"How about it? Want to take a gamble?" Li Nanzhu suddenly smiled.
"Little Junior Sister, aren't you afraid at all?" Duan Xianxing spoke with some exaggeration.
"Of course—" Li Nanzhu drew out her voice, waiting for Duan Xianxing's expectant gaze before spitting out the second half of her sentence, "—not! Seventh Senior Brother, surely you're not the one who's scared?"
Of course she wasn't afraid. Although the original novel never mentioned that this teleportation array was one-way, she knew exactly where the destination was. However, it wouldn't do for the others to remain so hesitant; naturally, she had to provoke them a bit.
"Who... who's scared!" Duan Xianxing immediately straightened his back. "I am a dignified sword cultivator; how could I possibly fear a mere teleportation array!"
"Is that so?" Li Nanzhu tilted her head. "Who was the one who screamed because they were startled by a potato, and who was the one who... mmm-mmm!"
Before she could finish, Duan Xianxing lunged forward and covered her mouth. "Little Junior Sister, stop talking! Aaaah!" These were all part of his dark history!
"A potato...?" Liu Qingyang was a bit dazed. Why would someone scream from being scared by a potato?
"That was an accident!" Duan Xianxing's face flushed as he jumped in protest. "It was clearly Little Junior Sister who spooked me!"
Liu Qingyang grew even more confused. He glanced at the well-behaved Li Nanzhu, whose mouth was still covered, then at Duan Xianxing. "Her? Spooking you?"
He seriously doubted the truth of that statement.
Li Nanzhu finally broke free from Duan Xianxing's clutches, laughing as she gasped for air. "At the time, I just happened to be peeling a potato..."
This time, Zhu Yinxi's flute was gently pressed against her lips. A rare hint of teasing glinted in the second senior brother's eyes. "Leave him some dignity."
Duan Xianxing was moved to tears. "Second Senior Brother!"
"Tell me the story when we get back," Zhu Yinxi added calmly, delivering the killing blow.
"Second Senior Brother!!!" Duan Xianxing wanted to cry but had no tears.
"Alright, alright," Liu Qingyang said, suppressing a laugh as his gaze fell on the groove in the center of the teleportation array. "Since we've decided to go, let's activate the array as soon as possible."
As he spoke, he pulled out four highest-grade spirit stone crystals to place into the array.
"Wait!" Duan Xianxing suddenly grabbed Zhu Yinxi's wrist. "Second Senior Brother, are you sure this teleportation array won't send us somewhere strange? Like a volcano? Under the sea? Or..."
"Or straight into the Demon Sovereign's bedchamber in the demon race realm?" Li Nanzhu interjected, her eyes sparkling. "How exciting would that be!"
"Little Junior Sister!" Duan Xianxing wailed. "Don't make jokes like that at a time like this!"
Liu Qingyang couldn't help but smile. "Rest assured, these ancient teleportation arrays usually have fixed coordinates." He took the crystals handed over by Zhu Yinxi and placed them in the grooves. "I'll bet it sends us to the next cave dwelling area."
Suisui also poked its head out from beside Li Nanzhu's feet, jumping up to snatch a crystal from Zhu Yinxi's hand. It tossed the crystal into the groove with crisp efficiency, its soul fire dancing cheerfully without a trace of fear.
"Even Suisui has more courage than you." Li Nanzhu laughed as she pressed the third crystal into its groove, then turned to make a face at Duan Xianxing. "Seventh Senior Brother, if you're really that scared, you can close your eyes and hold onto my sleeve!"
"I won't!" Duan Xianxing huffed as he stood in the center of the teleportation array, though he couldn't help but add in a whisper, "...But if you're scared, I can let you hold my sleeve for a bit..."
Zhu Yinxi shook his head helplessly, his slender finger tapping lightly on his flute.
As the final crystal clicked into place, the teleportation array suddenly glowed with a soft blue light, gently enveloping the four people and the skeleton.
