True and false treasures
"Stinky Master, ahh ...!"
"Qianluo, where are you?!"
Chi Zhao hadn't eaten flames for several days. He was so worried that he couldn't sleep and even lost a lot of weight!
Three days ago, he was looking for Qianluo based on the smell, but he didn't expect that Qianluo was thousands of miles away. When he was following the smell, he saw the magnificent and exquisite district chief's palace, but there was no one in the palace!
"How strange! The scent clearly stops right here...why can't we find anyone?"
He sniffed carefully and found that the magnificent palace was completely devoid of monks. "Yes, logically, the district chief's palace should have many monks. District chiefs always love to have monks serve them. How could this district chief not have any monks? Even if there are no monks, there should still be elders. Where have all the people gone?"
Chi Zhao searched the entire palace for someone, turned it upside down, but didn't see a single person.
"Forget it, then I'll just wait here for that stinky master. She should know that I will chase her here, so I'll just wait for her!"
Chi Zhao waited like this for three days, unable to sleep, deeply worried about his master's safety. Although he cursed, he was still very anxious in his heart. After all, he had never been separated from his master for more than three days. In the past, he had always slept in Qianluo's spirit beast bag. Even when Qianluo was in seclusion refining elixirs, he had always stayed near the Daodao Mountain, never this far away!
I don’t know how the stinky master is doing now. I hope he is not in danger!
He said that the stinky master should take him with her! This stinky master has no idea how high the sky is and how deep the earth is after she has established her foundation. If she takes him with her, at least he can spit fire and help her resist the firepower!
Two fists are no match for four hands, and there is strength in numbers. Doesn't she know these principles?
Three days later, he had lost a lot of weight. He heard a noise at the door, and he looked up, his ears perked up, his round eyes widened even further, and a look of surprise appeared on his face. He had thought it was Qianluo, but he hadn't expected a stranger to arrive.
With a "creak", the door opened.
Jiang Liang walked in with half of his injured face covered, limping, his body stained with blood, his clothes soaked, and he was shivering from the cold.
“Damn it!”
He was so angry that he sat down and slammed the table. He had never expected to be so bewitched by the branches of the maze the moment he entered it. He only regained consciousness two days later, and after turning the secret realm upside down, he unexpectedly discovered a conversation between Wang Tongtian, Wang Nanxing, a strange female cultivator, and the Blue Blood Silver Anaconda in the grotto!
It turns out that everything Wang Tongtian said was a lie. He entered the secret realm just to take over Wang Nanxing's body! He said it so eloquently, but it turned out that there were no treasures in the secret realm at all. He had searched everywhere and found nothing except some messy magic tools and elixirs that had lost their medicinal properties!
During his search, he accidentally encountered a magic formation, causing the secret realm to collapse. He suffered because of the magic formation, and half of his face was destroyed. Even taking rejuvenation pills could not restore it. He was neither human nor ghost, thanks to Wang Tongtian!
Wang Tongtian is already dead, so it’s the Wang family’s fault!
"Wang Nanxing, Wang Wenzhu, Wang Zhiping, that strange female cultivator, and that snake! They are the ones who made me what I am now!"
He swept the tea set off the table and roared angrily, "There's nothing in the secret realm. I've been so pitiful, I actually schemed against my two brothers for the sake of this so-called secret realm. I must avenge this!"
Jiang Liang did not mention a word about his own mistakes, but put all the blame on Qian Luo. Chi Zhao who was standing by was stunned. It turned out that Qian Luo had met such a difficult person within three days!
"No, I don't believe that the ancestor of the Wang family left nothing behind. There must be a treasure, but I just haven't found it!" He became a little crazy, his hair was messy, half of his face looked like a devil from hell, and his clothes were stained with blood.
"Oh, and I have Wang Nanxing's parents, Wang Wenzhu and Wang Zhiping, on my side! They must know where the real treasure is!"
