Chapter 4

Xiumu butterflies, nearly impossible to spot with spiritual sense alone.
Their scales induce visions, cloud the mind, even reveal the secrets of the soul. But unless specially refined, those scales only affect low-level cultivators and ordinary mortals.
She was well past the Golden Core stage. So how had she almost fallen for it just now? For a moment, Mu Xue was genuinely puzzled.
Ahead lay Fuwang City’s biggest marketplace: Goods Street.
In its jumble of alleys and stacked stalls, you could find anything, materials, divine weapons, runes and puppet constructs, even the trading of people or spirit beasts. Anything you wanted, someone would sell it.
Crude cages and ramshackle huts lined the roads, making the path even narrower. The flicker of gold led Mu Xue down an alley and stopped at a small iron-barred window, glimmering before slipping out of sight.
This was the slave trade block. People, voluntary or not, were locked in dim stone rooms, waiting to be bought like merchandise.
Mu Xue couldn’t care less about any of that just now. She ducked down to peek through the low window, wrinkling her nose against the sharp stench to look inside.
Inside, two or three dozen people sat in the cramped stone hut, silent and waiting to be sold. No other exit, if the butterfly was still here, it had to be in someone’s hand.
“Excuse me,” Mu Xue called, “has anyone seen a Xiumu Butterfly? It just flew in through this window.”
In the dim corner, a few dozen hostile stares locked onto her.
Those gazes were full of apathy, resentment, and all sorts of ugly emotions.
But the only thing that answered her was a silence so deep, it felt like death itself.
Xiumu Butterflies weren’t exactly rare or expensive, but Mu Xue had still spent a small fortune in time and effort chasing down this particular butterfly, one that rarely showed up on the market. She wasn’t about to let it go so easily.
So she softened her voice, coaxing the slaves gently: “That’s a Xiumu Butterfly. For almost everyone, it’s useless. But I really need it. If you could give it back to me, I’d be so grateful.”
“I’ll pay, whatever you want, we can negotiate. I promise, no tricks.”
A snort echoed from the shadows. In the corner, a man with sunken eyes hocked a mouthful of spit onto the floor.
“People like us? We’ve got nothing left to wish for. Spirit stones? No use here. Food? Don’t want it. The only thing we want… heh.”
He eyed the half-smiling, delicate-faced young woman just outside the iron bars, rising to his feet and letting out a downright lecherous laugh.
“Miss, you come a little closer and that butterfly’s yours.”
Mu Xue stood calm and composed by the window, quietly waiting for the man to come to her himself. The gentle smile on her face didn’t flicker an inch.
She didn’t like causing trouble, but that didn’t mean she was easy prey.
Her friend Ruan Honglian used to say, “Xiao Xue, you look all sweet and harmless on the outside, but crack you open and it’s pitch black inside.”
Mu Xue had never minded. “Come on, anyone who grew up in Fuwang City, none of us managed to stay pure. The real white lotuses? They’ve all been buried long ago.”
The sleazy man didn’t even get a chance to approach.
A hand slipped out from the small window in the stone wall. It was thin, pale, crisscrossed with scars, a boy’s hand, narrow-boned but not yet fully grown. And in the delicate space between his fingers rested a gleaming Xiumu Butterfly.
The hand hovered in front of Mu Xue, its owner swallowed by shadows inside the wall. She couldn’t even make out his face.
“Take it.” His voice was cool and even, laced with the hoarse edge of a teenage boy.
Mu Xue hesitated, then took the butterfly gently. “Thank you. Is there anything I can give you in return?”
“No. Just go.” There was fatigue in his tone, an almost crushing weariness.
Mu Xue lingered for a bit, but nothing but silence drifted from that window. Whoever was inside had no interest in talking further.
She didn’t walk away until she was far down the road. Then Mu Xue sent out her spiritual sense to check in on the cage one last time.
A man yanked a boy up by the collar.
“You got a death wish, brat? Daring to ruin my shot!”
“I wasn’t ruining it. Actually, I was saving your ass.”
“Don’t kid yourself. You have any idea what she is? She’s a cultivator. Might even be an artifact refiner.”
“Bull… bullshit. How could you possibly know that?”
