“Master, why aren’t we taking everything?”
“Greed gets you into trouble. Take what you need and leave the rest alone—what if those people died because of their own greed?” Su Mu said with a smile.
Anna suddenly understood. “That actually makes a lot of sense.”
Before leaving, Su Mu placed the leather back into the chest and didn’t take it. He only picked out a few fine-looking magical instruments and some top-grade spirit stones.
As it turned out, his guess wasn’t wrong—when he left, the terrifying pressure wasn’t triggered.
In that moment, Anna was full of admiration for him…
Since she wasn’t a living being in the true sense, she didn’t need to breathe or eat, so Su Mu let her stay inside the jade hairpin.
Since he still wasn’t planning to reveal his identity for now, the white jade ring quietly remained inside as well.
Anna acted like she’d never seen anything before, rummaging around inside the hairpin, touching this and peeking at that. Su Mu was equal parts amused and exasperated, so he decided to appoint her as his head housekeeper in charge of logistics.
Anna gladly accepted the role.
Su Mu left the area and headed west, because Anna had mentioned that she’d seen plenty of medicinal herbs there before, and there was a good chance they’d include what Su Mu needed.
Though there was no guarantee, he still planned to try his luck.
Along the way, many massive snakes blocked his path. Though they were relatively weak individually, their numbers were overwhelming, and since there was no way to avoid them, he had no choice but to kill them all.
Su Mu waded through blood and gore. By the time he reached the place Anna had described, his clothes were soaked through with blood, yet his skin bore not a single wound.
“Phew…” He let out a long breath, looking rather puzzled. “Why does it feel like these snakes are rushing to their deaths? They know they’re no match for me, yet they still charge in headfirst, as if they’re afraid they won’t die.”
As he spoke, black wisps of energy still drifted toward him from the freshly slain serpent corpses—invisible, intangible, and eerily strange.
By now, the black energy clinging to him had grown considerably.
Su Mu gazed at the canyon before him, hesitating whether to enter—because the spiritual energy fluctuations inside were clearly no joke, likely far more dangerous than outside.
“Anna, is this the place?”
“Yes, Master.” Anna sat on Su Mu’s shoulder, her eyes fixed intently on a stone tablet half-hidden in the bushes at the canyon’s entrance.
Following her gaze, Su Mu spotted ten large characters carved on it: “Coward—knew you wouldn’t dare enter.”
“Who’s he looking down on?” Su Mu muttered under his breath and strode forward with big steps.
“Master, you’re so brave.”
Su Mu’s lips curled up slightly, but he still said, “Less flattery from now on. What if I get all conceited? One should stay humble.”
Anna tilted her head mechanically. “Oh, okay…”
The canyon entrance was very narrow, barely wide enough for two or three people to walk side by side. But once inside, the view opened up dramatically—it turned out to be a treasure trove of medicinal herbs.
Su Mu wore the grin of a greedy miser. If it weren’t for the fact that he was now a beautiful woman and had to mind his image, he’d probably be drooling.
However, before he could even bask in his delight, he heard sounds of battle.
“The noise is coming from deeper in—let’s go check it out!” Su Mu sprinted forward, carefully avoiding the precious herbs. If he trampled any, he’d never forgive himself.
Anna clung to his head, afraid of falling off.
In a few bounds, Su Mu reached the scene of the fight, only to find Kusakabe Kurenai and Sakurai Mii joining forces against a massive, pitch-black serpent over ten meters long.
The serpent was at the peak of B-rank strength. The two women were barely holding their own, just managing not to be at a disadvantage.
Seeing this, Su Mu called out, “Sister Mii, I’m here to help!”
For a split second, the movements of the two fighters and the serpent all paused. Kusakabe Kurenai and Sakurai Mii resumed fighting almost immediately, their attacks growing even fiercer, while the serpent began to act cautiously, constantly diverting its attention to Su Mu.
Yet Su Mu made no move—he simply stood and watched.
Only after the serpent confirmed that Su Mu didn’t dare step forward and was all talk did it gradually relax its guard.
But just then, Su Mu suddenly struck. His speed was so fast that the serpent flinched, breaking away from Kusakabe Kurenai and Sakurai Mii to flee—only for him to stop again at that very moment. Though he’d gotten closer, he no longer seemed intent on fighting.
At the same time, Kusakabe Kurenai’s longsword was already upon it, and Sakurai Mii had turned into a shadow to block its escape route.
Caught between two fronts, the serpent was forced to fight again.
But every time it did, Su Mu would launch a feint and then stop right when its nerves were stretched tautest.
After several rounds of this, the serpent was nearly driven mad. It finally spoke in human tongue: “Fine! Take your herbs! Take them! One plant each, and I’ll let you!!!”
Kusakabe Kurenai grinned. “Three each, or no deal. The three of us together—you’re definitely not a match for us.”
The serpent’s venomous gaze swept across the three of them, pausing briefly on Su Mu, then it ground out through clenched teeth: “Fine.”
Su Mu secretly regretted not seizing the chance to pick a few earlier.
He met the serpent’s gaze and gave a respectful bow. “Senior Serpent, I was rude just now, but please give me a chance to explain.”
The other two had no idea what he was up to and shot him puzzled looks: Is she really going to act all sweet after getting her way?
But then Su Mu continued: “Senior, look—you’re so powerful, and my friends are so weak. Neither of them is a match for you alone. I only did what I did out of concern for them. Please be magnanimous and don’t hold it against me.”
The serpent paused for a few seconds, and its gaze toward Su Mu softened a little. “Pick your herbs and get out. I don’t want to hear your flattery.”
Kusakabe Kurenai and Sakurai Mii went to gather the herbs they’d had their eyes on, but Su Mu stayed put and kept talking: “Senior, you’re A-rank, right? Your aura is absolutely terrifying—I’m genuinely frightened from the bottom of my heart. Is this what they call the pressure of a true powerhouse… (one million words omitted here)”
“Just tell me what herb you want. If it’s not in the canyon, it doesn’t exist. Flattering me won’t change that.” The serpent’s tone was cold, but inside, it was secretly pleased, and it suddenly found this human girl rather endearing.
Su Mu hadn’t spotted any six-headed serpent spirit grass, so he said respectfully, “Six-headed serpent spirit grass.”
The serpent hesitated for a moment, then turned and crawled into a stone cave on the cliff wall. When it emerged again, it was carrying a huge bundle of herbs—all sorts of varieties, and all clearly far superior to the ones in the canyon. Among them was the six-headed serpent spirit grass.
Su Mu’s eyes lit up, and the praise rolled right off his tongue: “Thank you, Senior! A senior as noble and generous as you is truly rare these days…”
And just like that, he easily obtained the six-headed serpent spirit grass.
But then the serpent said, “Keep going. If you make me happy enough, all of this is yours.”
Su Mu nearly blurted out a “Wow!”
Turning flattery into heavenly treasures?
Even a fool would take that deal.
As the saying goes—when you see a rainbow, you praise that rainbow!
For the next three hours, Su Mu emptied his entire repertoire, and the quality of his compliments steadily improved over time, so the serpent never got bored.
When he finally walked out of the canyon under the admiring gazes of Kusakabe Kurenai and Sakurai Mii, the serpent only then realized that it had lost more than half of its years of savings.
It froze for a moment, then suddenly rolled around joyfully, like a happy child…
