A moment later, the Little White Ferret had completely devoured all the spirit rice in the bamboo bowl.
After rinsing the bowl with spring water, she drank it all, then, still not satisfied, began to wash the bowl and chopsticks.
She stopped two meters away from Li Xuan, gently placing the bowl on the ground.
"Are you full?"
Li Xuan asked with a smile.
"I'm super full!"
The Little White Ferret said, patting her belly.
"Grumble grumble~"
The scene became a little quiet for a moment.
"I'm not full yet. How about you join me for a bit more?"
Li Xuan took out some spirit rice, put it into the freshly washed pot, and said with a smile.
The Little White Ferret scratched her head a little shyly, then squatted gracefully in place:
"Little thief, you're actually quite nice."
Li Xuan turned and smiled at her. Seeing that she was very close and had no defensive posture, he said:
"My name is Li Xuan. May I ask for the young lady's name?"
"Mama said my name is Xue Zhao Yue, but Grandpa Baize said I should tell the first human who asks my name that my true name is Bai Lu Xi."
The Diao Niang said with a serious expression and a rather solemn tone.
"Then I'll call you Zhao Yue from now on."
Li Xuan thought for a moment and said. He didn't like the name Bai Lu Xi; morning dew that quickly dries, fleeting, no matter how beautiful, it's only for an instant.
"Alright, then I'll call you Xiao Xuanzi! We're friends now, so you can't steal my ginseng anymore, at least not without my permission!"
The Diao Niang said, seemingly still remembering Li Xuan digging up her ginseng.
"That's how it should be, but between friends, we should be honest. I'm actually the new steward of this mountain. You've been in the forest for a long time, and there's something I'd like to ask you." Li Xuan leaned in closer, squatting in front of the Zhaoyue Little Sable Girl.
The Diao Niang saw him approach, stood upright, and crossed her paws over her chest, saying, "Xiao Xuanzi, ask away!"
Li Xuan resisted the urge to pat her head and spoke:
"I've only been here a few days, but I've noticed there aren't many medicinal herbs on the mountain. Logically, it shouldn't be like this. Please enlighten me, Zhao Yue."
After he finished speaking, he cupped his fists.
Seeing his solemnity, Zhao Yue also became serious:
"Xiao Xuanzi, you've just arrived, so you don't know. Every March is the spring hunt here. Many people come up the mountain to gather herbs and hunt. Uncle Xiong and Uncle Lu died at their hands. They even wanted to skin me, but luckily I ran fast!"
The Diao Niang's expression was slightly downcast.
"They're foolish! Every time they gather herbs, they take huge amounts, not thinking about leaving anything for future generations. That's why there aren't any good medicinal herbs left on this mountain."
"An old man in the mountains once said that we Spirit Monsters can only gather two herbs per person each year. Any more is not allowed."
The Diao Niang extended two claws to illustrate.
Li Xuan silently processed this information. Sure enough, the local families had treated this place as their private territory. These Spirit Monsters in the mountains were quite good, even understanding the principle of sustainable use.
He took out a ten-year-old ginseng from his Storage Pouch, the one whose potential had been exhausted, and handed it to Zhao Yue, saying:
"I'll compensate you with one."
Whoosh! The ginseng vanished from his hand.
The Zhaoyue Little Sable Girl held the ginseng in her paws, munch munch munch munch munch...
Within a few breaths, the ginseng was gone.
"Xiao Xuanzi, you're actually quite nice! I'll trade you a fish."
After finishing the ginseng, the Zhaoyue Little Sable Girl pulled out a lively, jumping Spirit Fish from her small satchel and tossed it to Li Xuan.
Li Xuan's eyes widened as he looked at the satchel.
"I misjudged it. This satchel is actually a spatial Magic Treasure, at least on the same Rank as the spirit fish treasure mirror."
He thought to himself.
Seeing his expression, the Diao Niang quickly shielded the small satchel behind her:
"This was given to me by my mother. You can't covet it! If I get angry, the consequences will be severe!"
"Not coveting, not coveting. I have one too."
Li Xuan smiled and waved his hand, taking out the spirit fish treasure mirror and placing the Spirit Fish inside.
One ten-year-old ginseng for a Spirit Fish, he made a huge profit.
