Chapter 287: ??, disturbed the old woman
Yu Quan was originally a remote border of the Emperor Sect, belonging to lawless territory. Most of those who arrived at Yu Quan did so in plain clothes, disguising themselves as humble wanderers to avoid trouble. This adhered to the saying, “Keep your wealth concealed.”
In a place like Yu Quan, only two types of people dared to flaunt their riches or strut around in fancy attire. They were either powerful cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage or above or naive newcomers to the immortal path who feared nothing.
The fox-faced woman believed these two individuals belonged to the latter category.
From the moment the pair set foot through the gates of Yu Quan, she had her eye on them. One was at the late foundation-building stage, and the other at the early stage. Yet, they dressed flamboyantly. The shorter one even wore a pricey anklet.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk…”
The fox-faced woman clicked her tongue softly, approaching the bed. She reached for the storage bag at Xiao Yunluo’s waist, hooked her index finger, and retrieved an identity tag.
“Just consider it a lesson learned. Meeting me is your lucky break. At least I’m only after wealth, not lives. Let’s see… Xuanxing Sect…”
Muttering to herself, she seemed unconcerned about waking the pair.
The young master of Xuanxing Sect!
Seeing the information on the ID card, surprise painted the woman’s face beneath her mask. She glanced at Xiao Yunluo, sleeping soundly on the bed like a pig.
“She’s the daughter of that old woman from Xuanxing Sect!”
The fox-faced woman murmured, feeling like she would stumble upon a big opportunity. Yet, she hesitated to take the girl’s storage bag.
“If I steal her bag, would that old woman come after me? They say she’s quite vindictive… Tsk, but this catch is too big. If I take it, I won’t need to work for the rest of the year. Hmm…”
Rubbing her chin in contemplation, she appeared genuinely troubled. Then, she glanced at Si Xuanji, who was hiding under the blanket,
“So, this little girl is the old woman’s second daughter, huh! She’s quite old herself. Who would’ve thought she could still bear children? Who’s the father… No, she was already old when she had the first one, right? Who has such peculiar tastes?”
—”I admire you!! I admire you!!”
Suddenly, a parrot’s voice interrupted from outside, causing the fox-faced woman to pause. She glanced towards the window but dismissed it upon seeing a golden-crowned parrot.
At that moment, Xiao Yunluo stirred awake.
“The parrot…”
Squinting at the window, she uttered two words before noticing the fox-faced woman standing by her bedside. After a moment of confusion, her eyes widened in recognition.
The fox-faced woman watched as Xiao Yunluo sat up and greeted her,
“Awake already~”
Xiao Yunluo was momentarily stunned, then immediately formed a sword gesture with her hand, drawing her spirit sword from the storage bag. She swung the sword across, bypassing her still-motionless mother lying beside her.
Whoosh—
Mid-swing, the fox-faced woman raised her hand slightly.
In the next instant, Xiao Yunluo’s spirit sword evaporated into thin air, reappearing in the fox-faced woman’s hand.
After completing her swing, Xiao Yunluo realized the sword was gone from her hand. Panic flashed in her eyes as she recalled the day of the selection. The little thief who intruded into the back mountain of Xuanxing Sect had snatched away her thousand-year black stone sword.
But back then, she was too nervous and failed to grip the spirit sword firmly, allowing it to be taken. This time, however, she was sure she had a tight hold on it.
“How did you…”
“Secrets,” the fox-faced woman said, putting her finger to the smiling fox mouth on her mask. Then she grinned, “Nice sword. I’ll take it. Hmm~ Anything else you’d like to give me?”
Xiao Yunluo looked bewildered. She couldn’t comprehend how her tightly held sword was snatched away. Hastily, she retrieved two talismans from her storage bag, pinching them between her fingers and flinging them toward the fox-faced woman.
Yet, as before, the fox-faced woman raised her hand slightly, and the three talismans vanished, appearing at her fingertips.
Inspecting the talismans, the fox-faced woman chuckled, “Two seventh-grade fire talismans. Young Master Xiao is generous. Anything more!”
Xiao Yunluo began to question life itself. She had never heard of such a method of taking objects remotely. Even her mother, skilled as she was, couldn’t achieve this level.
This person was extraordinary!
