Fang Xuan sat in the courtyard, listening to the movements inside the house.
Only after Ning Xian returned to her room did he sneakily take out that large spirit bun from the system space.
The bun was still warm, emitting an enticing fragrance.
He swallowed his saliva and looked around before opening his mouth wide and swallowing more than half of it in one gulp.
He was already at the peak of Half-Step Void Core, just one step away from a breakthrough, and now his cultivation was further stimulated by this surge of spirit power.
Fang Xuan quickly circulated his cultivation technique to guide the spirit power.
He was about to break through to the Void Core Realm.
Right at this critical moment—
"Creak."
Ning Xian's bedroom door was suddenly pushed open.
Fang Xuan's heart jumped violently, and he almost choked on the bun he hadn't fully swallowed yet.
He scrambled to hide the remaining bun, but in his haste, he stuffed the entire half-bun into his mouth, making his cheeks bulge like a hamster.
As soon as Ning Xian pushed open the door, she saw Fang Xuan sitting at the stone table with his back to her, his shoulders twitching suspiciously and his mouth stuffed full.
In his hand... it looked like he was still holding a piece of the bun's skin that he hadn't managed to stuff in?
She froze for a moment.
Was he... not full?
Fang Xuan was at an age where he was still growing, and practicing the sword consumed a lot of energy; she had only prepared clear congee and small dishes this morning, which might indeed have been insufficient for him.
She felt a pang of guilt, realizing she hadn't been thoughtful enough.
Now that she was short on funds and her daily expenses were stretched thin, she had dragged her junior brother down with her... to the point where he had to eat a bun so secretly, unwilling to finish it all at once and hiding it to eat slowly?
The guilt Ning Xian felt from utilizing Fang Xuan deepened by a few degrees.
Indeed, she needed to think of a way to make a living now; things couldn't go on like this.
She had returned to her room just now to fetch her last few spirit stones.
Her storage artifact, along with everything of value inside, had already been sold off piece by piece.
Now, only a few pitiful spirit stones and some stray copper coins remained in this small money bag.
This amount of money would likely be barely enough to fix the roof.
But she couldn't let him keep living in a room that leaked rain.
"We are going down the mountain to buy some materials to fix the roof."
Upon hearing this, Fang Xuan quickly forced himself to swallow the mass of bun in his mouth.
He also happened to need some time to digest the surging spirit power within him and suppress the urge to break through.
Breaking through here would cause too much of a commotion.
.......
On the way down the mountain, the two walked one after the other.
Ning Xian walked in front, but her thoughts had drifted far away.
A livelihood... what would be good to do? Should she go to a restaurant or inn in town to be a waiter? But besides cultivation, she didn't seem to have any worldly skills worth mentioning.
She was quite fast at washing dishes and could scrub several at once... but would a restaurant want a cultivator to wash dishes?
Even if they did, they would only pay in mortal copper coins, which would be of no help to her cultivation and couldn't even be exchanged for the lowest-grade spirit stones.
She frowned slightly, her cold profile looking somewhat troubled under the sunlight.
Fang Xuan followed half a step behind her, working hard to suppress the restless spirit power in his body while secretly observing Ning Xian.
Seeing her slight frown, he knew she was worrying about spirit stones again.
However, in his sister's current state, it wasn't easy for him to just give her money directly; besides, his previous thought about supporting her had resulted in a points deduction from the system.
Forget it, he would take it one step at a time; there would always be a way.
........
They arrived at Qingshi Town at the foot of the mountain. Compared to the hustle and bustle of the night, the town during the day was more orderly, with shops open and pedestrians weaving through the streets.
On the way, Ning Xian passed a stall selling candied hawthorns.
Her footsteps paused for a moment as she remembered the way Fang Xuan had been sneakily eating the bun just now.
After a moment of hesitation, she walked over, took out a few copper coins, and bought the largest stick of candied hawthorns.
Turning around, she handed it to Fang Xuan, who was watching expectantly.
Fang Xuan was also stunned for a moment.
It seemed that every time they went down the mountain, it would unknowingly turn into a routine of being fed by his senior sister...
.......
Not forgetting the main task, they headed toward Chen's Building Materials Store.
The shopkeeper was a chubby middle-aged man; upon seeing Ning Xian, a smile immediately plastered across his face.
"Oh, Immortal Ning! What a rare guest! What do you need this time?"
"Thirty green roof tiles, four pieces of top-grade nanmu bamboo, and a bundle of hemp rope."
Ning Xian stated her needs in a cold voice.
The shopkeeper clicked his abacus while smilingly saying, "Certainly! The cost of raw materials for green roof tiles has gone up recently, so the price... is two copper coins more per piece than last time. The nanmu bamboo was just delivered this morning; it's very fresh!"
He quoted a total price.
Ning Xian silently calculated the sum of the spirit stones and copper coins in her storage pouch, her frown deepening.
It wasn't a huge difference, but it was indeed not enough.
These shops were backed by the Qingyun Sect, and many raw materials were purchased from the sect's territories, making it a semi-dependent relationship.
Although prices fluctuated, they generally weren't too outrageous.
If the shopkeeper said the price had gone up, it likely really had.
She pursed her lips, wondering if she should buy fewer tiles first, or go find some free thatch to cover the roof for now...
"I can carry them back myself; no need for delivery."
Ning Xian said, trying to save the small delivery fee.
The shopkeeper froze for a moment. "Immortal Ning, this... it's better to let the apprentice deliver them; it won't cost much more..."
"No need," Ning Xian insisted, already beginning to count those few pitiful spirit stones and loose copper coins from her storage pouch.
Just then, a slender hand reached out, holding a few spirit stones that were exactly enough to pay the bill with a bit to spare.
"Shopkeeper, prepare the goods according to what my senior sister said. You can keep the change."
The shopkeeper's eyes lit up as he took the spirit stones, responding repeatedly, "Right away! Apprentice, hurry and prepare the goods for Immortal Ning and Young Master Fang. Pick the best ones!"
Ning Xian turned her head and looked at Fang Xuan.
He still had a candied hawthorn in his mouth, his cheeks bulging and his eyes clear, as if he had just done the most ordinary thing in the world.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but found she couldn't say anything at all.
Refuse? But the items had already been paid for; could she really ask the shopkeeper to refund them? That would be even more discourteous.
But accepting meant she owed him yet another debt...
Her original intention was to use him, yet now she seemed to be constantly accepting his favors.
.......
The sky had already turned a bit yellowish-gray, and the lights in the town began to flicker on one by one.
"Senior Sister, it's getting a bit late," Fang Xuan stopped and looked at the remaining distance ahead. "How about we find a place in town to eat something before going back? My treat."
Ning Xian looked up at the sky and then nodded at Fang Xuan's expectant gaze. "...Fine, let's go to Fuchun Restaurant."
.......
"Ah... go to the Chun Restaurant?"
"Shut up, it's a restaurant..."
Rate on N.U.
