After leaving the underground cavern, Lü Bufan rummaged through his bundle and found a bottle of home-distilled liquor. He turned around, ready to climb back into the cave...
Big Black yawned beside him, and the entrance collapsed with a rumble, sealing itself shut.
Lü Bufan silently murmured, Senior Skeleton, sorry... I was going to bring you a bottle of liquor, but now I'll have to save it.
The little girl, Simen Baihua, who had been dozing beside Big Black, suddenly woke up...
"What happened? Was there an earthquake?"
Lü Bufan asked her, "Are you going back to Western Liang?"
Simen Baihua replied, "Oh, I have to. Otherwise, my mother will give me a beating!"
"If you can help, that friend of mine..."
"I'll try... but I can't promise I'll be able to help him."
Lü Bufan cupped his fist and bowed. "Then thank you!"
Simen Baihua suddenly wrinkled her nose and sniffed. The little lizard on her head, which had been playing dead, also raised its head and stared at Lü Bufan's pocket.
"Did you find something good?"
Lü Bufan thought, I can't exactly say I picked up a few lumps of poop a Fire Qilin left ten thousand years ago...
"I only found an iron chain..."
The little girl tapped and examined the chain around Lü Bufan's waist for a while, then shook her head, indicating she couldn't make sense of it. Next, she pointed at the bamboo tube in his pocket...
"What's that?"
"..."
"Take it out and let me see! Do you think the illustrious Simen Household of Western Liang would covet some treasure you picked up?"
Helpless, Lü Bufan tipped the poop out of the bamboo tube. It had already cooled since he left the cavern.
Several fist-sized, oval lumps of semicrystalline ore rolled out... Big Black, who had been dozing nearby with narrowed eyes, instantly looked horrified and disgusted, then turned away, refusing to pay any more attention to these two little brats playing with poop.
"My heavens! This is... this is..."
Cold sweat covered Lü Bufan's forehead...
Simen Baihua carefully picked up one of the semicrystalline lumps. First, she examined it, then sniffed it, and finally pressed it to her forehead to sense it closely...
All she lacked was sticking out her tongue and licking it!
Lü Bufan's face darkened...
"This is an extremely rare divine beast aura. It should be a bodily sarira left in the Mortal Realm after a divine beast dissolved into the Dao!"
Lü Bufan was drinking water to hide his embarrassment. At her words, he spat out a mouthful straight onto the little girl's head, drenching the lizard!
"Cough, cough... You're saying this is a sarira? Aren't sariras spiritual treasures that only appear after certain eminent monks of the Buddhist Sect, which departed overseas, pass into nirvana?"
Simen Baihua shot Lü Bufan a disgruntled glance and wiped the water from her face. "For a little Martial Warrior, your sect taught you quite a broad range of things. You even know about the Buddhist Sect?"
"Sorry... but are you sure this is a Divine Beast Sarira?"
"Yes! I'm sure. These things don't actually have a name. They've only appeared a handful of times before, always in divine beast secret realms! They're treasures that can... can help Seventh Realm and Eighth Realm demonic beasts take human form and advance their cultivation... They can even grant demonic beasts a second awakening of their divine abilities!"
Lü Bufan's face changed in shock. "This stuff? It's that powerful?"
"Of course!"
The little lizard that had been playing dead on the girl's head could no longer hold back. It climbed down and hugged that... sarira poop crystal... with a look of utter bliss. Finally... under Lü Bufan's horrified gaze, it stuck out its tiny tongue and licked the crystal!
Looking apologetic, the little girl hurriedly pulled the lizard away. "Sorry, sorry! This little good-for-nothing isn't very intelligent. It absorbed a tiny trace... I can pay you! We can discuss other compensation too..."
Lü Bufan stole a glance at Big Black beside him and noticed Big Black's belly trembling...
Lü Bufan felt that Big Black was laughing! The sort of laughter he was barely managing to hold in...
