Treasure

Chapter 297: Treasure

After two sticks of incense had burned, Li Huowang sat on the stool and ran his hand over the gleaming sandalwood table in front of him, then pressed his foot against the soft animal hide beneath it. He swept his gaze around the room's ornate interior and knew that a meal here would cost a fortune.

He had noticed this restaurant before, right next to the Linglong Pagoda. Even by Yingling City's standards, it was one of the top establishments in terms of location.

The door creaked open. A beautifully dressed woman entered, carrying a fragrant breeze as she set various exquisite dishes on the round table.

Li Huowang had not only never eaten dishes like these—he couldn't even identify what ingredients they were made from.

"Ha ha ha! Come, come, Brother Er. Let's clink cups!" Tuoba Danqing raised a silver flagon, ready to pour into the wine cup in front of Li Huowang.

Li Huowang's heart tightened. "Brother Tuoba, I'm afraid I'm not much of a drinker. Please forgive me."

With that, he picked up the teapot beside him and poured himself a cup. "Allow me to toast you with tea in place of wine, Brother Tuoba. May all your wishes come true!"

Still beaming, Tuoba Danqing lifted his own cup and tapped it against Li Huowang's tea bowl. "Good! Then I wish you, young Brother Er, an early ascent to the Crimson Palace!"

Li Huowang lifted the tea bowl beneath his face veil and took a light sip.

Tuoba Danqing swept his long sleeve aside, picked up his chopsticks, and stabbed them into the steaming dish in front of him.

"Come, come, eat! Try this 'Myriad Purples and Reds.' It's a specialty of Yingling City—you can't get it anywhere else."

As they swapped bites and sips, the atmosphere in the room relaxed considerably. There was something about the mood at a dining table that was simply different from any other place.

Tuoba Danqing's plump face flushed red. He smacked his lips, propped his elbow on the table, and spoke slowly. "Young Brother Er, from now on we're brothers. If there's anything you don't understand about the Office, just ask me outright."

"And remember, you're a member of the Supervisory Heavenly Office now. If you run into any trouble with the authorities, just drop our name. As long as it's nothing major, the yamens will usually show some respect."

"Thank you, Brother Tuoba. Since you're being so generous, I won't stand on ceremony. I do happen to have a problem." Li Huowang reached out and produced the Eight Trigram Mirror he had prepared earlier.

"This is a magical tool from the Zuowandao. Its power is astonishing, but I can't find a way to activate it. Would you mind taking a look, Brother Tuoba?"

"Something from the Zuowandao? Heh. Those people don't have their own stuff—they clearly stole it. Let me see."

Tuoba Danqing took the mirror and began examining it closely. His hands kept busy, and so did his mouth.

"So, young Brother Er, how did it go that day? Tell your big brother—how did you deal with those Zuowandao?"

There was nothing to hide. Li Huowang omitted a few details about the Black Tai Sui, but otherwise told Tuoba Danqing most of what had happened that night.

"Tch. Those Zuowandao—always claiming someone else is one of their own. That trick is ancient history." Tuoba Danqing's face twisted in contempt.

"But you know what? Simple as it is, there are always a few fools who fall for it."

"The truth is, once you see through their games, I can kill as many Zuowandao as they send. Big Three, Little Four Joys, Dice and Tile—all useless!"

Li Huowang could tell the man was starting to boast. Naturally, he didn't call him out on it, just nodded along in agreement.

A bit of bravado after drinking was no bad thing—it made the other man feel more like a living, breathing person.

"This looks like a Daoist artifact, but see here," Tuoba Danqing said, pointing. "The trigram positions are wrong. Kun is on top and Qian is below. As far as I know, there are only three factions in Daliang that practice this kind of upside-down Daoism."

He pushed the mirror back toward Li Huowang. "Alright, hold onto it for now. I'll look into it and get back to you. If there's a matching cultivation method, I'll send word."

