The group walked over and looked at the dark, unremarkable rough stone, which looked no different from an ordinary rock, with expressions of doubt.
"Qingqing, are you sure you want this stone?" Gu Xicheng asked.
Lu Qing nodded: "Yes! I want this one!"
Meng Lianyun picked up the stone, weighed it in his hand, and examined it for a while, but couldn't see anything unusual about it.
"This stone probably won't even yield a piece of the most ordinary jade, so why do we insist on having it?"
Compared to their confusion, the three girls seemed rather excited.
"I've seen many novels where the female protagonist chooses the most inconspicuous stone, but unexpectedly finds a rare treasure inside. This stone might be the same."
"That's right! Since Qingqing wants it, let's open it. Maybe we'll find something good!"
"We must trust Qingqing's judgment!"
Since they had all said so, Meng Lianyun had no choice but to agree.
"Alright! But if you can't get anything later, you're not allowed to cry!"
Meng Lianyun took the stone to the stone-cutting master.
Lu Qing gestured a circle above and said:
"Cut where I marked it."
The stone-cutting master looked at Meng Lianyun, who nodded to him, and only then did he begin.
Generally speaking, such low-grade rough stones are not qualified for experienced craftsmen to cut. The price of the entire rough stone is not even as much as the labor cost of a single cut by an experienced craftsman. Therefore, people who buy such stones usually cut them themselves with a saw.
But since Lu Qing has powerful connections, the old master driver had to give her permission to drive, even if he didn't want to.
As soon as the first cut was made, the onlookers craned their necks to watch.
They all wanted to know what treasures might be hidden in this pile of waste rock that would make the experienced craftsman want to cut it open.
However, they were disappointed.
The first cut revealed a completely dark interior; not a trace of jade color could be seen.
"Tch~ I knew it! What kind of stuff could you possibly get from this waste rock!"
"You think you can just open a broken rock? Take it away now!"
"..." The crowd erupted in disdainful shouts.
Lu Qing ignored them and simply stared at the stone.
With each stab, her intuition grew stronger.
There was no jade inside the stone, but it exuded a vibrant life force; it was a living thing, a living thing with boundless vitality.
Just as the master craftsman was about to make the second cut, the cross-section that had just been cut suddenly split open with two seams.
Lu Qing frowned slightly, staring intently at that spot.
Something seemed to be breaking out of the stone, and as the cracks spread, a soft thud was heard.
Two furry little paws kicked open the cross-section of the stone and emerged from inside.
The claws were pitch black, almost blending into the stone, and very short, so short that they were barely noticeable unless you looked closely.
The onlookers didn't bother to look anymore, so apart from Lu Qing and his group, no one noticed the two hairy little feet.
"Qingqing, is something moving inside that rock?"
Leng Wei was the first person to see Lu Qing.
Those two furry little paws were flailing about desperately.
Just as the master was about to make the second cut, it suddenly exerted force downwards, actually lifting the entire stone up, and then nimbly ran away on its short legs.
Everyone was stunned.
They didn't see wrong, did they?
The stone... ran away with its long legs?
Some people even rubbed their eyes, but when they opened them again, they still saw stones scattered all over the ground.
One moment it bumped into a bigger rock and tumbled over with a thud, the next it bumped into a table, seeing stars and spinning in place.
To prevent people from continuing to pay attention, Lu Qing quickly stepped forward, picked it up, and also brought over a few large ants to place in the spot.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the ants.
"So it was just these ants causing trouble! I thought there was some kind of magical treasure inside this rock!"
"But how come there are ants in this jade gambling market?"
Gu Xicheng's eyes flickered slightly, and after understanding Lu Qing's meaning, he quietly kicked Meng Lianyun.
Meng Lianyun immediately understood and loudly addressed the crowd:
"Everyone, I'm so sorry. These ants were probably brought along with the rough stones. They may have startled you. I'll have someone clean them up right away!"
No one bothered by this.
Knowing there was something inside the stone, Lu Qing stopped the master craftsman from continuing to cut it open and instead took a saw to a room where no one else was around to saw it.
When the chainsaw was turned on, the creature inside the rock immediately retracted its legs and trembled in fear.
"Don't be afraid, I just want to saw the stones off your body, it won't hurt you!"
Lu Qing smiled and approached with the chainsaw.
The stone seemed to pause for a moment, then quickly broke apart inside.
Just as the chainsaw was about to fall on its head, it finally smashed through the rock, squeezing its star-studded head out.
Lu Qing stopped moving.
Looking at the jet-black, furry head in front of him, he was filled with confusion:
"This is... a cat???"
A black cat actually appeared inside the stone?
Lu Qing pulled the furry little black thing out of the rock and discovered that although it looked like a cat, it had five tails with gold, green, blue, red and brown at the ends.
The little guy struggled incessantly in Lu Qing's hands, its four short legs flapping wildly, but unfortunately, its legs were too short to reach.
In desperation, it bit Lu Qing's hand.
"Ouch~" Lu Qing let go in pain and found that her finger had been bitten until it bled.
The little guy fell onto Lu Qing's bag and crawled inside along the strap.
Lu Qing's bag was full of the magical artifacts she always carried with her, so she quickly reached out to grab them.
When they fished it out, they saw the little guy hugging and gnawing on the bead that his master had condensed using the Five Elements Spiritual Veins.
The bead was very hard, but the little guy swallowed it in just a few bites, making a crunching sound as he chewed it.
Lu Qing was dumbfounded:
"Hey! Those are my beads! How could you eat them? Spit them out right now!"
Lu Qing tried hard to pry the little guy's mouth open, but it had already swallowed it and couldn't be pried out.
"You dare to swallow my food! You're asking for it!"
Lu Qing was furious.
She originally intended to keep the bead for future use, but unexpectedly, this guy ate it.
I should have just used it back then.
Seeing that Lu Qing was about to hit it, the little guy was so scared that its fur stood on end.
With a sharp scream, Lu Qing suddenly felt as if a strange power had been injected into her body.
Immediately afterwards, a contract rune descended, a five-colored petal suddenly appeared between her brows, and an unfamiliar voice came to her ears.
"Master, Master, please don't hit me! I'm a Five Elements Spirit Beast, I'm very powerful!"
The childish voice startled Lu Qing. She looked around and finally fixed her gaze on the little thing that was all black.
"Are you talking to me?"
The little guy nodded:
"Yes, Master, I have signed a contract with you. From now on, you are my cat servant. You must take care of me, feed me, and not bully me!"
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