Chapter 42: Scheming Woman
Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Scheming Woman
Chen Mo calculated his finances; he had less than twenty taels of Spiritual Sand left on hand.
As far as he knew, there were over a hundred people holding the position of Spirit Nurturer in the entire Ancient Dust Marketplace. However, the location of their specific fields was poor, lacking the presence of a Spirit Pool. The vast majority of Spirit Plant Cultivators here were still only doing the most basic work of farming.
Therefore, he had to buy up all the Drunken Aphids eliminated by the Geng Metal Finger before Spirit Nurturers from other regions came knocking. Otherwise, once those people arrived, the prices would likely be driven up.
Chen Mo thought for a brief moment and glanced in the direction of He Zhiping’s place. Seeing that the man was still inside his wooden cabin and hadn’t come out, he strolled over to Lan Ling’s Spirit Field.
The insect plague had passed. The female cultivator at the Qi Refining First Layer was currently tending to her Spirit Field, pulling up the weeds that had sprouted in the soil.
Lan Ling was surprised by Chen Mo’s arrival, yet it also brought her a hint of secret delight. Her facial expression was complex, tinged with a bit of flirtatious charm.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, what brings you here?"
Chen Mo didn’t want to waste time with small talk. He cut straight to the chase. "How many Drunken Aphid corpses do you have here?"
Lan Ling froze at his question. Corpses? How many? How would she know! The bugs that had died under He Zhiping’s fingers were still lying out in the field.
"How about this: I’ll give you one tael of Spiritual Sand, and the Drunken Aphid corpses in the field are mine. Deal?"
"Ah?! These things can be sold for money?" Lan Ling clearly hadn’t expected this. As a diligent Spirit Plant Cultivator, her daily thoughts revolved solely around having fewer weeds in the Spirit Field, growing more grains on the Spirit Rice ears, and so on. She obviously never paid attention to matters in other fields of expertise.
"Is it a deal or not?" Chen Mo didn’t want to dally.
"Y-Yes, alright!" Lan Ling felt a surge of joy. This was one tael of Spiritual Sand! Selling useless junk for one tael of Spiritual Sand was an absolute steal!
Chen Mo took out the payment and handed it to her.
Holding the Spiritual Sand, Lan Ling deliberately shot him a flirtatious wink. She knew very well that in a few months at most, once the Spirit Rice ripened, she would officially become He Zhiping’s Dao Companion. When that time came, it would be difficult to rely on her looks to snatch up any extra resources. So, as for right now...
Chen Mo turned a blind eye to the female cultivator’s blatant attempts at seduction. After paying the Spiritual Sand, he took a bamboo basket and went straight down into the field.
As soon as he approached, his attention was instantly drawn to the densely packed Drunken Aphid corpses. It was true! Although the Drunken Aphids in his own Spirit Field had piled up like small hills, they paled in comparison to the sheer volume here. His bugs had merely flown in from other Spirit Fields, yet the numbers were already massive. How could it compare to their "place of origin"?
Chen Mo’s movements were incredibly fast as he picked up the bugs. He had to scavenge all the Drunken Aphid corpses in these three acres of Spirit Fields before dark. Once night fell, those ugly evil spirits would emerge again; it was much safer to return to his wooden cabin!
Meanwhile, Lan Ling stood on the ridge of the field, watching the man who had become a Spirit Plant Cultivator two months later than she did. A bitter taste welled up in her heart. He had been thriving over the past two years. But what about her? Before long, she would be completely dependent on another man, living under his roof. It wasn’t fair.
As she stared at Chen Mo with a heart full of resentment, she gradually noticed something unusual! She tried going down into the field to pick up a few bug corpses herself, but her speed couldn’t match his at all. His swift movements and decisive actions far exceeded her imagination! He was even moving fast enough to leave afterimages!
She wondered, "What is going on?"
At the Qi Refining First Layer, Lan Ling naturally couldn’t see through Chen Mo’s true Realm. Her pride still stubbornly made her believe that his strength was merely on par with hers, refusing to accept the reality before her! Admitting someone else’s excellence was always a difficult pill to swallow.
