Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Bai Zhizhi flew out of the tree hollow, surrounded by the familiar environment where he had grown up. The sky was just beginning to lighten, and the entire Qingqiu was still immersed in the silence of the night.

Standing still for a moment, Bai Zhizhi took a small pouch from his storage item. Inside was his newly issued ID card, which bore his photo and the address of Jiang Lin’s courtyard.

The ID card was still in his hand, proving that the past nearly half a month of experience in the other world was not a dream, nor an illusion.

Raising his hand, the bell on his wrist appeared. He casually shook it twice. Moments later, Bei Shan, still in his nightclothes, with messy hair and barefoot, flew over sleepily.

Probably still half-asleep, Bei Shan almost didn’t recognize his young prince at first glance.

Looking more closely, the short-haired figure in strange clothes was none other than his young prince. Bei Shan was startled: “Young Prince! What are you wearing? And why is your hair so short? Even if you’re angry, you shouldn’t take it out on your hair! Ah, an illusion, you scared me.”

Just woken up and summoned from bed by the young prince, he mistakenly thought the prince had cut his own hair. Fortunately, it was just an illusion; he was scared out of his wits.

Bei Shan couldn’t help but yawn. “Your Highness, it’s still dark out.”

Suddenly waking up fully, Bei Shan covered his mouth and whispered, “Your Highness, are you planning to sneak out under cover of darkness and steal the King’s edict?”

Bai Zhizhi rolled his eyes at Bei Shan. “What time is it now?”

Bei Shan let out a sound of surprise and looked up at the sky. “It’s about the Yin hour, I think.”

Bai Zhizhi: “How long has my sister been gone?”

Bei Shan looked worriedly at his young prince, wondering if anger had clouded his mind. Carefully observing the prince’s expression, he replied, “About seven or eight shichen (roughly fourteen to sixteen hours), I’d say.”

After a thought, he added, “Even if we could successfully steal the King’s edict, we probably wouldn’t catch up with the Imperial Princess now.”

They had no clue where the Imperial Princess was going for her training journey; so they had no idea where to even look.

Bai Zhizhi reached out and pinched Bei Shan’s face, making him yelp but not daring to dodge. Only after confirming that the person before him was real did he let go and say, “I hadn’t even returned to my bedchamber, and you went back to sleep?”

Bei Shan rubbed his face. “I called out to you outside, but you didn’t answer me.”

Besides, it wasn’t the first time the young prince had stayed in the tree hollow. Sometimes he’d spend ten days or half a month inside, tinkering with something.

Moreover, they were in Qingqiu, inside the palace. No matter what, the young prince wouldn’t get lost. So he had felt fine going back to sleep.

Bai Zhizhi snorted. The illusion dispelled, his long hair cascaded down, strands shimmering in the moonlight, gently brushed by the breeze, as if coated with silver.

His slightly rounded eyes cooled a few degrees, shedding the feigned innocence and naivety he displayed in the mortal world. As he frowned in thought, his still-juvenile face already bore the heavenly dignity of the fox royal family, making even the grinning Bei Shan hold his breath.

Turning to look back at the tree hollow, Bai Zhizhi lightly pushed off the ground and flew back to his bedchamber.

Bei Shan let out a small sigh of relief but couldn’t help scratching his head. So what was the point of summoning him? Oh well, with the Imperial Princess gone, the young prince’s plan to sneak away had been foiled. He was probably in a bad mood. He’d better keep a low profile for the next few days.

Back in his bedchamber, Bai Zhizhi took off the pajamas from the other world. He thought about throwing them away, then decided to store them back in his storage item.

He stepped into the spiritual pool and submerged himself entirely. The dense spiritual energy in the water flowed over his body, cleansing the mundane dust and impurities he had accumulated during this time.

His wet hair clung to his body. Water droplets rolled down his porcelain-like skin, his slender neck and delicate collarbones faintly visible beneath the water. Bai Zhizhi lay at the edge of the pool, his cheek resting on his intertwined fingers. The pool’s spiritual energy churned, enveloping him in a haze of mist.

Bei Shan cautiously followed to the young prince’s bedchamber, peeked in, and seeing the prince bathing, turned around and sat on the steps to wait.

Bai Zhizhi closed his eyes and turned his face the other way, puzzling over this strange otherworldly journey.

