Luo Qian had only meant to get a grip on the old man and put a bit in his mouth, to make him more obedient. He had not expected to beat the grass for a rabbit and flush out a whole den of fiery foxes. Why refuse meat delivered straight to his lips? Luo Qian kept his face impassive. Seeing a chance, the old man rose with trembling hands, though the pain of parting with his treasure showed plainly. He pulled open a large cabinet, revealing a hidden compartment set into the wall. Luo Qian's eyes lit up. The old fellow even has a safe.
After passing through three formation checks, the old man finally opened the "safe," but blocked Luo Qian's view with his body as he took something out. "Lord Luo, these are thirty-six Heavenly River Pearls I collected before the River-Sealing Edict was issued. They're all the same size, with the same luster and color. Nowadays, they're priceless..." As he spoke, he poured more than a dozen thumb-sized pearls from a brocade pouch and weighed them in his palm. "Every one is a fine pearl produced by a Ghost-Faced Clam over a thousand years old!"
The Ghost-Faced Clam was another kind of demon beast from the Heavenly River. It lived in the dark depths of the river, its shell enormous and hard. It took its name from the ghostly face formed by the patterns on that shell.
Luo Qian was disappointed. He had expected some extraordinary treasure, but these were merely pretty pearls. As the old man had said, the thirty-six pearls were priceless in the Immortal Realm—but only in an age of peace. As the saying went, antiques flourished in peaceful times, gold in troubled ones. In peace, their value soared. In chaos, when human lives