A middle-aged woman raised the Noren curtain and came out from the back. In an era where many practiced martial arts, most appeared younger than their actual age. If they cultivated, even someone a few hundred years old could look in their twenties. Ahem, MC.

In his past life when he passed, MC was described as a young man but age-wise was over four hundred years old.

As so, it was near impossible to guess someone's age.

The madam crossed her arms and crooked a smile at the clerk, "Go ahead, give the discount. I'll take it out from your pay."

The young man lowered his head and muttered under his breath, "As if you had actually paid me a silver..."

The woman raised her voice, "What did you say? Speak up!"

The young man quickly lifted his head and buttered up, "Beautiful mother! Even if you didn't pay me a silver, I would still work for you. After all, what's mine is yours, and what's yours will be mine."

"..." The woman was nearing the edge of violence. I wonder how their child abuse laws held up here.

I chimed to prevent bloodshed, "Erm... sorry to interrupt ma'am. We would like to pay."

Finally, the owner paid us some attention. She turned to us and upon sighting me, her eyes lit up. She grabbed my hand and patted, "Miss, do you have a cultivation partner? If you become my daughter-in-law, you can have an unlimited supply of snacks for the rest of your life. I'll treat you as my real daughter."

...Like mother like son. The young man also came over and nodded, "Mother, for once you understand your son." Earnestly looking at me, he said, "You like these snacks right? You can have as much as you like."

Forming a Qi barrier on the surface of my hand, I slipped my hand out by gently repelling her off. Jumping back, I grabbed MC's hand, "Dear, auntie and brother really know how to joke. But we have somewhere to be, let's pay and go."

Han Bin removed my hand, "Sister. Your 'dear' is over there. Your future mother-in-law is in front of you. Your home is here. Where could you possibly try to go?"

"..." I thought we were on the same team. Where was our coordination?

Two could play at this game. I grabbed his arm again, "Onii-chan~! Mouuuu~ you don't want Miao anymore~? If you don't tell Miao to 'sleep' anymore, Miao can't sleep~!"

Although MC still had an expressionless face, I felt his arm stiffen. He seemed to be in a state of shock. I don't know if it's on the foreign words or the whiny tone though, or both.

As Han Bin slowly absorbed the cultural shock, he slowly said, enunciating every word, "Don't ever speak like that again."

"Why~~" A quick silence spell was cast over me. This time I didn't even see how it happened. I shrugged.

MC clasped his hand to the ma'am and the young man who both also stood in shock. I wonder which part went wrong.

The woman regained her senses and patted her chest, "Oh dear. Son, I will find you another wife. Maybe not as handsome, but surely more 'proper.'"

The son wiped the sweat off his forehead, "I knew there was no perfect woman in this world. That tone would bring me nightmares for the next month."

Huh, I could bet these people never watch anime. No appreciation sense.

Since I wasn't able to speak, the three introduced themselves. The woman, Mrs. Wu, was the owner of the shop. The son, Qu Muqi, was a student at the nearby commoner's martial arts center. On most days, his father would be the clerk, but today he was hunting with a group.

The shop was their livelihood and was enough to fund their family's everyday necessities and even live comfortably, but with the sect exams drawing near, Muqi's father wanted to buy a low-grade purifying pill for his son. As the name suggested, the pill was for purifying the body of impurities due to medicinal toxicity.

Low-grade purifying pills were only useful for martial apprentices, costing ten spirit stones each. Only when one reached spiritual practitioner could they be said to have stepped on the path of cultivation. For the ordinary martial apprentice, it would be very difficult to even get one purifying pill.

Luckily, not everyone had a solitary MC life. Muqi had parents who would go out of their ways to get him one pill.

I had several questions but since I was silenced, the questions only nagged me.

The topic switched from them to us. Qu Muqi asked, "Judging from your dress, why did a young master like you wander to the commoner's street? I don't mean any harm, it's just you're an easy target for pickpockets."

Han Bin explained, "We want to lease a shop to start a small business."

"Then you found the right person, " Qu Muqi said confidently, "I know all the shops around here. How about I ask around and contact you when I have news?"

Han Bin clasped his hands in gratitude and detailed Muqi on where to find him.