In the final second before they disappeared, Duan Xianxing's scream echoed through the alchemy room: "If we teleport somewhere dangerous, I won't let you guys off even as a ghost!"
...
Amidst the dizzying whirl of heaven and earth, Li Nanzhu felt something tugging at her hair ribbon.
Opening her eyes, she found Suisui's bone claws hooked onto the silk ribbon tying her hair. The little skeleton was floating in mid-air, its soul fire stretched out like a shooting star.
"Pfft!" She had just started to laugh when she saw something even more entertaining.
Duan Xianxing's hair had completely exploded outward, making him look exactly like a startled pufferfish. Liu Qingyang wasn't much better, though he was still desperately smoothing his hair in an attempt to maintain his image; unfortunately, for every strand he pressed down, a new tuft would spring up.
The only one who remained composed was Zhu Yinxi. If it weren't for the pink spiritual light bubbles of unknown origin clinging to his hem, he would have looked like he was taking a leisurely stroll.
"Second Senior Brother!" Li Nanzhu reached out to help him pat away the bubbles, but due to the spatial power of the teleportation, she couldn't quite touch him. Instead, Zhu Yinxi gave her a reassuring nod. "Be careful."
"Click!" Suisui suddenly pointed excitedly toward the front of the tunnel.
At the end of the streaming light, a lush expanse of green was faintly visible. A rich spiritual energy even managed to penetrate the spatial barrier and waft toward them.
"What dense spiritual energy!" Liu Qingyang exclaimed. "It looks like it's all spirit plants... Ow!"
The teleportation tunnel suddenly twisted, and everyone began to spin as if they were being tumbled in a wash.
The last thing Li Nanzhu saw was Duan Xianxing's terrified face and his wildly fluttering hair ribbons.
Thud!
The four people and the skeleton tumbled into a heap.
Li Nanzhu climbed up dizzily, finding that she was clutching half of Duan Xianxing's hair ribbon. The owner of said ribbon was currently crawling across the grass with a wild, disheveled mane. "Am I going to die? Aaaah!!! Where is this?!"
Zhu Yinxi showed no mercy, rapping Duan Xianxing on the head with his flute.
"Look up and see for yourself."
Duan Xianxing hissed in pain and finally looked up. They were standing near a medicine plot, with an octagonal pavilion nearby.
Li Nanzhu guessed they were originally supposed to land directly inside the octagonal pavilion, but some sort of glitch had caused them to be thrown out nearby.
Duan Xianxing was already staring blankly at the medicine plot. Countless rare spirit plants swayed in the gentle breeze. The nearest one, a gold-patterned lingzhi, was larger than a washbasin, glowing rhythmically with each breath it took.
"We're rich..." Duan Xianxing murmured, reaching out to pluck it. You couldn't blame him for being short-sighted; they had truly been poor before this. Moreover, even a wealthy organization like the Shenmu Sect likely couldn't produce a medicine plot like this.
The number of rare spirit plants here was simply staggering; there were even some Li Nanzhu had only ever seen in books.
"Wait." Zhu Yinxi's flute blocked his path. "There seems to be a restriction."
As if to prove his words, the moment Duan Xianxing's fingertips brushed the lingzhi, a crisp ringing sound echoed throughout the medicine plot. All the plants turned toward them in unison, their buds opening and closing as if they were... yawning?
Suisui suddenly broke away from Li Nanzhu and hopped over to a cluster of dancing blue grass. It began to rattle its bone frame, clicking along with the rhythm.
Li Nanzhu facepalmed. "It seems it's safe..."
Before she could finish, the largest lingzhi suddenly let out a poof, spraying a cloud of gold powder that accurately coated Duan Xianxing's entire face.
"A-choo!" Duan Xianxing let out an earth-shattering sneeze, and his hair instantly turned a brilliant gold.
Zhu Yinxi silently took half a step back.
Liu Qingyang's shoulders shook as he held back a laugh. "Brother Duan, the new hairstyle... suits you well."
