Ye Jiuge climbed over a wall and entered the Little Mute’s residence. Ye Yu, Wan Ziyang, and Bai Songling followed her.
“Little Mute, come out.” Ye Jiuge pinched the worm with her left hand while using her right hand to knock on Little Mute’s bedroom door.
The wooden door opened without a sound.
Little Mute’s scrawny, puny figure was concealed behind the door. His small, pale face poked through the doorway.
Two large eyes in the darkest shade of black stared at the four of them impassively. They were particularly chilling late at night.
Ye Jiuge and Bai Songling were already accustomed to Little Mute’s disconcerting appearance.
As Wan Ziyang and Ye Yu saw him for the first time, they could not help but stare at the Little Mute warily.
On the other hand, Little Mute did not even spare a glance at Wan Ziyang and Ye Yu, who were strangers to him.
He reached his small, bony hand toward Ye Jiuge before raising his thin index finger. He expressed that he would like a bottle of Spiritual Beast Pills in exchange for the Poison Earthworm.
“I am not here to trade.” Ye Jiuge motioned to Ye Yu, who was standing behind her. She asked, “How did this thing end up on my friend’s body all of a sudden?”
Little Mute’s large jet-black eyes swept over Ye Yu. After that, he signaled with his hand that the worm was eating.
Others could not make heads or tails of his hand gestures. However, Ye Jiuge instantly understood Little Mute’s meaning. “Are you trying to tell me that this worm was consuming something on my friend’s body?”
Little Mute nodded emotionlessly.
“What is there to eat on my body?” Ye Yu could not stop scratching his back.
“Turn around and let me have a look.” Ye Jiuge asked Ye Yu to rotate his body before activating her Spiritual Eye to examine his back carefully.
In the end, she discovered that there were a few subtle red lines near his shoulder blade. If one did not look carefully, there was no chance of finding them.
“It seems that Liu Yunfei left something on your body.” Ye Jiuge used her Lightning Fire Needle to extricate the ‘red thread’ from Ye Yu’s back.
To their surprise, the ‘red thread’ was a living creature. After it was pulled off Ye Yu’s body, it wanted to flee. However, the Poison Earthworm in Ye Jiuge’s hand devoured it abruptly with a slurp.
“What the h*ll is this?” Bai Songling stared at the Poison Earthworm before moving his eyes to Ye Yu’s back. He could feel himself getting goosebumps all over.
“This is a type of tiny poisonous worm used mainly to keep track of a person’s whereabouts. Usually, it is well-hidden during inactivity. However, once triggered, she could locate you even if you were more than a thousand miles away.” Ye Jiuge looked at Ye Yu and asked, “Did you not feel it when she poisoned you?”
“Not at all.” Ye Yu shook his head.
At that time, he had been focused entirely on extracting details about his sister out of Liu Yunfei. He had not realized that Liu Yunfei had been doing something to his body during their entire interaction.
“Just because she’s female doesn’t mean that you should let your guard down,” Wan Ziyang said flatly.
Earlier, when Ye Yu had told them about the sorceress, his tone had sounded protective. He could tell that she had an unusual place in Ye Yu’s heart.
He even thought that Ye Yu was under the influence of Mental Manipulation. He was about to ask Ye Jiuge to perform a check-up on him.
“I was careless.” Ye Yu could not help but lower his head.
Liu Yunfei had kept giving him radiant smiles. He’d really thought that she was a rare, kind soul. He had been quite complacent with her.
“Liu Yunfei’s cultivation level is much higher than yours. It’s normal that you were not able to see through her. Truth to be told, when you came out from the study, I scanned your body. I did not find anything out of place at all.” Ye Jiuge’s Spiritual Eye was not omnipotent.
She started to consider if it would be better to let them swallow a few Poison Detection Pills before undertaking their tasks in the future.
“Think nothing of it. Even though you couldn’t smoke her out, we still have this little critter!” Bai Songling looked at the Poison Earthworm in Ye Jiuge’s hand with a burning gaze, as if he was feasting his eyes upon an exceptional treasure.
“You are right.” Ye Jiuge nodded.
Since the adept Poison Earthworm possessed special skills that could help them deal with this kind of weird poisonous creature, they should leave it alone.
“Little Mute, do you have more of this particular breed of Poison Earthworm? We will take them all,” Ye Jiuge told him with the air of someone who has deep pockets.
Little Mute showed Ye Jiuge his palm immediately.
