Invincible Soul Emperor-Chapter 335: Framing and Entrapment

News had already spread from Thunder Valley that Chen Qingye, the owner of the Chen Yue Pavilion, had cured the strange illness of the Thunder Valley Sect Master’s wife.

As a major power in the Chaoyun Country, everyone knew that Thunder Valley had spent years searching far and wide for famous doctors to treat the Sect Master’s wife, but all their efforts had ended in vain.

Chen Qingye’s ability to cure such a peculiar disease proved his medical skills were superb. His reputation soared as a result, and the number of people coming to the Chen Yue Pavilion to purchase Spirit Pills naturally increased.

After receiving this news, the clerks rushed to report to Ma Chunsheng. They advised him that the owner’s hard-earned reputation had attracted this huge crowd of customers. If they didn’t seize this excellent opportunity, they would be squandering their owner’s painstaking efforts.

Ma Chunsheng finally breathed a sigh of relief. After all, he had heard of Ye Qingchen’s capabilities; the man was known for creating miracles. Establishing the Chen Yue Pavilion’s reputation in such a short time might be as difficult as ascending to the heavens for others, but for Ye Qingchen, it seemed to be no great challenge.

Just as the clerks said, this was a golden opportunity to grow the Chen Yue Pavilion. If I don’t seize this chance, how will I explain myself to Ye Qingchen when he returns?

With that thought, Ma Chunsheng instructed the clerks to act boldly. He launched a series of promotions, causing the number of people buying Spirit Pills to skyrocket.

However, as sales increased daily, the inventory in the Chen Yue Pavilion became severely depleted. Even with the backing of the Rising Sun Pavilion, it still wasn’t enough.

With no other choice, Ma Chunsheng had to order the clerks to limit the purchase of Spirit Pills. He also sent men to the Rising Sun Pavilion headquarters to procure more.

But distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. The moment the Chen Yue Pavilion started rationing, customers grew dissatisfied. Within just two days, complaints were rampant.

Every day, customers caused a commotion in front of the Chen Yue Pavilion, leaving Ma Chunsheng as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

If this continues, the reputation the Chen Yue Pavilion has built over the past few days will be utterly destroyed!

Unwilling to face such an outcome, Ma Chunsheng consulted the clerks for a solution. Finally, at their urging, he decided to send people in disguise to purchase elixirs from the Huanyue Sect’s Pill Pavilion to replenish their stock.

What Ma Chunsheng didn’t expect, however, was that this played right into Xi Jianwei’s hands.

From the booming business of the Chen Yue Pavilion to the customers later causing trouble at its doorstep demanding elixirs, everything was the result of the Huanyue Sect fanning the flames from behind the scenes.

Their goal was to empty the Chen Yue Pavilion’s inventory, forcing them to turn to the Huanyue Sect to replenish their supply of Spirit Pills.

After all, within Illusory Moon City, the only place with such a large reserve of Spirit Pills was the Huanyue Sect. Furthermore, the Huanyue Sect’s long-standing reputation would make the Chen Yue Pavilion feel secure in their purchase.

Naturally, the Huanyue Sect had no intention of kindly supporting the Chen Yue Pavilion’s business. As soon as he sensed that the Chen Yue Pavilion was running out of stock, Xi Jianwei ordered the Huanyue Sect’s Pill Pavilion to lower the quality of their Spirit Pills and even secretly poison them.

Because the Chen Yue Pavilion’s business had been so brisk, the Huanyue Sect’s Pill Pavilion was deserted. This meant that even though Ma Chunsheng’s people were in disguise, their purchase of a large quantity of Spirit Pills at once made them easy to identify.

Therefore, Xi Jianwei wasn’t worried about selling the poisoned Spirit Pills to regular customers.

After buying the Spirit Pills from the Huanyue Sect, Ma Chunsheng immediately put them up for sale in the Chen Yue Pavilion. Once the customers purchased the elixirs, they stopped causing trouble in front of the pavilion.

Ma Chunsheng finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But the good times didn’t last. In less than two days, customers began flocking to the store to demand an explanation.

Worse still, some people carried an ailing man right to the Chen Yue Pavilion’s doorstep, attracting a large crowd of onlookers.

Upon hearing the report from a clerk, Ma Chunsheng hurried out of the Chen Yue Pavilion. He emerged just in time to see a middle-aged man dressed as a scholar cursing at the building.

"Quacks! Shameless! My brother took your Spirit Pill! He was supposed to break through to the next realm, but now, not only did the breakthrough fail, his dantian shattered! If you don’t give me a satisfactory explanation today, I’ll smash your Chen Yue Pavilion to pieces!"

Ma Chunsheng looked closely and saw a person lying behind the middle-aged man. The man was taking weak, shallow breaths and looked to be on the verge of death.

Following the middle-aged man’s angry tirade, more people joined in the denunciation of the Chen Yue Pavilion.

Some claimed that after taking the Chen Yue Pavilion’s Detoxifying Spirit Pill, the poison had actually worsened instead of being cured. Others said that taking the Spirit Gathering Pill had resulted in a complete loss of their Spiritual Energy.

Not only were these people shouting curses, but they had also brought the injured to the doorstep of the Chen Yue Pavilion.

With such compelling evidence, the uninformed onlookers began to murmur among themselves.

"When did this Chen Yue Pavilion pop up? How dare they sell fake medicine in Illusory Moon City?"

"I only heard their Spirit Pills were cheap. Turns out they were just passing off shoddy goods as quality ones! Aren’t they afraid of being struck by lightning for earning such dishonest money?"

"If they were just passing off shoddy goods, that would at least show a bit of conscience. But now it looks like this Chen Yue Pavilion must be adding poison to their Spirit Pills. Their intentions are truly malicious!"

As the discussions grew more heated, the crowd became agitated, looking as if they might demolish the Chen Yue Pavilion at any moment.

Panicked, Ma Chunsheng hurriedly clasped his hands toward the crowd and shouted, "Everyone! Everyone! I am the Store Manager of the Chen Yue Pavilion. Please, calm down and listen to what I have to say, will you?"

He had to shout several times before the surrounding murmurs died down. Everyone wanted to hear what kind of explanation the Chen Yue Pavilion could possibly offer at this point.

Ma Chunsheng coughed, then said, "Everyone, you all know that our Chen Yue Pavilion’s business was booming a while ago, causing our supply of Spirit Pills to run short. But your enthusiasm for buying them never let up! Out of desperation, we had no choice but to buy Spirit Pills from the Huanyue Sect to restock. The elixirs that are causing these problems have nothing to do with our Chen Yue Pavilion!"

Ma Chunsheng was merely clutching at straws, still not understanding the full scope of the situation. Who else but the Huanyue Sect could mobilize so many people to cause a scene in Illusory Moon City?

Just as expected, the moment Ma Chunsheng finished speaking, the scholar-like middle-aged man snorted coldly and said, "Utter nonsense! We clearly purchased the elixirs from your store, yet you’re trying to pin the blame on the Huanyue Sect. Have you no shame?"

As soon as the middle-aged man finished speaking, others immediately began to chime in with their agreement.