Chapter 150: Giving Up

Che Wuyou looked at the Void-Departure Grass in his hand, momentarily at a loss as to what to do. He hardly believed that the Void-Departure Grass had some predestined affinity with him—such mystical and ethereal notions. Besides, although the Void-Departure Grass was considered a relatively precious medicinal herb, it was extremely difficult for him to believe it could shift its position and teleport, unless it had truly attained sentience and become a spirit.

However, the latter possibility was immediately dismissed by Che Wuyou, because for flora to attain sentience and transform into spirits was exceedingly difficult, so much so that one could almost doubt their existence. Therefore, out of caution, Che Wuyou searched around the area to see if there were any traces of the Flame Serpent's activity...

The "Canon of Qi and Huang" provided extremely detailed explanations of the Void-Departure Grass, which subconsciously led Che Wuyou to believe that wherever the Void-Departure Grass was found, a Flame Serpent would inevitably be present. Although some Void-Departure Grass could be found growing in the wild, the changes in heaven and earth over time made wild Void-Departure Grass almost impossible to find nowadays. Yet, after a careful search, Che Wuyou failed to discover the slightest trace. However, when he happened to look up at the top of his head, a wry smile inevitably formed on his lips.

The purple-red characters floating above his head had clearly transformed from three hundred kilograms of medium-grade elemental stones into one thousand three hundred kilograms of medium-grade elemental stones. A mere bundle of small grass was actually worth one thousand kilograms of medium-grade elemental stones! Che Wuyou could not help but click his tongue in astonishment; this was equivalent to the value of a mid-grade precious artifact. But upon second thought, it made sense. If it were not so "rare and precious," how could the immensely wealthy Qingchi Sword Sect have found themselves in such a difficult predicament? Perhaps this was due to the herb being priceless yet unavailable on the market, as sightings of Void-Departure Grass were extremely rare. Otherwise, with the vast financial resources of the Qingchi Sword Sect, would they have cared about a mere mid-grade precious artifact when trying to save Li Yiqiu?

Contemplating the acquisition of such immense wealth, Che Wuyou formed the intention to simply give up and leave right then and there. Firstly, the Void-Departure Grass was truly difficult to store; if kept in the Qiankun pouch for too long, there was a risk it might slowly wither and die. Secondly, the purple-red characters above his head were far too conspicuous. With characters so eye-catching, even someone as aloof and cold as Yang Fengge would probably make a direct move to snatch it from him.

In fact, there was another, most crucial reason in his heart. Although even he did not believe that a primordial venomous creature like the Flame Serpent would appear on the ninth level, everything inside the Tongtian Pagoda had exceeded his comprehension. What if, by some bad luck, he ran into a Flame Serpent returning from foraging? Therefore, he felt that the sooner he left this place, the safer he would be.

Just as he was about to voice this thought to Zhang Qing'er, he suddenly heard a faint "squeak, squeak" sound coming from beneath his feet. This not only gave Che Wuyou a great start, but also startled Zhang Qing'er, whose gaze had been fixed on the purple-red characters above Che Wuyou's head, watching his net worth multiply severalfold. The two of them almost simultaneously came to the same realization: "The Flame Serpent is indeed nearby."

"Ah..." Both of them cried out almost simultaneously and leaped backward. Although they knew that in front of a Flame Serpent, any movement whatsoever was useless, this was merely a subconscious reaction completely beyond their control.

Their sudden movement thoroughly startled the creature secretly crawling on the ground. Its body contracted slightly, and it abruptly darted into the patch of grass. Zhang and Che only felt a blur before their eyes as if something had moved, but it vanished without a trace the next instant. The two of them exchanged glances, each thinking the exact same thing in their hearts: It's over. Dreaded things always happen; we've truly encountered this venomous beast.

Their eyes remained fixed tightly on the grass before them, not daring to relax even a fraction. Sure enough, after a short while, the "squeak" sound kept echoing from the grass once again. Then, a tiny head pushed aside a patch of lush green weeds and cautiously poked itself out. However, seeing that Zhang and Che were staring directly at it, the creature instantly retracted its head. Yet shortly after, it cautiously poked out again...

"Is the Flame Serpent this timid?" Che Wuyou and Zhang Qing'er exchanged a slight glance, their palms slick with sweat. What puzzled them, however, was why a creature ranked among the supreme venomous beasts of the world could be this cowardly. In their minds, such high-level demonic beasts were not only extremely aggressive, but also fiercely arrogant and intensely ferocious. Yet the peek-a-boo behavior of the little creature before them completely defied its formidable and terrifying reputation.

The two humans and the single beast stared at each other like this for a while. Afterward, the little beast on the ground seemed to realize that the humans in front of it posed no danger, and it finally emerged entirely into the open.

"Ah..." Zhang Qing'er could not help letting out a gasp of surprise, and Che Wuyou was struck dumb as well. Why was the small beast before them actually a very "miniature version" of a mouse? They had nearly scared themselves to death over this! When the little beast was still hiding in the grass, Che Wuyou had found it strange, but since only its tiny head was visible, he had only entertained slight suspicions. Now, as its entire body was revealed, Che Wuyou realized it was nothing more than a common mouse. No wonder it was so timid, scurrying and hiding away.

"What a cute white mouse! It's only about the size of my thumb." Realizing it was a false alarm, Zhang Qing'er's eyes lit up with excitement. She slowly crouched down, crept closer to the little white mouse, and then her right hand darted out like lightning, fiercely lunging to grab the white mouse... But the white mouse possessed astonishing speed. Before Zhang Qing'er's hand could even reach halfway, it had abruptly vanished without a trace, rendering her grab completely futile.

"Eh? Such incredible speed!" Zhang Qing'er refused to accept it. She searched back and forth through the grass several times, but after hunting for a long time without finding a single trace of the white mouse, she pouted her small lips in unhappiness.

"This white mouse is no ordinary creature. Judging by the blinding speed with which it just dodged your grasp, it is definitely something an ordinary white mouse could never achieve," Che Wuyou said to Zhang Qing'er. "Let's leave. I feel that the ninth level of the Tongtian Pagoda is permeated with bizarreness everywhere. Not only have we found the Void-Departure Grass—which has been virtually extinct in the outside world for countless years—right here, but we've also encountered such a bizarrely swift little white mouse."

Hearing this, Zhang Qing'er nodded slightly as well. In truth, how could she not know the oddity of that little mouse? It was just that the little mouse was white, fluffy, small, and adorable. How wonderful it would have been if she could have caught it and held it in the palm of her hand! However, hearing Che Wuyou speak thus, though she felt some reluctance to part with the little white mouse, she ultimately decided to leave this place together with him.

"Give up!" Right where they stood, the two of them shouted simultaneously at the top of their lungs. Suddenly, they felt a strange spatial fluctuation, and then they were seemingly enveloped by waves of bizarre energy. Before their eyes, a spatial tunnel over a person's height materialized out of thin air, and they were irresistibly sucked into it, being teleported away...

When they opened their eyes once again, they had returned to the outside world. Although they did not know the exact location, they knew they were still on Qingchi Mountain, still within the Qingchi Sword Sect. Yet, a faint "squeak, squeak" sound seemed to echo in their ears once more. They could not help smiling, almost thinking it was an illusion. However, Che Wuyou suddenly felt something tugging at the hem of his trousers. When he lowered his head to look, he was utterly astonished: why had the little white mouse followed them out as well?