After agreeing to Bai Ling'er's idea, I noticed a hint of a "snake-like" mischievous smile on its face, which sent a chill down my spine.
I looked at it seriously, "Bai Ling'er, you're not thinking of gnawing on this Yin Ironwood, are you?"
Bai Ling'er rolled its eyes at me, "Are you an idiot? I'm not a mouse, who gnaws on wood for no reason? That was a special circumstance, alright?"
Seeing its slightly annoyed expression, I chuckled, "That's good then. But I hope you take it away in one piece, and I hope you bring it back in one piece too."
Bai Ling'er snorted coldly, and its one-foot-long body coiled around the wooden ruler. It swayed unsteadily towards the semi-yin realm west of the village. As it flew over the wall, perhaps because the Yin Ironwood was a bit heavy, it crashed directly into the wall, almost dropping the wooden ruler to the ground.
Watching its receding figure, Zhang Dabiao looked at me with some concern, "Will it eat the Yin Ironwood too?"
I shook my head, "It shouldn't. It said earlier that eating lightning-struck wood was a special circumstance."
"Shouldn't? I think you're not sure either, are you? Oh well, never mind. I'll use the remaining lightning-struck wood to make you something for self-defense. Having a weapon is better than having no weapon." With that, he turned and went back into the house.
I slept through the entire afternoon. When I had some free time, I called my master. This time, his phone wasn't turned off, but no one answered. I guessed that my master must have been drunk again, or perhaps something special had delayed him, making it inconvenient to answer the phone.
Since my master's phone was unreachable, I thought about calling Sun Chuang, that scoundrel. I figured he should be close to home by now. I wanted to call and check on him, at least to make sure he sent the money. Otherwise, I wouldn't let him off when we met again. The call went through, rang twice, and was hung up. When I called again, the phone indicated it was turned off.
I cursed him inwardly, "That scoundrel, he really does things thoroughly. Isn't he afraid of having no descendants in the future?" After cursing Sun Chuang, I couldn't help but laugh. No matter how capable he was, he was still an ordinary person. Those who don't run when they encounter danger are fools.
Even when I faced mortal danger, wasn't my first instinct to escape this broken place called Molu Village?
But now, I've almost gotten used to it. Danger always arrives unexpectedly. One could even choke to death while eating. I can only take things one step at a time.
As it started to get dark, Zhang Dabiao came out of the house. His expression was indescribably strange, a mix of bewilderment, suspicion, and even a hint of surprise. In short, his face was a picture of complex emotions.
"Hungry? Come on, little brother, I'll treat you to a big meal."
Zhang Dabiao gave me a wry smile, "I'm in no mood to eat anything. Look at this thing." As he spoke, he took out a dagger made of wood from behind him.
The dagger was about twenty centimeters long and looked almost identical to a real dagger, the only difference being the color.
I took the dagger from Zhang Dabiao and swung it in the air a couple of times. It felt pretty good, and I didn't feel anything unusual.
"Isn't this great? It's exquisitely made, just like the real thing. It fits my hand perfectly. Thanks, Brother Zhang."
"Don't you feel anything unusual about it?"
This made me a little taken aback. I examined it carefully. It was made from the lightning-struck wood Zhang Dabiao brought back, and no other materials were used.
I shook my head, indicating I hadn't noticed anything.
"Inject some Xuan Yang Qi into it."
Then, I channeled the Xuan Yang Qi within my body into the dagger.
"How could this be?"
One reason lightning-struck wood is precious is that when a Feng Shui master's Xuan Yang Qi enters it, it emits a humming sound like thunder. This is akin to loudly reciting scriptures in the ears of Yin spirits. Those with high cultivation can resist it, while those with low cultivation will be directly stunned.
I looked at the dagger in my hand with confusion. It was indeed carved from the lightning-struck wood Zhang Dabiao had brought back, but now it was impossible to inject Xuan Yang Qi into it, not even ordinary peach wood could do this. If I didn't know Zhang Dabiao wouldn't lie to me, I would suspect it wasn't carved from lightning-struck wood at all.
