123: Chapter 123 Green Snake Encounters a Starving Monk
"Don't be nervous."
"I'm just joking."
"Whether I kill you or not makes no difference to me."
Killing a guy like this, who isn't rotten to the core, wouldn't even feel satisfying.
"You can go. Continue investigating the tragedy at the Prince's Mansion."
"You can also report my existence to the Imperial Court."
"It would cause me a bit of trouble, but without a doubt, you would die."
"Come on, let's head back together."
Xu Qing walked toward the West City Gate.
Xu Ke bit his lip and followed closely behind.
He already had a guess about Xu Qing's identity.
Whether she was an immortal or a demon, neither was someone a Mortal like him could afford to provoke.
The walk back was quite somber.
Xu Qing walked in front while Xu Ke followed closely behind, not saying a word.
"Sister, can you spare some change?"
A scrawny, skin-and-bones little girl beggar in rags timidly held out a broken bowl toward Xu Qing.
Despite looking well-dressed, Xu Qing was actually so poor that she only had a body full of counterfeit coins.
Giving counterfeit coins as charity made her feel a bit guilty.
"Sister Qing, I'll give it!"
Seeing this, Xu Ke quickly took out a few copper coins and tossed them into the bowl.
As expected of someone from the Jianghu, Xu Ke was very good at reading the room.
His address of "Sister Qing" sounded quite affectionate.
"Thank you, two great benefactors! Thank you!"
The little girl kowtowed a few times.
Xu Qing walked away quickly to avoid the kowtowing.
Xu Ke quietly used hidden force to place a few more copper coins under the bowl.
Then, ignoring the girl's reaction, he walked away.
"Pardon me for showing off, Sister Qing."
"Behind those beggars, there are organizations."
"Most of the money the little beggars get has to be handed over."
Xu Qing gave Xu Ke a few extra looks, then glanced at the Candied Haws by the roadside.
"Sister Qing, do you want to eat this? I'll buy it for you right away!"
Although Xu Ke couldn't see Xu Qing's eyes, he noticed where she was facing.
He quickly trotted to the vendor and bought the Candied Haws.
"Mm-hmm, you're quite good."
Xu Qing took the Candied Haws and took a bite.
"It's my honor to serve Sister Qing."
"Is there anything else you want to eat, Sister Qing?"
"Of course!"
Next, Xu Qing ate her fill.
By the time they returned to the inn, she still felt a bit stuffed.
Her true form was a green snake over ten meters long, yet she managed to eat until she was full...
Anyway, Xu Ke had to go to the Bank to withdraw silver once midway through.
"I've found a long-term meal ticket."
"That poor Elder at home is still spending my counterfeit coins; it's a disgrace considering she's a Grand Elder."
"She has no shame at all."
Xu Qing didn't feel any burden about spending counterfeit money on rich people.
But she still felt a bit guilty spending counterfeit money on vendors who worked hard at their stalls.
"Speaking of which, why did This Snake come to the capital again?"
"Right, to sneak into the Xuanji Sect!"
Picking her teeth, Xu Qing looked toward the next room.
Elder Li had long since taken Daya off to play somewhere unknown.
"Whatever, if they're not in a hurry, I'm not in a hurry either."
Having eaten and drunk her fill, Xu Qing planned to sleep.
Outside at this moment.
Elder Li was pulling Daya along.
"I want to eat that."
Daya pointed at the Candied Haws.
"I'll go buy it for Mother right now!"
Elder Li looked like she wasn't afraid of spoiling the "child" at all.
Of course, she was using the counterfeit coins created by Xu Qing's illusions.
A woman several hundred years old pampering a woman over a thousand years old didn't seem out of place at all.
Even though they were clearly two old women.
"I want to eat that too!"
Once Daya got the Candied Haws, she pointed at another Sugar Figure.
"Alright, I'll go buy it for Mother right now."
Elder Li walked toward the Sugar Figure vendor again.
