Hello, Welcome to Merit Supermarket (SUPERMARKET)
On the third day, all members of the He family went for a medical checkup, as requested by Jiang Chenyi.
The results of the checkup came out quickly, and compared to the last time, their bodies had clearly become much healthier.
The doctors who saw the results were somewhat baffled. Some of them had just had a checkup the previous week, and in just one week, their physical data had completely changed!
Had they taken some kind of Elixir?
Unfortunately, no matter how much the doctors inquired, every member of the He family remained tight-lipped and not leaking a single piece of information.
When they returned home, they saw Jiang Chenyi leisurely sitting in the yard while drinking tea, with some pastries made by Great Grandma He on the tea table.
"Karmic Sin clings to the body, and even with Merit suppressing it, it still has a significant impact on the body. Although you may feel changes in your bodies, nothing is as clear as the data, right?"
Since a deal had been made, he naturally had to give his clients some feedback.
Moreover, the amount involved in this transaction was substantial. The He family was practically his VVIP customer!
Thanks to the He family, he finally had enough Merit Points to expand the Supermarket! Not only was the first-floor supermarket area expanded, but the second floor was also expanded!
Jiang Chenyi was in a great mood at the moment. Upon learning that he had enough Merit Points, he immediately had the Supermarket expanded so that he could return to a brand-new Supermarket!
Huo Yunxi was also quite happy, mainly because he now had his own private room!
Although a Spirit doesn’t really need to sleep, he still wanted a bedroom to rest in, and he wanted to buy some books to keep in his room.
A hundred years had passed since his era, and he wanted to know what China had experienced during that century.
The He family members stood obediently in front of Jiang Chenyi, and at the signal from Great Grandma He and Grandpa He, they all bowed to Jiang Chenyi in unison.
Jiang Chenyi accepted their gratitude with ease, then brought up the last two members of the He family.
"When will they be able to return? And He Shumiao, she should be able to be discharged from the hospital soon. After she’s discharged, I’ll remove it for her as well."
Upon hearing He Shumiao's name, He Suisui stepped forward: "Can I be the one to trade for Miao Miao?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she was pulled back by Father He and Mother He: "Why would a child like you need to do that? Even your mother hasn’t been involved in the trade!"
He Suihua also wanted to contribute, but he was also refused by Father He.
In the end, it was Mother He who traded for He Shumiao. Although her Merit couldn’t compare to others, as a former firefighter, the Merit Points she had were enough to save He Shumiao alone.
As for the other two, Great Grandma He said she would handle the trade.
But this time, Jiang Chenyi proactively declined: "You should keep your Merit for yourself. They can trade for themselves when they return."
Great Grandma He didn't understand why Jiang Chenyi refused, but Gu Sheng knew the reason: "Keeping the Merit on your body is beneficial to your health."
This wasn't about using Merit to nourish the body, but rather that having a vast amount of Merit significantly reduces the risk of falling ill.
Upon hearing Gu Sheng's words, Grandpa He immediately made a decision: "Let those two brats come back and make the trade themselves. They should save their own lives!"
Jiang Chenyi continued to sip his tea leisurely while waiting for the two to return.
For this, he stayed at the He family for a full three days before finally waiting for the last two.
Coincidentally, the day they returned was also the day He Shumiao was discharged from the hospital. He Suisui and her brother went to pick her up.
When the two returned, Jiang Chenyi, who was in the backyard, immediately sensed something and looked up towards the gate.
Huo Yunxi also felt that the atmosphere around them had changed. Gu Sheng looked towards the gate and smiled before saying, "Those two brats are finally back."
The two, who had been chased from the gate to the backyard by Great Grandma He, instinctively tensed their muscles as they stepped through the moon gate into the backyard.
Their eagle-like eyes were fixed on the tall man not far away, who was also watching them.
Jiang Chenyi stood beside Huo Yunxi and squinted as he observed the two.
As they entered the He family's courtyard, the White Tiger above the quadrangle suddenly stood up and began gnawing at the Black Chains wrapped around its heart.
However, these Black Chains were not materialized, so no matter how much the White Tiger struggled, it was futile.
But... the color of the Black Chains seemed to deepen after the two entered.
