Cannon Fodder’s Guide to Getting Rich

Chapter 115

Seeing this, Xu Jingshu smiled warmly and praised sincerely, "You all did exceptionally well in this round of trials."

In the expectations she, the sect leader, and the other pavilion masters had for the Divine Abyss Valley trial, they had hoped their Qingling Mountain disciples would at least match the Purple Flame Realm in terms of sacred stones.

Yet, these six little rascals outright eliminated the Purple Flame Realm’s team.

Marvelous, truly marvelous. Especially after witnessing Di Xiuyuan’s expression just now, Xu Jingshu felt even more delighted.

"Little Cao is already preparing the spirit stones. Go collect your reward from him," Xu Jingshu said before leaving. Then, as if remembering something, she glanced at the beaming girl and the silver-haired young man with a dejected expression in the team and added gently, "Oh, Wen Shuangbai, Yin Xuan, Elder Ye has something to discuss with you. Make a stop at his place on your way."

Wen Shuangbai was momentarily stunned.

Elder Ye, the physician, wanted to see her?

And he had specifically included the senior brother—her only connection with Yin Xuan was Wen Feng… So, could it be that something had happened to her so-called father?

"Understood," Wen Shuangbai replied without delay, pulling her senior brother along as they hurried to Elder Ye’s medicinal courtyard.

"Elder Ye, you asked for us?"

In the small courtyard filled with all kinds of medicinal and poisonous herbs, an old man lay basking in the sun on a rattan chair.

Hearing Wen Shuangbai’s voice, the elder physician opened his eyes and, with leisurely amusement, played coy. "One piece of good news, one piece of bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"

Wen Shuangbai didn’t particularly care, and she already had an inkling of what it might be. So she turned to Yin Xuan, signaling her senior brother to choose.

Yin Xuan stood quietly to the side. Though his posture was upright, he still exuded an air of weariness.

He sighed softly—he, too, had his suspicions.

Glancing at the rattan chair beneath the old man, Yin Xuan thought for a moment before asking politely, "May this disciple choose neither?"

Cowardice was shameful, but cowardice worked.

Wen Shuangbai: "..."

Elder Ye: "…………"

Elder Ye lost his composure, his beard twitching in irritation as he sat up from his chair. Giving up on circling the topic, he said bluntly, "Wen Feng is dead."

At this, Yin Xuan lowered his head in silence.

Wen Shuangbai glanced at her senior brother before asking Elder Ye, "Has the Twin Life Gu returned?"

"Indeed," the old man replied, beaming. For him, this was the best news possible. He had feared his precious gu worms would remain trapped in Wen Feng and Lu Ying’s bodies for years, never expecting their hosts to perish so quickly.

Elder Ye added, "After the Twin Life Gu returned, I had Little Cao investigate. The Lu family’s internal strife is fierce. Lu Ying’s faction suffered a crushing defeat, and his uncle is now the head of the family. Officially, they claim Lu Ying is missing, his whereabouts unknown. But he’s definitely dead."

"Oh, one more thing," Elder Ye continued, settling comfortably back into his reclining chair. "Someone was pulling strings behind the scenes in the Lu family’s affairs. There’s someone out there who wanted Lu Ying dead even more than you did."

Wen Shuangbai frowned. "Who?"

"Little Cao couldn’t trace who it was. Must be someone with considerable influence—Lu Ying sure made a lot of enemies," Elder Ye said, waving his sleeve dismissively. He had little interest in worldly conflicts. "Alright, off you go. This old man needs his nap."

On their way out of the medical quarters, Wen Shuangbai stole several glances at Yin Xuan.

Her senior brother was as quiet as ever, always lingering silently in the background. Even now, walking side by side, he instinctively stayed half a step behind her—a gesture of both protection and devotion.

During the Divine Tower trials, she and the others had charged ahead fearlessly, knowing their senior brother had their backs.

Yin Xuan had always been deeply sentimental—not just toward his junior siblings, but even toward Wen Feng, his master.

Despite Wen Feng’s years of neglect, never once caring for his disciples or his own daughter, to Yin Xuan, Wen Feng had still saved his life.