Simen Baihua said solemnly, "Lü Bufan, would you sell these Divine Beast Sariras to the Simen Household?"
Lü Bufan shuddered...
"No, I can give them to you..."
"How could I accept that? I mean the Simen Household, not me personally."
Lü Bufan pointed at those lumps of... qilin poop... "If you think they're useful, just take them! Money or anything else... give me whatever you think is fair..."
Lü Bufan felt a faint ache in his conscience.
"Money can't buy these... They're treasures you might not see once in a hundred years! How about... how about coming to Western Liang with me? My father can get you an earldom in Western Liang! He can also help establish a solid foundation for your Martial Warrior cultivation, so you can strive for the Sixth Realm or Seventh Realm! Then you and your descendants will enjoy wealth and glory, with more money than you could ever spend..."
Lü Bufan gaped. "For this stuff? Western Liang would offer all those benefits in exchange?"
The little girl said dejectedly, "I know I'm taking advantage of you... How could those things possibly be worth treasures like these?"
Lü Bufan nearly choked to death on his own saliva.
As though she had made up her mind, the little girl raised her head and said to Lü Bufan, "My father really does need these sariras. His three demonic beasts have been stuck in the seventh realm for years... Don't worry. As long as you come back to Western Liang with me, Father will do everything he can to meet your demands!"
With a complicated expression, Lü Bufan looked at the lumps of... treasure... on the ground.
"I can't leave my sect. I still have a crippled master to go back and look after... If you need these things, take them! Just have your father look after my friend Liuzi, who joined the Immortal Herb Sect..."
Simen Baihua studied Lü Bufan's face. "You trust me that much?"
Lü Bufan scratched his head. "I suppose so! You're a good girl... You wouldn't even hurt that woman who frightened you..."
Simen Baihua froze. "You... have you fallen for me? Have you taken a fancy to my noble family background and my peerless beauty?"
Lü Bufan looked at the little girl's tiny figure and the two little buns on her head...
He shook his head vigorously!
"Hmph! Although I'm only twelve, you certainly have a sharp eye..."
Lü Bufan stopped talking.
The little girl fumbled around and pulled out an embroidered pouch. She rummaged inside... then recited an incantation, turned around, and secretly stuffed several things into the front of her robes.
Sharp-eyed Lü Bufan noticed that they seemed to be pieces of a girl's underclothes or something similar, along with a few stuffed dolls...
Simen Baihua thrust the pouch toward Lü Bufan. "This is a Mustard-Seed Object! It isn't very high-grade. Inside... there are several hundred Third-Grade Spirit Crystals, and ten second-grade ones! There's a pile of gold, silver, and copper coins, and a magical treasure... It's quite a rare one that conceals your aura and body. Cultivators below the sixth realm will have a hard time detecting you. It's... it's all yours..."
Lü Bufan looked at the Mustard-Seed Object and shook his head. "Isn't that too much?"
"It's still nowhere near enough! As for the rest of your payment... when you have time, come to Western Liang and let my father worry about it. Or take this to the Southern Garden Marquis Estate in Western Liang... We'll send someone to deliver whatever you need."
Lü Bufan accepted the earring the little girl handed him. She had just taken it off her ear.
The little girl's cheeks reddened. "Don't get any ideas! It's only a token..."
Smiling, Lü Bufan put the earring away. "All right, all right! I won't get any ideas!"
Big Black twitched his nose. A burly man dressed entirely in gray robes walked in from outside the cave entrance, step by step. He respectfully cupped his fist and bowed to Lü Bufan and Big Black...
"I am Huo Shanbei, an Attendant of the Southern Garden Marquis Estate in Western Liang. I... I offer my respects to this young gentleman!"
The little girl beside them immediately exclaimed in delight when she saw the middle-aged man, "Uncle Shanbei! Why are you here?"
The middle-aged man radiated a formidable Martial Warrior's aura. Lü Bufan reckoned his cultivation was around the sixth or seventh realm.
