Zhao Zhao looked at the black lump not far away. For a brief moment, she was relieved from the sorrow brought on by Su Yuan. She could hardly recognize Lu Chukong in this state.
"Damn it! Don't you have anything to say to me?!" Lu Chukong rushed over aggressively and stopped in front of Zhao Zhao. As soon as he opened his mouth, a puff of black smoke came out, choking Zhao Zhao.
"Cough, cough, cough..." Zhao Zhao covered her mouth and took two steps back to keep some distance from Lu Chukong. "I'm sorry. Something came up and I forgot. I'm really sorry."
Her apology was quite sincere. Lu Chukong managed to swallow his anger. With black smoke still rising from him, he threw out a sentence to Zhao Zhao: "Wait."
Then he turned around and left.
Not long after, Lu Chukong, now well-groomed, appeared in front of Zhao Zhao again. He was furious as he said to her, "Tell me, you promised to do something but suddenly you didn't show up. You left me waiting there all alone! Is that right? How can you do this?"
Maybe Lu Chukong looked so funny just now that Taotie couldn't help asking, "So what were you doing? Coal tycoon."
The nickname "coal tycoon" almost made Lu Chukong spit out blood. He glared at Taotie with a mix of unwillingness and grievance. The scene was inexplicably comical.
"I couldn't wait for your master. The Taotie in the cave started to stir. I was afraid that such a rare thing would disappear if I didn't go in, so I decided to go in and check it out myself."
Originally, they had agreed to cooperate. He was supposed to contact the merchant and find the place where the Taotie was growing, while Zhao Zhao was to subdue it. But this little girl had let him down at the crucial moment!
"And then?"
"Who the hell would have thought that the spiritized Taotie was so powerful? It even managed to escape under the Nantian Lihuo of the Vermilion Bird and blew up the cave!" And that's how he ended up looking like that at first.
Zhao Zhao didn't really listen to what Lu Chukong was saying. Her mind was still on the Buye Cauldron. But the mention of Nantian Lihuo in Lu Chukong's words caught her attention.
She remembered that the Taoist who was really good at the Clone Technique also used Nantian Lihuo.
But Nantian Lihuo was the accompanying fire of the Vermilion Bird, a divine beast. How could Lu Chukong and that Taoist, both mere mortals, use it?
"You said Nantian Lihuo. How do you know how to use it?" Zhao Zhao asked exactly what was on her mind. She thought that figuring this out might help her find out the real identity of the person who had tried to snatch the Buye Cauldron.
Lu Chukong didn't understand why the topic had changed so suddenly. Scratching his head, he said, "I don't know. I've been able to use it since I was born. When my master was still alive, he said that my blood must have been blessed by the Vermilion Bird. I have a feather of the Vermilion Bird on me. As long as I drip my blood on the feather and recite a secret incantation, the fire will come out naturally."
After saying that, Lu Chukong leaned over to Zhao Zhao's ear mysteriously and added, "I was an orphan since I was a child, but I've always suspected that I'm actually the young master of some noble family who was left outside. Look at this fire and the incantation that was left in my swaddling clothes. Isn't this the typical setting of a male protagonist in a novel?"
Zhao Zhao smiled. She really didn't know how to respond. After all, she could only understand about half of what Lu Chukong had said.
Since she couldn't get any useful information from Lu Chukong, and she had something important to do, she apologized to Lu Chukong and was about to leave. But unexpectedly, Lu Chukong held her back.
"Hey, no way. If you leave, how can I catch the Taotie by myself? Don't you remember that we have to deliver the goods tomorrow? How can I explain this to the big boss? I'll have to pay a huge penalty! It's a lot of money!"
Lu Chukong looked heartbroken, covering his chest as if he was half dead.
"What should we do then?" As soon as she heard him mention money, Zhao Zhao, who had just realized the importance of money not long ago, couldn't help but worry.
