Well, actually, we returned home instead of directly to the antique store, unlike what the chapter title implied. After reaching the town at Huai Zhu, we took a flight back, returned home and rested for the night.
We only went to the store the next day, reopening it after a few days of break. I had already contacted Mu Rong Lao, and he would visit shortly to check on the relics we had recovered from the tomb. I had left them with my wife, leaving the treasures stored inside her spatial device.
"It's been a while, eh?" I hummed cheerfully while setting up everything. We hadn't replaced the antiques that Mu Rong Qiu had broken because we didn't have the time to buy new ones. Immediately after that day, we had set off for the expedition to the tomb, after all. Nonetheless, it wasn't as if the antique store was empty, and people rarely bought anything anyway.
So it was fine to just open the store. Besides, we needed to keep it open for when Mu Rong Lao visited.
Unfortunately, the first person who showed up wasn't Mu Rong Lao but his grandson, Mu Rong Qiu.
He swaggered in with a girl that sported jade-colored skin…ahem, I mean hair. I mean, no human would have skin the color of jade (well, actually, it depends on what kind of jade you're talking about, but I digress), right? In any event, I was surprised. Wasn't his present girlfriend the one with pink hair? Seemed like she didn't last more than a few days.
"Hah! You finally opened this worthless shop?" Mu Rong Qiu sneered when he stalked inside. I gaped at him.
"And you got a new girlfriend? You dumped your previous one so soon?"
"That's none of your business!"
"Well, then my opening my store is none of your business too," I retorted, trying not to roll my eyes. Mu Rong Qiu flared up angrily.
"Of course it is! You're wasting our Mu Rong family's resources on this worthless store! All you do is make a loss! I've been telling granddad to shut this store down because of how useless it is, but he won't listen! Don't worry, if he is too soft on you, then I'll try another tactic. I'll drive you out!"
"That's right!" the new girlfriend cheered him on. "Show that pathetic trash how strong and decisive you are!"
Did this guy have a penchant for picking up brainless women or something?
Mu Rong Qiu was spurred on by his new squeeze and so he leaped forward, getting ready to punch me. Black flames blazed around his hand, causing shockwaves that rattled the antiques I had just put out in display.
His fist never reached me.
Another person stepped into the shop and slapped him so hard that Mu Rong Qiu was sent flying into the wall. The concrete cracked from the impact and he slumped down, a bruise on his cheek and blood trickling from his mouth.
"Who did that?!" Mu Rong Qiu shouted, spitting out a broken tooth. "Who dares attack this young master?!"
"Dare your head!" Mu Rong Lao bellowed, slapping him again. Another tooth and spray of blood exited the poor guy's mouth. "You think you're so big now, is it? That you can shout at your own grandfather? Seems like I didn't educate you properly!"
"No, wait, what?! Granddad?!" Mu Rong Qiu fell to his knees in despair. "How?! When did you…?"
"Ever since you were harassing your cousin-in-law. If I want this store open, then I have my own reasons. Who are you to meddle in my affairs and create trouble for Huan Shi?" Mu Rong Lao struck the top of Mu Rong Qiu's head. "When did you take over as patriarch of the Mu Rong family, huh? You think you can overrule my decisions?"
"But…but…"
"I have Huan Shi work here for a special reason. The antiques are just a cover. Now stop bothering him! Get lost from here! If I ever see you come to this store and create trouble again, I'll kick you out from the Mu Rong family!"
"C…cover for what?" Mu Rong Qiu spluttered in disbelief. His grandfather merely glared at him coldly.
"You have no right to know. Now leave."
He kicked the poor guy's ass so hard he was sent flying out of the shop. The jade-colored girl (I mean the girl with jade-colored hair) looked around, frightened, and then ran out after Mu Rong Qiu, who was moaning in pain outside.
"Sorry for that." Mu Rong Lao shook his head and turned back to me and my wife. "Xiao Shu, Huan Shi, let's go to the reception room."
I locked the doors and put up the temporarily closed sign, then followed my wife and grandfather-in-law into the VIP room. After making sure everything was secured and activating the security measures so that nobody could eavesdrop on us, we then began the discussion proper.
We briefed grandfather-in-law on what had happened in the tomb, though we didn't have to go into too many details. It wasn't as if he needed to know what sort of spirit beasts we fought. We then came to the heart of the matter – the treasures.
