"You little bastard, you tricked me!" The Golden Rat trapped in the Beast Capture Net suddenly howled at Wang Mu in anger.
"Tricked you? How?" Wang Mu pointed toward the mine. "This is the punishment Dongfang Mu, the great hero, has given you. Didn't you see? If you hadn't been captured in time, you would probably be roasted by now."
"Nonsense! Some punishment, that's a Cultivator's Fireball Technique! Do you think your grandpa, Lord Rat, can't tell?" The Golden Rat struggled against the net, both shocked and furious. It had indeed been frightened just now, terrified by that bolt of lightning. But afterwards...
Ah? The Fireball Technique? Wang Mu paused, stunned. Damn. This was the Fireball Technique.
Simultaneously, a figure descended from afar.
This person was tall and slender, dressed in black night-prowler attire with long, fluttering hair and delicate features; however, it was a man. Wang Mu could tell from experience; one just had to look at the Adam's apple and chest.
The man surveyed his surroundings with a gloomy expression until his gaze landed on Wang Mu in the distance. Slightly startled, he immediately asked, "Young brother, have you seen a rat covered in golden fur around here?"
"Are you talking about this one?" Wang Mu brought the Beast Capture Net from his back to the front. He figured the other party must have already seen it; it was just a polite question.
"Yes, yes, exactly that creature!" The man's face lit up, but he spoke with indignation, "To be frank, I am Luo Qifang, the young master of the Luo family from Black Wood Town. For the past half-month, a series of thefts have plagued our town, and the culprit remained elusive. Then, a few days ago, even my Luo family's ancestral jade treasure was stolen! After considerable effort and days of investigation, I discovered it was stolen by a spirit beast, a Jinmao Rat."
"Later, my Luo family enlisted the help of a Cultivation expert. This expert performed a tracking magic to locate the Jinmao Rat, and we pursued it for several days, covering nearly a thousand miles!"
"Until we reached this place…"
In just a few sentences, the man clearly explained the entire situation.
"So, what happened just now…" Wang Mu trailed off, frowning slightly as he looked at the mine.
"This Jinmao Rat is extremely cunning. If I were to get any closer, it would undoubtedly detect my presence and swiftly escape," Luo Qifang said helplessly. "Therefore, I had to strike from a distance. I used the might of my magic to subdue and trap it before it could sense my approach."
"To avoid accidentally injuring others, I specifically chose to act at night."
"However…" Luo Qifang sighed softly. "My own ability is quite limited. I'm merely at the Qi Cultivation Second Layer, and my mastery of the Fireball Technique isn't very refined. I could barely manage what you saw."
What? Wang Mu was taken aback. He looked at the area devastated by the volley of fireballs. That's what he calls 'not very skilled'? All those fireballs? An attack of that scope could easily obliterate a building more than ten stories high, couldn't it? Is the Qi Cultivation Stage in this Immortal World a bit too powerful? Well… considering everyone in the village is practically a superhuman, I guess I can understand.
"Don't believe him!" the Golden Rat shrieked. "This pretty boy is a Top-grade Fire Spirit Root! He possesses a special True Flame Bone Body, so his execution of any Fire Element spell is far beyond what ordinary Cultivators can achieve. He did it on purpose just now, trying to kill both of us!"
...
"Release me quickly! Otherwise, he'll eliminate you too! If you release me, we can deal with him together! Plus, I can tell you a secret about this mine!" The Golden Rat, realizing it couldn't break free from the Beast Capture Net anytime soon, stopped struggling.
"Hmph!" Luo Qifang sneered. "You are merely a spirit beast—ultimately, just an animal! This young brother is of the Human Clan, one of my own kind. Why would he possibly listen to your slanderous, demonic words?"
"Young brother, hand over this Jinmao Rat to me. In return, I can offer you gold and silver jewelry, Spirit Stone Talismans, or even some basic Cultivation Methods and Magic Jade Scrolls!"
Here it is! Wang Mu remained silent. It seems this is the complete Travel incident. If this were a game, choices would probably be appearing right now. Whom should I choose?
