After taking a deep breath and waiting for a long time, my head was still spinning. I never would have thought that the "fire stick" I accidentally found at Lao Wu's house turned out to be the legendary "Nine-Revolution Lightning Wood"!
Could it be that my luck has really turned?
To be on the safe side, I quickly bit my finger and used the "Child's Meibi" to draw runes directly on the fire stick.
This thing is just too tempting. Even in the deep forests, it can attract the centipede spirit's greed, let alone in crowded places. It might get targeted by people at any moment! Only by drawing a "Concealment Charm" to conceal its aura would temporarily suppress the treasure's aura and prevent it from being targeted by others.
After drawing the "Concealment Charm," I felt it wasn't enough, so I quietly went to Zhang's kitchen. I scraped off a layer of soot from a pot, moistened it, and applied it directly to the fire stick.
After all this effort, the fire stick finally returned to its original inconspicuous appearance. Unless one's cultivation level far surpasses mine and contacts the fire stick directly, it would be extremely difficult to discern any clues without probing its aura!
After doing all this, I finally breathed a sigh of relief. As soon as dawn broke, I quickly woke up Zhang and Captain Han. Even though I was the only one who knew about the Nine-Revolution Lightning Wood, to avoid complications, I thought it best to take the money and give it to Lao Wu.
Zhang didn't say much about it, hurriedly finished breakfast, and then took me and Captain Han to Lao Wu's relative's house. We were planning to bring Lao Wu to the county to get the money, and then we wouldn't have to return to the village. Captain Han was eager to return to Qianyang, and I also wanted to return to my hometown of Yucheng for the New Year.
However, we had only taken a few steps when we saw Lao Wu rushing towards us.
"Oh..."
Seeing this scene, we couldn't help but laugh. Looking at Lao Wu's anxious appearance, I thought it seemed not just me who was in a hurry; Lao Wu was just as desperate to get that ten thousand yuan.
Unexpectedly, when Lao Wu spoke, he revealed something totally unexpected to all of us!
Lao Wu had a mournful look on his face as he said, "Kind Sir, something terrible has happened! The 'Wind-Fixing Pearl' that you left in my care last night has been taken by my little uncle!"
"What!"
As soon as I heard this, my face immediately changed. I couldn't help but furrow my brow and ask, "What on earth happened?"
Lao Wu didn't dare to hide anything and immediately told us everything that happened at his little uncle's house last night. It was a long story.
Lao Wu was a person who couldn't keep a secret, and his little uncle was no exception, especially since it was his family. So, when he stayed over at his little uncle's house last night, he told him about the centipede spirit, the Wind-Fixing Pearl, and the fire stick.
His little uncle was named Wang Xin. When he heard that I wanted to buy the "Wind-Fixing Pearl" from Lao Wu for ten thousand yuan, he immediately tried to take advantage of the situation. Even though he didn't believe in the centipede spirit, after listening to Lao Wu and his mother's explanation, he thought the "Wind-Fixing Pearl" must be a valuable item! Otherwise, why would I be willing to pay ten thousand yuan for it?
Ten thousand yuan might not be much in the eyes of the wealthy, but in this remote Miao village, it was a considerable amount of money. Especially for a family like Lao Wu's, it was truly a vast sum!
So, Wang Xin thought that the value of the Wind-Fixing Pearl should be far more than ten thousand! Therefore, he found a way to deceive Lao Wu and took the Wind-Fixing Pearl, claiming he wanted to study it carefully. Lao Wu didn't think much of it at the time, after all, he was his wife's own younger brother, so he temporarily handed the Wind-Fixing Pearl to Wang Xin for safekeeping.
Who knew that when he went to find Wang Xin the next morning, Wang Xin refused to hand it over! He even sent a message to Lao Wu, asking me to come and negotiate the price of the "Wind-Fixing Pearl" in person.
"Damn! Who does Wang Xin think he is? What right does he have to bargain for the Wind-Fixing Pearl!"
