The Medicine Cauldron Is Gone

Ye Chen practically jogged all the way to the antique street.

The resonance of the Medical Immortal Inheritance within his chest grew stronger and stronger, like a red-hot iron wire pulling back and forth in his heart, drawing him toward a fixed direction.

Southwest.

Right ahead.

Getting closer!

Ye Chen's heart pounded wildly, his footsteps quickening.

He had already lost too much.

The Zhao family was gone.

He had lost contact with his master.

Su Qingxue had completely drawn a line between them.

His reputation was ruined, his money was gone, and even his freedom had been stripped away for twenty days.

But now, the Medical Immortal Inheritance was pointing him down a new path!

An ancient ultimate treasure!

As long as he got his hands on it, he could turn everything around!

Ye Chen rushed into the antique street.

The old street, over two hundred meters long, was lined with shops featuring gray bricks and dark tiles.

The resonance of the inheritance guided him deep into the street.

Closer and closer.

Stronger and stronger.

Right there!

Ye Chen's eyes locked onto a shop.

Its signboard was faded, the storefront narrow.

Jubao Pavilion.

The resonance was coming from this very shop!

Ye Chen rushed to the door in a few large strides.

The door was closed.

He reached out to push it.

It wouldn't budge.

It was locked.

Ye Chen furrowed his brows and peered inside through the glass door.

His pupils suddenly shrank!

The shop was empty.

Not the kind of empty from being closed for business.

It was the kind of empty where everything had been cleared out.

All the shelves were bare, without a single item left on them. The floor bore scratch marks from dragging heavy objects and scattered scraps of paper.

The entire shop had been cleaned out completely.

Ye Chen felt as if his heart had been violently squeezed.

He began to bang on the door frantically.

Bang bang bang!

Is anyone there! Boss! Open the door!

Bang bang bang bang bang!

After banging more than a dozen times, the door finally opened from the inside.

Boss Wu poked half his head out, looking impatient.

What are you doing? We're closed! Not open for business!

Ye Chen blocked the door with his hand, stopping him from closing it.

Boss, did you have a bronze cauldron in your shop before? Bronze-colored, the size of a palm, with three legs and two ears, and cracks on the surface!

Boss Wu froze for a moment.

He looked Ye Chen up and down.

Wearing crumpled clothes, unshaven, and with bloodshot eyes, he looked like a beggar.

Compared to the wealthy young master who had bought out the entire shop a few days ago, it was like the difference between heaven and earth.

Bronze cauldron?

Boss Wu thought for a moment and recalled it.

It was that dusty piece of junk on the corner wooden shelf, which he had bought for ten yuan.

The wealthy young master had casually slipped it into his pocket when he left that day.

I did have one, yes.

Ye Chen's eyes instantly lit up!

Where is it? Sell it to me! I'll pay any price!

Boss Wu shook his head.

Sold.

The word hit Ye Chen's chest like a heavy stone.

Sold? To whom? When was it sold?

Ye Chen's voice cracked, sounding desperately frantic.

Boss Wu was startled by his demeanor and instinctively took a step back.

Sold it more than half a month ago! A customer bought everything in my shop, and that bronze cauldron was included.

Bought everything?

Bought out the entire shop?

Ye Chen's mind buzzed.

Who would buy everything in an antique shop?

Unless that person knew there was a treasure in the shop but didn't want to reveal exactly which piece they were after, so they just bought the whole lot!

Such extravagance, such scheming!

Ye Chen's fingers gripped the doorframe, his knuckles turning white.

Who is that person? Tell me who it is!

Boss Wu looked conflicted.

The wealthy young master had specifically instructed him upon leaving that this transaction must not be mentioned to anyone.

A major client who spent two million was someone he couldn't afford to offend.

Well... I can't say. The customer asked to keep it confidential.

I'll pay double! Help me contact him and ask him to sell that bronze cauldron to me!

Boss Wu gave Ye Chen a look.

Double?

With the outfit you're wearing, could you even scrape together a thousand yuan from your pockets?

Boss Wu's expression said it all.

Ye Chen also realized how ridiculous his words sounded.

He only had one hundred and twenty yuan on him.

Double the price?

He couldn't even afford the price tag that bronze cauldron had in this shop.

Young man, I advise you to let it go.

Boss Wu started to close the door again.

To be honest, that bronze cauldron was just a piece of scrap metal. I only paid ten yuan when I bought it. It's really not worth much. If you like bronze items, Old Man Li at the end of the street has quite a few. Go check out his place.

Ten yuan.

An ancient alchemy treasure.

Sold for ten yuan.

Ye Chen felt it was utterly absurd.

Just tell me one last thing.

Ye Chen stared intently at Boss Wu.

What kind of car did the person who bought the stuff drive?

Boss Wu hesitated for a moment.

This shouldn't count as leaking customer information, right?

A black Mercedes G-Class.

Bang!

Boss Wu shut the door and locked it.

Leaving Ye Chen standing alone outside.

A black Mercedes G-Class.

Ye Chen stood there, feeling as if all the blood had been drained from his body.

A black Mercedes G-Class.

Shen Fei's car.

He had seen it at the Shen family villa, parked in the garage by the entrance.

There was no need to guess anymore.

There was no need to ask anymore.

The answer was already clear.

It was Shen Fei.

During the twenty days he was locked up in the detention center, Shen Fei had come to the antique street, bought everything in the shop, and taken that bronze cauldron.

Ye Chen's last straw of hope had been snatched away by Shen Fei just a step ahead of him.

He stood before the tightly shut doors of Jubao Pavilion, his body swaying slightly.

The resonance of the Medical Immortal Inheritance in his chest was still there, but it was no longer the strong pull from before.

