Chapter 10: Shen Qingyue, the Guinea Pig

Those words carried undisguised shock.

Shen Qingyue stared.

Ever since they’d met the Mysterious Merchant, he had maintained an almost absolute calm, whether Lin Ye kicked in his door, asked to pay by QR code, or snatched all three A-rank contained artifacts while he was introducing them.

But now his tone had changed.

Lin Ye, however, was completely unaware of the seriousness of the situation.

He patted his chest and rolled his shoulders. Once he’d confirmed he felt no discomfort, he couldn’t help muttering, “Nothing’s changed. I thought I’d at least have an aching back for a while, but I haven’t even lost a hair.”

His gaze drifted past the merchant.

Numerous objects still floated behind him, shrouded in dim light.

Lin Ye rubbed his chin, his eyes gradually brightening. “If nothing’s changed, can I take a few more? He’s taking payment either way, whether it’s three or thirty.”

“Old Wang, how about we renegotiate a wholesale price? That black jar behind you looks pretty good, and the knife beside it—even if it’s a bit ugly, it’d be handy for cutting fruit.”

The Mysterious Merchant slowly withdrew his hand without answering.

After a moment’s silence, he turned toward Shen Qingyue, who was hiding beside Lin Ye.

“My guest.”

His voice had regained its composure and was even polite. “Might I ask you to do me a favor?”

She shook her head almost without thinking.

“No.”

She retreated a step behind Lin Ye, then decided that wasn’t safe enough. Grabbing his clothes, she hid most of her body behind him. “I don’t know how to do anything, and I have nothing to trade with you. Please find someone else. I don’t want to make a deal with an evil god.”

Her refusal was swift and firm. She feared that if she hesitated, her lifespan might vanish from her body.

Hearing this, Lin Ye hurriedly turned and winked at her furiously.

She pretended not to see.

He blinked twice.

She turned her face away.

When the hints failed, he lowered his voice. “Are you silly? Old Wang is asking you for a favor. How can you turn down a quest like that?”

She stared at him in disbelief. “He just took your lifespan, luck, and spirit.”

“That was a trade. This is different.” Lin Ye solemnly explained on the merchant’s behalf, “Now he’s asking for your help. Someone of Old Wang’s standing can’t expect you to work for free, can he? Whatever scraps he lets fall could save an ordinary supernatural decades of effort.”

“But I don’t want to lose decades of my life.”

“Don’t worry. If anything goes wrong, I’ll be right here watching.” He patted her shoulder, speaking earnestly. “How will you ever get rich if you pass up an opportunity like this? Fortune favors the bold. If all else fails, I’ll help you snatch your fortune back.”

Rather than reassured, she looked even more worried. “That last part is the most dangerous.”

“Details.” Lin Ye urged her on. “Agree first. Old Wang follows the rules; he definitely won’t treat you unfairly.”

She looked at Lin Ye, then at the merchant across the table. After a long hesitation, she ultimately couldn’t resist the promise that she wouldn’t be treated unfairly.

Half her face emerged from behind Lin Ye. Her voice was barely audible. “What do you need my help with?”

The merchant chuckled softly.

“Very simple.”

He raised a hand and pointed a finger across the table at her.

“Deprivation.”

Before she could react, her fair, delicate skin rapidly lost its luster, and fine wrinkles spread from the corners of her eyes.

Her smooth black hair turned gray from the roots, then fell out in great handfuls, sliding from her shoulders to the floor.

Her back gradually bent, and the hand clutching Lin Ye’s clothes withered, its knuckles protruding. In a few breaths, she seemed to have aged decades.

She stared blankly at her hand.

When she tried to speak, the voice from her throat was old and hoarse. “Young Master Lin, what’s happening to me? My hands, and my hair…”

She touched her face. The instant her fingertips met loose skin, she panicked completely.

“Young Master Lin, help me!”

She clung to him, trembling, her voice full of uncontrollable terror. “I don’t want to be like this! Make him stop! I knew I shouldn’t agree to an evil god’s request, and you said he wouldn’t treat me unfairly!”

Startled by the change himself, Lin Ye hurried to support her.

“Old Wang, a test is one thing, but why did you go straight to retiring her? She hasn’t even graduated college, and you’ve sent her directly to collecting a pension. Isn’t that a bit of a leap?”

The merchant ignored his protest.

Looking at the aged Shen Qingyue, he sounded puzzled. “There’s nothing wrong…”

His ability to deprive still worked normally.

Which meant the problem wasn’t with him.

He bent a finger and tapped the long table lightly.

A crisp knock sounded.

The next moment, Shen Qingyue’s bent body straightened rapidly. Her wrinkles vanished, her withered hands grew fair again, and her glossy black hair grew back.

Her breath caught. She immediately looked down and checked herself.

Once certain she’d truly returned to normal, she threw herself at Lin Ye and wrapped both arms tightly around his waist, as though she wanted to crawl inside him.