In the original novel’s plot, Yin Xuan had met a tragic end precisely because he couldn’t let go of this debt of gratitude.

Truthfully, Wen Shuangbai felt no grief over Wen Feng’s death.

In the original story, Wen Feng had doted on Yu Xiaoxiao—the very girl responsible for his own daughter’s demise. That alone ensured Wen Shuangbai would never acknowledge him as a father.

But she knew her senior brother’s heart must be heavy.

He simply kept it all inside, never speaking a word of his sorrow.

"Senior Brother, are you alright?" Wen Shuangbai asked.

Yin Xuan snapped out of his thoughts and smiled gently. "I’m fine. Ah, we should inform Little Junior Sister about this."

"I’ll remember to," Wen Shuangbai nodded. "I’ll tell her shortly."

"Mn." Yin Xuan paused, then said softly, "Second Junior Sister, when you collect the spirit stones from Elder Cao later, could you take mine as well? I’d like to practice my sword forms for a while."

Wen Shuangbai thought it might be good for him to have some time alone. Just as she was about to agree, a bright, spirited voice rang out from afar:

"What? Sword practice?! Then how about a few rounds with me?"

The branches of a distant tree rustled violently as a girl in red leaped down, her face alight with excitement.

Finally! After months of competing together in the trials, she had caught the elusive Yin Xuan mentioning sword practice!

In an instant, Yin Xuan’s expression turned ashen, caught between speech and silence.

Wen Shuangbai looked ahead down the path.

At the bend in the tree-lined trail, four figures stood or sat idly.

Her gaze instinctively landed first on the white-robed man leaning against a tree.

Noticing her attention, he lifted his eyes and curved his lips into a faint smile.

Beside him, Shen Hefeng sat cross-legged on the ground, chewing on a blade of grass.

Lu Jiayao crouched nearby, chatting with him.

Li Zhuohua had just jumped down from the tree.

"Why are you all here?" Wen Shuangbai asked, puzzled. "Didn’t you go to Elder Cao for the reward first?"

"This elder would’ve loved to, but these lot insisted on waiting for you two," Shen Hefeng grumbled, spitting out the grass. "Honestly, you’re all grown-ups. Must you cling to each other like this? It’s exhausting."

Xie Ziyin stepped away from the tree and shot Shen Hefeng a look. "If you didn’t want to wait, you could’ve left. No one was stopping you."

"Exactly!" Lu Jiayao chimed in. "You wanted to wait too, yet you blame us—"

"Enough, enough. This elder won’t bicker with you lot. Quit dawdling and let’s go find Elder Cao." Shen Hefeng dusted himself off and stood.

Lu Jiayao glanced between Wen Shuangbai and Yin Xuan before asking curiously, "Shuangbai, Brother Yin, what did Elder Ye want with you?"

Shen Hefeng took one look at Yin Xuan’s despondent expression and immediately scolded Lu Jiayao, "You blockhead! Learn some tact—don’t pry into things that aren’t your business."

Lu Jiayao pouted. "I was just asking! What’s the harm?"

Wen Shuangbai saw no reason to hide it. "My father and Lu Ying are dead."

"What?! H-How…?" Lu Jiayao gasped. "How could this happen so suddenly?!"

"Too sudden? Not really." Shen Hefeng made a "wishing you wealth" gesture at Wen Shuangbai. "Wen Erbai, congratulations on escaping the sea of misery!"

Wen Shuangbai shot him an annoyed glare. "No one would mistake you for mute if you just shut up."

"No wonder you wanted to practice swordsmanship." So her master had died—but Li Zhuohua thought this was a good thing. She had never liked Wen Feng. With him gone, Wen Shuangbai and her martial siblings would finally have a better life! Unable to hide her delight, Li Zhuohua eagerly suggested, "Brother Yin, let’s go practice!"

Yin Xuan: "..."

For some reason, seeing these carefree individuals made him... lose all motivation to train.

He slumped back into laziness. "Never mind. Let’s go collect our money first."

After getting paid, he’d treat himself to good food, get some proper rest, and then sneak off to train alone later.

Li Zhuohua was visibly disappointed but reluctantly followed the group to Elder Cao’s place, where they received an exceptionally generous sum of spirit stones.

