Once Wei Tianchong was gone, the fiend tiger chuckled. "He's gone now, so why haven't you come out yet?"
Tang Jie appeared from behind a rock and grinned at the tiger. "What do you think?"
Wang Poguan stuck out his tongue and said with disdain, "First, he's all panicky and jittery, recklessly making noise, and then he's overcome by greed and reluctant to leave, and finally, he's cowardly and bewildered. Absolutely incompetent… but he still has some redeeming traits. He didn't abandon his comrades and run, and in the face of death, he still knew to save the little sprite, showing that he's not a heartless sort. Finally, his reactions and judgment were also pretty good, especially that act of rolling down Tiger Roar Peak… haha, rolling down… wonderful! Truly wonderful! That's the first time I, Wang Poguan, have ever seen someone flee in this manner. It's truly a first."
He once more heartily laughed, but his resounding tiger roars sounded like ones of fury.
Tang Jie laughed. "Although it was rather unsightly, it was still very practical. In dangerous moments, people will often become very quick-witted. Not bad, not bad. There was also that ploy to bait you with dogwood. Although it doesn't work on you, it's still a very normal decision."
"But it means that you've lost a lot of dogwood fruits."
"A few dogwood fruits are nothing compared to more growth in personality," Tang Jie indifferently said.
Resources were for a moment, whereas one's nature would last for a lifetime.
So long as Wei Tianchong could become firm and determined, let alone a few dogwood fruits, even throwing away all of his harvest from Tiger Roar Peak would be worth it.
Wang Poguan rolled his eyes. "What do you take Tiger Roar Peak for? You think people can just go in and out when they please? Anyone that comes has to pay a price. Relax; I controlled my strength. Repairing it won't be too expensive."
"If so, then I must thank Big Brother Wang," Tang Jie said to Wang Poguan.
"You're leaving?" Wang Poguan looked back. On the distant summit, two little tigers were happily playing.
"I have to leave eventually," Tang Jie replied.
Yes, he had to leave eventually.
Wang Poguan sighed and stomped his feet. "Go, then. I'm happy enough to see Bao'er."
His tone was depressed and helpless.
With this parting, he did not know when he would be able to see his child again. Perhaps this would be an eternal parting!
When Tang Jie arrived at the valley entrance, he saw Wei Tianchong lying on the ground, panting for breath, his unfocused eyes looking up at the sky. It was clear that he hadn't recovered from the "stimulation" just now.
The villagers of Tiger Roar Village were used to the sight, and nobody paid him any attention.
Tang Jie first let the Spirit Master search him, after which he walked over with a smile. "How'd it go?"
Upon seeing Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong jumped up and pointed at him. "You… you… you… you were there! Why didn't you help me?"
Tang Jie answered, "I felt uneasy letting you go in alone, so I asked the esteemed master for a mission so I could follow you into the valley, but I couldn't attack without breaking the rules."
"But I barely escaped with my life there!"
Tang Jie whispered, "That's why I had Yiyi help you, but that's the absolute limit of what I can do. And didn't you wonder why the fiend tiger wasn't in the cave?" Ŕ𝙖𐌽O͍𝐁ĘS̈
Wei Tianchong was startled. "Could it be that you…"
"Shush!" Tang Jie covered Wei Tianchong's mouth. "Don't say it out loud!"
Wei Tianchong was instantly on his guard. He knew that Tang Jie was certain to be punished if word of this got out.
In truth, Tang Jie wanted to use this opportunity to ensure that he didn't go around bragging about his gains in Tiger Roar Valley.
No one would suspect Tang Jie if he killed the mother tiger and took her body from Tiger Roar Peak, but this was because of his past performance. No student would believe that Wei Tianchong could steal the treasures of the fiend tiger on Tiger Roar Peak.
One's daily performance was the most important standard by which people judged each other. One's impression of someone wasn't usually based on some major incident, but more on the minutiae they saw in daily life, the small details.
This was precisely why Tang Jie didn't want Wei Tianchong to tell anyone about his intrusion into Tiger Roar Peak.
Fortunately, there was no need to hand over the harvests from Tiger Roar Valley to the villagers, and Wei Tianchong could secretly dispose of them himself. As for the origins, he was a young master of a big clan, so he could just say that his family had given them to him.
Wei Tianchong didn't understand the real reason, but it was fine for him to believe that Tang Jie had played a part in this mission, diminishing his resentment toward Tang Jie.
The two of them went back, with Tang Jie reminding him multiple times of the mistakes he had made in his response back there.
Wei Tianchong had come to understand a lot of things through his battle. He had come to understand the dangers of the cultivation world, that he couldn't be as carefree as before. Moreover, now that he had personal experience, he was gradually beginning to understand orders that had previously left him baffled. This had truly been a fruitful battle.
Once they returned to the Meditation Garden, Wei Tianchong opened the Mustard Seed Bag and counted his spoils, growing more excited as he did. "Five thousand… Tang Jie, the items in this bag are worth at least five thousand coins!"
For the Wei Clan, handing over five thousand spirit coins was a rather difficult task. Wei Tianchong was overjoyed to have received so much all at once, and he instantly felt that the journey had been worth it.
