Manager Zhang’s expression darkened as he turned to the employee. "Is this true?"
The employee hesitated before crossing his arms.
"Sir, these two clearly don’t belong here. We can’t have beggars loitering—"
Slap!
The crisp sound echoed through the store as Manager Zhang struck the employee across the face.
"You fool!" Manager Zhang barked. "How dare you treat potential custors like this? Have you forgotten our store’s principles?"
The employee staggered back, eyes wide in shock. "B-but—"
"No excuses!" Manager Zhang snapped. He turned back to Gu Jin, his voice lowering into a more respectful tone.
"My apologies, miss. This is not how our establishnt should operate. Please, allow to personally assist you."
Long Yifan whistled under his breath, leaning in toward Gu Jin.
"I gotta say, I like this guy’s reaction."
Gu Jin ignored him, keeping her gaze on Manager Zhang.
She didn’t drop her act just yet. Instead, she played along, her voice still ek.
"I just... I wanted to buy so cultivation pills for my mother. But if they’re too expensive, I understand..."
Manager Zhang imdiately shook his head.
"Nonsense! We have a variety of pills, and I’ll personally find the best option for you."
He signaled another attendant, who scurried to bring over a selection of bottles.
Gu Jin reached out and picked one up, examining it closely. Her keen eye quickly spotted a problem.
"This isn’t right," she murmured.
Manager Zhang frowned. "What do you an?"
Gu Jin lifted the bottle for him to see.
"This pill is labeled as high-quality, but its color is off. The refinent process was flawed."
A hush fell over the attendants. Manager Zhang took the bottle and examined it, his expression growing grim.
Gu Jin placed another bottle on the counter.
"And this one—look at the texture. It’s an old batch, probably ineffective by now."
A few custors who had been browsing stopped to listen, murmuring amongst themselves.
Manager Zhang’s face paled. He turned to the attendants. "Who stocked these?"
The attendants shifted uncomfortably, none of them willing to speak up.
Long Yifan smirked. "Well, well. Seems like soone’s been cutting corners."
Manager Zhang’s jaw tightened. He turned back to Gu Jin, bowing slightly.
"Miss, you seem knowledgeable in alchemy. May I ask for a favor? Can you inspect all the pills in our storage room, too?"
Gu Jin showed a ek deanor and said,
"But...but...I may not be that talented..."
"Miss, you are very talented. Please do as a favor, and in return, we will give you cultivation pills for free." Manager Zhang proposed with a grin on his face.
Gu Jin blinked innocently, hesitating as if considering his offer. Inside, however, she was analyzing Manager Zhang’s expression.
He seed earnest, but she was no fool—there was a chance he was simply trying to appease her to avoid further embarrassnt.
Long Yifan, standing beside her, nudged her lightly with his elbow.
"Sounds like a pretty good deal to . Free pills and all."
Gu Jin shot him a side glance before looking back at Manager Zhang.
"Alright," she finally said in a hesitant tone. "If you really trust , I’ll take a look."
Manager Zhang imdiately gestured toward the back of the store.
"Please, co this way."
Gu Jin followed him, maintaining her ek act.
Long Yifan trailed behind, hands in his pockets, his usual smirk playing on his lips.
As they entered the storage room, rows upon rows of wooden shelves lined the walls, filled with countless bottles of dicinal pills.
The scent of herbs and alchemical ingredients hung thick in the air.
Manager Zhang bowed slightly.
"Miss, please take your ti inspecting the stock. I will personally oversee any necessary corrections."
Gu Jin nodded and stepped forward, picking up a bottle from the nearest shelf.
She examined it closely, her sharp gaze catching small inconsistencies.
"This one’s refinent is incomplete," she murmured. "The dicinal properties haven’t fully rged, which ans it won’t be as effective as advertised."
She placed it aside and grabbed another.
"And this—this batch is over three years old. It’s already lost most of its potency."
Long Yifan whistled. "Wow, they’ve really been slacking here, huh?"
Manager Zhang’s face darkened further with every bottle she examined.
More than half of the stock had issues—so pills were expired, others were of lower quality than their labels claid, and a few were even contaminated.
"This is unacceptable," he muttered, clenching his fists.
Gu Jin turned to face him, her ek act dropping entirely. Her voice turned cold. "Yes, it is."