“Five bottles of Spiritual Beast Pills? Didn’t you tell me earlier that you would take one bottle of Spiritual Beast Pills in return for each Poison Earthworm?” Ye Jiuge widened her eyes.
This Little Mute was becoming more and more cut-throat in naming his price.
Little Mute made more gestures with his hand with an impassive face.
From the side, Bai Songling watched their interaction anxiously. He could not stop himself from asking Ye Jiuge, “What is this Little Mute saying?”
“He told me that this Poison Earthworm is the only one he has and that it is a rare commodity worth owning. Take it or leave it.” Ye Jiuge could only curse in her mind: F*ck.
At first, she’d thought that this Little Mute was an honest child. She’d never expected him to raise his price on the spot.
“The market price of a bottle of Spiritual Beast Pills is five hundred silver taels. Five bottles of Spiritual Beast Pills is worth two thousand and five hundred silver taels. I do not consider this expensive.”
Unbelievably, Wan Ziyang, who was standing beside him, nodded in agreement.
In his mind, anything that could be used against Black Magic was worth its weight in gold.
This was one of the rare instances when the Little Mute met Wan Ziyang’s eyes. During this rare moment, a hint of approval shone in his huge obsidian eyes. It was as if he was saying, “You have a discerning eye for quality goods!”
Sound judgment, my a*s! Ye Jiuge thought.
Ye Jiuge really wanted to send Wan Ziyang, who’d dug them into a hole, flying with a kick.
Those Spiritual Beast Pills in the market which sold for five hundred silver taels per bottle were all inferior products. They could not compare to the Spiritual Beast Pills that she herself produced.
Not only that, Little Mute had initially been just demanded one bottle. In the blink of an eye, he’d increased his price to five bottles.
If she whetted his appetite, it would make things very difficult for her in the future.
“If any of you want the Poison Earthworm, then make that trade yourselves!” Ye Jiuge tossed the Poison Earthworm back to Little Mute. She’d decided that she would not let him get away with his corrupt practices.
“Give it to Ye Yu!” Wan Ziyang was not aware that Ye Jiuge was being sarcastic. Instead, he chose to give the Poison Earthworm to Ye Yu.
After all, this worm had turned up especially on Ye Yu’s body. This was considered a form of it recognizing Ye Yu as its owner.
Ye Yu looked at Ye Jiuge inquiringly.
“If you want it, then take it!” At any rate, without her involvement, no one would be able to get anything out of the worm.
“I don’t mind if I do.” Ye Yu really wanted that Poison Earthworm.
In the future, he wanted to infiltrate the Bloodthirsty Sect to save his sister. This worm would undoubtedly be an indispensable help.
“Little Mute, since he has already decided to buy your Poison Earthworm, can’t you let him have it now?” Bai Songling felt that, because they were already well-acquainted, they should face no issues when they took the worms with them ahead of time.
In the past, Ye Jiuge also did this often.
He didn’t expect the Little Mute to shake his head unhesitatingly. Little Mute only trusted Ye Jiuge. If the others wanted to buy from him, they needed to pay during the transaction.
“Then I will buy the Spiritual Beast Pills tomorrow morning and bring them to you.” Although Ye Yu was itching to take the worm away immediately, he still respected Little Mute’s wishes.
“Brother, if I encounter any problems in the future, you have to lend it to me!” Bai Songling said and grabbed Ye Yu by the arm.
He and Wan Ziyang were currently capturing Black Magic Practitioners every day. Perhaps, there would be times when they needed Ye Yu’s help.
“I will.” Ye Yu was rather generous with his allies.
Ye Jiuge laughed dryly as she watched the trio, who were too engrossed in themselves to realize what Little Mute wanted, before returning to the Ye Residence to sleep.
She slept until noon.
When she ate her meal after she woke up, she could not avoid Qing Mama’s nagging about her irregular sleeping hours.
“Yes, yes, yes.” Ye Jiuge interjected here and there to get Qing Mama off her back. After that, she excused herself to the Pill Production Room, claiming that she wanted to produce some pills.
Before she could enter the room, a shadowy figure thrust its head halfway through the window.
“What brings you here?” Ye Jiuge opened the window and welcomed Ye Yu into the room.
“Eldest Miss, the Little Mute suddenly refused to trade with us.” Ye Yu looked at Ye Jiuge helplessly.
Last night, they had clearly agreed on five bottles of Spiritual Beast Pills. However, after Little Mute took one whiff of the Spiritual Beast Pills that they’d brought, he’d turned them down.
They could not understand Little Mute’s hand gestures. Therefore, they could only ask Ye Jiuge for help.