As the three stood in a stalemate, Great Grandma He reached out and slapped the back of their heads: "What are you doing! He saved more than ten people from our He family! Is this the attitude you should have? Believe it or not, I'll call your wives over!"
At the mention of their wives, the previously tall and sturdy men immediately shrank their necks, which made Jiang Chenyi want to laugh.
Gu Sheng chuckled and stroked his beard: "Go ahead and laugh. The men of the He family are all henpecked and afraid of their wives. My brother-in-law used to wield a big sword through the allied forces, but when he got home, one look from my sister and he would kneel down obediently."
Jiang Chenyi found it amusing.
But looking at the Merit on Great Grandma He, he asked the question that had arisen when he first saw her: "What exactly did Great Grandma He do in the past? The Merit on her is no less than that on Grandpa He."
"Heh! My sister was a researcher. She developed many military weapons that reduced casualties on the battlefield."
It's true that China has a large population, but human wave tactics should be avoided as much as possible in modern times.
If there ever comes a day when we have to rely on human waves to win a war, it would mean the country has reached its final stage.
The Merit on Great Grandma He came from the weapons she developed, which indirectly or directly saved the lives of many soldiers and shortened the duration of wars.
Although the weapons she developed also killed many people, those people were invaders to China. Killing invaders is completely different from killing innocent people.
"No wonder..." Jiang Chenyi nodded.
No wonder the Merit on Great Grandma He could rival that of Huo Yunxi.
After being severely reprimanded by Great Grandma He and seeing their wife's much healthier medical report, the two men's doubts about Jiang Chenyi's identity instantly diminished significantly.
They were brought before Jiang Chenyi, and the young man's cold eyes fixed intently on their chests. After a long while, he slowly exhaled.
"You two are indeed quite troublesome."
If the other members of the He family were entangled by a single Black Snake, these two were caught in the middle of a nest of snakes!
The dense Karmic Sin on their bodies made Jiang Chenyi suspect that the mastermind behind this had already noticed the changes in the He family and thus hastened the devouring of these last two individuals.
Perhaps because the Karmic Sin on them was too heavy, Huo Yunxi suddenly felt as if he was suffocating when they approached—the stench of the Karmic Sin was so overwhelming that he almost vomited!
Seeing Huo Yunxi retreating repeatedly, Jiang Chenyi stepped between them to blocked the smell of the Karmic Sin.
Huo Yunxi's unusual behavior was also noticed by the others. After spending these past few days together, both Great Grandma He and Gu Sheng knew that Huo Yunxi was a composed person, so his reaction was quite alarming.
At that moment, Jiang Chenyi spoke up, "When I saved the other members of the He family before, it cost 20,000 Merit Points per life."
His eyes swept over the Karmic Sin on the two men, and he sighed, "But for you two, it will cost 50,000."
That was more than double the previous amount!
Gu Sheng widened his eyes in confusion and asked, "Why?"
He didn’t understand what 20,000 Merit Points symbolized, but there had to be a reason for such a sudden increase, right?
Jiang Chenyi reached out and gently traced a line between the brows of Gu Sheng and Great Grandma He.
When they reopened their eyes, they saw the Black Snakes slowly writhing on the two men’s bodies—and there were many, many snakes!
"!!!" The two of them were so shocked that they couldn’t utter a word.
Fortunately, Great Grandma He had been on the battlefield in her youth, so she wasn’t frightened to the point of fainting by this horrifying sight.
But even so, she was extremely furious, "What on earth is this? How could my two great-grandsons have so many of these things?"
The two men couldn’t see anything, so they naturally didn’t understand what their great grandmother was talking about.
Gu Sheng took a deep breath, and at that moment, he also caught the foul, nauseating stench in the air—this was the smell of Karmic Sin.
No wonder Huo Yunxi, as a Spirit, was so repelled by it!
Great Grandma He held her forehead, and the two nearly centenarian elders quickly calmed down after the initial shock.
"We understand. 50,000 it is, as long as it saves their lives."
50,000 Merit Points—it wasn’t of any use to them anyway, so they might as well give it! Not to mention 50,000 Merit Points, even 5 million would be worth it to buy a life!
With this in mind, Great Grandma He decided that the "welcome gift" for Jiang Chenyi should be doubled.
Although the two men didn’t know what Great Grandma He and the others had seen, judging from their expressions, it must have been quite serious.
