Chapter 496 - Trade
"Waaah~ you stepped on my foot!" she started wailing. There was even some blood on the ground which gathered the attention of everyone in the vicinity. Before Hao Xuan could say anything, they formed a circle around him and the dirt ridden girl while throwing nasty looks towards his direction and talking in a not-so-hushed tone.
"Look, it's one of them!"
"That poor girl, what did he do to her?"
"Of course it's one of them. Every time there's a problem, one of them seems to be behind it."
But even though many of them had a lot to say, not a single person stepped forward and confronted Hao Xuan or consoled the child.
*Sigh*
Hao Xuan shook his head as he felt a headache coming on. He bent down in front of the vigilant yet cowardly crowd and touched the small puddle of blood under the child's foot.
It was fresh and the source was her as well.
"Stop moving!" he yelled when the girl tried to move back upon seeing Hao Xuan reaching out for her. Just those two Qi infused words were enough to stun her.
He took off the animal rags that were covering her foot and saw a half blackened toe. It was infected badly and started leaking puss and blood as soon as the rags came off.
Several of the nearby spectators that had stepped closer quickly backed off while covering their faces.
Hao Xuan, very lightly, flicked the 10 or so year old girl on her forehead.
"How is this my fault? You scammer!" he said with a cold expression.
Tears formed on the edges of her eyes as she stared at Hao Xuan in fear.
"I-I'm sorry mister, I was mista-"
"Quiet!" he stopped her before she could even apologize. Even the eyes of many of the spectators turned cold seeing as they were also duped by her.
Hao Xuan could feel their gazes turn sharp which pissed him off even more.
"What the fuck are you people looking at? Piss off," he yelled again, created a miniature shockwave that rattled everyone close to him.
They stumbled backward and started running away thinking Hao Xuan was going to attack but by the time they looked back, both he and the girl were gone from the street.
Hao Xuan landed gently on the roof of a nearby shop with the girl in tow. She was so scared that she couldn't even cry out loud, forcing herself to hold back the tears that were on the verge of the breaking free.
Hao Xuan jumped again, crossing a few more narrow streets and landed near an old abandoned building.
He put the girl down on a broken wall and reached out into his pocket.
"P-Please mister, I'm sorry! D-Don't kill me, please! I have a little brother, he will have no one to take care of him," she pleaded thinking Hao Xuan was going to harm her.
"Shh, keep quiet. My head hurts already," Hao Xuan spoke sternly, silencing her once again.
He took out a small bottle of purple liquid and poured a drop on the girl's toe.
"Bear with the pain, don't make any noise!" he warned.
Within 10 seconds the liquid started bubbling and seeped into her bloodstream through the open wounds. A sizzling noise came from the toe while scraps of rotten flesh fell off like flakes, replaced by healthy skin.
Hao Xuan was looking at the girl's shocked expression throughout the process and was quite impressed. The pain of replacing the old tissue was similar to pouring molten metal on bare skin, yet she didn't make a single sound.
In a minute or so her foot was back to normal. Hao Xuan nodded in satisfaction.
This was one of the cheapest healing potions back on the beast world, just enough to close superficial wounds and stop the bleeding, but it couldn't actually heal much despite its name.
But after mixing in the 'miracle' purple liquid he got from the Orcs, its effects had increased to such a degree. It was not an exaggeration to say that it would turn the beast world over if the news of this leaked out.
Hao Xuan's own healing abilities were already on another level without any outside help and he didn't want to expose it to any of the other cultivators right now so he had been looking for an opportunity to test out its effects on a normal person to set as a standard.
And he was more than satisfied with the results.
This healing potion was made by a solution that was diluted 500 times and it was still this potent.
"Alright, you can go now," Hao Xuan waved his hand, shooing the stunned girl away. He had just taken a few steps when he felt a tug on his pants.
He looked down and saw the dirty little face staring up at him with glimmering eyes.
"M-Mister, can you give me a little more of that...elixir? I will give you something in return!" she proposed a deal out of nowhere, making Hao Xuan almost break out laughing.
'That's one gutsy kid,' Hao Xuan mused. Instead of being scared and running away like any normal person should have, she wanted to trade with him?
"What could you possibly give me? I have everything I need!" he replied with a nonchalant smile.
"T-That is...I..." she seemed to be in deep thought, obviously troubled over the decision whether to tell him or not.
"Don't waste my time girl!" Hao Xuan used spirit sense, his voice sounding inside her head and scaring her. She stumbled back, falling on her bottom. Hao Xuan turned back around but she quickly reached out once again.
"No no please, I can tell you how to get the word of power!" she shouted anxiously.