After the slave owners went bankrupt, they all wanted to keep me as a mistress.

"But this is how it looks... It's been corroded for too long, and all you can see is a cloak... Cloaks... There are quite a few ancient coins that fit this description, not to mention coins from the Age of Gods."

"If we could find a way to restore it, or let those old elves who specialize in ancient coins take a look, maybe they could recognize it..."

Mu Qiu nodded.

The implication is that you wouldn't recognize him either?

Mu Qiu didn't care. In a forest where only low-level magical beasts roam, there probably wouldn't be anything good. It was probably just currency from some country a few hundred years ago.

"Since you can't recognize it, Luna, you can keep it if you want to keep it as a collectible."

Upon hearing this, Luna immediately put the coin away.

The group continued on their way, and in less than twenty minutes, they arrived at the outside of a cave.

"This is the location indicated by the treasure map, but..."

Mu Qiu looked toward the center of the cave and saw a huge statue of the goddess of wealth made of gold.

Unlike the cheap statue Luna bought, the goddess on this statue had her mouth wide open, like a gluttonous beast, giving Mu Qiu the feeling of a giant coin-operated machine.

"Does this statue mean... we should put gold coins in it?"

Upon seeing the statue, Mu Qiu's spirits immediately lifted.

Steady!

This time, he'll definitely suffer a huge loss!

He still remembered the system notification from that morning.

Although a very valuable treasure is buried there, the key requires inserting a gold coin, and there's a very high chance that the coin will disappear upon insertion, leaving only a very low probability of successfully opening the treasure.

To put it another way, isn't this just a gacha pool for the Goddess of Wealth from another world?

You're highly likely to draw nothing, with only a very small chance of drawing a treasure!

If I remember correctly... only Vera's mithril-grade equipment can increase her luck!

So, if he lets Adele and Luna insert the coins, wouldn't he be guaranteed to lose money?

Given Adele and Luna's luck, it's unlikely they'd actually win on their first try, right?

……

P.S.: This update is a little late today, so it's a bit longer, at 6,600 words! Also, please vote for me at the end of the month!!

Chapter 72 If they can't open the treasure, they'll have to warm the master's bed tonight!

"This is... an enshrined statue?"

Just as Mu Qiu was about to enter the cave, he heard Vera beside him suddenly exclaim in surprise.

"What's with the statue, meow?"

Luna blinked curiously, and Adele swayed her fox tail as she approached.

"Ahem! The Elf Classroom is in session!"

Vera raised her chin and held up a slender, white finger, saying, "The so-called 'offering statue' is a statue offered to a god or a demon."

"Simply put, they are statues used by the gods to receive offerings or to convey divine messages to the lower realms."

"The gods have limited energy. They cannot pay attention to every believer. In most cases, they will only pay attention to the few believers they favor the most, as well as the statues scattered around the world."

"The presence of this enshrined statue in such a desolate place suggests that it is not a statue used to convey divine messages, but rather a statue used to receive offerings."

In other words, this statue made of piled gold can no longer be sold for money?

Upon hearing this, Luna's cat ears drooped instantly, and she grumbled, "Damn it! Luna was thinking of selling the statue, meow! Such a big golden statue! It could definitely fetch a lot of money, meow!"

"No one would buy these kinds of statues; it would offend the gods."

Vera wagged her finger and said, "And I have two pieces of news, one good and one bad. Which do you want to hear first?"

"Luna wants to hear good news, meow!"

"The good news is that we don't have to guess what the key to the treasure is anymore."

Vera paused, then changed the subject: "But the bad news is that the goddess Mana only accepts offerings of gold, so we have to offer money to get into this cave."

Adele came up with an idea and suggested, "Could we blast open this cave and then find a way to get around the statue? Or perhaps we could move the statue out?"

Mu Qiu gave Adele a reproachful look.

You little fox, you've got so many clever ideas!

He interrupted the discussion, saying, "No need. Doing so might anger the goddess. Let's just do it the normal way and put coins into the goddess statue's mouth."

As he spoke, Mu Qiu had a thought and tried to withdraw one million gold coins from the system's funds.

[Ding! The host is attempting to feed gold coins to the statue of the goddess Mana in order to unlock the treasure!]

The maximum amount of gold coins you can feed the statue at one time is 100,000. Please feed it as usual.

"Can I only feed them 100,000 gold coins at a time?"

Mu Qiu raised an eyebrow, feeling a little regretful.

It's a pity that this goddess Mana has such a small appetite; a mere 100,000 gold coins are enough to fill her belly to the brim.

If it were a god with a huge appetite, he could probably throw in a million gold coins in one go.

“In that case, let’s do it in batches. Adele, you go first.”

Mu Qiu looked at the red fox girl beside him. He felt that among the four people present, Adele was probably the one with the least luck.

Adele nodded obediently and took the money bag containing 100,000 gold coins from Mu Qiu.

The money bag wasn't large, but it felt quite heavy. She picked it up with both hands and walked to the golden statue. The statue's mouth was slightly open, like a bottomless coin slot.

Adele took a deep breath, opened the bag in her hand, and slowly poured in the gold coins inside.

slam-la-

Gold coins flowed like a golden stream into the statue's mouth.

However, just as all the gold coins were swallowed up, the statue only flickered very faintly, as if it had just burped, and then there was no further reaction.

A full 100,000 gold coins vanished without a trace.

Adele's fox ears drooped slightly, a hint of disappointment flashing in her eyes, but she still quietly took a step back and turned to look at Mu Qiu.

