Chapter 792: Odd Statue from Evil Well

Hazel stopped before the ancient stone statue. Her vacant blue eyes remained fixed upon it without the slightest change in expression. She stood there motionless for several breaths before slowly raising her right fist. Without any warning, she struck forward.

Boom!

A loud collision echoed throughout the antique shop.

Fortunately, Suzuka reacted in time.

The instant Hazel moved, Suzuka stepped between her and the statue, blocking the punch with her palm. The impact forced her back half a step, and a faint numbness spread through her arm.

She frowned slightly.

"That strength..."

Suzuka looked at Hazel with surprise. Although she hadn’t been injured, she had clearly felt the force behind that casual punch.

’Damn... Did she use her full strength?’

She secretly flexed her fingers.

Even her palm felt a slight sting. This was no ordinary corpse puppet. Tyler naturally noticed Suzuka’s expression.

He walked over and gently patted Hazel’s shoulder. "Don’t break things."

Then he looked at the weathered stone statue.

"You like this statue?"

Hazel did not answer. She simply continued staring at the sculpture as though it possessed something that only she could perceive.

At that moment, a burst of laughter echoed through the shop.

"Bahaha! Well, well, well... It seems we’ve encountered quite the tomboy today."

The speaker was none other than the young master in golden robes who had been following them since earlier.

Suzuka was already in a poor mood after receiving Hazel’s punch.

Hearing someone laugh at the situation only made her expression colder.

She glanced at the newcomer.

"And who exactly are you?"

Her tone was anything but polite.

The young man wasn’t offended in the slightest. Instead, he smiled confidently before brushing back his hair.

"Oh where are My manners? How could I speak with such beautiful ladies without introducing myself first?"

He proudly placed a hand over his chest.

"My name is Ali Ister."

Tyler blinked.

"Alister?"

The young man immediately waved his hands.

"No, no... It’s Ali.... From the Ister Family."

He pointed at himself with a grin before adding,

"And please don’t interrupt conversations between young people."

Tyler’s lips twitched. Technically... He wasn’t wrong. Mentally, Tyler had already lived through many lifetimes.

Still... He was currently inside a Body of Youth. Being excluded from the category of "young people" felt rather strange.

Ignoring Ali’s antics, Suzuka simply pulled Hazel back beside Tyler before she caused another incident.

Ali, however, misunderstood the situation completely.

He looked toward Hazel before smiling charmingly.

"Shopkeeper. Pack this statue. This Young Master will purchase it for this beautiful young lady."

He casually flicked his hair, believing his generosity would certainly leave a favorable impression.

Unfortunately... Hazel never even looked at him. Her empty blue eyes remained fixed upon Tyler, silently waiting for his next command.

Ali’s smile stiffened slightly. He quickly recovered before turning toward Tyler.

"And who might you be? I don’t believe I’ve seen you in Moon Hawk City before."

Tyler smiled politely.

"My name is Tyler. I only arrived today. It’s a pleasure to meet Young Master Ali."

Ali laughed loudly.

"Tyler? What a coincidence. Recently that name has become famous everywhere. I suppose Tyler is quite a common name after all."

He chuckled before adding in a teasing tone,

"It’s not every day someone gets to share a name with Tyler White."

Although his words sounded friendly, the hidden meaning was obvious. Someone like you couldn’t possibly be that Tyler White.

Tyler merely smiled without responding.

Beside him, Suzuka lowered her head slightly to hide her smile.

She suddenly became curious. If Ali ever discovered that the real Tyler White was standing directly before him... What kind of expression would appear on his face? The thought alone amused her.

Ali mistook Suzuka’s reaction completely.

Seeing her smile, he assumed she appreciated his joke. His confidence immediately increased.

Just as he was about to continue speaking, his servant hurried over.

"Young Master..."

Ali frowned, "What is it? Can’t you see I’m occupied?"

The servant hurriedly bowed, "My apologies, Young Master. But there’s a small problem. It’s about the statue."

Ali frowned.

"What happened? The shopkeeper refuses to sell it." Ali’s smile disappeared.

He slowly turned toward the elderly shopkeeper.

"Oh?"

The old man immediately cupped his fists respectfully.

"I sincerely apologize, Young Master Ali. It’s not that this old man refuses to sell. It’s simply... the offered price is too low."

Ali’s brows furrowed as he turned toward his servant.

"How much did you offer him?"

"One hundred low-grade spirit stones, Young Master," the servant replied honestly.

Hearing that, even Ali was slightly surprised.

"One hundred low-grade spirit stones, and he still refused?" He looked at the old shopkeeper with suspicion. "Old man, are you trying to raise the price after seeing this Young Master?"

The elderly shopkeeper immediately waved his hands in denial. "Young Master has misunderstood. Even if you offered me a thousand low-grade spirit stones, I still wouldn’t dare sell it."

Those words immediately caught Tyler’s attention. He looked at the weathered stone statue once more before asking, "Could it be some kind of rare artifact?"

The shopkeeper shook his head.

"No... it isn’t an artifact."

His expression became somewhat complicated. After hesitating for a moment, he lowered his voice as if afraid someone else might overhear.

"To be honest... this statue was excavated from the Evil Well."

The atmosphere inside the shop instantly changed.

Suzuka’s expression became serious. Without hesitation, she stepped in front of Tyler and Hazel.

Even Ali and his servant subconsciously retreated several steps.

Ali’s confident expression disappeared.

"You... You actually possess something retrieved from the Evil Well?"

His voice contained obvious caution.

Only Tyler remained confused. Seeing his puzzled expression, Suzuka quietly sighed. Young Master Tyler truly lacked common knowledge regarding the world. She lowered her voice and explained,

"The Evil Well is considered one of the most dangerous places in the Western Continent. According to the ancient records, it is connected to the legendary Abyss. Every few decades, strange objects are pulled out from its depths. Some are ancient treasures, some are ordinary-looking relics, but almost all of them have one thing in common— they bring calamity."

Suzuka continued her explanation while keeping her eyes fixed on the ancient statue.

She paused briefly before continuing.

"There was once a powerful sect that retrieved an ancient sword from the Evil Well. At first, nothing unusual happened, so they regarded it as a heaven-sent treasure and enshrined it within their sect. However, less than a year later, that sect completely vanished from the cultivation world. Not a single disciple survived, and nobody ever discovered what had happened. Since then, many similar incidents have been recorded. Because of those tragedies, cultivators generally avoid anything that originates from the Evil Well."

Only then did Tyler understand why everyone had reacted so strongly after hearing the statue’s origin. Since coming to this world, most of his time had been spent cultivating or researching formations and inventions. His understanding of the cultivation world’s history was still lacking compared to someone like Suzuka.

Seeing Tyler’s expression, Ali leaned toward his servant and whispered, "Is this fellow really from some wealthy family? He doesn’t even know something that every cultivator has heard since childhood."

His servant merely smiled awkwardly and wisely chose not to answer.

The elderly shopkeeper quickly waved both hands, afraid everyone would misunderstand.

"Please don’t be alarmed. Although this statue came from the Evil Well, it has never shown any signs of corruption. I’ve examined it many times over the years. It doesn’t emit sinister energy, it doesn’t influence the mind, and no one has ever been harmed after touching it."

Everyone’s gaze once again fell upon the weathered stone statue of the unfamiliar scaled beast.

Ali frowned slightly before asking, "If that’s the case, then why refuse to sell it? Surely one hundred low-grade spirit stones isn’t a small amount."

The old shopkeeper let out a helpless sigh.

"It’s not that I don’t want to sell it, Young Master. The truth is... I simply can’t."

Without waiting for another question, he walked over to the statue and carefully lifted it with both hands before placing it into the servant’s arms.

"Please carry it outside."

The servant instinctively looked toward Ali. After receiving a nod from his master, he turned around and confidently walked toward the entrance.

Everyone watched him in silence.

He stepped through the doorway without any difficulty, but the moment his entire body crossed the threshold, the statue suddenly disappeared from his hands as though it had never existed.

The servant froze in place and stared blankly at his empty arms.

Before anyone could process what had happened, a faint flash appeared inside the shop.

The statue had returned to its original position on the stone pedestal, standing exactly as it had before, without even changing its orientation.

For a moment, the entire shop fell into complete silence.

Ali’s expression stiffened, Suzuka’s brows knitted together, and even Tyler narrowed his eyes with interest. Whatever this strange statue was, it was certainly far more unusual than it first appeared.