to open the door.
"All the Qing Sui Jade is here. Please, fellow Daoist, inspect it."
Xiao Fei examined each room. The quality of the jade was fine, and the quantity matched the agreement.
"Alright, there are no issues. These Qing Sui Jade, at the original price, should be 2,400 pills. If settled with high-grade pills, it would be 24 pills."
He had originally intended to purchase 2,500 pieces of Qing Sui Jade, but he had already traded for 100 pieces previously.
"That is indeed correct, but I require high-grade healing pills for the exchange."
The golden-furred old rat reminded him. This was something they had agreed upon when they first negotiated the deal. Otherwise, why would he have been so eager?
"Of course, no problem. However, as you know, healing pills are more valuable, so there will naturally be some price adjustment."
"I understand that perfectly. May I offer some additional wealth to compensate for your loss?"
The golden-furred rat asked sincerely. Healing pills were very important to him; the more he could exchange for, the better.
Xiao Fei was not lacking in a few pills; he merely wanted to extract a bit more profit. He immediately agreed and took out 24 third-tier high-grade healing pills.
Upon seeing these 24 high-grade pills, the golden-furred old rat's eyes gleamed with excitement. He eagerly extended his hands to receive them.
"Thank you, fellow Daoist!"
After receiving the jade, the golden-furred rat also presented Xiao Fei with several rare mineral ores.
"The jade is all here. Please, fellow Daoist, help yourself."
Xiao Fei walked into an open room and placed his hand on the Qing Sui Jade. The entire room's worth of Qing Sui Jade vanished.
He then proceeded to the other rooms to collect the Qing Sui Jade.
As he was collecting the Qing Sui Jade, he heard a strange noise from the room at the very back.
Xiao Fei's heart skipped a beat. Could this be the legendary signal to shatter a cup, followed by an ambush to chop him into mincemeat?
Before he could ponder further, the golden-furred rat had already hurried towards the room with the closed door.
"Father! What's wrong?"
The golden-furred rat pushed open the door and saw that the owner of the small, bean-like eyes had turned a sickly green and was convulsing on the ground.
The golden-furred rat helped the owner of the small, bean-like eyes up from the ground and took out the healing pills he had just received, stuffing one into the latter's mouth.
After swallowing a pill, it took a while for the owner of the small, bean-like eyes to stop convulsing, and the green hue on his body gradually faded.
Xiao Fei did not wish to meddle in other people's affairs. He put away the Qing Sui Jade and prepared to leave.
Every family had its joys and sorrows; he had no need to know.
As he was about to leave, he intended to bid farewell to the golden-furred rat.
However, as he reached the doorway, he inadvertently glanced at the figure the golden-furred rat was supporting.
Although the person's appearance had changed drastically, with those pair of bright, bean-like eyes, he would recognize them even if their skin were peeled off.
He immediately hurried back to the golden-furred rat's side and crouched down.
"May I ask what has happened to this senior?"
"Alas! This matter is a long story. In short, he suffered a severe injury. It used to recur once a month, but now it happens daily. If not for your 25 high-grade healing pills, he would have lasted at most another year."
Seeing that Xiao Fei seemed to have no ill intentions, the golden-furred rat answered truthfully.
While they were talking, the owner of the small, bean-like eyes had slowly woken up. His small eyes rolled around a few times, but he couldn't recognize Xiao Fei's true identity. He could only close his eyes and continue to feign death.
"Severely injured?"
Xiao Fei pondered for a moment, stroking his chin, then took out a pill and offered it to the golden-furred rat.
This was the Sheng Luo Pill, refined by him from a fourth-tier spiritual herb, the Sheng Luo Fruit. Legend had it that it could revive the dead and mend broken bones.
As for its specific efficacy, Xiao Fei had not used it himself yet. He could only witness it through the owner of the small, bean-like eyes for now.
"What is this?"
The golden-furred rat asked with some confusion. He had never seen such a pill, but he could tell from its emitted aura that it was no ordinary item.
"This is refined with Sheng Luo Fruit as the main ingredient. It is a fourth-tier healing pill."
"Thank you, fellow Daoist! What price do I need to pay?"
The golden-furred rat had heard of the great fame of Sheng Luo Fruit. It was extremely valuable, and if refined into a pill, its value would increase several times, even more than ten times.
There was no such thing as unearned kindness in this world. Since the other party had produced such a rare treasure, he must have a purpose.
"No price is necessary! Consider it a gift from me."
As Xiao Fei spoke, his white fur began to retract, and the muscles in his face contorted rapidly.
"Senior, stop pretending to be asleep. Take a look at who I am."
The owner of the small, bean-like eyes, who was pretending to be asleep, felt that this voice sounded somewhat familiar. Since he had been seen through, he no longer pretended.
When he slowly opened his eyes and saw the person before him, he was so surprised that he almost jumped up.
"How could it be you?"
He had never dreamed that a young man he had met years ago could also grow to this extent in such a short time.
At the same time, the golden-furred rat was also astonished. A random client he had found outside turned out to be an old acquaintance of his father.
Furthermore, this acquaintance was extremely generous, gifting a sacred healing medicine upon meeting.
"Senior! Didn't expect this, did you!"
Xiao Fei said, then took out the Sheng Luo Pill and stuffed it into the owner of the small, bean-like eyes' mouth. The two wasted no pleasantries and went with the flow.
Neither of them had expected to have the chance to meet again in this lifetime.
For Xiao Fei, this unfathomable senior had helped him greatly in the past.
Especially when he had just entered the cultivation world and knew nothing, the owner of the small, bean-like eyes had been a mentor.
When he left, he had also given Xiao Fei a human-skin mask, which Xiao Fei had used to evade many dangers.
At this moment, the pill the owner of the small, bean-like eyes had just taken began to take effect. He felt a sharp pain in his abdomen.
Then, the owner of the small, bean-like eyes spat out a stream of green liquid, almost splashing onto Xiao Fei.