When we left, MC paid full price for the snacks despite Mrs. Wu's insistence on taking it for half-price. He said, "Brother Qu is already doing us a favor. If you refuse to take the full amount, I assume you want Miao as your daughter-in-law."

Swiftly swiping the silver from the counter, Mrs. Wu complimented, "It is a good reminder. You truly are a kind child. If I have a daughter, I would love for you to be my son-in-law."

...Did I not have any human rights? No one asked me if I wanted to be Mrs. Wu's daughter-in-law. And what was with everyone's fondness towards Han Bin? The natural charismatic aura of being the MC?

Although we left the snack store, Han Bin continued to browse the stalls. He suddenly stopped. Picking up a batch of herbs, he asked the stall owner, "How much are you selling these for?"

Those look like ordinary herbs to me. I turned and checked out the other merchandise.

Some worn out cultivation manuals, used daggers, shiny stones, etc. I picked up a normal-looking grayish rock. It was truly ordinary in all angles. Even the weight was like that of a rock I could pick up by the beachside.

In novel cliches, a simple rock like this would be a hidden treasure waiting for the MC to discover.

Suddenly, I felt a force push the rock out of my hands, dropping it to the ground. Picking it up again, I heard the stall owner yelled, "Hey! What are you doing?"

"Huh?" I turned to him and realized I could speak again. "Sorry, I dropped it by accident."

The stall owner continued to throw a tantrum, "I don't care. The rule on these streets is if you damaged it, you have to buy it. That is a rare rock from Mount Lin, it's worth ten thousand gold!"

No matter what, this sounded like a scam! I tossed the stupid rock back to him, "Did you think I was an idiot?! I can find these same dumb-looking rocks down the street. How about I sell it to you cheaper, five thousand gold!"

A crowd gathered around us, murmuring. The neighboring stall owners chimed in and pressured, "Young lady, that is the rule of this street. You have to pay for something you damaged."

I said, "I can pay, but I didn't fish my money out from the air. That price is too unreasonable. One silver!" If the smallest currency wasn't one silver, I wouldn't even offer this.

The stall owner said, "Where is your sincerity? It seems you don't want to pay."

I rolled my eyes, "I'm sureee I want to pay for this rock. How about you show some sincerity and give me a reasonable price?"

"Five hundred gold."

"No. One silver!"

"..."

Everyone in the market was staring at me like I was the one being spoiled. I guess I did drop the item. This was a truth that couldn't be erased even if I thought this smelled like a scam. "Fine. Ten gold. Take it or leave it!"

Shaking his head, the owner threatened, "Looks like we have to resolve this legally."

At this point, Han Bin stepped in and offered, "You know better than anyone that this is just a rock. One hundred gold. If you don't take it, we won't be making another offer."

The stall owner looked at our dress and probably felt he shouldn't push his luck. If this was truly brought to the officials, they surely would not side with him.

In the end, we left the stall with an extra rock. I fumed in anger and tossed the rock to MC, "I didn't even drop it by accident! Something pushed it off!"

Han Bin rolled the rock in his hand and calmly said, "I know."

Halting in my steps, it all clicked. I gasped, "You set me up! Again!"

He didn't deny it, "You finally did something good."

I should have known he wouldn't buy a rock for no reason, "Is there something special about it?"

He tossed it into his interspatial ring, "It's useless for you." I guess I had no right to know since it wasn't even paid for with my money.

Though, I wonder if it was my luck or if Han Bin's luck was affecting me. Han Bin answered beside me, "Who knows."

Oops, said that aloud. I asked, "Has your luck always been good? I've been fairly lucky growing up. My first scratch ticket, I won a thousand bucks! Also for multiple-choice exams, I was always lucky with my guesses. Too bad college wasn't all multiple choice."

There was no reply from him. Probably struck by all the unfamiliar words, or he was pondering over his life on whether he was lucky or unlucky.

I patted his arm, "Don't worry. Even if you were misfortunate in the past, you'll be super lucky from now on!"

He patted my hand off, "Should I take that as a prophecy?"

No. Many events were changed so the novel events were no longer reliable, but I was sure the MC would continue to be the luck child of this novel world. "More than it being a prophecy, I'll say it's my confidence in you." -r luck.

"Flattery doesn't work with me."

I refuted, "That wasn't ass-kissing." It was really hard to get some brownie points with this guy.

