Chapter 52: Who Did This?

With a bloodcurdling scream, Shen Wan shot out of a hole in the stone wall, clinging desperately to Gu Zhiping’s leg. Suspended seven or eight meters above the ground, Gu Zhiping hastily performed a lightening technique. With his current cultivation, he couldn't fly, not even hover in mid-air. Yet, after several rapid hand seals, he realized he couldn’t release any magic at all.

Then, two wails echoed through the air.

Shen Wan, still grasping Gu Zhiping’s leg, plummeted straight down, crashing heavily to the ground. Luckily, years of fallen golden mulberry leaves had accumulated a thick layer below, so neither of them was injured, though they were both left dizzy and disoriented.

“Ow…” Shen Wan groaned, rubbing his aching back as he kicked Gu Zhiping aside and staggered to his feet.

“If there’d been a bottomless abyss down here, I’d have strangled you mid-air,” Shen Wan grumbled.

Gu Zhiping flipped up in one smooth motion and stood, unimpressed by Shen Wan’s complaint. He tried the lightening technique again, and this time, to his surprise, it worked.

“How strange,” he muttered. But as he lifted his gaze, he was struck speechless by the sight before him.

A vast golden mulberry forest stretched as far as the eye could see, each tree laden with clusters of radiant, golden berries that glimmered with dazzling light.

“I…” Gu Zhiping’s eyes grew wider than copper bells.

Golden mulberry berries were renowned for nurturing spiritual seas. Because of their stabilizing effect on spiritual power, they were a necessary ingredient in the refining of many elixirs. However, their long maturation meant a harvest only every three years, making them far more expensive than other auxiliary ingredients.

If there were only a few hundred or so, Gu Zhiping would not have been so shocked. But even a quick glance revealed at least ten thousand berries within sight.

This wasn’t golden mulberry fruit—it was a forest of spirit stones hanging from the branches!

Hands trembling, Gu Zhiping frantically pulled out several storage treasures from his person. Without so much as a word to Shen Wan, he dashed to the nearest tree and began picking berries with feverish intensity.

“Brother Shen! Brother Shen! We’re rich—we’re rich!” he shouted.

Shen Wan was stunned—not so much by the berries, but by Gu Zhiping’s unsophisticated excitement.

“Isn’t his father supposed to be powerful? This rich kid gets so worked up picking a few berries?”

He didn’t know exactly how valuable the fruit was, but he’d seen plenty of crabapples back home—was this really worth all the excitement?

Watching Gu Zhiping scamper about like a monkey, Shen Wan felt relieved there was no one else around; otherwise, he would have disavowed any association with him.

What a disgrace!

“Brother Shen, come on, help me pick!”

“They’re all yours,” Shen Wan replied.

“Don’t say that! We found this together—how could I keep it all for myself?”

Watching Gu Zhiping drool as he picked, Shen Wan wanted no part of it. He wandered to a tree, easily plucked a berry hanging within reach, and popped it into his mouth. It was sweet, but not especially delicious.

“My crabapples back home taste better than this,” he thought.

He couldn’t imagine how something so bland could be worth much. Meanwhile, Gu Zhiping had nearly stripped three or four trees bare.

Even monkeys wouldn’t be this fast.

Shen Wan suddenly thought Gu Zhiping was wasting his potential as a rich heir—he ought to be a farmer with such industriousness.

Choosing a tree, Shen Wan sat down beneath it.

With a forest this size, that guy would be picking for a while. Deciding to pass the time, Shen Wan closed his eyes to nap.

About ten minutes later, just as he was drifting off, a furious roar sounded from not far away.

“Who the hell did this?!”

Startled awake, Shen Wan looked up, annoyed.

He saw Gu Zhiping, several hundred meters away, cursing at the sky.

“Who the hell picked all my berries? I barely got started, and the rest are gone?! Even monkeys wouldn’t be this fast!”

Up close, the dense leaves and fruit made it impossible to see into the depths of the forest. From Gu Zhiping’s words, it seemed someone else had already picked all the berries inside.

Brushing the dust from his trousers, Shen Wan strolled over to see what was going on.

Sure enough, deeper into the woods, the branches were bare—nothing but leaves remained.

“What’s going on?” Shen Wan asked indifferently.

Gu Zhiping beat his chest in frustration.

“Who knows which bastard picked all my berries? I just sprinted through and every last one was gone!”

“If I ever find them, I’ll cut them into a thousand pieces!”

He cursed up a storm.

Shen Wan was speechless.

He now realized that Gu Zhiping would be better off standing at the village entrance back home, leaning on a cane to hurl insults at passersby. His eloquence rivaled the village’s infamous Granny Liu.

Shen Wan clicked his tongue, but just then, something whizzed through the air.

A blur shot from the forest and struck Gu Zhiping squarely on the head.

“Argh!” Gu Zhiping yelped, stumbling backward seven or eight meters.

“Who were you planning to cut into a thousand pieces?” a voice called out before its owner appeared.

Yun Yi emerged from behind a tree, idly playing with a golden mulberry pit in her hand.

Shen Wan jumped—everything had happened too fast for him to react.

He watched as Gu Zhiping lay groaning on the ground, then sprang up, face flushed with anger.

“Who did that?!”

“Is that all he knows how to say?” Shen Wan wondered, remembering Dachun…

Yun Yi, however, only frowned.

“What’s wrong, Young Master Gu—itching for another slap?”

Gu Zhiping’s temper flared at her open taunt. There’s a saying: Don’t hit a man’s face or expose his flaws. He couldn’t stand it.

He rolled up his sleeves, ready for a fight, but after two steps, he paused. The person before him looked familiar.

Squinting, he peered closer.

“Yun… Yun Yi?” he blurted.

Only then did he recognize the little princess of the Valley Shadow Sect.

“What are you doing here?” His anger vanished, replaced by uncertainty as he trotted back.

Earlier, Yun Yi had barely exchanged a word with Shen Wan before disappearing behind a tree. When she jumped into the cave, Gu Zhiping hadn’t seen her clearly. Now that he did, he dared not make a fuss.

Though both were children of wealthy families, Gu Zhiping wouldn’t dare act out in front of this girl. She was a stage above him in cultivation, and he knew he stood no chance.

Yun Yi twirled the pit in her hand, eyeing the new lump on Gu Zhiping’s forehead—smack dab above his third eye. His face, already begging for a beating, looked even more ridiculous now.

She barely suppressed a smile and kept a stern face. “All the golden mulberries here are mine. Do you want any?”

Gu Zhiping hurriedly waved his hands. “No, no, I couldn’t possibly take what you picked. I’ve got some already—if you want them, they’re all yours.”

Shen Wan instinctively edged away.

“Utterly shameless,” he thought.

Seeing Gu Zhiping’s fawning, Yun Yi lost interest in teasing him further. She turned to Shen Wan. “Hey, there’s something interesting up ahead. Want to take a look?”