In front of Chen’s Pill Shop rested a coffin.

Beside the coffin knelt four Loose Cultivators in mourning clothes, wailing and cursing. They refused to budge an inch, even as the heavy snow fell, and were nearly covered, like snowmen. A crowd of Cultivators had gathered, pointing and whispering about the Pill Shop. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Inside the shop, Zhao Deyou and Zhao Changping looked completely helpless.

Ding Fei paced back and forth anxiously, his hands clasped behind his back. Hu Yao and a few other disciples were trying to maintain order.

"What’s going on?"

Chen Che strode forward.

"Senior, you’re finally here. These people are adamant that someone died from poison after taking a Pill from our shop. They keep shouting for a life for a life!"

Ding Fei, who was sweating bullets with anxiety, looked as if he had just found his savior. He pointed at the coffin.

"The dead person is in there!"

Chen Che turned to look.

In the coffin lay a woman with a swollen belly, apparently pregnant, dressed in white burial shrouds. Her face was a deathly blue-black. There was no breath, no heartbeat, her meridians had stopped flowing, and her body had already stiffened.

She had indeed died of poison.

"She took a Pill from our shop? Which one?" Chen Che asked.

"A Bone Marrow Supplement Pill!"

The leader, a burly man in mourning clothes, gritted his teeth and took out a vial of Pills, announcing loudly:

"Alchemist Chen! I bought Pills from your shop because I trusted you as a Jinyun Valley Tributor. But my wife took just one, and she was dead from poison in less than half an incense stick’s time. No matter what, you owe us an explanation today!"

As the man spoke, he poured the Pills out into his palm for all to see.

Two Pills, gleaming brightly.

"Are those Pills from our shop?" Ding Fei asked.

"They are."

Chen Che narrowed his eyes and nodded.

"And I’m the one who refined them."

"Really?"

"Even Pills refined by a Tributor aren’t safe? They can actually kill someone?"

"This shop..."

...

The crowd exploded into an uproar.

To ordinary Loose Cultivators, a Jinyun Valley Tributor was a golden seal of quality. How could something like this go wrong?

Just then, another Jinyun Valley disciple hurried over and whispered a few words in Hu Yao’s ear.

"Brother, we found something!"

After listening, Hu Yao’s gaze turned cold. He said to Chen Che in a low voice:

"The dead woman is named Mrs. Qi of the Wei Clan. She’s a widow who came to Jinyun Valley only three months ago. Her husband died in a beast tide. These troublemakers are from her hometown. The leader is her husband’s younger brother, Wei Song. He only arrived at the Market a few days ago."

"They must have killed Mrs. Qi of the Wei Clan to blackmail us!"

Chen Che’s expression didn’t change. He had already sensed something was amiss; though the four were wailing loudly, there wasn’t a trace of sorrow in their eyes.

"Should I detain them?" Hu Yao asked, his hand on the long saber at his waist.

Seeing Hu Yao about to draw his saber, Wei Song showed no fear. Instead, he sneered.

"What’s this, Chen Che? As a Jinyun Valley Tributor, are you really going to resort to silencing witnesses by murder? Even if you kill me, can you silence the wagging tongues of so many people?"

"...You!"

Hu Yao’s face went cold and he took a step forward, but Chen Che immediately brought his right hand down, pressing on his saber.

In an instant, Hu Yao felt as if a mountain had descended upon him. He couldn’t even draw his blade.

Chen Che slowly shook his head.

"Don’t be rash."

"Are we just going to let him cause trouble like this?" Hu Yao gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Killing him would be easy, but our shop’s reputation would be ruined."

Chen Che slowly withdrew his hand and said softly,

"Look around you."

Startled, Hu Yao looked at the surroundings.

Sure enough, the surrounding Loose Cultivators were staring at them with expressions of shock and fear.

Killing someone was easy, but it wouldn’t solve the problem—it would only escalate it. If this wasn’t handled properly, the shop’s reputation would be destroyed. They could forget about doing business in the Market ever again. Not even Chen Che’s status as a Tributor would help.

"Then what should we do?"

Hu Yao released his grip on his saber hilt, at a loss.

"What to do? I’ll show you!"