"They are all here," Mu Rong Shu told her grandfather, passing him the spatial device. He accepted it and used his qi sense to check the relics inside. He then nodded in satisfaction before giving his granddaughter a look of fondness.
"Are you sure you just want the guqin?" he asked. Mu Rong Shu nodded, lowering her head respectfully.
"Yes. I don't need anything else."
"What about you?" Mu Rong Lao turned to me. "Did you manage to get any relic that is useful for your summoning techniques?"
"Yeah, a halberd. But my war spirit ended up absorbing it the moment he touched it." To demonstrate, I summoned my war spirit. Mu Rong Lao observed the half-completed spirit that hovered in front of him, nodding in amazement.
"Oh! Your spirit has progressed tremendously since I last saw him! I thought he was only 30% complete. Now he looks like he's about 50 to 60% complete!"
"It's all thanks to the relic," I said, bowing my head humbly. "Without it, we would never have gotten this far."
"Your efforts played no small part in strengthening your spirit too," Mu Rong Lao said. Then he rubbed his bearded chin. "What about that little puppy you mentioned?"
"Oh, Xiao Hei?" I summoned the tiny hellhound that I had signed a spirit beast contract with. He barked and ran over, rubbing his face against Mu Rong Lao's leg. The old man chuckled and bent down to stroke his black fur.
"Not bad. Not bad at all. This is a hellhound, isn't he? Good. If you develop him well, he will evolve into a Cerberus one day."
"I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to that." I scratched my head sheepishly. "I like him the way he is now."
"I know what you mean. He looks more like a pet than a summoned spirit beast reared for war. It's up to you. You know better than me about summoning and spirit beasts."
"Thank you, granddad."
"Why are you thanking me?" Mu Rong Lao laughed. He then rose to his feet, holding the spatial device in his hand. "I'll put this in the clan treasury. As promised, I'll pay you both the explorer's fee, about two hundred thousand yuan per person. And when we auction and sell these off, you both will get a percentage of royalties."
"Thank you for your generosity, granddad." Mu Rong Shu bowed her head
"What, this isn't generosity. It's less than what you deserve. You risked your lives to get these things but voluntarily give them to the family…" Mu Rong Lao shook his head wryly. "I should be the one thanking you two. A job well done."
He then turned away, putting the spatial device in his pocket.
"I'll get these settled. The both of you, wait for the good news."
"Yeah."
We sent him off, and then reopened the store. While I did so, I left my war spirit and Xiao Hei in the chamber under the store.
"Sorry, wife, while we are handling the store, I'm going to train my spirit beast and war spirit for a bit. You mind holding down the fort for a while?"
"Not at all." Mu Rong Shu had her guqin out and she was practicing some music. The sweet notes drifted leisurely in the air, causing pedestrians outside to turn their heads and stare at the store.
"Thanks. Love you."
I gave her a quick hug before descending to the chamber. Summoning my war spirit and Xiao Hei, I began the training process. For my war spirit, there wasn't much to do other than have him meditate in the middle of the chamber. The poor guy had absorbed so much yin qi from the wraiths, as well as the halberd relic, that he needed to assimilate all that excess energy now. Otherwise they would be useless. Just energy that surrounded him, but a reserve that he was unable to tap into and make use of. That would be a waste.
So the first step to turning that energy usable was to absorb it into himself. Not just the yin qi, but also the relic.
The relic was one thing, but absorbing energy from wraiths was an inefficient process. 90% of the energy would be lost, but hey, the remaining 10% energy was better than nothing. A small increase in strength was always better than no increase at all. Not that there weren't other ways of getting stronger – combat experience helped a lot too.
As for Xiao Hei…
"Sorry, pal, but you're a little weak right now. So I'm going to teach you how to attack and how to defend yourself. So that nobody can bully you in the future."
As much as I was reluctant to see him evolve, I knew it was inevitable. Not only that, I couldn't afford to have a spirit beast that I wouldn't use in combat. I wasn't a charity – if he was to exist in my soul sea, he would have to help me one day. Otherwise, if I died…his existence would be erased along with me.
For better or for worse, our destinies were now intricately tied.
"Don't worry, though." I beamed at Xiao Hei. "If you follow me, you won't make a loss. You'll definitely grow stronger!"
Xiao Hei barked and wagged his tail, ready to receive whatever grueling training regimen I had in mind. Grinning, I punched the air.
"Let's aim to make you powerful enough to take on Warriors by the time of the Mu Rong family tournament!"