The entrance to Qingqiu was sealed by a mystic stone, and the palace itself was protected by a formidable barrier. Every time he entered or left the palace, his father and mother would sense it. No one could possibly have the power to take him away and send him back without them knowing.

He had spent at least half a month in that other world, but here only seven or eight shichen had passed. Seven or eight shichen (about fourteen to sixteen hours) had passed here, which according to that world’s calculation, is roughly fourteen to fifteen hours—coincidentally matching the half-month he spent there. He wondered if it was a coincidence or if the flow of time between the two worlds was different.

Thinking back to what he had done before going to that world, everything seemed normal. None of the treasures or spirit objects he carried were newly obtained. He had slept on the rattan chair in the tree hollow many times before. So what exactly caused him to cross dimensions?

Considering the myths and legends about Qingqiu in that world, Bai Zhizhi didn’t know whether he had crossed space or time.

Was the present-day Qingqiu the same one from those myths?

The thought had barely surfaced when Bai Zhizhi shook his head. The territories were different. Qingqiu alone was about the size of their entire planet over there. And here, besides Qingqiu, there were many cultivation continents, and above them, the Celestial Realm and the Demon Realm. So they should be two different worlds, not two time periods of the same world.

So why, then?

None of the items he possessed seemed abnormal. If anything was unusual, it must be the location. But that tree had been there since he could remember, and the treehouse in the hollow was built from his own plans. So what was the trigger?

Unable to figure it out, Bai Zhizhi summoned his night robe with a wave of his hand. As he flew out of the spiritual pool, a cleansing spell dried him instantly.

Wrapping the robe around him, he walked out, kicking Bei Shan, who was still sitting on the steps by the pool. “Why are you sitting here? Go to sleep.”

Bei Shan’s eyes widened. “Young Prince, who summoned me from my deep sleep?”

Bai Zhizhi chuckled. “You can go back to sleep now.”

Bei Shan: “Ah, we’re not going to steal the edict?”

Bai Zhizhi: “My sister just left. My parents are keeping a tight leash on me right now. No chance we'd succeed. Go back to bed.”

Bei Shan scrambled to his feet, but just as he was about to leave, he was called back.

“Wait.”

Bei Shan turned around. “Young Prince?”

Bai Zhizhi: “You'll sleep on the side mat tonight.”

Bei Shan let out an “oh,” followed the young prince into the inner chamber, watched him get into bed, drew the bed curtains, and then obediently crawled onto the side mat.

As the young prince’s personal guard, he had grown up eating and sleeping with the prince. Later, when the prince grew older and disliked having someone constantly by his side, he was sent to the side chamber. Now, back on his familiar cot, Bei Shan fell asleep in no time.

Listening to the soft breathing beside him, Bai Zhizhi stared at the softly glowing spirit pearl overhead, still pondering: why, though?

As soon as dawn broke, without waiting for Bei Shan to serve him, Bai Zhizhi changed his clothes and ran out.

His fox father was originally sitting in the courtyard, slowly sipping his tea. Sensing the familiar presence, he jumped up and ran without hesitation.

Bai Zhizhi arrived just as his father was fleeing and immediately chased after him. “Dad!!”

Fox Father: “Don’t come to me! If you want something, go find your mother!”

Bai Zhizhi shouted loudly: “I’m not here for the edict!”

Fox Father: “Even if it's not the edict, go to your mother!”

He could never resist his children's wheedling. If they whined a few times in front of him, he would give in. Now that his daughter had gone out for training and only his son was left, he had to harden his heart and not let his son sweet-talk him.

Bai Zhizhi was fast, but fast as he was, he couldn't outrun his immortal father. Seeing that he couldn’t catch up, Bai Zhizhi simply plopped down on the ground, tilted his head back, and shouted at the top of his lungs: “Mom!!!”

The already distant Fox Father instantly flashed back and covered Bai Zhizhi’s mouth. “Don’t shout, don’t shout. Your mother has a morning court today. Be good. Daddy will let you pick two treasures from his treasury, okay? You know, the entire burden of Qingqiu will fall on your sister’s shoulders in the future. Training is a necessary step in her fox life…”

Bai Zhizhi pulled down his father’s hand and covered his mouth in turn, stopping his long-winded speech. “I already said it’s not about the training!”

