"..."
"My lady... it seems like he's calling you?"
Tang Yeye tugged lightly at Bai Fanxian's sleeve. The little one glanced over and could tell at once the shop owner was looking their way.
"Mm... just ignore him."
Bai Fanxian sighed and turned to leave again. She knew they were just looking for someone to test their pills for advertising.
Besides, she had gone through the trouble of disguising herself with a pair of large black sunglasses. Today, she only wanted to relax. Searching for a way to open the dimensional portal had already given her a headache.
She didn't want anything to spoil her mood.
But the young man clearly didn't get the hint. He thought Bai Fanxian was just playing hard to get.
He had met plenty of women like this.
"Don't say that..."
He walked out and stopped before Bai Fanxian. And the closer he got, the more he felt this woman was even more beautiful than she appeared from a distance.
"You'll get to try our most expensive pill for free, and I'll throw in some discount coupons too. How about it?"
"The other customers are waiting... come on, help me out here?"
He tried to coax her, saying the pill would be their most expensive one — if it were an ordinary woman facing this kind of pressure from surrounding gazes, she'd follow him obediently.
But,
"No thanks."
Bai Fanxian refused coldly.
"I'm already a cultivator... that pill is useless to me."
Her words made the young man's eye twitch. He quickly surveyed Bai Fanxian again. She could clearly sense the Heaven Sense released to examine her.
But it wasn't coming from this man. It shot straight from the second-floor window area. Moreover, some movement started happening within the crowd.
"Wow! That pretty girl is a cultivator too?"
"...Can't really see her face."
"Looking at how she's dressed, maybe she's a young miss from some clan?"
And many more whispered comments. Right now there were quite a few people who had only just successfully entered the path of cultivation. And Bai Fanxian who looked young and beautiful didn't seem like someone who'd been through any difficult training at all. So it wasn't strange they'd think she was a wealthy clan descendant who used large quantities of pills to help succeed in cultivation.
"Hmph! I'm a cultivator too!"
Tang Yeye, who looked like a little girl with a dragon doll perched on her head, looked adorable when she tried to puff out that small chest proudly.
No one took it seriously. They couldn't believe this girl of just a few years old would be a cultivator. Many bent down to look with affection. The shop owner standing opposite laughed lightly and reached out to pat Tang Yeye's head.
FLASH...
THUD!
But who could have thought that in the blink of an eye, his body nearly twice her height would go flying before his hand could even graze a single hair on the little one's head!
The one who had acted, of course, was the Dragon Queen — who was now narrowing her eyes in quiet displeasure.
"Whoa!"
"What was that!?"
The crowd backed away in shock, forming a circle. Still dazed, the shop owner didn't understand what had happened. He pushed himself up shakily with both hands.
WHOOSH!
Just then, a few meters away appeared the figure of a middle-aged man in a long robe leaping down from the window. From his movements in midair, there was no doubt this man's cultivation level was at least Grandmaster!
His appearance drew gasps from the crowd.
"Master Ma..."
The shop owner showed delight when he saw him. He quickly got up from the ground and pointed at Bai Fanxian.
"Look... someone just caused trouble at my shop! If Father finds out about this..."
His words were completely opposite from reality!
Wasn't it him who kept pestering and asking Bai Fanxian to get involved? Even some of those watching could tell this man was lying! And Master Ma himself knew it too.
Bai Fanxian had seen through it from the start. The Heaven Sense that had come from the second floor had been this man all along.
"...Right."
But knowing changed nothing. He'd chosen to work for them—as long as the boy's father kept paying, he was bound to it.
"Young lady... how will you compensate for this?"
His question was directed straight at Bai Fanxian. His gaze sharpened as his Heaven Sense spread outward.
"What do I need to compensate for?"
"Seems like this child came with you, doesn't she?"
The child in question was Tang Yeye, who was seething. She was furious that this Grandmaster was pulling her lady into his mess. But what really stung was that they were all ignoring her completely!
She was a cultivator too!
Behind the black sunglasses, Bai Fanxian's eyes narrowed. She had come out today with only her disciple and two pets. There'd be no choice but to handle this herself...
But before things could escalate further,
"Yeye? What are you doing here?"
A young man walked in through the crowd. People who were interested in the spectacle all parted to make way once they clearly saw his face.
"Brother!"
Tang Yeye who was angry became the first to cry out. The small girl ran in and jumped with all her might to hug that young man, and he almost stumbled. But he showed no sign of anger and even laughed happily.
He could be none other than Tang Yeye's real older brother...
Tang Letong!
The current number one young master of the Eastern region!