However, there was one thing they wanted to clarify.
Oh, after meeting this young man, it became two things.
"Do you know who is targeting the He family?"
And… "What are Merit Points?"
Jiang Chenyi left the first question to Gu Sheng.
On the day he made the deal with the He family, Gu Sheng had sent his student, Gu Yuan, to investigate the matter.
But Gu Yuan had not returned since then, nor had there been any news from him.
As for the second question... "Merit Points are essentially a way to calculate the good deeds you've done, but they've been converted specifically for convenience in transactions with the Supermarket."
Fifty thousand Merit Points—this was the largest single transaction he had made since dealing with the Luo-Zhang couple.
However, the reason why the Luo-Zhang couple's case was so expensive was because the Supermarket had brought them a new life.
As for these two, it was because the process of clearing their Karmic Sin would be extremely troublesome! Relying solely on that one Cocoon would never be enough to completely cleanse it.
In fact, the fifty thousand Merit Points was just Jiang Chenyi's estimate. If there was something else hidden within them...
Thinking of this, Jiang Chenyi decided to pull out his Golden Abacus and calculate the total Merit Points they had in front of everyone.
In the end, he arrived at a total of nearly one hundred thousand.
"Truly worthy of being soldiers..."
Afterward, Jiang Chenyi closed his eyes and wanted to listen to their inner thoughts, but he opened them again the next second.
He looked at the two of them with a helpless expression: "What are you two muttering about in your hearts!"
At such a critical moment, couldn't they focus on their own lives?
The two of them looked somewhat confused, but Great Grandma He immediately knew
something was wrong: "What are they thinking?"
Jiang Chenyi sighed and shook his head but not saying anything.
Their inner thoughts seemed to be related to a recently completed mission, and these were not things an "ordinary person" like him should know.
Sure enough, after hearing Great Grandma He's question, the two of them instinctively looked at Jiang Chenyi with scrutinizing eyes.
Before Jiang Chenyi could speak, Huo Yunxi stepped in front of him with his entire body tense like a dog ready to attack and the muscles on his back stiffening.
For a moment, the situation seemed to be spiraling out of control.
Great Grandma He slammed the table in anger: "What are you two doing! He hasn't even said anything yet!"
But even with Great Grandma He's intervention, the two of them continued to stare at Jiang Chenyi with unchanged expressions.
Jiang Chenyi looked at them innocently: "I don't know anything. All I know is that what you care about most doesn't seem to be solving the problem with your own bodies."
Then, under their suspicious gazes, he explained: "This is a key point in the transaction. I need you to have enough willpower and to firmly hold onto your own thoughts. It's like making a wish—if you keep second-guessing, what you end up with might not be something that can resolve the Karmic Sin within you."
"So..." He tapped the table, the crisp sound reminding the two of them: "What is the most important thing for you right now? Think carefully."
The two of them wanted to say something more, but Jiang Chenyi didn't give them time to continue arguing.
"Listen, with so much Karmic Sin entangled, no one can guarantee when it might erupt.""
As soon as he said this, the inner thoughts of one of them began to change.
However, the other person remained stubborn and still constantly doubted Jiang Chenyi's words in his heart.
Finally, Great Grandma He had no choice. She let out a cold laugh and directly called the man's wife and mother back.
"You go and explain it to them properly. Or do you want to see Xiaoyu become a widow?" As soon as she finished speaking, hurried footsteps could be heard at the door.
"He Lianhua! What on earth are you doing?" His wife rushed back from school as soon as she heard the news.
Jiang Chenyi and Huo Yunxi watched as the man, who had been as fierce as a tiger, turned into a guilty cat and not uttering a word while his wife tugged at his ear.
After a while of bickering (or rather, a one-sided scolding from his wife), He Lianhua's heart finally straightened out.
Indeed, having a family means having something to worry about.
Jiang Chenyi closed his eyes again and intended to verify the thoughts of the two, but he suddenly heard an unusually loud voice that completely drowned out their inner voices.
"Why aren't the He family dead yet?"
Oh? The fish has taken the bait?
Jiang Chenyi's eyes snapped open.
At the same time, Huo Yunxi caught a faint whiff of a foul stench, mixed with other strange odors.
