Chapter 155 - Extortion?
Ji Yanling bade farewell to An Lin and the others to return to the Wen Valley Immortal Sect.
An Lin laid feebly on Da Bai’s back whilst Xu Xiaolan flew to An Lin’s side with a look of curiosity on her face as she enquired about what memories An Lin had shown Ji Yanling to spark such a speedy recovery.
She was too embarrassed to ask when Ji Yanling was still around, but now that she had left, nothing could stop her from satisfying her curiosity.
An Lin sighed lightly before summarizing the events during which Wang Lu transformed into a sinister devil but still stayed by Ji Yanling’s side to protect her.
Xu Xiaolan’s porcelain-like face was filled with sorrow upon hearing An Lin’s summary as she sighed lightly. “So this is love…”
An Lin: “…”
At that moment, the image of Qing Hua’s face appeared in Da Bai’s mind and an image of a certain white fox surfaced in Xiao Chou’s mind while the image of Wang Lu’s face appeared in An Lin’s mind.
“An Lin, where do you want to go next?” Xu Xiaolan asked after a while.
“I’m gonna go to the Ten-Thousand Spirits Immortal Sect first and pay a visit to Big Brother Cheng,” An Lin replied after a moment of consideration.
Xu Xiaolan nodded. “I’ll pass on the Ten-Thousand Spirits Immortal Sect for now and head back to my Immortal Sect as well.”
The Ten-Thousand Spirits Immortal Sect and the Vermilion Bird Sect were both part of the four super Immortal Sects within the Kingdom of the Nine States, but aside from when they discussed Dao and held competitions against one another, there was not much association between the two sects. Hence, she was not very interested in the Ten-Thousand Spirits Immortal Sect. Although going there would grant her a chance to see the handsome idol, Xuanyuan Cheng, she would be able to see him once the new school term started anyway.
Everyone arrived at the capital city of the Heavenly River State.
Xu Xiaolan used a teleportation spell formation to return to the Bai Hua State while An Lin and the others teleported to the Wind Plain State.
The Wind Plain State was situated at the northernmost tip of the Kingdom of the Nine States, neighboring the Holy Glacial Lands of the Tai Chu Continent. There were wars taking place there year round, so soldiers of the Heavenly Court were stationed there to defend the borders.
The other sects of the Kingdom of the Nine States would participate in the defense of the border as well. Amongst the Immortal Sects, the Ten-Thousand Spirits Immortal Sect were at the forefront of and made up the majority of the forces defending against the invasion of the Snow Maidens.
Within the teleportation square of the Wind Plain State’s prefectural city, An Lin’s figure began to appear.
“Whew… it’s a little cold.”
A frosty gale blew toward him, causing him to involuntarily withdraw from the cold.
“Woof! The prefectural city is located in the north of the Wind Plain State. It’s very close in location to the Holy Glacial Lands, so it’s very normal for this place to have low temperatures.” Da Bai explained while shaking its furry body.
An Lin had already recovered some mobility after a period of rest, but he still preferred to lay on Da Bai’s back; it was simply far too comfortable and warm there!
He looked around him and found that although the environment was quite cold, the citizens of the Wind Plain State did not seem to be dressed for cold weather.
Most of the people around them only wore very ordinary robes. Some of the girls even wore sleeveless dresses, exposing their slim white arms, perhaps that was the fashion in this region.
An Lin looked around from Da Bai’s back with interest. Traveling to different places and experiencing the culture in those places were actually one of the things he found most enjoyable during his holiday travels.
Xiao Chou had already transformed into a small monkey and was now recuperating on An Lin’s shoulder.
He had suffered some pretty severe injuries during his fight with the black dragon. Having now taken a Vitality Regeneration Pill offered to him by An Lin, he did not want to move an inch.
The eye-catching huge dog mount and the adorably ugly monkey formed a combination that always attracted a lot of attention.
Just as he was unhurriedly making his way forward, an elderly lady with a crown of white hair walked by slowly, before suddenly collapsing on the ground near Da Bai.