Fox Dad stopped his lecturing, and only then asked, "Then why were you chasing me like that?"

Bai Zhizhi: "If you hadn't run, I wouldn't be chasing you."

Fox Dad snorted, straightened his clothes, and put back on his dignified 'Fox Clan king consort' face: "Alright, spit it out. What do you want from your dad? You got your eye on some treasure? Or you wanna leave the palace to play? If you wanna go out, you can, but take more people. Not just Bei Shan."

Bai Zhizhi climbed back up from the ground, held out his arms, and said, "Father, look at me. Do I look different at all?"

Fox Dad circled around his son twice, stroked his chin, and praised, "Zhizhi looks even prettier today. This robe is the 'Cloud Pearl Clear Moon' that Master Kong Lan from the Phoenix Clan made. Yeah, it's got that pearl shimmer, and when you move, it's like moonlight wrapping around you. Pretty, totally matches my son's amazing looks."

Bai Zhizhi gave his dad a blank look: "It's not the clothes – it's me! Yesterday when I was cultivating, my breathing got all stuck, and I couldn't calm down. It was like my soul left my body and ended up in some weird place."

Hearing that, Fox Dad grabbed his son's hand and pushed spiritual energy into him to check. He went through every meridian, spiritual platform, and even his dantian and qi sea really thoroughly, then couldn't help whacking him on the head: "Nothing's wrong. Your soul's rock solid. Stop saying crap that scares your dad."

Little brat. He's probably just acting pitiful to get out of his trial.

Bai Zhizhi hadn't found anything weird when he checked himself either. Since his dad checked and didn't find anything, he had to let it go for now, figuring he'd check the tree hollow again later.

Rubbing the spot on his forehead where he got smacked, Bai Zhizhi pulled out the two jade pendants he'd brought back: "Dad, take a look at these. Is there something in them?"

Fox Dad took the pendants and glanced at them: "Where'd you get these?"

The spiritual energy's super weak, the carving's rough, and the illusion spells on the outside are basically useless. Stuff this cheap shouldn't be in the palace.

Bai Zhizhi: "Dad, can you tell what's special about them?"

Fox Dad tapped the pendants with his fingertip. The two pendants clicked together. When he poured spiritual power into them, the outer layer shattered. Inside, two pieces of soft iron twisted together, bumping and pushing each other apart.

Bai Zhizhi stared: "What is this?"

Fox Dad chuckled. He tapped it again, pouring in the power of an Immortal, and the two pieces of soft iron fused into a palm-sized cone. It had jagged tooth marks, like a key to unlock something.

He gave the cleaned-up object back to his son: "It's got spatial energy. Could be a key to some small pocket dimension."

Bai Zhizhi looked at the key: "Small pocket dimension?"

Fox Dad: "Where'd you get this? See if there's a matching chest or area. But based on the energy, even if there is, it's nothing big."

If it were a chest with strong stuff or a big realm, the key sealing it would have a ton of energy. With the energy this key has, whatever it opens can't be that powerful.

Bai Zhizhi put the key away and asked, "Dad, what kind of tree is my treehouse? How old is it?"

Fox Dad looked at him confused: "Why the sudden question?"

Bai Zhizhi: "Just thought of it. I've gone through the Hundred Objects Compendium before, but I don't remember seeing that tree in there."

Fox Dad: "That tree? It's tens of thousands of years old, older than me and your mom. Hard to say exactly what kind it is, since it's a mix of a bunch of trees and plants. You see, its blooms are different every year. Spirit trees and spirit plants ate each other, and over time it turned into this."

Bai Zhizhi went "oh." It didn't sound like anything was wrong, but he still felt the problem was the tree. Then he held his hand out to his dad.

Fox Dad was totally confused: "??"

Bai Zhizhi had an expression that said, "You can't go back on your word": "The key to your private treasury, two treasures. Father, you have to keep your promise."

Fox Dad's eyes instantly widened. This brat, how could his memory be so good for things like this? He snorted lightly, tossed out the key to his private treasury, and didn't forget to warn: "Just two, understand? Don't take anything that's far beyond your cultivation level."

Bai Zhizhi grabbed the key and ran off: "I know!"

When it was said that the young prince had once again coaxed the treasury key from the royal consort and obtained two new treasures, Bei Shan was walking around with his breakfast in his mouth, following the guidance bell's signal to find his young master.

