Chapter 215: The Eye is Deceived by Wealth

This four-way intersection led in four different directions. The message from Perfected Man Hulu had only given him the general location of a place called Fallen Phoenix Slope. Hua Yang had asked for directions along the way, but after arriving here, he found that the nearby villages were completely deserted. There was no one to ask.

If he chose the wrong path and had to backtrack, his fellow disciples might arrive before him, and then he wouldn’t get a share of the fat sheep from the Taichu Sect. At this thought, Hua Yang grew anxious. As he sat on his horse, deliberating which road to take, he suddenly saw a young man in the distance carrying a pole with baskets full of coal, walking down a mountain path.

Overjoyed, Hua Yang spurred his horse forward and blocked the youth’s path. “You there, young man. This Daoist master asks you, do you know where Fallen Phoenix Slope is?”

The youth carrying the coal was none other than Qin Haoxuan, who had activated his Mortal Talisman. He looked up at Hua Yang, with his slightly protruding cheekbones, gaunt figure, goatee, and triangular eyes, and put on a look of surprise. “Uncle, you’re going to Fallen Phoenix Slope? You can’t go there now. Two big armies are fighting, and many people have been killed.”

“This Daoist master told you to speak, so speak. Any more nonsense, and I’ll cut you to pieces!” Hua Yang’s face was ferocious. In his eyes, a mortal was no different from an ant. A high and mighty cultivator like himself naturally did not need to speak politely to an ant.

Evidently, the country boy Qin Haoxuan was “frightened” by the ferocious Daoist master. He said with a timid expression, “Dao… Daoist master, that Fallen Phoenix Slope is still a few dozen li from here. There are many winding roads and forks. I’m afraid you won’t be able to remember if I just tell you.”

Hua Yang frowned, clearly displeased. “You just point the way. Whether I can remember is my business.”

“Yes, yes,” Qin Haoxuan nodded repeatedly. He put down the load of coal from his shoulder and pointed ahead. “First, take the third fork on the left, then there will be a two-way fork. Go to the left…”

After he finished, Hua Yang nodded, his face still ferocious as he threatened, “You’re not lying to me, are you?”

“Ah… Daoist master, I wouldn’t dare. I’m not lying to you…” The country boy Qin Haoxuan was trembling with fear, shivering under his intimidating aura.

Hua Yang nodded with satisfaction. “You may go.”

“Yes, yes, thank you, Daoist master…” Qin Haoxuan hurriedly picked up his carrying pole and started to walk. Who knew that in his haste, he would kick a stone on the ground and fall flat on his face. The entire load of coal spilled out, and mixed in with it were a few glittering spirit stones.

Hua Yang, who had not ridden far, felt a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy from behind him, as if from spirit stones. He abruptly reined in his horse and looked back. A greedy light shone in his eyes. In the country boy’s spilled basket, there were indeed a few low-grade spirit stones.

He rode back to Qin Haoxuan, who was scooping the coal back into his baskets handful by handful. He dismounted, picked up the few spirit stones, and demanded, “Where did you get these stones?”

“Daoist master, I dug these up while mining for coal in the mine over there. I thought they were pretty and glittery, and they feel very comfortable in my hand, so I picked up a few to take back and see if our village chief would buy them. If he does, I’ll pick up some more when I come back to mine tomorrow. Our village chief is the richest person in our village,” the simple country boy explained, bowing and scraping.

Hearing this, Hua Yang was stunned. “You mean there are many more of these stones?”

Qin Haoxuan nodded and said very earnestly, “Aigh, there are so many! They grow together with the coal. You can find one with just a few digs. I just don’t know what they’re used for, but they feel strangely comfortable in my hand.”

Hua Yang’s eyes lit up, his expression and his gaze filled with greed. He thought to himself, Nonsense, spirit stones are filled with rich spiritual energy. Although cultivators can’t absorb it directly, if an ordinary person holds one, the energy will nourish their body, and of course it feels comfortable. According to what this fellow is saying, there must be a spirit stone vein there. If this is true, then I, this Daoist master, have struck it rich…

But he quickly thought of something else and asked with a suspicious expression, “I’ve traveled this road, and there’s no one for fifty li in any direction. Where are you from? Why are you here?”

Qin Haoxuan showed a simple and honest smile and explained with a sincere expression, “Daoist master, I’m from Niujia Village, seventy li away. With the war and chaos these days, I didn’t know where to go to earn a living, so I had to risk the danger and come here to mine coal. Although it’s a journey of over a hundred li back and forth, if I sell a load of coal to our village chief, I can get fifty large coins for it.”

“Mm,” Hua Yang nodded, the doubt on his face fading slightly. There was indeed a Niujia Village seventy li away; he had asked for directions there earlier. He looked Qin Haoxuan up and down with a suspicious gaze again. At this moment, he was covered in coal dust, with soot on his face and hands. In his basket was a pickaxe for mining coal. He looked just like an ordinary country bumpkin. So, Hua Yang ordered, “Take me to that coal mine.”

“Daoist master, I still have to hurry back and sell this coal to buy steamed buns for my family,” Qin Haoxuan said. Seeing that Hua Yang had taken the bait, his heart leaped with joy, but he continued, “My family hasn’t eaten in two days.”

