Wu Li was suddenly taken aback.
Just now, when she embraced him on the bed, he had heard the faint clinking of the tassels. At the time, he thought she had merely forgotten to take it off, never imagining that she had deliberately kept it on.
He raised his eyes and looked at the hair stick.
The hairpin body was made of red sandalwood, but the dangling pendant beneath it was a silver ornament. The materials and style were obviously mismatched, as clumsy as a child's haphazardly pieced together plaything.
If placed in a shop, absolutely no one would give it a second glance.
As a gift, it was too shabby to even present.
Thinking of this, his gaze fell back onto that Qiankun pouch.
The hair stick, which had previously shimmered with faint silver light, suddenly felt as cheap as a mud-stained weed in his heart.
Even thousands or tens of thousands of such hair sticks could not compare to a ten-thousandth of this Qiankun pouch.
Some things, from the moment they are born, have their value destined.
If Jiang Zhiyu had a sudden whim to make such a hair stick, he could do it anytime.
But if he were asked to give away a Qiankun pouch... he probably could not do it even if he exhausted his entire life.
A magical treasure like the Qiankun pouch could only be refined by immortal sects with profound Daoist magic and deep foundations.
And Jiang Zhiyu's master, Alchemist Ji, came from one of the prominent sects of the current era, Jingming Terrace, which had countless treasures. A Qiankun pouch was just an ordinary item to him.
Wu Li's fingertips curled unconsciously.
His face suddenly darkened, and his tone was stiff: "You wear it even when sleeping? Be careful not to roll over and stab it into your head, you might poke yourself to death in your sleep!"
What was worth treasuring about such a crudely made thing!
Chai Xiaomi's brows furrowed, and the fingers playing with the tassels immediately stopped.
He was simply the typical representative of a dog's mouth unable to spit out ivory!
Praising his gift and he was still unsatisfied, why was he so hard to please? She angrily retorted: "Then you giving me this hair stick, did you do it on purpose to—"
Poke me to death!
The remaining words were suddenly held back by her.
She saw the moonlight passing through the inn's window lattice, falling on the youth's lowered eyelashes, casting a fine shadow.
She suddenly felt that the youth at this moment was very much like some small beast brandishing its claws in a false show of strength, seemingly covered in thorns, but clumsily curled up, as if carefully protecting its softest spot.
Recalling his pursed lips and focused expression when he made this hair stick earlier, the anger in her heart was suddenly entangled by something fine, and slowly sank.
"But," she said softly, her voice carrying a gentleness she didn't even notice herself, "I just can't bear to take it off. This is something someone made for me with his own hands, and there isn't a second one in the whole world. What if I lose it? Where would I go to find an identical one?"
"A Qiankun pouch is a magical treasure, as long as it is refined, there can always be more. But this hairpin, it took away one of our Lili's earrings."
She leaned forward, clearly seeing two small reflections of herself in his amber and deep purple pupils.
"What I like the most is someone who is willing to share even the only things they have with me."
"This intention cannot be bought with a thousand pieces of gold. How precious."
She really was an idiot.
Wu Li thought.
How could anyone think a weed was precious?
Besides, this pair of earrings was not a rare item. In the Miaojiang villages, silver ornaments more exquisite than this were everywhere.
"Nonsense."
He heard himself dryly squeeze out these two words.
But as soon as the words left his mouth, an inexplicable annoyance surged in his heart, as if what he wanted to say was not this sentence at all, yet he didn't know what he actually wanted to say.
Coincidentally.
At this moment, a cold and stern shout also came from downstairs: "Nonsense!"
Chai Xiaomi's attention was instantly hooked.
She subconsciously leaned out, more than half of her body leaning over the railing, eagerly looking downstairs.
This inn was already old, and the wood of the railing had long cracked and decayed.
Although the young girl had a slender figure and was not heavy, this posture still caused the old wooden structure to let out a faint creaking sound, the cracks quietly twisting in the dark.
And she was busy enjoying the gossip, completely unaware.
Wu Li's gaze swept over the crack that was quietly splitting open beside her, but he did not make a sound.
With the height of the second floor inside the inn, it was not as deep as a cellar. Falling down would actually not be a big deal, at most scraping some skin and flesh, and hurting for a few days.
