"All the spirits that used to hold this place are dead. There's just a big nest of venomous White Phosphorus Snakes stupidly guarding the valley entrance!"
The little girl chattered away as she led Lü Bufan outside.
Lü Bufan remained silent, then finally asked her, "You're from Western Liang too, aren't you?"
"Yes! One of my little spirit beasts ran off. Master said there's a kind of mushroom here in Old Dragon Gully in Guangling Commandery that can lure snakes, insects, and dragon-kind. So I came looking for it..."
"Will those villagers be in danger after being taken away?"
"They were all bitten by White Phosphorus Snakes! They'll die if they don't go with the people from the Immortal Herb Sect... Most of those bones outside belonged to people killed by White Phosphorus Snake bites."
"Where in Western Liang is the Immortal Herb Sect?"
"I don't know... But Daddy definitely does! Do you want to rescue your friends?"
"Yes..."
"Then you'll have to go to the Western Liang Kingdom. It's pretty far... But with an Immortal Sect talisman boat, you could probably fly there in three or four days. You could also take the Underground River Ghost Road underground, but that would take seven days!"
"Did you sneak out?"
"Yes!"
Lü Bufan glanced at the little girl beside him, and she realized she had let it slip...
"So what? I'm really strong, you know! I tamed that huge bear outside! We cultivators from Western Liang are the best at taming beasts and fierce beasts all across the world! Don't you get any bad ideas about me..."
"I won't..."
"Why? Am I not pretty enough?"
"..."
Lü Bufan and the little girl crouched beside the bear, which was foaming at the mouth with its eyes rolled back, and frowned.
"What do you think is wrong with him? I don't think he's going to die, and he doesn't seem sick either! Why is he like this?"
Lü Bufan pursed his lips. "Is he a coward?"
"Well... I suppose so..."
"He was scared senseless..."
"No way! He's really strong. Ordinary fierce beasts and tigers and things can't beat him!"
Lü Bufan took out a little bottle, pulled out a pungent, acrid pill that stank to high heaven, and shoved it straight into the bear's nostril...
"Awooo, awooo... urk, urk, urk... awooo..."
The bear woke up, vomiting and sneezing in agony.
The little girl jumped up and slapped the bear on the head, loudly scolding him. "Useless thing! All that size gone to waste... What could possibly scare you into this state?"
Lü Bufan thought for a moment. "A dog..."
"What? A dog! What kind of dog could scare Black Bear like this?"
Lü Bufan wanted to say... Never mind your bear. I heard that on the day of the fight, even the lord of the twelfth Guardian City was scared pissless by that big black dog and ran faster than a rabbit...
After thinking it over, Lü Bufan said no more about that, only explaining that the dog had probably come down from Two-World Mountain and was very mysterious and powerful!
The little girl's eyes immediately lit up.
After a few punches and kicks drove the terrified bear to the valley entrance to keep watch, the little girl said to Lü Bufan as they walked, "Introduce me! I want to see what kind of exotic beast could scare Black Bear like that!"
Lü Bufan was also worried about the missing Big Black. As he walked, he replied, "You have to promise there aren't any ghosts inside anymore..."
The little girl laughed. "There aren't, there aren't! That was just a little spirit I brought along playing tricks on people. It only knows a tiny bit of illusion magic!"
With his heart pounding in terror, Lü Bufan passed through a tunnel and entered an enormous limestone cavern.
Seven or eight giant lizards and pythons lay dead inside.
The little girl pouted. "The Immortal Herb Sect did this... So cruel. They even dug out their inner cores!"
Lü Bufan nodded. "So you hid in the shadows and watched them kill these Demonic Beasts, then take those three villagers away?"
"I couldn't beat them. What else could I do?"
Lü Bufan suddenly caught a faintly sweet, fishy scent... His head began to feel numb.
"The people from the Immortal Herb Sect dug up the biggest mushrooms in here. Otherwise... these poisonous fumes would have driven you mad already."