Well done, Adele!

Mu Qiu smiled slightly, not blaming Adele at all. Instead, he reached out and touched her smooth, delicate red hair: "It's okay. If once isn't enough, we'll do it twice. If twice isn't enough, we'll do it three times. If it's easy to open, then I don't think the treasure inside is anything of value."

"Luna, it's your turn."

Mu Qiu looked at Luna, feeling a little nervous.

You wouldn't kill it in one shot, would you?

He actually wanted Adele to insert the coin alone, but the little fox was sensitive. If she found out that she was the unluckiest person, she definitely wouldn't insert a coin no matter what.

"Look at Luna's meow!"

Luna rubbed her hands together, full of confidence, and stepped forward.

She easily lifted the money bag containing 100,000 gold coins with one hand, and instead of being as careful as Adele, she excitedly poured it all in.

"Goddess Mana! Open the door for Luna, meow! Luna gave you money, meow!"

The gold coin disappeared again, and the statue's reaction was still only a barely perceptible flash, even dimmer than before.

"Meow?!"

Luna's eyes widened, seemingly unable to believe that the statue hadn't responded to her.

"Luna's gold coins, meow?! They've been eaten, meow?! No reaction, meow?!!"

Mu Qiu pursed his lips slightly.

Hold it in, don't laugh!

The opportunity to suffer huge losses has finally arrived!

It seems that Luna, despite her advanced age, is not a lucky cat-like being. If she lets the two of them take turns inserting coins, she will definitely lose everything!

In the following rounds, Adele and Luna took turns going up, each investing 100,000 gold coins four more times.

A full million gold coins were poured in, but the golden goddess statue was like an insatiable bottomless pit. Apart from a perfunctory, faint flash each time it swallowed a gold coin, there was no sign of it opening a passage.

Luna's face fell completely, her tail drooped listlessly, and she angrily kicked the statue: "Liar Goddess Meow! You ate 500,000 of Luna's gold coins, meow! And you won't even open the door, meow! Luna doesn't recognize you as her liar sister anymore, meow!"

Although Adele didn't say anything, her eyes were filled with heartache.

That's a whopping 500,000 gold coins!

She managed to lose all of her master's 500,000 gold coins, yet her master didn't blame them at all...

Adele turned her head to secretly look at Mu Qiu, only to find that even at this moment, her master's face still showed no anger or disappointment. Instead, he looked at them with an encouraging expression, as if in his heart, their feelings were more important than the 500,000 gold coins.

At this moment, Vera stepped forward with some eagerness, tossing her long silver-white hair: "Looks like their luck isn't too good. Let me try! Maybe the elves will be luckier?"

Mu Qiu's heart skipped a beat.

He hadn't forgotten that the mithril-grade equipment he gave Vera had significantly increased her luck attribute.

If Vera were to insert the coins alone, wouldn't she have opened the treasure chest before she finished throwing in all the coins?

Adele glanced in Vera's direction, her tone indifferent: "Miss Vera, what if you can't open it either?"

"That kind of thing is impossible, isn't it?"

Vera puffed out her chest, making her loose-fitting mage clothes stand out high, her tone full of confidence: "I am Vera, an elf, there is no way I can fail. If I can't open it, then I will warm the bed for my master tonight. Even if my master wants me to make 'oh ho ho ho' sounds, I will not complain at all."

"But of course, that's impossible, because I can't possibly lose."

She looked at Mu Qiu beside her and said confidently, "Even if it's just so I don't have to warm the bed for my lewd master, and so I don't have to squeeze into the bathtub with him every day when I take a bath, I will still open the treasure!"

Mu Qiu: "..."

For some reason, upon hearing Vera's tone that implied "if you can't open the treasure, you'll just be punished by him," Mu Qiu suddenly felt that she didn't want to open the treasure at all.

However, the more she said that, the more Mu Qiu felt that she might unlock a treasure.

"and many more!"

Seeing Vera about to walk towards the statue, Mu Qiu immediately stopped her, his mind racing as he came up with an excuse:

"I think the reason we didn't succeed just now was because only one person was putting in the coins. Let's try a different method this time!"

As he spoke, he looked at Adele and said, "Adele, this time you and Vera will each put in 50,000 gold coins to try it out."

Although Vera's equipment increased her luck considerably.

But with Adele, this red fox girl who looks like she's cursed with bad luck, surely she can bring down her luck?

Vera blinked her emerald eyes. Although she found her master's decision a little strange, she didn't think much of it. As long as it didn't succeed, it was fine...

Adele naturally had no objections; her master's will was her will.

So, Mu Qiu gave Vera and Adele 50,000 gold coins each.

Vera gracefully poured the gold coins into it, and Adele followed suit. The two small golden streams merged and flowed into the mouth of the goddess statue.

The statue flickered again, the light seeming slightly brighter than before, but... there was still no sign of it activating.

"Failed again?"

Adele frowned slightly, feeling a little anxious.

Even if the master really doesn't care, how can she not care?

This is all money that the owner worked hard to earn!

In the blink of an eye, 1.1 million gold coins were gone!

"Adele, don't rush, we'll take it slow... cough, I mean, slowly."

Mu Qiu smiled broadly and encouraged Adele gently, without putting any pressure on her: "Failure is the mother of success. A temporary setback doesn't mean anything. I still have plenty of money here. Come on, put in another 100,000 gold coins!"

Luna hummed softly beside her.