PDLP Chapter 144 Refusal
Chapter 144 Refusal
Soon, soft, seductive music filled the cave.
The three waited outside for a long time before Ji Jinliang emerged from inside, staggering and covered in cold sweat.
He waved his hand and said in a low voice.
"Grandma instructed us to first clear out the bones and debris inside the cave and then find an empty hole to throw them in."
"She needs to rest and heal her wounds, so let's keep quiet and not disturb her peace and quiet."
Yang Silang breathed a sigh of relief. Good, it seems that today it's over for the steward, and he doesn't need to risk his life anymore.
Pei Shihou looked at Ji Jinliang, who was smugly pleased with himself, and suddenly flew into a rage, grabbed him by the collar and asked him a question.
"How...how could you possibly have persevered?"
"Let me weigh it," he said, patting his neck.
"You mean this matter?"
"Grandma said that what happened today is not your fault. She was just a little excited and forgot to transform."
Ji Jinliang and Pei Shihou already had a grudge, so he didn't mind saying a few words to provoke Pei Shihou. Perhaps in his heart, it was still unknown whether everyone could escape his clutches.
"You..." Pei Shihou was stunned. He couldn't believe it was for this reason. He was furious but didn't know where to vent his anger. His face turned red, his breathing became more and more rapid, and his eyes narrowed, gradually filled with murderous intent.
The mischievous little devil has relapsed into his old habit of taking his anger out on others, and he looks like he's about to explode.
Ji Jinliang pointed behind him, and Pei Shihou, who was furious and blushing, instantly calmed down, shoved Ji Jinliang so that he stumbled, and walked away.
Yang Silang patted Ji Jinliang on the shoulder and asked tentatively.
"Brother Ji, are you prepared to stay here obediently as a servant?"
Ji Jinliang swayed, almost getting knocked down, and gave a wry smile.
"Brother Yang, I just wanted to annoy him."
"This servant's job is a deadly one."
"I..." He glanced at Su Zhixiu, who was standing beside him listening intently, and said with a mournful face, "Seventy or eighty percent of my true energy has been absorbed."
"If this happens a few more times, I'm afraid I won't live more than half a month."
"They say lust is a bone-scraping knife, but this old vixen is even more ruthless; she practically wants to chew up the bones and swallow them whole!"
Yang Silang was relieved. As long as Ji Jinliang hadn't changed his mind, that was good. As for what had just happened, it couldn't be blamed on Lao Ji anyway, so he could just treat it as a nightmare.
The three of them huddled together to discuss the matter.
It's true that the old monster ordered everyone to clean the cave.
The three of them didn't dare to rest. They first circled the edge of the cave and found a relatively large cave that was seven or eight zhang long.
Then the three of them worked together to move the piles of bones over there.
Fortunately, Grandma She had indeed robbed the supply convoy of the four great families, and there were tools such as shovels, carrying poles, and saw blades in the cave.
Yang Silang returned to his old job as a porter, weighing and loading loads with Su Zhixiu and shovels. Even Pei Shihou, who was sulking, came over to help.
While weighing the bones, he didn't forget his duties as treasurer, picking up some gold and silver from the pile of bones, as well as a few precious swords and spears that hadn't been corroded by the poison.
The double-headed long-bladed brass spear used by the Mercury Blood Master was as shiny as new. Yang Silang weighed it in his hand, picked it up and used it as a carrying pole, capable of carrying several hundred pounds at a time.
Those enormous skeletons... I wonder how the old mother snake dragged them into this cave. There must have been a special snake passage for her to enter and exit.
These colossal creatures possessed faint demonic auras of different attributes, suggesting they were powerful demons in life, but were defeated by this mother snake and devoured completely, leaving only their bones.
Unfortunately, it was a venomous snake, and secreting venom was its instinct to feed.
Many bones looked enormous and extraordinary, but they were as brittle as tofu when touched, completely decayed and lost their magic. After several hours, the group found the first complete skeleton, which was a tortoise shell.
It is about the size of a millstone, bluish-black in color, cool to the touch, like gold or jade, and makes a tinkling sound when struck.
