Xu Taiping said nothing at this, merely grinning.
The Tiger Demon's unguarded answer had confirmed what the Tiger Wraith had just said, putting his mind considerably at ease.
"You little wretch! Three months from now, I will skin you, tear out your tendons, and turn your soul into a lamp wick, leaving you to suffer the torment of your soul burning day and night!"
When had the Tiger King ever been toyed with like this? His furious roar, even coming from a mere spectral projection of his soul, shook the buildings within the Green Bamboo Abode violently.
Standing directly before him, Xu Taiping felt his blood and qi churn from the shock.
Had the crimson dawn true qi not protected his body, he would likely have passed out.
After that roar, however, the Tiger King's spectral form dispersed with a thunderous burst, seemingly having exhausted the power hidden within the Tiger Wraith.
This is his strength even after being gravely wounded. How powerful would the Tiger King be if he weren't injured?
Xu Taiping was deeply shaken. He now had an entirely new understanding of the Tiger King's strength that Qingmei and the Tiger Wraith had spoken of.
Yet despite his shock, fear did not make him lose his nerve. Instead, a fierce fighting spirit rose within him.
This probably had something to do with having lived alone since childhood. Whenever he encountered difficulties, he could only face them head-on, unable to choose escape like other children who had parents to lean on.
Clatter...
Just as the flames died out, the sound of coins falling suddenly came from inside the pitfall.
Xu Taiping cautiously leaned over to look inside. By the moonlight overhead, he could make out only a heap of Merit Coins and two objects whose shapes were indistinct, lying amid the ashes.
Could these be things the Tiger Wraith hid using a Secret Technique?
Xu Taiping speculated to himself.
When reading the introductory volume earlier, he had learned that ghosts, demons, and nature spirits all had their own ways of hiding possessions. Tiger Demons, for example, liked to hide things in their stomachs, while elephant demons preferred their trunks.
In case it's a trap, I'd better leave them down there for a few nights. I can inspect them after repairing the Green Bamboo Abode's great formation.
Whether there were treasures inside or not, Xu Taiping had no intention of going down there now, for safety's sake.
On Sheep Deer Mountain behind the Green Bamboo Abode.
"Both brave and resourceful. It seems these old eyes haven't misjudged him."
A white-haired old man reclining on the fork of a large tree nodded with a smile, seemingly very pleased with Xu Taiping's performance that night.
"But the path of cultivation stretches far ahead. A moment's courage and a moment's cleverness are merely minor things. In the end, talent is what matters. If you can break through the gate opening realm three years from now and distinguish yourself in the Seven Peaks Sword Challenge, I might consider making an exception and taking you as my disciple."
The old man gently stroked his beard, then tilted his head back and drained the wine from his gourd.
"Those lazy, greedy wretches at the West Wind Pavilion! Not only do they extort money and goods from outer sect disciples, but someone dug up the spring feeding a cultivation site, and not one of them came to investigate. They truly respect neither law nor heaven!"
At this, the old man's face abruptly darkened, and a sharp light flashed in his small eyes.
"To think a trivial matter like this requires me, their ancestral master, to intervene. Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!"
With that, the old man rose unsteadily. He tucked his wine gourd at his waist and stepped forward into empty air. A bronze longsword flew beneath his feet with a whoosh, carrying him away with a thunderous rush through the sky.
Rumble...
"Finally finished."
Sheep Deer Mountain, the Purple Bamboo Forest.
After four or five days of work, Xu Taiping had finally dug through the blocked spring. He also activated the mechanism formation nearby, concealing it once more.
"Good luck today. Not only did I repair the spring, I even hunted down a Yellow Sheep."
Glancing at the Yellow Sheep beside him, frozen solid by his crimson dawn true qi, Xu Taiping could not help smiling slightly.
He had dealt with the Tiger Wraith and cultivated the Setting Sun Glow Art to the ice formation stage. Everything was going smoothly.
"Taiping, you're finally back."
"Uncle Bai?"
Just as Xu Taiping dragged the Yellow Sheep back to the Green Bamboo Abode, the White-Headed Eagle spirit bird he had not seen in quite some time suddenly appeared at the courtyard gate. Beside the eagle stood an old man with graying hair and a wine gourd hanging at his waist.
"When did you get back, Uncle Bai?"
Xu Taiping set down the Yellow Sheep.
Although he was asking White Rainbow, his eyes were sizing up the gray-haired old man.
"Just now. This is a... f-friend I met on the road. Everyone calls him Old Nine. We happened to be passing the Green Bamboo Abode, so we thought we'd stop by and scrounge a meal from you."
White Rainbow, who usually spoke with great authority, was stammering today, much to Xu Taiping's surprise.
"Young friend Taiping, White Rainbow and I have traveled over a thousand li, and our stomachs are aching with hunger. Could you light the stove and cook us a meal?"
Old Nine rubbed his hands together and asked with a smile.
"Uncle Bai is my friend. Forget one meal—I’d welcome him even if he came here to eat every day. But you, sir, will have to pay."
Generous to friends and stingy with strangers-in this respect, Xu Taiping was exactly like his grandfather.
"Taiping, you..."
"Ha ha... Young friend Taiping is quite right. One ought to pay for a meal!"
Hearing this, White Rainbow grew visibly nervous, as though he wanted to explain something to Xu Taiping, only for Old Nine to interrupt him with hearty laughter.
Thud!
With a flick of his hand, Old Nine tossed a money pouch in front of Xu Taiping.
"Young friend, there are three hundred Merit Coins in there. Will that cover a meal?"
He asked Xu Taiping with a smile.
Xu Taiping did not answer immediately. Instead, he counted seven Merit Coins out of the pouch, then tossed it back to the old man and said:
"I don't have any fancy food at home. Seven Merit Coins will do for this meal."
With payment received, Xu Taiping's face held a little more warmth when he looked at Old Nine again.
Old Nine burst into another round of hearty laughter, then gave Xu Taiping a thumbs-up.
"A fair price."
At the side, White Rainbow wiped the sweat from his brow, breathing a sigh of relief inwardly.
Oh, little Taiping, little Taiping, do you have any idea who's standing before you? Thank goodness he didn't get angry.
But Old Nine had already given him instructions before they came, so he could only keep these words bottled up inside, not daring to voice them.
"Sir, the fire can't be too strong. Lower it, lower it."
"Uncle Bai, help me peel a few cloves of garlic, then chop some scallions."
In the Green Bamboo Abode's kitchen, Old Nine tended the fire, White Rainbow chopped vegetables in his eagle-headed, human-bodied form, and Xu Taiping worked the wok. All three were busily occupied.
"Young Taiping, look, I'm even tending the fire for you. Couldn't you charge a little less for the meal?"
Old Nine swept back his hair, then tried bargaining with Xu Taiping, all smiles.
"You old fellow, why are you still haggling? If you weren't helping me tend the fire, this meal would cost eight Merit Coins!"
Xu Taiping wiped the sweat from his forehead and rolled his eyes at Old Nine.
"Fair enough, fair enough."
Old Nine chuckled again at this.
White Rainbow, chopping vegetables beside them, felt another jolt of alarm at their exchange and nearly sliced his own talon.
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