Wait a minute, where is my master?

"Over there?"

Yu Yaoer murmured softly and turned her head in the direction Jin Xu's chin had pointed.

She saw that in the crowd on the right, stood four familiar faces.

——————

Indeed, just as Fan Changnian was about to use his ancestral method with the Golden Needle to force the hidden moths to reveal themselves,

a clear voice suddenly rang out.

"Stop!"

Upon hearing this, the two within the circle paused, Fan Changnian holding the needle in one hand and the cover in the other, turning his face toward the direction from which the voice had come.

A faint flicker of guilt flashed through the eyes of Manager Wang, but knowing this was not the time to be anxious, as haste could expose him more easily, he made no other move but quietly turned to look from where the voice had originated as well.

The spectators near the source of the voice automatically cleared a path.

The one who had spoken and his companions suddenly found themselves in a vacant space.

"Esteemed elder, what did you mean by telling me to stop just now?"

Fan Changnian stared at the four distinguished-looking individuals in the crowd, his expression at first registering surprise, then shifting to a slightly respectful demeanor.

"What I meant was to prevent you from being deceived. You were just whispering to the young man beside you, mentioning that you and your son had to resort to street selling here because you offended a Mr. Chen from the island.

"Whereas, this Manager Wang by your side, before he came to ask your price, was in a lengthy, secretive discussion with a youth dressed like a rich man on the third floor of that restaurant over there. The youth gave him a Golden Needle and instructed him to let you use this needle to reveal the hidden moths before coming here.

"So tell me, when I told you to stop, wasn't it to save you from being deceived?"

The speaker stepped forward and walked directly into the center of the circle, gesturing with his hand toward a three-story restaurant some distance away, his face taking on an inscrutable expression.

After hearing this, Fan Changnian's face changed numerous times, and he subconsciously pulled his son and Manager Wang away from him.

He then looked with angry eyes toward the person beside him.

"Manager Wang, you..."

"Nonsense! The man in the restaurant who spoke with me is the vice-chairman of our merchant association, and the Golden Needle in your hand was given to me by him. Elder Fan, you have offended the second son of the Chen family on the island, and now many merchants dare not buy this hidden moth from you. I kindly came out to help you, and now just because of a few words from a stranger, are you going to suspect me?

"If that's the case, return the Golden Needle to me, and I won't take the moth either!"

Manager Wang cut off Fan Changnian's question, his face displaying an expression as if bitten by an ungrateful dog that does not recognize a good person.

In his speech, he reached out to take back the Golden Needle held by the other party.

This action, which seemed to confirm Fan Changnian's suspicions that Manager Wang might have been sent by the young master of the Chen family, made him waver again.

He instinctively dodged, then turned his face looking toward the Cultivator who had spoken earlier.

"Esteemed elder, you claim that Manager Wang was sent by the second son of the Chen family, but do you have any evidence?"

After all, he was just a small cultivator from the Foundation Establishment Realm who had trapped moths in the Colorful Secret Realm for a lifetime. His bold refusal of a prodigal son and his drastic action to sell in the street had already been an extraordinary performance.

Facing another decision now, Fan Changnian felt a muddle-headedness as memories of the past welled up in his mind.

"Evidence!?"

The cultivator dressed in a pink Confucian robe seemed stunned by the question. He repeated the word, furrowed his brows lightly, and then calmly said,

"My word is the evidence."

This answer was evidently beyond Fan Changnian's expectations.

He looked at Manager Wang, who was glaring with anger, and then at the middle-aged Cultivator in the pink Confucian robe who had just spoken, and for a moment did not know what to do.

At that moment, the young Cultivator who hadn't spoken much before, Little Fan, quietly moved closer to his father and whispered.

"Dad, what you should be thinking about right now isn't who to trust.

"I had thought about it before, and this Hidden Moth we have is our last means of securing a livelihood. Whether we exchange it for a Golden Core Formation Pill or use it to pay for a ship to leave Sae Island.

"So, regardless of whether there's something suspicious about this Golden Needle from Manager Wang, we can't afford to gamble. Maybe it isn't my fate to undergo Core Formation; let's exchange this Hidden Moth for some Spirit Stones and leave Sae Island."

Upon hearing these words, Fan Changnian, whose mind had been a muddle, felt slightly more alert but was also somewhat reluctant to give up on his son's future.

The person in the pink Confucian robe then spoke.

"Tsk, not bad, your thinking is quite clear."

Little Fan, although complimented, did not show much joy but bowed politely with a cupped fist salute to the Confucian Practitioner.

"Senior, since you have spoken, would you be willing to exchange a Golden Core Formation Pill for this Hidden Moth?"

The Confucian Practitioner silently shook his head.

Little Fan's face remained expressionless as he took the Golden Needle from his father's hand, planning to return it to Manager Wang and then find a way to leave the island by boat.

He hadn't stopped his father earlier, harboring a sliver of fantasy about Core Formation, but the strange words of that Confucian Practitioner made him finally see things clearly.

Perhaps due to the rules on the island, Mr. Chen of the Chen family wasn't able to take direct action, but someone of his stature, if intending harm, would not lack methods aside from direct assault.

Exactly, this Golden Needle could very well be the evidence intended to ruin both him and his father's paths.

"My father and I even thought of doing something so desperate as openly selling it in the streets, ha, to Mr. Chen that must have seemed like child's play.

"If it weren't for the senior speaking up suddenly, if I still harbored a trace of fantasy about Core Formation, this Golden Needle could easily destroy the Hidden Moth, and we wouldn't have the funds to leave the island.

"At that time…"

Having thought things through, Little Fan felt a chill break out on his back.

When Elder Fan had the Golden Needle taken from his hands, he was somewhat unwilling. His son did have a chance at Core Formation, yet they now had to actively choose to give up, which was indeed hard to accept.

Little did he know.

Some things that seem readily attainable only require one more step forward, which could lead directly into an abyss.

"Manager Wang, here you go, whether or not you are affiliated with Mr. Chen of the Chen family, it doesn't matter anymore."

"Senior, thank you for the reminder. Little Nian will keep it in heart."

Little Fan, after speaking, pulled his father, who still wore a reluctant expression, and they walked past the crowd.

Meanwhile,

The small Taoist in the crowd silently watched them.

His companion, Yu Yaoer, asked curiously, "Mr. Jin, is it over just like that?"

Jin Xu slowly shook his head, softly saying, "There's more still."

Based on the messages he had just heard, this matter was indeed far from over.

Sure enough, Little Nian had just walked a few steps away.

The Cultivator in the pink Confucian robe then chuckled and spoke again.

"Wait a moment, although I didn't say I'd buy your Hidden Moth, I didn't say I wouldn't give you a Golden Core Formation Pill either."