"No matter what, this thing should be worth a pretty penny. I'd estimate it's worth at least thirty to fifty years of yang life. Young Brother Er, you're pretty lucky."

Besides its literal meaning, the remark also revealed that within the Supervisory Heavenly Office, transactions used not gold and silver, but yang life.

"Then thank you again, Brother Tuoba."

"What are you saying? We're family now. Thanking me for such a small favor makes you sound like an outsider. Drink, drink!"

Tuoba Danqing raised his cup, tipped it into his throat, exhaled with a satisfied 'ha,' and picked up his chopsticks to eat again.

Suddenly, he thought of something. He set his chopsticks against the rim of the dish and reached a hand into the burlap sack under the table.

After fumbling for a moment, he pulled out more than a dozen pitch-black pills. "Here—I almost forgot. This is your compensation this time. Thirteen years of yang life. Keep it safe. It's sealed with the Danfeng method, a bit different from your technique."

Li Huowang took the gourd from his waist and uncorked it. The mouth of the gourd wriggled for a moment, then the front half split open into a jagged, gaping maw, swallowing the yang life pills one by one.

Seeing Li Huowang's gourd, Tuoba Danqing's drunken face broke into a smug grin.

"Young Brother Er, your tool isn't very good. It's no match for this shabby cloth bag of mine. Ugly as it is, it can hold a lot more."

"Later, find some time to go to the capital and buy yourself some better magical tools."

"Oh? The Supervisory Heavenly Office actually has a dedicated trading place?" Li Huowang's heart leaped. This would be crucial for both gathering intelligence and raising his own strength.

"What do you think? Wouldn't it be stranger if we didn't?"

Li Huowang agreed and quickly poured himself a tiny bit of wine to toast Tuoba Danqing.

His keen senses made him very susceptible to intoxication, but sometimes, he did need to get drunk.

That night, the two of them drank more and more, and their bond grew tighter and tighter. By the end, they were practically ready to burn yellow paper, kill a chicken, and swear brotherhood under heaven.

Tuoba Danqing's voice made Li Huowang think of his dormitory classmates. For a moment, he felt as if he had returned to those nights in high school—those good times before his illness had taken hold.

Back then, he didn't have a mental illness, and he hadn't crossed worlds. Yang Na was real. His future was full of light.

"If only I could go back to that time..."

"But I've joined the Supervisory Heavenly Office now. Those days of living on a knife's edge are over. From now on, things will only get better. One day, I'll live better than I ever did before!"

Through the haze of intoxication, Tuoba Danqing slung an arm over Li Huowang's shoulder. Leaning against the window frame, he gazed out at the silent city of Yingling below, his voice carrying a hint of emotion.

"Little Brother! Look—isn't Yingling City beautiful? And the rabbit boys here are beautiful too! To be honest, I haven't been here many times."

"Brother Tuoba, that's my fault! Let me punish myself with three cups! I made you run all over the place for me!" Li Huowang's tongue was already thick from the wine. Half the time, he didn't even know what he was saying.

"What are you apologizing for? What pointless nonsense. I was just passing through anyway—it's not like I came specially for you. Guess, go on—guess what your big brother was doing before this?"

"How could I possibly guess that... Brother Tuoba... hic... Don't you think the sky is getting light? Maybe we should call it a night?"

Hearing that Li Huowang had ignored his bait, Tuoba Danqing looked very displeased. "Come over here! Let me show you a real treasure! Let you see something!"

He dragged Li Huowang back to the table, flopped onto the floor, and started rummaging through his yellow burlap sack.

A moment later, he yanked out a man's head, still attached to a mass of bloody, mangled internal organs.

"Eh?" Li Huowang stared in shock. "Brother Tuoba, what is this?"

"Heh heh. You don't know, do you? I went with Sir Jixiang deep into the heart of Qingqiu to get this—a Heart-Element!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the hallucination of Hongzhong beside him burst into loud laughter. He laughed heartily, doubling over, gasping for breath.