The Blade-Wielding Legend-Chapter 1251 - 653: The Treasure of the Inn (Part 2)

The Jingyang Ridge Inn is evidently furnished with considerable effort.

Hanging against the elm wood counter is a faded banner bearing the tiger head for wine, and an intricately carved peach wood screen with the story of Wu Song defeating the tiger decorates the space. Stacks of coarse pottery bowls tower above a piece of Water Margin opera script, giving the place a strong thematic vibe.

Nonetheless, the passage of time shows.

A copper pot hanging over the fire pit is blackened by smoke, its smell a blend of fragrant wine and pine resin.

The beams are lined with hunter-deposited pelts, and the replica of a hunter's copper whistle in the corner is covered in cobwebs. Even the fading yellow paper on the wall that reads "Three Bowls Don't Cross the Ridge" has letters blurred and blotchy from the smoke.

A few hunters, already simply bandaged, sit on benches in the hall.

All of them have faces as white as sheets, drinking wine to calm their nerves.

"Boss!"

Seeing Shi Heilong enter, they all hastily rose to their feet.

Jingyang Ridge Inn is known for its strong liquor and quality game.

Reliance solely on outside delivery risks shortages, so Shi Heilong specifically hired some hunters to roam the mountains all year round, supplying the inn with game.

"No formalities needed, sit down. What on earth happened?"

Shi Heilong pulled over a bench and sat down, his expression heavy as he asked.

"Boss, it scared us to death..."

Old Zhang, a seasoned hunter, grumbled between sips of rice wine, foam trickling down his beard:

"We spent the night in the mountains. Early in the morning, the woods were eerily silent—a pin-drop stillness without even a bird song. Er Lengzi claimed he saw a crippled deer, and we followed traces of blood to the old pine slope, then suddenly caught a whiff of a sweet smell..."

Shi Heilong frowned, "Sweet smell... Aren't animals usually foul-smelling?"

"It's true!"

Old Zhang hurriedly explained: "It's like... like rotten peaches in the summer heat, mixed with the scent of offerings in a temple!"

On hearing this, Sha Lifei's eyes narrowed slightly.

While the other hunters began to chatter noisily.

"That beast seeped out from the shadows of the trees..."

"Yes, in broad daylight, its eyes were green, gazing at us like it was scraping our bones with ice chips."

"Why do you say it's a tiger demon?"

"Sanwazi shot an arrow, but the shaft shattered into splinters as soon as it was released, and its breath froze our fur coats solid, making them clatter as we ran..."

"Fog rolled up in the mountains, and as we fled to the Chaotic Burial Mound, an old man in funeral attire suddenly emerged from behind a gravestone, his face painted as white as death, laughing at us, but the laughter... was distinctly a tiger's roar!"

Listening to the hunters, Shi Heilong felt a chill in his heart.

He knew these hunters were seasoned mountain men who inevitably encountered oddities. For them to be this frightened was certainly no small matter.

Thinking about it, Shi Heilong asked cautiously: "You didn't violate any taboos, did you?"

Old Zhang replied with a bitter smile: "Boss, we brothers are veterans, how could we act rashly."

"Before heading up the mountain, we burned incense and spoke with care, mindful of what to touch and what not to harm—everything is remembered in the heart..."

Saying this, his expression suddenly changed, "Unless it's because of that incident."

"What did you do? Speak clearly!"

Shi Heilong glared, admonishing sternly.

The hunter Old Zhang glanced at the others, shook his head, and said: "The Wu Song Temple on the mountain has fallen into disrepair and is somewhat abandoned, so we tidied it up a bit. Shanwazi even made a wish to hunt a few tigers."

Shi Heilong's face darkened, "Did it become my fault then?"

The renown of Jingyang Ridge largely hinges on "Wu Song defeating the tiger."

The inn's tiger meat is naturally its signature offering.

Shi Heilong deliberately raised the reward for hunting tigers, offering a bounty.

"Don't blame us, boss."

Several hunters promptly apologized.

Shi Heilong, not truly angry, pondered for a moment, then turned his head towards Sha Lifei, inspiration striking him, and respectfully cupping his hands said, "Honored heroes, apologies for my neglect."

"The fame of the Twelve Primordial Spirits precedes them; would you be so kind..."

"Certainly."

Sha Lifei smiled faintly, "But our fee is quite steep."

Shi Heilong patted his chest and replied, "Price is no issue. As long as you can rid us of this menace, I promise not to shortchange, you may quote any price."

"How generous!"

Sha Lifei raised a thumb in approval, "For helping in Ezhou, our fee is thirty thousand silver taels. Nowadays, our rates exceed this, but since it's for Brother Chen San, let's settle at that amount."