But she couldn't just ignore the Buye Cauldron. The longer it was delayed, the more likely something would go wrong. She still didn't know what her master wanted to do with the Buye Cauldron.
And according to Nan Jia, the Buye Cauldron was very important to Su Yuan and the demon race. This was something that had to be resolved as soon as possible.
Lu Chukong seemed to see Zhao Zhao's dilemma. After thinking for a while, he said, "How about you lend me one of your magical treasures or spiritual tools? I'll go and deal with the Taotie and then return it to you."
"Don't worry, I won't run away with your magical treasure. Besides, the magical treasures of you cultivators are all bound to their owners. I can't take it away. If you're really worried, you can let Taotie follow me?"
Hearing his name being mentioned, Taotie roared dissatisfiedly, "No way. We agreed that I'm going to follow you to find that what's-it-called cauldron."
But at this moment, Zhao Zhao thought this was a good opportunity. She squatted down and stroked Taotie's head, saying, "Making money is also very important. I'll only be at ease if you go with him."
Seeing that Taotie still looked unhappy, Zhao Zhao rolled her eyes and deliberately coaxed him, "Look, Lu Chukong is so weak. Without your help, he might fail even with the magical treasure. Then we'll have to pay the penalty."
"And you don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine. I can fight, right?"
Taotie was gradually convinced. He reluctantly nodded at this suggestion, "Okay then. I'll go and help him. You have to be careful yourself."
Zhao Zhao nodded in agreement. Then she stood up, cut her finger, and drew a lot of talismans for Lu Chukong. She handed Taotie and the talismans to Lu Chukong together.
Meeting Lu Chukong's puzzled look, she explained, "Don't underestimate these talismans. They're different from ordinary ones. They're my own creation. Drawn with my blood, these talismans carry my spiritual power and are very powerful."
"Tsk! Sounds really amazing! Thanks." Lu Chukong slapped Zhao Zhao's shoulder boldly. "Alright, go and do your thing with peace of mind. You'll be able to collect the money when you come back."
Zhao Zhao didn't really care about the money at the moment. She bid farewell to Taotie and Lu Chukong and then turned around and left.
Her master had hidden Wutong Mountain when she left. She couldn't find it now. It seemed that she could only stay with her senior brothers and sisters.
She took out the conch. It was the voice of her third senior brother on the other end.
"Senior brother..."
"Okay, senior brother knows everything."
As soon as Zhao Zhao called him, Jian Yun interrupted her.
"Southeast direction. Follow senior brother's guidance. Senior brother will meet you at the mountain gate. Don't be afraid." Jian Yun didn't ask anything, but it was obvious that he knew something. His voice was gentle as he comforted his little junior sister and told her the location of Wutong Mountain.
"Zhao Zhao knows."
Zhao Zhao put away the little conch and followed the guidance that her third senior brother had somehow sent her, heading towards Wutong Mountain.
On the other side, a group of little demons surrounded Jian Yun and chattered, "Is Zhao Zhao coming back?"
Jian Yun nodded absent-mindedly, "Yes, she's coming back."
Hearing his answer, the little demons immediately became excited. They were making a racket, saying that they wanted to hold a welcome ceremony for Zhao Zhao and discussing what kind of surprise they should prepare for her.
Jian Yun rubbed his ears, which were numb from the noise. He walked over and sat down next to his eldest senior brother, nudging his arm. "Hey, aren't you worried at all?"
Yun Ze was holding his sword. With a straight face, he said, "Stop the master and stand on the little junior sister's side. Not worried."
"Tsk, aren't you afraid that the master will scold you?"
"What's there to be afraid of? At most, I'll just stay on the Cliff of Reflection for a few days. Who could be more important than the little junior sister?" Yue Yao came over with a bottle of wine and sat down next to them. Her posture was quite free and easy.
"Alright! Then let's go to the Cliff of Reflection!" Jian Yun took the wine and boldly poured himself a glass. He downed it in one gulp.