The burly man and the tall, thin cultivator were shocked that someone would dare to snatch a treasure in this market.
Auras flared around them as they quickly surrounded the man.
Whatever the intruder's motive, even if he also wanted to buy the puppet, they had seen it first. If he wanted to snatch it, there was no way!
Ming Ling, however, recognized the newcomer after her initial shock and, her face lighting up with joy, stepped forward to greet him.
The person who had arrived was none other than the returning Shuang Chongshan. From a distance, his keen senses, honed by years of immersion in puppet arts, had immediately detected a high-level puppet in the shop.
When his Divine Sense swept over it, his expression changed drastically. Without a second thought, he rushed in and collected the "Crystal Snow Jade Spider."
He didn't need to think to know that his son had made this item, as he was the one who had collected the raw materials and given them to him for practice.
The burly man and the tall, thin cultivator were about to berate the intruder when they heard the shop owner address the man as "Father-in-law!"
They immediately understood his identity, but their eyes still showed displeasure as they looked at him with hostility.
On the other side, although Shuang Chongshan hadn't grasped the full situation, he had already sent a rapid, secret voice transmission to Ming Ling, telling her to keep quiet and let him handle everything.
Afterward, Shuang Chongshan put on a smiling face and explained to the two men.
"This item was something I purchased yesterday for my son to use as his natal magical treasure. It got mixed in with the other puppets for sale and I didn't take it out in time."
"That's why my daughter-in-law mistakenly put it out for sale. It was all our oversight. Please, fellow daoists, forgive us. My deepest apologies!"
Shuang Chongshan was a straightforward man. He immediately offered a hundred spirit stones as compensation, a very sincere gesture. They had done nothing and would receive a sum of spirit stones.
The two men's simmering anger was doused by the sincere explanation, and they felt helpless.
They couldn't force a sale here, and the man had paid a hefty price for his mistake.
However, they still wanted the item. A puppet of this grade was a treasure rarely seen in a century in this market.
They pressed Shuang Chongshan, asking if he could help them order one too. They were willing to pay more spirit stones, a high price.
Shuang Chongshan made various excuses to refuse.
He claimed the grandmaster who made it was old and had no hope of reaching the Golden Core stage in this life.
This was the last high-level magical treasure he would ever refine; he wouldn't expend his remaining lifespan to make another.
He had begged for a long time before the master reluctantly agreed to make this "Crystal Snow Jade Spider." There was truly nothing he could do to help. After a series of refusals, he finally managed to brush the matter aside.
In the end, the burly man and the tall, thin cultivator took the spirit stones from Shuang Chongshan and left.
After they departed, Shuang Chongshan's face turned ashen, as if he were about to kill someone, which frightened Ming Ling, who had no idea what terrible mistake she had made.
Shuang Chongshan briefly asked about what had happened, then went to the refining chamber to check on the still-sleeping Shuang Lianzhou. He was speechless for a long time, finally letting out a long sigh.
They had hidden these matters from Ming Ling precisely because they didn't want her to know the details. How could he blame her this time?
When Shuang Lianzhou woke up and learned of the matter, his face also changed drastically.
But he and Ming Ling were respectful and loving. Ming Ling was not only well-behaved but also managed the shop impeccably. Shuang Lianzhou could only remain silent.
This made Ming Ling feel wronged. Not only did her father-in-law not tell her what she had done wrong, but even her husband, who had always doted on her, also refused to explain.
Moreover, she had already noticed that the father and son were planning to leave. Were they going to abandon her in secret?
Suddenly, Ming Ling became melancholic. After a few days like this, Shuang Lianzhou knew that if he kept this secret, their marriage would surely end.
So, after repeated discussions with Shuang Chongshan, they also felt that Ming Ling was genuinely dedicated to them.
They finally made a decision, took Ming Ling to a secret room, and roughly explained his origins, even telling her their greatest fear.
Only then did Ming Ling realize what a huge disaster she had caused, and she was filled with immense regret. However, thinking that they were planning to move away anyway, it shouldn't matter afterward, and she felt a little relieved.
However, with Shuang Chongshan's years of caution, he knew that if they left quietly without any warning, it would attract attention later, and someone with ill intentions might investigate.
Everything had to be done naturally and smoothly.
And since that day, no strange cultivators had appeared in the shop or its surroundings.
So, Shuang Chongshan felt he was just being overly suspicious and decided to proceed with his normal plan.
But just as they were planning to sell the shop and leave, ten days later, the burly man and the tall, thin cultivator unexpectedly sought them out again.
This startled Shuang Chongshan at first, thinking they had discovered something suspicious.
Unexpectedly, the two men's attitude was exceptionally good. They said that after returning, they felt this shop had a good reputation, so they came back to buy some more medicinal pills.
With Shuang Chongshan's experience, he naturally didn't believe them, but he soon understood their true intentions.
They hadn't given up on the puppet and still wanted him to find that grandmaster to refine two more. They were here to probe and negotiate.
Shuang Chongshan, of course, continued to refuse, saying he couldn't help.
After that, the two men disappeared.
This made Shuang Chongshan feel an even greater urgency to leave, but Shuang Lianzhou had other ideas.
