Chapter 25: The Senior Brother Who Peddles Counterfeit Swords
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At the entrance to an alley in the Western Market, a hawker’s cries rose louder with each shout, yet scarcely anyone lingered by the stall.
“Don’t pass by and miss out! Freshly forged superior-grade spiritual swords of the first rank—huge sale! Huge sale!”
“Year-end clearance prices! One sword for thirty low-grade spirit stones, two for only forty! Miss this opportunity, and you’ll have to wait another year!”
“…”
Those who knew their weapons took one glance and kept walking. Those who stopped to inspect and toy with the swords soon put them down again, their purses too light to afford them.
The stall was small and tucked away in an obscure corner. Its two vendors were a shrewd, lanky man and a short, stout fellow with a genial air. The latter was the one doing the shouting.
Five meters from the alley entrance, Ji Ning leaned against the wall, nibbling delicately at a candied hawthorn skewer as she gazed indifferently at the stall.
“I bought those two swords there.” Jiang Yeqiu clenched the skewer in her hand so tightly that it nearly fell to the ground.
The two vendors had unfamiliar faces and wore unremarkable clothes. More than a dozen long swords lay displayed on the stall, indistinguishable from the ones Senior Sister Jiang had bought. They looked bright and splendid on the outside, yet were nothing but dross within.
A flash of golden eyes passed through Ji Ning’s gaze, and the disguise spell shattered.
Well, well. They were old acquaintances!
After eating the last hawthorn, Ji Ning tossed the skewer into a bucket and wiped her hands. It was time to get to work.
She picked up the two swords lying at her feet, seized Senior Sister Jiang by the hand, and charged toward the stall with fierce momentum. She flung both swords across the counter and shouted harshly,
“Give us our money back! What kind of trash are you selling here? You’ll cheat anyone out of their money!”
Ji Ning’s outburst stunned not only the onlookers but Jiang Yeqiu as well. The latter stared at her in bewilderment.
So much for a friendly discussion…
The two vendors exchanged a glance. The lanky man’s face darkened as he stepped forward, his expression turning vicious.
“Little girl, you can eat whatever you want, but you can’t say whatever you want. You’ve come barging in and slandered us right off the bat. Are you deliberately looking for trouble?”
Seeing this, the stout man hurriedly stepped in front of him and sighed helplessly.
“If you were hired by someone else to stir up trouble, you’d best leave at once. Several people have already been injured by my brother these past two days. If he truly starts throwing punches, even I won’t be able to stop him!”
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When the surrounding vendors heard this, their gazes toward Ji Ning and Jiang Yeqiu immediately became meaningful.
“Junior Sister, perhaps we should leave…” Jiang Yeqiu urged in a low voice.
Ji Ning ignored her. A chill flashed through her eyes. In her previous life, these two had threatened her in exactly the same way—one playing the villain and the other the peacemaker—forcing her to swallow the loss in silence without daring to make a fuss.
The grievance she had suffered in her previous life would be reclaimed today, with interest.
Ji Ning began to applaud, her voice dripping with mockery.
“With acting skills that exquisite, why bother selling swords? You should be performing onstage instead. The money would come faster.”
“Young friend, that is rather inappropriate,” the stout man, Chen the Fatty, said. “I have been calmly reasoning with you, yet you insult and abuse the two of us. You will bear the consequences yourself!”
After delivering those intimidating words, Chen the Fatty flung down his hands in feigned fury, as though he truly intended to let Li the Thin give Ji Ning a beating.
The passersby who had stopped nearby waited eagerly for a good show.
But Li the Thin was clearly a paper tiger. He stood there with a gloomy expression, not moving an inch. The louder the crowd jeered, the more frantic he became. Hidden from everyone’s sight, his palms were slick with cold sweat.
They always chose customers with low cultivation and little experience when selling their wares. Even if someone noticed something amiss, a few threats were usually enough to frighten them away. Today, however, they had encountered a truly difficult opponent.