Fear was no longer adequate to describe the way she looked at the merchant.

“Young Master Lin, let’s go.” Pressed against him, she was still shaking. “I don’t want the things or the quest reward anymore. I don’t like this place at all.”

Lin Ye patted her back and offered a few words of comfort. Then his eyes suddenly lit up.

He turned to the merchant, a look of anguish immediately appearing on his face. “Old Wang, how are you going to make this right?”

The merchant regarded him. “She has been restored.”

“Restored, yes, but what about emotional damages?” Lin Ye pointed to the trembling girl in his arms. “Look what you’ve done to my friend. She came in a perfectly healthy young woman, and now she can’t even lift her head. She suffered all that because she was helping you.”

At the words “emotional damages,” Shen Qingyue quietly lifted her head and glanced at him.

He went on, “She shouldn’t help for nothing, and she shouldn’t suffer a fright for nothing either. There should be a quest reward, shouldn’t there? No, this isn’t a quest reward; it’s compensation. The quest and the compensation are separate. You can’t lump them together.”

The merchant was silent for a while, then let out a soft sigh.

“All transactions here are fair.”

His gaze settled on Shen Qingyue. “Whether the other party is someone else or myself.”

Lin Ye nodded with satisfaction. “That’s more like it. I’ve always said you were a man of principle, Old Wang.”

The merchant didn’t respond to that assessment.

After a moment’s thought, he asked Shen Qingyue, “You don’t appear to have become a supernatural yet.”

Still holding Lin Ye, she didn’t answer immediately.

Lin Ye nodded for her. “That’s right. She’s still an ordinary person.”

“I possess a method of advancement to Sequence 9 of the Assimilation pathway,” the merchant said. “Would that suffice as compensation?”

She froze.

The next moment, excitement swiftly replaced the fear on her face, and her fair cheeks flushed faintly.

A complete method of advancing to Sequence 9!

For most ordinary people, that was what countless Skyvault Academy students desperately completed courses and missions to obtain: a qualification to advance to a low Sequence.

She was about to nod, but Lin Ye spoke first.

“No, no.”

She stopped, looking at him blankly.

He frowned. “Old Wang, how can you cheat her like that? Sequence 0 of Assimilation, the Bound One, may have fallen, but its evil-god aspect, the King of Angels, is still holed up in the forbidden zone called Sky Cavern. What if he comes out someday and a higher being on the same Sequence beats her senseless?”

The merchant considered this briefly and nodded. “A fair point.”

“I also have a method of advancement for the Dreaming pathway…”

“No.” Lin Ye interrupted again. “The evil-god Sovereign of Dreaming, the Dreamer, only went mad. He didn’t die. How is that any different?”

“Then the Twilight pathway?”

“No! That pathway’s broken. The guy became fertilizer for the forbidden zone Silent City at Sequence 3. There weren’t even ashes left. You want her to advance halfway and go fertilize it too?”

“The Frenzy pathway.”

“That name doesn’t sound suitable for a girl.”

The merchant’s hand tightened slightly on the table, then slowly relaxed.

He looked at Lin Ye, his voice still calm. “Then which pathway do you think suits her?”

Lin Ye didn’t answer immediately this time.

He studied Shen Qingyue, then reviewed the different Sequences in his memory. At last he rubbed his chin. “I do have a pathway that would suit her. I can provide the advancement method, but the materials are difficult to gather.”

He looked up at the merchant with an earnest smile. “I’ll supply the pathway, you supply the materials. How’s that?”

“Agreed.” The merchant didn’t hesitate.

Shen Qingyue caught her breath and looked excitedly at Lin Ye.

She’d thought she was merely accompanying him into the Mysterious Shop. She’d never imagined that in such a short time she’d actually gain a chance to become a supernatural herself.

“Young Master Lin, you’re really willing to give me the advancement method?”

“Of course.” He grinned. “The pathway is called Calamity. It suits you.”

She asked nervously, “Is its Sequence 0 still alive?”

“Don’t worry. It fell a long time ago.” His answer came without hesitation. “Its evil-god aspect was dismembered ages ago and made into an S-rank contained artifact. Thoroughly dead. Couldn’t be safer.”

It didn’t sound like good news by any measure, but her excitement didn’t diminish.

She’d never imagined entering the Mysterious Shop would benefit her too.

No wonder so many people knowingly sought out evil gods to trade, despite the danger.

So this was why it was so tempting.

Her cheeks flushed and her breathing quickened. Her grip on Lin Ye’s clothes tightened unconsciously, her eyes full of anticipation.

Having settled her compensation, the merchant finally turned back to Lin Ye.

This time, his voice was more serious than ever.

“Our earlier transaction is void.”

Lin Ye’s smile faltered.

The merchant watched him and spoke each word distinctly.

“I cannot take anything from you.”