Just after Elder Li left, a monk approached the solitary Daya.
He opened his mouth.
"amitabha, Benefactor, you reek of snakes."
Daya quickly put her hands on her hips and looked up.
"Hmph, This Snake is a Genius snake, the Daya snake."
"If Heaven did not give birth to me, Daya snake..."
The monk was also a bit confused.
What is this child talking about? Never mind, let's ask for alms first.
"Benefactor, could you spare a little food?"
The monk pressed his palms together; for some reason, his right eyelid kept twitching.
"Here!"
Daya readily stuffed the Candied Haws into his Alms Bowl.
A Flatbread was already lying in the Alms Bowl.
"Who are you?"
Hearing the voice, the monk quickly turned around and saw a veiled woman with a graceful figure.
The monk's pupils constricted sharply.
He was a Golden Core Buddhist Cultivator; even though he couldn't freely release his Divine Sense in the capital, his perception was still very sharp.
Everyone around was within his perception.
Yet this woman had appeared behind him out of thin air without him sensing a thing.
He was so startled that he almost crushed the Buddha statue given by the Abbot in his robes to call for backup.
(The Green Snake says she's going to charge royalty fees for that move.)
"A, amitabha."
"This little monk—no, this poor monk is from the Kingdom of Tianzhu..."
"Xiao Mo, he stole my Candied Haws."
Daya delivered the finishing blow.
As for why she called her Xiao Mo, it was because Elder Li's full name was Li Xiaomo.
Since she was her mother, she naturally had Daya call her Xiao Mo.
The monk's eyes widened.
You can't just slander people like that; as for a monk, can it be called stealing? It's called...
"You actually dared to steal Mother's Candied Haws!!!"
"You actually dared to steal the Candied Haws filled with love that I bought for Mother!!!"
The monk didn't remember much, nor did he have time to explain; everything happened too fast.
He only remembered the words the Abbot had warned him with when he left the Bodhi Temple to head east.
"Xia Dynasty, have a great disaster."
He originally thought the Abbot was talking about the Xia Dynasty.
Now that he thought about it, the Abbot was talking about him.
"The Kingdom of Tianzhu... looks like you're a Bald Donkey from the Bodhi Temple."
"Even a Bald Donkey from the Bodhi Temple can't steal the love-filled Candied Haws I gave to Mother!"
Elder Li grabbed the unconscious monk by the neck and lifted him up.
Strangely, the people around seemed to turn a blind eye to all this, as if they couldn't see the trio at all.
"Mother, let's head back to the inn first."
Elder Li dragged the monk to the inn as if she were dragging a corpse.
The monk's Body Cultivator skill had reached an astounding Level 5.
So he was very durable; even after being dragged all that way, not even a layer of skin was broken.
If Xu Qing saw this, she would probably already have several Artifact Refining techniques forming in her mind.
"This is..."
Xu Qing looked at the monk and felt he looked a bit familiar.
Xu Qing was face-blind and usually relied on scent to distinguish people.
This monk strangely had no scent, so Xu Qing didn't recognize him at first.
"Isn't this the monk from this morning who spoke so nicely?"
"Why did you capture him?"
Xu Qing yanked the Alms Bowl from the monk's hand; tsk, he was holding on quite tight.
Inside the Alms Bowl, there just happened to be a Flatbread and some Candied Haws.
The Flatbread was exactly the one she had given him earlier.
It seemed he hadn't been willing to eat it yet.
"He stole Daya's Candied Haws."
Xu Qing looked at the monk.
He still hadn't eaten the Flatbread she'd rewarded him with.
He must have been lightheaded from hunger.
Stealing a child's Candied Haws... what a pitiful monk.
"Watch as This Fahai subdues you, demon snake!!"
Xu Qing took two steps back.
She looked at the monk talking in his sleep.
This boy absolutely cannot be allowed to live!
She quickly turned around and took out a book, reading it carefully.
The title was "One Hundred Uses of Sarira in Artifact Refining."