As outer disciples, the two had broad sources of information. If they used spiritual power to fight, the Breath-Calming Talisman would quickly pinpoint the disturbance, and the administrative office would immediately send people to stop it.
The uncles on duty today were three elders from the Outer Sect Formation Hall, Artifact Hall, and Talisman Pavilion. They absolutely could not afford to fight…
Standing behind her, Ji Ning clasped Senior Sister Jiang’s hand. A smile curled at the corners of her lips as she waited for the other side to make a move, though she already understood the situation perfectly.
“If the two of you dare not attack, then simply return our forty spirit stones. Why persist and ruin your own reputation?”
Her voice was not loud, but it was clear enough for every spectator to hear. The stall owner had insisted on being in the right, yet now he was backing down instead. It was enough to arouse suspicion.
Chen the Fatty let out a long, bitter sigh.
“Alas! The two of us run only a small business. Because our goods are genuine, people have repeatedly plotted against us. Today, you accepted money to ruin my business at the urging of some petty schemer. I cannot swallow this insult, but the market is no place for fighting and killing, so I will not hold it against you.”
With that, the two men began packing up their stall and preparing to leave, paying no heed to the contemptuous looks and jeers around them.
It did not matter if they suffered a setback here today. They could disguise themselves again, change their faces, move to another location, and continue setting up shop.
But if they attracted the attention of the elders, then their livelihood would truly be over.
Ji Ning snorted coldly and said disdainfully, “You twist right and wrong with nothing but empty words, and now you still think you can leave?”
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“My sword!” someone in the crowd cried out in alarm.
A flash of icy light followed. With a thunderous boom, the entire stall was cleaved in two, and the only two swords remaining were split apart as well.
The sword blades, which appeared to be of excellent quality, were filled with mixed iron and had never been properly forged. They were nothing more than ordinary weapons.
“So this is what you call genuine merchandise? The sword bodies are made of black iron mixed with common iron. I wonder what spell you used to make their exteriors look almost indistinguishable from superior-grade swords of the first rank. Truly, you’ve opened my eyes!”
Once their scheme was exposed, both men went pale. Chen the Fatty forced out an argument.
“Young friend, those two swords passed through your hands. Could it be that someone behind you tampered with them?”
“Words are useless. Take one of the unsold swords from your storage pouch and test it against mine.”
Ji Ning swung her sword, aiming directly for his vital points. Seeing this, Chen and Li’s eyes turned venomous, and killing intent surged within them.
As long as Ji Ning died, there would be no witness left to prove anything!
The two men drew a saber and a sword and unleashed killing strikes. Their cultivation was two levels above Ji Ning’s; they were certain they could take her life within ten moves.
The surrounding spectators scattered in all directions to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
Saber and sword collided with tremendous force, numbing Ji Ning’s hands several times. Yet with two distinct sword techniques at her command, she shifted between offense and defense with ease. Even after ten moves, the three remained evenly matched.
Among the spectators were quite a few cultivators whose cultivation surpassed Ji Ning’s by three major levels. They could clearly distinguish the martial techniques the three combatants were using.
“The techniques those two are using come from the Outer Sect’s Martial Arts Pavilion. For disciples of the sect to set up a stall while disguising their identities is certainly suspicious!”
“That young woman’s swordsmanship bears traces of the Heaven-and-Earth Sword Art, though it is not quite the same. The Heaven-and-Earth Sword Art focuses mainly on defense, yet her swordplay is remarkably fierce on the offensive.”
“…”
The more Chen and Li fought, the more panicked they became. They could not break through Ji Ning’s defense, yet they also had to remain constantly wary of her concealed strikes. Finally, they hardened their resolve.
The saber and sword suddenly came together, and two layers of earth-element spiritual power erupted. Sand, grit, and dirt billowed up to obscure the spectators’ vision. Taking advantage of the chaos, the saber and sword shot toward Ji Ning.
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