He finally found his young master outside the treehouse.

Seeing Bai Zhizhi sitting outside the treehouse, staring at the enormous ancient tree lost in thought, Bei Shan sidled over and followed his gaze: "Your Highness, what's wrong with this tree? What's so interesting about it?"

Bai Zhizhi sat cross-legged on the ground, propping his chin with one hand. Without turning his head, he said, "You came at the right time. Go to the spirit medicine garden and dig up some soil for me."

Bei Shan, thinking he had misheard: "Huh? Dig soil?"

Bai Zhizhi: "You don't need to dig too much. Just enough to fill a cloth storage item."

Though puzzled, the obedient Bei Shan wolfed down the rest of his pastry in two or three bites and headed toward the medicine garden, still wondering why the young prince wanted soil, especially from the spirit medicine garden.

Before he could get far, Bai Zhizhi called out again: "Also, pick a cloth storage item's worth of Snake Spirit Fruits. Oh, and pick some Spirit Peaches too, and a few Green Lotus Fruits. Go on."

Bei Shan was puzzled again. Those were all things of little spiritual value. The biggest use of those fruits was to scent the young prince's bedchamber. Gathering so many at once didn't seem to serve any purpose. But even though he didn't understand, he obediently did as he was told. In less than half a day, he had prepared everything the prince asked for.

Bai Zhizhi put away the cloth bags and thought about what else he needed. He had enough spirit stones, spirit medicines, elixirs, and fruits, defensive and offensive spirit artifacts—almost everything was ready.

Bai Zhizhi stood up from the ground and waved at Bei Shan: "Come inside with me."

Following the young prince into the treehouse, Bei Shan was pressed onto a rattan chair. Bai Zhizhi sat down with him. Nothing happened after a moment, so he repeated the same actions he had taken on the day he had crossed over.

Not knowing why, Bei Shan watched the young prince clear out his treasure vault, staying still and not daring to move.

After messing around for a long time, nothing happened.

Bai Zhizhi sighed: "Forget it. Leave. Go play on your own. Don't disturb me unless it's important."

Bei Shan responded and left the treehouse. He saw the young prince directly set up a barrier around the big tree and scratched his head in confusion. Ever since the Imperial Princess left, the young prince had been getting stranger and stranger.

After Bei Shan left, Bai Zhizhi took a set of sleepwear from the other world out of his storage device, changed into it, and sat back down on the chair.

He did everything he had done on the day of the crossing all over again, alone this time. Still nothing happened.

Bai Zhizhi clicked his tongue in annoyance, even more puzzled. What was going on? Was he never going back?

Although it wouldn't be a great loss if he couldn't go—it was just like a dream of an outing—not knowing the reason was really bothering him.

Bai Zhizhi propped his chin and surveyed the entire hollow of the tree, carefully examining every place that seemed unusual. Finally, his gaze fell on the rattan chair he was sitting on.

The chair was woven from tree roots. The tree had grown too large, with dense, deep roots. When he was just over a hundred years old, he liked to hang from the roots and play. Later, his father had the roots braided into a chair. The roots, which had been relatively soft at first, had grown harder over time, and the chair had become sturdier.

As his mind wandered, Bai Zhizhi's eyes focused.

An ancient tree that had grown for tens of thousands of years, with sprawling roots—plants were terrifyingly powerful beings. A small section of root could constantly grow, and some roots could reach deep underground where even demon cultivators couldn't go.

So maybe the problem was underground. Underground, there might be something entangled by the tree roots, absorbing its power, and thereby also mastering its abilities?

Bai Zhizhi touched the rattan chair and remembered his father saying the tree had no specific record, no name, because it had grown from many wood-type plants that had devoured each other. Perhaps because of that, it had devoured something underground.

Thinking this way, Bai Zhizhi immediately assumed a meditative posture.

He had a wood spiritual root. He was naturally close to plants and had grown up playing in the tree hollows. He might not have a deep fusion with the tree's aura, but after nearly a thousand years of coexistence, they had inevitably contaminated and merged with each other.

He wanted to use his wood-type spiritual root's power to attach to the roots and see if he could use them as a medium to investigate whether there was anything deep underground.