After several months had passed, the Tang Clan had undergone major self-development. From just being an ordinary clan focused solely on alchemy, they began consolidating much power under them. Tang Letong, who was the clan's only male heir, could only run around working himself ragged — forced to attend events with his father and the current clan head Tang Tianjie, whose status now could be said to be second to none in this city.
Not just people from the cultivation world. Ordinary people had memorized his face too.
When he appeared, people pressed in for a better look, like he was someone famous.
"What happened?"
"Someone's bullying me!"
The girl had no hesitation in tattling to her brother. She pouted and puffed her cheeks adorably in displeasure, which made Tang Letong laugh.
Many people's jaws dropped at the revelation. No one had ever heard before that Tang Letong had a younger sister.
That wasn't strange. The Tang Clan's rise had come only after Tang Yeye became Bai Fanxian's disciple. Since then, Tang Yeye had barely gone home. Her grandfather and parents had to make do with regular visits.
If you weren't an old acquaintance or in the same circles, you wouldn't know the great Tang Clan still had one more young miss.
"If my sister is here, that means..."
The young man turned to look behind and had to freeze at Bai Fanxian's appearance. He smiled awkwardly and bowed his head respectfully. At first he almost hadn't recognized her — he never expected their lady to dress so modernly today.
Her appearance today was worlds apart from how she usually looked. It was no wonder ordinary people had no idea who the young woman standing before them really was!
But before they could talk further, Tang Letong's demeanor shifted. Ice cold. He turned to the shop owner cowering behind Grandmaster Ma and spoke quietly.
"Didn't think Grandmaster Ma would have the taste to bully a single little girl?"
His words were so piercing that the middle-aged man's face went blank. He had heard enough about the Tang Clan's reach in this region. But he was a Grandmaster himself. His standing in this era was still considerable.
"...Young Master Tang, mind your tongue."
"Oh? You mean I should still give you face even though you caused problems for someone important to the Tang Clan?"
Tang Letong flashed a smile. Even Tang Yeye had never seen this side of him.
"I didn't know that child was the Tang Clan's young miss..."
"..."
"Are you saying if my sister were an ordinary person with no power, she would have already been bullied and oppressed by you?"
Each sentence from Tang Letong was like a knife!
Grandmaster Ma's eyelid twitched several times as he gritted his teeth.
What mattered most was that last sentence — it was like pouring oil on fire. The crowd, following along, found themselves putting their own lives in that position.
The crowd's anger ignited...
"So, cultivators can just push us around now?"
"They think we're nothing just because we don't have power..."
"Enough! We've had enough of this bullying!"
Many voices went in the same direction. They all glared toward Grandmaster Ma and the young owner. He didn't notice Tang Letong quietly watching, eyes narrowing as he assessed the situation.
"Wait! Our shop has nothing to do with this! This old geezer did everything on his own!"
At that moment, something unbelievable happened.
The young owner quickly distanced himself as if they weren't on the same side. With his brain, one look told him that if he let the situation continue like this, his shop that he'd invested so much effort into would surely be dragged into it and affect sales. So he didn't hesitate to cut this relationship!
Even if it made his own father displeased, he had to do it.
Even Grandmaster Ma was shocked by this. He turned to look at the young man, eyes wide. Anger inside began forming and his fist clenched tight. But before he could go beat that man up, Tang Letong interrupted first.
"...What are you saying? Wasn't it you who ordered Grandmaster Ma to do that?"
"..."
Silence fell the instant that sentence ended. A faint smile crossed Tang Letong's face as he sighed.
"Poor Grandmaster Ma. You only just traveled here from the south less than a month ago. Because you need to support yourself and your rural family, you agreed to work for these people. Never thought that just to save his own face, he'd push all the blame onto you."
Tang Letong both consoled and walked over to pat Grandmaster Ma's shoulder lightly, and even he forgot his earlier anger for a moment.
"...Is that so?"
"He's just a working man who has to struggle like us?"
"Looking at him, he's not exactly young either. Still has to work far from home like this — he's quite pitiful too."
"It was that man who ordered him to do it, right?"
"Yes! I watched the whole time. I can testify."
"Me too!"
More chatter arose. But this time the crowd's tide flipped to the complete opposite in an instant!
"Young Master Tang, what are you saying..."
Grandmaster Ma was confused about what was happening. Tang Letong, with a smile at the corner of his mouth, nodded with satisfaction as if achieving his own purpose smoothly — before, in the blink of an eye, that same face transformed into one full of sympathy in front of the crowd.
"No need to speak. I understand your situation. After this, come to the Tang Clan. Quit working for this foreign clan. If there are any problems, we'll help you."
"..."
...What craziness is happening here!