Chapter 924: Am I the Only One Affected?

Ye Wenxin hurriedly followed Liuli. She found her standing beside a vendor stall, staring wide-eyed at the bell in a man’s hand.

The man had looked impatient, but his eyes gleamed when he saw Liuli’s face. He shook the bell again and asked, “Miss, do you like this?”

Liuli nodded, her head moving with the bell’s motion, so entranced that she nearly reached out to snatch it.

“I’ll give this bell to you as a gift,” the man tempted her, showing ulterior motives.

Ye Wenxin frowned. The man was taken with Liuli’s beauty and tried to harass her. But she didn’t step in. She wanted Liuli to understand for herself that bad people outnumber the good.

Even though Liuli was just an avatar of the Colored Flags, she had gained intelligence and therefore, must learn to think for herself.

Ye Wenxin hid her presence and kept watching. Liuli still gazed blankly at the bell. Maybe she liked the sound or shape. Or the bell reminded her of something.

Noticing Liuli’s dazed expression, the vendor assumed she was slow-witted. He stepped closer. “Miss, is there any other jewelry you like? I can give you whatever you want.”

If trinkets that cost only a few coins could buy him a kiss or a feel, he’d happily give them away. He inched closer, his filthy hand reaching out to grope Liuli’s waist.

Ye Wenxin concluded this “human nature experiment” had failed. She was about to step in and break his hand.

Suddenly, Liuli grabbed the man’s hand, looking completely serious. “Master said no one is allowed to touch me but her,” she said.

“W- What nonsense are you spouting? Who wants to touch you?!”

Seeing the seemingly naïve girl was this strong, the vendor panicked. He tried to shake Liuli off, but her grip felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t break free.

Liuli remained focused on the bell, regretful she couldn’t have it. After all, Ye Wenxin had given all her money to Ghost Mother and probably couldn’t even afford something this bell.

After accepting this reality, Liuli let go.

The unprepared vendor fell backward, yelling “monster” and “demon.”

Ye Wenxin stepped forward and knocked the noisy vendor out cold.

“Liuli, is there something odd about the bell?” she asked, recalling how fixated Liuli had been.

“N-No,” Liuli responded.

She didn’t want to be like Ghost Mother, always causing trouble for Ye Wenxin. She also didn’t want to resort to stealing things. So, she chose to keep her desires to herself.

Ye Wenxin exhaled in relief, her face softening. Seeing this, Liuli knew she’d made the right choice. She felt Ye Wenxin pat her head again. “Good. Come. I’ll take you to the Treasure Pavilion and buy you the best bell.”

Liuli shook her head hard. “No! Liuli doesn’t want to cause trouble like Ghost Mother!” She squatted down and refused to move. Her adorable expression was enough to melt anyone’s heart.

For the men watching nearby, however, Ye Wenxin looked like some wicked old procuress. They thought she was going to drag this sweet girl off to a brothel and sell her.

“Hey, how could you be trouble?” Ye Wenxin said, feeling that Liuli was overthinking things. “You’re my… ahem, treasure.”

Without further explanation, she scooped Liuli up into her arms.

Even though Liuli was in human form, at the end of the day, she was still the Colored Flags’ avatar, a vital tool Ye Wenxin intended to use against Fairy Fengya, her most troublesome opponent. She needed to keep Liuli pacified.

But Ye Wenxin wondered if she had phrased things poorly, as Liuli looked surprised, shooting her a sweet smile.

That smile was dazzling. Even Ye Wenxin, who placed personal gain above all else, found it disarming. She felt something was wrong with her heart. Yesterday, Ghost Mother’s seductive kiss made it skip a beat, and now even Liuli’s smile was getting to it.

Worry crept in, but Liuli didn’t appear to harbor strange thoughts. “Don’t overthink it, Liuli. What Gui Gui has, you will, too,” she reassured her.

Liuli nodded, half-understanding, and rubbed against Ye Wenxin’s neck affectionately. Ye Wenxin asked around and eventually found the Golden Age Dynasty’s Treasure Pavilion.

The Treasure Pavilion was the tallest building apart from the imperial palace’s watchtower. Standing in the center of the market, it looked magnificent. As they approached, Ye Wenxin sensed the presence of several powerful individuals. Although she knew the dynasty was full of hidden talents, Long Qingyue seemed to have gathered an excessive number of them inside the Treasure Pavilion.

“Master, this place makes me uncomfortable,” said Liuli. She stood on her own two feet, staring at the building before her, a frown forming on her delicate brows.

“Can you figure out what it is?” Ye Wenxin asked again. She knew the eight furballs each had unique abilities. Using popular reference, they could do a master version of whatever the Ca**bash Brothers could do.

Yellow, who loved beautiful women, had clairvoyance, keen hearing, and even X-ray vision. Now that the eight furballs had merged into Liuli, Liuli could use X-ray vision, too.

“There’s a massive top floor surrounded by black iron, with a giant box inside. In the box is another box, and that other box contains a box. Altogether, there are fifteen layers of boxes, each sealed with wards.”

Liuli relayed the scene to Ye Wenxin. The description reminded her of Russian nesting dolls, and the excessive layers made her curious about what was inside.

“I wanted to see what’s under those fifteen layers of seals, but a death ward blocked me,” Liuli regretfully told Ye Wenxin.

“It’s fine. What you’ve found is already impressive. Come on, let’s go in and take a look.”

Ye Wenxin became more curious about what secret Long Qingyue was hiding. She took Liuli’s hand and headed toward the main entrance.

Liuli was speechless but obediently followed along, eager to see what her all-capable master planned to do.

However, gaining entry wasn’t easy. When Ye Wenxin and Liuli reached the entrance, the guards stopped them.

Ye Wenxin noticed they were Nascent Soul stage experts. One glanced at the two and said, “Apologies, the Treasure Pavilion is receiving honored guests today, so it’s not open to the public.”