"I don't know. When I finished carving it, I wanted to inject some Xuan Yang Qi to see the effect, but I found that it had already turned into ordinary wood. It's even worse than peach wood that's over ten years old. It's simply a huge waste of effort, it makes me so angry."
Zhang Dabiao seemed somewhat annoyed, which was understandable. Anyone who held a treasure in their hands only for it to turn into waste in the blink of an eye would be upset. This was especially true for something as rare as lightning-struck wood.
Seeing that Zhang Dabiao still had something to say, I said, "Brother Zhang, just say whatever you want to say. We're brothers, there's no need for formalities."
Zhang Dabiao thought for a moment before replying, "Do you think it might be because Bai Ling'er ate that half of the lightning-struck wood?"
"This... it shouldn't be, it wasn't intentional!"
"What do you mean not intentional? Didn't you hear it say it was going to break some seal? And have you ever seen a snake eat wood?" Zhang Dabiao said with lingering resentment.
I was stumped by his words. That's right! Bai Ling'er is a snake. For so many days, it had been clamoring for meat, but suddenly it started eating wood, and lightning-struck wood at that, the nemesis of Yin spirits and evil entities?
I looked at Zhang Dabiao with uncertainty, "Are you saying that the lightning-struck wood became useless because of Bai Ling'er?"
Zhang Dabiao nodded, "It should be because of it. Otherwise, how could perfectly good lightning-struck wood become worse than ordinary wood?"
I suddenly felt a bit dizzy. If Bai Ling'er had only eaten a part of it, it would have been fine. At least there was a large piece left. Given the relationship between Zhang Dabiao and me, we could have worked something out.
But now, not only had Bai Ling'er eaten the lightning-struck wood, but it had also ruined the remaining part. This was hard to justify.
I frowned, thinking whether there was indeed a problem with Bai Ling'er. Normally, Bai Ling'er shouldn't eat lightning-struck wood. Perhaps it wasn't lightning-struck wood?
Thinking of this, my eyes lit up, "Brother Zhang, do you think Li Zuquan might not have given us lightning-struck wood?"
"That's unlikely. I checked the authenticity of the lightning-struck wood as soon as it came into my possession, and it never left my sight. The total time it was out of my sight is less than ten minutes, and the only time it was out of my sight was those few minutes when Bai Ling'er snatched it away."
I looked at Zhang Dabiao with a wry smile, "So now it's confirmed that it's because of Bai Ling'er that this thousand-year-old lightning-struck wood has been ruined."
Zhang Dabiao nodded, "It should be certain. Otherwise, it's impossible to explain why the Yang energy on the lightning-struck wood dissipated in just half a day, turning it into ordinary wood."
"This..."
Actually, I didn't think it was Bai Ling'er's actions that caused the Yang energy on the lightning-struck wood to disappear. I was more suspicious that Li Zuquan didn't give us the real lightning-struck wood in the first place, but there was no evidence to prove it.
Firstly, Zhang Dabiao had confirmed its authenticity when he received it. Secondly, Bai Ling'er had indeed eaten one-third of it.
I was also curious why Bai Ling'er would eat lightning-struck wood. After all, it was a Yin spirit. Not only was it unharmed after eating the extremely potent and Yang lightning-struck wood, but it also seemed more energetic.
This was not at all the behavior expected of a Yin spirit. But I didn't know how to ask.
My relationship with Bai Ling'er was less like that of a master and a pet, and more like that of friends with a certain connection.
It followed me purely for food and drink. Perhaps it had other ulterior motives, but I didn't want to think that way.
Bai Ling'er and I became acquainted under the coercion of the Fifth Prince. Although the contract had been dissolved, I felt that our relationship had become closer, whether it was an illusion or I was overthinking things.
"If it's really Bai Ling'er that caused irreversible damage by eating the lightning-struck wood, when it comes back, I'll definitely..."