Always so reckless and careless, it might be better to just let her fall once, perhaps it would teach her a lesson.
His sight brushed past her slender waist outlined by the light pink ruqun dress, the curve so soft it seemed it would break at a fold, and a section of pinkish-white arm exposed while clinging to the wooden railing.
No matter how you looked at it, she resembled a porcelain doll.
Probably couldn't withstand a fall.
He almost forgot, she still had her condition.
Then she definitely couldn't fall in front of everyone.
He had never seen a woman more troublesome than her!
A trace of imperceptible helplessness flashed through his eyes, and he had no choice but to silently raise his hand and cover the trembling wooden railing.
His five fingers suddenly closed, firmly gripping that crack. The railing that was originally slightly twisting was instantly suppressed by a cold and heavy power, becoming completely motionless.
"Since you are the one who set up the Soul-Locking Array, how could you not know the method to recall the ghost infant?" Jiang Zhiyu said. "That infant spirit has already developed murderous intentions towards people and absolutely cannot be kept any longer. If you recall it, I will naturally disperse its soul, preventing it from causing harm in the future, and also cutting off the danger of this karmic debt backfiring on you. This is also a release for you."
Hearing the words "disperse its soul," the innkeeper's eyes suddenly turned bloodshot, and he hissed as if risking everything: "What ghost infant, what Soul-Locking Array! Young Master, I can't understand a single word you're saying!"
"Fatty, I advise you not to refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit!" Yan Xingxiao slammed his scabbard on the ground with a clang, and a fierce aura honed from years of walking the martial arts world suddenly rose up.
If Song Yueyao hadn't raised her hand to stop him, he probably would have really rushed up and hit the man.
The innkeeper, however, sneered at his threat, revealing a mocking cold smile: "In my inn, there are no toasts and no forfeits, only home-brewed rice wine. Guest, haven't you tasted it?"
"You!"
Song Yueyao lightly blocked him, stopping Yan Xingxiao's explosive movement.
Having been sent to Lingyu Prefecture as a hostage by her biological father, she had seen the sinister side of human nature, but she had never seen such a brazen and shameless person.
Those who used infant spirits to perform evil arts around Sanchao County mostly used their own flesh and blood.
Song Yueyao thought to herself, this female infant was most likely the innkeeper's biological child. Using his own daughter's soul to enhance his luck, not only did he not have the slightest pity, but upon hearing that her soul was to be dispersed, he actually became so angry and anxious, fearing only that his source of wealth would be cut off.
How cold-blooded, and how pathetic.
"Stop acting." Song Yueyao's voice was cold and clear. "You are using that ghost infant to generate wealth for yourself. Otherwise, where did your silk clothes and the mutton-fat jade thumb ring on your finger come from? Could it be from this small and dilapidated inn of yours! Is money really that important?"
"Is it not important?" The innkeeper seemed to have been poked in his deepest scar, his pupils suddenly widening, and the muscles on his face contorting.
He had noticed early on the extraordinary bearing of the man and woman before him, certain they came from a background of wealth and privilege. "What do people like you, born into a life of luxury, understand? Of course it is easy for you to stand there and make snide remarks!"
"That foolish woman I spent five taels of silver to marry, what a curse! She brought me no benefit at all, only birthing worthless burdens!" He spat, his eyes filled with naked disgust. "Bah! Women are useless, nothing but cheap wretches! Worthless things who do not even deserve a flimsy coffin!"
He rubbed the cold jade thumb ring on his finger as if it were the only real and warm thing in the world. His tone grew sinister and smug. "If her useless life can buy her father something tangible, then consider it her blessing!"
"I used my own flesh and blood to feed my fortune, so what? I gave her life, and it is only natural that she repays her father now! Why are you standing there pretending to be so high and mighty?"
He grew more agitated as he spoke, spittle flying from his mouth. "In this world, people mock the poor, not the wicked! Without money or power, you are just mud on the ground for anyone to trample! Now that I wear fine silk and this jade ring, everyone has to respectfully call me Boss Zhu! Anyone who tries to cut off my wealth is my mortal enemy! You want to break my fortune? You will have to step over my dead body!"
"I suggest you mind your own business and get the hell out of here!"