As his spiritual power probed and explored, Bai Zhizhi gradually entered a meditative state. His spiritual sense roamed through the entire tree. He could feel the tree's vigorous life force and the immense wood spirit power within it. These wood spirit forces were like scattered starlight, floating around him one by one.

Bai Zhizhi unconsciously reached out with his spiritual sense to touch and absorb it. The Wood Spiritual Power was also very friendly to him, instinctively surging toward him without him needing to grasp it.

The more wood-type power he absorbed, the more he felt enveloped in a comfortable and warm spiritual sea, so comfortable he wanted to stretch out and roll around a couple of times.

No sooner had the thought of rolling emerged than a sudden feeling of falling jolted him out of his meditation. Almost instantly, the surroundings changed again.

Bai Zhizhi abruptly opened his eyes. He was still sitting cross-legged in meditation, but the treehouse had turned into the room of Jiang Lin’s small courtyard.

Bai Zhizhi glanced at the sky outside; it was still pitch black night. He turned to grab his phone from beside the bed to check the time—less than an hour had passed since he'd lain down here.

This time, he'd been in Qingqiu for at least a full day, but over here only an hour had passed. Calculating this, the time flow seemed to have changed again. It seemed the time flow was centered on him: wherever he was, a day there meant an hour on the other side.

He seemed to have figured out how to travel between the worlds, finding the trick to travel between the two worlds. He had found a way from Qingqiu to here, but he still needed to experiment with going back from this side.

But no matter what, he could go home, and after going home, he could come back. This meant he no longer had to carefully feel his way around this world, no longer had to worry about being trapped here, no longer had to be cautious. He could treat this place like a playground outside of Qingqiu.

Thinking this, Bai Zhizhi couldn't help but start jumping on the bed. Even though this place wasn't as big as the cultivation continent and most of the people were ordinary humans, it was still outside Qingqiu, and there were many things here that the cultivation continent didn't have. He no longer had to scheme to steal his mother's decree to come out and play!

And after his sister left, he wouldn't be alone in Qingqiu anymore!

The bed here was different from the white jade bed in his sleeping chamber—it was soft and bouncy, and jumping on it would rebound him even higher due to the force.

But before he could get too excited and bounce too much, he heard a soft laugh from outside the window.

Standing on the bed, Bai Zhizhi looked toward the sound and saw Jiang Lin standing outside the window, watching him and smiling.

Bai Zhizhi jumped off the bed, climbed onto the table by the window, and looked at him: “Why are you standing outside my window in the middle of the night? Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?”

The long hair he'd forgotten to hide with illusion cascaded down smoothly as he leaned on the windowsill. In the moonlight, the wooden window framed the little fox, his stunning features and flowing hair slightly tilted his head up to look at him. Jiang Lin was momentarily stunned, a gleam of admiration flashing in his eyes.

But his gaze held only pure appreciation for something beautiful, no hint of base desire. He just thought the little fox bouncing on the bed was cute, and since he happened to be passing by, he couldn't help watching a little more: “It’s late, and you’re still playing trampoline?”

Bai Zhizhi tossed his head: “You’re not asleep either.”

He had just come over from Qingqiu after sleeping there, and now that he'd cracked how to travel, he was way too excited to sleep.

Jiang Lin: “I’m going back to my room to sleep now. You should go to sleep early too. Don’t bounce too late.”

Bai Zhizhi snorted and then asked: “Did you go out just now? Where did you go?”

Jiang Lin didn’t hide it: “That Hull you met at the clubhouse this afternoon—after he bought the Lady Painting and left the venue, the painting was destroyed. So he came back to the clubhouse to demand an explanation. He’s an Adept, and matters related to Cultivators fall under the Bureau’s jurisdiction, so I went to take care of it.”

Bai Zhizhi had just asked offhandedly, but he didn’t expect Jiang Lin to answer seriously. He paused for a moment before realizing what event he was referring to, and felt a twinge of guilt for no clear reason: “Did he give the clubhouse any trouble? How did you handle it?”

Jiang Lin: “It seems to be an internal issue among his own people, unrelated to the clubhouse. I just went and sent him off—problem solved.”

Bai Zhizhi: “An internal issue among his own people?”