After hearing Lao Wu's story, Zhang was instantly furious. He had already argued with me that I shouldn't be spending that ten thousand yuan! Now, with this happening on top of it, how could he not be angry?
"Let's go! Let's go find this Wang Xin and see how much he wants!"
To be honest, I was quite angry. Although the value of the "Wind-Fixing Pearl" was indeed far more than ten thousand yuan, the pearl originally belonged to me! I killed the centipede spirit, and the "Wind-Fixing Pearl" inside its body naturally belonged to me. I only wanted to buy the pearl from Lao Wu in exchange for the fire stick. Lao Wu insisted on not taking the money, so I agreed to buy the pearl for ten thousand yuan.
It should have been a win-win situation, everyone getting what they needed. Unexpectedly, halfway through, Wang Xin had to appear and try to raise the price?
I actually didn't care about the pearl at all. Compared to the fire stick in my hands, the pearl was no different from a street stall item. Whether I wanted it or not, I truly didn't care. I only wanted the fire stick because it was stronger than anything else.
But since Wang Xin wanted to raise the price, I was really curious to see what he would do.
Of course, we didn't just rush over to Wang Xin's house recklessly. We turned around and decided to invite Sha Biao along as well.
After all, Sha Biao was the headman of the village, and he was at the scene last night. He knew the ins and outs of the situation and would undoubtedly make things easier as a witness.
When we got to Sha Biao's house, he was still sleeping. He had been busy taking care of the giant centipede he caught last night. He cleaned it up overnight and soaked it in a large basin. Of course, the happiest person wasn't Sha Biao but his father, Sha Daye.
Sha Daye had been obsessed with studying poisons his whole life and had always been struggling with finding suitable materials for making poisons. Now, he had suddenly received such a large centipede; how could he not be overjoyed? Not only that, but he was also much more lenient towards me. As soon as he heard we were looking for Sha Biao, without a second thought, he quickly went back to wake him up.
When Sha Biao found out that the "Wind-Fixing Pearl" had been taken and Wang Xin was planning to raise the price, he was also furious. He immediately burst out in anger, "Damn! Who does Wang Xin think he is, always doing this kind of shitty thing! Let's go, we'll go find him together!"
So, with Lao Wu in tow, the five of us went straight to Wang Xin's house.
As soon as we arrived at his gate, I saw a middle-aged man, about forty years old, squatting there. There was no need to ask; this person must be Lao Wu's little uncle, Wang Xin.
When Wang Xin saw us, his face immediately brightened, and he quickly came out to meet us. But when he saw Sha Biao behind me, his face immediately became uncomfortable, and he awkwardly said, "You've come too, Headman…"
"Hmph!"
Sha Biao didn't give him a good look at all and directly asked him, "Where's the pearl? Hand it over!"
"Well..."
As soon as Wang Xin heard this, his face became somewhat ugly. He licked his lips and said, "Let's go inside and talk, shall we?"
"What's there to say!"
Shabiao, who had just woken up, seemed to still have some "morning attitude," showing no respect at all, with a stern face saying, "Wang Xin, let me tell you, don't mess around with me. That pearl has nothing to do with you, don't think about taking it! Otherwise, you won't be able to stay in Bapo Township Miao Village for even a day!"
"Hmph!"
Seeing Shabiao's strong attitude, Wang Xin also seemed a bit irritated and coldly snorted, then said, "Shabiao, you're the leader of the village, isn't what you said inappropriate?"
"This pearl belongs to my sister's family. My sister and brother-in-law don't understand the market value, and they sold it for a mere ten thousand yuan! Can't I, as a younger brother, help them look out for it?"
As he finished speaking, Lao Wu quickly explained from the side, "I didn't ask him to look out for it!"
"You!"
After hearing Lao Wu's words, Wang Xin was obviously very angry and couldn't help but look furious, saying, "Old man, you fool! This pearl could easily sell for 80 or 100 thousand! Even if we split it, that would still be better than selling it for ten thousand yuan!"