"These things are poisonous?"
The little girl walked over to the cavern wall, carefully put on a silk glove, and picked a dull gray, mushroom-shaped growth.
"This is the stuff! I think it's called... something Folded-Ear Mushroom! What a shame... The Immortal Herb Sect is at odds with my family. Otherwise, I wouldn't have just watched them dig up all the usable Folded-Ear Mushrooms... I came all this way for nothing."
Lü Bufan leaned over to look. "Are these worth anything?"
"They should be! Aren't you a Martial Warrior? Are you very poor?"
"Yes... I don't have much money, and our village is very poor too. There's a cripple who doesn't have crutches, so he can only sit in a vat... There's also Mute and a deaf man, and my master is blind... They're very pitiful!"
Thinking of those old fellows in the village who spent every day feasting and drinking with grease smeared around their mouths, and the huge vat the cripple had claimed, supposedly worth hundreds of thousands of taels of gold...
Lü Bufan felt a little guilty.
The little girl pursed her lips. "How pitiful... Dig up some more! Take them to a big city and sell them to an apothecary. One little stem is worth a tael of gold!"
"Really?" Lü Bufan's eyes began to gleam with gold...
"Really! But wrap them in the soil here and keep them out of the light."
Lü Bufan took out every bamboo tube and change of clothes he had and tossed them onto the ground. Then he wrapped his hands in cloth and pounced on the remaining Folded-Ear Mushrooms, his eyes shining...
The little girl shook her head and murmured, "Looks like he really is a young Martial Warrior from some poor sect, out gaining experience... Just how poor can they be?"
The little girl shook a small copper bell on her wrist, but nothing happened even after a long wait.
"Huh? Little Crayfish, where did you go? Why aren't you back yet?"
Lü Bufan looked back from picking mushrooms. "Could he have run off too?"
"Impossible! I raised Little Crayfish from when he was tiny. He wouldn't run away! Without me, where would he go to swindle food and drink? He doesn't have any real abilities!"
A woman's voice suddenly came from outside the cavern...
"You're that little girl from the Simen Household, aren't you? What is Simen Jingye to you?"
Lü Bufan froze, then hurriedly leaped over to stand beside the girl.
Panic flickered across the little girl's face, but she still raised her chin and called outside, "That's right! I'm Simen Jingye's daughter! You're from the Immortal Herb Sect, aren't you? What do you want with me?"
A purple-robed woman slowly walked to the cavern entrance and coldly surveyed the boy and little girl inside.
"Your father has quite a few scores to settle with our Immortal Herb Sect... What do you think I'm here for?"
"You've got some nerve! Aren't you afraid my father will deal with you?"
The purple-robed woman wore the cloth bands and headscarf distinctive to the northwestern tribes. At that, she laughed. "I knew long ago that you little mouse were hiding in the shadows. You were waiting for these Folded-Ear Mushrooms to ripen too, weren't you? But after following you all day, I discovered you'd actually run off on your own... You don't even seem to have a single retainer! Hehe... What a wonderful opportunity..."
"You... What do you want to do?"
The purple-robed woman had a strong, shapely figure and looked to be in her thirties. Her striking face carried a trace of the wildness distinctive to the northwestern peoples...
Lü Bufan silently compared her with Meng Lian'er, then decided this woman was probably only fit to compete with the brothel girls on Yanghua Street...
She couldn't compare with his little goddess.
The purple-robed woman said coldly, "Your father owes me a debt... In Western Liang, I can't afford to provoke him! But here in Great Jin, you can pay a little interest for him first!"
The little girl was getting frightened, but she still blustered, "You wouldn't dare! If my daddy finds out, he'll flatten your Immortal Herb Sect..."
The purple-robed woman snorted coldly. "If I slaughter this little Martial Warrior too, who will know you died here?"
Lü Bufan froze... This old woman is vicious! I haven't even let out a fart... and she already wants to kill me?