Jiang Lin didn’t think Bai Zhizhi was a naive fox who didn't know anything, so he didn't give a half-hearted explanation: “Simply put, someone didn't want him to have the painting, so after he bought it, they found a way to destroy it. The clubhouse, as the host of the auction, wouldn’t sell a painting and then destroy it afterward. But there’s another possibility.”

Bai Zhizhi blinked guiltily: “Wh-what possibility?”

Jiang Lin: “Another faction was targeting the painting. Apparently, the competition for it was fierce during the auction. Maybe the painting holds some secret, and the other party, unable to obtain it, would rather destroy it than let anyone else have it. The truth of the matter is still unknown for now. Anything else you’re curious about?”

Bai Zhizhi: “So you'll tell me whatever I want to know?”

Jiang Lin pondered seriously for a moment: “There are some things I can’t tell you.”

Bai Zhizhi, who hadn't been curious before, suddenly became very interested: “What things can’t you tell me?”

Jiang Lin said with a smile: “I can’t tell you my bank card password.”

Bai Zhizhi snorted again: “Who cares about that? Look at the gate of your courtyard—the paint is all chipped off. Doesn’t look like you’re rich anyway.”

Jiang Lin smoothed his windblown hair back behind him, his eyes full of amusement: “It’s not peeling—those are the imprints of the past, marks left by many people and many events.”

Bai Zhizhi couldn't understand the emotion in Jiang Lin's words when he said that, but he could see that those smiling eyes weren't just smiling—there seemed to be a weight he couldn’t yet understand.

Before he could examine it further, Jiang Lin grasped his shoulders, turned him half a circle, and pushed him back inside: “It’s very late. Even Demon Cultivators shouldn’t stay up. How about going to sleep, okay?”

Bai Zhizhi: “Now I know why your cultivation level is so low.”

Jiang Lin hummed: “Why?”

Bai Zhizhi: “Cultivators never sleep; they’re always meditating and cultivating. A session of meditation counts as sleep.”

Jiang Lin laughed softly at this: “Have you met many cultivators?”

Bai Zhizhi answered honestly: “No, but that’s what the books say.”

Jiang Lin: “It seems your cultivation cave has many books about the mortal world. But times have changed. Each generation has its own pursuits. This world is actually beautiful—why must we be in such a hurry?”

Bai Zhizhi turned his head to look at Jiang Lin, who gently turned his head back: “Now, go to sleep.”

Forced back onto the bed, Bai Zhizhi watched Jiang Lin leave only after he lay down again. His ears followed the gradually fading footsteps—it wasn’t far, since Jiang Lin lived in the room next door.

He could hear him open the door, walk in, close it, then rustle around for a moment before opening another inner door—probably the bathroom door. After a while, faint sounds of water came from inside.

Bai Zhizhi closed his eyes again, listening to every movement next door, until he didn’t even realize when he fell asleep.

Another bright and sunny day. Bai Zhizhi stretched, shook his head to conceal his hair with illusion, casually picked out a local outfit, and walked toward the front yard without waiting for anyone to call him.

Halfway there, he saw Lin Xiaoyang and Yue Zhihuan sitting on the stone benches in the yard eating breakfast. He asked curiously: “Not eating inside today?”

Lin Xiaoyang waved him over: “Don’t go in—Brother Jiang is entertaining guests in the living room. Come try these soup dumplings, and the old city pan-fried dumplings from next door. Even Uncle Gao failed at stealing the recipe for these dumplings—they’re delicious.”

Bai Zhizhi sat down beside them, took the chopsticks Yue Zhihuan handed him, and said thanks. Yue Zhihuan gestured to him.

Bai Zhizhi had memorized some basic sign language—like thank you, you’re welcome, eat, etc. But what Yue Zhihuan was signing now was clearly not “you’re welcome,” so he looked to Lin Xiaoyang for an explanation.

Lin Xiaoyang glanced at Bai Zhizhi’s face: “Huanhuan is asking if you slept particularly well last night. You seem really happy today.”

Bai Zhizhi smiled. Of course he was happy—he no longer had to worry about being unable to go home. If any unfavorable situation arose here, he could always retreat. That was truly a reassuring and comforting thought.

He hadn’t expected Yue Zhihuan to be so perceptive of his mood. Thinking back to his time in the courtyard, Yue Zhihuan always thought of him when there was good food or fun things, and often helped scold Lin Xiaoyang for teasing him when he didn’t understand local customs.

