Chapter 298:
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
"Senior Qiao?" Long Shankong communicated secretly and informed about the merchant Luo Cheng.
Just as he finished explaining on his side, the round-faced merchant Luo Cheng caught sight of Long Shankong’s appearance and showed a look of surprise on his face.
"Mr. Long, save me—"
The round-faced merchant was obviously up to no good, shouting for help with his mouth but constantly scanning his surroundings with his eyes, clearly thinking of how to escape in the chaos.
On the other hand, Jade Carp beside him looked visibly displeased.
"Are there really accomplices?"
While escorting the merchant Luo Cheng, who fell into an ambush, and vaguely sensing that Qiao Mu and the others were not ordinary people, she didn’t think much about it. A green light burst from her fingertips and flew towards Qiao Mu and the others.
As a first-ranked Spirit Refining martial artist, Long Shankong’s instincts were naturally sharp.
Just as Jade Carp was about to make a move, he raised his hand in front of him. At that moment, his expression suddenly changed.The green light that flew out was not the internal strength of a martial artist, but rather a splatter of green liquid.
With a hissing sound, visible white vapor emanated from his arms, and where the green liquid covered them, his hands and arms quickly turned red, then black, the skin splitting open until only his palms, protected by the Golden Silkworm Gloves, remained unscathed.
The tea house was in chaos, with everyone fleeing from the commotion, even the two tea drinkers who were arguing earlier didn’t care anymore.
"It’s not the poison skill of a martial artist, but some kind of poisonous hidden weapon?" Long Shankong endured the burning pain in his arms and leaped up.
"Eight Armed Heavenly Dragon Fist!"
He waved his fists like the wind, creating multiple shadow punches that engulfed the black-clothed woman Jade Carp.
Long Shankong had just unleashed his fist technique when he frowned and stepped back two steps, looking down at his hands.
After exchanging blows with the black-clothed woman in a flash, his hands and arms were already blackened and decaying, with skin peeling off and wounds almost revealing bone.
"How could there be such terrifying poison techniques in this world?" Long Shankong wondered, unsure.
He had encountered martial artists practicing poisonous techniques before.
The skill in using poison techniques mainly involves internal power infused with various kinds of poisons, which can enter the opponent’s body during combat and cause poisoning.
The black-clothed woman in front of him didn’t wield invisible energy, but tangible poisonous liquid.
He had been exposed to it multiple times during the fight, to the point that his hands were nearly crippled.
At that moment, a voice came from behind him.
"The young man was restless and didn’t understand the importance of harmony."
Qiao Mu still sat on the bench and didn’t get up, just put down his bowl and chopsticks.
On the table in front of him, fat cat impermanence stared wide-eyed at a broken bowl in front of her.
Originally, the fat cat was imitating Qiao Mu slurping noodles, but was caught in the crossfire just now. The noodle bowl in front of the fat cat was chipped, and the table was filled with soup.
She arched her whole body, her fur standing on end and appearing even more fluffy, like a furry dough, still snarling at the black-robed woman.
The black-robed woman Jade Carp’s expression only changed slightly at this moment, as if she noticed something.
In the next moment, fat cat impermanence sprang up agilely, defying its body size, turning into a blur in the air. At the same time, black-robed woman Jade Carp also acted, splattering several green liquid jets from her fingertips.
In the blink of an eye, the fluid-like body of impermanence seemed to transform into a puddle, continuously changing in the air, miraculously weaving unscathed through the splattered poison, pouncing on Jade Carp, fiercely clawing at her.
It looked like gentle cat punches.
With every punch thrown, there was a sharp whistling sound passing through.
Boom boom boom boom boom!
The woman in the black robe fell down with a thud, it looked like a fat cat pouncing over and knocking Jade Carp down with its rear.
As the cat’s punches continued, the ground started to tremble slightly, and the blue stone tiles on the floor of the tea house shattered with a bang.
Long Shankong stood by, watching the fat cat mercilessly attacking the woman in black, then looking at his own bruised arms, he suddenly felt a bit disheartened:
"I can’t even compare to a cat, I don’t even have the strength of a cat?"
Feeling a mix of sadness and anger in his heart for a moment, he then kicked down the few soldiers following behind Jade Carp, feeling slightly better.
The woman in black robe tried to struggle on the ground, but the Impermanent Demon Cat was already hanging onto her, with a great force suppressing her, there was no way she could break free.
Before long, the woman in black robe was already bruised and swollen, raising her hands high and shouting:
"Stop, stop it. We are both from the same magical clan, there must be some misunderstanding…"
"Now you think it’s a misunderstanding? The moment Luo Cheng spoke, you were quick to attack. Aren’t you afraid of us being misunderstood?" Long Shankong coldly chuckled and leaped, kicking a chopstick on the table.