Duan Xianxing looked at the three of them pitifully, but after looking at his own hair—glittering and gold—he found it actually looked quite nice, and he instantly cheered up.
Meanwhile, Li Nanzhu cautiously touched a shimmering spirit grass beside her. The grass blades actually curled affectionately around her finger.
"So cute." Li Nanzhu couldn't help but stroke it again, causing the leaves to shrink back as if shy.
On the other side, Suisui had moved on to another spot. This time, it found a small purple flower. The moment Suisui touched it, the flower immediately sprayed a wisp of sweet-smelling mist.
The little skeleton froze for a second, then suddenly began to spin in circles, its soul fire turning a happy shade of pink.
Li Nanzhu thought: If the soul fire turned into hearts...
No, no! Li Nanzhu instantly shook the inappropriate thoughts from her head and began to feverishly chant her core values... After finishing, she was once again a pure-hearted girl.
"It seems there really is no danger for now." Li Nanzhu stood up. As expected, everything was just like in the original novel—this was a treasure land of great opportunity.
She walked toward the nearest fruit tree, whose branches hung heavy with translucent fruits radiating an inviting spiritual energy. Just as she was about to reach out, Zhu Yinxi's flute blocked her path again.
"Let me." Zhu Yinxi easily plucked a fruit, and after checking it carefully, handed it to her. "It's safe."
Duan Xianxing clutched his heart dramatically from the side. "Second Senior Brother is playing favorites!"
Without looking back, Zhu Yinxi plucked another fruit and tossed it over. "Enough, just eat yours."
Of course, he didn't forget Liu Qingyang's and Suisui's shares, giving each of them one as well.
The group sat in the octagonal pavilion, each holding a spirit fruit to take a short break.
Duan Xianxing's gold hair shimmered in the sunlight. As he munched on the fruit, he couldn't help but touch his hair. "This color is actually quite nice. If I can take this back, Little Junior Sister, do you think I can sell this hair for money if I cut it?"
"..." Li Nanzhu fell silent for a moment. How was she supposed to explain to Duan Xianxing that hair wasn't valuable, even if it was gold? Even if it turned into literal gold, it would be useless in the cultivation world.
It was Zhu Yinxi who shattered Duan Xianxing's dream. "You can't sell it for money. Furthermore, if others see it, you'll have to explain the source." He paused, then added, "Especially First Senior Brother. If he sees such a change, he'll definitely get to the bottom of it."
Duan Xianxing immediately wilted. "Second Senior Brother, can't you let me dream for a while?"
Li Nanzhu propped her chin on her hand, smiling. "Seventh Senior Brother, why don't you try this excuse—'I gained an epiphany regarding the metal-attribute laws in an ancient cultivator's cave dwelling, so my hair turned gold'?"
"Great idea!" Duan Xianxing's eyes lit up, but then his face fell again. "But First Senior Brother will definitely ask, 'Then why hasn't your cultivation increased?'"
"Pfft." Liu Qingyang also couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Brother Duan, exactly what kind of life do you usually lead in your sect?"
"A life of trials and tribulations!" Duan Xianxing waved his arms exaggeratedly. "First Senior Brother manages the money and my cultivation, Second Senior Brother..." He caught Zhu Yinxi staring at him and ultimately couldn't get a word out, coughing once to quickly change the subject.
"And Little Junior Sister is in charge of pranking me..."
Li Nanzhu coughed with a bit of embarrassment. She had only made Duan Xianxing look like a pig's head that one time...
Suisui, however, seemed dissatisfied with Duan Xianxing's answer. It jumped from Li Nanzhu's arms, its bone claw hitting Duan Xianxing's face with a crisp click.
Watching them play, Liu Qingyang couldn't help but smile. "The bond between you fellow disciples is truly enviable."
"It's not good at all!" Duan Xianxing wailed as he dodged Suisui's bone claw attacks. "They bully me every day!"
Zhu Yinxi tapped the stone table lightly with his flute. "Alright, stop messing around. It's time to get to business."
Rate on N.U.