Bai Zhizhi reached out to Yue Zhihuan, and a pink crystal bracelet appeared in his palm: “For you.”

Yue Zhihuan’s eyes widened in confusion, and she signed to ask why.

Lin Xiaoyang also became curious: “Why are you giving Huanhuan a gift? What about me? Do I have a gift?”

Bai Zhizhi: “This is for girls to wear. The crystals on it combine with body heat to emit a special fragrance—each person’s scent is different. You? No. You stole my monster in the game yesterday.”

Lin Xiaoyang grumbled indignantly. Yue Zhihuan waved her hand at him: “Thank you, but I don’t want it. It’s too precious. Keep it for yourself.”

Bai Zhizhi placed the bracelet into her hand: “It’s not precious at all. It’s just scented stones—a cheap little toy.”

Lin Xiaoyang: "Huanhuan, just take it. If Zhizhi says it's not valuable, it's definitely not. This stingy fox made me give him two monsters in return just because I took one from him yesterday."

Bai Zhizhi: "You're the one who's stingy. One monster equals one gold coin. With one more gold coin, I could expand another territory. How can you steal my turf?"

Seeing their voices rising, Yue Zhihuan quickly shushed them, "Stop arguing! Brother Jiang is discussing business inside!"

Lin Xiaoyang covered his mouth and gave Yue Zhihuan an OK sign. Bai Zhizhi took a few more bites before asking, "Who’s he meeting with? About what?"

Lin Xiaoyang lowered his voice, "It’s about the painting Hull bought yesterday. After he left the club, the painting he paid eighty million for was destroyed."

Bai Zhizhi continued chewing and nodded. He already knew that; after all, he was the reason the painting was ruined.

Lin Xiaoyang continued, "Remember that table yesterday that kept competing with Hull until they ran out of money and gave up? Brother Jiang had the person brought in. They tried so hard to outbid Hull for the painting, so they must know something. Maybe they even destroyed it. It’s just speculation, but calling them in to ask some questions might reveal something."

Hearing this, Bai Zhizhi couldn’t sit still. With a soup dumpling in his mouth, he ran straight to the living room to listen in on their conversation.

Lin Xiaoyang tried to grab him but missed. Seeing Bai Zhizhi dash into the living room, he decided not to follow. After all, Brother Jiang was there, and he could handle the curious fox.

Bai Zhizhi sat down beside Jiang Lin. Jiang Lin paused the conversation and looked at him, "What’s wrong? Fighting with Xiaoyang again?"

Bai Zhizhi shook his head, swallowing the dumpling, "No, go on."

He then looked at the person across from him. The man was young, with decent features, but seemed very nervous.

Seeing that Bai Zhizhi had no intention of leaving, Jiang Lin didn't send him away. He turned to the young man opposite and said, "Sorry, please continue."

The young man said a bit nervously, "It’s really just that the painter of 'Lady Gazing at the Moon' was my ancestor. The painting was always in a collector’s hands, and we finally got news of the auction, so we wanted to buy it. But we didn’t have enough liquid assets to outbid the other competitor, so we had to let it go."

Jiang Lin looked straight at him, "Mr. Tang, I can tell you now that the 'Lady Gazing at the Moon' painting is gone. After it was bought yesterday, it was burned as soon as it left the club. So whatever you were trying to hide, it’s no longer necessary."

Tang Heng suddenly stood up, "Burned? Impossible! They spent eighty million to get the painting, how could they just burn it?"

Jiang Lin said, "We’re still investigating who burned it. That’s why we invited you today — we hope you can provide more information. According to our investigation, your Tang family has more than eighty million in liquid assets. During yesterday’s auction, you stopped bidding after receiving a phone call. Did that call tell you the funds weren’t enough, or that your competitor was an Adept, advising you to back off?"

Tang Heng’s face changed slightly.

Jiang Lin continued, "Now the painting is destroyed. As the last ones who competed with them, don’t you think they might suspect the Tang family of something?"

Without a second thought, Tang Heng denied it, "It wasn’t us! We did nothing. We never even touched the painting from start to finish."

Jiang Lin smiled, "Mr. Tang, I believe you when you say you didn’t do it. But will the Adepts from the USA believe it? Your Tang family wanted to buy your ancestor’s painting. Why do you think those Americans wanted it? I think you know the reason, and so do they. They got their hands on the item and got what they wanted, so they might have left your Tang family alone. Now that the item is destroyed, if you were in their shoes, what would you do?"

