Chapter 90: Chapter 91: Ask and You’ll Know

"I don’t know what you mean! No one put me up to this!"

Wei Song forced himself to speak, but he didn’t dare to look up.

ZING!

As soon as the words left his mouth, Chen Che struck with his sword.

The other Loose Cultivator kneeling before the coffin immediately had his throat slit. The gushing blood splattered all over Wei Song’s head and face, making him shudder uncontrollably.

Before he could even react, Chen Che’s voice came from in front of him again:

"Who sent you to cause trouble?"

"N-Nobody! She really is my wife! That bitch was spouting nonsense..."

Wei Song still tried to argue.

But before he could finish, there was another flash of the sword.

A head flew high into the air. The Loose Cultivator kneeling on the other side of the coffin fell like a felled tree, not even managing a scream. He collapsed stiffly to the ground, and his head rolled right to Wei Song’s feet.

Staring at the severed head with its wide-open eyes, Wei Song’s face drained of color. He couldn’t force out the rest of his words.

"The Bone Marrow Supplement Pill is meant to nourish the body. It uses Saffron, Centipede Grass, and Xuanhong Fruit... But the poisoned blood flowing from this Mrs. He of the Wei Clan has a foul, fishy stench that doesn’t match any of those Spirit Grasses."

Chen Che circled the coffin, examining the female corpse, then shot him a glance.

"Who sent you?"

"It has nothing to do with me! Nothing! Wei Song called me over, I don’t know anything..."

At these words, another Loose Cultivator kneeling by the coffin could no longer bear the terrifying pressure. With a horrified scream, he scrambled to his feet and ran.

He had asked twice, and two people had died.

"Trying to run?"

Chen Che’s expression turned cold.

With a turn of his sword, the Loose Cultivator, who had only managed to run four or five steps, suddenly shuddered. His body was sliced in two from shoulder to waist. The two halves of his torso continued forward a few more steps before collapsing, splattering blood all over the ground and startling countless onlooking Loose Cultivators into backing away.

Wei Song was already scared out of his wits. When he saw Chen Che’s gaze fall on him again, a paralyzing fear gripped him, making his scalp tingle. His courage had completely shattered, and he couldn’t stop trembling.

’Don’t worry, you absolutely won’t live past today!’

「Previously.」

When Chen Che had said that, Wei Song had thought it was just a bluff. Now, it was clear that when Chen Che spoke those words, he had already decided how he was going to kill him.

He kowtowed desperately, no longer daring to make excuses.

"Tributor Chen, I was wrong, I was wrong! Don’t kill me! I’ll talk, I’ll talk..."

PTHWIP!

Just then, an Ice Cone suddenly shot out from the shadows.

In full view of the crowd, it pierced through the back of Wei Song’s head and exited between his eyebrows, trailing a spray of blood. Wei Song’s body convulsed, all his unsaid words swallowed back down, before he fell to the ground with a THUD.

"Someone is silencing a witness! After me, don’t let him escape!"

Hu Yao cried out in alarm, his hand on his saber as he gave chase. Several Jinyun Valley disciples followed close behind, disappearing down the street in an instant.

"Senior..."

Ding Fei also wanted to go forward.

"We won’t catch them. They were clearly prepared."

Chen Che withdrew his gaze from the snow-swept street of the Market and looked down at the corpses on the ground, his brow furrowed.

"Get these bodies out of here and burn them. They’re an eyesore."

With that, he turned and entered the Pill Shop.

A few moments later, after disposing of the bodies, the others followed him inside.

"Their Cultivation is definitely higher than mine. I couldn’t even find a trace of them."

Hu Yao returned, dejected. He had clearly failed to catch the culprit.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose, seething with resentment.

"I locked down the Market immediately and searched for anyone suspicious nearby, but there wasn’t a single trace."

"Who the hell was that? A woman and her unborn child—such a vicious method, all just to frame us. And to top it off, they even silenced a witness in public."

Hearing this, Ding Fei, who was drinking tea, could no longer contain his anger. With a SLAM, he smashed his cup down, splashing tea everywhere.

"Zhao Deyou."

Chen Che sat in the Grandmaster’s Chair, his eyes half-closed. He glanced at the hesitant Zhao Deyou, his expression calm.

"What is it you want to say?"

"Proprietor, yesterday, Ji Xianlong from Ji’s Pill Shop came to see me."

Zhao Deyou mustered his courage, stepped forward, and placed a bag of Spirit Stones on the table.

"He wanted me to tamper with the Pills during Alchemy, to add some potent drugs. Then I was to take these Spirit Stones and disappear. I, Old Zhao, may be poor, but I have my integrity. I will always remember that you, Proprietor, took me in during my darkest hour, gave me food to eat, and even taught me Alchemy!"

"They were willing to silence someone right in front of me. If you had actually done it, I’m afraid you wouldn’t have even made it out of the Market before your body was torn to pieces."

Chen Che didn’t even glance at the money pouch, a smile playing on his lips.

"Next time something like this happens, just take the money and tell me about it afterward."

Hearing this, Zhao Deyou broke out in a cold sweat.

He had indeed hesitated for a moment, but his reason had overcome his greed. He only knew that a person should not be ungrateful. He never imagined that his loyalty would end up saving his life.

"A hundred Spirit Stones! He really put down some serious money!"

Hu Yao took the bag, glanced inside, and was visibly startled. His expression immediately turned grim.

’This was a chain of schemes.’

’First, use a dead body to ruin the reputation of Chen’s Pill Shop. Then, bribe an insider to confirm that the Pills are faulty. If they had succeeded, the Pill Shop would never have recovered.’

"That bastard Ji Xianlong was behind this too?"

Ding Fei was stunned. He slammed his hand on the table and said angrily:

"There’s something I haven’t had a chance to mention... A few days ago, I was collecting the Materials for the Leopard Embryo Elixir formula as you asked. It turns out they doubled the price of one of the main ingredients."

"At the time, I didn’t think much of it and just matched the price. But then they doubled it again, and I gritted my teeth and paid up."

This was normal.

Certain Materials could be main or secondary ingredients in several different Pill Formulas. So, even if someone else suddenly started buying them up, it wouldn’t necessarily arouse suspicion.

Ding Fei narrowed his eyes, a trace of lingering fear in them.

"If he had bought up the Materials and then resold them to us, we’d have taken a huge loss while they would have made a fortune. Could it be... that the person behind this whole affair is Ji Xianlong...?"

At this, the men all looked at each other in dismay.

But where did he get such audacity?

"Zhao Deyou!"

Chen Che suddenly spoke. "From this day on, you are the master alchemist of this shop. I will allow you to pass on the Pill Book I gave you to Zhao Changping. Also, go back right now, bring your family to the Pill Shop, and don’t go out unless absolutely necessary."

"Yes, Proprietor!" Zhao Deyou replied at once.

"Hu Yao, gather the disciples you know well—the more, the better. From now on, have them live in the area around the Pill Shop. Set up a day and night rotation to guard against retaliation."

"Got it, Brother!" Hu Yao responded.

"Ding Fei, take the Materials we acquired earlier, use some unfamiliar faces, and sell them all to Ji’s Pill Shop. They started this fight; we’ll finish it."

"Understood."

...

As the orders were given one by one, the entire Pill Shop buzzed with activity.

And Chen Che, he too, slowly rose to his feet.

Seeing everyone’s stunned gazes, he said casually:

"I’m going out for a walk to clear my head."

’I’ll find out if it’s Ji Xianlong soon enough. I just have to ask.’

The phrase ’passively take a beating’ had never been in his vocabulary.

"Ji Xianlong..."