When we returned to the villa, our belongings were moved to the inner court. In the main hall, Steward Zhao introduced, "Miss Miao, this is your attendant, Yaren."

Waving my hands like a pendulum, I refused with all my heart, "Oh no, no, no, no. I don't need anyone to attend to me. I have hands and feet. I can attend to myself. Thank you for the thought though."

Without wavering, Steward Zhao commanded another two male servants, "Since Miss Miao doesn't need anyone to serve her, we don't need any extra mouth to feed in this house. Sell Yaren back to the trader."

Yaren kneeled and grabbed my leg, while crying and begging, "Miss Miao, please allow me to serve you. Please!"

I stared at Han Bin helplessly. Truly, I didn't want anyone to serve me. It would be very uncomfortable. Even in the modern world, we only had the occasional cleaner who dropped by twice a week, an auntie who cooked us meals, and once I was old enough to drive, I didn't even have a chauffeur anymore.

Unlike now, no one would stick to me twenty-four seven without room to breathe. However, I didn't want her to be sold back to wherever.

Han Bin's next words shocked me, "Steward Zhao. There is an appropriate time and place for everything. Don't make the same mistake again. To tidy the affairs of this household, whatever you deem fit, do it."

"I understand, young master." Steward Zhao signaled for them to pull Yaren away.

"No!" How could they treat another being like a commodity? I surrendered, "Yaren can stay and help me. I think I need some help - sometimes."

"As you wish, Miss Miao." Steward Zhao bowed and introduced another servant girl and a male attendant to Han Bin. He accepted them without even batting an eyelash.

As we walked towards the inner court, I protested, "That was a guilt trip."

Han Bin noted, "If it works, you only have yourself to blame."

"If you're so coldblooded, why did you accept those two?" I pointed to behind us. It should be more inconvenient for him than for me. After all, he had to disappear into his time palace now and then to cultivate.

"It is of no difference whether they are there or not," he said, "For you rather... careful not to sell yourself."

I quickly knocked on the tree and continued walking, "Awwww~ is our little Han Bin worried about me?"

"..." I felt the silence spell being cast on me.

While muted, I thought about how to dispel it. Theoretically, I was much stronger than MC and should be able to easily overcome such an easy level one spell. I read a Wuxia novel before about silencing someone by pressing the right acupuncture point.

It was a similar feeling as if someone's Qi pressed on my throat. Assuming the silence spell worked the same way by using the user's Qi instead of physical contact, I could erode this foreign Qi with my own.

Putting it to test, I circulated the Qi to my throat and felt an obstruction. I tried again with more force and the Qi blockage suddenly scattered. This was easier than expected...

Sensing something, Han Bin turned to look at me. I was ready to brag but I saw a red drip from his nostril and specked the front of his shirt.

Pulling his sleeve to wipe his nose, I panicked, "Blood! Why are you suddenly having a nosebleed?" Seeing MC was not doing anything to stop the nosebleed, I pinched his nose except for him to swat my hand away.

"It's no longer bleeding." He said. Examining, it was as he said. It stopped as abruptly as it came. That was really weird.

"It's a rebound to the caster. Did you truly think a low-grade spell would work on a Spiritual Master?"

"Sorry, I didn't know it would do that. Do all spells have a rebound once broken?"

He explained, "There are many different types of spells - some instant, some temporary, some semi-permanent. To be exact, the ones with backlash once broken are curses. If you are harming someone, there should be an expected price to pay."

Hesitantly, I asked, "...So you cursed me to be silent??"

"..." Too bad his silence spells would no longer work on me.

Yaren attended with great attention to me. I couldn't cultivate so she found books for me to read. Luckily, I studied Chinese calligraphy and the scripts of this world was the same.

Stepping in from the courtyard, Yaren persuaded, "Miss Miao, it's already Zi hour. You should rest now."

I wasn't really tired, but I knew she couldn't sleep if I didn't rest, "OK, you sleep, too." I put the book under the pillow and laid my head down.

She went to the window to close it, but I stopped her, "Yaren, wait... don't shut the windows. I want to see the moon."

As told, Yoren left the windows open and blew out all the candles, then finally went to rest at the joint bedroom.

I pulled the book out again and read it with help from the moonlight. It was going to be a long night.