Chapter 189: Trouble

Song Wanfeng didn’t continue to insist after hearing this.

He felt there was no need to rush the matter.

’We can first establish a cooperative relationship and then take things slow. I don’t believe I won’t be able to poach Xu Yuan and his wife.’ He thought, his lips curled in a cunning smile.

“I want to buy all the talismans in the shop.” He said and Zhen Yuan raised an eyebrow but didn’t refute.

“Okay.” He said and began preparing the order.

Soon after, Song Wanfeng and his group left the shop and Zhen Yuan replaced the sold goods before sitting down.

A moment later, he closed his eyes and began comprehending the laws he had memorised.

Life continued in this way.

Zhen Yuan opened the shop every day, sold goods, practised his arts and meditated.

Time passed in the link of an eye and before he knew it, it was two years later.

On this day, Zhen Yuan was drawing a level five talisman when a loud bang echoed in the surroundings.

Hearing the loud sound, Zhen Yuan frowned but his drawing hand remained steady.

Unfortunately, the tree wanted to be still but the wind kept blowing!

While Zhen Yuan was drawing, three male cultivators entered the Xuyuan wines and talismans shop.

“Are you the boss?” One of the male cultivators aggressively asked.

“Do you need something?” Zhen Yuan asked but his hand didn’t stop.

During the trip to the Tianqi continent, he consolidated and stabilised his knowledge base.

However, he didn’t begin learning level five arts until Shen Xu went into seclusion.

Of his three arts, Zhen Yan chose to begin with talismans.

After all, his store was talisman shop and the drawn talismans could be sold in the shop.

“What kind of talismans are you selling? I will smash your shop if you don’t give me an explanation.”

Zhen Yuan narrowed his eyes when he heard this but his expression did not change.

“What kind of explanation do you want?” He asked.

“My brother bought a level four earth wall talisman from your shop. As a result, the talisman did not activate when my brother was fighting with his enemy. My brother would have died if he didn’t happen to have a protective shield.” The leading male cultivator said in an indignant voice.

“Evidence.” Zhen Yuan said without looking at the three people.

“Do you mean to deny your guilt?” One of the three angrily shouted.

This shout attracted several passerby’s and a crowd began to gather in the store.

“What is going on?” Someone asked.

“I heard something about a talisman but I am not sure.”

Seeing that they had attracted attention, one of the three began to explain.

“My brother bought an earth wall talisman from this shop but it didn’t activate when he was fighting with his enemy.”

Hearing this, the crowd couldn’t help but shudder.

“How dangerous.” One said.

“An unreliable talisman can be a fatal mistake during a fight.”

“This shop only sells high grade talismans but how can a talisman master be so consistent? I have always thought there is something wrong with this shop’s talismans.”

“Really? Why do you keep coming back if you think there is something wrong?”

“I have been buying things from here since the shop opened and I have never encountered a problem. Anyway, I don’t believe their claim.”

“I have also been buying…”

“Has the boss paid you? Why would we come here to cause trouble if our brother wasn’t seriously injured because of this shop’s talismans?”

The crowd fell silent after hearing this.

After all, they were just customers of the shops and didn’t have a stake in its profits.

While they were willing to say something good about the shop, they weren’t willing to get into trouble.

“What evidence do you have?” Zhen Yuan asked, putting his brush down.

“What evidence do you have that your brother bought his talisman here? Even if you can prove that he bought his talisman here, what evidence do you have that it didn’t activate?” Zhen Yuan started and quickly continued.

“Let’s say it didn’t activate, what evidence do you have that the talisman is defective? Where is the talisman? Shall we take it to the talisman association for an assessment?”

Hearing this, the three troublemakers looked at each other before sneering.

“Our brother was so angry that he directly destroyed the defective talisman.”

“Is that so?” Zhen Yuan nodded with a curious expression before he asked.

“Who are you?”

“Why does that matter?” The leading male cultivator asked.

“Why doesn’t it matter? You came here to accuse me without producing evidence. Isn’t it because you have an unassailable reputation? A reputation that is so stellar that people can believe your words even when there is no evidence?” Zhen Yuan asked and a trace of mockery flashed in his eyes.

Zhen Yuan knew the three people were intentionally causing trouble.

He even knew the likely culprit behind the matter.

However, he wasn’t obligated to play along.

This time, he was determined to let them pay a heavy price.

“What’s your identity?” Zhen Yuan asked.

“Do you refuse to admit your guilt?” One of the three asked.

“I feel guilty about nothing.” Zhen Yuan said and a teasing light flashed in his eyes before he spoke.

“This situation is a you-say, I-say matter, why don’t we conduct an experiment?”

“What do you mean?”

“Since one talisman didn’t activate, there must be more that are defective. Why don’t we take a gamble?” Zhen Yuan said, pointing to the left side of the shop.

“We will randomly choose one hundred talismans. If there is one talisman that doesn’t activate, I will close my shop and give you one hundred million spirit stones. However, if all my talismans activate, I will break your legs.”

The crowd broke into an uproar when the words fell.

“Isn’t this gamble too unequal?” Someone wondered.

“I also think so.”

“It’s indeed unequal. The leg is just broken and not cut-off. A break can be healed with an ordinary healing pill or bone-healing pill depending on the severity. However, the boss will lose his shop and spirit stones if he loses the bet.”

“The boss must be confident in his talismans otherwise he wouldn’t have suggested the gamble.”

“No matter how talented the boss is, he can’t control all variables. With the number of talismans in the shop, there must be one or two that aren’t up too par. What if the one or two are chosen among the one hundred?”

“This gamble is not good.”

However, Zhen Yuan was not worried.

He was naturally confident in his talismans and knew he wouldn’t lose.

The reason he suggested such an unequal gamble was too lure the three into a false sense of security.

When people felt they could afford a loss, they tended to be careless and less vigilant.

Zhen Yuan was counting on this mentality.

’There will be a good show to watch after you fall into my trap.’ He thought, his eyes narrowed into slits.

At the same time, his lips curled into a mocking smile.

’Don’t think I don’t see your tricks just because I haven’t done anything about it.’ He thought.

“I agree.” Someone interrupted his thoughts.

Looking over, Zhen Yuan saw the lead troublemaker staring at him with a mocking face.

’Let’s see how long you can that expression.’ Zhen Yuan thought.

“We also agree.” The other two said.

After thinking about it, the three felt there was a high chance of encountering one or two defective talismans among those in the shop.

If they won the bet, they would gain a lot but if they lost, the lose was small and within the acceptable range.

Thinking this way, they didn’t hesitate for too long.

“We don’t trust the boss to test the talismans. Who is willing to help us test the talismans?” The leader asked, looking at the gathered crowd.

However, no one immediately offered.

After all, no one wanted to get involved in other people’s problems.

Most importantly, if the boss won and kept the shop, wouldn’t they have offended the person?

At that time, could they still buy good wine and high-quality talismans?

“Is anyone willing to test talismans?” Zhen Yuan asked and quickly continued.

“Regardless of the outcome, the assistant will be rewarded with thee level four talismans.”

Hearing there would be benefits, several people immediately offered.

However, only one person was needed so Zhen Yuan chose the first person to offer.

“You can randomly choose one hundred talismans.” Zhen Yuan said, moving aside to make way for the female cultivator.

Soon after, the woman picked one hundred talismans ranging from level one to level four.

After that, everyone left and moved to the empty lot beside the shop.

“You can start at any time.” Zhen Yuan said and the female cultivator nodded.

A moment later, the woman activated the first talisman.

As it happened, this talisman was a level four earth wall talisman.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep