Qi Xiao knew that Tian Feiyan and her older brother were close, but he hadn’t expected her to agree so readily before they had even discussed the price.
This made him feel a little guilty.
Tian Feiyan’s brother was indeed severely injured and unconscious, but his condition wasn’t as serious as Qi Xiao had claimed. Qi Xiao had deliberately exaggerated the illness.
However, this sliver of guilt vanished in an instant.
’Besides, who could say he was wrong?’
’What if her brother’s condition was actually more severe than it appeared?’
’In that case, he would be saving a life, an act of immeasurable merit!’
Jiang Zuo had already strode in.
The wooden cabin wasn’t soundproof; he had heard their entire conversation.
He now had a general understanding of Tian Feiyan and her brother’s situation.
Jiang Zuo took out ten one-hundred-tael silver banknotes and placed them in front of Tian Feiyan.
"This is one thousand taels. I hope your brother gets well soon."
Jiang Zuo had no intention of haggling. Since he had already told Qi Xiao he would offer one thousand taels, he would stick to that price.
As he had thought before, compared to a rare Obsession Relic, one thousand taels was nothing.
If he could buy Obsession Relics for one thousand taels, Jiang Zuo would buy as many as he could find.
In his previous life, Jiang Zuo had seen countless brothers turn on each other and become bitter enemies over the most trivial of matters.
Tian Feiyan and her brother shared a deep bond, and he genuinely hoped they could have a better life.
Besides, by offering such a price, Jiang Zuo was also trying to set a precedent.
If word of this spread through the village, perhaps more people would be willing to bring out their family heirlooms for him to inspect.
If he could discover another two or three Obsession Relics, he would truly strike it rich.
Beast Soul Power and Beast Patterns were both rare treasures.
So, from Jiang Zuo’s perspective, spending a little extra money was not only worth it but also necessary.
One thousand taels in silver banknotes—Tian Feiyan had never seen such a large sum of money in her life.
At a loss for what to do, she looked toward Qi Xiao.
"Go on, take it. Just be careful not to mention this to outsiders when you’re getting treatment for Tian."
Qi Xiao advised.
Seeing Jiang Zuo pull out one thousand taels without a second thought, Qi Xiao was rather impressed.
If it had been him, he would have at least tried to haggle with Tian Feiyan.
This made Qi Xiao look forward to his own fifty-tael reward even more.
Jiang Zuo listened to Qi Xiao’s advice without any visible reaction.
If Tian Feiyan were to heed Qi Xiao’s advice, Jiang Zuo’s plan would come to nothing.
But Tian Feiyan was too young and naive. If someone truly wanted to know, it would only take a little effort to get her to talk.
Tian Feiyan wiped away her tears and put the silver banknotes away safely.
She carefully took the Night Cat’s Eye down from the wooden wall, caressed it one last time in her hands, and then reluctantly brought it before Jiang Zuo.
"It’s yours now. I hope you’ll treat it well."
Tian Feiyan’s faith in the Beast God was not particularly strong.
Ever since she was a child, she had wondered more than once: ’Does the Beast God truly exist in this world?’
’If the Beast God really offered protection, why did her parents, such devout believers, die so young?’
’Why were she and her brother left to struggle just to survive?’
She hadn’t wanted to sell these old family bones, not because of faith, but because they were all she had left from her parents, and they belonged to her brother.
"Don’t worry, I will take good care of it."
Jiang Zuo nodded and accepted the Night Cat’s Eye.
Just like the Porcupine Teeth, the Night Cat’s Eye also emitted a faint glow.
But unlike the Porcupine Teeth, the Night Cat’s Eye gave off a pale blue light, and this light seemed considerably brighter.
As he pretended to slip it into his sleeve pocket, a prompt asking whether to absorb it appeared, and the Night Cat’s Eye vanished from his hand.
Jiang Zuo eagerly looked at his attribute panel.
Obsession Relic: Night Cat’s Eye
—Night Cat’s Eye: A Tier 2 Obsession Relic, containing the lingering, intense wish of a Night Cat.
It was a Night Cat that had developed Spiritual Wisdom. It loved to read more than anything, but it was afraid of being discovered and mistaken for a Cat Demon, so it could only read secretly at night.
When death came, it was filled with indignation. The book it was reading wasn’t even finished, so how could it possibly die now?
Offering it its favorite books will grant the Beast Soul Power contained within.
...
’A cat that likes to read,’ Jiang Zuo thought. ’Okay. The obsession is a bit strange, but it doesn’t seem too difficult to fulfill.’
’Plus, this Night Cat’s Eye is a Tier 2 Obsession Relic!’
’That means he could obtain a considerable amount of Beast Soul Power from it!’
’It was like finding several Tier 1 Obsession Relics all at once.’
Unfortunately, no new quest had appeared in his quest log.
He wasn’t sure if future Obsession Relics would also generate quests, or if that was just a one-time occurrence with the first one.
Even without a quest, Jiang Zuo was in high spirits. This money was well spent!
With the item in hand, Jiang Zuo and Qi Xiao didn’t linger. They bid farewell to Tian Feiyan and left.
Once they were outside, Jiang Zuo gave Qi Xiao his reward of fifty taels of silver.
"Hehe, thanks!"
Qi Xiao chuckled with excitement.
