After leaving the tea house, Han Li did not immediately ride his sword back to his cave dwelling. Instead, he walked along the street for a stretch, then abruptly turned behind another shop—not far from the tea house at all.
He then gently closed his eyes and stood motionless, his face blank.
After a long moment, Han Li's expression shifted slightly. He furrowed his brow, then opened his eyes.
He had secretly sent his spiritual sense back into the tea house, hoping to overhear what the others might say after his departure. But to his surprise, the moment his spiritual sense approached the private room, it was intercepted by a layer of restrictions.
The restrictions were nothing too sophisticated. If Han Li had tried to force his way through with the sheer strength of his spiritual sense, he could easily have shattered them.
But doing so would have caused too much commotion, defeating the entire purpose of covertly spying with spiritual sense. Han Li naturally would not do something so counterproductive, so he withdrew his spiritual sense.
"It seems the Melodic Sound Gate is no ordinary outfit after all. There are no easy openings to exploit for now."
With that thought, Han Li opened his mouth and spat out a small green sword barely an inch long. He mounted the sword and shot into the sky.
Back inside his dwelling, Han Li retrieved the storage pouch containing the demon beast materials from his secret chamber. Then, as an added precaution, he summoned Qu Hun, and the two of them left the cave together.
This round trip consumed several full hours.
But when he and Qu Hun arrived back at the tea house, the middle-aged man serving Mrs. Fan was already standing at the entrance, craning his neck in eager anticipation.
The moment he saw Han Li return, his face broke into a look of delight, and he hurried inside to report.
Han Li knew the man was going to inform Mrs. Fan, so he paid it no mind and followed at an unhurried pace with Qu Hun.
When they reached the private room, the young girl and the middle-aged man were already standing respectfully by the door, waiting for him.
"The Madam and the Elder have been expecting you, Senior!" the young girl said with a respectful expression. But as she spoke, she stole a curious glance at Qu Hun.
Han Li had no intention of introducing Qu Hun. He nodded and walked straight into the room without ceremony, Qu Hun following close behind.
The girl hesitated for a moment but ultimately did not dare step forward to ask.
Inside, Mrs. Fan had put her veil back on. The instant she saw Han Li enter, her eyes lit up and she rose gracefully to greet him.
"You've returned quickly, Senior Han! I thought I would have to wait a while longer. Oh—who might this gentleman be...?" Mrs. Fan had been smiling warmly, but the sight of Qu Hun behind Han Li made her pause.
"He is a friend of mine, Qu Hun. He heard about this matter and wished to come along and have a look. Surely the Madam wouldn't refuse his company?" Han Li laughed casually and said offhandedly.
"Of course not! Please, both of you, have a seat!"
Mrs. Fan's lovely eyes swept once around Qu Hun's ugly, stony face. Seeing his cold and impassive demeanor, she offered a radiant smile.
But inwardly she felt a twinge of relief—thankfully she had never truly intended to make a move. If an unexpected Core Formation ally had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, her plan would certainly have failed and she would have made a powerful enemy for nothing.
Still, her desire to win Han Li over only grew stronger.
"All the materials are here. You may inspect them first!" Han Li wasted no time on small talk. The moment he sat down, he tossed the two storage pouches containing the materials onto the tea table before her.
Mrs. Fan could not conceal the joy on her face. She thanked him repeatedly, took the storage pouches in hand, gave them a rough scan with her spiritual sense, and then handed them off to Elder Zhao beside her.
The old man accepted the pouches without a trace of emotion and began withdrawing the materials one by one, examining each piece carefully to verify its authenticity.
Since there were so many items, the process naturally took some time. Meanwhile, Mrs. Fan, her face wreathed in smiles, chatted amiably with Han Li, subtly trying to probe the origins of these materials.
But Han Li was a far too sharp and quick-witted man for that. He kept her engaged in idle conversation that never touched on anything of substance, leaving her completely empty-handed.
After a while, Elder Zhao finally finished cataloguing all the materials and transmitted an estimated price to the Melodic Sound Gate woman.
Mrs. Fan considered the figure for a moment, quietly deliberated, then deliberately lowered the price by ten percent before quoting it to Han Li.
Hearing the offer, Han Li fell into thoughtful silence. This reaction made Mrs. Fan somewhat uneasy.
To close the deal, she hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth and proactively raised the price by another five percent.
Only after hearing the revised offer did Han Li nod in agreement.
He knew the price was still a touch low, but being able to offload everything in one clean transaction left him quite satisfied.
Seeing Han Li agree, Mrs. Fan let out a deep sigh of relief.