The bearded man hugged his companion and began to sob.
Mo Tiange watched the tall, burly man weep so miserably, and the strange feeling within her grew stronger. What exactly was the relationship between these two? Their personalities were vastly different, yet they seemed to have an extremely close bond. And what was this about precepts...
After crying for a while, the bearded man saw Mo Tiange and wiped his face dejectedly. "Senior, if you wish to kill me, then do so. We were the ones who offended you first. Falling into this situation is our own fault for not following the precepts."
Mo Tiange frowned, watching the man without speaking.
After a long while, seeing she had no intention of making a move, the man looked up at her, confusion in his eyes. "Senior..."
"Are you a Buddhist cultivator?" Mo Tiange suddenly asked.
Hesitation flickered in the man's eyes. After a pause, he finally nodded. "Yes... this junior is a Buddhist cultivator..."
Indeed. In Yunzhong, Buddhist cultivators were different from Daoist cultivators; they had stricter precepts. She just found it rather strange. The lecherous man was one thing, but this bearded man clearly kept the precepts in mind at all times. Why would he join him in robbing passersby?
"Since you are a Buddhist cultivator, why do you disguise yourself as a Daoist cultivator and rob people here? Am I the first person you've tried to rob?"
Hearing this question, the man fell silent. After a moment, he smiled bitterly. "Senior, this matter is a secret of mine, something I absolutely cannot speak of. You are indeed the first person we've tried to rob. We hired a child to sell maps at the teleportation array. If we took a fancy to someone, we'd have the child sell them an altered map... Who would have thought the very first person we targeted would be someone we misjudged. Truly, we brought this upon ourselves."
At this point, he sighed despondently. "Senior, if you wish to kill me, then do so. I have nothing more to say."
But after closing his eyes and waiting for a long time, all he received was a question from Mo Tiange: "Which way to the Ling family?"
The man opened his eyes, staring blankly at Mo Tiange. "You... you're not going to kill me?"
Mo Tiange looked at him, her expression calm, and repeated, "Which way to the Ling family?"
"Over there..." He pointed dazedly to the path on the right.
Mo Tiange nodded and turned to leave.
"Senior?" the man called out from behind her.
Mo Tiange stopped, her gaze turning cold. "What? Do you want me to kill you after all?"
The man hurriedly shook his head. "That... that Heaven-Net..."
Mo Tiange smiled. "Do you actually want it back?"
"......" The man fell silent, knowing this was a foolish hope. They had tried to rob a Core Formation senior. It was already good that she hadn't killed him. How could she possibly return the magical treasure to him?
It was just that... if he had lost his life, then he wouldn't have to think about anything. But now, his junior brother was dead, the Heaven-Net was lost, yet he was left alive... How could he face his master?
No, he couldn't just give up like this. At the very least, he had to go back, return to White Floating Mountain... Watching Mo Tiange's retreating figure, the man's gaze gradually grew fervent.
Returning to the correct path, Mo Tiange took the golden net from her sleeve and examined it carefully. The net was woven from unknown golden threads, delicate to the touch, light and thin as if it were nothing. The spiritual power attached to it was strange, vastly different from the spiritual energy of Daoist cultivators. Could it be Buddhist power?
After pondering for a while, she shook her head, tossed the golden net into her Qiankun Bag, and continued on her way.
In truth, if she had wanted to know the details earlier, she could have used a soul-searching technique on the bearded man. However, this wasn't a major matter, not worth going that far. To her now, this was a minor incident. She disliked the lecherous man, so she killed him. She didn't want to kill the bearded man, so she didn't. As for the consequences, there was no need to dwell on them. With strength, many problems ceased to be problems.
Taking the path on the right, before long, she saw a courtyard built of white stone ahead. At the courtyard's entrance, several low-level Qi Refining cultivators stood guard, chatting with any visiting cultivators.
As Mo Tiange approached, someone immediately came forward to greet her. "Senior, are you here to rent a cave abode?"
Mo Tiange nodded. "That's right."
The person immediately said, "Please follow me."
Following the Qi Refining cultivator into the courtyard and entering a room, Mo Tiange saw it looked like an ordinary study, decorated similarly to the Administration Hall of the Xuanqing Sect. A wide desk stood to one side. A Foundation Establishment cultivator lay sprawled motionless on the desk, a wine bottle still clutched in his hand, the room reeking of alcohol.
Seeing Mo Tiange's eyebrow twitch involuntarily, the Qi Refining cultivator who had led her in hurried forward and nudged the seemingly drunk Foundation Establishment cultivator. "Second Uncle, Second Uncle!"
It took a while before the cultivator stirred. Without lifting his head, he grumbled, "What is it?"
The Qi Refining cultivator smiled apologetically. "Second Uncle, a Foundation Establishment senior is here to rent a cave abode."
"Oh." After a moment, the cultivator finally reacted. Rubbing his eyes, he stretched lazily and turned his gaze to Mo Tiange.
Seeing Mo Tiange was a young woman, he reined in his wild demeanor slightly. "Fellow Daoist, here to rent a cave abode?"
"Mm," Mo Tiange replied calmly. This Ling family cultivator looked quite young, perhaps only around thirty, with a short beard and a ruddy complexion. Unfortunately, he was too unkempt, appearing rather slovenly.
The cultivator glanced at her again and pointed to the chair opposite him. "Please, have a seat."
Mo Tiange looked at his dark blue Daoist robe with its ink-stained sleeves, then at the chair. Hesitating for a moment, she carefully sat down.