“You wanna die, don’t drag the rest of us down with you.”
Looks like he could handle himself, a clever kid, after all.
A few days later,
Mu Xue strolled down the street with her bestie Ruan Honglian, side by side. She’d just made a hefty sale to the head of the Hai family, who’d paid handsomely for her latest artifact. Safe to say, she was in a perfect mood.
Artifacts crafted by Mu Xue were always top of the line. Old Man Hai was so pleased, he’d even sent his right-hand man, Liangzi, to walk the girls out.
“A-Lian, just a couple days ago, I nearly lost my Xiumu Butterfly right here. Had to chase it across three streets before I got it back,” Mu Xue said, half-laughing, half-complaining.
“You couldn’t even hang onto a butterfly? Seriously, you’re hopeless,” Ruan Honglian quipped, taking the opening to roast her.
“Xiao Xue, honestly, it’s about time you hired some help. Your place is a disaster. It’s like you’re living less and less like a proper lady. Go buy yourself a housekeeper auntie, someone who can cook and keep things in order. Or get a maid, at least. You need someone to run errands and put your clothes in order.”
“Do I really need to buy someone? I don’t exactly like people touching my stuff…”
“Oh, cut it out. An artifact refiner of your level, who doesn’t have minions running around? You need people just to keep up appearances!” Ruan Honglian grinned at Liangzi. “Since we’re already here on the Goods Street and Brother Liang’s with us, let him help pick out someone capable for our Xiao Xue.”
In the Demon Spirit Realm, sect inheritance wasn’t really a thing. Most traditions passed down through family lines instead.
The Lei family had always run businesses in human trade. If you were a Lei, you could talk up a storm at any gathering, no problem.
Liangzi did not disappoint. “Master Mu, Master Ruan, buying someone in my family’s market? You honor the Lei clan. Everyone here’s our people. Want ‘em tall or short, thin or handsome? Whoever you pick, just sign the contract on-site and take them home. Price is guaranteed to be the best deal around.”
Mu Xue thought of the mountain of materials piling up in her home, and all the bursting storage pouches that had long since defied sorting. Suddenly, Ruan Honglian’s advice made complete sense.
“Thanks, Brother Liang. What I really need is someone who can help with artifact refinement.” She ticked off on her fingers. “First, they have to be literate. They should know all refinement materials below third-grade, a bit of basic pharmacology, and at least have flipped through a decent beast compendium. If they can pre-process low-grade materials, amazing. If they’re at the Foundation Establishment stage, and can help with material control and managing fires, then…”
“Stop right there! Are you buying a maid or trying to hire a master artifact refiner?” Ruan Honglian saw Brother Liang’s face getting blacker by the second and quickly cut Mu Xue off.
“What, there’s no one like that?” Mu Xue instantly wilted, disappointed.
“Occasionally, you’ll find low-stage cultivators willing to sell themselves into service, but their price is through the roof.” Brother Liang coughed, rescuing a shred of his dignity. “If Master Mu really wants a helper like that, you could buy a low-level cultivator, keep them close and teach them up yourself. After a few years, maybe they’ll meet all your picky standards.”
“If it’s going to be that much trouble, never mind.” Mu Xue waved it off.
Just then, as they crossed a tiny courtyard, a sudden commotion erupted from the end of the covered walkway.
A boy darted out from the corner, sprang onto the wooden railing, vaulted over it, and leapt down. He landed in a crouch to break his fall, then bolted toward the side door in a flash.
Slender limbs, movement quick and clean.
He looked like a startled fawn running wild through the woods. That image suddenly seized Mu Xue’s mind.
But, in the end, fawns are always hunted down by wolves, and this boy would be no exception.
A crew of burly men burst out hollering from behind the corridor, quickly splitting up to corner their fleeing little slave. He barely got far before they caught his ankle and pinned him to the ground.
The boy struggled for his life, but a big bald guy grabbed his hair and slapped him across the face, hard.
“Quit, quit hitting me, boss! I won’t run again!” the boy instantly begged for mercy.
Breathless, the bald man pressed his head down and barked, “Where’d you think you’re going, huh? As if you could get away!”
He let up a little, though, once the kid started pleading and backed down.
“Ah!”
