Chapter 16: Sixteen Cuts
As soon as Luo Mingshu walked in, he bumped into a furry, soft belly... Yes, a belly. The little black mouse, which was less than the size of a palm outside, had grown to be as tall as a person in its cage.
Actually, it wasn't that the little black mouse had grown bigger, but rather that Luo Mingshu herself had shrunk. Looking up at the inside of the little black mouse's cage from this height, her eyes immediately lit up.
This is a mansion! Every corner of the cage is meticulously arranged, with separate areas for living, sitting, and entertainment. It has three levels, connected by a priceless frostwood beam. A spiral staircase runs along the beam, leading to each level. At the top, a large, shimmering orange luminous pearl illuminates the entire cage. 『Pianozl』
It must be said that after receiving Yinglong's help, the Earth Moon Mole's quality of life steadily improved, and it even learned a bit about enjoying life from Yinglong.
This little black rat is no ordinary creature. Luo Mingshu made a conclusion after seeing the situation inside the cage. No wonder those demon cultivators treasured him so much. Bringing such an important little demon out of the demon realm seemed to be more worthwhile than saving that stinky man Wei Qing.
Just as Luo Mingshu was secretly thinking about how to pluck some fur from the little black rat, it suddenly turned its rear end and crawled down into a small hole next to the Frostwood.
Unfortunately, he was too fat, leaving only his round butt sticking out.
"Coo-coo-coo-coo-coo-coo-coo," the little black mouse began to cry for help.
Listening to the rise and fall of the lonely voice, Luo Mingshu actually understood a little. The little guy was probably saying, "I've gotten too fat these past few days and I can't squeeze in anymore. Can you help me?"
She stepped forward, nudged the little black mouse's bottom, and finally pushed him down with a "thump".
Not long after, the sound of rummaging through things came from the basement, and the little black mouse climbed up the stairs on the other side.
Luo Mingshu: "Why did you crawl through the hole when you could have used the stairs?"
She saw that the little black mouse was holding a piece of paper in its arms, and it seemed that there were some words written on it.
"Croak~" The little black mouse handed the piece of paper in its arms to Luo Mingshu.
Luo Mingshu opened it and saw several lines of text written in elegant handwriting on the piece of paper.
"Hello, I am a demon, my race name is Earth Moon Mole. I am still very young, equivalent to a human toddler, so I am not without intelligence. When I grow up, I will become very smart. If you see me alone in the wild, please take me back to the demon realm. My family will give you a generous reward. Also, my nickname is Slowly, which was given to me by my human friends."
Looking at the contents of the paper, Luo Mingshu could roughly determine that this was the note Wei Qing had written to the young ground moon mole to prevent it from getting lost and not being able to find its way home.
After she finished reading it, she tugged at the paper, as if she wanted to take it back.
Luo Mingshu let go, carefully folded it, and put it back into the locked treasure chest. It seems that this little guy treasures this note very much.
"Slowly?" Luo Mingshu called out tentatively to verify the authenticity of the note.
The young moon mole slowly pounced towards Luo Mingshu. He seemed to really like the name. Luo Mingshu was bumped into by him, her cheeks sinking into a large patch of soft fur. She smelled the fresh scent of grass and trees on the young mole.
"Croak!" The slow call broke the brief moment of warmth; the Earth Moon Mole's call was just too... too distinctive.
"Why are you hugging me?" Luo Mingshu pointed to her cheek. "Do you think I'm your human friend?"
Please, she's not even human.
Luo Mingshu leaned back on the soft couch in the cage, stroking her chin as she pondered. She now regarded this cozy little space as her own territory.
She now has two choices: one is to get the note written by Wei Qing from Manman and use the Soul-Calling Bell to find his location. Although it is just his handwriting and may not be very precise, at least she has a clue.
The second option is to return the young Earth Moon Mole that was accidentally taken out of the Demon Realm—after all, the note said they would receive a large reward, and judging from the furnishings inside the cage, the Earth Moon Mole family seems to be quite wealthy. Moreover, on the way back to the Demon Realm, they can also look for clues about their own origins.
Luo Mingshu pondered for a long time but couldn't make a decision. Since she had taken on the task of finding Wei Qing in the first place—even though it was just a side job for her—she would still do her best to complete it. Besides, judging from the note Wei Qing had written to Manman, he didn't seem like a bad person.
She picked up a nut from the pile beside the couch, took a bite, and asked Manman, who was playing in the front of the hall, "Manman, do you want to go home or go find your human friend?"
He slowly made a few more "clucking" sounds, as if he was trying desperately to understand what Luo Mingshu was saying.
Seeing that he didn't understand, Luo Mingshu looked around to make sure there was no one else there. She lifted her skirt and ran over, whispering two "gurgling" sounds in Manman's ear.
For some reason, she was able to capture the tonal variations and pronunciation differences in the demon language, thus roughly understanding the meaning of their language. Through her interactions with Manman, she quickly mastered a foreign language that she didn't really want to learn.
He slowly understood this time, tilted his head and thought for a while, seemingly extremely conflicted.
Finally, he took out the note he had hidden in the treasure box and handed it to Luo Mingshu, meaning that he wanted to find Wei Qing first.
After receiving the answer, Luo Mingshu didn't dwell on it anymore; she was always decisive and efficient in her actions.
