Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 620 Appearance
Having observed this courtyard countless times with his right eye's special ability, something unusual suddenly appeared—something faintly glowing red, resembling a red thread.

The red line runs directly from outside the courtyard into the main hall of the house, and according to what the left eye sees, it appears to be located on the beam of the main hall.

On the roof beam in the right eye's line of sight, at the end of the red line, a red flower seemed to bloom, a fist-sized mist slowly surging.

Shi Chun was certain that this thing had never existed before, and his gaze fell on the origin of the red line, wondering where it came from.

His first thought was that it was related to the assassin. Of course, the fact that he appeared at the exact moment Lao Xi arrived made him wonder if it was related to Lao Xi.

The suspicions tend to lean towards the former, and coincidentally, the suspicions fall on Lao Xi.

He remained silent, continuing to deal with the guests as they left, not knowing what exactly was going on.

After seeing the guest off to the gate, Lao Xi took his leave. Then, the misty flower inside the hall emerged, and the red mist followed Lao Xi like a swimming fish, still trailing behind him with the red thread.

Watching them leave, Wu Jinliang sighed, "Although this guy keeps promising he won't do anything reckless, I really doubt whether he can resist the temptation to make money."

Chu Jingtang also sighed, "He has already made his promise repeatedly, what can we do? If it doesn't work, let's just cancel the deal."

Shi Chun said to him, "They are being very hospitable, and it's also their source of income. We need it ourselves, so there's no need to cut it off directly. Just keep a good grasp on the source. Don't take as much as you can get. Just control the amount you buy. If you can't sell that much, they naturally won't have any reason to risk getting so much stock."

As they spoke, their gaze returned to the origin of the red line. The red line could ignore buildings and terrain, and the fish-like end of the line followed Lao Xi. The red line was also straightened and cut horizontally into the adjacent house.

Chu Jingtang thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "That's right, that makes sense."

Shi Chun then said to the two of them, "I'm going out for a walk."

"Going out for a walk alone?" Wu Jinliang paused for a moment and asked, "Where are you going? I'll go too."

He then started to walk down the steps.

Shi Chun turned around to sized up his height, then looked around, and lowered his voice to politely decline, saying, "That person might be showing up soon, so we need to leave someone at home to deal with it. If he comes, send me a message."

Upon hearing this, Wu Jinliang and Chu Jingtang exchanged bewildered glances, wondering how this person could be so certain. Turning back, they saw that Shi Chun had already strode away.

Shi Chun wandered through the alleyways, constantly checking the connectivity of the red line. The red line swayed left and right from time to time, making it difficult to pinpoint its exact location. It was a pity that he couldn't fly into the air to see it.

After wandering around the West End for a while, it finally stopped on a busy street, opposite a stone carving shop called "Stone Story".

He had determined that the red line originated from a figure on the second floor of the stone carving shop.

Inside the shop, a slender woman seemed to be flipping through a picture book, occasionally coughing lightly as she clenched her fist.

Shi Chun didn't approach to observe, nor did he linger on the other side, not wanting to attract the other party's attention. Instead, he walked forward to a pastry shop called "Ou Ji," looked at the signboard, went in, pointed and ordered a large number of various pastries, and said, "Manager, give me three ounces of each."

"Alright, please wait a moment." The somewhat elderly shopkeeper happily agreed. There were dozens of kinds of pastries, so he busied himself with weighing them one by one.

Looking out of the shop, Shi Chun glanced at the stone shop diagonally opposite and suddenly chuckled, "They actually sell stone carvings here! We're all cultivators, it's not easy to carve something. Will these stone carvings sell?"

The shopkeeper glanced at him, and without even looking outside, he knew which shop he was talking about. He chuckled and said, "I wouldn't dare say that. Boss Shi's carving skills are so lifelike. The stone carvings he makes look like they have a spirit. They are exquisite and grand. He is the best stonemason here. How could he open a stonemason's shop on this street without some skill?"

Shi Chun said, "That makes sense. I never expected such a thin and frail woman to be such a good stonemason. I really couldn't tell."

"A woman?" The shopkeeper paused, stopped working, and deliberately moved closer to the doorway, craning his neck to peek out. When he saw who Shi Chun had seen, he chuckled, then turned back to his work, saying, "The shopkeeper is Mr. Shi's wife. She handles all the business in the shop. Mr. Shi does handicrafts in the back. Hmm, usually at this time we can hear a lot of clanging and banging, but it's quiet today..."

The two chatted idly for a while before the various pastries were packed up. Shi Chun readily paid and left with the things, accompanied by polite farewells.

When he passed by the stone shop again, he carefully memorized the proprietress's appearance.

After turning into an alley, he put the pile of pastries he was carrying into his Qiankun Bracelet and quickened his pace back.

After returning to his lodgings, he didn't take out the pile of pastries, nor did he see the red line when he activated his right eye ability again. He only gave Wu Jinliang an inquiring look.

Wu Jinliang shook his head slightly, indicating that the assassin he mentioned might come had not appeared.

Shi Chun walked to the desk in the hall and sat down, frowning as he pondered. After seeing the source of the red thread, he was basically certain that it had nothing to do with Lao Xi. However, the red thread followed Lao Xi, and when he left 'The Story of the Stone', he did not see the red thread retract.

This reminded him of what Chu Jingtang had said about Yu Xuanbing possessing a technique called 'Dividing Spirit and Soaring to the Subtle,' whose clones could appear and disappear without a trace.

He couldn't help but suspect that the other party had overheard their conversation with Lao Xi and had gone to investigate Lao Xi's background.

In other words, the other party may have overheard them secretly selling the souls of death row inmates.

