After seeing Black Emperor off, I cleaned up the plastic sheet we'd used to prepare the beef.
Huang Jiu jumped onto my shoulder and complained, "Kid, you're playing favorites. I've followed you for so long, yet I haven't gotten a single item from the Ten-Thousand Great Mountains."
I could tell he was a little jealous.
But honestly, being around Xiaocui every day, the benefits he got from that alone far exceeded the value of any trinket.
Right now, he was just angling for perks.
Back on the second floor, I picked out an item for him to shut him up.
Xiaocui, who had been watching TV, followed me the entire time. She didn't say a word, but her pout made her look like a little hoarder, clearly displeased.
After dealing with Huang Jiu, I called Xiaocui into the bedroom. I didn't even know if she could understand me, but I said, "Wife, I really don't feel great about using your things, but I had no other choice."
"But don't worry—one day, I'll give you something better."
I felt guilty and helpless.
If there were any other way, I wouldn't touch her belongings.
Xiaocui seemed to understand. She said, "What's mine is yours."
At that moment, whether or not she truly understood, my heart was warm.
I patted her head and said, "Go on, keep Tingting company and watch TV."
Xiaocui and Tingting seemed to be on the same mental wavelength; both loved watching cartoons.
While they were engrossed, Huang Jiu and I quietly slipped out of the villa and headed to the Void House.
On the way, I chatted with Huang Jiu about Black Emperor and the others.
I explained that going forward, we could treat Black Emperor like a sworn brother—but not Xiao Lu and Da Hei.
Huang Jiu immediately said, "That's kind of snobbish, sucking up to the strong while looking down on the weak."
I replied, "Being sworn brothers often ends in getting stabbed in the back, or making it hard to refuse them later. In time, many things become inconvenient to ask of them."
Huang Jiu understood my reasoning.
He just had a carefree nature and saw things differently than I did.
In the past, I might not have interfered.
But things are different now.
Without a certain level of deterrence and mutual benefit, just swearing brotherhood won't make most people truly stand by you when things go south.
Huang Jiu said, "You do what you think is best. You're definitely craftier than me anyway."
I rolled my eyes. Me, craftier than that scheming couple?
Back in the village, it looked like I'd tricked them, but in reality, they'd walked away with the gains.
It was just that Xiaocui's situation hadn't turned out as expected, so they ended up getting dragged into trouble.
But my relationship with Huang Jiu is different from the one with Black Emperor and the others.
Once at the Void House, Huang Jiu tricked the starving ghosts. I used green incense to stabilize the wandering spirits inside, and after spending just over ten minutes there, we returned to the villa.
Back in the living room, Huang Jiu said, "No fish."
I nodded. "No rush—they'll come eventually."
After getting beaten up by Yuan Fei for hours yesterday, I had no energy left to read, so I just went to bed early with Xiaocui.
The next morning, after regaining some strength, I practiced my wooden dummy routine for half an hour before Yuan Fei changed clothes and came down for sparring.
This time, he told me to use weapons and incorporate Daoist techniques.
I didn't hold back.
I thought: If I could cripple a top-tier Daoist champion, handling a musclehead like you shouldn't be that hard.
Speaking of that Daoist prodigy, I still had doubts.
After ruining someone with so much potential, Longhu Mountain hadn't come knocking. Their patience was incredible.
Seeing that I was distracted, Yuan Fei warned, "Focus, kid. I'm not your Sister Ling—I won't go easy on you."
Snapping back to attention, I formed the Dou (斗) hand seal.
But I didn't use its hidden technique.
Seeing this, Yuan Fei suddenly let out a furious roar, stomped the ground, and charged at me like a gorilla.
I didn't hold back either. I released my Dou spell the moment he attacked.
But just as I did, he sharply dodged, avoided the spell, and punched me straight in the gut.
Even through a padded chest protector, my vision sparkled with stars.
I had to admit—Yuan Fei's moves weren't flashy like the Daoist elite's, nor did he have the backing of a prestigious sect.
But his combat style was brutally practical.
When there was no opening, he dodged. Once he found one, he struck fast and hard—so fast, I couldn't react.
And his punches landed solid. Without the padding, I'd probably be down in two hits.
Realizing how fierce he was, I stopped holding back. My Blood Thorn lashed out rapidly.
Yuan Fei couldn't find a clear opening, so he kept dodging, unlike the Daoist prodigy who just flailed around.
Even his evasions were calculated—he kept circling me like a butterfly, maintaining intense pressure.
After several failed attacks, I started getting impatient. That's when he seized a gap, suddenly closed in, and slammed both palms against my wrist.
The impact was so jarring, it felt like my bones might snap. I couldn't even hold on to the Blood Thorn—it fell to the floor.
Thankfully, this was just practice, so Yuan Fei didn't press the attack.
Throughout the session, he didn't offer any pointers—just let me figure things out myself.
By noon, I was utterly exhausted and surrendered.
Looking back, I saw Xiaocui and Tingting sitting at the door on little stools, munching on potato chips while watching like it was a show.
Thinking about my sorry display, my face flushed red.
Just as I took off my training gear, an off-road vehicle pulled up to the gate.
Out stepped Jin Youcai's niece—Jin Qiaoqiao.
My brows furrowed slightly.
Didn't we already settle the compensation? Why was she back?
Still, I couldn't treat a bigshot's relative carelessly. I greeted her with a smile, "Miss Jin, what an honor to have you here!"
Jin Qiaoqiao giggled, "Can you not sound so cheesy?"
I rubbed my nose and said, "I've already paid the damages—don't try to stick me with anything else."
"Now that's not so cheesy," she rolled her eyes. "I didn't come to collect—I came to give you money."
Jin Youcai had said he wasn't part of the Xuan World.
But someone who could ascend to immortality like him was probably from a major family, even if not officially in the Xuan World.
So if Jin Qiaoqiao was here to hand out money, there must be a job. I got straight to the point, "What's the job?"
"Relocating a grave!" Jin Qiaoqiao blinked those big eyes of hers.
I was tempted.
Second Uncle had told me: even if someone's watching you, you still need to eat and drink.
Right now, I was sitting around burning through my savings. I couldn't just wait for things to happen.
I opened my spirit eye and examined her Daoist aura.
It was even stronger than Sister Ling's.
Considering her age, she was a genuine prodigy.
I asked, "What's the payment?"
Jin Qiaoqiao raised a hand, and before I could guess, she said, "Fifty million."
My eyelids twitched like crazy.
In the past, I'd have thought, "Jackpot!"
But now I wondered—was this a trap?
Then again, Jin Youcai had helped me personally. It seemed unlikely he'd let his niece set me up.
I asked, "What kind of grave?"
Jin Qiaoqiao replied, "A Nine-Yin Wealth-Attracting Burial Ground."
I frowned.
In Daoist practice, nine is considered the ultimate number. Anything with "nine" in it isn't trivial.
And a Nine-Yin Wealth-Attracting Grave must be relocated every ten years—or else the family's fortune would collapse, and misfortune would follow.
I asked, "Which move is this?"
"The thirty-first," Jin Qiaoqiao said matter-of-factly.
I sucked in a breath. "So it's been over three hundred years."
In such a grave, the corpse wouldn't decay.
There's no telling what might jump out once we dig—possibly an ancient corpse demon.
And with a reward of fifty million, it was likely that something had already gone wrong in the last relocation.