Huang Shi remained silent for a few moments as they continued to walk together through the streets; the sounds of haggling, buying, and selling by his fellow disciples and elders still rang through his ears as finally, he opened his mouth to speak.
"That emerald gemstone—you knew it was valuable, right? This means you must know that even with the money I spent, I would have already made a profit off of it."
Qiao Fenyi suddenly shook as she looked back towards him, her eyes widening for a few seconds before she looked back at the front.
"Yes, I did. But even if I did know that, you still should have maximized your profits; after all, you never know when you will need the extra spirit stones."
He smiled as he tightened his grip on her hand before replying in a simple manner.
"Then it's fine as long as I make a bit of profit off it. If we always aim for the best possible result in every situation, we will end up living a miserable life."
Qiao Fenyi thought about what he said for a few seconds, trying to understand his point of view on the matter, before eventually shaking her head and spoke up in a slightly annoyed tone.
"What you're saying is an exaggeration. The conversation should be centered around why you didn't choose to get more of a profit off of that old man; the kind of life you or I live shouldn't matter."
Huang Shi suddenly stuttered as he almost choked on his own saliva, looking at this girl from the corner of his eyes while thinking to himself.
Damn... guess this woman is not just pretty, she's also smart… a bit greedy, though.
Qiao Fenyi, noticing that he had turned silent after her response, suddenly looked towards him before speaking in a playful voice.
"You think I'm too greedy?"
Huang Shi looked back at her, thinking if he should be honest or not and tell her what he thought about her personality.
When he realized he had taken too much time to think and that his silence was already an admission of what he felt on the inside, and so he just nodded his head.
Qiao Fenyi didn't respond immediately, opting to remain silent for a while as they passed more and more stalls, which, as they walked longer, became fewer and fewer; in exchange, the stalls were replaced by stores.
The stores were bigger and more luxurious. There were guards at the entrances, and he could see some of the inner disciples of the Azure Dragon Sect walking through some of the shops. Sometimes he could even see a True Profound Realm Grand Elder from one of the Halls, although he couldn't determine which of them he was from.
Finally, they stopped at the largest store in the marketplace, staring at the entrance. The entire place was three stories high with designs of phoenixes and dragons embedded all across the building.
He knew what this was from his memories, as it wasn't part of their Azure Dragon Sect; instead, it was paying rent to the sect so they could stay there to sell their goods.
If I remember right, this thing is called the Golden Treasure Villa, one of the largest and most powerful merchant conglomerates in not just the Great Tang Dynasty, but the entire continent.
They stopped right in front of the store, staring at it from a distance, and from what he could see from the outside, he could tell that there were very few people present within the shop.
All of a sudden, he felt the woman beside him shiver. Her expression was a bit sad, but she quickly tried to mask it with a stoic expression; and yet it was too late, for he had already seen it on her face.
Sad? Why did she look sad when she saw the Golden Treasure Villa? Does she have some sort of connection with this place?
Right when he thought that Qiao Fenyi wanted to come inside and look through the place, he felt a tug at his arm and saw the feigned calm look on her face as she spoke simply.
"I don't like this place very much... let's just go eat, okay?"
Huang Shi opened his mouth, wanting to say something, and yet right before he could, he heard a few murmurs in the distance that gradually became louder and louder.
"Hey! Get out of the way! Don't you know who our young master is?"
"That's right! Our young master is one of the scions of the Crimson Sand Sect! If you know what's good for you, get out of the way!"
The disciples of the Azure Dragon Sect who were walking behind them minding their own business had, at first, expressions of outrage when they were suddenly pushed out of the way by these newcomers who wore robes of red and black; but when they heard the identity of the person coming forward, they quickly bowed their heads and gave subservient smiles.
Huang Shi's brows twitched as he looked towards his right, and seeing the extremely beautiful appearance of his date and the sounds of the commotion behind him, he suddenly had an extremely awful premonition.
Ah shit... this guy is definitely going to try and hit on my date. Fuck.
Just as he expected, when the so-called bodyguards of this young master from the Crimson Sand Sect saw him with his date and noticed that they were blocking the way of their young master, they quickly grew enraged as they walked towards them with heavy steps.
"Hey! Who the fuck do you think you are? You dare stand in front of our young master?! Do you have a death wish?"
"That's right, kid! Get the hell out of our way unless you want to get your bones broken!"
This so-called young master of the Crimson Sand Sect had two of his guards approach them from the side, their expressions fierce and unyielding.
And yet, just when they were both a few steps away from him, the both of them suddenly froze as their expressions changed into fear, as Huang Shi's golden eyes stared at them with an impassive expression.