Thinking about this makes me a little annoyed. We've been waiting for so long, and that damned assassin still hasn't shown up. Why did he have to come at the exact moment that Lao Xi was coming over?

By now, he was basically certain that the owner of the red thread was the infamous assassin in the cultivation world.

If he wasn't mistaken, this assassin was truly terrifying; any spying he carried out could be done without anyone noticing. However, he liked to befriend capable people, and he had grown up in a world of fear.

Wu Jinliang kicked over a prayer mat, knelt down beside the table, and asked, "Spring, how can you be so sure that person will appear soon?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Jingtang also came over to listen in.

Shi Chun, however, pretended to be mysterious and said, "I feel that, judging by the time, it's about time."

Wu and Chu were speechless.

Wu Jinliang wanted to ask him what the basis of his judgment was.

Shi Chun glanced sideways and gave a gesture to stop, because the red mist, which looked like a swimming fish, had dragged the red line outside the courtyard again and was swimming back towards them, starting to wander around inside and outside the courtyard to check things out.

Shi Chun also got up and paced back and forth in the hall with his hands behind his back, seemingly deep in thought. Wu and Chu watched him expectantly, wondering what important issue he was considering, and waited.

Meanwhile, Shi Chun was taking advantage of his pacing back and forth to observe the movements of the red mist fish.

After the red mist fish returned to the hall and settled down on the roof beams, Shi Chun paced back and forth for quite a while.

Seeing that the other party showed no sign of appearing, Shi Chun suddenly stopped, looked up at the sky and sighed, "We've waited so many days and they still haven't come. It seems that Yu Xuanbing won't be coming. It seems we can't count on him for help with things outside either. We can only figure out a solution ourselves. We can't delay dealing with things outside any longer. We're not used to staying in the Underworld either. Forget it, Jinliang, let's pack our things and leave."

After hearing him give up, Wu Jinliang wanted to make a few more jokes, but suddenly he noticed that Shi Chun turned his head and gave him a strange look. Besides, what was there to pack? Everything he could carry was on his person, so what was there to pack?
With their tacit understanding, Wu Jinliang naturally realized what was going on and immediately replied, "Okay, I'll get ready right away."

After saying that, he went to the next room. He had nothing to tidy up, but he still needed to find something to tidy up.

Shi Chun turned to Chu Jingtang and said, "Aren't you going to tidy up?"

"Uh..." Chu Jingtang asked in surprise, "Am I leaving too?"

Shi Chun: "Why stay in this inhuman place? You never see the sun all day long. Do you like it? I'm not used to it. I'm leaving, all of us are leaving. Unless I'm forced to have nowhere else to go, I probably won't come back."

Chu Jingtang hesitated and said, "Should I try to find another suitable expert?"

He also hopes that everyone's future can be longer.

Shi Chun: "Let's talk about it later. Brother Jiu's arm injury shouldn't be delayed any longer, and things outside can't be delayed any longer either. We can't wait any longer."

"Okay," Chu Jingtang shrugged. "I don't have much to pack. I have everything I need on me."

When Wu Jinliang came out of the inner room and shouted "All done!", just as the three of them were about to leave, the red mist fish on the beam finally came down.

Just in front of the three, a gentle breeze suddenly arose, and a small gray shadow appeared out of thin air, gradually forming a vortex of mist.

The three of them stopped immediately, each on high alert.

The gray mist formed by the vortex gradually grew larger, eventually taking on a half-human shape before stopping its rotation. The half-human-shaped mist looked rather eerie.

Shi Chun stared intently at the other person.

Wu Jinliang and Chu Jingtang looked at each other in surprise and doubt, their minds racing with countless thoughts of astonishment and doubt. They were here, they were really here, they had really been summoned by those four words.

Thinking of Shi Chun's earlier assessment that he might arrive today, Chu Jingtang was completely shocked. He was so shocked that he almost wanted to prostrate himself before this leader. It was really strange. There were only four words, but he still couldn't understand the mystery of those four words. Was the difference between people really that big?
The suspicious Wu Jinliang quickly made connections and guesses, suspecting that it was related to Chuntian's right eye ability, and that there was obviously something wrong with his gesture to leave earlier.

Of course, he didn't understand the charm of those four words either. Did he really have to go to the library to read some books?

"Who's looking for me?"

Within the half-human gray fog, a similar human voice emerged from the movement of the billowing mist, buzzing and not very clear, but understandable.

Shi Chun immediately cupped his hands and said, "Greetings, senior. It is indeed I, Shi Chun."

He was already cursing in his heart. This assassin must have overheard his previous business deal with Lao Xi. What if he used that information to spy on others?
The half-human mist drifted closer, almost touching Shi Chun's face, as if scrutinizing him face-to-face. After standing up, it suddenly looked to the left and right, and buzzed, "Those who have the final say, stay."

Shi Chun readily agreed, saying, "You two go outside for some fresh air."

Wu Jinliang and the other man actually wanted to stay and listen, but the killer didn't want to chat in the group, so they had no choice but to obey and leave.

After the two had walked away, the half-human mist asked in a buzzing voice, "Who do you want to kill?"

Shi Chun calmly replied, "It's not about killing anyone. I mainly want to protect myself and take back some things that belong to me. If it's absolutely necessary to kill someone, then there's nothing I can do. Since you've come, senior, you must already know where I'm from. You must be interested in my presence. I won't go through the pretense of polite conversation. I'd like to ask you to help me out for a while. Of course, I won't let you help me for nothing..." He gestured towards the other party and said, "Name your terms, senior. As long as it's within my capabilities, we can discuss it."

(End of this chapter)