Chapter 196 Treasure Trove.
Hao Ren and Han Lingshi held hands and moved through the dense forest. It was easy for him to track the snake trail. Han Lingshi was still shaken from what happened just now. He could sense her heart beating at a high rate.
He said, "This was the first time you came across something like this. It is not a big mistake, in the end, didn't you save me?"
Han Lingshi replied in a soft voice, "It was also my mistake that put you in the spot in the first place. I cannot shrug away from that."
Hao Ren nodded and said, "I am not denying that you made a mistake. All I want you to do it to learn from it and make sure to not repeat it."
Han Lingshi looked at him and said, "You know, sometimes your words cannot make me feel better."
Hao Ren chuckled as they moved. After fifteen minutes, they were standing at the mouth of an under ground cavern. The couple exchanged gazes, and took out their spirit swords. Thankfully they had the weapons that were very powerful. The concept of a weapon made humans feel more confident.
The couple raised their vacant hands and ignited the flames on their palms and entered the place cautiously. Han Lingshi asked, "How do you know that their might be a treasure here?"
Hao Ren replied, "What else could have caused that snake to mutate? The normal animals in the world do not have much chance to evolve like that guy, and the spiritual energy in the world is already negligible. Without the aid of a treasure it should be impossible for the beast to grow that big."
The two slowly walked inside the cavern, and Han Lingshi said, "The snake scales seemed to have smoothened the cave walls."
Hao Ren nodded, and suddenly he said, "Did you notice the smell? That snake was emitting poison mist from its mouth when I shot at it. The smell is similar to that poison."
Han Lingshi said, "Your flames might be able to evaporate that smell."
Hao Ren nodded and waved his hand and a wave of flames travelled through the cave. The two of them had learned how to control the flames better thanks to the system. They traveled for a fifty meters, before they stopped all of a sudden.
A few meters away, there was a skeleton sitting cross legged. The person was dressed in a silver white robe. The cloth was damaged from different places and Hao Ren stepped closer with caution. He bowed to the skeleton and said, "Forgive us for disturbing your rest senior."
Han Lingshi followed him as she thought, 'The resentment rising from this skeleton vanished after you bowed to it. I wonder if the spirit of this senior is still lingering in the vicinity.'
They both were using their Yin and Yang pupils as soon as they came inside the cave as they did not know what might be hidden here. So, when they came across the skeleton, they noticed that the skeleton was surrounded by red mist. However, after Hao Ren bowed and paid his respect, the mist vanished.
Hao Ren replied with the heart soul communication, 'It must have been a trap to prevent people from attacking. Those who have greed and ill will in their hearts will not be able to get anything from what the senior left behind.'
Han Lingshi nodded and after a few seconds, Hao Ren said, "Look, there is a wound mark on the torso, this is the only thing that looks critical to me."
Han Lingshi walked around to check the cave and said, "This place does not have any of the rubbing marks like the walls outside. It is smooth as if man made."
Hao Ren thought for a minute and said, "It could be that the senior used some means to build this place as his resting place, and the snake found it by chance."
Han Lingshi nodded and then looking at the skeleton she asked, "What could it be that made the snake grow so big?"
Hao Ren looked around but he did not find anything. Then he noticed a ring on the finger of the skeleton. He was still hesitant about taking the ring or not, but he took a deep breath and reached out for the ring. If the skeleton reacted even a slightest bit, then he would not hesitate and turn it into a puddle of ashes.
The young man managed to hold the arm bone safely and carefully took off the ring. He bowed his head and took Han Lingshi even deeper inside the cavern. The place still had a thirty meter long trail leading deep inside the cavern. What surprised them was the discovery of two silver ingots.
Upon inspection they found that these two things were actually eggs of the snake they had slain. The sign of vitality emitting from the eggs was weak but as a master level alchemist, Hao Ren had the knowledge to save them. He looked at Han Lingshi and asked, "Do you want to save them or eat them?"
Han Lingshi was surprised and the young man replied, "These two snakes have the capability to absorb spiritual energy. If we eat them, we will get a good supplement."
The lady narrowed her gaze at him and said, "You are going to use that big thing outside right? Spare these two. We can raise them, and in future they might turn into dragons. Imagine our house will have two kick ass dragons."
Hao Ren looked at her and said, "Han Lingshi, these days I have come to discover that you have a real knack to talk like a punk."
Han Lingshi smiled and said, "Where did you think I learned how to ride bikes? I am a punk. Now think of a way to save them."
