Chapter 178

  Eternal Lament (IV)

  Long Tao came back in a rather good mood.

  I'm guessing.

  I can't really tell, to be honest. I'm just sort of assuming since I kind of saw how he looked when he came back from someplace in a bad mood, and since he's not like that this time, he might be in a good mood.

  Anyway, it was rather deep in the night by the time he returned, and all the kids were far off in their cultivation dreams. Just as I thought he'd pass by me and join them, he actually sat down at the table, eyeing me with a faint smile.

  "... what did you do?" I asked.

  "I made us some money."

  "By...?"

  "Offering our services."

  "We don't offer any services."

  "We offer all kinds of services," he said. "For the right price, of course."

  "And, pray tell, what kind of a service are we offering and for what kind of a price?" I don't dislike that I have an ancient monster tagging along, but boy, he has a propensity for taking us places with trouble.

  "To hunt down a rather evil, corrupt Shaman that has been evading their order for decades, it sounds like, in return for three particularly... beneficial items."

  "..."

  Right, right.

  To hunt down someone I was desperate to get away from.

  But, seeing as he said all that, it's likely that the woman who gave me the iffy wasn't it.

  "What items?" I asked, relenting. Ultimately, I wasn't opposed to increasing our wealth. Believe it or not, there wasn't a lot of it left, especially as kids broke through into the Foundation Establishment Realm.

  For reference, I had around 300,000 mid-grade Spirit Stones and about a million low-grade ones stored in three spatial treasures that were on my person--two from Elder Qin and one from Light--when we escaped the Spirit Sword Sect.

  A massive wealth, right?

  Yeah, I thought so! I thought it would last us years! That we could just coop up in some distant mountain and cultivate until my little gremlins here were all Demigods!

  Brrt! Fat chance!

  I'm down to about 60,000 mid-grade ones and about 300,000 low-grade ones... and they can't even use the latter ones anymore! Especially with the Spirit Stone Augmentation Art, the amount of effort it takes to extract the small trace of pure Qi from the lower-grade stones just isn't worth the time, so they've all been collectively and exclusively using mid-grade ones since breaking through.

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  And even if 60,000 sounds like a lot... yeah, it's really not.

  Per my estimates, if we don't have a windfall in the meantime, I won't be able to supply them the stones within 4 months' time--and that's supposing this here monster doesn't break through into the Spirit Manifestation Realm... which I'm guessing he will, sometime soon.

  So, yeah--it's dangerous, it's stupid, but if he says there's a worthy reward at the end of it... may as well brave the danger and stupidity. Like I used to in my youth.

  "Three Inscriptions."

  "..."

  "..."

  "Like, like pill prescriptions? That we can get filled out for some Alchemy guild and take some heavenly pills?"

  "... what?" Okay, so, I didn't mishear him. He did say Inscriptions.

  "I've changed my mind."

  "They're of shamanic origin," he said, dangling the bait. And, dammit... I'll take it.

  "What do they do?"

  "A number of things," he shrugged. "It depends on what they give us. I'm assuming it'll be their worst ones, but even so, it'll be rather delightful. My father mentioned that only Shamans of certain status and strength can Inscribe so-called 'Words' onto the blessed talisman. Those 'Words', really, can be anything, he said--a simple command that causes a plant to grow overnight to the point it would have taken it a decade, or to cause a century-old dry riverbed to soak up with fresh water yet again, and some of the more powerful Inscriptions can even alter the season of the entire continent--turn summer into winter with a single burst of will."

  "..." Yeah, okay, that does sound powerful. But, and I'm spitballing here, we'll probably get something closer to 'Pick up all trash in a radius and burn it' rather than 'Conjure a stream of heavenly water that heals all wounds'.

  "You have to make a decision quickly."

  "Hm? Why?"

  "Because they're here." Just then, a quick pair of knocks startled me. How did he sense them? I've also made it a habit to always have my Divine Sense spread out--

  "They don't use Qi," he looked at me. "So, of course, you can't see them with your Divine Sense."

  "Oh. What about you then?"

  "My father taught me a way--"

  "Yeah, yeah, yeah," I interrupted, feeling a bit petty, as I got up and opened the doors.

  On the other end were two people, both cloaked in black and barely visible even two feet out. I nearly yelped and scurried back in fear, to be honest, as only their eyes peeked through the shadows that were their faces.

  Without even asking, they sped past me and forced the door closed, only then uncloaking.

  It was the woman, Lilia, and Zhu, their expressions rather grim and glum. The woman eyed Long Tao while Zhu eyed me--and I felt a bit indignant, honestly, since it's clear whatever Long Tao said to them pissed them off, but it looks like they're attributing it to me... aah, it's back. The old guy taking the blame for the kids' behavior.

  First off, that guy is not a kid, and secondly, I cannot control these gremlins! Honestly!

  "Mister Lu," Zhu said, his voice low and hoarse. "Despite your unreasonable demands... we agree. If you can help us locate the Blood Fiend, we will give you three Inscriptions: Word of Pain, Word of Quiet, and Word of Tranquility. They may not be the most powerful, but even back home, they would have been kept as family heirlooms."

  Yeah, okay, sure--but I am still indignant that they think I'm behind this! As usual, that prick over there just sat in dumb silence, pretending like it was me who arranged it all like a clever little imp.

  Haah.

  "Let's just sit down," I said, rubbing the bridge of my nose. "I'm assuming my disciple here twisted and distorted my words," I tried to quell the fire a bit. "I merely told him to offer assistance in exchange for a reward. But he's a greedy kid--sometimes it's beneficial, but sometimes... aah. Forget it, forget it," I certainly never will. At least, they both sat down as I quickly whipped out some wine and a few wooden cups from the ring, pouring it into theirs.

  They weren't gonna drink it; I knew that much, but hey... I always try to be a nice little host.

  "Now," while they won't drink it, I certainly will. Even if it's not a 'good' wine, there's still some alcohol in it. "Let's start from the beginning: what was his first identity, and how exactly did he manage to slip away?"