There Is an Inn

Compared to Tushan's chief, Hai Bodong's little ice tricks really were nothing much in Tushan Rongrong's eyes.

Back when she went out on business with Tushan Yaya, she had always been the one to clean up afterward.

So Tushan Rongrong had also gained a fairly deep understanding of how to counter ice spells.

Not only had Tushan Rongrong studied ways to counter her second sister Tushan Yaya's ice spells, she had also researched her eldest sister Tushan Tushan Honghong's Insulated Claw, as well as the signature skills of several other demon emperors.

"Elder Hai, you should still have another half of this fragment map, right? It's no use to you anyway, so how about giving it to me?" Luo Yang asked Hai Bodong, waving a fragment map he had found on the bookshelf.

At the words "fragment map," Hai Bodong's withered face twitched slightly. He was a little surprised, but quickly came back to reality.

The other party knew so many of his secrets already. Knowing about this fragment map as well was hardly anything worth being surprised over.

"Certainly. Back then, I ventured deep into the Tagor Desert and obtained this fragment map by a stroke of luck. Because of it, Queen Medusa hunted me down, and I nearly lost my life and cultivation. I split that fragment map in two using a delicate technique, hiding one piece and leaving the other out in the open to attract someone who recognized it, so I could use it to bargain for the restoration of my Dou Qi."

"From my years of experience, this map should have been divided into quite a few fragments. Holding just one isn't much use, and since my strength has already recovered, you can have it." Hai Bodong brushed a finger over his Storage Ring, and a small piece of extremely ancient-looking, yellowed parchment appeared in his palm.

He casually tossed it out, and it floated toward Luo Yang, supported by Dou Qi.

"Thanks!"

Luo Yang reached out and took the fragment map, which felt quite smooth and soft. As he examined it, a faint sense of age and antiquity washed over him. It seemed this fragment map had probably weathered no small number of years.

Holding the little fragment map, Luo Yang carefully fitted it together with the other piece. The two actually matched perfectly, without the slightest gap.

It showed just how masterful Hai Bodong's cutting skills were.

He really was a fine tailor whose talent had been held back by being a Dou Huang expert.

Once he had the fragment map, Luo Yang could feel that his power of cause and effect had increased considerably.

The Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame Fragment Map had been divided into four pieces in total. Counting the Heavenly Flame fragment map he had previously found in the hidden cave in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, Luo Yang now had two.

Based on his knowledge of the plot, Luo Yang knew the other two pieces were in the Black-Corner Region and the Central Plains.

Once they were gathered, he could open the Demonic Flame Space and use the remnant soul of the Purifying Lotus Demon Saint within the Heavenly Flame fragment map to subdue the purifying lotus demon flame.

This was one of Xiao Yan's great opportunities, as well as a thread of cause and effect, and Luo Yang had now snatched it away.

Together with the portion gained from bringing Hai Bodong under his command, Luo Yang could now activate a figurine with at least the strength of a Three-Star Dou Zong.

If one were to ask why a quarter of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame Fragment Map and Hai Bodong could only provide enough cause and effect for a Three-Star Dou Zong, the only answer was that it was still early in the timeline. There remained a sliver of a chance that Xiao Yan, the destined protagonist, could snatch them back. Only once the corresponding threads of cause and effect had completely run their course would Luo Yang receive the final payment on the cause and effect that belonged to him.

It was equivalent to having received only a down payment, with daily installments being paid now until the corresponding cause and effect came to an end...

"Elder Hai, you've only just recovered, so get some proper rest today. Prepare your things for entering the Tagor Desert too. We'll set out tomorrow..."

Luo Yang and Tushan Rongrong left the Ancient Map and searched Mo City for a place to spend the night.

Hai Bodong was an old man who had lived alone for years. There was no need to imagine what his home was like. Even if it wasn't messy or dirty, it would definitely have an old-man smell.

Luo Yang had no desire to stay somewhere like that.

Sharing a bed and pillow with petite, soft, sweet-smelling Sister Rongrong was what he loved most.

Watching the master and servant disappear from view, Hai Bodong stood silently in place for a long time.

For twenty years, he had awaited this day. On countless nights, he had even dreamed of recovering his Dou Qi. Yet now that the day had truly come, it felt unreal.

Especially since he, who had once trembled all over at the mere mention of Queen Medusa, had actually accepted an invitation to venture into the Snake-People Tribe once more.

Only as he felt the surging power of a Dou Emperor within him did he realize this was no dream.

"Phew..." Letting out a long breath, Hai Bodong closed the shop...

After leaving the Ancient Map, Luo Yang and Tushan Rongrong wandered through more than half of Mo City before finally finding a reasonably clean inn.

"There Is an Inn!"

"Huh? It really is There Is an Inn..."

The two walked into There Is an Inn side by side.

He hadn't expected to find a shop name with such a meme behind it in another world.

Seeing the two enter, the waiter ambled over and asked whether they wanted a meal or a room.

His words were filled with the lifeless gloom of a wage slave hoping the world would end soon.

He had Three-Stage Dou Qi and looked around thirty. Even mercenaries would consider him useless; working as a waiter was about all he could do.

"One superior room and a table of food. Keep the change as your tip." Luo Yang casually tossed the waiter twenty gold coins.

After looting that Dou Emperor's legacy cave in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, he had obtained not only the Poison Scripture and a Flying Dou Technique, but also over a million gold coins. Money was the last thing Luo Yang lacked now.

With the tip in hand, the waiter became much more enthusiastic than before, and a smile appeared on his face. He seemed like an entirely different person.

He ushered Luo Yang and Tushan Rongrong up to the third floor, where the inn's most lavishly decorated room with the best natural lighting was located.

On the Dou Qi Continent, twenty gold coins were enough for an ordinary family to live comfortably for a year.

Even after deducting the cost of the room and food, the extra tip amounted to several months of the waiter's wages.

After entering the room, Luo Yang opened the window to air it out and gazed into the distance.

After giving the room a quick cleaning with demonic power, Tushan Rongrong took bedding out of her spatial ring and made the bed, looking every bit the virtuous wife and good...

Ah, at her current size, she could only count as a little maid.

A meter and a half tall, weighing a little over thirty-five kilograms, and with nothing up front-despite being several hundred years old, she could at most count as a legal loli.

Luo Yang withdrew his gaze, sighed, and shook his head.

He only dared think these things to himself, not say them aloud or show anything unusual. Otherwise, his fate would definitely be miserable.

He recalled when they had first arrived in the Magical Beast Mountain Range. One night, while sleeping, Luo Yang had accidentally touched Tushan Rongrong there and unconsciously muttered, "So flat." Then...

Then a scream had pierced the heavens, even frightening several first-rank bird-type magical beasts resting in the nearby trees to death.

For several days afterward, Tushan Rongrong hadn't said another word to Luo Yang. Only after they rescued the injured, mysterious female Dou Emperor who had fallen from the sky, during the days the three of them lived together in the cave, did the incident gradually fade from mind.

It wasn't that they had truly forgotten. Rather, both tacitly agreed never to bring it up again.