"You didn't really think the marquis would turn a blind eye after you ran away from Western Liang, did you, young lady?"
"Hmph!"
The Western Liang Martial Warrior, Huo Shanbei, cupped his fist toward Lü Bufan. "I arrived a little while ago and happened to overhear a little. These treasures... are indeed urgently needed by the Southern Garden Marquis Estate of Western Liang! Please name your price, young gentleman. There's no need to stand on ceremony. If you haven't decided on a price yet, we can take our time discussing it..."
Big Black opened one eye and glanced at him.
Huo Shanbei felt his spine tighten, and a cold chill seeped from every pore...
"Hehe, I also have a Mustard-Seed Object here, containing five hundred third-grade spirit stones! Please accept it as a gift, young gentleman. May I ask your honorable name and which sect you belong to? The Southern Garden Marquis Estate will certainly offer generous thanks in the future!"
"You're too kind, sir. My name is Lü Bufan! My sect... is near Two-World Mountain. It isn't something to discuss with outsiders. These gifts are already generous enough. I also have something I need the marquis's estate to help with... so let's forget any other rewards."
"Lü Bufan... Two-World Mountain... I'll remember that! Young Hero Li, I'll take the young lady back to Western Liang, then. Please keep the token safe, Young Hero Li! If you ever need anything, the Southern Garden Marquis Estate will gladly shoulder the duty!"
A little reluctantly, the girl stood up and put away the lumps of... poop... before saying to Lü Bufan, "I wanted to play for a few more days, but it looks like I can't... Lü Bufan, you have to come to Western Liang and play with me someday! I'll take you to Myriad Beast Mountain to find fun demonic beasts. There's also lots and lots of delicious food! Roast lamb and mare's milk wine on the grasslands, and grassland girls who can ride wolves..."
Huo Shanbei could only feel that his young lady was really a little... sigh...
The little girl followed the powerful martial cultivator, still waving to Lü Bufan... Then the martial cultivator respectfully cupped his fist and bowed to Lü Bufan and Big Black, released his gang qi, and took hold of the girl's belt. Riding the wind, he rose into the air and quickly vanished.
After leaving Old Dragon Gully, Huo Shanbei silently increased his speed. Only when he finally landed on a hill over a hundred li away did he breathe a sigh of relief...
"Young lady! Do you know that boy's true background?"
"No! He's just a little Martial Warrior. He probably isn't from any major sect, right? But he's really nice... He even protected me when that nasty woman from the Immortal Herb Sect frightened me!"
"That big black dog..."
"A very strange demonic beast. I couldn't tell its cultivation... It hasn't taken human form yet, but it should be very powerful! A Second Realm bear I caught on the spot actually fainted from fright at its aura!"
Huo Shanbei's expression was grave. "Young lady, I fear there may be something troubling about that boy's identity. Two-World Mountain... isn't an ordinary place. That black dog... looking at him felt like gazing into an abyss! I fear he could crush a Seventh Realm Martial Warrior like me with a wave of his paw..."
"That powerful? Oh... what a shame! If I'd known, I would have studied him properly. If I could trick him into coming back to Western Liang, who would dare provoke me?"
"Young lady, you must never invite disaster! Beings like that are all entangled in great karmic ties. You must never approach them lightly!"
The little girl stared at him with wide eyes. "That's the real reason you were in such a hurry to take me away, isn't it, Uncle Shanbei?"
Huo Shanbei affectionately stroked Simen Baihua's head. "As long as you understand. A mysterious figure like that... may be someone even immortals dread! The immortals of the Upper Realm already think little of our Western Liang. We mustn't invite calamity!"
"Sigh, I really want to visit the Wild Spirit Land! Even a boy from there can have a demonic beast with such heaven-reaching power at his side... I'm so jealous."
Huo Shanbei's face darkened. All he wanted was to take his young lady and flee straight back to Western Liang to hole up there.