Chapter 311: Irritable
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Chen Fei lowered his head to glance at himself, wearing clothes made of coarse fabric, which felt rough against his skin. Subconsciously, he felt like he hadn’t worn clothes like this in a long time.
Am 1 a peddler?
Chen Fei set down the shoulder pole and was about to see what was on either side of it when people from the surroundings slowly approached, surrounding him.
Chen Fei raised his head, looking at these people with some confusion. There were old and young, men and women, all of them wearing numb expressions as they stared at Chen Fei without speaking, just like that, unflinchingly.
A strange atmosphere gradually permeated the area, causing Chen Fei to furrow his brows slightly.
“Do you have something to sell? We’d like to buy some things,” an old man stepped forward, his unwavering gaze finally moving away from Chen Fei’s face to the baskets on either side of his shoulder pole. Following the old man’s gaze, Chen Fei noticed that his basket was filled with various fruits.
There were many types of fruits, some large and some small, each emitting a different level of fragrance. In particular, a few of the fruits were exceptionally large and very noticeable in the basket.
Chen Fei’s brows furrowed slightly; these fruits were emitting a strong fragrance, but strangely, he couldn’t smell anything until the old man’s gaze shifted away.
These fruits seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Yet, as Chen Fei looked at them, he felt an inexplicable connection to them, as if these fruits were closely related to him, something he couldn’t easily let go of.
In a daze, among these fruits, Chen Fei seemed to see a figure continuously practicing. Each fruit had a different scene of cultivation.
Chen Fei glanced at the people around him and had a strong desire to say that these fruits were not for sale. However, deep down, he had a feeling that if he didn’t sell these fruits, something terrifying might happen.
Chen Fei hesitated. He didn’t want to sell anything in his heart, but the feeling told him that not selling might lead to a disastrous outcome.
As Chen Fei fell into silence, the cold atmosphere around him began to thicken again. The crowd that had initially appeared numb started acting strangely, and the gazes they directed at Chen Fei became increasingly unsettling.
Chen Fei’s body instinctively tensed, and the ominous premonition weighing on his heart grew heavier.
“How do you sell these things? We want to buy some,” the old man’s eerie voice rang out. He stared at Chen Fei with a strange smile on his lips. At the same time, Chen Fei noticed that the people on the street had turned their gaze in their direction.
What should have been a bustling street had suddenly come to a halt, with everyone looking at Chen Fei in unison.
The normally noisy street seemed to have been paused, and Chen Fei’s body was covered in goosebumps. A great sense of terror swept over him, making him feel an overwhelming urge to flee.
Chen Fei glanced down at the fruits in the basket, hesitated for a moment, and then picked out a jujube. Even though he didn’t want to sell them, it seemed like he had no choice now.
Chen Fei could only choose the smallest fruit, the one he would feel the least attached to, and hold it out.
“Do you want this jujube?”
Chen Fei handed the jujube to the old man. The old man glanced at it, and the dark smile on his face disappeared, returning to the numb expression he had before.
As Chen Fei made his move, the pedestrians on the street began moving again, and they no longer stared at him as a group. The heavy chill that had hung in the air vanished instantly.
However, the people who had surrounded Chen Fei before still didn’t leave; their gaze remained fixed on him.
The old man took the jujube from Chen Fei’s hand. Their palms touched briefly, and though the contact was fleeting, the icy sensation left Chen Fei’s gaze momentarily changed.
That coldness didn’t seem like something a living person should have. But soon, Chen Fei unconsciously dismissed the thought, as if this coldness was perfectly normal.
The old man took the jujube and swallowed it whole, chewing it carefully.
As the jujube was consumed by the old man, Chen Fei’s breath suddenly stopped. In that moment, he had forgotten how to breathe on his own.
Fortunately, breathing was an automatic process, and apart from the initial pause, Chen Fei soon resumed breathing naturally. After taking a few breaths, his body quickly remembered how to breathe.
Everything returned to normal.
The old man continued to bite into the jujube, but the more he chewed, the stranger it felt. There was no sweetness to it, it tasted as bland as chewing plain water, or even worse, like chewing air.
The old man raised his head, staring at Chen Fei. Chen Fei turned to look at him, and the two of them locked eyes.
“Not tasty?” Chen Fei asked, looking puzzled.
When the jujube was consumed, Chen Fei had expected to feel distressed or uncomfortable, but apart from a momentary pause in his breathing, he didn’t experience any other unusual sensations.
“Give me another one!” the old man demanded.
The old man’s complexion had turned blue at some point, and his eyes no longer had any whites, just pitch-black pupils fixated on Chen Fei, his tone filled with icy coldness.