Even the weight couldn't tell its origin. After examining it closely, Pei Shihou determined that it was the remains of a turtle called the Zhongbei Turtle. This turtle shell was not suitable for making armor, but it was an excellent material for Taoist cultivation, suitable for making musical instruments to deter and suppress evil spirits.
From behind the tortoise shell on the bell's back, the group had already cleaned down to the bottom of the pool.
They also selected a set of sturdy and bright pangolin scales, which were excellent materials for master-level armor; two sharp bone teeth shaped like demon swords, heavy in the hand, and could easily pierce through the fine iron armor plates with a light touch; and a complete set of slender vertebrae that could rotate flexibly, as long as a bone chain and with a tail like a fine needle, which could be used to make a nine-section whip.
After several hours of hard work, everyone finally moved all the bones out of the cave and then used fresh water to clean it.
They weighed and arranged two smaller caves, and carefully placed the treasures inside.
While carrying the load, Yang Silang was not idle. Although he was not as knowledgeable as Ji Jinliang, he took the treasure-hunting rat from Lao Ji and put it on his shoulder.
If there are small valuable items in the pile of bones, the treasure-hunting rat will often squeak twice.
While others were carrying loads, he would take a shovel and dig up the pile of bones.
Yang Silang avoided the giant animal skeletons, as the grid couldn't hold them all. He focused on human bones, reasoning that anyone in charge of the initial exploration of the secret realm must be a skilled individual with valuable items on them.
Especially those bones that looked very thick, indicating that they must have been experts at the Steel Dirty level in life. In addition, there were some skeletons that were not very thick, but were as clear as jade and had Dao patterns on them, proving that they were Dao cultivators in life, and Yang Silang did not let them go either.
If it was a small, convenient item, Yang Silang would use his skillful hands to put it into the grid; if it was a large, conspicuous, and inconvenient item with little value, he would throw it to be weighed. After a day of sorting, the grid was nearly half full.
Needless to say, some gold and silver were also involved.
There were also some pills of unknown purpose, a dagger and a black leather inner armor found among the remains of the grandmaster; and a small jade box was taken from the remains of a Daoist cultivator.
These items are small, and by using their size as cover, they can be easily placed into the grid by flipping one's hand.
Of course, Yang Silang noticed that Pei Shihou and Su Zhixiu were doing the same thing. Since they had storage bags, they might as well use them. It seemed that they were both trying to take advantage of the snake demon and neither of them wanted to be its servant.
It seems this demon has devoured many people and understands human language and customs, but it doesn't value external things very much. After all, the demon race values its own bloodline and body the most, and it doesn't value sacrificial artifacts as much as the human race does.
It's quite unusual for an old camel to be able to forge a set of rings.
When the cave became clean and tidy, it looked brand new.
It was already dark outside the crystals embedded in the cave ceiling; everyone had been working all day.
The moonlight shone down, and several luminous pearls were inlaid on the cave ceiling, illuminating the cave brightly.
The four of them worked together all day, cooperating with each other, and for the first time they truly felt like teammates.
Ji Jinliang bowed and smiled apologetically at Pei Shihou.
"Young Master Pei, you are a magnanimous man. Please unleash your ultimate move!"
"You don't want all the true qi and yang energy you've painstakingly cultivated to go to that person, do you?"
Pei Shihou already knew about the process of serving the emperor and knew that this was a life-threatening task. Unlike his usual irritable self, he snorted coldly and did not give Ji Jinliang a good look. He covered his arm and whispered to the three of them.
"Yesterday, after I came out, I crushed my natal jade talisman."
"This is a core standard feature of my Pei family. It can mark and locate locations. If there are any direct descendants of the Pei family nearby, they will be able to find us within dozens of miles."
The closest direct descendant of the Pei family is Pei Shiliang, who is likely nearby because he is tracking the snake demon.
In fact, Pei Shihou had a trick up his sleeve. This jade talisman had a sensing range of nearly a hundred miles. It could not only locate the position when it was broken, but also leave a mark on the murderer that would not fade over the years. In addition, it would activate a defensive shield.
