Chapter 162: Targeted

Then, who on earth was the one harboring hatred toward her? Yun Qing cast her gaze around, but almost all she saw were white text prompts indicating unknown names. She had no idea who Wei Ji was or why he held such ill will against her.

The waters of this marketplace ran deep. She didn't seem to have brought out anything exceptionally valuable, so could it be because the Spirit Mountain ram horns mismatched her cultivation level, and she hadn't used a barrier or storage bag to conceal them? Had that caused someone to target her?

This place was not somewhere to linger, yet she still needed spirit stones.

She decided against selling the Spirit Mountain ram horns for now and would instead sell some Qi-Gathering Grass to exchange for a few spirit stones before leaving this acquisition market.

Recalling the young stall owner earlier who had told everyone not to buy her items, she figured others wouldn't simply obey him, but she couldn't help harboring a small shred of worry in her heart.

Feeling somewhat uneasy, Yun Qing resolved not to sell her goods at any stalls near the young man. Moving far away from the previous stall, she selected a stall run by a middle-aged, slightly plump female cultivator at the late Qi-Condensation stage.

This time, the owner wasn't a young and handsome man, so perhaps her temper wouldn't be quite as volatile.

The vision and hearing of cultivators were exceptionally keen, and the middle-aged, plump female cultivator had long since noticed the commotion that had just occurred.

That Neng-ge was a young male who caught her eye, after all. She wanted to give Neng-ge some face and shorten the distance between them; who knew, she might actually get to taste him. Hehehe, that young and vigorous flavor must be wonderful indeed.

Just as Yun Qing took out the Qi-Gathering Grass without yet sending a voice transmission, the plump female cultivator didn't even point a finger, stating directly via voice transmission, "Five lower-grade spirit stones per stalk, take it or leave it."

Meeting a stall owner who didn't stretch out a finger to haggle and quoted a price so straightforwardly for the first time, Yun Qing countered via voice transmission, "Twelve spirit stones, and I'll sell you ten stalks."

Without a shred of hesitation, the stall owner replied, "Five lower-grade spirit stones, not a single one more."

Yun Qing sent back via voice transmission, "I am selling with complete sincerity!"

The middle-aged female cultivator raised her eyes to take a careful look at this female cultivator who had gotten into a conflict with Neng-ge. The woman's appearance was extraordinarily beautiful, arousing a trace of jealousy deep within her heart. If she had this age and this face, what kind of male cultivator couldn't she obtain?

"Wan Caixia's hatred toward you +1."
"Wan Caixia's hatred toward you has increased to suspicion."

"Woof, woof, woof!" At that exact moment, Liu Liu's warning sounded.

Yun Qing instantly grew vigilant, sensing a yellow-named hostile entity right before her eyes.

The stall owner's name shifted from white to yellow, and from unknown to Wan Caixia.

Out in the forest, Liu Liu would alert Yun Qing whenever enemies were present, which usually meant red-named fierce beasts nearby.

Upon entering human cities, this was the first time Yun Qing had seen Liu Liu warn her of danger. She scanned her surroundings thoroughly, yet saw no red-named enemies.

"Liu Liu, is the danger you're warning me about this yellow-named stall owner right in front of us?"
"Yes!"

Harboring hatred toward her meant the possibility of striking at any moment. Yun Qing didn't understand why this stall owner held a grudge against her. This was only the fifth stall where she had inquired about prices; the young male cultivator before had a terrible attitude, yet he hadn't generated any hatred toward her.

Wan Caixia transmitted her voice, "Five lower-grade spirit stones. I am buying with complete sincerity."

"Farewell!" Hating her for no reason meant this transaction could never succeed. Unwilling to waste words, Yun Qing turned around, preparing to leave.

Seeing this, Wan Caixia stopped using voice transmission and instead raised her voice, "Weren't you selling with sincerity? Are you toying with me? Everyone, come look! How unseemly this female cultivator is. She only has a few stalks of Qi-Gathering Grass, and she's walked all the way from the eastern gate of the market without managing to sell them. She's just playing us for fools."

Yun Qing grasped the crux of Wan Caixia's insult: surely it wasn't resentment over a few stalks of Qi-Gathering Grass carried all the way here without being sold. Then what was it? "Unseemly?"