Manager Zhang turned toward her and said with a dark face,
"No one should know what you know, and that is unacceptable."
Long Yifan’s casual smirk froze. His gaze flickered between Manager Zhang and Gu Jin, sensing the sudden shift in atmosphere.
Gu Jin, however, remained calm. She tilted her head slightly, eyes narrowing. "Oh? And what exactly do you an by that, Manager Zhang?"
Manager Zhang took a step forward, his once respectful deanor now replaced with an eerie coldness.
The attendants in the storage room subtly backed away as if they knew what was coming.
"You’re too perceptive," he said, his voice low.
"Too knowledgeable for a re custor."
He reached into his sleeve, his fingers brushing against sothing hidden.
"If word gets out about these pills, my business—no, my entire operation—will be ruined."
Long Yifan sighed, shaking his head.
"Ah, I was really starting to like this guy. But of course, things have to get complicated."
Gu Jin let out a soft chuckle, unbothered.
"So? What now? Are you going to try and silence ?"
Manager Zhang’s eyes flickered with malice. "You leave no choice."
Long Yifan’s smirk widened as he cracked his knuckles. "Oh, I’d love to see you try."
Gu Jin, however, remained utterly calm. She tilted her head, watching Manager Zhang’s every move.
The man’s fingers twitched, and in the next instant, he flicked his wrist. A sharp gleam of light shot toward Gu Jin—poisoned needles!
Clang!
Before the needles could reach her, a flick of Gu Jin’s sleeve sent a pulse of energy outward, knocking them away midair.
They clattered uselessly to the ground.
Manager Zhang’s pupils shrank. "You—"
Before Manager Zhang could react further, Gu Jin moved.
With a re flick of her wrist, erald-green vines erupted from the ground, twisting and lashing toward him with deadly precision.
Their tips glowed ominously, oozing a faint toxic mist.
Manager Zhang leaped back, flas bursting from his palms to burn away the encroaching vines.
"Poison affinity," he muttered darkly. "So you’re not as simple as you pretend to be."
His aura surged, revealing his Super Rank power.
Fire roared around him like a living beast, countering the poisonous vines. But Gu Jin remained unfazed.
"I’m flattered you’d use so much strength just for ," she said coolly, stepping lightly to the side as one of his fire whips lashed toward her.
With a simple motion, a cluster of thorned vines burst from the ground, intercepting the attack.
The flas consud them, but more instantly grew in their place.
Long Yifan whistled. "I swear, I was just here to buy pills."
The attendants sprang into action.
At Advanced Rank, their fire and water elents were weaker than Manager Zhang’s but still dangerous.
One of them launched a torrent of water toward Gu Jin, while another shot a fireball straight at her back.
"Really? So predictable," Gu Jin murmured.
She twisted her fingers, and thick brambles surged up from the floor, absorbing the water attack.
At the sa ti, she sidestepped, letting the fireball miss her by an inch.
Then, a sinister chill filled the air.
Behind her, a figure erged—a towering humanoid creature with sickly greenish skin, its eerie glowing eyes fixated on the battlefield.
A re wave of its hand summoned an earthen barrier to deflect a second wave of attacks.
"W-what is that?!" One of the attendants stumbled back.
Gu Jin allowed a faint, knowing smirk. "An undead guardian," she said softly.
In truth, it was her skeleton warrior, masked with an illusion to resemble a reanimated corpse.
And while it seed to cast Earth spells, the dark energy weaving through its attacks was none other than her own Dark Fire magic, cleverly disguised.
"No ti to be scared! Attack together!" Manager Zhang barked, regaining his composure. He unleashed a massive firestorm, the scorching heat warping the air.
Gu Jin’s erald eyes glead as she weaved her fingers in the air.
Her poisonous vines writhed violently, but she knew they wouldn’t hold against such intense flas.
So she didn’t resist.
Instead, she stepped back—and her undead warrior stepped forward.
With an earth-shaking roar, it slamd its fists into the ground.
Dark energy, cleverly concealed beneath an earthy glow, erupted like a shockwave.
The ground cracked, and ghostly black tendrils shot out, consuming the firestorm in an unnatural void.
Manager Zhang staggered, eyes widening.
"Impossible!" He poured more power into his flas, but it was too late. The dark energy had swallowed his attack whole. The attendants gasped in terror.
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