Let alone him, even Tang Jie found it very hard to get more than a thousand spirit coins at one time in his current state. Now that he had returned to his normal life, money had once more become hard to come by. Capital was bound to be used up, but cultivation was boundless.
Tang Jie chuckled. "Don't forget about this. This alone is worth three to five thousand coins."
He raised the giant python's fiend pellet.
Wang Poguan had specifically left this for Tang Jie. Compared to the sprite core that Yiyi had consumed back then, this fiend pellet was even more brimming with energy and was also undamaged. This was why it had been able to be kept for so long.
Wang Poguan had gone to great lengths to get the fiend pellet intact, even sustaining an injury in his battle with the python.
Alas, after the battle with Gu Changqing, Tang Jie had entered Spirit Lake, rendering him unable to enter Tiger Roar Valley. Thus, it was only now, by borrowing Wei Tianchong, that he had been able to take it.
Wei Tianchong looked at the fiend pellet, a look of admiration on his face. But after some thought, he unexpectedly said, "I'll give this fiend pellet to you."
"Mm?" Tang Jie was startled.
Wei Tianchong said, "I was only able to get so much because you helped me from the shadows. Without you, I wouldn't have succeeded. I don't know what you did, but, Tang Jie, I'm not an idiot. I know how frightening an upper-grade fiend tiger is. I can't even beat a lower-grade fiend fox, but I can steal from an upper-grade fiend tiger…"
He shook his head, his eyes appearing much clearer.
Even Tang Jie was dumbfounded.
Wei Tianchong said, "Relax. I won't ask about your secrets. I just need to know that you sincerely wanted to help me. You can consider these things as my gift to you. I won't monopolize them."
He pushed some of the items in the Mustard Seed Bag to Tang Jie. "I'll give you the fiend pellet, and I'll also give you half the items so that we split it. Is that okay?"
After some thought, he said, "I'll take the fiend pellet, but you should keep the rest. Our first priority is getting you to Spirit Lake. Five thousand spirit coins all converted to medicine should be enough. Once you reach Spirit Lake, you should be able to defeat the little fox, and you'll have such a massive boost in strength that I won't need to worry about you anymore."
Wei Tianchong wanted to say more, but Tang Jie stopped him. "Enough. I'm already very grateful for your kind intentions. But I'm helping you to help myself. The faster you enter Mortal Shedding, the faster I'm free from the status of a servant student and get back my freedom."
Wei Tianchong blurted, "Tang Jie, do you still not get it? You stopped being my servant student a long time ago. You're my friend!"
Tang Jie was moved. He nodded. "I know… but there are times when one's status is still very important."
Wei Tianchong could not treat him like a servant student, but what about others?
For some things, it was better for one's status to be true in both name and reality!
Wei Tianchong had nothing to say to this.
He muttered, "In other words, you're helping me so much so that you can eventually forget about me?"
The thought of Tang Jie leaving one day made Wei Tianchong extremely reluctant to see him go.
Tang Jie saw how sad he was and put an arm over him. Chuckling, he said, "Relax. Even if there's a day where I'm no longer a servant, I'll still help you out."
"I'll hold you to that, Tang Jie!" Wei Tianchong cried out in joy.
"Of course," Tang Jie firmly replied.
Seeing the serious look on his face, Wei Tianchong smiled in satisfaction.
Leaving Wei Tianchong to handle the resources himself, Tang Jie took Yiyi back to the Carefree House.
After letting out the little tiger, Tang Jie threw the fiend pellet at Yiyi. "This is for you."
Yiyi grabbed the fiend pellet and asked, "Isn't this very useful to you, Big Brother?"
"It is useful, but it will be even more useful to you," Tang Jie replied. "Yiyi, your big brother is helping his young master complete the True Inheritor mission, but completing the next two missions will probably be very difficult. Thus, it's also very important to me that you get stronger."
"You're saying that I will also participate in the next mission?"
"Mm." Tang Jie nodded. "But you'll be with the young master."
Yiyi wasn't happy to hear that she would be with Wei Tianchong, pursing her lips and saying, "Hmph, that idiot! I'm not following him!"
"Listen to me, Yiyi!" Tang Jie sternly said. "The next mission won't be as easy to complete. If my guess is right, there will be someone out there specifically trying to target me and prevent me from helping the young master. When the time comes, your big brother will be up to his ears in work, and then the young master will find it very hard to stand alone. Thus, I need you to lend the young master your strength. After thinking it over, I've determined that this is the only way."
"Someone will deal with you?" Yiyi was shocked. "Are you talking about those students?"
Tang Jie shook his head. "No, I'm not worried about them, but about some other people."
Tang Jie didn't answer her, saying, "Just use your brain and think, and you'll find the answer one day… It's actually not that difficult to guess. People are usually motivated by their own profit. So think. If the young master succeeds, who will stand to lose out? And then you'll get it. If you find the answer, then congratulations for escaping innocence… or perhaps I shouldn't congratulate you," Tang Jie said, his voice dropping.
A moment later, he stuffed the fiend pellet into Yiyi's mouth.