This smell instinctively put him into combat mode—the Karmic Sin was laced with a heavy aura of death. The owner of this scent must have taken many lives!
Without needing to speak, the two of them understood in perfect harmony that the person targeting the He family had come nearby.
Perhaps it was because years of planning had fallen apart in an instant, or perhaps it was because they were fixated on the last two members of the family, but the person had actually come to the He residence to investigate!
They exchanged a glance and then, to the astonishment of Gu Sheng and Great Grandma He, darted outside.
Huo Yunxi immediately abandoned his human form as he pursued the source of the stench as a Spirit.
Meanwhile, Jiang Chenyi swiftly made his way to the top of the He family's gate to stand on the roof to survey the surroundings.
In his hands appeared a sniper rifle—a rifle that fired bullets of Merit, specifically designed to deal with rats hiding in the shadows.
The twisted thoughts of the target still echoed in his ears, filled with intense hatred.
It seemed the person had truly been pushed to the brink.
Soon, a loud noise erupted from an alley about a hundred meters south of the He family's courtyard.
Jiang Chenyi silently shifted the barrel of his rifle toward the alley's exit. Seconds later, a somewhat disheveled figure stumbled out.
The figure seemed to have been ambushed, with large stains of blood on his chest and abdomen that leave bloody footprints with every step.
Without hesitation, Jiang Chenyi pulled the trigger, and the bullet silently flew toward the figure.
At the same time, Gu Yuan, who had been investigating the mastermind, arrived nearby.
When he saw the man clutching his abdomen in the distance, he wanted to rush over and grab him.
But then, his collar was yanked back for the second time by Huo Yunxi: "Don't go. Little Jiang is taking care of it."
As soon as the words were spoken, a pale golden bullet struck the man's forehead.
There was no wound, no blood, and no death—only the Karmic Sin on the man's body being detonated by the bullet. The Karmic Sin he had intended to use on the He family instantly backfired on him.
He collapsed to the ground with his body twitching slightly and his eyes wide with terror as if he had seen something horrifying while staring fixedly at the sky.
Huo Yunxi let go and walked over to the man before expressionlessly severing his tendons in both his hands and feet.
Now, even if he regained consciousness, he wouldn't be able to escape.
Gu Yuan scratched his head in confusion and was completely baffled as to why the man had suddenly fallen.
He had been chasing this person for several days and nights, not daring to relax for a moment because he feared that the other might disappear somewhere.
But after all that circling around, they ended up back in the capital!
Fine, fine, this person was treating him like a dog being led on a leash!
He glanced at the He family residence not far from here and suspected that even in death, this person wanted to drag the He family down with him.
Jiang Chenyi also arrived with his sniper rifle gone and replaced by his usual weapon—the Golden Abacus.
The one-meter-tall Golden Abacus slammed heavily into the man's abdomen and instantly jolted him awake from his trance.
But the pain continued.
"It's... it's you! You saved the He family... didn't you!" Blood spilled from his mouth, but Jiang Chenyi, who was being questioned, had no intention of responding.
The young man lowered his eyes with his cold gaze fixed on the man as if he were not looking at a person, but rather at a cockroach that had just crawled out of a sewer.
For someone from the south, the first thing to do upon seeing a cockroach is to take off their shoe and smash it down on the insect.
At this moment, Jiang Chenyi also wanted to slam the Golden Abacus down on the man's head.
If this man's plot had succeeded, all twenty members of the He family would have perished.
Unfortunately, this man's life should not be left to private retribution.
But Jiang Chenyi was not entirely without other means. He slowly crouched down and reached out toward the man.
The man's eyes were bloodshot as he glared at Jiang Chenyi and a cold glint flashing in his eyes as the other approached.
His limbs were immobilized, but his arms were still somewhat functional.
However, as soon as this thought crossed his mind, a searing pain shot through his arm and spread throughout his body.
Huo Yunxi had already broken all four of his limbs, and one hand was now silently resting on the man's neck.
Move recklessly, and you die!
Jiang Chenyi remained completely undisturbed as his cool fingertips glided from the man's brow down to his chest.
To an outsider, the gesture might have seemed ambiguous, but for the man, it was nothing short of excruciating torture.
As Jiang's finger pressed against his brow, the man immediately felt as though ice had met a blazing fire within his body. All his cultivation vanished in an instant.
