The alley soon fell quiet again. Only the wind rustled the fallen leaves at its entrance.
Divine Martial flicked his tail, jumped onto the wooden crate, and sniffed the jade plaque. He meowed and looked up at Yun Che.
"That old bastard was up to no good. When he came in, he kept secretly sweeping your Storage Ring with his Divine Sense. Did he think I wouldn't notice?"
Yun Che smiled and picked up the jade plaque between his fingertips. With a slight infusion of Immortal Power, its surface instantly glowed with a soft spiritual light. Its patterns slowly unfolded, revealing a tiny map that marked an unremarkable little mountain hollow outside the Immortal City.
"Of course he was up to no good." Yun Che rubbed the edge of the jade plaque, a trace of coldness rising in his eyes.
"He recognized me as a newcomer from the Black Star Mine the moment he came in. That means he'd been watching this place for some time. Shen Qing was just his pawn, sent to force her way in and sound me out."
He had secretly activated the Myriad Worlds Thief-Catching Hand earlier and already gleaned the truth from the old cultivator's memories.
The old cultivator had long known that the Mine Foreman had stolen the Heaven-Mending Pearl, and that the pearl wasn't on him. He had deliberately sent Shen Qing over to make a scene, forcing Yun Che to hand over what he had hidden so he could reap the rewards.
"Looks like this five-thousand bounty that dropped into my lap came with an extra little performance."
Yun Che tucked the jade plaque back into his robes, closed the open Storage Ring, and dusted off his hands.
"Come on. Let's take a look at this little mountain hollow and see