Jiang Zuo suspected that if there were a casino nearby, Qi Xiao would dive right in without a moment’s hesitation.
However, Jiang Zuo wouldn’t say anything more. When it came to gamblers, he believed in letting fate run its course.
"Qi Xiao, you must know the legends about the Beast God in your village. Tell me about them."
Jiang Zuo said after a moment’s thought.
Every faith needed legends about its Divine Spirit; otherwise, it would be impossible to attract believers.
He recalled, however, that Xu Mingde had mentioned that the first outsiders to arrive in Cowherding Village had found it isolated from the world, its inhabitants barely clothed.
’What kind of legend could possibly arise from a place like that?’
"Of course I know it, but there’s not much to tell."
"The gist of it is that our ancestors were trying to settle in this land, but they faced an invasion of beast hordes and could barely fend them off."
"But one day, while they were fighting the beasts, a ball of fire fell from the sky and transformed into the silhouette of a giant beast they had never seen before."
"The giant beast let out a single Roar, and all the other beasts dropped dead."
"After that, our ancestors claimed this land, and they were finally able to settle down and multiply."
"The ancestors who witnessed the giant beast’s silhouette believed it was the Beast God, and from then on, generations of villagers began to worship the Beast God."
Qi Xiao shrugged.
Stories like that were a dime a dozen in the outside world. If you wrote it in a book, no one would even give it a second glance.
Besides, after that first legendary appearance, the Beast God hadn’t shown any other miracles in the thousand years since.
How could anyone keep faith in something like that?
"The story is indeed a bit simple."
Jiang Zuo nodded.
However, a different thought was forming in his mind.
’If the story was fabricated, they should have come up with a much grander, more impressive legend and image for the Beast God. It wouldn’t have been so plain.’
’Yet this simple legend was enough to sustain a village’s faith for hundreds of years, only beginning to secularize after being exposed to the outside world.’
’Could it be... that the legend is real?’
Jiang Zuo felt it was very likely.
If the legend was true, Jiang Zuo’s interest was piqued.
A flame descending from the sky, a single Roar annihilating a horde of beasts.
It was very likely a powerful Demon Beast. Only a Demon Beast could possess such terrifying power.
"Quick! Go tell the village chief! That black bear has broken into the ancestral land again!"
Jiang Zuo was about to ask more about the Beast God when an anxious shout came from up ahead.
Hearing the shout, villagers poured out of their houses one after another, carrying weapons and armor like bows, arrows, and Wooden Shields.
"That black bear broke into the ancestral land again? Jiang Zuo, you head back to the inn and wait. I’m going home to get my weapon and then head to the ancestral land to fight that thing!"
Qi Xiao said hurriedly to Jiang Zuo.
"What’s the deal with that black bear?"
Jiang Zuo asked as he ran back, following behind him.
"I don’t know. I only heard my dad talking about it last night. This black bear came out of nowhere. Tian Feiyan’s brother was injured by it on his way back from hunting in the mountains."
"Her brother’s much stronger than I am, but one swipe from that bear knocked him out cold, and he hasn’t woken up since."
"Luckily, the bear didn’t seem interested in killing him; it just kept running straight for the ancestral land. The guy on guard duty that day also happened to be slacking off, who knows where he’d run off to."
"As a result, the bear wrecked the ancestral land. It wasn’t until someone discovered it that they called for reinforcements and drove the bear away."
Qi Xiao explained quickly.
Since ancient times, Cowherding Village’s ancestral land had always been guarded by one person each day, either a man or a woman.
But guarding the ancestral land was a boring task. After the village became more secular, even though a person’s turn might not even come once a year, some people would still find ways to slack off during their duty.
Jiang Zuo returned to the inn.
The male innkeeper had also grabbed a weapon and gone out, leaving only the female innkeeper behind.
Jiang Zuo went back to his room, left Great Black there, and told him to stay put.
Then, with a swift movement, Jiang Zuo climbed out the window and stealthily made his way toward the village’s ancestral land.
With the village in a panic, no one noticed Jiang Zuo’s movements.
Cowherding Village’s ancestral land was located in a relatively open valley.
In the middle of the valley stood a simple altar, built from piles of grayish-white stones.
Jiang Zuo approached quietly from a patch of woods on the side of the valley.
Soon, he spotted a massive black bear standing three meters tall.
"ROAR!"
The black bear roared in front of the altar as the assembled villagers shot arrows at it.
Arrows rained down, striking the massive black bear.
But the great bear just kept roaring; the arrows couldn’t even break its skin.
’What kind of black bear is this? How could it grow so huge!’
Jiang Zuo was stunned.
But the next moment, as the giant black bear turned and its massive right arm faced Jiang Zuo...
『Obsession Relic ’Desolate Heaven Beast Bone Armor’ discovered!』
『Obsession Relic ’Desolate Heaven Beast Bone Armor’ discovered!』
『Obsession Relic ’Desolate Heaven Beast Bone Armor’ discovered!』
...
Jiang Zuo stared, dumbfounded.
When he discovered the Tier 2 Night Cat’s Eye, the system had only prompted him once.
But for this Desolate Heaven Beast Bone Armor, it was as if the system was afraid he was blind and wouldn’t see it. The prompts kept flashing before his eyes, like he was being spammed with notifications in his past life!