Hearing this, Wei Song grew even more smug. He even lowered his head, exposing the back of his neck and gesturing with his hand.

"Go on, chop right here! One swing and I’m dead. But if you’re trying to silence everyone, I’m afraid that’ll be a bit difficult! There are hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of people in this Market. Can you kill them all?"

At his words, Hu Yao’s teeth audibly ground together, but he didn’t move.

’Rest assured, you definitely won’t live past today.’

Chen Che watched the smug Wei Song, his eyes half-closed. Noticing the other man’s slight hesitation, he let out a cold chuckle.

"You have two Pills left in total, right? Give me one. Hmm? You don’t dare?"

"Fine, take it!"

Wei Song snorted and handed one over. But Chen Che didn’t take it. Instead, he turned and beckoned to Zhao Changping inside the shop. The latter immediately hurried over, cupped his hands in respect, and addressed him as "Boss."

Chen Che pointed to the Pill and said,

"Eat it."

Zhao Changping was stunned for a moment, but he didn’t hesitate. He took the Pill, closed his eyes, and swallowed it in one gulp in front of everyone.

Only then did Chen Che turn back to Wei Song.

"You just said that death by poison occurs within half an incense stick’s time of taking it, correct?"

"Yes!"

Wei Song nodded.

"In that case, I’ll give you one full incense stick’s time. If nothing has happened after one stick has burned, then you will be the one giving me an explanation!"

Chen Che chuckled lightly, but his tone grew heavy.

"...!?"

Wei Song froze, unable to process it for a moment. "An explanation? What explanation?"

Chen Che, however, did not answer.

Zhao Deyou brought a Grandmaster’s Chair out from the shop, Ding Fei presented an Incense Burner, and Hu Yao held up a black umbrella to shield him from the swirling snow. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Chen Che sat down boldly before the coffin, silently watching the wisp of smoke curl up from the lit incense stick.

A cold sweat immediately began to stream down Wei Song’s back.

He instantly understood.

Now, it wasn’t up to Chen Che to prove his Pills were not poisonous.

Instead, it was up to *him* to prove why nothing happened when Zhao Changping took the exact same Pill!

"Chen Che, are you trying to deny this?"

"My wife clearly died after taking your Pill! Why should I be the one to give you an explanation?"

Having realized the trap, Wei Song began to curse furiously.

But Chen Che remained silent, merely watching him quietly.

’A self-incrimination trap?’

’When faced with something like this, only a fool would rush to prove his own innocence.’

’Besides, the man had only been here for three days, yet he dared to blackmail a Tributor. On top of that, he acted so brazenly in front of a group of Jinyun Valley disciples. I refuse to believe no one put him up to this.’

Amidst the curses, half an incense stick had burned away.

But Zhao Changping was still perfectly fine.

"Huh? Nothing’s wrong..."

"That Zhao Changping is just an ordinary person. He took the Pill, and he’s actually fine!"

"How strange. Does that mean the Pill isn’t poisonous? It was the exact same kind of Pill, so what’s going on?"

Once half an incense stick had passed, the previously suspicious Cultivators began to change their tune.

"Isn’t that woman a widow?"

At that moment, a burly Female Cultivator with a basket on her arm pushed through the crowd. She glanced at the coffin and let out a cry of surprise.

Then,

under the astonished gazes of the crowd, she explained loudly, "Her name is Mrs. Qi of the Wei Clan. She came from Chi State three months ago and lived next door to me. She was so starved she was sallow and emaciated. I took pity on her and gave her a bowl of Spirit Rice."

Then she turned to Wei Song and said,

"Wei Song, aren’t you her brother-in-law? When did you become her husband?"

Her words sparked another wave of gasps from the crowd. The way they looked at Wei Song changed again.

Clearly, everyone had figured out the truth.

Kneeling before the coffin, Wei Song was trembling all over. Even his curses had stopped. He began to stammer out an explanation, looking fearfully at Chen Che. But Chen Che remained seated and silent, his gaze fixed on Wei Song as if sizing up a dead man.

Only when the entire incense stick had burned to ash did Chen Che slowly rise to his feet.

"Who put you up to this?"