Chapter 89: The Zhang Family

“I’m a busy little bee, buzz buzz buzz!” Shen Xin hummed a children’s song as he cheerfully ate breakfast, planning to head out and dig for spirit stones as soon as he finished.

Tang Ziran suddenly said, “Brother, when I went to fetch water on the other side of the mountain this morning, I found those four people were gone. Their tents and everything are still there. Isn’t that strange?”

Shen Xin replied carelessly, “What’s so strange about that? Maybe they went somewhere else to look for spirit stones.”

“That can’t be right. Do you think they discovered a spirit stone mine?”

Shen Xin answered with great confidence, “Impossible. The only spirit stone mine on the whole Cui Peak Mountain is here. There might be some scattered stones elsewhere, but there’s definitely no other mine.”

“Oh. So today I can go down and dig for spirit stones?”

“Mm.” Shen Xin thought for a moment. “You can.”

The two of them worked hard digging all day, finally filling the gourd with spirit stones.

Shen Xin patted the gourd hanging from his waist with satisfaction and laughed, “Come on, let’s go home.”

Tang Ziran, still a little reluctant, said, “Brother, there are still so many spirit stones underground. Why don’t we dig for a few more days?”

Shen Xin gently tapped Tang Ziran on the head and laughed, “You can’t get fat from one mouthful. What’s the rush? There’s plenty of time—if we run out of spirit stones later, we can always come back and dig more.”

Tang Ziran nodded obediently and directed the big goose to fly toward Niu City.

When they got back to their new home, Shen Xin took a shower and slept soundly before getting up to eat.

While eating, he began to plan. He’d exchange some gemstones for money and, by the way, find out the price of spirit stones.

He’d sold most of his gemstones to Chen Shi. After his meal, he took a dozen or so gemstones and three spirit stones and headed out.

They met at a teahouse, and Shen Xin laid out the gemstones on the table. Chen Shi coolly wrote a check and tossed it over.

After so many transactions, there was no need to haggle.

As for the sinkhole entrance in Xiaowang Village, Shen Xin had long since sealed it up. This time, Chen Chunsheng found nothing, so the price of gemstones remained stable, and that cave had become Shen Xin’s private treasure trove.

After the deal, the two chatted over tea. Shen Xin casually brought up Sacred City and even showed off his Sacred City ID card.

Chen Shi wasn’t particularly surprised; he’d always known this young man would make it to Sacred City one day.

“Congratulations! You’ve finally leapt over the dragon gate and become a dragon! Don’t forget your old friend here.”

“Heh, how could I? Uncle Chen, you’ve always looked out for me.”

As he spoke, he produced a spirit stone the size of a chicken egg and placed it on the table. “Uncle Chen, this time I found a few of these stones. I believe they’re spirit stones—are you interested?”

“Spirit stones!”

Chen Shi immediately perked up, jumping to his feet and carefully picking up the flawless spirit stone, examining it closely.

“So this is a spirit stone?”

Shen Xin’s face darkened slightly—it hadn’t occurred to him that Chen Shi had never seen one before.

Chen Shi, noticing Shen Xin’s expression, hurriedly asked, “How many spirit stones do you have?”

“Three.”

“How about this: three spirit stones, thirty million. What do you think?”

Shen Xin sneered, “Aren’t you worried they’re fake?”

Chen Shi waved his hand, “I trust your character. Of course, business is business—I’ll have them appraised.”

“Feel free. I can guarantee their authenticity.”

After the meal, Shen Xin happily left the teahouse with a fifty-million check, dropped by the bank to cash it, and transferred all the money into his card.

With fifty million, he felt he’d be set for a long time. As long as he wasn’t lacking cultivation resources, there wasn’t much to spend on.

On the way home, he went on a shopping spree, lugging bags back to his house.

As soon as he entered, he saw Tang Ziran sprawled on the sofa, weeping bitterly.

“Ziran, what’s wrong?”

“Ah, Brother, our baby is gone. I had a miscarriage! It’s all my fault, all my fault!” Tang Ziran sobbed, pounding her head with her fists.

Shen Xin was stunned for a moment, thinking: She must have just gotten her period. This silly girl, she’s too naive—I really shouldn’t have tricked her.

But it was too late to regret now. He dropped everything, rushed over, hugged Tang Ziran, and softly comforted her, “It’s all right. As long as you’re safe, there will be plenty of chances in the future. For now, I’ll drive you back to my parents’ place—let them take care of you.”

He really didn’t have the heart to explain, so he decided to let his mother handle it.

Tang Ziran wiped her tears and timidly asked, “Brother, you truly don’t blame me?”

Shen Xin’s mind raced, and he replied against his true feelings, “Why would I blame you? Just focus on recovering, so you don’t have any lingering health issues. If you can’t have children in the future, that would be a real tragedy. Let’s go now—home is the best place to heal.”

Tang Ziran’s face went pale with fright. She hurried back to her room to pack. Before long, Shen Xin took her to his hometown, handed her over to his mother, wired a million to each of them, and left before even staying for lunch.

After sending Tang Ziran away, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. “Next time I see her, my ears will probably be twisted into knots.”

Back at his new home, Shen Xin had little to do. He kept to himself and spent most of his time cultivating, only venturing out occasionally to feed the exotic beasts or have a meal.

Now and then, he would drop by the school to visit his classmates.

Time passed day by day, and after about half a month, Chen Shi called, asking if Shen Xin had any more spirit stones and offering a high price.

Shen Xin thought for a moment and refused flatly, but he didn’t turn down Chen Shi’s invitation, and they met again at the teahouse.

But this time, besides Chen Shi, there was another man in the private room—a middle-aged man in traditional Chinese dress, probably in his forties, with rosy cheeks, long hair, and a Taoist’s cap.

Chen Shi introduced him enthusiastically, “This is a member of the Zhang family from Sacred City. You must have heard of them.”

Shen Xin nodded, not entirely pleased. He’d only come because he was bored and wanted a free meal.

He never had much appetite eating alone, and the presence of a stranger put him off slightly.

The middle-aged man in traditional dress scrutinized Shen Xin for a long while before speaking confidently, “Young man, do you really have no more spirit stones? I can trade you for something else—something you’ll definitely be satisfied with!”

Shen Xin smiled. “Boss Zhang, what do you have to offer?”

The man replied confidently, “What do you want? Name it—I have it.”

Shen Xin thought for a moment. “I’ve heard the Zhang family is a clan of immortal cultivators. Do you have any exorcism spells?”

The man was taken aback, clearly not expecting this. Without hesitation, he replied, “Of course we do. Exorcism spells are nothing.”

Shen Xin nodded. “I can trade you two spirit stones for your exorcism spell. Deal?”