This remark caused a commotion around them.

"Thirty thousand taels!"

"Might as well be daylight robbery!"

"Inviting Liu Zhenren from Yanggu County, three thousand taels should be enough!"

Listening to these people's complaints, Sha Lifei smiled slightly, not bothering to explain.

Shi Heilong had just identified the Gu Technique, yet dared to face Long Yan'er alone. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Although the misunderstanding was cleared up, it's necessary to probe a bit.

If the other party agrees outright, then there's definitely an issue!

What tiger demon harming people, could also be a trap...

"Everyone shut up!"

Shi Heilong's face was ugly, glaring fiercely at the following disciples of Cao Gang, he cupped his fists and said, "Everyone, I'm sorry, I will handle this matter myself."

Upon hearing this, Sha Lifei was completely certain.

This person is simply a fool, knowing some things about the Mystical Sect, but not much.

Given the current reputation of the Twelve Primordial Spirits, thirty thousand taels of silver isn't expensive at all.

Of course, this is the collective reward for the entire team. If a few of them handle it incidentally, it would certainly be cheaper, but even so, it's a price these pugilistic people couldn't accept.

Thinking of this, Sha Lifei was ready to leave with his people.

They would either perform Demon Extermination voluntarily or follow the market rates.

In any case, they couldn't casually take jobs, ruining the Twelve Primordial Spirits' identity.

This is human nature.

Getting a cheaper deal, instead, makes one look down upon.

As for the tiger demon, it can be solved easily.

Zhangqiu Town has a City God Temple, and Mystical Sect members are bound to be around.

Just report it, and naturally, someone will handle it.

But at this moment, Zhao Lvzi, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly tugged at his sleeve, stepped forward, and said, "Brother Sha was joking, we'll handle this matter, and the reward can be discussed. We want something from Shopkeeper Shi's inn."

There's a treasure here!

Upon hearing this, Sha Lifei suddenly understood, and he rubbed his shiny bald head, laughing heartily, "Indeed, it was just a joke. Since you know Chen San, forget about any reward."

Zhao Lvzi still couldn't speak well, so he added a patch.

Sure enough, Shi Heilong heard this, and immediately shook his head, standing up and raising his hand, "What are you saying?"

"And don't even try to ask around, I'm not that stingy. Whatever is in the shop, just take it!"

To be honest, he's not a fool either.

Seeing Sha Lifei and his partner like this, obviously they found something.

But as he wasn't from the Mystical Sect, he really didn't want to report it to the City God Temple.

After all, gossip can be terrifying. Even if the demon is captured, the business at Jingyang Ridge might still go bust.

He could only handle it himself and then say to the outside world that it's a rumor.

Moreover, he was very curious about what item in the shop caught these people's attention.

"Great!"

Sha Lifei agreed immediately, then turned to Zhao Lvzi.

And Zhao Lvzi wasn't in a hurry. Under everyone's watchful eyes, he walked around the hall a few times, then ran to the kitchen, bringing out a plump tabby cat.

Shi Heilong was stunned, "Everyone is interested in this cat?"

He was a bit puzzled since several cats were kept in the inn to drive away mice.

This one is the laziest, doesn't catch mice, yet loves to run into the kitchen to steal food.

If not for raising it since it was a kitten, it would have been thrown out long ago.

Zhao Lvzi still spoke nothing, holding the tabby cat, he walked a few steps in the hall, suddenly exerted force on his legs, leaped onto a table and jumped into the air, tossing the tabby cat upward.

"Meow!"

The tabby cat was thrown directly onto the beam, but after landing, it didn't move chaotically. Instead, it puffed up its fur, arched its back, and kept screeching at a corner of the beam, as if seeing something terrifying.

And Zhao Lvzi, like a monkey, jumped onto the beam, took out a red rope from his bosom, his hands flipping rapidly, faster than light, tying an item up tightly, before jumping back down.

Everyone looked, it was an old copper candle holder.

Shi Heilong was full of surprise, "This... who put the candle holder on the beam?"

Evidently, he didn't know there was such an item on the beam, curious in his heart, he couldn't help but ask, "Everyone, I stand by my word, but I just want to ask a mouthful, what is this treasure?"

Seeing Zhao Lvzi's actions, he'd already guessed this was a Hidden Treasure Man, and couldn't help but feel itchy with curiosity.

"This is an 'Everlasting Lamp' from a tomb."

Zhao Lvzi glanced over, "What use is it? I tell you, you won't understand or be able to use it, but someone placed this thing on the beam to curse you."

"When sleeping at night, have you dreamt of anything?"

Upon hearing this sentence, Shi Heilong and several others instantly changed their expressions dramatically...