Chapter 24: Death Is Merely Another Beginning

"That truly is something to celebrate!" Qingzhen sincerely congratulated Old Zhao. "To form your foundation without needing a Foundation Pill—just think how much money that saves!"

"Indeed." Old Zhao’s emotions were a tangled web. "I’ve lingered at this stage for so long, so long I’d begun to think I’d die before ever advancing. Hm? What did you say, Qingzhen?"

"Nothing, I didn’t say a thing." Like a wary little animal, Qingzhen sensed danger and immediately changed her tune.

"Then let’s have a dish of it every night from now on. At noon, we’ll have whatever’s fresh." Qinghu declared, as if arranging for a mere side dish.

"Little Qinghu, I haven’t even told you what kind of meat we’ve been eating," Old Zhao asked in surprise.

"Blue Belle Mussel," Qinghu replied.

"The ninth-grade rare Blue Belle Mussel?" Old Zhao nearly shouted in astonishment, his aged eyes almost popping out. "Never in my life did I think I’d taste such a rarity!" He was thoroughly beside himself.

"Not just one meal—aren’t we going to have it every night from now on?" Qinghu’s eyes widened.

"We’re doomed, utterly doomed," Old Zhao suddenly exclaimed, alarmed, turning to the siblings.

"Why?" Qingzhen was startled by Old Zhao’s theatrics and quickly asked.

"I’m afraid this time, our lives are forfeit," Old Zhao replied with difficulty.

"Die? Why?" Qinghu was baffled.

"Qinghu, do you realize? If outsiders learn that we have a ninth-grade spiritual treasure here, as long as they don’t know about the Crimson Origin Fruit, we might still have a chance to survive—at worst, we’d be forced to swear never to reveal the location. But the Blue Belle Mussel—now that’s a true rarity! Do you understand what a rare treasure is? It’s a resource even more precious and coveted than a spiritual treasure.

Even the Dao Court, if they discovered it, would wipe us out to seize control of this place. Do you understand?"

"So the Dao Court is just as ruthless? I really overestimated them! But we have both the Crimson Origin Fruit and the Blue Belle Mussel here!" Qinghu was unperturbed. "Whether it’s one or two, death still awaits us. Who’s to say anyone will find out? If things go south, we can always run. And if escape proves impossible, at least we’ll gorge ourselves before the end." For the Divine race, death was but another beginning—reincarnation within another living being.

Only when their divine body was reforged would this cycle of rebirth end.

"I can’t believe you’re more clear-minded than I am, little Hu. Ah, truly, I’m getting old." Old Zhao laughed, self-deprecating.

"No, Uncle Zhao, you’re still a handsome gentleman," Qinghu chimed in with a flattering smile.

"Are rare treasures truly so precious? Even the Dao Court would try to seize their source?" Qingzhen asked, frowning.

"Absolutely. You have no idea how scarce and valuable rare treasures are in the human lands. Do you know how many places produce rare treasures across all four regions and seventy-two provinces? Only forty-eight. Add the Blue Belle Mussel you found, and it’s forty-nine." Old Zhao bared his teeth in a wry smile.

Qingzhen was dumbstruck.

Qinghu’s eyes also went wide. "That few?"

"That’s all. And some sites only yield a single type of rare treasure. Altogether, the human race has only twenty-eight kinds of rare treasures, most of which are ninth-grade. With yours, that makes twenty-nine." Old Zhao found it all rather absurd—how did these siblings stumble into everything? "The Blue Belle, a ninth-grade rarity, was only known because a great fiend in the Eastern Wilderness possessed it."

"I always thought my Shen family was poor, but it turns out the whole human race is so… unprosperous," Qinghu said, sparing the word ‘impoverished’.

Qingzhen understood. "Who would have thought! Didn’t we always hear as children that our lands were bountiful, spiritual things everywhere? Tales of prodigies who could pull up a thousand-year-old ginseng root just by poking around with a stick in the woods?"

"So all those stories were lies," Qinghu added.

"Of course! If it were announced that we’re all so poor we can barely afford trousers, what prodigy would choose the Dao Court? Countless foreign tribes and demon clans would happily recruit our youth. Ahem, I said too much. Still, the human race is best. You two must do your part to protect it," Old Zhao stammered.

Qingzhen shot him a sidelong glance.

Qinghu rolled her eyes and took a sip of tea, pretending not to hear.

"So… should we keep eating the mussel?" Qingzhen asked.

"Why not?" Qinghu replied, puzzled.

"What if we’re discovered because we keep eating it?" Qingzhen pressed.

"Deny everything, of course! That’s how Father deals with Mother," Qinghu offered, giving her brother a ready example.

Old Zhao nearly choked.

"Will denial really work?" Qingzhen pondered seriously.

"Of course. Like Uncle Zhao said, rare treasures are so few. How would a cute kid from a remote backwater know anything about rare treasures? We just ate some lake mussels, that’s all. Delicious!" Qinghu’s plan was to feign total ignorance if ever confronted.

"Exactly. How could a reckless, impulsive oaf like me recognize a rare treasure?" Qin Zhen added, justifying himself.

The two of them looked expectantly at Old Zhao.

Old Zhao reflexively looked at the siblings, but under the pressure of their four eager eyes, he struggled for a long moment before managing to say, "I’m just an old itinerant cultivator, barely literate. How could I know what a rare treasure is?"

As soon as he finished, Qingzhen and Qinghu nodded in unison.

"Precisely," Qingzhen approved.

"That’s what we’ll say. Tomorrow night, let’s have Blue Mussel again," Qinghu said, her eyes sparkling with sly delight.

"Let’s try a different recipe. We had it braised tonight—let’s make soup tomorrow?" Qingzhen suggested.

"Sure, then dry-fried the day after. Settled," Qinghu agreed instantly.

Old Zhao covered half his face with his hand. He could only go along with their scheme—blending in with the dust, as it were.

"Th—the Young Master is here!" A guard rushed in, breathless and excited.

"What, Big Brother’s here? Where is he?" Qingzhen leaped up like a monkey.

"He just arrived at the mountain pass."

A gust of wind swept by as Qingzhen disappeared.

"What’s the rush? Has she grown rabbit legs… Qinghu, you—" Old Zhao turned and realized Qinghu, who should have been beside him, was already gone.

Old Zhao couldn’t help but laugh and stood to go out and greet the newcomer.