Stop raising flags, will you!
"So there really is a hideout like that." Luo Nan clicked his tongue, already convinced by Su Lin's account.
At the thought of the generous bounty he could collect after capturing Zhao Wuji, along with the commendation for merit from his superiors, he could hardly hide his delight. He stepped forward and patted Su Lin on the shoulder, speaking kindly. "Good child, you've done this branch hall an enormous favor. Tell me, what reward would you like? As long as it's something we can provide, we'll do our best to satisfy you."
"Reporting wanted criminals is the duty of every citizen of the Heaven Dou Empire. I'm not after a reward." Su Lin sat up straight and spoke with righteous conviction, looking utterly selfless.
Luo Nan visibly paused. As he looked at the six- or seven-year-old boy before him, a measure of surprise and approval mingled with the delight on his face. He was just about to say something along the lines of "To have such awareness at your age," when Su Lin coughed and changed tack. "Of course, if possible, I would still like to ask-does Spirit Hall sell Soul Tools?"
"You want to buy a Soul Tool?" Luo Nan was slightly taken aback. He had not expected the boy to forgo monetary rewards and set his sights on Soul Tools instead.
"I can pay." Su Lin patted the money pouch he carried and gave it a shake, producing a crisp metallic clinking.
Luo Nan thought for a moment, then asked, "What type are you looking to buy?"
"An entry-level storage type will do." Su Lin could not help sighing as he spoke. "I was originally going to buy one at the main market, but I went all around and never found anywhere selling them. I don't know if I went to the wrong place."
"If you want a Storage Soul Tool, you have to visit a specialized Soul Tool workshop or an auction house. How could you find something like that in a place selling general goods like the main market? You could run your legs off and still never find one." Luo Nan could not help chuckling at that. He waved a hand, pulled open the drawer on the right side of his desk, rummaged out a simple silver-gray ring, and tossed it into Su Lin's hand.
"This is a first-tier storage ring with three cubic meters of space inside. It's more than enough for ordinary luggage, potions, and dry rations. Consider it your reward for reporting this. There's no need to pay anything extra."
Oh! An unexpected bonus!
With the ring in hand, Su Lin grinned at Luo Nan. "Thank you, Deacon."
"It's nothing." Luo Nan smiled and nodded at him.
It was only a first-tier Storage Soul Tool, after all. It cost a mere pittance. Zhao Wuji's bounty, on the other hand, was worth a full fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins.
With that reward, never mind a first-tier Soul Tool that could only store inanimate objects-he could even afford a third-tier Soul Tool capable of storing living things.
A child was a child, after all. His horizons were so narrow.
With the report made and the storage ring obtained, Su Lin had no reason to remain at Spirit Hall. He immediately took Xiao Wu with him, hailed a carriage, and returned to the Lumière Hotel.
As for this report, whether Spirit Hall actually caught Zhao Wuji was Spirit Hall's business, not his. At any rate, it would give Shrek Academy something to deal with.
Besides, Zhao Wuji himself was no decent sort.
Inside the carriage, since the ring did not currently fit him, Su Lin casually rummaged through his bundle for a sturdy, thin hemp cord, threaded it through the ring, tied a knot, and hung it around his neck to wear as a necklace.
As he slowly fed a wisp of Soul Power into it, Su Lin soon felt a connection form between himself and the ring. His spiritual power could enter it without obstruction, allowing him to clearly sense the boundary walls surrounding the storage space.
"At last, I won't have to travel carrying bags of every size anymore." Withdrawing from the storage space, Su Lin casually put his money pouch and the large bundle of clothes Xiao Wu had bought inside, then closed his eyes and immersed himself in cultivation.
The night passed in a flash.
Early the next morning, when Su Lin and Xiao Wu met at the hotel entrance, Sean and the guards had already arrived.
Sean had changed into a clean, dark-brown set of close-fitting clothes and looked thoroughly refreshed, like an entirely different person from the figure who had hurried out through the hotel doors the previous morning.
The guards behind him were all glowing as well. Some were still joking with one another, and the atmosphere was relaxed and lively.
Su Lin glanced at Sean's deliberately straightened back and the satisfaction he could not conceal at the corners of his eyes, then raised his eyebrows with the hint of a smile. Sean grew a little embarrassed under his gaze, coughed lightly, and turned away with a show of seriousness to direct the guards in checking the horses and carriages.
The party soon finished its preparations and headed north along Suotuo City's main road. After passing through several streets and alleys still bustling in the early morning, they reached the gateway at the northern city gate.
The northern gate was considerably broader and more orderly than the southern gate, and the walls on either side were taller too. The figures of patrolling guards could just be made out on top.
At that moment, voices seethed around the gate, with passing horses and carriages clogging much of the way in an especially lively scene. The enormous Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect caravan they had seen the day before was slowly filing out of the city, its gilded pagoda banners particularly striking in the morning sunlight.
Sean reined in his horse. Looking at the caravan slowly passing through the gate ahead, he could not help smiling. He turned toward Su Lin inside the carriage. "Young Master Little Lin, we're in luck. It looks like the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's caravan is heading toward Heaven Dou City too. If we follow behind them, we can spare ourselves a good deal of trouble on the road."
After all, they would have to pass through the Desolate Gold Plains and the Gold Iron Mountain Range. Although even Sean himself had never encountered bandits, that certainly did not mean there were none. As the old saying went, it was not the ten thousand possibilities one feared, but the one unlucky chance. If they could ride on the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's prestige, their journey would undoubtedly be much safer.
In any case, Sean could not imagine any force foolish enough to rob the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
As Su Lin listened, his temples could not help twitching faintly. Stop raising flags at random, will you!
Before long, all several dozen carriages of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had passed through the gate. Sean rode about fifty paces behind the rear of the caravan, keeping a distance that would neither let them lose sight of it nor make them seem too close on its heels.
He looked back and discovered that another seven or eight carriages of various kinds, along with travelers on foot, had gradually fallen in behind them. Those following the caravan all had much the same idea: to borrow the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's banner for a safe journey.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's guards had no intention of driving them off and simply let them be. Occasionally, a guard would even turn to glance at the carriages trailing behind the caravan, then leave them alone once he confirmed they were keeping up steadily.
This was a rule Sect Master Ning Fengzhi had established years before. Whenever a Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect caravan traveled, any commoners or small merchant parties willing to follow behind were not to be driven away or charged any fees.
The reason was simple enough. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's circumstances were unusual. Most of its own disciples awakened the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul and were naturally possessed of little ability to fight head-on. The sect's true fighting strength depended entirely on its retainers from outside families and the Battle Soul Masters it recruited.
To establish a foothold in the Soul Master World, the deterrence of high-level force alone was not enough. Building a reputation day by day was equally important.
Letting commoners and merchant parties on the road bask a little in the caravan's reflected glory and enjoy some convenience earned them a good name all along the way without costing a penny.
That way, as long as there were one or two geniuses among those who benefited, and one or two of those geniuses were willing to join the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect because of these small favors, they would have reaped an enormous profit.
Besides, as an old saying put it, if the commoners wanted to follow, let them. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would not earn a single gold coin less for it anyway.