However, reality isn't a game…
Theft, ancestral jade treasure… Chasing for over a thousand miles… Top-grade Fire Spirit Root, True Flame Bone Body… Piece by piece, Wang Mu sifted through the information in his mind.
In a game, no matter what choice you make, you can always save and retry; it just costs some time. But even then, making choices requires analysis and speculation based on the available information, not just random selection. Otherwise, trying to romance the seven heroines in the game, each with hundreds of event choices, to find the single correct path would be as difficult as ascending to the heavens.
"I won't hand this rat over to you," Wang Mu stated, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Luo Qifang frowned immediately at these words.
"However, regarding the ancestral jade treasure stolen from your family, I can have the rat return it to you."
"Impossible!" the Jinmao Rat shrieked. "That Jade was originally my grandfather's! It was buried with him when he died, but later, some human tomb raiders stole it. It's rightfully mine!"
"Nonsense! That Jade has been passed down in my Luo family for generations!"
"Then your ancestors must have been tomb raiders!"
"You thieving rat, you infuriate me! My Luo family has upheld a reputation for chivalry in Black Wood Town for generations. How dare you slander us so!"
...
The man and the rat argued ceaselessly.
"Excuse me, may I ask what kind of Jade it is?" Wang Mu interjected with a frown.
"It is a rare treasure, a Blood Marrow Jade," Luo Qifang explained. "In ordinary mines, it's difficult to find even a single piece in a hundred years!"
Blood Marrow Jade? Wang Mu was startled. Is this considered a rare treasure? Isn't it just Blood Jade Ore? Difficult to find even one piece in a hundred years? But I've dug up several this past month. How does that work?
"Well, please wait a moment. Perhaps I can persuade this Jinmao Rat to give up the Jade."
An idea struck Wang Mu.
"If you can truly convince it to hand over the Jade, I will not pursue any further action against it," Luo Qifang said, one eyebrow raised as he looked at Wang Mu.
This young man actually managed to catch the Jinmao Rat; that's truly an extraordinary feat, Luo Qifang mused. He himself had tracked it for over a thousand miles and hadn't managed to touch a single hair on it. The creature could slip away effortlessly even when he got close. Luo Qifang wasn't worried about the Jinmao Rat escaping, as he possessed a special Treasure for tracking it. However, he believed that a spirit beast renowned for its avarice, once it had stolen something valuable, would almost never relinquish it voluntarily unless killed. This young man simply wouldn't be able to make it do so.
"Alright, please wait here."
Wang Mu took the Golden Rat aside.
"Little fellow, you mentioned a secret in that mine earlier?" Wang Mu asked.
"That's right! Let me go, and I'll tell you," the Jinmao Rat said, its eyes darting around. "While I was digging to escape earlier, I accidentally broke into the lower levels of the mine and found something good."
"Freeing you isn't a good idea right now."
"First, let me see what that Blood Marrow Jade of yours looks like," Wang Mu said casually.
The Jinmao Rat gave Wang Mu a wary look, then retrieved a fist-sized, exceptionally lustrous Jade from its sack.
Wang Mu examined it for a few moments. Indeed, it was Blood Jade Ore, albeit a rather small piece.
Blood Jade Ore is a special type of ore in the Pocket World Mine—very rare and extremely difficult to extract. Even so, I've managed to dig up several pieces this past month.
"Alright, that's enough."
Wang Mu tied the Beast Capture Net to one side, walked a few steps away, and took out a similarly sized piece of Blood Jade Ore. With a little polishing, he made it look almost identical to the Blood Marrow Jade.
「After the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea.」
"Let's go!"
Wang Mu walked over and picked up the Beast Capture Net.
The Jinmao Rat, clueless about Wang Mu's intentions, clutched its sack tightly.
Approaching Luo Qifang, Wang Mu presented the Blood Marrow Jade he had prepared. "Take a look, is this it?"
Seeing this Jade, Luo Qifang was stunned. The Jinmao Rat was equally stunned and subconsciously clutched its sack. It's still here… the rat thought. Then what is this piece of Jade?