Seeing her expression, the cultivator probably felt embarrassed. His face flushed slightly as he rolled up his sleeves.
"What kind of cave abode is Fellow Daoist looking to rent?"
Mo Tiange said, "I am unfamiliar with Tianxue City. I don't know what differences there are among the cave abodes your family rents. Please enlighten me, Fellow Daoist."
"Oh, I see." The cultivator nodded, took a scroll from the desk, and with a flick of his hand, spread it open.
The scroll was enormous, almost covering the entire desktop. It depicted the shape of a mountain, clearly a map of this White Stone Mountain. Among the rocks and mountains, many circles were drawn. These circles varied in size and color—white, blue, green, and purple. Some were marked with a check, others were not.
The Ling family cultivator explained, "Our Ling family's cave abodes are divided into four types based on spiritual qi. Purple indicates the most concentrated spiritual qi. Green is passable. Blue is slightly inferior. White has only meager spiritual qi. The size of the circle indicates the size of the cave abode. Small cave abodes have only three stone chambers. Medium cave abodes are fully equipped—cultivation chamber, spirit beast chamber, alchemy chamber, medicinal garden, you name it. Large cave abodes not only have all these but also cultivation chambers for disciples and juniors. As for price, of course, the larger and better the spiritual qi, the more expensive."
At this point, the cultivator looked up at Mo Tiange. "Is Fellow Daoist alone?"
"That's right."
"If Fellow Daoist is alone, you don't need too much. Choose a small or medium one."
Mo Tiange nodded in agreement. "And what are the prices according to the spiritual qi differences?"
Instead of answering directly, the cultivator asked, "Is Fellow Daoist planning a long stay or a brief rest?"
Mo Tiange thought for a moment. "Perhaps a few months, perhaps a year or two."
"That's neither long nor short." The cultivator pondered, then said, "Fellow Daoist, we rent cave abodes by the day or by the year. Daily rent is three times the annual rent. If you plan to stay over four months, go for annual rent. Otherwise, daily rent is better."
"Hmm..." Mo Tiange considered. "Then annual rent it is."
The cultivator nodded. "Calculating based on a medium-sized cave abode, for annual rent: purple qi cave abode costs four hundred spirit stones per year; green qi, two hundred eighty; blue qi, one hundred fifty; white qi, only thirty." He quickly sized up Mo Tiange. "Fellow Daoist is a Foundation Establishment cultivator with considerable cultivation. Not to mention purple qi, you should be able to afford green or blue qi cave abodes."
Mo Tiange said, "Two hundred eighty, one hundred fifty per year... that's not a low price, is it?" Even the white qi cave abode at thirty per year was unaffordable for ordinary Qi Refining cultivators. Back in her days at the Cloud Mist Sect, she only received five spirit stones a month.
The Ling family cultivator laughed. "Fellow Daoist, don't underestimate our Ling family's cave abodes. Even the white qi cave abodes are much better than other places in Tianxue City. Plus, with the function of the White Spirit Stone, such cave abodes are hard to find in other cities."
This wasn't an empty boast. Take Beiji Island, for instance. The small courtyard at the inn cost one spirit stone per day, which amounted to over three hundred per year, and its spiritual qi was only average. As Mo Tiange had traveled here, she felt that although the spiritual vein here was also average, combined with the White Spirit Stone, it could be considered mid-to-high grade.
"Alright," Mo Tiange said. "I want a blue qi cave abode, small-sized will do. How many spirit stones?"
Hearing this, the Ling family cultivator gave her a slightly surprised glance but said nothing. "Eighty per year."
This price was affordable even for ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators. Mo Tiange nodded, took out a small bag of spirit stones from her Qiankun Bag, handed it over, and poured them onto the desk. "Here's the rent for one year."
The Ling family cultivator gave the pile a cursory glance, then swept his sleeve over it. The spirit stones on the desk instantly dwindled to just a few.
Mo Tiange looked down, slightly surprised. She hadn't counted carefully, just estimated the approximate number. Yet this cultivator, with just a glance, had managed to count them?
After collecting the spirit stones, the Ling family cultivator said, "Alright. Fellow Daoist, choose where you want to stay yourself. The circles without checks are currently unoccupied and available for selection."
Mo Tiange looked down at the scroll and finally chose a small blue circle located in a corner. "This one."
The Ling family cultivator nodded. Gathering spiritual energy at his fingertip, he tapped the small blue circle. A blue light glowed, and a check mark appeared. Then, he fished out a jade token from his Qiankun Bag, performed a spell, and handed it over. "This is the cave abode token. Fellow Daoist, keep it safe."
Mo Tiange accepted it. "Thank you."
The Ling family cultivator waved a hand and called out loudly, "Xiao Shun, come here!"
The low-level cultivator who had led Mo Tiange in earlier hurriedly ran in. "Second Uncle."
The cultivator pointed at Mo Tiange. "Take her to Cave Abode Xuan, Number Twenty-Three."
"Yes." The low-level cultivator turned to Mo Tiange. "Senior, please."
As Mo Tiange walked out of the room, she saw the Ling family cultivator pick up his wine bottle again and couldn't help but shake her head. Among the cultivators in this world, there were still those so fond of drink.
After she had gone some distance, the Ling family cultivator, holding his wine bottle, rubbed his nose and muttered to himself, "Carrying so many treasures, yet only rents a blue qi cave abode, and a small one at that... How stingy..."