Hua Yang frowned, displeased, but after a moment’s thought, he took a few taels of silver from his robes and tossed them to him. “Take me there, and these are all yours.”

“Ah, ah…” Seeing the silver on the ground, Qin Haoxuan’s eyes lit up. He picked it up as if it were his own father, bit each piece, and then beamed with a smile. “Alright, alright! I’ll take you there right now.”

With that, he led the way, and Hua Yang followed behind on his horse.

Hua Yang looked at his back and sneered in his heart. Although these worldly yellow and white things are useless to me, when we get there, I will kill him to silence him. According to what he said, there must be a spirit stone vein there. This news cannot be leaked.

Thinking that he was about to discover a spirit stone mine, Hua Yang felt light-headed. For rogue cultivators like him, cultivation resources were extremely difficult to come by, which had fostered his miserly nature. If he had sufficient resources, who would be a miser instead of a grand master? If he could monopolize this spirit stone vein, then he wouldn’t have to worry about top-grade artifacts, pills, immortal concubines, or spiritual arts anymore.

After walking for a while, Qin Haoxuan led him to the pre-arranged coal cave. He pointed to the dark opening and said, “Daoist master, those stones were mined from here.”

Looking at the dark cave, Hua Yang frowned slightly. Although the temptation of spirit stones was great, he had not lost his basic vigilance. He looked at the cave, then at the thick layer of coal slag on the ground, and initially determined that this was indeed a coal mine. Then his suspicious gaze fell on Qin Haoxuan again.

Could this be a trap set by a cultivator to ambush me? The thought flashed through his mind, and a cold sweat broke out. Being ever-cautious, he quickly sent out a strand of spiritual energy to probe Qin Haoxuan’s body.

With the Mortal Talisman active, Qin Haoxuan’s body indeed had the aura of a mortal, without a trace of a cultivator’s presence. After probing, Hua Yang was finally at ease. He pointed to the cave. “Lead me in.”

“Alright,” Qin Haoxuan said. He skillfully took out a torch, lit it with a flint, and said, “Follow me closely, Daoist master. It’s a bit damp inside, and the road is not easy to walk.”

Hua Yang nodded and followed him. After walking for about a li, the cave grew narrower, and the air became more turbid. Qin Haoxuan pointed ahead. “Daoist master, those stones were dug up from there. Look, there are still many on the ground.” He used his pickaxe to poke around, and sure enough, a few spirit stones fell out with the coal.

Seeing the scattered, coal-dusted spirit stones, the greed in Hua Yang’s eyes intensified, and a flash of killing intent appeared at the same time. This whole way, he had also noticed that there was no one else in the cave. It seemed the country boy was telling the truth. Just then, he sneered, reached into his robes, and took out a Binding Talisman, preparing to tie him up first and keep him as a laborer.

After all, he was a dignified cultivator. Did he really have to do the dirty work of looking for spirit stones in a coal mine himself?

Qin Haoxuan had been keeping an eye on him the whole way, for fear that he would launch a fatal attack from behind. The moment he made a move, he sensed it. Especially after feeling the fluctuation of spiritual energy from the Binding Talisman, he no longer held back. If he were to be bound by it, he would have no way to break free and would be at his mercy.

He retreated several steps, and his fourth-level Heaven-Cleaving Slash rapidly condensed. A cyan blade of qi several feet long appeared on his hand. Without a moment’s pause, it slashed towards Hua Yang with a hissing sound of breaking air.

Seeing the slash, Hua Yang’s eyes went wide and round. He never expected this fellow to actually be a cultivator. But why hadn’t he been able to detect the slightest trace of a cultivator’s aura on him before?

Hua Yang, who had survived until now, was no pushover. Although he was caught off guard by the attack, he unhesitatingly unleashed a Golden Light Hammer, condensing a golden hammer to meet it.

BOOM!

The golden hammer and the cyan blade of qi shattered simultaneously. The turbulent spiritual energy sent coal dust from the walls flying. One of the head-sized lumps of coal was knocked loose and rolled to Hua Yang’s feet. He glanced at it hastily and, seeing it was an ordinary piece of coal, paid it no mind.

“You scoundrel! You actually dared to set a trap to ambush me!” Hua Yang said coldly. “I will smash you to pieces and ensure you will never be reincarnated!”

Although he spoke fiercely, he was not confident in his heart. After all, he had probed Qin Haoxuan with his spiritual energy before and had found nothing. He must have some treasure to conceal his aura. Since he had that, he must have other treasures as well. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have dared to set such a trap. A trap, no matter how well-set, was useless without sufficient strength.

Hua Yang now saw Qin Haoxuan as a formidable opponent. So, he unhesitatingly flipped his palm, and a centipede Talisman Beast fell from his sleeve. The moment it hit the ground, it transformed into a half-meter-long, terrifyingly poisonous creature, its body emitting a black, baleful aura.

From Xu Changsheng’s diary, he knew that this centipede was extremely nimble and its attacks were poisonous. If he were bitten, he would be poisoned. So, he had to be on high alert.