“Miss, your sword.” The worker wrapped the sword and respectfully handed it to Bai Jinning.
They moved with lightning speed, seemingly afraid of her changing her mind.
“Miss, keep on looking for anything else you like!” The shopkeeper enthusiastically said.
Jinning wasn’t ready for this treatment. The shop had plenty of good items but they were normally too expensive for her.
“Is, is this okay?” She looked over at Li Qiye, afraid of the shopkeeper changing his mind and telling either of them to pay.
“Just take whatever you like.” Li Qiye didn’t really care. The items here couldn’t enter his sight.
“Yes, yes!” The shopkeeper smiled and said: “Miss, I will give you everything that you like here.”
She knew that this treatment was thanks to Li Qiye. The shopkeeper wanted nothing more than to please Li Qiye.
“Then I’ll take that cauldron.” She hesitated for a moment before picking a cauldron.
Nevertheless, she still felt awkward, thinking that she was greedy for picking two already.
“Here is your cauldron, Miss.” The worker wrapped it right away.
“Miss, look here, this golden bell is great, it’s made from West King Metal. Clear melody and bright runes with a special charm…” The shopkeeper recommended other items in his shop. This was the best way to clear his guilty conscience.
“I can still keep going?” She had already picked three and didn’t want to go overboard.
“Of course you can!” The worker had already wrapped up the bell for her.
“Okay then…” She begrudgingly accepted.
“You see this mace? The ultimate treasure from a big sect, as flexible as a dragon yet as tough as a heavenly pillar, blessed by eighty-nine talismans, the finest weapon…” The shopkeeper continued.
This went on for a while…
Under the shopkeeper's enthusiastic recommendations, Jinning ended up getting a dozen items or so. All in all, he gave her all of his best merchandise.
She finally understood how hard it could be to take things for free after this event. Her skin wasn’t thick enough to take more right now.
She was very satisfied and thought that this was already an unprecedented level of greed for her.
“Okay, okay, I’m good.” She kept on rejecting until the shopkeeper gave up. The guy felt much better right now.
She still had a hard time dealing with accepting items for free. It was like a pie falling from the sky and the entire thing fell on her head, resulting in confusion.
She put away the treasures and didn’t know how to describe her emotions - disbelief? Ecstatic?
“Sir, please come back again…” The shopkeeper and the worker saw Li Qiye out of the shop and kept on bowing until he was gone from sight.
Jinning followed behind him, still in a daze. However, this wasn’t a dream because the treasures were still in her spatial pouch.
“Thank you.” Jinning regained her wits and quickly thanked Li Qiye. Her voice was soft but it came from her heart.
Li Qiye only smiled in response.
“Amitabha.” A Buddhist chant stopped the group as they were turning a corner.
They saw the two monks earlier again standing in their path. Who knows if this was a coincidence?
The left child assumed the palms-together posture, looking quite merciful and benevolent.
Li Qiye raised his brows ever so slightly before continuing to leave.
“Amitabha, we meet again. This must be a touch of fate.” The right child said.
“I have never had a fateful connection with fake monks before.” Li Qiye said.
The two monks exchanged glances. The left one spoke again: “We would like to have good karmic ties with you, Benefactor. Buddha will guarantee peace and prosperity for you.”
“Good karmic ties?” Li Qiye had a smirk on his face now: “A good dog doesn’t block the way. I don’t care about karmic ties, especially not with poor monks who have nefarious intentions, either stealing or robbing.”
He was as blatant as can be, directly criticizing them to their face.
Bai Jinning was surprised to hear this. He offended all of the monks in the world, not just these two - definitely not a wise move.
“Be nice now.” She tugged on his sleeve again and quietly reminded him.
“Amitabha…” The monks’ had an ugly expression and started chanting again.
“Masters, sorry about this.” Jinning could sense the tension and tried to appease the two: “We have important matters to take care of and will apologize to you at another date?”
“Benefactor, we have no ill-wills and only wish to form a good karmic tie.” The right child placed his palms together.
“Scram.” Li Qiye was in no mood for this: “Don’t make me change my mind. Get out of my sight before I make chamber pots from your heads.”
The two have never seen such aggression and disdain before due to their status. This was completely unprecedented.
Jinning smiled wryly, knowing that a fight was inevitable despite her effort.
These two monks were actually powerful characters before becoming Buddhists. Money wouldn’t be able to solve this problem.
“You little beast!” The right child became furious and shouted, looking like a Buddhist warrior ready to subdue evil: “You want it the hard way!”
His eyes brimmed with murderous intent which fell upon deaf ears in Li Qiye.
Jinning only wanted to do one thing right now - pull Li Qiye away and run. Fighting directly against these two wouldn’t end well for them.
“Since when do the attendants of Brightking Monarch act like robbers?” A clear voice belonging to a woman interrupted the group.
The pleasantness of the voice didn’t deter its imposing nature. The voice seemed to belong to a supreme ruler demanding respect and reverence.
“Hmph.” The monks didn’t like this and immediately turned around.