If Jiang Lin were one of those Adepts, he would definitely suspect the Tang family first.

Tang Heng was silent for a long moment before speaking, "Is the painting really burned?"

Seeing that he was visibly relenting, Jiang Lin said reassuringly, "That’s the information I received, but I didn’t see it with my own eyes. I can’t rule out that they spread false news."

Tang Heng sighed, "Whether it’s burned or not, now that it’s in their hands, it has nothing to do with our Tang family anymore. Mr. Jiang, can you keep what I say today confidential?"

Jiang Lin replied, "Of course. I won't reveal anything about the Tang family. I give you my word."

Only then did Tang Heng speak, "That painting is actually a treasure map. I know it sounds ridiculous, but the painter was indeed our Tang family ancestor. The Tang family’s rise to wealth back then was said to be due to hidden treasure. My ancestor hid the secret of the treasure in the painting and left a message for future generations: if the family ever fell on hard times, take the painting to the ancestral home and worship, and they would rise again."

Jiang Lin didn’t look particularly surprised. If there wasn’t some profit involved, Hull wouldn’t have paid a high price for the painting for no reason, "Where is your ancestral home?"

Tang Heng replied, "Formerly Miaoyuan County, now Luoxia Village."

Bai Zhizhi was puzzled. Luoxia Village… wasn’t that where Xian Fish was discovered? But all he found there was Water Spirit Crystal, not any treasure.

Jiang Lin asked Tang Heng, "When the painting was still in your family, didn’t anyone go to worship?"

Tang Heng said, "Of course, they did. According to legend, as soon as the ancestor left that message, they immediately took the painting to the ancestral home to worship. But no matter how they worshipped, nothing happened. Some people even studied the painting thoroughly to see if it contained any secrets. In the end, they found nothing, and then came the war, and the painting was lost."

Although the painting was lost, the ancestor’s words were passed down through generations. Today, the Tang family might not be extremely wealthy, but they could still raise nearly a hundred million to buy back their ancestor’s possession. However, they were just ordinary people. At most, due to their social status, they knew a bit about Cultivators. So when they learned that a group of Adepts was targeting the painting, they had to give up, because their worldly power and money meant nothing to Cultivators.

Jiang Lin asked, "Is there any other information you can provide?"

Tang Heng shook his head, "I’ve told you everything I know. Our family has lost the Lady Painting for nearly a hundred years. As long as the current Tang family doesn’t touch what they shouldn’t, we can last another three generations. We don’t want to get involved in such complicated matters. We thought only our family knew the secret of the painting, but somehow it leaked. I just hope these things won’t drag the Tang family into trouble in the future. Whether the treasure really exists or not, it’s not something we can handle."

Who wouldn’t be tempted by wealth? Who would complain about having too much money? But Tang Heng was clear-headed: when you lack the power to protect it, some wealth can become a death sentence.

Jiang Lin stood up and thanked Tang Heng, "Thank you for your cooperation. No one else will know about today’s conversation."

Tang Heng quickly returned the courtesy, "You’re too kind. I hope this is helpful. If those Adepts cause trouble for my family in the future..."

Jiang Lin gave a direct promise, "You can contact us anytime. If they bother the Tang family, the Administration will definitely not stand by."

With those words, Tang Heng felt much more at ease. At the very least, he had now established a connection with Cultivators.

Jiang Lin asked Lin Xiaoyang to see the visitor out, then turned to the quiet Bai Zhizhi, "What’s wrong?"

Bai Zhizhi asked, "If Hull suspects the Tang family of ruining his painting and goes after them, can you get there in time to save them?"

Jiang Lin raised an eyebrow slightly, "You care that much about the Tang family?"

Bai Zhizhi met his gaze, wide-eyed, and shook his head, "No! Just asking casually."

Jiang Lin leaned closer, "What are you feeling guilty about?"

Bai Zhizhi pushed him away, "Who’s guilty! What would I be guilty about! Don’t talk nonsense!"

Jiang Lin studied Bai Zhizhi for a moment, then suddenly said, "Was it you who destroyed the painting?"

Bai Zhizhi went completely silent.