It had turned into an empty echo.

Like the treasure was calling out to him for the last time from a very, very faraway place.

But he couldn't reach it.

He would never be able to reach it.

Ye Chen slowly squatted down.

He squatted at the entrance of Jubao Pavilion, holding his head with both hands, curling up into a ball.

Pedestrians on the antique street walked past him.

Some cast curious glances at him.

Some thought he was a beggar.

No one stopped.

Ye Chen squatted there for a long time.

A single thought tossed and turned in his mind.

Why?

Why was he always one step too late?

Why was it that every time he saw a glimmer of hope, Shen Fei would appear ahead of him?

Saving the twin assassins, one step too late.

The medicine cauldron in the antique street, one step too late.

Su Qingxue's heart, one step too late.

Every single step missed with such precision, such perfect timing.

It was as if someone had seen the script in advance and was tearing out his scenes page by page.

Ye Chen suddenly snapped his head up!

His eyes were completely bloodshot.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong!

Everything was just too coincidental!

It was impossible for Shen Fei to coincidentally be one step ahead of him every single time.

Unless Shen Fei knew what he was going to do from the very beginning!

He wanted to save the twins, but Shen Fei intercepted them beforehand.

He wanted to go to the antique street to find the medicine cauldron, but Shen Fei bought it out beforehand.

He had Zhao Debiao go smash up the place, but Shen Fei called in the armed police within five minutes.

He reported the Shen family through his capital connections, but Shen Fei cleared all the evidence beforehand.

Every single time!

Every time, it was as if Shen Fei knew exactly what he was going to do next!

This was no coincidence!

This was absolutely not a coincidence!

Shen Fei either planted a mole by his side, or had some unknown method to monitor his every move!

Ye Chen's fist smashed into the ground, leaving a crack on the bluestone slab.

But after the anger came a deeper sense of powerlessness.

So what if he had guessed it?

He had nothing right now.

No money, no men, no power, no backing.

Even Su Qingxue refused to acknowledge him anymore.

What did he have to fight Shen Fei with?

Ye Chen slowly stood up.

His back was not bent.

His legs were trembling, but he did not fall.

Over twenty years of cultivation had taught him one thing.

As long as he was alive, there was still a chance.

Ye Chen raised his head and looked at the sky above the antique street.

The afternoon sun was blinding, and he squinted at it for a moment.

Then he began to walk.

Aimlessly.

He needed a quiet place to think carefully about his next steps.

He needed to calm down.

He needed a new plan.

His Medical Immortal inheritance was still there.

His martial arts cultivation was still there.

Although the medicine cauldron had been snatched away, there were other clues to fortuitous encounters in his inheritance. As long as he was alive, he could always find a new breakthrough.

Ye Chen walked out of the antique street and disappeared into the bustling crowds of Jinling.

His back looked thin but stubborn.

Like a scarred wolf driven to a dead end, yet still refusing to go down.

...

At the end of the antique street, a gray sedan was parked quietly by the side of the road.

Ling Xue sat in the driver's seat, looking in the direction Ye Chen had left, and picked up a walkie-talkie.

"Young Master, he has come out of the antique street."

"His emotions were very unstable after realizing the medicine cauldron was gone. He squatted by the entrance for over ten minutes."

"He is now heading north of the city. He doesn't seem to have a clear destination; it looks like he is just wandering."

The walkie-talkie was quiet for a second.

Shen Fei's voice came through.

"Did he do anything extreme?"

"No. But he did smash a floor tile with a punch in the antique street."

"Hmm."

Shen Fei's tone was flat.

"Keep following him and maintain your distance. With a personality like his, he will do the most insane things when driven to a dead end."

"I need to know his every move from now on."

"Understood."

Ling Xue hung up the walkie-talkie, started the car, and slowly followed.

...

Shen family villa, study room.

Shen Fei put down the walkie-talkie and looked at the system panel.

The data on the screen was jumping.

[Child of Destiny Ye Chen has lost his last core fortuitous encounter! Mental state is continuously deteriorating!]

[Ye Chen's Luck Value: -400]

[Current Luck Value of Ye Chen: 2470 to 2070]

2070.

Shen Fei looked at this number.

It had already fallen below a quarter of its initial value.

According to the system's rules, his luck value had to reach zero before he could be killed.

2070 points left.

But Shen Fei didn't plan to slowly grind it down anymore.

Ye Chen's current state was nearing the breaking point.

People only had two reactions when backed into a corner.

Either they break down.

Or they explode.

Ye Chen was the latter.

He wouldn't break down; he would counterattack.

And it would be the most insane, reckless kind of counterattack.

All Shen Fei had to do was wait for him to strike back.

And then deliver a fatal blow.

He picked up his phone and sent a message to Ling Shuang.

[Are you ready?]

A few seconds later, a reply came.

[Standing by at all times. Peak Grandmaster Realm, in perfect condition.]

Shen Fei then sent another message to Ling Xue.

[Follow him closely. The moment he makes a move, notify me immediately.]

[Received.]

The two Essence Cultivation Pills had not been given in vain.

Both Ling Shuang and Ling Xue had broken through to the Grandmaster Realm.

Two gorgeous assassins at the Grandmaster Realm with perfect teamwork, coupled with Shen Fei's own Connate Realm strength and the system's comprehensive information support.

Even if Ye Chen fought with his life on the line, he wouldn't be able to turn the tables.

Shen Fei stood up and walked to the window.

The skyline of Jinling was coated in a layer of gold by the setting sun.

He looked at the city, his gaze calm.

"Ye Chen, you must be thinking about how to fight back right now."

"Don't rush."

"I am waiting for you."