It was dawn by the time negotiations with the mole ended.

Baiyun ran back to town as fast as he could, the little critter tucked beneath one of his arms. The sun rose as if it were racing him, but he arrived at town just as morning came.

He let out a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat off his face.

"Brghhh..."

The mole let out a weird nauseated sound; the poor thing had been swinging around under his arm as he ran full throttle, still hugging onto its red ginseng for dear life.

Some of the elderly folk who had risen early stared at him with odd looks, wondering about the strange kid smuggling an animal about.

Baiyun coughed and took out his largest wooden bowl, placing the mole inside and wrapping it up with rags. He wasn't sure if a suspicious bundle of cloth with something wiggling inside was any better, but at least the mole could hide from the sun inside.

"Ah!"

Fei An suddenly shouted from somewhere. Baiyun looked towards the call and saw her perched atop the inn roof like a pigeon.

The townsfolk cried out in alarm as she leapt from the roof, her hair billowing in the wind. She landed on the ground gracefully and used her falling momentum to charge at him with full speed!

"Hey! Where did you run off to? I searched everywhere and couldn't find you?" she huffed.

Baiyun could only laugh awkwardly. It wasn't as if he could attempt to contract the mole with her around.

"Sorry, I got distracted and wandered off."

"Hmmm?"

Fei An circled Baiyun a few times with a suspicious look.

"Well whatever. I guess you have your playful side too, huh? Here's your share of the herbs. You can keep the pouch!"

She stuffed a drawstring pouch into his hand. It was small enough to fit in his hand, but divine sense revealed it was a spatial bag with as much room as a large backpack, packed with a large assortment of herbs.

Baiyun furrowed his eyebrows slightly. He had been wondering about it since he first received his spatial bag, but the WanLing sect really was quite casual about handing them out. If it was just a suspicion from before, he was now fairly certain this world had discovered a way to manufacture spatial artefacts cheaply.

It-

A shrill and furious cry from the wooden bowl interrupted his thoughts as the mole clawed at the rags above!

"Ah! It must have smelled me!" Fei An yelled.

She hurriedly ran off, zooming more than 20 metres away before pausing. Fei An looked around awkwardly before rushing back to Baiyun and leaning in to whisper to him.

"Erm. Don't tell anyone or I'll take the herbs back!"

Then she ran off again.

Baiyun sweated as the mole's sharp claws tore through the cloth and flailed in the air. Some of the elderly people backed off, probably imagining something far more fearsome beneath.

It was going to be troublesome if the mole went into a frenzy every time it came near Fei An! He hurriedly used soulsense to project some imagery to calm it down.

The mole watched an illusion of Baiyun chasing Fei An off, then valiantly stealing back some of its herbs. At the same time, the herb bag was shoved under the rags and into the bowl.

"Krrr!"

The mole briefly dropped its red ginseng and hugged the pouch in delight. Then it fiddled with the drawstring and stuck its head in, much to Baiyun's alarm.

Living things were not supposed to enter spatial spaces! A hand briefly reaching into one was one thing, but sticking a head into briefly might cause disorientation or even unconsciousness. But somehow, the mole seemed perfectly fine even as it leaned half its body into the bag to lick and sniff at the herbs.

It pulled out a small golden root and slowly nibbled on it, then hugged the pouch tightly as if to proclaim this was its belonging now.

First the strange fish in his gourd that survived his spatial bag and now this mole... Baiyun frowned as he used divine thread on the mole, but he couldn't find anything off.

Very strange. It seemed quite likely this was related to the casual way spatial bags were treated. Was there something different about this world's spatial laws? Baiyun's curiosity burned but he shook his head and snuffed it out.

There would be no end to it if he tried to investigate every oddity about this world. He only had 2 weeks outside the sect, so he needed to make the most of it. Such things should only be pondered once he had the luxury of time on his side, once he had grown stronger.

Right now, he should be preparing for tonight's expedition. Even with the unexpected boon of the mole's herbs, he still wanted the beetle's blackhorn root.

He headed to the marketplace quietly, and spent the next few hours making purchases.

It was afternoon by the time Baiyun returned to the inn's entrance, his bag now stocked with new supplies. He looked at his remaining 126 tokens and sighed. Money was always spent in an instant.

He pushed the door open and marched in.

The innkeeper was dozing off as usual, but quickly snapped upright and freshened up as if nothing had happened. He coughed and spoke up as Baiyun approached.

"Hm? Is there anything you want, kid?"

"I'm looking for a friend named Qinghe. Do you know where her room is?"

Now that he had some valuable herbs on hand, perhaps he would be able to negotiate with her somehow.

"Qinghe? She-"

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The innkeeper suddenly paused and narrowed his eyes.

"If you're friends, wouldn't she have told you where her room was?" he asked.

What was with this change of attitude? Baiyun raised an eyebrow.

"I was busy yesterday after returning from the hunt, so I didn't get a chance to ask."

The innkeeper huffed.

"Hmph. I think I know exactly what's going on!"

"Huh?"

Baiyun was baffled.

"Kid. Even if you like someone, you can't go knocking on their door and harassing them!"

WHAT?

Baiyun nearly spluttered. The old man thought he was an annoying suitor bothering a young lady!

Ridiculous! How could a man in his mid-thousands have any interest in some smelly kid who hadn't lived even a tenth as long as his secluded cultivations? If the lady was't at least 2000, it was completely out of the question!

Hm? Or was that too young compared to his age? Perhaps 3000 to 6000 was more suited. Not the man had any way to know, but it infuriated him all the same.

Baiyun's anger suddenly wavered as a horrifying thought struck him.