“You want another one?” Chen Fei was taken aback and glanced into the basket. The jujube that had disappeared a moment ago had reappeared. Chen Fei instinctively took it out and looked at the old man.
Seeing the jujube, the old man’s cold expression froze for a moment. The jujube he had just eaten tasted like air. Now, was he supposed to eat another one?
But if he didn’t continue eating, he would have to pay first.
The old man looked at the others, and an old woman stepped forward, taking the jujube from Chen Fei’s hand. At the same time, the old man gave Chen Fei a copper coin.
Clutching the money, Chen Fei felt a sense of relief wash over him. Instinctively, he understood that this money was important to him.
The old woman stared at the jujube intently, and in her eyes, the jujube underwent constant transformations, ultimately morphing into a figure practicing a breathing technique. The breathing technique mobilized the internal power within the body, refining the physical strength.
The old woman grinned, tossing the jujube into her mouth with a forceful bite. However, her smiling face froze in an instant.
She hadn’t eaten anything; she had only chewed air. This jujube seemed like an empty shell with nothing inside.
Chen Fei, standing nearby, had his breath momentarily halt. Fortunately, he had experience now and began to breathe independently, allowing his body to adapt to this sensation without any adverse effects.
Subconsciously, Chen Fei turned to look at his basket. The jujube that he had just sold seemed to have reappeared in the basket at some point.
Chen Fei’s eyes lit up slightly. Could he keep selling this jujube and continuously have more?
He looked at the copper coin in his hand, as if he had found the path to wealth and success.
Bending down, Chen Fei took out the jujube from the basket and looked at the people around him. However, they all seemed to sense that something was amiss and remained silent. Chen Fei turned to the old man, whose face had turned pale.
Then he looked at the old woman, who stared at him intently but didn’t express any interest in buying the jujube.
“Don’t like it? How about this apple then?” Chen Fei, noticing that nobody wanted the jujube, leaned into the basket and rummaged around before picking a small apple. Its size was similar to that of the jujube. In a trance, Chen Fei saw a figure within the apple constantly waving.
Waving?
The old man took the apple, and simultaneously, the old woman had to give Chen Fei one copper coin.
Chen Fei accepted the money and watched as the old couple promptly bit into and devoured the small apple. However, Chen Fei noticed that instead of becoming happier, the old man grew increasingly angry after eating the apple.
This anger was palpable to Chen Fei as he stood by, but it seemed to be restrained by some limit, forcing the old man to suppress it rather than vent it outward.
The old man’s gaze towards Chen Fei was no longer just cold; it now carried a hint of murderous intent.
Murderous intent?
Chen Fei furrowed his brow. It was just an apple; why such a violent reaction? Even if the apple tasted bad, there was no need for this.
This time, Chen Fei didn’t forget to breathe, but he seemed to have forgotten something else. He looked into the basket, and the small apple did not reappear.
Chen Fei’s expression twitched as he recalled the scene within the small apple from earlier. He tried moving his hand as he remembered.
To his astonishment, a small apple appeared out of thin air in the basket, right before his eyes. It seemed that this basket could indeed produce things out of nowhere!
“Apples, anyone want apples?” Chen Fei cheerfully took out the apples from the basket and first offered one to the old man. Despite the old man’s murderous intent, Chen Fei turned to the old woman.
The old woman glanced at the old man, but she didn’t respond and simply ignored Chen Fei’s apple.
“Very sweet,” Chen Fei promoted.
“Do you sell other fruits?” The old woman glanced at the other fruits in the basket.
“Let’s start with apples and jujubes,” Chen Fei grinned. He wasn’t sure if the other fruits could be produced repeatedly, but apples and jujubes clearly could, so those had to be sold first.
The old woman remained silent, her gaze fixed on Chen Fei. Chen Fei didn’t mind, as it was different from the icy atmosphere earlier. He noticed that as long as he was selling fruits, the threatening feeling didn’t reappear.
“Apples, sweet and fragrant apples! And jujubes, delicious and sweet jujubes. Give them a try, have a look!” Chen Fei loudly shouted, attracting some attention from the onlookers. Two women stepped forward and each took an apple and a jujube from Chen Fei.
Chen Fei looked expectantly at his woven basket.
After consciously taking a few breaths and moving his hand as before, the basket successfully produced apples and jujubes again. A smile appeared on Chen Fei’s face.
However, the two women, after eating Chen Fei’s apples and jujubes, suddenly looked as if they had been punched in the face, their faces filled with anger.
Eating a piece of fruit shouldn’t make someone so angry.
Chen Fei was puzzled but collected the two copper coins. He bent down to take out more apples and jujubes from the basket, then looked around at the people nearby. However, no matter how he shouted, no one came forward to take the apples and jujubes..