But where has Big Black gone? This woman's aura... judging by the old blind man's descriptions... she looks like at least a fifth-realm cultivator! Right, this Immortal Herb Sect probably specializes in poison too...
The purple-robed woman seemed to hesitate for a moment, but finally gave a cold laugh and walked toward the two of them, toward Lü Bufan.
Lü Bufan assumed a ready stance, gripping his short sword as he told the woman, "You should keep your debts and grudges straight. If you have a grievance, face your enemy openly! What kind of hero takes it out on a little girl?"
"Little Martial Warrior, you look like nothing but a Second Realm waste! You should know that below the seventh realm, a Martial Warrior is an ant before a cultivator of the same realm... What sect did you come from? Don't you even know that much?"
"Quit prying into my background! My sect isn't one you want to provoke!"
"Oh, please! You dig up a few low-grade Folded-Ear Mushrooms like some ordinary mortal finding a gold nugget. Your sect must be another pile of penniless trash..."
Lü Bufan froze at her words, feeling that she really did have a point!
A blind man, a mute, a deaf man, a cripple... guarding a shabby, broken-down village.
Wasn't that exactly a pile of penniless trash?
Lü Bufan said shakily, "Don't come any closer!"
The woman curled her lip, then suddenly raised a finger and pointed from afar at Lü Bufan's qi-sea dantian...
Pfft!
A strand of true qi shot out, striking Lü Bufan directly in the dantian...
With a scream, Lü Bufan tumbled away and collapsed on the ground.
The purple-robed woman curled her lip. "For a piece of Bone-Setting Realm trash, not falling to your knees and begging already counts as having a backbone! Little brat, is your name Simen Baihua?"
The little girl leaped to Lü Bufan's side and shook the young Martial Warrior, who seemed to have passed out. Then she raised her head and cursed through gritted teeth, "Crazy hag! I am Simen Baihua! Who exactly are you?"
"Would your father dare mention my name at home? That heartless, faithless old bastard... Remember this, and don't forget when you're waiting for your father in the underworld! My name is..."
Boom!
A large hole suddenly burst open in the cavern floor. A big black dog staggered out, then opened his mouth...
A little lizard with his eyes rolled back and belly exposed dropped to the ground.
"Little Crayfish? What happened to you?"
The little girl stared in surprise at the big black dog who had suddenly appeared...
"You're the dog who scared Black Bear into wetting himself?"
Big Black seemed somewhat out of his senses and merely shook his head.
The little girl said disappointedly, "You don't look like much."
The purple-robed woman retreated several yards and warily examined the black dog who had made such a strange entrance. Suddenly, she carefully sniffed the air...
"No! This is... this is the scent of the Folded-Ear Mushroom King! This spiritual energy and toxicity, this... Huh? You... you dog, you ate the Mushroom King?"
The purple-robed woman stared at the big black dog in horror. "The smell from your mouth... How were you not poisoned to death?"
Big Black belched and lay down on the ground, his eyes glazed... Waves of strange fragrance drifted from his mouth!
Everyone in the cavern began to sway... The purple-robed woman immediately realized how terrifying this big black dog was and turned to flee outside...
But she never expected Lü Bufan, who had been lying unconscious on the ground, to suddenly roll over and spring to his feet, his short sword flying from his hand like lightning!
"Flying Sword Technique!"
The heavy short sword whistled through the air and slammed into the back of the already staggering purple-robed woman's head!
With a thud, the already-poisoned woman pitched headfirst to the ground... unconscious.
Fighting the urge to pass out, Lü Bufan looked down... The little girl called Simen Baihua was also lying on the ground, barely able to keep her eyes open.
Lü Bufan struggled over to Big Black and saw his bleary, drunken eyes and the look of someone already riding a high...
"Holy shit, Big Black... You... what... did you eat?"
Lü Bufan's head lolled to one side, and he passed out.