Jiang Liang narrowed his eyes, a calculating expression appeared on his face, and he stood up and left.
Chi Zhao was confused and didn't know what he was doing. He followed him hiding his presence and found that the man came to a study after taking many turns.
He had been to this study before, and there was nothing inside, not even any mechanisms. As for whether there were any magic arrays, he had no idea.
"open!"
Jiang Liang was seen muttering something, and after making some hand gestures, a white light flashed before his eyes, and the huge desk actually sank, revealing a basement!
Chi Zhao's eyes lit up! Could this be the place where Wang Nanxing's parents were imprisoned?
Jiang Liang walked into the basement. Chi Zhao narrowed his eyes, cocked his tail, and was very proud. He had never expected that he was the one who was waiting for the opportunity! He was smart, cute, and very resourceful. He actually found Wang's parents!
This already fascinated Qianluo to death! He also wanted to eat the combination of Nether Purple Flame and Blood Flame!
He followed closely behind, and a water dungeon appeared in front of him. The people below were a middle-aged man and woman. They looked listless and were barely breathing. It was unknown whether they were alive or not!
"Wang Wenzhu, Wang Zhiping!"
"Look what this is!"
Chi Zhao looked up and saw Jiang Liang holding a photo stone in his hand! The picture on it was Wang Nanxing, with a terrified look on his face, and a strange male cultivator beside him, staring at him eagerly!
"What have you done to my son?"
"Wang Tongtian! Jiang Liang! You will not die a good death, and even as a ghost I will not let you go!"
Wang Wenzhu and Wang Zhiping naturally recognized the person in the photo stone as Wang Tongtian! Their enemy, whom they hated day and night! If Wang Tongtian hadn't found their family of three a few months ago, how could they have ended up in such a predicament?
Photo stones are not like modern videos that can be faked. Photo stones can record things that have already happened and cannot be faked.
If the photo stone could be faked, then a fake video could have been made and shown to them months ago when Wang Tongtian was interrogating them.
Jiang Liang pursed his lips and smiled, with a plan in mind. This was a video he had recorded in the secret realm, which could be used to force Wang Wenzhu and Wang Zhiping to tell the truth.
"If you don't want anything to happen to the child, then you'd better tell us where the real secret realm is? Where is the real treasure?"
Jiang Liang stared at the couple in front of him, frowning slightly. "If you don't want to tell me, I can't guarantee Wang Nanxing's safety. Maybe he'll be like this stone, turning into powder and disappearing in the wind."
He pinched it casually, and the photo stone turned into powder, falling all over the ground. The wind blew and scattered it to every corner.
White powder drifted across Wang Zhiping's face. He was agitated, his eyes red, and he struggled non-stop. The iron chain knocked against the prison bars, and the veins on his neck were exposed. "What are you going to do!"
Seeing her husband like this, Wang Wenzhu's eyes flashed with pity: "Jiang Liang, although the photo stone can't be faked, your words are not enough. I want you to bring the child to us, and then I will tell you where the real treasure is!"
"Do you think you are still qualified to negotiate? If you don't tell me, I will use the death penalty against Wang Nanxing. You know that children can't stand the suffering, and they might confess everything." Jiang Liang smiled slightly, pinched his fingers, and made the cage of the Wang couple go up and down, sometimes immersed in water, sometimes in the air.
That feeling of drowning, with a swollen head, rapid breathing, a crumpled heart, and trembling all over the body.
"You don't want your son to suffer like this, do you? Even if he knows nothing, he's the one being tortured, and you're the ones feeling the pain."
Jiang Liang loves to calculate people's hearts the most. He doesn't believe that the couple in front of him don't love their children. Although he is half-believing and half-doubting, there is nothing he can do in the end because the initiative is in his hands.
Now that Wang Tongtian and the other two elders are dead, he still has the final say here. When he gets the treasure and successfully builds the foundation, the entire District Eight will be at his feet.