Baldy suddenly howled, stumbling away, clutching his bleeding fingers.
The “fawn” who’d bitten him used the chance to break free and tumbled down the corridor steps, landing right at Mu Xue’s feet.
Mu Xue glanced down. Skinny, not even ten yet. A mop of tangled hair hid the boy’s brows, his face nearly unreadable.
The boy looked up at her, then, out of nowhere, knelt right down in front of her. “Are you here to buy a slave? Pick me, please?”
As he spoke, he wiped his face and swept aside his bangs, revealing a pair of strikingly beautiful eyes.
Truth was, the whole face on that frail, starved body was delicate, a bit too pretty for this filthy world. But those eyes especially stood out: long, soft lashes; clear, deep irises; and elegant eyelids that framed his gaze just so.
Eyes like that, wide and pleading, could melt anyone’s heart. Even Mu Xue felt her guard slipping ever so slightly.
He clearly knew how to work his assets. When he needed them, he revealed his face; otherwise, he stayed hidden behind that messy hair.
Mu Xue noticed in just these few actions, he’d regulated his breathing, straightened his back, and even started introducing himself, like this was a job interview.
“My name’s Xiao Shan.”
All the while, the boy sized Mu Xue up, starting with her hands. Hands roughened by years spent in artifact workshops, forging, smelting, endlessly crafting; marked with unique calluses and that particular artisan’s tan.
He glanced next at the puppet-control rings on her fingers, then the freshly bought bag of monster bones dangling from her hand. That seemed to put him at ease.
“I can read, and I know every refining material under Tier Four. I’ve studied ‘Bestiary Compendium’, ‘Introduction to Smelting’, and ‘Materia Medica’.”
At this, he looked up, lashes fluttering, those damp eyes fixed on Mu Xue.
Mu Xue had to admit: the second he mentioned ‘Bestiary Compendium’, she was already tempted.
And when he looked at her like this, she nearly agreed on the spot.
“No,” came Ruan Honglian’s warning, buzzing in her ear, “This one’s too sharp. He read you top to bottom with a single glance, already sizing you up. Take in a kid like that, you’ll be raising a wolf at home. One day, he’ll swallow you whole and not even spit out your bones.”
Mu Xue hesitated, torn.
“What’s going on?” Liangzi asked, brow furrowed.
“Brother Liang, just a small accident.” The bald man spotted Liangzi in the crowd; resentment flashed in his eyes, but he didn’t dare act out. Hunching, he kept his voice low. “He’s supposed to serve in Room 3 on the fourth floor tonight. Kid tried to run for it, can you believe the nerve?”
“Unbelievable. Get him out of here.” Liangzi shot him a look.
At the mention of Room 3, Xiao Shan visibly trembled. That was the filthiest place in this dump, a pit nobody survived if they were sent in to ‘entertain’ the patrons.
Desperate, the boy clung to Mu Xue’s sleeve, pleading, “Please buy me, sis. I can do anything, earn you money, eat almost nothing, I’ll pay back every spirit stone you spend on me.”
He was clever, sure, but in the end, he was still just a kid.
When the man moved to grab him again, the boy clung tighter to Mu Xue’s sleeve, his calm and calculation now replaced by panic.
“Really! I can do anything, please! Laundry, yardwork, I’m stronger than I look, I swear. Please buy me. I’m not going to Room 3, not even over my dead body.”
“You little twig, with those stick arms, you think you’re strong? Let go! Or I’ll really be the death of you.”
The bald man’s hand sliced down, practically riding the wind, and was abruptly caught midair by a cold, mechanical grip closing around his wrist.
“Mistress said: don’t touch this one.” A squat iron puppet, appearing out of nowhere, croaked the words in its rusty, static-laced voice.
The bald man hulking over like a mountain, he was one of the top thugs on Goods Street, already a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment stage.
Yet this half-pint puppet, built barely as tall as a teacup, extended its telescoping arm and effortlessly held his massive arm in place, pinning him without the slightest wiggle-room.
Mu Xue didn’t even have her hands raised; hadn’t formed a single hand-seal. This was just one of her casual artifacts at play.
Liangzi and the man traded glances; only now did they realize the full weight behind that title, Master Mu.