At that moment, the round-faced merchant Luo Cheng was quietly trying to leave by the wall, when suddenly the chopstick shot out like a sharp arrow, piercing through his palm and pinning him to the teahouse wall.
In fact, it’s not entirely a misunderstanding.
After all, Qiao Mu and the others were indeed targeting the merchant Luo Cheng, they just didn’t expect the woman in black to be so decisive and act first.
"You are also a magical being? No wonder." Qiao Mu seized the neck of the fat cat whimsy and lifted it up:
"Just heard someone say you’re from the Feather King Army, does the Feather King Army also have magical creatures? What kind of creature are you?"
"I am a flying fish, from the poisonous cloud marshes deep in the mountains." Jade Carp replied gloomily.
She stretched out her slender fingers, and the visible speed transformed her fingernails into a lush green color, like five pieces of sparkling emerald.
"So it’s actually a powerful monster… Is there a cure?" Long Shankong couldn’t help but ask.
Dealing with a powerful monster like the Shape-changing Demon was not something his skills as a top martial artist could handle. So he was feeling a little uncertain at the moment.
He quickly assumed that the Flying Fish Demon, with its venomous attack, was a master of poison techniques to deal with, but things didn’t go as planned, did they?
"A cure?" The Flying Fish Demon Jade Carp thought for a moment and said:
"Drinking hot water might help ease the symptoms a bit."
"…." Long Shankong fell silent for a moment and pointed to the two tea drinkers in the corner of the hall, foaming at the mouth.
"If there’s no cure, just tell me plainly. Are you trying to deceive me?"
"Can those two talkative busybodies even drink hot water?"
"Of course they can drink! Why couldn’t they?" Jade Carp replied.
"They didn’t die, just ended up in an unpleasant situation."
"My Feather King Army also cares about reputation, so we can’t just kill people randomly. We just taught those two busybodies a lesson."
"Breathing in the poison gas can make you vomit, have diarrhea, pass out, and feel weak."
"Is this what you call teaching them a lesson?" Qiao Mu looked at the two tea drinkers foaming at the mouth.
"Of course, nobody will die," Jade Carp said seriously.
"After all, I’m not a demon or anything like that."
Before the words finished.
Suddenly, there were several plop sounds, like pearls falling onto a jade plate.
From the corner of the hall where the two tea drinkers had fainted, a choking stench drifted in with the wind.
Long Shankong looked closely and his face turned green right away.
"What Flying Fish Demon, she is clearly a malicious monster, her poison actually makes people lose bowel control…"
At the same moment.
Behind Flying Fish Demon Jade Carp, a pair of wings spread out. Taking advantage of the distraction caused by suffocating gas, she flapped her wings and swiftly flew away like an arrow.
"Fragmented Virtual Finger."
Qiao Mu flicked his finger, releasing a crescent-shaped burst of energy. However, although his energy was dense and powerful, it quickly weakened after flying about ten or twenty meters, barely grazing Jade Carp’s back.
Jade Carp shuddered but managed to stay airborne, flapping her wings again and flying away at a faster speed.
"The martial artist’s internal strength dissipates too quickly when released externally, indeed inconvenient," Qiao Mu said, covering his nose as he walked out of the teahouse with Long Shankong.
With his fingers formed like a sword, Qiao Mu concentrated invisible energy into a three-foot white energy sword, aiming for the wound on Long Shankong’s arms.
The rotten and blackened flesh was cut off by his energy sword, revealing fresh red flesh once again.
This skill was learned by mimicking the Martial Saint encountered in Nan Province.
In the past, the Martial Saint used the Cow Cleaver Knife to cut the flesh of fellow martial artists, to block the Etching Bones Li Fire.
Now Qiao Mu used his energy sword to cut off Long Shankong’s flesh, showing a similar skill as the Martial Saint.
"Unknowingly, I have been able to recreate the martial arts skills displayed by the Martial Saint of the past… but if I want to progress further, where should I go next?"
At this time, Qiao Mu was already one of the top martial artists in the world.
However, the past Earth Sword Immortal and Martial Saint were still far ahead in some aspects.
"The past Earth Sword Immortal used my inner strength to wield the sword to cut through the sky, but the sword energy could roam freely and cut through the Immortal Gate formation…"
"The internal strength of the Martial Saint also seems extraordinary. He once suppressed Wu Qingxin’s Etching Bones Li Fire until it extinguished… How did they do it?"
Qiao Mu temporarily set aside this question, as it was clearly not something that could be unraveled quickly.
The issue to be dealt with now was the merchant in front of him, Luo Cheng.
………………
"Mr. Dragon…" Luo Cheng’s face was now full of flattery, with sweat beading on his forehead.
He originally just wanted to take advantage of the chaos and run away.
Who would have thought that Qiao Mu could actually defeat the Flying Fish Demon, he didn’t even have a chance to escape.
"No, please listen to my explanation, these are real gold, not stones!"