After taking the note written by Wei Qing, Luo Mingshu walked out of the large cage, while Lu Yaoyao was still sitting to the side cultivating.
In the sandstorm, Lu Yaoyao followed Luo Mingshu and exploited a bug, gaining a large amount of Shui Qingsi's dislike points. Now, she can exchange the points she has earned for a cheat code in cultivation.
Having learned from past mistakes, Luo Mingshu wouldn't rush into searching for a token without confirming its authenticity like Lu Yaoyao did. She planned to first have an elder from the Yuling Sect verify the handwriting on the note.
However, Luo Mingshu wisely chose to keep quiet. She didn't tell Lu Yaoyao the clues from the note. In short, she just wanted to get rid of Lu Yaoyao to avoid her triggering any strange events.
"The news about your senior brother ends here, all thanks to you," Luo Mingshu announced to Lu Yaoyao. "We've been busy for so long, and in the time that's been wasted, he might... he might have already been killed."
Lu Yaoyao woke up with a start, her eyes brimming with tears. Just as she was about to cry, the system quickly spoke in her mind to comfort her: "Luo Mingshu is a vicious female supporting character. Don't believe her. Your senior brother is still alive. Hurry up and go find him."
"Senior brother... Senior brother would never do that..." Lu Yaoyao whispered.
"This cultivation world isn't controlled by voice commands that revolve around you. Just because you say you can't doesn't mean you can't," Luo Mingshu pointed out sharply.
"I..." Lu Yaoyao bit her lower lip, revealing a weak and vulnerable demeanor.
"I'll be resting here for the next few days," Luo Mingshu said, urging him to leave. "Since we haven't found your senior brother, you should go back to your sect and stop following me."
"Senior Sister Luo, is there really no other way?" Lu Yaoyao looked up and pleaded with Luo Mingshu.
“I’ve already used the Soul-Summoning Bell on you. I’ve come to the Demon Realm with you. I’ve also retrieved the token you gave me and the target indicated by the token. We’ve almost offended the entire Wind and Sand Ferry. What other solutions do you want me to come up with? Lu Yaoyao, I’m not your mother. How can I go along with everything you want?” Luo Mingshu scoffed.
She felt that she was incredibly unlucky to have been stuck with Lu Yaoyao, the female lead in the original novel.
"Senior Sister Luo, I'm sorry," Lu Yaoyao said, bowing her head.
"What good is an apology? I spent three million spirit stones to bring this cage out of Fengsha Ferry. If you're willing to apologize, return the money. If you don't have the money, hurry back to Yuling Sect." Luo Mingshu's words were aggressive, and she really did resemble a vicious female supporting character.
Luo Mingshu would not accept a verbal apology at all. She sat down to the side and waited for Lu Yaoyao to make her own decision.
As Lu Yaoyao lowered her head, the system, which had always been her lifeline, spoke up as expected.
"Host, you can now use the points you just earned to exchange for new items and new clues. The location of your senior brother Wei Qing can be found through the new clues," the system reminded you.
After thinking for a moment, Lu Yaoyao knew she couldn't get anything out of Luo Mingshu, so she stood up and made a decision: "Senior Sister Luo, I... I'd better leave first and think of another way to find Senior Brother. I won't bother you anymore."
Luo Mingshu disliked the original female lead constantly appearing in front of her, so she sent Lu Yaoyao to the nearest city of cultivators and found an inn to settle her down.
Because of the rush and lack of preparation, she couldn't book a large courtyard and could only rent a larger room at the inn.
Under the guidance of the mouse Manman, Luo Mingshu discovered that she could shrink the large cage. Since she couldn't put living creatures in her spatial pouch, and because she didn't want to pretend to be an old man walking his bird and playing with walnuts while carrying the large cage, she shrunk the cage to the size of a waist pendant and wore it around her waist.
Luo Mingshu entered the inn, tidied everything up, and then crawled into the slow-moving cage.
She disliked the poor conditions at the inn, but the Earth Moon Mole had some taste in life, and the arrangement of the cage was barely to her liking.
Slowly lying down on the brown wooden floor of the room, she tilted her head and watched as Luo Mingshu confidently entered and usurped her place.
Luo Mingshu tossed some of her privately hoarded delicacies to Manman, quickly winning over the young moon mole. She lay on the soft couch in the main hall, occasionally stroking Manman's soft fur. In front of them, the small fireplace in the room was lit, the crackling flame stone burning, creating a warm and cozy atmosphere.
This Flame Stone is no ordinary item; burning it for a whole night would cost tens of thousands of spirit stones. Moreover, the veins that produce Flame Stones are kept secret, and only a few cultivators have the means to purchase them. This gemstone, originally intended for fire-element cultivators to advance their cultivation, is now being burned for warmth by two spendthrift individuals, one big and one small. Back in Luo Mingshu's own Spirit Control Sect days, she would also burn Flame Stones in streams to create a warm atmosphere during the winter.
When Luo Mingshu had some free time, she browsed the news about Fengsha Ferry on the Spirit Network. They made such a big fuss at Fengsha Ferry and left in such a cool manner. Her heroic figure should have spread throughout the entire Sifang Water Mirror by now, right?
However, after opening the Spirit Network, she was shocked by what was shown in the Four Directions Water Mirror.
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