Wait a minute, where is my master?

Shangjing City, truly deserving of its status as the capital of Great Xia, was still as bright as day despite the night being well advanced with lights ablaze and the sounds of people everywhere.

The richness of the nightlife was not inferior to that of Gusu City.

On their way back, Jin Xu, together with Yu Yaoer and Little White, passed through a street where diligent female Cultivators earned cultivation resources through their hard work.

They hardly made it out.

The women there were so enthusiastic, dragging anyone they saw inside without checking whether they were male or female.

Luckily, the Little Taoist's Strengthening Skill was solid enough.

Despite the crowd of women, he managed to bring back the Little Fish Demon and the husky.

Yanyu Building, on the top floor.

The three of them closed the door, drew the curtains, activated the room's soundproofing Formation, and after making sure no noise would escape, they began sorting through the day's acquisitions!

"This wrought iron rod is for Little White, this Green Ice Fruit is for Little Yu, this Volcanic Grass is also Little Yu's, and...who bid for this scorpion dry?"

The Little Taoist held up a half-foot-long dried scorpion and asked; he remembered reading in a book that this thing was called a Moro Scorpion, apparently a type of highly poisonous demon insect.

"It's mine, mine, Young Master, this is mine," Yu Yaoer took the scorpion, carefully examined it, and then said to the Little Taoist, "Young Master, look again, I remember I also bid for a flying centipede."

Upon hearing this, Jin Xu rummaged through the storage bag from the auction and indeed found a large centipede with wings.

After handing the items to the Little Fish Demon, Jin Xu curiously asked.

"Why did you buy these?"

In the auction house, the Little Taoist had not paid attention to what the three women had bid for, hence the question.

"Stew chicken, Young Master, don't be fooled by the deadly poison in these two items, because once mixed with herbal medicine, the toxicity disappears, and when stewed with that Age Chicken, it's definitely very nourishing. I learned this method when I passed a great snow mountain and met an old beggar!"

The Little Fish Demon had an assured look on her face.

Seeing Yu Yaoer so full of confidence, Jin Xu was curious, "Have you done this before?"

"Not at all."

"..."

"We absolutely can't allow her to be so reckless with that one and only Age Chicken," the Little Taoist secretly thought.

He still wanted to taste how delicious this spiritual fowl was.

"Temple master, in my opinion, grilling that Age Chicken would taste better! I specifically bid for two pieces of Blazing Sun Crystal and peach wood branches aged five hundred years. I can make you guys a fruit-flavored roast chicken," the husky suggested from the side.

"That sounds feasible."

Little White's grilling skills, after all, had been verified, so Jin Xu nodded slightly and handed over the Blazing Sun Crystals and peach wood branches from the storage bag to her.

With the odds and ends all distributed, it was time for the main act.

Jin Xu took out the Age Chicken from his own storage magical treasure. His twenty-four Mystic Treasure Pearls could contain living beings, so he didn't worry about whether the spiritual bird was still alive.

He placed the sealed cage on the table and first put a hand on the husky to prevent her from any rash moves, and then he removed the coverings around the cage.

As the cage was no longer sealed, an exotic aroma diffused, lingering throughout the room.

Indeed, Jin Xu's pre-emptive measures were correct as Little White got a head rush the moment she smelled the scent!

With her sensitive sense of smell, she was several times more stimulated by this exotic fragrance than others.

Her little nose twitched continuously, her throat involuntarily contracted, and there was even a hint of clear, glistening saliva at the corner of her mouth.

"Temple master, let's not grill it, let's eat it as sashimi instead!"

This was a word the Little Taoist had taught her once while eating.

Looking at Yu Yaoer, her reaction was much better, even maintaining her composure.

This made Jin Xu give her a sidelong glance. She hadn't been much better in the auction house, so why was she so calm now?

Upon closer inspection, he saw that the Little Fish Demon had used two water beads to block her nose.

"...Why did I forget such a simple method?"

The Little Taoist looked at Yu Yaoer, then signaled to Little White to block her nose as well.

"Mhm..."

"Don't stuff your mouth!"

"Ah, okay, young master."

After a moment of "fish flying and dogs jumping," the three finally managed to ignore the bewitching aroma.

...

In the cage, the Age Chicken raised its proud head, silently observing the three people in front of it. It had the bloodline of a Divine Beast and had developed spiritual intelligence; although it couldn't speak human language, it knew what it was about to face.

Now, thinking about it, it felt some regret.

It really shouldn't have been tempted by the so-called wonders of the outside world and tricked by Little Black from next door into sneaking out of its clan's territory.

Little Black had been cruelly eaten on the same day the Human Race cultivators had exited the Secret Realm.

And it had managed to survive for some time.

But now, alas, it still couldn't escape its fate.

With this thought, the Age Chicken poked its head out from the bars of the cage, ready to utter its last cry before death!

"Gobble gobble!"

...

Inside the room, next to the table.

The three people who were fiercely debating how to eat the chicken were startled by the sudden crowing sound.

Little White stretched out its hand and flicked the other's head, reporting, "Temple master, the chicken is swearing!"

"Swearing is not good. Wait, you understand what this spiritual bird is saying?"

After hearing what the husky said, the young Taoist asked in surprise.

"Yeah, we from the Demon Realm don't speak human language."

As it spoke, Little White howled twice at the cage.

Hearing this noise, the Age Chicken in the cage, already resigned to death, suddenly felt a glimmer of hope in its eyes.

"Gobble gobble! Gobble gobble gobble! Gobble!"

"Howl! Howl!"

This kind of dialogue continued for several rounds.

In the meantime, Jin Xu specifically asked Yu Yaoer if she understood what the two were saying.

The Little Fish Demon said no, but she could communicate with aquatic creatures.

"..."

This answer confused the young Taoist. Don't the aquatic demons and the land demons speak the same language?

But strictly speaking, Age Chicken was considered a bird, not a land-based demon.

Could it be... that this was actually a free-range chicken?

Jin Xu was still lost in wild thoughts when Little White's conversation with the Age Chicken had already ended.

"Howl... no, temple master, he says his name is Little Hong."

After speaking a few words in its native tongue followed by human language, the husky seemed a little out of practice.

"What else?"

The one-on-one dialogue had gone on for quite a while; surely there was more than just two sentences.

"Howl, he also said he knows he will definitely be eaten, so I asked him whether he wanted to be stewed or roasted. He said his companion was stewed, so he'd rather be roasted."

After Little White finished speaking, Little Hong in the cage let out a mournful cry.

"Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!"

Acting nonchalant, the husky snapped its fingers again and reported, "Temple master, the chicken is swearing again!"

The young Taoist glanced at the Age Chicken in the cage, then at Little White, who had guilt written all over its face. He picked up an iron bar from the table and gently tapped the husky on the head twice.

Sparks flew.

"Tell the truth."

"Oh, he says he doesn't want to die."