Young master, why not become a corpse immortal?

Chapter 210 Secret Treasure
The deal is done.

Lin Jiang did not return the ring directly to Duan Libie, but instead handed it to the middle-aged man in the teahouse to be given to Boss Guo for safekeeping.

He needed to leave the capital to prepare for the separation. He hadn't brought the clues with him and needed to go back to retrieve them before handing them over to Lin Jiang.

After Duan left the teahouse, Gongxuan clicked his tongue as he watched his retreating figure.
"This person is unique; he suffered a great loss but showed no anger."

Lin Jiang did not answer.

Given his abilities, it would have been more reasonable for him to forcibly seize the property, yet he acted entirely like he was making a deal, which is perplexing.

Perhaps this ring is really important to him, or perhaps he really doesn't care about those two treasures at all.

Unable to discern his intentions, Lin Jiang felt that this person might be even more dangerous than the General's Mansion, which had plotted to frame him.

We must pay close attention when they send us clues.

Lin Jiang then turned his attention to the short sword on the table.

"Hello, I will be following you for the time being from today onwards."

"Aren't you worried that you'll have to follow me around from now on?"

"Don't worry, the treasure that Master gave you is definitely not wrong."

The short sword's voice was quite calm, somewhat like his master's.

At this moment, the middle-aged man came into the room to tidy up the tea set. Lin Jiang glanced at him and chuckled:

"The shopkeeper's."

"Sir, please speak."

"Let Mr. Guo keep this short sword for now. I really haven't found any treasures, so let Mr. Guo sell it to pay off the debt."

"what?"

Not only was the shopkeeper puzzled, but the short sword on the table also hummed, full of confusion.

Although the short sword didn't speak, Lin Jiang could sense its confusion:

"I'm a Star-Pointing Treasure Weapon! Countless people would love to have one, how could you just throw it away like that?"

Lin Jiang didn't care, and although the middle-aged man was puzzled, he still nodded.

After the middle-aged man left, Lin Jiang turned to look at Gong Xuan:
Aren't you going to ask why?

"No need to ask, young master has his reasons for doing so."

Lin Jiang left without offering an explanation.

The middle-aged man escorted them to the teahouse entrance with great courtesy, watching them leave before returning himself.

He moved through the rooms and quickly found the private room where Lin Jiang and the others had been.

He respectfully took the short sword, went to the cubicle, and knocked on the door with utmost deference:

"master."

"Sent away?"

"Sent away."

"come in."

The middle-aged man pushed open the door, and Boss Guo was sitting by the window.

There was tea on his table, but he didn't touch it. He turned his head to look out the window, humming a little tune, seemingly in a very good mood.

The middle-aged man carefully placed the short sword on the table beside him. Seeing that things had come to this, the sword remained silent.

"master……"

The middle-aged man hesitated to speak.

"Are you wondering why?"

"Please tell me, sir."

Boss Guo reached out and placed the short sword in his palm, then gently stroked it.

"Because this sword is a precious artifact that I've been separated from for a long time."

"Huh?" The middle-aged man hadn't reacted yet.

"To put it another way, do you always bring people from other businesses with you?"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man finally showed a knowing expression on his face.

No wonder.

If you were to keep this short sword by your side all the time, it would be like having a spy with you.

Even Mr. Guo couldn't help but sigh:
"She is indeed quite clever."

After saying this, Boss Guo picked up the ring again and examined it carefully.

The middle-aged man also looked at the thumb ring:
"Master, what kind of treasure is this? Why would Duan Libie go to such lengths to acquire it?"

"This one," Boss Guo examined it for a while longer, "is an ordinary object, but it's very old."

The middle-aged man didn't dare to speak, but his attitude was clearly, "That's it?"

“Don’t underestimate ordinary artifacts.” Boss Guo revealed a playful smile: “This thing is incredibly ancient. It’s probably even older than the one who ascended the Immortal Mountain to consume the Golden Elixir.”

Why do such ancient objects possess no spirituality?

……

After leaving the capital, Duan Libie traveled south for a while and arrived at a town south of the capital.

He found a rather ordinary inn in town and checked in.

I ate very little for dinner, just a bowl of thick porridge with some braised meat and a plate of stir-fried vegetables.

He was always quite self-disciplined when it came to his appetite.

After nightfall, he returned to his room.

After dark, he returned to his room. Just as he was about to sit cross-legged to rest, he suddenly felt something trembling slightly in his arms.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small copper coin.

Looking through the money-shaped opening, a man in black bowed his head respectfully and said:
"grown ups."

They parted in silence, waiting for the other person to speak.

"Sir, the employer is asking when you will continue the operation?"

Tell them that I'm not taking any action for the time being.

"Huh?" The man in black was a little confused.

"Any questions?"

The tone of his farewell was completely flat, but even so, it terrified the money-grubbing man in black.
"No, no! It's just that they're pressing us urgently, so please give me a reason."

Duan Libie said, "I have a business deal that I haven't finished yet, so naturally I can't continue working."

"Understood. I'll go tell them right away."

"Oh, by the way, there's one more thing."

