Qiaoqiao thought, [What good does settling scores with me do? If you've got the guts, go settle scores with the sect master!]
Pfft.
Her second senior sister couldn't help laughing. Their little junior sister's inner voice was so amusing.
Elder Chen grew even angrier. "True Lord Ning, is this how you teach your disciples? Every last one of them has no respect for their elders! This Qiaoqiao-with trash like her on Ethereal Peak, she's dragged the Immortal Venerable's illustrious name through the mud! She's disrespected this elder several times. Aren't you going to teach her a proper lesson?"
Hearing him target Qiaoqiao, Ning Shuang's expression turned utterly cold. "Elder Chen, you oversee sect affairs. How Ethereal Peak's disciples behave is not for you to dictate."
"You-"
He was about to lash out again when Qiaoqiao asked curiously, "Elder Chen, do you know there's a river near Hidden Plum Peak, with a cave upstream?"
Elder Chen's expression abruptly changed.
The cave upstream of the river near Hidden Plum Peak was precisely where he hid his Spirit Stones!
To keep them from his suspicious wife, he had hidden a full hundred years' worth of savings inside!
That cave was in an extremely secluded location, and he had even cast a concealing illusion over it. No one had discovered it in all these years, so why had this little girl suddenly brought it up?
Could she have discovered something?!
No, impossible.
With her mere Qi Refining cultivation, how could she possibly see through the technique on the mountain behind them?
As a Nascent Soul elder, how could he be frightened by a Qi Refining Stage disciple? He must be overthinking it.
Even as he thought this, he couldn't help asking, "What cave?"
His tone carried a nervousness he hadn't even noticed himself.
Qiaoqiao blinked. "I don't know either. Actually, A Xue told me about it. It said that cave was really fun and interesting."
Really fun?
Interesting?
Was something wrong with that crane?!
But the little girl's claim that Crane True Lord had found the cave instantly made it rather more credible.
Everyone knew the Immortal Venerable's immortal crane was playful by nature. Somewhere like Hidden Plum Peak, where disciples dared not go, really was a place it might visit! Besides, its cultivation was high, and ordinary illusion formations couldn't stop it!
If it really had found the cave he had concealed... that would be disastrous!
"A Xue also said it would take me there to play. Have you ever been to that cave, Elder?"
"You can't go!" Elder Chen could no longer spare a thought for throwing his weight around. He hurriedly said, "I mean, the area around Hidden Plum Peak is forbidden sect grounds. High-level Demon Beasts roam there. If you accidentally run into one, it's no laughing matter."
Hidden Plum Peak was already a remote corner of the Flowing Cloud Sect. With the rumors of Demon Beasts roaming there, ordinary disciples didn't dare approach.
That was also why he had chosen to hide his Spirit Stones there. If he hid them in his storage ring or cave abode, his perceptive wife might discover them.
"You mustn't go!" he stressed.
"Oh." Qiaoqiao asked, "Are you showing concern for me, Elder Chen?"
Concern for her? Concern, his ass!
Elder Chen felt as sick as if he'd swallowed a fly, yet he still had to force an affectionate smile onto his wrinkled face. "You're Immortal Venerable Wanghan's personal disciple, the future of the sect. It's only right that I show concern for you."
[Hahaha!]
[Elder Chen's expression is hilarious.]
"I couldn't tell before, Elder Chen, but you're actually pretty nice."
Shen Ji and Xiao Tingyu were laughing so hard their shoulders shook. Their little junior sister really was...
Even Ning Shuang couldn't help stifling a laugh.
Yet Qiaoqiao's expression was utterly earnest. Her eyes were bright, her pupils round, like jade beads steeped in water. She looked especially sincere when she gazed at someone, and her demeanor was gentle and docile. Had they not been able to hear her inner voice, they would have thought she was genuinely praising him.
Elder Chen was taken in just like that, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"You have a point, Elder." Qiaoqiao's eyes shifted. "But A Xue said there are loads of mushrooms near that cave. Everyone's planning to go dig up mushrooms there!"
Elder Chen: !
The breath he had just released caught again. "Dig up mushrooms?!"
"Yes." Qiaoqiao sighed. "As you said, Elder, our Ethereal Peak is so poor that the dining hall can't even afford spirit rice anymore. Even if there are Demon Beasts, we can't worry about that."
Thinking of Ethereal Peak's usual conduct, Elder Chen felt they really were capable of doing such a thing! With those disciples hopping all over the mountain, that cave would be discovered sooner or later!
A bead of cold sweat formed on Elder Chen's forehead. "Things aren't easy for your Ethereal Peak either. I still have some Spirit Stones here. Take them for now, and I'll figure something out for the rest."
As he spoke, he painfully took ten thousand Spirit Stones out of his storage ring and cautioned, "Remember, you absolutely mustn't go digging up mushrooms!"
Seeing him produce the Spirit Stones, Ning Shuang's expression softened slightly, only for her to hear Qiaoqiao say, [Elder Chen is so stingy. Eighty million Spirit Stones-he should at least give us half!]
Ning Shuang: ...
Qiaoqiao, you really dared to dream.
But on closer thought, Qiaoqiao had a point. Elder Chen had shortchanged Ethereal Peak so many times. With this paltry sum of Spirit Stones, was he trying to fob off beggars?
Having handed over the Spirit Stones with excruciating reluctance, Elder Chen rose to leave. All he wanted now was to hurry to that cave and check on it, but then Ning Shuang said, "A moment, Elder."
"What else is there?"
"Ever since the Immortal Venerable entered secluded cultivation, you've used all sorts of excuses to dock our Ethereal Peak's monthly allowance. Added together, it comes to at least a hundred thousand Spirit Stones. Isn't ten thousand a little too little?" she said calmly. "If you won't give it to us, Elder, I'll have no choice but to take the disciples to dig up mushrooms."
[Hahaha.]
[Well done!]
Shen Ji and Xiao Tingyu were secretly astonished. Elder Ning was usually so stern, yet she had actually said something like that. Their little junior sister's influence truly was extraordinary.
Elder Chen seethed. "A hundred thousand? That's impossible! You-"
Ning Shuang raised her eyes to look at him.
Elder Chen gritted his teeth. Just as he was about to give in to keep the peace, a youth in green robes rushed inside and went up to him. "Dad, someone bullied me. Look!"
As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeve, revealing a conspicuous scratch.
But to a cultivator, such a tiny injury didn't even count as a flesh wound. Elder Chen's expression changed instantly, and he became unbearably anxious. "Qian'er, who hurt you?"