Chapter 42: The Jade Box and Delusions

"You're not replying to Senior Sister's messages — aren't you afraid of getting an earful when we get back?" Xu Xing asked.

"If anyone's going to be afraid, it'll be the me who gets back later."

Besides, even if I don't do this I'll still get an earful, Chi Jiuyu silently added in her heart.

"Let's not talk about that. Uncle-Master, when I was coming here I looked it up on the Spirit Net — if we keep going up there's a really interesting show, supposedly an interactive one with Iron-Toothed Crocodiles."

Iron-Toothed Crocodile — a type of exotic beast with terrifying bite force, able to crunch through iron and gnaw through gold; even a Foundation Establishment body cultivator couldn't necessarily withstand those iron teeth and bronze jaws.

Continuing upward, they reached the mountainside and saw a very spacious, neatly carved-out space hollowed from the belly of the mountain, its perimeter reinforced with formations to prevent collapse.

【Iron-Toothed Crocodile Park】

The surroundings and floor were paved with layers of white tiles, making the whole place very bright; right in the middle was a shallow pool fenced off, inside which lay a crocodile-like exotic beast several meters long, looking quite ferocious, its scales a gleaming inky black.

As it opened its mouth, one could see the sharp, savage teeth within, glinting with a metallic sheen.

This was the Iron-Toothed Crocodile.

Because it was a workday, there weren't that many visitors, so the two of them easily found the best spot to watch the show.

At this point the performance was already halfway through.

A staff member in a light-blue uniform was half-crouching, slowly lowering an arm into the Iron-Toothed Crocodile's gaping jaws.

That staff member's realm was only just Foundation Establishment — if it took a bite, the whole arm would be chewed to bits.

The surrounding visitors stared unblinkingly, instinctively holding their breath.

Sure enough, no matter what world it is, there are always people chasing thrills.

Chi Jiuyu took a bite of cotton candy, her gaze also fixed tightly on the Iron-Toothed Crocodile's mouth — not because she found it thrilling, but because she thought this kind of courting-death behavior was rather interesting.

Suddenly, the staff member seemed to sense something was off and swiftly withdrew his arm.

Sure enough, the Iron-Toothed Crocodile's great jaws snapped shut the very next instant — iron teeth clashed, sending sparks flying.

"Oh!!"

Many visitors cried out in surprise; not far away a middle-aged man touched his own right hand, a hint of nostalgia in his eyes.

And after standing up, that staff member instinctively clutched his own hand — clearly he had been startled too.

Then he looked at the Iron-Toothed Crocodile, his expression complicated.

Man and beast stared at each other just like that.

"His Majesty the Holy Emperor had a saying for the ages — 'Walk by the river often enough, and your shoes are bound to get wet.'"

Chi Jiuyu tilted her head and looked toward the middle-aged man not far away: "Uncle, you seem quite sentimental."

"You bet I am — I used to do this job too," the uncle said, clearly a talkative one. "This young fellow's got it easy; back in my day I actually lost an entire arm."

Luckily he'd saved up some money, and went to a hospital to pay a medical cultivator to regrow the arm with the help of pills.

"What about the Iron-Toothed Crocodile that bit you?" Chi Jiuyu asked curiously.

And what had been done with the man-biting Iron-Toothed Crocodile?

"Right here." The uncle took out a leather wallet — cultivators actually rarely used such things. "Its mouth liked snapping open and shut, didn't it? So I kept it by my side and let it snap to its heart's content."

The teeth he'd made into a pair of bone-cleaning knives; he now specialized in the Iron-Toothed Crocodile meat business.

Chi Jiuyu stared blankly at the wallet in his hand, and only after a long while smacked her lips.

Seems... reasonable enough.

At this moment another staff member came out and had a word with the one who had almost become Yang Guo.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our sincere apologies — today's performance ends here, please exit in an orderly fashion!"

In the Iron-Toothed Crocodile's bean-sized eyes there seemed to surface a trace of innocence.

Although the visitors still wanted to keep watching, they could understand, so they began filing out one after another.

Chi Jiuyu and Xu Xing also went with the flow of the crowd, heading outward together.

She suddenly recalled what that uncle had just said: "Uncle-Master, do you think that Iron-Toothed Crocodile will still perform with the people here in the future?" "Emm... those three things probably aren't going to happen."

Huh? Hadn't she only asked one question?

How could there be three things?

…………

On the other side of the viewing garden, a cartoonish Blazing Feather plummeted down from the sky, landing in a secluded corner.

Xiao Fan pulled off his headpiece and reached out to catch his flying sword, which had lost its spiritual light.

"Phew~"

He let out a long breath — after flying all morning, his true yuan was nearly exhausted.

Actually, after the sparring test, he had gone to handle the withdrawal procedures; after all, he was a man who had lost his future, and continuing his studies would be pointless.

The Dean of Academic Affairs and the Principal knew his situation was special, so they didn't blame him, and he was very grateful for that.

Fortunately Big Brother's treatment had been very successful — his injuries were now stable, and although his cultivation had dropped a bit, at least his foundation had been repaired.

With Big Brother's talent, it definitely wouldn't take long for him to recover his full cultivation.

Thinking of this, a faint smile appeared on Xiao Fan's face.

Walking toward the staff break room, a person in the same mascot costume as him came out.

"Go get some rest, Seeing Xiao Fan — eat something, and drink plenty of Origin-Restoring Spirit Liquid."

"Got it, Brother Li."

The man Xiao Fan called Brother Li nodded, walked past him, put on the headpiece, then employed the Art of Object Control and flew up into the sky.

And at this moment in the sky, besides the Blazing Feather, there were quite a few other cartoonish exotic beasts.

This was the job he'd found — dressing up as exotic beasts to draw crowds to the viewing garden, mainly to attract younger children.

Not only was it relatively easy, the pay wasn't too bad either.

Actually, there were plenty of jobs available after Foundation Establishment, but he hadn't found a suitable one yet, so for now he could only make do with this.

Walking into the employee break room, a cool breeze dispersed some of his fatigue.

Xiao Fan took off the bulky mascot costume and set it aside, then reached up to the shelf and took a vial of Returning Essence Liquid.

He downed it in one gulp, then walked over to a table near the inner side. Neatly arranged on top were many boxed meals, and a constant-temperature formation was inscribed on the tabletop, so there was no need to worry about them getting cold.

Grabbing one at random, he turned and walked to the doorway, sat down on the steps, and opened the lid of the boxed meal.

The boxed meal had both meat and vegetables, very generous, and even the rice was a kind of spirit rice, able to replenish one's vital essence to a certain extent.

After shoveling in a few mouthfuls, he looked up into the distance and happened to see two children of about seven or eight years old holding wooden swords, shouting things like "When I grow up I'm going to be the Sect Master of the Sword Sect."

The children's parents followed behind them, chatting and laughing.

"..."

He himself had also wanted to become a sword cultivator as a child, but later, when his elder brother joined the Longxiang Qingtianzong, he gradually began to yearn for body cultivation instead.

People are like this — when busy, they forget many unpleasant things, but when sitting alone resting, they become sentimental all over again.

After a long while, he set the boxed meal aside and reached into his robes to take out a jade box.

The jade box was the size of a palm, its surface smooth and rounded.

Although carrying it against his chest had always been a bit uncomfortable, for some reason he had still kept it on his person all along.

"Heh..."

Xiao Fan gave a self-mocking laugh; in his heart he knew why.

It was simply that he still harbored a sliver of unrealistic delusion about that sales pitch — or rather, about his current situation.

The reason he hadn't opened it yet was also fear that this sliver of delusion would turn into a cruel joke.

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