Seeing that the other person was about to leave, Duan Libie suddenly called out, stopping the person in their tracks.

"Please speak." "There's no need to search for the Zhou King's treasure anymore. Compile the clues you've found and send them over."

Are you going to search for it yourself?

"No, I want to give it to someone else."

"what?"

The man in black couldn't control his voice anymore:

"But we've been searching for so many years..."

"We still haven't found it, have we?" Duan Libie remained unmoved. "This is a loss from the last mission. Tell the employer that if they want me to continue, they need to 'complete' this treasure."

After a pause:
"I don't want much, just one million taels."

After saying this, the separation ended and all contact was severed.

The man in black on the other side of the copper coin was dumbfounded.

Our ancestor really dares to speak out!
That's a million taels of silver! It's no small sum.

and……

The Zhou king's treasure!

When this clue was unexpectedly discovered back then, everyone in the attic was overjoyed and has spent countless efforts to find it ever since.

Now, can we really stop just because our ancestors said one thing?

Even if he himself were willing to stop, how could his subordinates be willing to do so?
If a true treasure is found, it contains far more than a million taels of silver!

Naturally, the man in black only dared to mutter these words to himself, and dared not utter a single word to his ancestor.

Our ancestor was always eccentric, indifferent to money, women, and treasures. He ate very simple food, was usually taciturn, and his thoughts were unfathomable.

"What on earth is going on...?"

The man in black became increasingly reluctant to part with it.
"No, we can't just give up like this. There must be a deeper meaning behind our ancestors' actions."

Having made up his mind, he immediately took out an account book, which recorded the details of all the tasks in the pavilion, including those of the ancestor.

He remembered that his ancestor had recently encountered a newly emerged star, but had retreated due to carelessness.

This matter may be related to that new star.

He knew this was definitely not going to work, so he simply took out another copper coin:
"Grandpa Li Ren, Grandpa Li Ren."

After calling out twice, a slightly tired male voice came from the other side of the copper coin:
"I'm here."

"Grandpa, what exactly happened on the ancestral side? Why did the search for the Zhou King's treasure suddenly stop?"

"Ah, you already know, it's like this..."

Li Ren recounted everything that had happened to the man in black, who was stunned for a long time after listening.

"Did the ancestor leave you behind hoping that you would follow that person and find the Zhou king's legacy?"

“I think it’s possible, but… you can’t count on me now.”

"what?"

"...I'm currently hanging in Guo Dayin's treasure pavilion in the capital, chatting with a few other juniors."

"what?"

Several question marks appeared above the man in black's head.

……

The donkey-headed man closed the book, and laughter came from under his hood.

Miss Jiang looked at the donkey's head curiously, hesitated for a moment, and asked:
Is something interesting happening?

“An old friend of mine suddenly made outrageous demands on those pedantic scholars in the capital, which infuriated the Grand Secretaries to the point of nearly losing their lives. Of course, I had to laugh.”

Miss Jiang didn't understand, and she didn't care about the Grand Secretaries in the capital.

She hesitated for a moment, then finally mustered her courage and said:

"How's the matter I asked you to investigate going?"

"You mean about your garden?"

"Yes. Where did the person who borrowed my garden key last time go?"

"We just received news this morning that they went to Qingniwa, encountered an accident, and all of them died," Donkey Head told Miss Jiang about the incident in Qingniwa.

Miss Jiang frowned slightly after hearing this.

"So there's something wrong with the ruins at Qingniwa?"

"I'm afraid so."

"I want to go over and take a look."

There's no need to rush.

Donkey Head comforted him, "The General's Mansion also attaches great importance to this matter and will definitely summon other martial arts practitioners to go together. It will be safer for you to go with them."

"How long will it take?"

"It can take as little as seven days, or as long as more than a month."

"too slow."

Miss Jiang was somewhat displeased, but dared not raise her voice, and only muttered in a low voice.

“It’s safer to go slower,” said Donkey Head. “Going too far could easily hurt yourself.”

Miss Jiang didn't say anything more and turned to leave.

Donkey Head sighed helplessly, wondering if she had heeded his advice.

As Miss Jiang stepped out of the teahouse, she lightly waved her sleeve, and suddenly a thick fog rose before her eyes, revealing a rugged path leading into the depths.

She followed the path and soon returned to her long-time residence.

As she passed by, she subconsciously turned her head to look at the distance.

Looking at the garden that had been gnawed into a bald patch, I felt a pang of pain in my heart.

She strode into the house, quickly pulled out her long-untouched map, and ran her finger across it.

It eventually landed somewhere in the north.

"Qingniwa...is here."

A resolute look appeared in Miss Jiang's eyes.

She's not really willing to act with other people, and with you making her wait a month, how can she possibly stay put?

Moreover, the journey from here to Qingniwa is not short; if you insist on going, it will take almost a month.

Even with the help of magic and cultivation, she could only shrink it to about half a month at most.

If we wait a month and spend a lot of time, it will probably be even harder to find the person who damaged our garden!

I might as well go alone!

With the Hundred Flowers Garden around, there's bound to be no problem!
(End of this chapter)