Lyu Dongfang’s sister?
Isn't that Hu Manni of the Ma family, Ma Lanhua’s own granddaughter?
Come to think of it, Hu Manni even had a bit of a connection with her other persona, the Mountain Lord.
These thoughts flashed through Nan Zhi’s mind, but she didn't show a hint of it, only saying indifferly:
“One life for two? This deal seems a bit unfavorable for me—if I recall correctly, the Liu family and your Lyu family are enemies, and that little fatty is incompatible with you. Yet you’re asking me for medicine for an enemy?”
“Ma Guniang, I won't lie to you. I admit I’ve always looked down on Liu Guansheng, and our families have some messy history that's hard to untangle. But when it comes to life and death, unless someone is truly evil or there's a blood feud, no one genuinely wants another person to die.”
Lyu Dongfang’s gaze was sincere, as if he had matured significantly during this time:
“He’s annoying, but he’s never really done anything bad. Seeing him lying there, barely breathing, I feel bad too. After all, we know each other; I can't just watch him die. Even if he doesn't appreciate the favor when we get back, so be it. No one lives without doing a few foolish things. I’m not trying to be a saint by asking you, I just want to feel better when I look back on this later.”
This guy was quite perceptive.
He didn't say anything fake, just that saving people was for his own peace of mind.
Nan Zhi appreciated Lyu Dongfang’s honesty, and considering Hu Ban'er’s sake, she wouldn't watch Hu Manni die here. Giving a few Blood Supplementing Pills was no big deal.
But the method had to change, or else Ma Guniang would be seen as a pushover who gave things to anyone who asked.
“There should be three pills left in that bottle. You don't need to ask me who you give them to, but you must trade something for them.”
Nan Zhi took out a Sun-Burning Stone and some Metal Essence Mud, saying slowly: “This is Sun-Burning Stone and Metal Essence Mud. A thousand jin of Sun-Burning Stone or a hundred jin of Metal Essence Mud can be traded for one life-saving pill.”
“Really?!”
Lyu Dongfang keenly noticed Nan Zhi didn't specify a limit, and his breathing grew heavy:
“If we have more, then the other injured people—”
“I’ll take whatever you bring, regardless of quantity, as long as you don't try to pass off inferior goods.”
Nan Zhi dropped those words and stopped looking at Lyu Dongfang. With a tap of her toes, she leaped like a crane, landing gracefully on the dozens-of-meters-high lotus altar in the blink of an eye.
Sun-Burning Stones were everywhere by the lake. As long as the exploration team could avoid that seemingly low-intelligence Flying Golden-Winged Centipede, collecting enough wasn't a problem.
And she could temporarily free her hands, not having to work herself and Hongluo to death collecting them, only paying with a few low-grade Blood Supplementing Pills that were nearly overflowing in her bag.
A win-win.
...
...
According to the information from the exploration team, the demon beasts in the secret realm seemed to avoid the lotus altar. Even the Flying Golden-Winged Centipede wouldn't approach it easily while hunting. So, there must be something special about this altar.
Eight stone lotus lamps burned fiercely around the altar, their light making the area as bright as day. Nan Zhi stood at the edge, observing closely.
This tall altar looked like it had no artificial traces, as if a natural giant rock had grown out of the ground.
Besides the patterns on the sides, there were grooves half a meter deep on the floor, leading from the outside to the center.
And that dried corpse, emitting a rich, exotic fragrance, lay flat in the center, motionless.
“No, this smell is too strong, almost sickeningly sweet.”
Nan Zhi wanted to get closer to observe the corpse but was blinded by the fragrance. She took out a handkerchief woven from Spirit Swallowing Grass and covered her nose as she approached.
Hongluo was quite capable. While killing time in the fish's belly, Nan Zhi had used fish bones and Spirit Swallowing Grass to show her how to knit. The little hedgehog caught on quickly and even innovated.
Sweaters, scarves, vests, skirts, handkerchiefs—the difficulty increased. Eventually, she even taught herself how to peel the core of the Spirit Swallowing Grass to get the toughest, softest fibers to weave a large blanket for Nan Zhi.
That was the blanket Nan Zhi used to hide from the centipede earlier.
The closer she got, the stronger the smell. Nan Zhi felt her nose was about to break.
Fortunately, she finally saw the corpse clearly:
It was an exceptionally strange male corpse, hardly even human.
A green Han-style robe hung loosely over a shriveled chest. The limbs were withered like chicken claws, with only a thin layer of skin over bone.
Ribs were visible, and the belly was sunken into a deep void. He wore no special decorations, and even his black hair lay messy on the ground.
But none of that was the main point.
The head of this corpse wasn't a human skull, but a large, conical, light-green Chinese grasshopper head.
A corpse with a human body and a grasshopper head?
So...
Nan Zhi was silent for a long time before tentatively speaking: “So, are you... Ka-Kamen Rider?”
(Suspected discovery of a dried Kamen Rider specimen; Kamen Rider fans rejoice.)
...
The corpse was truly dead. Even on the system map, besides the green dots for the official team and a red dot for an enemy, the surroundings were clean.
Strangely clean.
Normally, there are many demon beasts in this secret realm, and the exploration team paid a heavy price to get here. Why is this altar the only place they don't disturb?
It couldn't be fear of the Kamen Rider's power (?), right?
And that corpse with the Chinese grasshopper head—what was its origin? Why did it emit an exotic fragrance? Why did that fragrance attract so many demon beasts?
Nan Zhi, with a golden lotus above her head, flew high into the air until she could see the entire altar.
“If you connect the grooves on the altar as lines, this altar is an entire formation, and where that locust-bro is located is exactly the formation eye.”
She stroked her chin, recalling the contents of the 《Encyclopedia of Formations》. Diagrams flashed through her mind like pages of a book, suddenly stopping on one page.
“Such a massive teleportation formation! Who made this?!”
Nan Zhi couldn't help but cry out.
Rate on N.U.