After collecting their earnings, the six of them went their separate ways.

Yin Xuan wandered off in search of a hidden gem—a small, obscure eatery tucked away in the back alleys.

Lu Jiayao, as usual, first stopped by the bank to send money to his parents back in Qingzhou. After that, he sought out the dubious friends he’d recently befriended for gossip and casual chatter.

Shen Hefeng disappeared to some street, likely to play the charlatan and prank unsuspecting passersby.

Wen Shuangbai planned to head to Caiyuan Tower with Senior Sister Li Zhuohua.

Li Zhuohua intended to "randomly select lucky employees" for sparring sessions, while Wen Shuangbai wanted to find her junior sister Wen Xin—to inform her of their master’s death and check on the business’s recent performance.

She thought of inviting Xie Ziyin along. Though he was a healer, he often had sharp insights when it came to managing operations.

So she made a special trip to his room to fetch him—only to be met with refusal. "Private matters," he claimed.

"Private matters?" Wen Shuangbai was caught off guard.

Xie Ziyin leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. "Yes."

She studied the man before her, his reluctance to elaborate stirring an unfamiliar emotion in her chest.

A tiny, inexplicable displeasure.

Come to think of it, ever since they’d arrived in the imperial capital for the Profound Heaven Tournament, they’d always been together.

As fellow transmigrators, Xie Ziyin, like her, had distanced himself from the original host’s old friends, cutting ties long ago.

Apart from their current team, neither had other close connections. They knew each other inside out—so what "private matters" could he possibly have?

But since it was private, she couldn’t pry. After all, they weren’t the kind of relationship where they reported their every move. They were just teammates.

"Alright then, old man. Enjoy your busy schedule." Wen Shuangbai smiled sweetly—then shoved him back into his room and slammed the door shut with exaggerated politeness.

The loud BANG nearly scared Four Hundred, who had been happily wriggling nearby, half to death.

The spirit brush, its puppet robes ruined, scrambled up from the floor in a panic and hurried after Wen Shuangbai.

Wait for it!! It needed to go to Caiyuan Tower too—to get new clothes from its big brothers and sisters!

However, that faint displeasure was soon soothed by the allure of money.

At Caiyuan Tower, Wen Shuangbai couldn’t stop running her hands over the account books, her grin unwavering.

Beside her, her junior sister Wen Xin—still young but growing increasingly poised and capable—reported, "Senior Sister, Caiyuan Tower has already broken even. This month, we’ve started turning a profit. But most of our customers are cultivators from Qingzhou, Yunzhou, and Xingzhou. Buyers from other regions are scarce, and people from the imperial capital almost never visit. And..."

"And when imperial customers do buy, they inevitably return the goods and stir up trouble, demanding compensation, right?" Wen Shuangbai flipped through the post-sale records she’d specifically requested. A quick glance confirmed that most problematic orders came from the capital.

Wen Xin sighed. "Exactly."

During the tournament, many patrons had flocked to Caiyuan Tower due to her senior brother and sister’s reputations. But as the competition intensified, imperial customers withdrew—and those who did purchase would inevitably cause trouble.

False accusations, framed defects, unreasonable demands—all sorts of underhanded business tactics emerged. Fortunately, Caiyuan Tower’s roots lay in a den of thieves.

Such petty schemes were nothing to fear. Wen Xin and the team had handled them all with ease.

"Then we’ll stop selling to the imperial capital." Wen Shuangbai closed the records, smiling. "Qingzhou alone can sustain us. We don’t need the capital."

Still, the capital did remind her of something she wanted to investigate.

That evening, she stayed at Caiyuan Tower much later than usual. On her way back, she stopped by the night market for snacks—only to find the tea table in the main hall already laden with food when she returned to Endless House.

Everyone else was there, waiting.

"Shuangbai, you’re finally back!" Lu Jiayao called. "We’ve been waiting—come sit!"

Shen Hefeng grinned. "We were starting to think you’d fallen into a latrine."

Li Zhuohua hurled a peanut shell at him. "I told you she was absorbed in reviewing memory pearls at Caiyuan Tower!"