Seeing Xiao Yunluo dumbfounded, the fox-faced woman shrugged, then looked at the still unresponsive girl with a puzzled expression.
Given the commotion, the girl should have woken up by now.
Was she pretending to sleep?
“Second, Miss, why don’t you give me a few things? Look at your sister. She’s given me so much already.”
The fox-faced woman squinted as she stared at Si Xuanji, who lay on the bed with her face covered by the quilt, curious about her tricks. But in the next moment, she heard a faint sound of blowing in her ears.
“Huh~~”
The fox-faced woman was startled and turned her head and discovered a young girl clinging to her back.
“What?”
“You must be the ‘Thief Immortal’! It turns out you are a girl.”
She looked at the girl clinging to her back and then glanced at the bed, only to find that the girl who covered her face with the quilt had disappeared instantly.
A sense of danger loomed. Sensing trouble, the fox-faced woman quickly waved her hand to push the girl away. Then, she pointed her sword, and her figure turned into a white light, flying out of the slightly open window.
Si Xuanji, floating in mid-air, landed barefoot on the room floor. She walked to the window, looked up at the stars in the sky, and saw a shooting star.
“Running so fast.”
Xiao Yunluo finally regained her senses. Trembling, she got out of bed and approached Si Xuanji from behind, asking, “Mother…”
“Hmm!”
“Sister Xuanji, aren’t you going to chase her?”
“A very good person. What are you chasing?” Si Xuanji turned her head and squinted, then grabbed Xiao Yunluo’s face, “I taught you a lesson. You slept so soundly outside, now it’s better. You lost my spiritual sword, and you also lost two seventh-grade talismans.”
“Ah…yeah…sorry.”
Yawning, Si Xuanji staggered back to bed and lay down.
“Go on to sleep. I have to go on the road tomorrow, ha~~~ Good night.”
Seeing her mother like this, Xiao Yunluo pursed her lips and glanced outside the room. Although she was still frightened, since her mother had said it, she said nothing more and went back to bed to lie down.
Meanwhile, in the desert outside Yu Guan, the moon was dark, the wind was high, and vultures circled above. The fox-faced woman emerged from the sand, looking around nervously. After ensuring no one was around, she climbed out, found a wind rock, and sat down against it.
“What’s going on, little girl? How did you sneak up behind me just now?”
She recalled the slightly horrifying scene and couldn’t understand how the girl had slipped behind her unnoticed.
“That’s all. It’s not without gain after escaping.”
Unable to make sense of it, the fox-faced woman shrugged it off. She took out the spirit sword and two talismans given by Xiao Yunluo from her storage bag.
“Hey, hehe, this should be worth tens of thousands of spirit stones! It’s a huge profit, hehe hehe…”
Jingle bell bell~~
Just as she was enjoying herself, a sudden clear ringing interrupted her.
Thinking it was the girl catching up with her, the fox-faced woman looked in the direction of the bell with a horrified expression. However, she found a jade bell with the words “A hundred birds paying attention to the phoenix” engraved on it, placed fifteen feet away from her. But she hadn’t noticed it when she fled just now.
“…”
After gazing at the jade bell for a while, the woman with a fox-like face sensed trouble. Despite its apparent value, there was something strange about that bell. Having a pristine jade bell displayed in the desert was definitely out of the ordinary.
After a brief silence, the fox-faced woman again employed her escape technique, disappearing nearly a mile away in the blink of an eye.
However, once she had settled down…
Jingle jingle~~
A peculiar ring chimed from behind her.
!!
The fox-faced woman turned to look and saw the jade bell placed nearby again.
“What?”
She was somewhat incredulous, so she simply dashed ten miles away, yet…
Ding jingle~~~
Thunk——
This time, the jade bell landed squarely on her forehead, knocking her forward in frustration onto the ground, where she rubbed her head.
“Ouch… What in the world is this?”
This time, she simply marched over, picked up the jade bell, and flung it away over her shoulder.
“Take that!!!”
Watching the jade bell trace an arc in the sky and plunge into a lake in an oasis a hundred feet away, she sighed in relief.
“We can’t go through this again…”
Jingle bell~~
Before she could finish speaking, the sound of the bell came again behind her.
The fox-faced woman grimaced; even without turning around, she knew what was behind her.
“Ouch!! What’s going on~~~”
…