In his past life, he was far too dedicated to his crafts and had never been in a relationship. Most of his time was spent cooped up in a cave doing alchemy, at least until his father ordered him to teach the sect's disciples.

Come to think of it, even if there was a 3000 year old lady interested in him, wouldn't she have a few screws loose? In this life, he was barely older than the blink of an eye!

He absolutely wouldn't accept a woman degenerate enough to take interest in someone as young as he was. In fact, he would happily introduce them to WanLing's prison.

...

...

Baiyun suddenly deflated.

He hadn't thought about it previously, but didn't this mean he was destined to be forever alone? With the criteria he had set for himself, it was impossible for him to be matched with anyone.

Perhaps he should have listened when his father told him to find a wife instead of just messing around with herbs all day. But it was far too late to regret his past life.

Baiyun walked away from the innkeeper and up the stairs with a faint tear in the corner of his eye. It seemed it was destined for alchemy to be his only love.

Who needed a spouse anyway? Alchemy was all he needed!

He mumbled consolations to himself as he trudged across the hall.

In truth, it would be very easy for him to find Qinghe's room. All he needed was to send divine thread into the room of every disciple as he walked past.

But he didn't feel like it was right to spy on his own teammates so casually, so he decided to ask the innkeeper instead, leading to this ridiculous situation.

"Ehh? When did you come out of your room? I was here all morning!"

Mohei suddenly ran over.

"And why do you look so gloomy?"

Baiyun laughed dryly and shook his head.

"Nothing. I just went out early to buy something."

"I see... So you look sad because your favourite snack wasn't on sale! It's okay, it will probably be on sale again tomorrow!"

Mohei crossed his arms triumphantly, his face full of confidence. He did not have a single shred of doubt about his conclusion.

But Baiyun only stared back blankly much to his shock.

"Eh? Impossible, I thought my deduction was perfect!"

Baiyun shook his head.

"By the way, I have something to discuss with Qinghe, do you know where her room is?"

"Oh, her room is right there!" Mohei pointed at one of the doors. "Wait, what's that weird bowl you're carrying?"

Mohei inched towards the bowl and even sniffed it, but Baiyun pulled the bowl away.

"Thanks, Mohei!"

Baiyun forced a smile and walked off, but Mohei grumbled and sulked. Even as Baiyun knocked on the door, he occasionally glanced over and frowned.

Behind the door, someone grumbled in annoyance before pushing it open. Qinghe revealed herself, scowling as if she wanted to strangle someone.

"You? What do you want?"

Baiyun was taken aback by her hostility, but he took the rags off the bowl and tried to maintain his smile. Inside, the mole was fast asleep, hugging the herb pouch tightly between its claws. It seemed it had even stashed the red ginseng inside.

"...I found this thing. You're an alchemist, aren't you?"

Qinghe looked at him doubtfully for a moment. It seemed she had a lot she wanted to ask, but she only sighed.

"Fine, come in. But don't waste my time."

"Ahhh! No fair!"

Mohei's yell came from all the way across the hall.

"Baiyun! Aren't we friends? Why are you showing her the mole, not me! I want to pet it!"

He rushed over in a full sprint, but Qinghe yanked Baiyun into the room and shut the door before he could reach it. Baiyun wasn't sure what to feel.

The curtains of the room had been replaced by opaque cloth that blanketed it in darkness. Alchemy textbooks were strewn all over the place and a dense herbal smell filled the room. On her table was a mortar and pestle beside dozens of glass jars of various extracts, along with metal filters and various glass tools.

It seemed while she had been considerate enough not to use a cauldron here, she was still hard at work honing her craft.

Baiyun nodded. Diligence like this was commendable, far better than the useless lazy disciples he used to have. However...

He walked over to her replacement curtains and pulled them open.

"Urgh! What do you think you're doing?"

Qinghe practically hissed as she shielded her eyes from the bright noon sunlight.

Baiyun opened the glass windows behind the curtains and let fresh air into the room.

"You should let some air into the room every now and then, the feng shui in this room is terrible! And tidy up your room a little more. An organised room is an organised mind!"

He walked around the room as he spoke and gathered her scattered textbooks, placing them onto her table.

"Hey! Don't close my textbooks, I placed them face down to bookmark them!" she shouted. "Did you come here just to act like a naggy old man?"

Baiyun nearly choked at those words of hers.

Qinghe huffed and waved a hand, sending a swirl of wind into the room from the window. The stale air was displaced in an instant, leaving only fresh air in the room.

"There. Happy?" she crossed her arms. "If you want to negotiate, show some consideration to the other party. You should be glad I didn't kick you out immediately. Now, let's talk business. I assume you're here to sell the mole?"

Her eyes turned cold and calculative in an instant. It was difficult to believe how much of a slouch she appeared to be just moments ago.

Baiyun could only laugh dryly.

"The mole is not for sale. I'm here for something else."

"Oh?"

He could tell Qinghe was gauging him. If he truly was a hillbilly who knew nothing about value as his servant status suggested, she would almost certainly rip him off.

Baiyun decided to do a quick scan with divine thread just in case, but something caught him by surprise. His thread found Mohei pressing his ear to the door, listening intently.

He nearly slapped a hand to his forehead.

That kid was more mischievous and nosy than he expected! Without precise control, a wooden door would let out a slight creak when leaned against, something the sharp ears of a cultivator would easily catch. Yet, neither he nor Qinghe had heard anything. Exactly how many people had he eavesdropped on to reach this level of mastery?

Wait. It was true he really did know little to nothing about the value of things to this world, but he suddenly had a ridiculous idea.

It would all depend on Mohei now.