"Don’t mind him, Senior Sister. Shen Hefeng’s mouth was washed in a latrine, so it’s always this foul." Wen Shuangbai took the last empty seat, eyeing the spread. "You all bought snacks too?"

Beside her, Xie Ziyin—seated at the head of the table—was brewing tea for everyone.

He took the food from her hands and placed a cup of tea before her, explaining casually, "Everyone ended up buying something."

"You should’ve said so earlier. I would’ve bought less." Now there’d be leftovers.

From his corner, Yin Xuan chuckled between bites. "No worries. I can finish it."

Coincidentally or not, everything bought happened to be his favorite.

"Great! Then eat up, Senior Brother!" Wen Shuangbai took a sip of tea and paused—this was no ordinary brew. A soothing warmth of spiritual energy lingered on her tongue, gently coursing through her meridians. "Spirit tea?"

Xie Ziyin nodded. "Fire Lotus Marrow Tea."

Fire Lotus Marrow Tea?!

Wen Shuangbai blinked. This tea’s effects rivaled top-grade elixirs—and it perfectly complemented her fire-aligned constitution, as if tailored for her.

Most importantly, it was absurdly expensive.

She drained her cup in one go. "Since when is Qingling Mountain this generous?"

Xie Ziyin refilled her cup. "They’re not. I bought it."

"Thank you, Brother Ziyin!" Lu Jiayao stretched out his hand, offering his empty cup. "In all my years, this is the first time I’ve ever tasted Fire Lotus Marrow!"

"Same here," Shen Hefeng raised his cup toward Xie Ziyin, though his eyes lingered on Wen Shuangbai. "Thanks to you, Wen Erbai—we’re all benefiting because of you."

Wen Shuangbai: "…………"

Under everyone’s gaze, Wen Shuangbai inexplicably felt her face grow warm.

"It’s got nothing to do with me. If you want to thank someone, thank him." Seeing Shen Hefeng’s eyes gleam mischievously, as if about to spout some nonsense, Wen Shuangbai quickly changed the subject. "By the way, have any of you noticed that Di Yanran seems... off?"

Earlier that day, she had reviewed the recorded memories of the Divine Evolution Temple’s latest competition at the Caiyuan Pavilion, paying special attention to the Purple Flame Realm—particularly Di Yanran.

It was truly strange. Di Yanran and her brother Di Qi were practically inseparable, and their behavior was far too intimate—not like siblings, but more like lovers.

For comparison, Wen Shuangbai also checked the recordings from Tianjia Village. What she found shocked her.

In moments when no one was watching, Di Yanran seemed like an entirely different person.

Shen Hefeng shrugged. "No idea. Didn’t notice. I’m not exactly close with her."

Lu Jiayao shook his head too. "I’m more familiar with the disciples from Jade Rhinoceros Valley and the Divine Evolution Temple."

"I felt it too!" Unlike Shen Hefeng and Lu Jiayao, Li Zhuohua had also sensed something amiss. She grumbled, "That Di Yanran kept staring at me for some reason. Every time I glared back, she’d immediately look away—like she was paranoid or something. And the way she looked at me... as if I’d stolen her sword!"

Yin Xuan nodded softly in agreement. "Miss Di does seem different from before."

"Don’t you think..." Xie Ziyin tapped the table lightly with his fingertips, "...she resembles someone? Someone we all know?"

"Possession? A ghost taking over her body?" Shen Hefeng scoffed. "And the Di family didn’t notice? Are they all blind?"

Wen Shuangbai glanced at him. "Or maybe the Di family allowed it to happen?"

"If that’s true, then Di Yanran is truly unfortunate."

Lu Jiayao gasped. "Heavens, that’s terrifying! Who could’ve possessed her?"

Wen Shuangbai exchanged glances with the three others who had also sensed something wrong with Di Yanran, then cautiously uttered a name: "Yu Xiaoxiao."

"And there’s something else. Elder Ye mentioned that someone is trying to kill Lu Ying." Wen Shuangbai had been mulling over this on her way back, and a suspicion had formed. "I remember Lu Ying was investigating Yu Xiaoxiao’s whereabouts. What if he uncovered something—maybe even something about the Di family? Could that be why they want him dead?"