She was reminded of the modern world, where certain middle-aged gossips would point fingers behind the backs of beautiful women and utter similar remarks.

Appearance truly brought not only favorability ratings, but hatred values as well.

Toward someone who hated her, there was naturally no need for courtesy. She turned around, a radiant smile blooming on her face as she transmitted her voice, "You are old, ugly, short, and fat. Even though you've reached an age as fierce as a wolf or a tiger, you still can't win the love of any male cultivator. There's no need to envy my extreme beauty and youth, because in this lifetime, you will never be young and pretty again."

"Wan Caixia's hatred toward you +30."

Hearing the voice transmission, Wan Caixia had originally intended to make the female cultivator lose face in front of everyone, but the woman's words struck like a direct critical hit to her sorest point. Even though what Yun Qing said was the truth, no one would ever say it out loud.

"You, you, you..." Her chest heaved with rage, rendering her temporarily speechless.

Seeing the skyrocketing hatred value, and thinking of her dwelling's unreinforced state, the fighting spirit of modern gossips, and the surrounding cultivators casting curious glances, Yun Qing decided not to linger in a protracted battle.

"Liu Liu, this place is not to be lingered in. Let's make our escape."

Having already walked several steps away, a delayed voice transmission from Wan Caixia finally arrived in her mind, having taken several breaths to think of a retort: "Your youth and beauty are nothing more than a recent matter of the past few years; sooner or later you'll grow old and ugly. If you want to remain forever young and pretty, it's quite simple—just die while you're still young and pretty."

Her youth and beauty truly weren't just a matter of the past few years; not long ago she had been an utter fright, and she honestly didn't care that much about her looks anyway.

She couldn't let a curse for her death go unanswered. Yun Qing shot back via voice transmission: "When I grow old and ugly, it certainly won't be something within the span of your pitifully short lifespan to witness."

"Wan Caixia's hatred toward you +10."

The hatred value was rising quite satisfactorily. Once her villa's secondary reinforcement was completed, she would make those hatred values surge even more violently; for now, however, it was best to keep a low profile.

Walking out of the acquisition market, Yun Qing ultimately failed to sell her goods in exchange for spirit stones.

Without a single spirit stone to her name, she walked through an unfamiliar city and unfamiliar streets.

"Liu Liu, markets are full of fish and dragons mixed together. I've decided to check out a larger shop instead and see if they acquire goods."
"Woof, woof, woof!"

As Yun Qing evaluated what shops lined the street, Liu Liu's warning sounded.

She hurriedly surveyed her surroundings. The street was bustling with people coming and going, but a remarkably ordinary-looking male cultivator a short distance behind caught her attention. He looked no different from anyone else, yet the yellow name floating above his head—Wei Ji—could not have been more obvious, marked at Level 47, late Qi-Condensation stage.

This person was Wei Ji. He had already noticed her back in the market, and moreover, this fellow was tailing her.

Frankly, while out in the forest, she hadn't thought Liu Liu's warning ability was anything particularly special, but once inside the city, she felt that this skill was simply invincible!

Wei Ji unquestionably harbored malicious intentions toward her. Although the city had explicit regulations prohibiting fighting, patrolling guards and recording stones along the streets could not guarantee the personal safety of every single individual.

Recording stones had blind spots they couldn't capture, and patrolling guards might not arrive in time for rescue. Rather than trusting the safety of Profound Crystal City, she trusted more in the reality that in a city this vast, quite a few people died every day, and the disappearance of an outsider like her would hardly prompt anyone to investigate.

Having someone harbor ill intentions and tail her was never a good thing.

To first determine why he was following her, Yun Qing's thoughts stirred as she retrieved the two Spirit Mountain ram horns and twirled them playfully in her hand.

"Wei Ji's hatred toward you +20."

As expected, he deemed her cultivation too low and had set his sights on her resources.

Casting her gaze around, apart from Wei Ji who was marked in yellow, everyone else was white-named. He had tailed her all the way out of the market, likely lacking accomplices, which suggested he intended to swallow her up as a "fat sheep" all by himself.

Feigning ignorance of being tracked, she continued to scan this unfamiliar city just as she had before.

Walking quite a distance down the main avenue, Wei Ji still followed closely behind like an ordinary passerby. Judging by his tailing techniques, he was definitely an old hand at this.