Chapter 252: Exchange?

Chapter 252: Chapter 252: Exchange?

Yuan You quickly spun around and pulled up her pants. When she turned back, she caught Zhang Yun staring at her behind. She immediately shot him a furious glare.

"Can you at least act like a master? Using such despicable, underhanded tactics—if you’re not embarrassed, I’m certainly disgusted on your behalf!"

Zhang Yun nodded at her criticism. "You’re absolutely right! Throwing stones, rolling on the ground, spitting, and pulling hair—those moves really lack class. And to throw a tantrum by taking off your pants! Even a kindergartener wouldn’t stoop to that level."

"You... you..." Yuan You choked with anger, utterly speechless.

She prided herself on being an ethereal, fairy-like figure, but today he had literally wiped the floor with her! He had even forced her to resort to fighting dirty, something she usually disdained.

"I yield!"

Zhang Yun was a little surprised. "You’re yielding?"

"Some people are like rabid dogs. Am I supposed to bite back?" Yuan You couldn’t resist throwing in a sarcastic jab.

"Bite what? Each other? How wicked..."

Zhang Yun shook his head dramatically.

"..." Yuan You felt that spending another minute with him would cost her a year’s worth of mental Cultivation. "Tell me, Mr. Zhang, may I leave now?"

"No."

"..."

"You’re Old Zhang’s martial niece, which makes you my niece too. Don’t say I’m bullying you..."

"You have to call Master Zhang your grandfather, right? You should be calling me ’Aunt’!" Yuan You couldn’t help but correct him. Zhang Lifeng was significantly older than her master.

"You want to be my Aunt? You want me to play the devoted little nephew? Keep dreaming!"

"..."

Zhang Yun pointed at the ancient tomb. "I didn’t take a single thing from you! The increase in my strength has nothing to do with you, either. But I did lie down inside the coffin, and I couldn’t feel any Energy in there. I’m guessing that’s what’s been bothering you!"

"Exactly!" Seeing that he was finally not dodging the subject, Yuan You immediately confirmed it, forcefully holding back the urge to add, *And you still claim you didn’t steal it!*

"It’s just a little bit of Energy, what’s the big deal? I can easily find you something better," Zhang Yun said dismissively.

Yuan You looked at him like he was an idiot. "Just a little bit of Energy? What’s the big deal? Do you have any idea how hard it is to find an environment like this? Do you know how many coincidental factors are required to form such an environment?"

Zhang Yun shot her a sidelong glance. "Which is why I’m saying I can give you something better. Do you want it or not?"

"I want it!"

No matter how annoyed and frustrated Yuan You was, her instinct to prioritize her own interests won out. If she could get better compensation, then... she could find it in her to forgive him.

"Let’s make a trade. Teach me about the things carved inside the coffin."

Zhang Yun suspected that those carvings were the true source of her impressive strength at such a young age, and he wasn’t satisfied with merely learning her Light Body Technique.

"No!" Yuan You instantly refused.

"Come on. Did your master create this himself? He just discovered the work of the ancients. And now, I’ve discovered it too. Teaching me will only speed up my progress. Even if you don’t teach me, I can figure it out myself."

Zhang Yun smiled and waved his phone at her. "I took pictures, you know."

"..."

Yuan You gritted her teeth in frustration. If he had only glanced at it and tried to memorize it, he wouldn’t have a deep impression of it. But if he had taken photos with his phone and could look at them whenever he wanted, that was a different story entirely.

She considered her options. Could she snatch it from him? But... even if she smashed his phone, he could just restore the photos from the cloud.

"You’d better think this through. By the logic of ’finders keepers,’ I’ve found it too, so I get a share. Since we go by who came first, I could just go introduce myself to your master. Then I’d be your martial uncle!"

"..."

"Teach it to me, and I won’t leak it to anyone. I won’t get involved with your master, and I won’t come back here again. This place will remain your exclusive secret base. It’s a great deal!"

Zhang Yun walked back to the front of the tomb as he spoke. "Do you want to go inside? We could even practice dual cultivation together!"

"..."

Zhang Yun’s goal in coming here today was to verify that the tomb was empty, which would confirm that Yuan You was the Female Ghost. He had already achieved that goal. The lines, routes, and patterns were just an unexpected bonus.

Although he had taken a palm strike from Yuan You, he had proceeded to beat the stuffing out of her, successfully settling the score.

"I’m leaving. Judging by your expression, you probably want to go in and check. I won’t bother closing the door for you."

With that, he hoisted his hoe onto his shoulder and walked away.

Yuan You was speechless. With him standing right outside, how could she possibly dare to go in and check? What if he followed her inside? Down in a tomb several yards underground, wouldn’t she be completely at his mercy?

Even if he didn’t follow her down, he could just bury the entrance tight from above. The air inside would quickly run out, leaving her to be slaughtered at his whim.

Seeing that Zhang Yun was genuinely walking away, Yuan You had no choice but to call out, "Wait a minute!"

"Thought it through?"

"What are you trading? I need to inspect the goods first before I decide!"

Zhang Yun smiled. She couldn’t commit right now, but her resolve was already wavering. As long as the bargaining chips were big enough, she could definitely be swayed.

Just like Qi Luo. After experiencing the miraculous effects of the Mysterious Petal, she had even offered herself up willingly.

"Weren’t you following those guys to the fish pond in the valley? Think it over carefully. Meet me at the wooden cabin tonight, and I’ll show you the goods then."

"..."

Yuan You immediately furrowed her brows. Given how sleazy this guy was, what kind of "goods" could he possibly want to show her in a wooden cabin at night?

"I don’t think that’s a good idea. If I make up my mind... I’ll come find you at your house this afternoon!"

In the city, going to a man’s house was like throwing oneself into a trap, and some might even view it as a form of tacit consent. But the countryside was different. People were always coming and going around the houses, and a single scream would alert all the neighbors. Going to a valley at night, on the other hand, was truly unsafe.

Wait a minute... why was she worrying about her safety? Yuan You suddenly felt depressed. She had actively sought out Zhang Yun before. Was she scared now because she had just been beaten so badly?

"Are you sure? It’s quite a walk back from here. If I were you, I’d go back, take a shower, and change into a fresh set of clothes. Otherwise, if you show up at my house looking like that, people will think you’re a beggar."

Zhang Yun looked her up and down.

Seeing his look of pure disgust, Yuan You wanted to roll her eyes. *Who do you think made me look like this?*

"Fine! I’ll go to your fish pond cabin tonight. Bring the goods. If you try anything funny, don’t blame me for being ruthless!" After saying that, Yuan You immediately turned to leave.

"Wait!" This time, it was Zhang Yun’s turn to stop her.

"What now?"

"Aren’t you going to close the door?" Zhang Yun pointed behind him.

"You opened it, you close it!" Yuan You felt a surge of indignation. Why should she do it?

"Are you sure you don’t want to go in and check?"

"Get lost!"

Zhang Yun laughed loudly and left. He figured she had probably hidden a shovel or something similar in the nearby bushes, so he didn’t bother worrying about how she was going to bury it.

He planned to trade the Divine Master Card with Yuan You!

Based on the Mysterious Iron Ring’s proportions, he had absorbed six percent of its total Energy from the coffin, while a pair of Divine Master Cards contained five percent. Yuan You couldn’t possibly have absorbed all the Energy from the coffin; it was likely only a small fraction... Of course, it was also possible that there had been a lot more originally, but after her master had absorbed some, and she had absorbed some, there just wasn’t much left.

Calculated this way, giving her back five percent was more than enough. The only question was... would she be able to absorb it?