“Ow!”
The old lady began to yell loudly, “Oh, that hurts so much, help!”
Her pained cries instantly attracted a lot of onlookers.
An Lin: “…”
At this moment, a little girl ran toward them, crying loudly the whole time. “Grandma… what happened to you, please don’t die!”
She turned an angry gaze on An Lin. “Why did you run over my grandma, she’s already 165 years old, she might die from something like this! Sob, sob, sob.”
The girl began to cry loudly and the number of surrounding onlookers began to increase, all of them pointing at An Lin disapprovingly.
There were even people that had begun to discuss under their breath, saying things along the lines of “How could you run over others on your giant dog just because you’re rich?”
Da Bai was completely dumbfounded. This was the first time it had encountered such a situation; it did not even touch the old lady!
An Lin’s expression also changed.
The last thing he expected was to encounter extorting con artists like this even in the cultivating world!
Was this supposed to be a popular trend?
However, he very quickly discovered that the old lady did not seem to be completely acting.
A pained expression could be feigned easily, but her body was trembling from pain and she was breathing heavily as well as exhibiting some other symptoms that were not easy to imitate.
Divine Inspection Technique!
His eyes turned white and he assessed the condition of the old lady.
The little girl continued to scream and shout, her eyes now red and swollen. “You ran over my grandma, you have to pay for her treatment, you have to pay me two hundred spirit stones!”
The onlookers were also swept up in the situation. The old lady on the ground moaning in pain, the little girl crying and yelling next to her; what a heart-wrenching scene, the offender had to pay!
“Pay up, pay up…”
The crowd began to exert peer pressure through an enraged chorus of yells.
An Lin blinked before asking in a soft voice, “Are two hundred spirit stones enough, do you want a bit more?”
The little girl seemed to have predicted An Lin’s answer. “No, it has to be no less than exactly two hundred spirit stones, non-negotiable! Er…?”
Her words came to a sudden halt once she realized what An Lin had said. A blank expression appeared on her face and she rubbed her ears in confusion as if she was afraid she had heard wrong.
“Are you sure you don’t want a bit more? Her condition could be quite serious.” An Lin enquired with a compassionate expression.
He leaped down from Da Bai and made his way toward the old lady before helping her up from the ground.
The old lady stared at the gentle, unflappable young man in front of her, and she was completely dumbfounded as well.
An Lin knelt down and rubbed the little girl’s head before retrieving a bag of spirit stones from his storage ring. “There are five hundred spirit stones here, use if for your grandma’s treatment!”
The warm and gentle smile on his face as he said this seemed like it was going to melt through the frosty winter.
The little girl held the large bag of spirit stones with a blank expression, completely at a loss for what to say as guilt welled up in her heart.
She only came to her senses after a long, and she opened her mouth to speak again, “Thank you, big brother, I… I’ll definitely repay you, what I said before was actually a lie…”
She did not have time to finish her sentence before her voice was cut off by An Lin’s. “Da Bai! Look where you’re walking next time, don’t walk into other people!”
Da Bai was still completely dumbfounded and it was beginning to feel a little upset too.
All the surrounding onlookers were also all silenced. What more could they ask for from An Lin?
The victims asked for two hundred spirit stones to seek treatment, but he gave five hundred!
And he was so warm and gentle throughout the whole process too…
“Nice!” Shouts of praise began to erupt from the crowd. There was even a girl who was completely won over by his dashing grace and had begun to scream in a high-pitched voice.
An Lin leaped onto Da Bai’s back and waved his hand to the petite little girl. “Look after your grandma, little girl.”
Tears spilled out of the little girl’s eyes as she nodded earnestly.
Amongst everyone here, only she knew of the painstaking efforts this kind-hearted big brother had made here.
Just like that, the man and the dog stalked off into the distance, disappearing into the setting sun.
The little girl stared at the receding figure in a trance.
To her, that person had already become her hero and his face was deeply engraved into her heart.