First, the Karmic Sin backfired, then all his cultivation was obliterated.
Without his cultivation to protect him, the Karmic Sin within him exploded.
But the most despairing part was that Jiang Chenyi's hand finally rested on the crown of his head, and a vast amount of Merit poured down that shield his most vital organs.
The explosion of Karmic Sin compounded by more Karmic Sin was far more than a simple addition. At this moment, the man had only one thought:
"Let... me... die! Let! Me! Die!"
He never expected that the young man with such a gentle and handsome face could be capable of such cruelty.
Jiang Chenyi withdrew his hand and chuckled at him, "Forget it. In terms of cruelty, I can't compare to you."
Huo Yunxi considerately handed him a tissue.
Jiang Chenyi wiped his hand, which had touched the man, and said with utmost sarcasm, "Oh, look at you. Why did you come back? If you hadn't returned, maybe you wouldn't have ended up in my hands."
The man had returned to quickly detonate the Karmic Sin within the last two members of the He family. But now, his scheme had completely failed, and he had fallen into his own trap.
The commotion they caused was indeed not small.
Soon, members of the He family and nearby residents came to see what was happening.
Those who lived nearby were all wealthy or influential, and they certainly knew the He family.
When they saw Great Grandma He appear, they instinctively took a step back to make way for her.
Upon seeing Gu Sheng appear, their expressions gradually turned serious.
Even though they knew a major incident had occurred here, they were still quite shocked—the Great-Grandmother of the He family and the Supervisor of the Celestial Masters Association were actually bowing in gratitude to a young man.
And that young man simply accepted it.
Jiang Chenyi ignored the strange looks from those around him and handed the man over to Gu Sheng: "As the Supervisor, it is your responsibility to deal with him."
At first glance, Gu Sheng noticed that the mastermind had been incapacitated by Jiang Chenyi, but he raised no objections.
"Leave it to us. We will report it to the higher-ups. Whether this person gets the death penalty or life imprisonment will depend on their judgment."
Personally, he felt that the higher-ups would sentence him to life imprisonment.
Although the man wasn’t dead, for him, life imprisonment might be ten thousand times more terrifying than the death penalty.
Jiang Chenyi clapped his hands and was about to return to the He family when he suddenly remembered a question.
He turned around while tilting his head slightly: "I’m a bit curious—how did you know about this Forbidden Art?"
Wasn’t it said that the ancient book had been burned?
The man sneered, but before he could finish laughing, Huo Yunxi slapped him across the face with a loud smack, causing his right cheek to swell up.
This sudden move startled everyone present.
Yet, after hitting him, Huo Yunxi’s face remained expressionless, though his eyes were dark and chilling.
Jiang Chenyi roughly understood why Huo Yunxi was angry and tried to comfort him: "Don’t worry, he will slowly suffer and die."
The man was shrouded in an extremely heavy aura of death.
Generally, there isn’t much death aura in prisons, so based on Gu Yuan’s earlier speculation, this man must have gone out to collect Karmic Sin and brought back a body full of death aura.
Using foreign forces to harm people within the country—regardless of whether the He family was military or not—the man’s actions had thoroughly enraged Huo Yunxi.
If it weren’t for knowing that this wasn’t the chaotic era of the past, Huo Yunxi might have wanted to stab the man to death.
After being slapped, the man could no longer endure the torment and obediently answered: "I am the great-grandson of Guan Chenggu… Before he died, he left behind a book, but only I could understand it."
His words left Gu Sheng stunned: "He actually had a child!"
The man chuckled: "It was a secret birth, just so that someone could inherit his legacy after his failure."
Jiang Chenyi immediately frowned with his face filled with disgust: "What kind of legacy is that? With that effort, couldn’t you have done something better?"
Could it be that three generations of their family had been researching this? It seems this whole family is insane!
As for why they targeted the He family, it was probably because they thought the He family’s luck was like an eternal, unsetting sun.
Such a family’s fate would indeed be the most suitable for a small, declining family that no one recognized.
The man said nothing more, whether he had resigned himself to his fate or because he was in too much pain to speak.
Gu Sheng’s face turned ashen as he personally restrained the man and, together with Gu Yuan, took him back to the Association for detention.
