Treasure Accumulation Basin

"You filthy farmer! I'll give you three more days. If you don't pay this month's land tax, I'll send you to King Yama!"

Inside a thatched hut, a Soldier in armor wore a savage expression as he stomped on a teenage boy dressed in coarse cloth.

The boy gathered his courage. "B-but... I already paid next month's tax at the beginning of this month..."

Bang!

Before the boy could finish, the Soldier kicked him in the face, knocking out several teeth and leaving blood streaming down.

"You still dare to talk back! Listen well—remember this. If you don't hand over the land tax in three days, This Old Man will kill you!"

After coldly issuing his threat, the Soldier turned and left to collect land taxes from other households.

The boy clenched his fists, his body trembling—not from fear, but from rage.

His name was Jiang Ping An. He was fourteen years old and lived in Great River Village, where his family had farmed for generations.

Life had once been manageable, but several years ago, the country went to war and began levying taxes like mad.

Land tax, head tax, city-entry tax... in short, they wanted money for everything.

His mother had worked herself to death, while his father had gone hunting and been eaten by a fierce tiger in the mountains.

Now, he was the only one left in his family, yet these people still refused to spare a child of only fourteen.

He was so tired. He wanted to die, but his parents had repeatedly told him to keep living.

He did not know what meaning there was in living. If he had to name a goal, it was to kill those bastards who oppressed the common people.

But he was only fourteen. Malnourished for years, his body was extremely frail. He was no match for these Soldiers who practiced martial arts, and he had heard that some Soldiers even possessed power like that of immortals.

Jiang Ping An struggled to his feet with a limp. He had not eaten all day, and after being beaten, his body was nearly unable to hold on.

The thatched hut was completely bare. The table and stools—anything that could be sold—had already been sold.

Jiang Ping An's gaze fell upon the broken basin beside the stove.

It was the only thing left in the house: a Bronze Basin his father had picked up by the river. It was covered in cracks and usually used to hold water. It was slightly bigger than a person's head.

Jiang Ping An limped over to the broken Bronze Basin. It was the only thing left that he could sell, though he had no idea how many copper coins it might fetch.

No matter what, he would sell it first and trade it for a few flatbreads. Even if he was going to die, he wanted to die with a full stomach.

Just as he picked up the Bronze Basin, blood dripped onto it, and a brilliant azure light flashed from within.

Jiang Ping An froze. What was going on? Why was the Bronze Basin glowing?

Had he been beaten so badly that he was hallucinating?

"Brother PingAn!"

At that moment, a sturdy-looking little girl appeared at the doorway. She was around eight years old, and her patched clothes barely covered her body.

"Tiger Girl." Jiang Ping An responded instinctively.

Her real name was Li YueYue. Tiger Girl was only her nickname.

Li YueYue ran inside and spread open her fair little hand, quickly placing a copper coin into the basin in Jiang Ping An's hands. In her childish voice, she said:

"Brother PingAn, I stole this from my daddy. Hurry and gather enough to pay the taxes."

Then she pulled out half a steaming bun from her clothes and stuffed it into his hand. "Eat quickly. I just saved this."

"No, this money..."

Before Jiang Ping An could finish, Li YueYue ran off with a grin.

Looking at the copper coin and half a bun before him, Jiang Ping An—who had not cried even when the Soldiers beat him—felt tears well up in his eyes.

There was no shortage of people adding flowers to brocade; what was scarce were those who sent charcoal in the snow.

In such a hopeless situation, someone still cared about him. The feeling was beyond words.

Suddenly, an azure light flashed within the Bronze Basin.

Then, an astonishing sight unfolded before Jiang Ping An: many copper coins suddenly appeared inside the battered Bronze Basin.

He stood there stunned for a long while, then suddenly shuddered and hurriedly shut the door with caution.

When he lowered his head to look at the Bronze Basin again, the copper coins were still there!

A hallucination? No, absolutely not!

Jiang Ping An reached into the Bronze Basin with trembling hands and picked out the copper coins inside.

Not counting the one Li YueYue had given him, there were ten in total!

Why?

Why had so many copper coins suddenly appeared?

He suddenly recalled the stories of immortals his father had told him. Immortals were incredibly powerful. They could summon wind and rain, casually conjure money, and never worry about food or clothing.

Some immortals also possessed powerful magical treasures that could create money, such as a Treasure Accumulation Basin. Money placed inside could continuously produce more money.

Could this be an immortal's Treasure Accumulation Basin?

Though Jiang Ping An was young, he was quick to accept things. He soon became certain of it, so excited that his heart nearly leaped out of his chest.

With this magical treasure, he would never lack money again! He would have enough money to pay the taxes too!

Jiang Ping An tossed another copper coin inside, preparing to duplicate even more.

But after a long time passed, the copper coins inside did not change at all.

"Can it only duplicate things once? Or is there a time interval?"

If it could only be used once, that would be far too miserable.

Jiang Ping An ate the half bun Tiger Girl had given him, but it did not ease his hunger. Instead, it only made him hungrier.

Looking at the ten copper coins in his hand, he realized they were exactly enough to pay the land tax.

Jiang Ping An decided to fill his stomach first. He prepared to exchange some money for food.

He wanted to carry the Bronze Basin outside, but he was afraid of drawing attention and having it stolen.

If he left it at home, he was also afraid someone would steal it.

Back when he did not know how extraordinary the Bronze Basin was, leaving it at home had been no big deal. Now that he knew it was a treasure, nowhere felt safe enough.

The Bronze Basin in his hands seemed to sense something. It transformed into a streak of azure light and flew into Jiang Ping An's body.

Jiang Ping An was greatly startled and hurriedly felt around his body to inspect himself.

"What's going on? Where is my Bronze Basin?"

As soon as that thought arose, the Bronze Basin transformed into a streak of azure light and appeared in his hand.

Jiang Ping An was stunned for a moment, as though he understood something. He said, "Put away."

The Bronze Basin transformed into a streak of azure light and disappeared into his body.

"Come out."

The Bronze Basin appeared in his hand.

Jiang Ping An was overjoyed. Just as he had thought, he could put it away whenever he wanted.

After trying several times, he finally relaxed. He was even more certain that this treasure definitely was not a one-time thing!

His stomach growled so badly that he could no longer bear it.

He hurriedly took the money and ran to Uncle Li's house next door.

At that moment, Li Min was scolding Li YueYue. "You little brat, you even know how to steal money now! Who taught you that?"

"No one taught me. I just didn't want Brother PingAn to get beaten." Li YueYue clenched her little hands together, her eyes brimming with tears.

"You..." Li Min picked up a stick, intending to hit her, but when he saw Li YueYue's pitiful appearance, he ultimately could not bring himself to strike.

At the same time, he spotted Jiang Ping An standing at the door.

Li Min said coldly, "Get lost."

Jiang Ping An hurriedly said, "Uncle Li, I came to return the money."

"No need. Get lost already," Li Min continued to shout.

His family was not well-off. After being extorted several times, they had little left, but he knew Jiang Ping An was even poorer.

Li Min pitied him, yet he did not want too much involvement with him and the burden of taking on more responsibility.

Jiang Ping An did not leave. Instead, he opened his hand, revealing five copper coins.

"One is to pay you back. With the other four, I want to buy four buns."

Li Min froze. "How do you have so much money?"