He thought that their behavior, on the contrary, showed that they were just people who sincerely wanted to buy the puppet and had no other ulterior motives.
Moreover, they had been observing carefully during this period and had not noticed anything unusual. He thought that, even for safety's sake, they should observe for a few more days before making a decision.
They had been hiding and fleeing for decades, and those days of constant anxiety and homelessness were too difficult.
The final decision to settle here had been made after five years of investigation. Finding another suitable place, though the Forsaken Continent was vast, would not be easy.
After all, they needed to cultivate and required materials and decent spiritual energy. Moreover, the races in some places were very aggressive, with a strong sense of territory.
Shuang Chongshan's originally firm resolve wavered after Shuang Lianzhou's repeated persuasion.
'Could it really be such a coincidence? It's not like a puppet of this grade has never appeared in the market here, it's just rare!'
With this thought, he finally agreed to stay and observe for a few more days.
And in the following period, everything was as usual. No strange cultivators appeared in the market, and the shop was business as usual.
Seven or eight days later, Shuang Chongshan even began to think about not leaving.
And just two days after that, the burly man and the tall, thin cultivator appeared in their shop again. This made the Shuang family a little uneasy once more, their doubts rising.
But the two just exchanged a few pleasantries, bought some medicinal pills and talismans without mentioning the puppet, and then disappeared again.
For a moment, Shuang Chongshan didn't know their true intentions.
Shuang Chongshan carefully recalled their behavior and decided to stay for now. After all, cultivators below the Nascent Soul realm at least wouldn't dare to act here.
If something really was wrong, with his years of experience on the brink of life and death, his keen senses would still be able to detect it. At the same time, he began secretly inquiring about the two men's origins.
To put it bluntly, he too was tired of that life of wandering and uncertainty, and he harbored a sliver of hope.
In the days that followed, the burly man and the tall, thin cultivator would come by every ten days, half a month, or even every two or three months, and gradually became familiar with Shuang Chongshan.
Shuang Chongshan, of course, had not been idle. He had long since learned the identities of these two men. One was surnamed Ma, the other Gao.
They made a living by hunting low-level demonic beasts and selling their materials.
This way of earning spirit stones was very normal among rogue cultivators, which was why they often disappeared for long periods.
After a harvest, they would bring the demonic beast carcasses to the market to sell. With the spirit stones, they would often purchase cultivation necessities like medicinal pills and cultivate for a period.
Then, when their resources were nearly depleted, they would buy some talismans and pills again and head back into the regions frequented by low-level beasts.
Year after year, this cycle supported their path of cultivation.
And each time these two men came to Shuang Chongshan's shop, it was either before they went out hunting or after they returned, coming to the market to either prepare for their trip or purchase cultivation resources.
Shuang Chongshan had also secretly inquired about this from other shops.
Thus, Shuang Chongshan slowly let his guard down. However, his years as a fugitive hadn't allowed him to completely drop his vigilance; on the contrary, he paid even more attention to the cultivators coming and going in the market.
Just like that, another five years passed, and everything remained calm and peaceful.
The cultivator surnamed Ma and his companion also became familiar with Shuang Chongshan's family.
They even sometimes begged Shuang Chongshan to lend them some pills and talismans. The more they acted this way, the more Shuang Chongshan felt they were no threat.
If they were people deliberately trying to get close, they would usually try to leave a good impression.
But these two acted like true crude rogue cultivators, taking any small advantage they could, and they weren't punctual with their spirit stone payments, looking like they would delay as long as possible.
Shuang Chongshan, a man of such cunning, was deceived by these two.
The burly cultivator surnamed Ma and the tall, thin cultivator surnamed Gao were in fact extremely treacherous, especially Ma. His crude appearance was completely at odds with his sinister and meticulous mind.
He was not only vicious and ruthless but also had a mind as fine as a hair.
Although the two of them did indeed hunt low-level beasts for spirit stones, their more frequent business was murder and robbery.
They would often ambush other rogue cultivators who were also out hunting beasts or gathering herbs, kill them, destroy the bodies, and take their storage pouches, beasts, herbs, and everything else for themselves.
They were discreet and clean in their work. Most who knew of their methods were already dead.
The few remaining cultivators who knew of their deeds kept a respectful distance, preferring not to get involved and provoke these two desperados.
These two had seen far more types of cultivators than Shuang Chongshan. Thus, with their keen eyes, they had noticed several problems with the puppet and Shuang Chongshan the very first time they saw them.
But being seasoned veterans, they didn't show any abnormality. Instead, they acted like normal people, becoming furious when someone interfered.
First, after the young woman called out "Father-in-law," her expression became suspicious and, more than that, puzzled.
This clearly indicated that the person who entered had said something to her via voice transmission, something she couldn't understand, hence her puzzled expression.
Afterward, Shuang Chongshan's explanation seemed reasonable, but it actually had a significant flaw, which further confirmed the two men's suspicions.
Logically, how could the young woman, as the daughter-in-law, not know about a natal magical treasure purchased for her own family? This magical treasure wasn't some common cabbage from the street.
Second, they had examined the puppet with their Divine Sense. On one of the "Crystal Snow Jade Spider's" legs, they found a tiny mark.