"Spare us, Staff Demon! We're willing to pay gold coins for our lives!"
Apart from Mu Li, the members of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group had never been firm in their loyalty to the group since Mu Li's father died. Now that their lives were threatened, they spinelessly gave in.
Xiao Tian collected a hundred and fifty thousand gold coins and eight Storage Rings. The rings also contained some Magic Cores, silverware, and ordinary swords and sabers. He had made himself a tidy little fortune.
"Sure enough, robbery and plunder are the way to get rich fast. No, wait! I mean robbing evil forces!"
"You're the Staff Demon?" Xian'er was utterly shocked, her beautiful big eyes opening wide.
Xiao Tian removed the large net covering Xian'er and Blue Eagle. Blue Eagle did not attack him, perhaps because its keen magical-beast sense for danger told it that if it attacked Xiao Tian first, it would absolutely be the first to die, or perhaps because it sensed no threatening movements from him.
"Thank you, uncle. You saved me again."
"No need to thank me." Xiao Tian smiled. Sensing that the members of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group had all fled far away, he could not help saying, "Let's go somewhere else. The smell of blood here will attract magical beasts."
On the way, Xian'er asked in confusion, "Uncle, do you really have a daughter like me?"
Looking at the future Xiao Yi Xian, whose eyes were pure and unblemished and brimming with curiosity, Xiao Tian felt that he had become addicted to playing the creepy uncle. With a world-weary smile, he stroked the full beard he had conjured, lifted his head toward the sky, and sighed. "Once, a sincere love lay before me. I cherished her and had her by my side, and we had a daughter as adorable as you. But fate was unjust. Her family was powerful, and they wouldn't allow a weak loser like me to possess their noble young lady..."
As Xiao Tian went on, he felt something was wrong with the atmosphere around him, because his voice had suddenly changed! It had reverted to the childish voice of a nine-year-old!
"Oh, crap!"
Xiao Tian's eyes widened despite himself, and he and the twelve- or thirteen-year-old big sister Xian'er stared wide-eyed at one another. The atmosphere grew rather strange.
Blue Eagle was even more confused. Why had an adult human turned into a child?
"Is this the Chu Yun Empire's Transfiguration Technique?"
Xiao Tian nearly cried. He had been doing such a fine job showing off, so how had he forgotten this little detail? He had not renewed his Transformation Technique!
"Yao Lao! You screwed me over!"
"Who's Yao Lao?" Big sister Xian'er immediately put on a stern face. "Well, well! So you're just a little brat!"
"But that doesn't make sense either. You're so young, so why do you have the cultivation of a Dou Shi? How are you such a monster?"
Xiao Tian was in the middle of a bitching match with Yao Lao over not reminding him about the Transformation Technique when Xian'er suddenly pinched his cheek, and she used quite a bit of force.
"How strange! It looks like this really is your original face. They say that when you pinch a face made with the Chu Yun Empire's Transfiguration Technique, the false face feels like thin gauze. But your face feels far too real!"
Xiao Tian glared at the future Xiao Yi Xian and snapped, "This young master's face is real! Get that merciless hand off me!"
A little embarrassed, Xian'er let go and cutely stuck out her tongue.
"Little brother, sorry about that. But you're so powerful at such a young age. You must be from the imperial capital, right?"
Xiao Tian curled his lips, not wanting to answer that question.
"Yao Lao! I hate you!"
Yao Lao said, "Hehe! Kid, don't hate this old man. Were you planning to keep deceiving this little girl with the Transformation Technique forever? What's so bad about revealing your true self? Haven't you noticed that she's shown you a little affectionate gesture? With your previous appearance, she still had some wariness in her heart."