After they left, Jiang Chenyi waved to Great Grandma He: "Let’s go, we’ll continue."
He hadn't expected to be responsible for apprehending someone in the midst of rescuing others.
After subduing the person, Jiang Chenyi saw a warm light fall upon him, Huo Yunxi, and Gu Yuan—all three of them had contributed to the capture.
As the Merit entered their bodies, the anger in Huo Yunxi's heart was immediately quelled, and he also felt that his strength had significantly increased.
He looked at Jiang Chenyi in confusion, but the young man smiled and said, "Remember, you're now a Spirit, not a human."
The way Huo Yunxi had instinctively pursued the target earlier was something no human could have done.
The Merit he gained would greatly enhance Huo Yunxi's abilities, making it much easier for him to save people in the future compared to when he was in his human state.
Under the scrutinizing gazes of the onlookers, the two followed Great Grandma He back to the He family.
Coincidentally, He Shumiao had also just returned from the hospital.
With the Merit borrowed from Mother He, the Karmic Sin on her body was soon successfully removed, and her condition became almost indistinguishable from that of an ordinary person.
Taking advantage of this moment, Mother He told her about the mix-up between her and He Suisui.
After the initial shock, He Shumiao was filled with guilt. "I'm sorry... I took over your life."
The He family was quite prominent in the capital, and she had enjoyed a life of luxury since childhood. But the thought that the He family's biological daughter had suffered outside was like a knife to her heart.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
He Suisui, with red eyes, shook her head.
In truth, she didn't feel it was that bitter. Not only had He Shumiao taken on this calamity for her, but she also remembered the life-saving kindness from her childhood.
"We're even now." From then on, they would both be daughters of the He family and the best of sisters.
Jiang Chenyi watched as the "true and false heiresses" became harmonious sisters, and the frustration he felt towards that scoundrel also dissipated significantly.
"Alright, now we're just missing the last two!"
He looked at the He brothers, who had been silent for a long time.
After being disciplined by their wives and witnessing Jiang Chenyi's methods in dealing with the mastermind, they no longer harbored any doubts about the young man.
Although their inner voices weren't very strong... it was still enough to meet the threshold for a transaction.
Jiang Chenyi silently calculated the Merit on their bodies using an abacus, then once again opened the hidden door to the Supermarket out of thin air before sending them in to make the trade.
When they came out, what they held in their hands was no longer a Cocoon.
It was a palm-length insect!
Well, this one was even more terrifying :)
"This should be considered... a Poison Insect, and not an ordinary bug. Swallow it. Only with them can the Karmic Sin in your hearts be completely removed."
Each of them held an insect in their hands, glanced at it, and without much hesitation, swallowed it.
What's so scary about eating bugs? During field missions, insects are the best source of protein.
Their reaction after eating was extremely swift.
Almost immediately after swallowing, they fell asleep and gave everyone no time to react!
This frightened the He family, but fortunately, the expensive item didn't disappoint.
They watched as the Poison Insect wriggled beneath the skin before quickly making its way to the chest.
After a brief few minutes, the insect left the chest, crawled back up the esophagus, and emerged from their tightly closed mouths.
Like the butterflies before, they vanished into thin air after completing the transaction.
Only Jiang Chenyi knew that the items had returned to the supermarket.
With the threat to the He family's lives eliminated and the mastermind behind it stripped of power and captured, Jiang Chenyi decided to leave after just one more day of rest at the He family's residence.
However, as he was leaving, Great Grandma He insisted on handing him an anonymous bank card.
"Either you take the card, or you let every member of the He family, including me, kowtow to you."
Jiang Chenyi nearly exploded at the last sentence.
The thought of a centenarian kowtowing to him... the supermarket would surely kill him!
Reluctantly, he accepted the card with a grimace.
Later, he checked the balance and found it contained a whopping 50 million... not an astronomical amount, but certainly not small either, just within the range he could accept.
"Great Grandma is still Great Grandma after all..." he muttered.
After leaving the bank with Huo Yunxi, he sighed heavily but quickly regained his energy by saying enthusiastically, "Come on, before we leave the capital, I'll take you on an exciting adventure!"
Huo Yunxi raised an eyebrow, as if asking: What kind of excitement?
The young man grinned broadly.
"Let's go! I'll show you how to spend 50 million in a day!"
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