All the major clans have similar methods, which are complicated to produce and are only available to their core disciples.
Pei Shihou knew that no matter how thick his protective shield was, it couldn't stop the snake demon from taking advantage of him. However, he had been frightened yesterday and found that he seemed to have too much of a shadow in his heart, which made it seem that his happiness in the second half of his life was in trouble.
The thought of that terrifying snake demon summoning him to bed again tonight and discovering that he had a problem meant that he would not be able to be the bed warmer anymore, but would instead become a snack.
Pei Shihou gritted his teeth and cut his arm to take out and crush the jade talisman. He could only gamble that Pei Shiliang was nearby. If he lost the gamble, he would still have to pay for a way to save his life. It was just a matter of dying sooner or later.
Yang Silang and the other two looked delighted.
Well, although Pei Shihou is a scoundrel, he did do something decent after all. Now, let fate decide what happens next.
A rustling sound arose.
A giant snake appeared on the stone bed, then rolled over, revealing Grandma She in a languid human form with a rosy complexion, clearly having recovered much of her cloud-like energy after a night and day of rest.
The four of them quickly stood up straight, no longer daring to speak or exchange glances.
Grandma She looked at the clean and tidy cave and praised it, saying "Not bad, not bad," with a delighted expression.
She flicked her fingers.
The rings around the four people's necks fell to the ground and flew into her palm, transforming into a string of gold rings on her arm.
Yang Silang and the others were both delighted and shocked, not understanding why the poisonous woman had lifted the restrictions on the four of them. But then Granny She flicked her finger, and five drops of blood flew out and fell into their bodies.
Everyone else gets one drop, but because Yang Silang is so robust, he gets two drops all to himself.
The blood entered their bodies like scalding magma, drilling directly into their hearts, burning them so much that all four rolled on the ground in a cold sweat. Pei Shihou, in particular, couldn't bear the pain and screamed pitifully and loudly.
Grandma She sneered.
"This is a reward for the four of you."
"Old Camel's crafting skills are crude. This ring was crafted using techniques he just learned from humans. You might have a solution."
"Let me tell you, this is my life essence, containing immense vital energy. Slowly refining it will greatly nourish your bodies and benefit your future cultivation, but it is also highly poisonous."
"If any of you harbor any rebellious nature, a single thought from me will cause your hearts to break and you to die!"
It turns out that the snake demon believed more in its own poisonous blood, and the ring was just a temporary means of binding everyone.
"You've given up on the idea of escaping. Once your grandmother refines the Yellow Jade Fruit and becomes a demon immortal, that's it."
"I'll take over this secret realm and become its master; you'll all rise to heaven along with me."
"They can even sneak out of the secret realm and carve out a place for themselves in your human world."
"As long as you take good care of Grandma, you can become Grandmasters or even Great Grandmasters in the future."
The four men got up and nodded obsequiously in agreement.
When you're under someone's roof, you can only bow your head for now.
Grandma She would lick her long tongue, and once she became interested, she would want to favor everyone.
She pointed at Pei Shihou, who hurriedly said that he had been cleaning the cave all day and was too hungry to do anything; Grandma She then looked at Yang Silang.
Yang Silang also waved his hand and said.
"I'm strong and did the most work; I picked out almost all the bones by myself."
"I was starving, and my hands and feet were weak and I had no strength."
Grandma She gave up and stared at Ji Jinliang. Before Ji Jinliang could refuse, she sneered.
"You're just a treasurer, you don't need to work so hard, do you?"
"You go first. You two hurry up and eat something, then it will be your turn."
With a flick of her long sleeves, she had already taken Ji Jinliang into the cave behind the stone bed. From inside came an indescribable sound. Before long, Ji Jinliang's voice was weak and feeble, clearly indicating that he had been severely drained.
The three people outside the cave were terrified.
Yang Silang gritted his teeth, ate dry rations, and drank spiritual spring water to recover his strength. This mother snake was completely unruly; her words were like farts. What happened to the daily rotation?