For so many years, he has been humble and cautious under Wang Tongtian, and his heart is full of resentment. He has been waiting for the day when he can step on Wang Tongtian's corpse to get to the top. Now this dream is about to come true!
How could the Wang couple bear to let their child suffer such pain? Even they, the adults, couldn't stand it, let alone a 16-year-old boy.
Wang Wenzhu clung to the railing, her dying hand reaching forward: "Okay, I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything, just let my child go!"
Jiang Liang's evil plan succeeded. He smiled and narrowed his eyes: "Okay, then where do you think the real treasure is?"
Wang Wenzhu suppressed her resentment and revealed the secret she had buried for years. "There are indeed treasures in the Mysterious Valley Secret Realm, but they are not the Wang family's real treasures. They are just some magical instruments and ordinary elixirs that have long lost their medicinal properties. Although the Mysterious Valley Secret Realm is guarded by the Green Blood Silver Anaconda, it is only a cover-up."
"Perhaps even the Blood-Sapphire Silver Anaconda doesn't know that the treasure it's guarding is just a fake. The only thing in the Mysterious Valley Secret Realm is the ancestor's spirit tablet, with a secret realm manual and a secret realm map underneath. The treasure location marked on the secret realm map is actually the Blood-Sapphire Silver Anaconda's pool."
"It's to kill the invaders."
Jiang Liang suddenly realized what was happening! He had only found some scrap metal in the secret realm, nothing else. They had all assumed the Blood-Silver Anaconda was guarding the real treasure, but it turned out to be a fake treasure, used to strangle intruders!
When he thought about how he had destroyed half of his face for a fake treasure, he became agitated and his face was distorted. He shouted sternly: "Then tell me quickly, where is the real treasure!"
Wang Wenzhu smiled lightly, full of contempt: "Haven't you already captured my son? Don't you know that my son has a tattered jade pendant on him? That's where the real treasure entrance is!"
"Jade pendant?"
Jiang Liang didn't have a deep impression of Wang Nanxing. He only saw him briefly and couldn't remember that he had a jade pendant on him. Was it hanging around his neck or waist? How could he not notice it!
"Okay, I'll go find the jade pendant now. You'd better not lie to me, otherwise!" He narrowed his eyes, his eyes flashed, and he stretched out his hand and shot a heart-burning needle to destroy the table beside him.
With a "bang", the table broke into pieces.
Seeing Jiang Liang's impatient back, Wang Zhiping finally said: "Xiaoxing only has an ordinary jade pendant on him. The real secret realm is not in..."
Hearing this, Wang Wenzhu slumped in the water-filled cage, looking at her wrinkled hands, her eyes darkening. "If he really did capture our son, he could have brought the jade pendant over and threatened us to tell him how to use it to unlock the real treasure. If he didn't take out the jade pendant, it means he didn't capture our son at all!"
Wang Wenzhu clenched her weak hands, feeling powerless and desolate. In this dark dungeon, she had no idea if Jiang Liang's words were true. This was the only way she could test him!
"Zhiping, I realize we have been doing it wrong all along."
Wang Zhiping frowned: "What's wrong?"
Wang Wenzhu forced a bleak smile, meeting her husband's puzzled gaze, tears welling in her eyes. "We've always carefully hidden the Wang family's treasures, adhering to our ancestors' wishes, and at the same time, reminding ourselves not to be greedy. But, are we actually doing the right thing?"
"When the enemy came, we were powerless to resist. We were just mortals with no power to tie a chicken. The enemy threatened us, but we were powerless to resist. We didn't know which of Jiang Liang's words were true or false, because we were in a weak position and would never be qualified to negotiate with him!"
Wang Zhiping saw his wife's expression and was helpless. He could only murmur, "But our ancestor said that these treasures should be left to future children in the clan with single or double spiritual roots. We should use the strength of the entire clan to raise a child. This is the best way for the Wang family."
