In the world of cultivation, one grinds for proficiency and longevity.

"To be honest, I've come here today because I have a favor to ask of your shop." Manager Wu began to show a troubled expression.

"Oh?" Zhou Ruoyun's eyebrows twitched slightly. "You might as well just say it."

Manager Wu took out an order from his sleeve and spread it out on the counter.

Zhou Ruoyun glanced down at it and immediately understood its contents—

Four hundred mid-grade Tier 1 Fireball Talismans!

"A demon-hunting team from the east wants it, with a two-month deadline!"

Shopkeeper Wu pointed to the orders, his tone filled with anxious distress:

"Miss Zhou, you're an expert. The fireball talisman patterns are intricate and take the most time to draw. Even with my two old masters in the shop, we can only produce a hundred or so a month at most. The rest is still short..."

Seeing that Zhou Ruo didn't respond, Manager Wu continued, "Miss Zhou, I've examined the talismans in your shop; they're of superior quality and reliable. How about we split this order in half with you?"

Four hundred mid-grade talismans?!

Even if we split it in half, it's still a huge business deal!

Xiaoyue's eyes lit up, and she secretly tugged at Zhou Ruoyun's sleeve.

Zhou Ruoyun did not turn around to look at her.

"Manager Wu, thank you for your high regard," Zhou Ruoyun said calmly. "This is no small sum; please allow me two days to consider it. What do you say?"

"Yes, yes." Manager Wu wasn't annoyed at all. He cupped his hands in greeting. "Then this old man will await Miss Zhou's good news."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the door.

Zhou Ruoyun and Xiaoyue saw them off at the door.

Just then, a few rogue cultivators walked down the street and headed straight for Baiyun Talisman Shop.

The man in the lead froze when he saw Manager Wu coming out of the door, and an awkward smile appeared on his face.

"Manager Wu... Manager Wu."

Zhou Ruoyun recognized this person; he had helped her the day before yesterday and yesterday. She didn't expect him to bring people over today.

Judging from his appearance, he must be a regular customer of Manager Wu.

Shopkeeper Wu, completely oblivious to the other man's embarrassment, burst into laughter and patted the man surnamed Zhang on the shoulder, saying, "Old Zhang, you've come at the right time!"

His voice was quite loud; it could be heard throughout the entire street.

"Let me tell you, from now on, only buy talismans from here. Old Wu personally inspects Master Zhou's talismans, and their quality is at least 10% better than mine!"

The man surnamed Zhang was stunned by what he said, and even the men next to him looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Go, go."

Shopkeeper Wu gave Baiyun Talisman Shop a push, then turned back to Zhou Ruoyun, cupped his hands in a friendly gesture, and said, "Miss Zhou, I'll take my leave now."

After saying that, he put his hands behind his back and walked slowly toward West Street.

Looking at the slightly hunched back, Xiaoyue couldn't help but sigh, "Miss, this Manager Wu is truly a rare and kind person!"

"Maybe."

Zhou Ruoyun watched as Manager Wu's figure disappeared around the street corner, a flicker of doubt crossing her eyes. She instructed Xiaoyue to attend to the customers, then turned back to the shop, picked up the brocade box from the counter, and lightly stepped up to the second floor.

The second floor is much quieter than the first floor.

A long table was placed by the window, covered with cut talisman paper, with a cinnabar dish and several talisman brushes next to it.

Chen Changqing sat behind the desk, holding a talisman pen in his hand, the tip of which hovered steadily on a half-finished talisman paper.

"Evergreen".

Zhou Ruoyun came up, placed the brocade box on the corner of the table, and then sat down to the side.

She didn't rush to speak, but first glanced at the talisman paper on the table. It was a mid-grade fireball talisman, already seventy percent complete, with smooth lines and abundant spiritual energy.

"The quality has improved again," she said softly.

Chen Changqing finished the last stroke, and a flash of light appeared on the talisman before returning to calm.

He put down his pen, rotated his wrist, and then turned to look at Zhou Ruoyun: "Have we had guests downstairs?"

"Manager Wu of Lao Wu Talisman Shop."

Zhou Ruoyun opened the brocade box, revealing the talisman paper inside, and then recounted everything that had just happened.

This includes Manager Wu's "generous" behavior when he bumps into a regular customer at the door.

After listening, Chen Changqing pondered for a moment.

He took out a talisman from the brocade box and held it up to the light from the window to examine it. The paper was of uniform texture and the spiritual energy was evenly distributed; it was indeed a good item among mid-grade first-tier items.

"It's a fine gift." Chen Changqing put the talisman back and looked at Zhou Ruoyun. "What do you think?"

"We're new here, and Old Wu, being a fellow professional, is trying to give us gifts and place orders. I don't think there's such a good thing in the world."

Zhou Ruoyun frowned slightly, "But I can't see exactly what's wrong, so I told him to wait two days."

"You did a great job not being blinded by short-term gains," Chen Changqing praised, then asked, "How's the payment coming in?"

"He didn't mention it," Zhou Ruoyun shook her head. "He only mentioned the quantity and the deadline."

"What about the deposit?"

"They didn't mention it either."

Chen Changqing habitually fiddled with and spun the talisman brush.

"In other words, he wants us to draw two hundred fireball talismans within a month."

Chen Changqing looked at Zhou Ruoyun meaningfully, "During this period, we paid for the materials ourselves, provided the manpower ourselves, and handed over the finished product to him. As for the payment, when and how much to pay, it was all up to him to decide?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ruoyun frowned. Being a smart woman, she sensed something was amiss. "You mean, he's trying to use this order to stall us?"

"You might as well imagine that if we take this order, for the next month, neither of us will have to do anything. The shop's inventory will slowly run out, and we won't have time to do business with individual customers."

After a slight pause, Chen Changqing continued, "A month later, he took the goods away, saying the final payment would be settled in three months. Can we afford to wait that long?"

Zhou Ruoyun was silent for a moment, then suddenly let out a cold laugh.

"What a fine shopkeeper Wu! He put on such a show at the door, even Xiaoyue was fooled by him and praised him as a great man."

"It might not be a business dispute." Chen Changqing, a man of deep thought and a former江湖 (jianghu) figure, said, "There might be more to it than meets the eye!"

Zhou Ruoyun was taken aback, and then her expression changed slightly.

As the eldest daughter of the Zhou family, and given the constant infighting within the family, she instantly understood what Chen Changqing meant. "Changqing, do you mean someone wants to use this deal to tie us down here, and then use it as an opportunity to harm the family?"

But she quickly shook her head. "But who would dare? Not only have we agreed to a truce with the Ye family, but Fifth Uncle has also broken through to the ninth level of Qi Refining. Who would be so foolish as to do this at such a time?"

"It's only because the Fifth Elder broke through that someone has resorted to such desperate measures!"

Chen Changqing picked up the talisman paper he had put down earlier and handed it to Zhou Ruoyun. "Look at this high-quality talisman paper that Manager Wu gave us... Based on feedback from his customers, I guarantee he would never use this kind of talisman paper for his customers!"

No need to go buy it; you'll meet customers with Zhou family talismans downstairs soon.

Soon, Zhou Ruoyun's comparison led her to a conclusion that confirmed Chen Changqing's idea.

"So, someone really was instructing Manager Wu to do this!" Chen Changqing continued his analysis. "Who else could afford these talismans and get the manager of such a long-established business to lower himself and help with this charade, besides one of the other three?!"