Chapter 85: Li Bangchui

Li Xuan frowned as he looked at the white, freshly washed ginseng doll lying on the bed.

Now two options lay before Li Xuan; the first is to kill this little fellow, which is a genuine Hundred‑Thousand‑Year Treasure Pill, not only a great tonic but also life‑extending.

Although this ginseng doll is a plant‑type spirit beast, its bloodline talent is extremely strong, its whole flesh is a great tonic, and more importantly it is a Hundred‑Thousand‑Year Soul Beast that can produce a soul bone.

Even though it is a plant‑type soul bone, this ginseng doll is the Bai Yu Shen Wang, a treasure of Heavenly Material Earth Treasure quality, and the soul bone it yields can be called top‑tier in the Douluo Continent.

But if he kills this ginseng doll now, Li Xuan would waste the Hundred‑Thousand‑Year Soul Ring, since he currently lacks the ability to absorb such a ring.

That is a Hundred‑Thousand‑Year Soul Ring, after all.

The second option is to revive the little fellow, and then Li Xuan could keep it by his side and harvest its medicine whenever he wishes.

Moreover, the ginseng doll could bring Li Xuan some unexpected benefits.

"Fine, reaching a Hundred‑Thousand‑Year cultivation isn't easy; let's see if the Green Spirit Liquid can revive this little fellow," Li Xuan thought, then summoned a small green vial and poured today's Green Spirit Liquid onto the ginseng doll.

The instant the Green Spirit Liquid touched the ginseng doll, the surrounding soul power, like cats smelling fish, surged wildly toward the doll.

In just a few seconds, soul power within a hundred‑meter radius was drawn into the ginseng doll, creating a vacuum devoid of soul power.

Li Xuan was stunned; he never expected such a commotion. After less than half a second of hesitation, he stood up, wrapped the ginseng doll in a blanket, hoisted it onto his shoulder, and leapt out the window.

The ginseng doll quickly absorbed all the surrounding soul power and then showed no further change; it only gained a hundred‑year effect, otherwise the anomaly it caused would have been far larger.

After jumping down from the bedside, Li Xuan realized he was in the inn's backyard; he looked around and spotted a woodshed.

Without hesitation, Li Xuan rushed into the woodshed and covered himself and the ginseng doll with dry firewood.

It was the only possible solution.

After all, Ji Yuan sprinting down the street with a child wrapped in a blanket would attract too much attention, so Li Xuan could only find a secluded spot to hide.

Suddenly, Li Xuan felt the child in the blanket stir, hurriedly pulled the blanket aside, and saw the little boy's face flushed red; had Li Xuan not lifted it in time, the child might have been suffocated right after being revived.

"Heh… heh… who… who are you?" the little boy gasped greedily for air, weakly asking Li Xuan.

"Stay still for a while; we'll probably have to spend the night here tonight," Li Xuan said irritably.

No one expected that the ginseng doll, after absorbing just a drop of Green Spirit Liquid, would cause such a huge anomaly.

Upon hearing Li Xuan's words, the ginseng doll trembled, then fainted again; it seemed genuinely weak, as even a drop of Green Spirit Liquid hadn't fully restored its void.

"Fine, we'll make do for one night; tomorrow morning we'll take the slave straight back to Chunqiu Jiuzhuang. The ginseng doll really can't stay in Tian Dou City any longer," Li Xuan muttered, rubbing his bare chin.

Li Xuan had been on the move all day, and it was already late, so he slept through the night lying in the pile of dry firewood.

……

Early the next morning, Li Xuan woke up promptly; sleeping in the woodshed was terribly uncomfortable. He glanced at the little boy wrapped in the blanket, still asleep but breathing evenly, his complexion rosy, seemingly out of danger.

Suddenly, Li Xuan's movement halted.

"Little fellow, get up when you're awake; I'm not that much older than you, why would you want me to hold you?" Li Xuan said irritably.

"You… who are you?" the ginseng doll asked anxiously, opening its eyes shyly at Li Xuan.

"I'm your master, you're my slave; just yesterday I spent a Silver Soul Coin to purchase you. Get up quickly; we'll head home today," Li Xuan said irritably to the ginseng doll.

"Oh…" the ginseng doll replied timidly, then crawled out of the blanket and stood before Li Xuan.

It seemed this ginseng doll was rather shy and timid.

Li Xuan thought for a moment, then took the ginseng doll's hand, left the inn's backyard, bought a new carriage, and rode it out of Tian Dou City.

He didn't intend to keep the previous carriage; if it were tracked, the risk would outweigh the benefit.

Soon, Li Xuan and the ginseng doll left Tian Dou City, and throughout the journey the doll followed Li Xuan shyly, saying nothing and asking no questions.

"Finally out of here, damn it, that was exhausting," Li Xuan stretched his stiff body, then drove the carriage to a vacant lot west of the city, quietly waiting for Fat Boss to deliver the slaves.

Fat Boss did not disappoint Li Xuan; he arrived at the western side with a long line of hand‑bound slaves.

Most of these slaves were middle‑aged men, but they looked frail, as if they seldom got enough to eat.

"Young master, you've arrived so early," Fat Boss said with a smile, greeting Li Xuan.

"Boss, since you're here too, I'll take the slaves back first; with so many, it'll probably take a day to return, so I'll go ahead," Li Xuan said, taking the slaves from Fat Boss's hands and turning back to the carriage. "Very well, young master, then, I wish you a smooth journey," Fat Boss replied after a moment's thought.

"I'll take your good wishes to heart!" Li Xuan said, flicking his whip, and the carriage lumbered forward slowly. The slaves, knowing they had been sold, dutifully fell in step behind Li Xuan's carriage.

"Master… I'm hungry," the ginseng doll suddenly poked its little head out of the carriage, saying cutely to Li Xuan.

"You're certainly hungry," Li Xuan laughed, shaking his head, then took a portion of food from the Void Pearl and handed it to the ginseng doll.

"Thank you, master," the ginseng doll's eyes lit up at the food offered by Ji Yuan, and it said a babyish thank you to Li Xuan.

"You're quite polite, little fellow—what's your name?" Li Xuan asked the ginseng doll again. "I… I have no name," the doll replied, its expression drooping and gaze dim.

"From now on you'll be called Bangchui, take my surname—Li—so you're Li Bangchui!" Li Xuan seemed pleased with the name, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.

"Bangchui? Li Bangchui?" the ginseng doll blinked blankly, then a happy grin returned to its face.

So the young are indeed easy to be fooled?

Dear readers, I'm so tired…

(End of Chapter)