Hao Ren sighed and being the obedient husband that he was, he took hold of the two eggs, and brought them along. Then he dug a deep pit and buried the skeleton. Han Lingshi and he both said prayers and left the depths of the cave. The caused small explosions of by colliding their flames and caused the back of the cavern to cave in.
They planned to use the front of the cavern as their shelter. It would prevent them from the rain and winds, and the lingering scent of the snake would prevent any big animals from approaching them.
The two of them were sitting and some distance away from the hole leading out of the cave, with a pile of wood burning with gentle flames. The sun had come down, and they were planning to have some dinner, earlier, Hao Ren had gone to extracts some materials from the snake, and he came back with at least seventy scales.
Han Lingshi asked, "What are you doing with these scales?"
Hao Ren replied, "Experiment and see if the quality of these scales can be replicated back at home. If not, then I will use them directly to make war armors and small battle suits for us. It will help us initially."
Han Lingshi nodded and said calmly, "More than me, you will need it when you go to the spirit shimmer continent."
Hao Ren was surprised and asked, "Do you truly want me to go there alone?"
Han Lingshi nodded and turned her head to look at the flame as he said, "The encounter with that snake made me realize that I still have a lot to learn. If I insisted on following you, it would drag you down. I do not want you to act like my baby sitter."
Hao Ren wanted to say something when the system notified, *Ding: Host, the wife has agreed to stay behind and consolidate her foundation. You are rewarded with a spiritual artifact, Thousand Face Mask."
Hao Ren raised his eyebrows, but he did not check the artifact quickly. He sighed and said, "I will respect your wishes. Well, the meat is cooked, come have some."
Han Lingshi ate a miniscule chunk of meat and closed her eyes as she relaxed and said, "You are so good, I will miss this taste."
Hao Ren narrowed his eyes and asked, "Madam Hao, it seems to me that you married me because of my cooking skills."
Han Lingshi shook her head and replied in an obvious tone, "Oh no, I just wanted to use you as a shield, Sir, but you turned out to be a total package. Though your cooking skills are the best thing about you."
Hao Ren snorted and replied, "Sometimes your words do not console me enough."
Then the two looked at each other before they started laughing. After the dinner was done, Hao Ren said, "These two eggs have yet to receive any nourishment. The snake must have just laid them when it came out hunting for us."
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Han Lingshi replied, "That explains the early sluggishness. Otherwise she had enough strength to cause serious trouble."
Hao Ren nodded and replied, "Well, so now we need to give them our own blood first, and then have them recognize us as their masters in the early phase, otherwise when they come out, it will be difficult."
Han Lingshi nodded, she was not afraid of pouring out some blood. They all had some exposure to the world of comics. They both made a slit on their palms and allowed the blood to drip on the silver eggs. Sure enough, the silver ingots began to absorb the blood and they changed appearances.
A faint scaly texture appeared on the surface of the egg, and after the couple lost a considerable amount of blood they took their hands back to see their had turned slightly pale. They both took out a bottle of rejuvenation potion and chugged them down.
After they were done, Hao Ren dragged the big snake back, and extracted all the blood from it and let it pour into a shallow pit he had dug on the ground. Then both the eggs were placed in the pit. This will allow them to absorb the best spiritual blood apart from their own.
Han Lingshi asked, "What is that ring that you took from the senior?"
Hao Ren took it out and said, "It is a space ring, let us see what is inside."
Then the young man began to pour out the content from the ring. Soon a small pile of shiny stones was ready on the side, and then there were several books, and a few weapons. There was also a very delicate jade box which was engraved and embedded with patterns. It was empty.
Hao Ren took a deep breath and said, "We are rich, these stones are spirit stones."
Han Lingshi chuckled and the young man explained to her that these stones could be used as the currency in the spirit shimmer continent. Then they determined that the books were cultivation and spirit spell techniques.
However, Han Lingshi said, "What is the point of this empty box?"
Hao Ren sniffed and said, "I can detect some vague medicinal scent coming from this box. I think it might have contained a pill or some herb that the senior was trying to consume but he passed away before he could and the snake reaped the benefits."
Han Lingshi looked at him as she said, "As absurd as it may sound, that is the only thing that is making any sense here."
Hao Ren shrugged and the two began to go through the books. While he was reading, he was communicating with the system as well, 'System, I have been pilling up my monthly lottery for six months now, what level of reward can I get now?'
*Ding: Host, you have ten percent chance to get a golden reward, twenty percent chance to get a silver reward, and seventy percent chance to get a bronze reward. Would you like to start the lottery?*