As for the Diao Niang's satchel, she was so easy to trick; sooner or later, he'd trick her and the satchel over.
Lost in thought, Li Xuan continued to ask:
"Are there still many Spirit Monsters in the mountains? You're so small, won't you be bullied?"
Hearing this, the Diao Niang hung her satchel around her neck, struck a boxing pose, and bounced twice, saying:
"Hmph, who are you looking down on? If you're not convinced, let's spar! No Talismans allowed!"
Li Xuan took out his Flying Sword.
"No weapons allowed either, hmph!"
"Then I surrender."
Li Xuan put away his Flying Sword and spread his hands.
"Sigh."
The Diao Niang's head drooped again:
"Now I can only bully you. There's no one left in the mountains. The day Uncle Xiong died, his eyeballs were even beaten out. Uncle Lu was even worse; his legs were chopped off, and the little fox said he's now being held down the mountain, having his deer antlers cut daily. But the little fox is the most miserable. She was fed a Shapeshifting Pill, and now she's entertaining guests in a tavern every day. Phew, luckily I ran fast that day. I pushed off with my legs and whoosh, I was gone."
"Grandpa Baize once said before he left, 'Don't eat humans. Eating humans will lead to eternal damnation in the future.' But we didn't eat humans, and our fate isn't much better. If it weren't for you, Xiao Xuanzi, stealing my two ginsengs, perhaps I would have already left here. You, do you understand what I mean?"
Her small eyes suddenly looked over.
Li Xuan quickly feigned an understanding look:
"Understand, understand, I'll take responsibility for you."
Grind, grind.
The Diao Niang gnashed her teeth in anger, thinking, 'Who asked this little thief to take responsibility? I just wanted the other ginseng back.'
Li Xuan smiled. The spirit rice was cooked by now, and he got up to serve Zhao Yue.
Sniffing, the Diao Niang immediately forgot her previous unhappiness, her eyes sparkling, she moved closer, like a primary school student waiting by the window for an aunt to serve rice.
While she ate, Li Xuan also sorted through the information he had gathered from her in his mind:
"There are no more Spirit Monsters in the mountains, and Baize has also left. For now, the mountain is safe."
"There's a spring hunt every March, which means those people will take action at least before next March. I need to think of a solution."
......
Zhou Family.
"We should not act rashly for now. That kid likely has high-Rank Talismans on him, which corroborates that he has some background. However, I am a bit puzzled. Holy Maiden Su is notoriously arrogant and cold, so how could she be involved with a Utility Disciple? This matter is a bit strange."
Zhou Lin frowned as he analyzed, facing two other middle-aged Cultivators from the Zhang Family and Li Family on the island.
The Zhou, Zhang, and Li families were the three major families on this island. Because the Zhou Family had a Foundation Establishment inner Disciple in the Sect, they respected the Zhou Family.
"Brother Zhou, I heard that Uncle Zhou Yang has an old acquaintance with the Saint. Why don't our families pool some Spirit Stones and visit the Saint around the New Year? The Saint and the Saintess are on good terms, so we can ask him to inquire about it."
"On this Lingxu Mountain, there's a Snow Sable that Young Master Li Luo happened to see three years ago during a hunting trip. He was quite fond of it then, and thus instructed us to capture it alive and send it to him. We can't afford to lose Young Master Li Luo's Face."
The middle-aged Cultivator from the Zhang Family said.
Hearing of Young Master Li Luo, Zhou Lin's Face showed fear. The Li Family was an Artifact Refiner Family, and Ancestor Li was a Second-Order Artifact Refiner, holding considerable power in the Sect. To think that there were only about 20 Second-Order Artifact Refiners in the entire Bingxuan Sect. Besides that, the Li Family also had three Foundation Establishment Cultivators, occupying a second-Rank spiritual island.
Because of this, regarding the matter of the Snow Sable, Zhou Lin, who was once the steward of Lingxu Mountain, had suffered quite a few reprimands from Young Master Li Luo.
"Brother Li Xiao, what do you think?" Although Zhou Lin had already approved of this plan in his heart, he still had to ask for the opinions of the other families on the surface, as the Spirit Stones would be contributed by all three families.
"I have no objections. I will follow the instructions of both of you, brothers." Li Xiao cupped his hands and said.
"Then it is settled."