He continued to explain: "If we leave these treasures to a child with five spiritual roots, then what hope is there for our family?"
The woman raised her eyebrows and looked down at the snakes and fish swimming underwater. They could bite the flesh of the couple and were specially raised by Wang Tongtian and others to torture them.
"Now that we're in this situation, do you still think you did the right thing? If you could protect yourself, why would you separate your family? Why worry about your child?"
Seeing her husband about to refute her, she felt a surge of power, a surge of anger within her: "Wang Zhiping, you keep saying that your entire clan is supporting someone with dual or single spiritual roots! It's all for the glory of our Wang family! But have you ever considered that the Wang family has been in decline for a hundred years! Has it ever produced a genius with single or dual spiritual roots?"
"Are we going to keep waiting until he shows up? Without these treasures, how can you, me, and our children become successful? How can we protect ourselves? What era is this? An era of the survival of the fittest, an era of scarce spiritual energy! Without these treasures, how can we draw energy into our bodies? Are we really destined to die of old age?"
"Or die in this water dungeon without sunlight!" She bit her pale lips, her eyes shining with anger, her chest heaving. She had never been so clear-headed or louder before! This was exactly what she wanted to say today!
She had wanted to say these words for a long time.
He explained apprehensively, not daring to look his wife in the eye: "I didn't... but this was our ancestor's last wish. Besides, this is his treasure. We, his descendants... can only follow his wishes..."
"Follow his last wishes? I know these treasures are all magical instruments and spiritual artifacts collected by our ancestors. They are all his credit. We shouldn't take them for ourselves. But what's the point of us guarding the treasures in vain? It will only bring us disaster!"
Wang Wenzhu wiped her eyes, tears silently flowing. "I know we might be being too selfish. The treasure was given to us, so we should have guarded it well! But look at what these treasures have brought us. Your son is almost dead! And we're still thinking about our ancestor's last wish!"
Her eyes were red and she choked up. "I think when the ancestor made this decision, he didn't expect us to encounter such a disaster today. He just wanted someone to hold up the pillars of the Wang family and bring hope to the Wang family. But what era is it now? A single spiritual root and a double spiritual root can't support it at all!"
"If you ask me, these treasures should be given to the Wang family. No matter their spiritual roots, as long as they can cultivate, they can be used! There is strength in numbers. If there is someone with better cultivation, the Wang family will not be so destitute now! At least they can gain some respect and become a small family. And now look at how many cultivators have emerged from the Wang family?"
Wang Wenzhu sighed. "I don't want to blame you, so let me give you a simple example. You should also know my cousin, Wang Wenxiu, who fled District 7 for her daughter Siyu! And it was all because of a spiritual herb! If we had shared the treasure with them, even if it was just a pill, they wouldn't have fled to other places just because of a spiritual herb!"
"Wenzhu..."
Wang Zhiping was powerless to refute her, as these questions had been lingering in his mind for a long time, but he hadn't spoken them out loud. After hearing his wife's words, he was deeply shocked. Even though he didn't want to admit it, he had to admit that Wenzhu was right.
If all the things in the treasure were used on the Wang family, there would always be a few people who would become monks, and only the monks who received the blessing of the treasure could protect the Wang family.
In today's era, one person alone cannot shoulder a heavy responsibility.
"Then if we leave the things with Xiaoxing, will Jiang Liang find out?"
Wang Wenzhu glanced at her anxious husband and said calmly, "The most dangerous place is the safest. The most common things always confuse people."
Thousands of miles away, Wang Nanxing was fast asleep, unaware of the impending danger, while Qian Luo had already woken up.
For her, cultivation is like sleeping. When she opens her eyes and sees the young man sleeping at her feet, she smiles slightly and covers him with her robes.
Suddenly, his eyes paused.
"Hmm?" What is this?
She rubbed her eyes. Was she dazzled?
Why do I see a green light flashing in Wang Nanxing’s storage bag?
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