"But these coins weren’t ordinary coins, they were made of gold that flowed out of the Golden Village."
"Did I not remind you many times in the past to believe in the legend of Golden Village?"
"Believe it and it’s true, don’t believe it and it’s not."
"It was because Mr. Dragon didn’t believe in his heart enough, his heart was not sincere enough, that these gold pieces turned into stones."
"Still lying? Do you think I’m blind?" Long Shankong just sneered and threw the bag of rocks at the merchant Luo Cheng’s face.
But Qiao Mu beside just waved his hand to stop.
He wasn’t very interested in gold at first, but now he found himself intrigued by the words of the merchant.
"Does it exist if we believe and not exist if we don’t? If we believe, the gold is real; if we don’t believe, the gold is fake?"
"It’s almost there," explained the merchant Luo Cheng.
"Two gentlemen, actually I have heard before that deep in the mountains, there is a treasure hidden by the legendary pirate, it is called the Gold Transforming Stone."
"Although the touchstone is real and can turn stones touched into gold, turning stones into gold is too magical to happen easily."
"Turning stones into gold is a long process, not something that happens overnight."
Long Shankong sneered, "Your story sounds convincing."
Merchant Luo Cheng said confidently, "For this stone to turn into gold, it takes time and sincere belief."
"With true sincerity, even stone and gold can part. This is the way."
"As long as enough people believe this is real gold, and patiently wait, those stones touched by the philosopher’s stone can turn into gold."
Qiao Mu summarized:
"So, you’re saying… as long as we hold onto these stones for long enough and believe in the legend of Golden Village, eventually these stones will turn into gold?"
"Exactly," Luo Cheng affirmed.
"I certainly didn’t intend to deceive Mr. Dragon," he added, earnestly.
"But when I met Mr. Dragon by chance, if I had told him the truth, he wouldn’t have believed me."
"So I had to keep the true story of the bag of gold in my hand a secret. This way, as long as Mr. Dragon believed in the legend of Golden Village in his heart, the ten pounds of gold would be real."
"In this way, Mr. Dragon got ten pounds of gold, I got some treasure, both sides were happy, isn’t it wonderful?"
Long Shankong made a hissing sound, feeling a bit tangled up by this merchant’s words.
As he listened, it seemed to make some sense?
This bag of stones seemed to be more than just a simple trick, if it could really turn into gold, then compared to the items he used for exchange, it would definitely be a huge profit!
Qiao Mu nodded repeatedly on the side.
It had to be said that this person indeed had some twisted and unreasonable logic, quietly shifting the responsibility for turning the gold into stones to his fault, Long Shankong’s.
"You do make some sense," Qiao Mu slowly said.
"But I have a question."
"If you truly believe in the legend of Golden Village turning stones into gold, then why would you sell these ten pounds of gold cheaply to Long Shankong?"
Merchant Luo Cheng’s lips stuttered for a moment, unable to speak.
This question indeed hit the nail on the head. However, he was a sharp-tongued person and could come up with a decent excuse.
But when locking eyes with Qiao Mu, Luo Cheng inexplicably felt a strong pressure from his calm eyes.
A bead of sweat appeared on Merchant Luo Cheng’s forehead, and he stammered:
"It’s… to make more people believe in the legend of Golden Village." He explained slowly:
"As long as enough people believe in the legend, then the gold will always be real."
"By then, we will naturally have countless gold and make a fortune."
Qiao Mu heard this and suddenly looked down at the Impermanent Demon Cat perched on his shoulder.
If there is truly a monster behind Golden Village….then as the legend of Golden Village spreads, the increase in the number of people who believe in this rumor, does it signify the gradual strengthening of the Golden Village monster?
……………
P.S: End of book.
Summary: Reincarnated into a different world, Rode was told that in order to return to Earth, he must perfectly play the role of a villain, accepting the fate of being killed by the numerous female leads.
He also discovered that each female lead had a strange number hovering above their heads, but he didn’t know what it represented.
It wasn’t until one day when he fiercely defeated a female knight in a public arena and publicly humiliated her, that the number above her head actually increased.
I understand now, this is the value of hatred!
So, he began diligently playing the role of an evil villain: confronting the female knight with absolute defense, using actions to shatter her confidence!
The countess doesn’t like strangers approaching? Then greet her warmly every day!
A beautiful and arrogant fiancee? Then don’t spoil her!
Indeed, the numbers are rapidly increasing.
Just keep swiping.
Just when he thought he was about to make all the female leads hate him with confidence, they all approached him one after another.
"Only Rod understands my distress, it is he who makes me understand the true meaning of defense!"
"Rhode is different from those silly shallow guys."
"Rode, you never cared about me, your fiancée!"
The people of Roda were amazed.
He suddenly realized that he was actually brushing off kindness?!
"No, your hobbies are really strange, aren’t they?"