The Mysterious Little Girl in a Floral Linen Dress

The little girl in the floral linen dress was taken aback at first, then her face flushed, she lowered her head, and whispered, "I'm sorry, sister."

"Pfft~" Lie Xingyun was drinking, couldn't catch his breath and spat out the wine he had just drunk, his face showing a very conflicted expression.

Even Zhen Liang, who had been silent all along, had a smile in his eyes. They could tell that the little girl in the floral linen dress was about twelve or thirteen years old. As for how old Cang Lan was, they didn't know, but they did know that Cang Lan had already become famous throughout the entire Azure Dragon Continent five hundred years ago.

At that time, the little girl in the floral linen dress was still a child, so calling her "mother" would have been perfectly acceptable, let alone "grandmother."

"Hehe~~" Cang Lan laughed out loud upon hearing this, bent down and tapped the little girl's forehead, saying, "You little rascal, all you know is how to please your older sister."

"Sister, you're so pretty!" the little girl in the floral linen dress exclaimed, squinting her eyes.

"Giggle~~" Cang Lan laughed even harder, looking up at Zhen Liang and Lie Xingyun, pointing at the little girl and saying, "Listen, kids just love to tell the truth, it's so cute."

"Heh..." Lie Xingyun rolled his eyes and sneered.

"Yes, she's young and inexperienced; she's an innocent and kind girl," Zhen Liang quickly agreed with a smile.

Cang Lan didn't mind Lie Xingyun's cold laugh. He turned around, touched the little girl's forehead, and said cheerfully, "Little girl, you have such a sweet tongue. What's your name?"

"My name is Liuli," the little girl in the floral linen skirt replied timidly.

"Liuli? What a nice name." Cang Lan's eyes lit up; she seemed to really like the name.

"Then... Sister, do you want to buy this book?" The little girl, Liuli, held up the white-covered book in her hands and asked Covet.

"Of course, I bought it." Cang Lan waved her hand, and a spatial bag appeared in her palm. She handed it to Liuli and said, "There are 100,000 Spirit Crystal inside. Here you go."

"Ah!" Liuli pulled her outstretched hand back in fright, shook her head violently, her braids swinging back and forth, and said, "Sister, only ten thousand... no, no, seven thousand Spirit Crystal will do."

Liuli's words surprised Lie Xingyun and Zhen Liang. They turned to look at her. Ten thousand Spirit Crystal were nothing to them, but for cultivators with lower cultivation levels, it was a considerable fortune. Ten thousand Spirit Crystal could buy a ticket to the Mysterious Bookstore.

Not to mention, judging from the girl's clothes and the fact that there was no fluctuation of Spiritual Power in her body, these 100,000 Spirit Crystal would be an enormous fortune for her, enough to change the course of her life, yet she refused them.

It's like God gave her an opportunity, but she didn't want to accept it.

"Oh? That's 100,000 Spirit Crystal! Do you know what having this amount of Spirit Crystal means?" Even Cang Lan was a little surprised and looked at Liuli with great interest, asking her question. She was becoming more and more interested in the little girl in front of her.

Liuli shook her head and said seriously, "To acquire wealth unjustly is like eating rotten meat to satisfy hunger or drinking poison to quench thirst; it may provide temporary sustenance, but death will follow."

"There is no one in the world who does not take wealth, but it must be done in accordance with righteousness. The Spirit Crystal you gave me, sister, are far more valuable than this book. If Liuli takes them, it would be against righteousness. Liuli must not be greedy."

Cang Lan was stunned by Liuli's words. She subconsciously turned to look at Zhen Liang and Lie Xingyun and found that their expressions were almost the same, both looking completely bewildered.

"Little girl, who taught you that phrase?" Cang Lan asked curiously.

Liuli pondered for a moment, then replied, "No Humanity Teaching Liuli; it's just in Liuli's mind."

"Pfft~" Cang Lan was amused by Liuli's words, but she didn't say anything. She patted Liuli's head and said, "This isn't ill-gotten gains. The value of things in the world is determined by people. If I say your book is worth 100,000 Spirit Crystal, then it's worth 100,000 Spirit Crystal. If I say this book isn't worth a single Spirit Crystal, then it's not worth a single Spirit Crystal. Do you understand?"

Liuli looked at Cang Lan with a puzzled expression, completely bewildered. Clearly, she was also confused by Cang Lan's words.

"Take it." Cang Lan grabbed Liuli's hand, placed the spatial bag in her hand, and then took the White Quality book, looking at the words on the cover with great interest.

"This..."

Upon seeing this, Cang Lan's eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at the words on the cover.

"Grand Dean, what's wrong?" Zhen Liang couldn't help but ask when she saw this.

Lie Xingyun, sitting opposite him, also looked curious and turned to see what was written on the white-covered book in Cang Lan's hand.

"Sister, congratulations! See you tomorrow." Suddenly, Liuli winked at her, then picked up her skirt, turned around, and ran downstairs, leaving the three of them completely bewildered.

Cang Lan watched Liuli's disappearing figure, then seemed to remember something. She quickly turned around and went to the railing to look down at the little girl in the floral linen dress. There were crowds of people below, but the petite figure was nowhere to be seen.

Cang Lan silently withdrew her gaze, looked at the book in her hand again, and with a final flash of light, the book disappeared from her grasp.

"Please continue, Deans. I'm tired, so I'll take my leave now." Cang Lan's tone was somewhat heavy, devoid of her usual playful demeanor. Without waiting for Zhen Liang and the other's reply, she vanished from the spot, disappearing without a trace.

As Zhen Liang and Lie Xingyun watched Cang Lan's disappearing figure, their expressions grew even more suspicious.

"Third Brother, did you see what was written on the book cover just now?" Lie Xingyun couldn't help but ask. He was also full of curiosity. He had worked with Cang Lan for five hundred years and had never seen Cang Lan so depressed.

Zhen Liang shook his head and said, "I can't see it, and I dare not use my divine sense to explore it, but since that book can cause such a big change in the Grand Dean, it must be extraordinary."

"Why don't we go and capture that girl and ask her about it?" Lie Xingyun asked.

"She's gone. We can't find any trace of that girl within a ten-mile radius. It seems we all misjudged her. That girl wasn't an ordinary person." Zhen Liang sighed and said. The moment Cang Lan disappeared, Zhen Liang had already released his divine sense to spread outwards, covering a ten-mile radius, but he still couldn't sense the girl's aura. Clearly, the girl possessed a magical artifact that could conceal her presence.

"Third Brother, do you think that little girl might be from the Mysterious Bookstore?" Lie Xingyun asked in a low voice.

Upon hearing this, Zhen Liang pondered for a moment and said, "According to the information in the data, there is no one in the Mysterious Bookstore who matches this description. The only person who matches in age is a chef named Zhang Caicai who recently joined the Bookstore."

"Maybe she's hiding something deep." Lie Xingyun didn't take it seriously. How could such a powerful force reveal all its secrets? Take Vast Academy for example, its foundation is far deeper than it appears on the surface, and there are many secrets that cultivators on the continent know nothing about.

"Who knows? Didn't she just say 'see you tomorrow'? I suppose we'll meet again tomorrow, and then we'll know." Zhen Liang was also very interested in that little girl, wanting to know who she was and what was written on the cover of the book that Grand Dean had given her.