Xiao Yun woke up to very intense knocking at the door.
'Who the hell would come looking for me at this time?'
He woke up groggily—he had finally been able to sleep, only for someone to wake him up. He banged open the door, still in his inner robes, looking pissed off and ready to yell at the poor soul who disturbed him.
What he didn't expect to see was both Le Xing and Zhang Wei standing at his door.
His mind swiftly cleared of all sleepiness. Both of them were surprised by his unkempt appearance, and Xiao Yun suddenly remembered that today was the day they had agreed to meet.
Xiao Yun looked at himself and had the urge to run. His hair was a mess, and his clothes were in disarray. Though in the modern world this wouldn't be considered indecent, it most definitely was here—judging by the way Le Xing was blushing and avoiding eye contact.
Zhang Wei, however, acted as if nothing had happened.
"Fellow disciple, it seems that Xiao Yun needs a bit of time to prepare, so we can wait for him," Le Xing said.
Xiao Yun stuttered a response.
"Y-yes, sorry to bother both of you."
He quickly turned around to get dressed.
They both went inside the dorm, sitting at the table while Xiao Yun got ready behind a folding screen.
Le Xing eyed Zhang Wei with suspicion, his brow furrowing as he observed him.
'What's going on between these two?' he wondered, his thoughts racing.
Le Xing felt something was off about their relationship, especially since Zhang Wei hadn't even flinched at Xiao Yun's disheveled appearance. It also seemed like they knew each other before joining the sect.
A misunderstanding began to form in Le Xing's mind.
Zhang Wei had felt Le Xing's gaze on him.
'When is he getting out?' Zhang Wei thought, finding Le Xing weird by the way he kept glancing at him.
Xiao Yun emerged from behind the folding screen, doing his best to appear dignified despite his earlier messy appearance.
"Where are we going to talk?" he asked, still groggy from sleep.
"My courtyard," Zhang Wei replied, standing up and heading for the door.
"Wait, you have a courtyard?" Xiao Yun asked, a hint of jealousy in his tone.
"All martial arts disciples need a courtyard to practice. Or are we supposed to practice swords in our rooms?"
The Ling Wu Sect was very much a "figure-it-out-on-your-own" kind of sect. Though they had classes, training fields, and gave out resources, the rest was up to the disciples to figure out for themselves. If you weren't an important person, and especially if you were a new outer disciple, then too bad,to sad.
It was quite a miracle that this was a high-ranking sect with this style of teaching.
The courtyard was not large but not too small. The tiles were scraped up from training, and there was some training equipment, along with a small table.
When they arrived, all three huddled around the courtyard table.
Zhang Wei questioned Xiao Yun.
"How many pills have you made?"
Xiao Yun took out a bunch of glass bottles from his qi bag, placing them on the table until they formed a mountain.
Amazement flashed across Le Xing's face.
"Brother Xiao, you're really talented to make so many of these high-quality pills."
Xiao Yun sat a little taller at the compliment. He had spent sleepless nights making and perfecting them, so it felt good for his work to be admired.
"Thanks. It took a lot of time to make these."
After a while, they returned to the main topic.
Zhang Wei inquired, "What's the best price we can get for these pills at each good store?"
Le Xing's gaze turned calculating.
"Most famous shops wouldn't buy level-one pills unless they're high-quality, so the lower-quality ones will have to be sold to a smaller shop. We also have to avoid shops related to the Shen family, which leaves us with only a few options."
Zhang Wei understood.
"We have to pick two shops—one for the higher-quality pills and one for the lower-quality ones, both with good reputations and fair prices."
Le Xing nodded.
"I have a few in mind. One is—"
And so the discussion went on. Xiao Yun wasn't dumb, but he didn't really understand business.
He thought, 'Since I already made the pills—which were a headache for me—I can leave this new headache to them.'
So he sat back and relaxed, looking back and forth between the two. After some time, he was about to drop from boredom, yawning so much that a fly could have flown into his mouth.
He got up from his seat, saying, "I need to go to the bathroom," and left just like that—giving the impression that he was in school, asking for permission to go to the bathroom just to skip a boring class.
He strolled back and forth to pass the time until they finished.
Meanwhile, in the courtyard, Zhang Wei and Le Xing had reached the conclusion of their discussion.
"How much do you want for this info?" Zhang Wei asked.
"Twenty percent."
Zhang Wei thought about it. Though it seemed like Le Xing had only given them a bit of information, without it, they would have had to fumble around in the dark—either finding the right way or getting scammed.
'Forty percent for me, which means 200 gold, forty percent for that guy, and twenty percent for this guy.'
Zhang Wei was a little indignant at these numbers but didn't show it, side-eyeing Le Xing.
"Deal."
And with that, everything was concluded—except they had been waiting for Xiao Yun to return to ask for his opinion, since he was the one who made the pills. Neither of them looked at each other, both staring at the door.
'Dear friend Xiao Yun, please hurry.'
Le Xing sat stiffly, as straight as a ruler.
"Where is Xiao Yun? He's been in the bathroom for way too long."
Zhang Wei, annoyed from waiting, said, "He's constipated."
"Huh?"
Le Xing turned away with an awkward smile.
Finally, the door opened.
Xiao Yun walked in, seeing that they were done. Sat down and probed, "So, what's the conclusion?"
Le Xing quickly explained the business details and scurried off.
Xiao Yun was confused by his behavior.
'What's up with him?'
He wondered for a moment, then shrugged it off, assuming he was just busy.
He turned his gaze back to Zhang Wei.
"So, how did it go? Do you finally trust him?"
Zhang Wei put his hand on his chin and remarked, "He's decent."
Xiao Yun knew this was the best response he could get out of him.
"That's good. You and I should probably meet more often to chat."
Zhang Wei nodded.
"This courtyard should do."
That was exactly what Xiao Yun wanted to hear. Refining pills in his room so often had been suffocating—he felt like he was about to grow mushrooms if he stayed inside much longer without getting fresh air.
The time Zhang Wei and Le Xing set for going to town was two weeks later. Xiao Yun figured he could make more pills during that time.
He calculated in his mind—one high-quality level-one pill would sell for about five gold. He had made around 100 pills, which meant they would get 500 gold. But since they had to split it three ways, Le Xing would get 100 gold, and Zhang Wei and he would each get 200 gold.
This number was pretty good, considering one gold could support a family for two months. Then he remembered how much pills and herbs cost.
'What the hell? With all the money I have, I could probably only buy like five sets of herbs.'
And so, Xiao Yun resolved to make as many pills as he could without degrading their quality. The other pills he made that weren't high-quality were only worth about two to three gold.