The sky turned dark.
Lan Ling didn’t say a word to remind him. Instead, she turned and walked back to her own wooden cabin. Leaning against the window, she quietly observed Chen Mo’s movements in the Spirit Field, truly hoping he would get so engrossed in gathering the Drunken Aphid corpses that he would lose track of time. Then, when the evil spirits arrived and killed him, all his resources would belong to her!
However, her sweet dream was soon shattered. In her line of sight, the man’s figure vanished after a few quick leaps. A moment later, a faint glow of firelight lit up inside his wooden cabin.
"Damn it!"
Lan Ling SLAMMED her door shut, her heart filled with indignation. As her thoughts wandered, she subconsciously touched her face. Cheeks flushed, she muttered to herself, "With my looks, is there any reason I can’t win you over?"
Naturally, Chen Mo had no idea that his simple act of collecting bugs had caused the female cultivator next door to set her sights on him.
He was solely focused on pouring the insect corpses onto the floor and roasting them with the power of the Flaming Palm to prevent them from rotting in the humid weather. He spent the entire night drying out several baskets of Drunken Aphids. Weighing them in his hands, he figured the dried insects alone weighed around twenty pounds. That was quite a substantial amount! Next year, when he raised Spirit Chickens, this would save him several taels of Spiritual Sand on feed!
The moment the sky brightened, Chen Mo sensed movement outside his door before he even stepped out.
Having planned to cast Rainfall today, he furrowed his brows slightly. Opening the door, he looked at Lan Ling, who was fidgeting two or three meters away. Just as he feigned surprise and was about to speak, she suddenly lunged at him, weeping pitifully with a tear-stained face.
Chen Mo scowled and easily dodged out of the way with a flash.
Having thrown herself at empty air, Lan Ling froze for a moment before looking at him pitifully. Her lips parted slightly. "F-Fellow Daoist Chen, you have to help me..."
"Help you? With what?"
Chen Mo felt a wave of disgust. Given what she and He Zhiping had done, he was already being merciful by not killing her. And now she was actually trying to throw herself at him?
"He... He Zhiping is forcing me... forcing me to be with him..." Lan Ling hesitated to finish her sentence. She leaned forward slightly, thrusting out her proud chest.
Chen Mo saw right through her trick. It was obvious she wanted to use him as a weapon to deal with He Zhiping. Unsurprisingly, after his relentless efforts these past few days, He Zhiping must have been on the verge of finally conquering her! That was why Lan Ling had taken the initiative to seek him out now!
Chen Mo sneered inwardly. He thought, "It seems yesterday’s matter of spending Spiritual Sand to buy insect corpses gave her the illusion that I’m interested in her."
However, since things had come to this, an idea sparked in Chen Mo’s mind. He decided to play along with her scheme!
"Him?! What gives him the right!"
Seeing Chen Mo’s anger and fury, Lan Ling was overjoyed inwardly. Outwardly, however, she maintained her pitiful and touching demeanor. She pressed herself against him, blinking her tear-filled eyes, and whispered, "Yesterday, he used the fact that he eliminated the insect plague to force my hand, I... I..."
By now, Lan Ling was almost entirely leaning against Chen Mo, her wrists resting lightly on his waist.
"What happened then?"
"I... I had no choice but to agree to his demands..." As Lan Ling spoke, she raised her eyes to look directly into Chen Mo’s. "But, do you know? Ever since I saw you for the very first time two years ago, I... I hopelessly..."
"I have a plan!"
A chill of disgust ran down Chen Mo’s spine. This kind of scheming woman was nowhere near as good as the ones at the Fragrance Pavilion. At least the people there were only after your money! They never tried to talk to you about feelings.
"Huh?"
"Pretend to help He Zhiping clean his Spirit Field. Sweep up all the Drunken Aphid corpses in his field and bring them over here, then let’s see how he reacts!"