My Name Is Chi Ling

Shen Chaoyue hurried over, her tone carrying an unyielding stubbornness. “Fellow Daoist, wait!”

Hearing this familiar voice, Xue Mingzhao stuffed the spirit stones straight into the little girl's arms, sweeping her hands to sweep all ten alchemy cauldrons into her storage ring.

Quick-eyed and fast-handed, Shen Chaoyue reached out to press her hand against one of them, her tone urgent. “Fellow Daoist, I really like the look of this alchemy cauldron in your hand. Could you resell it to me? I am willing to pay triple the spirit stones.”

With a flick of her wrist, Xue Mingzhao swept all the cauldrons directly into her storage ring, her smile unchanging. “My apologies, fellow Daoist, but I like this one very much too. It's not for sale.”

Seeing her put the cauldrons directly into her storage ring, Shen Chaoyue grew a bit anxious, her voice rising slightly. “I truly want it. Ten times! Are you willing to sell for ten times the price?”

Xue Mingzhao waved her hand. “It's not a matter of price. It's really not for sale.”

“Twenty times.”

Another cold and oppressive male voice came from behind Shen Chaoyue.

Yun Yanchen stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over the row of scrap metal on the stall, his brow furrowing slightly.

These cauldrons were all rusted and battered, inferior even to the worst discarded cauldrons used by the outer sect disciples of his Heavenly Origin Sect.

He truly didn't understand why his junior sister was so intent on competing over a pile of scrap metal.

But seeing her persistence, he didn't ask further. Since his junior sister wanted it, he would just buy it.

The one thing the Heavenly Origin Sect did not lack was spirit stones.

He looked at Xue Mingzhao, his tone polite but carrying a hint of certainty. “I will offer one thousand mid-grade spirit stones. With this price, you can buy a very good cauldron outside. My junior sister truly likes this one, so I hope you two can fulfill her wish.”

Xue Mingzhao shook her head, her attitude decisive with absolutely no room for negotiation. “No matter how much you offer, fellow Daoist, I won't sell it. I truly like it as well.”

Su Ye stepped forward, shielding Xue Mingzhao behind him, and looked Yun Yanchen straight in the eye. “My sister said it's not for sale. Please leave, you two.”

Yun Yanchen's expression darkened slightly. He turned and said softly to Shen Chaoyue, “Junior Sister, if they are unwilling, then let it go. I will buy you a top-tier high-grade cauldron later. This scrap metal can't even refine the lowest-grade pills. It's not worth your persistence.”

Shen Chaoyue bit her lower lip, feeling stifled and aggrieved, her mood thoroughly ruined.

Nothing had gone right today. In the mystic realm, she had clearly sensed that a great opportunity lay inside that cave, but when she and her senior brother arrived, the stone chamber was completely empty.

After coming out, the most precious red sun fruit had also been picked by someone else, leaving her with absolutely nothing.

Just now, when she passed this stall, she was originally only attracted by the little girl's straightforward manner of taking out money. But when her gaze swept over the battered alchemy cauldron in the girl's arms, her heart suddenly skipped a beat.

It was a very strange feeling—indescribable and without any reason—yet she felt deep down that this cauldron was meant to be hers.

She had thought offering triple the price showed plenty of sincerity and the other party would surely yield. She hadn't expected that even raising it ten or twenty times would still result in a decisive refusal.

A trace of annoyance rose in her heart, and she grumbled inwardly: It's just a pile of scrap metal. Could it actually be some peerless treasure?

Forget it! She wouldn't fight for it anymore. She would just let her have it!

Shen Chaoyue took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the grievance in her heart, and said coldly, “Since you're unwilling, then forget it. A person of noble character does not force others to part with what they love.”

With that, she turned and left, her posture still straight and proud.

Seeing this, Yun Yanchen quickly caught up, speaking softly to comfort her.

Once the two left, the tense, explosive atmosphere instantly settled down.

Su Ye looked at Xue Mingzhao. “Junior Sister, let's go.”

Xue Mingzhao did not move, her gaze falling upon the little girl in front of her.

From beginning to end, this little girl hadn't cried out to peddle her wares once. Her eyes were hollow and numb, devoid of any childhood vitality.

She didn't look like she was here to do business; rather, she seemed to have run out of options and had simply found a random corner to huddle in.

Xue Mingzhao squatted down, softening her voice to ask, “Where are your parents? Why are you here all by yourself?”

The little girl looked up, her eyes wooden and her voice flat. “My mother was bitten by a sand-eroding spider. She's riddled with potent venom, and only a high-grade antidote pill can save her. I can't afford it, so I could only bring our family's old cauldrons to sell.”

Xue Mingzhao sighed inwardly. The suffering of passersby, brushed over in just a few lines in the book, was always incredibly heavy in reality.

Even if she sold everything on this stall, the spirit stones she got would be far from enough to buy a high-grade antidote pill. It couldn't save anyone at all.

She fished a pill out of her storage ring. With a flash of spiritual energy at her fingertip, she lightly cut her finger. Blood welled out instantly, wrapping around the entire pill. Once the blood had completely merged into it, she leaned in close and placed the pill in the little girl's palm. “I happen to have an antidote pill here. Perhaps it can save your mother's life.”

The man at the neighboring stall caught sight of this and shook his head with a sigh.

That was clearly just the most ordinary low-grade Blood Coagulation Pill. How was that an antidote pill?

The gaze he directed at the two of them was filled with disdain. These two were truly heartless, tricking even a child.

The little girl looked down at the pill in her palm. She couldn't tell the grade of a pill; she only heard Xue Mingzhao say it was an antidote, and she believed it completely. A faint glimmer of light finally shone in her deadened eyes.

She tightly clenched the pill in her palm, fiercely protecting this sole hope of survival, her voice trembling uncontrollably. “I... I don't have spirit stones to pay you.”

“I don't want money,” Xue Mingzhao said casually.

“My name is Chi Ling.”

Clenching the pill, the little girl suddenly looked up, a solemnity that did not belong to her age appearing in her eyes. “Benefactor, if you can save my mother, I am willing to give you my life.”

Xue Mingzhao smiled and reached out to ruffle her messy hair. “What would I want your life for? Your mother is still at home waiting for you. Go on back.”

“Then what do you want?” Chi Ling asked in confusion. Her mother had told her that she must never accept favors from others for nothing. There was no such thing as kindness out of nowhere in this world.

“Nothing at all.” Xue Mingzhao stood up, patted her robes, and waved to Su Ye. The two turned and walked away side by side.

“Benefactor, what is your name?” Chi Ling chased after them for a couple of steps, calling out loudly.

Xue Mingzhao didn't turn back, only raising her hand to signal her not to follow.

Chi Ling stood in place, watching her back disappear into the bustling crowd.

Then, clenching the pill in her palm tightly, she turned and bolted toward home.

Her mother couldn't afford to wait any longer.

Once they had walked far away, Su Ye finally asked, “Junior Sister, is there anything special about that little girl?”

Xue Mingzhao blinked. “Nope.”

“...Then why did you give her that pill?” Su Ye simply assumed it was some ancestral secret medicine of Xue Mingzhao's, so he didn't ask about its origins.

Xue Mingzhao said righteously, “Because I am naturally helpful and kind-hearted.”

Su Ye: “...”

Was the reason really that simple?

The Chaos Spiritual Root tsked in her dantian. Naturally helpful? When you were quoting fifty thousand a pop in the mystic realm, you didn't have this kind of face.

Xue Mingzhao's expression remained unchanged as she replied in her mind, Is that the same thing? That was earned through skill, while this was given out of conscience. I am someone who doesn't let earning money get in the way of doing good.