Chapter 190 Chapter 191 My Treasure
If it were just Is’s loud voice, Ji Ma wouldn’t be surprised. But combined with the large crowd of adventurers and mercenaries (the distinction between the two is minimal) at the city gate, it was different.
There were easily close to a thousand people. Some professional adventuring teams were leading several large black dogs, and even the dung collectors were joining in with a pitchfork. All races were represented; some elves had trained hawkmen with them, and there were dwarves too, whose short and stout legs made Ji Ma doubt their ability to move through the forest.
Ji Ma even spotted a few workers from the south who might have come here due to poor business in maritime robbery, now engaging in “reproductive activities” on land, oh, and there was also an ogre.
“Is this the power of money?” Ji Ma realized how Is was using his extraordinary abilities.
He could manipulate sound, which meant he could easily spread and receive information. With just one sentence, he could inform everyone in the city and hear people calling his name from far away. This gave him a significant advantage in using his monetary power to gather a large group of people.
Behind this temporary search army, a blue adventurer’s guild flag fluttered in the breeze.
“It must be the strong support of the Adventurers’ Guild,” Ji Ma imagined that with such a large crowd diving into the forest for a carpet-style search, it would be quite overwhelming for her.
Running away was possible. Entering a dream and jumping between dreams, who could find her?
But it consumed a lot of magical energy, not to mention it would significantly delay her. Dream-jumping to Marin City, she didn’t even have a safe landing spot; finding a place to hide would only lead to being discovered eventually, necessitating another jump.
If she could jump to a far-off place, that would be fine, but she would still have to run to Marin City herself to spread the rumor. With her current magical energy at only 40%, it wouldn’t be enough to support long-distance maneuvers.
Dream jumping was a highly energy-consuming skill. If she used it again in a short time, her magical energy would be depleted, leaving her in a passive situation. Ji Ma chose to escape from Marin City; she preferred flying and invisibility over dream-jumping, for a permanent solution.
“Dig a hole and bury myself?” Ji Ma looked at the ground and glanced at her hands, which could barely catch a goose. “Even if I could dig a hole, it wouldn’t work. I’d leave a scent.”
For a moment, Ji Ma was greatly troubled.
“Ah~~”
A hawk’s cry came from above, and the falconer in the far distance rushed towards Ji Ma’s direction. He looked just like the front-runner of Marin City’s 20th public marathon, and immediately, the mass of people followed behind him, surging towards the forest, afraid that the 500 gold coins would disappear.
Ji Ma leaped down from a branch, spread her wings, and gently landed: “There should be more than twenty minutes left.”
“Meow.”
Lianxi cat ran towards Ji Ma, grabbing her skirt and climbing into her arms, nuzzling her.
With her mood already bad, Ji Ma scratched Lianxi cat’s plump little belly and pinched her cat ears.
“Why are there so many greedy people in the world?” Ji Ma, holding the cat, climbed up a tree, jumping and flying, moving nimbly among the treetops, “People like me who love money but are not greedy are simply too few.”
Suddenly, she had a flash of inspiration.
“Greedy for money, greedy for money, don’t I need a group of greedy people?” Ji Ma exclaimed excitedly, using her feet to push off, nearly jumping over a treetop. “Since everyone loves wealth, how about a demon lord’s treasure?”
After formulating the idea, Ji Ma took out a piece of paper and a pencil from her pocket dimension and casually sketched a map on it, marking it with an “X” and seriously writing the word “treasure.”
As for how to get this paper into the hands of the greedy folks behind her?
Should she intentionally be discovered and pretend to panic, accidentally dropping the map?
No, that was too dangerous.
Should she just toss it on the ground?
That was too direct; it was like a bed activity without foreplay—who would believe that?
Whether lying or spreading rumors, there was one guiding principle: people are willing to believe what they want to believe.
But beforehand, there was nothing in people’s hearts to think of believing.
How could Ji Ma guarantee that the person who picked up the treasure map would believe this paper could bring unattainable wealth for a lifetime?
“I need to do some foreplay, and also…” Ji Ma tilted her head, looking up at the sky above the forest, opening her “Desire Eyes,” and saw clouds symbolizing seven negative desires, with a particularly vibrant pink cloud representing greed.
“The more people there are, the stronger I become; it’s actually more advantageous for me.” Ji Ma turned in the air, facing the cloud, raising her hand to grasp at the pink cloud, “Tease!”
The pink cloud suddenly expanded.
The people’s greed intensified, and many sped into the forest.
Prince Is, riding a horse, looked towards the scene from the city gate, and couldn’t help but smile, saying, “Just for 500 gold coins, they are working so hard?”
Not only that, but Prince Is also promised that if they managed to catch or kill Ji Ma, they would reward 5,000 gold coins.
“Adventurers are always very professional,” his steward said, “Moreover, everyone in the city knows of the master’s generosity.”
Meanwhile, Ji Ma was still jumping among the treetops, at an extremely fast pace. Once she no longer saw the shadows behind her or heard the howls of dogs, Ji Ma landed at the trunk of a tree, picked up a branch, and casually dug a hole in the pile of leaves, partially burying a bottle of money-moving potion.
“A destined person will see it.”
Ji Ma clapped her hands and casually drew another treasure map. She continued to jump and fly through the treetops, and after four or five minutes, buried another money-moving potion.
In total, she buried nearly ten bottles and dropped ten maps. With the potion running low, she used dye to color some gold.
After doing all this, she clapped her hands and said, “Hope this is useful.”
In the distance, shouts and insults could be heard. Ji Ma flapped her wings, climbed to the treetop, and observed invisibly from afar. She saw two teams of adventurers arguing, and with her keen eyesight, she noticed one of them holding her treasure map.
“Are they fighting over the potion?” Ji Ma was a bit incredulous, as if a hunter had dug a trap in the forest, and upon sitting down, only realized how poorly disguised the trap was with branches and leaves.
Yet unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, prey had stepped into the trap.
Ji Ma crouched on a branch, the tail under her skirt lifted, aiming at the bright greedy cloud above the sky, adding fuel to the fire.
In the distance, one sharp-eyed thin man among a group of adventurers found a piece of paper at the foot of the tree. He eagerly pulled it out, opened it, and excitedly exclaimed, “It must be the treasure map dropped by the succubus in her hasty escape!”
The captain replied, “How is that possible? We’ve seen at least three teams find potions and treasure maps along the way; are treasure maps worthless nowadays? It could be a demonic conspiracy.”
“She must have been scared by us, so she dropped one and wrote another,” the thin man said increasingly urgently, “Besides, no one says there can only be one treasure location.”
“Let’s keep chasing,” the captain said, “Forget about these useless papers, the 5,000 gold coins are waiting for us. With this money, you can retire, and I can buy a good set of armor.”
“Captain!” the thin man quickly added, “That succubus can create wealth potions; drink it, and you’ll become rich. Her treasure trove must be full of potions; each of us could split several!”
“Let’s go! We can’t let the 5,000 gold coins slip away.”
“5,000 gold coins?! Can I catch the succubus?” the thin man asked. “So many teams are chasing her. Now luck is on our side; how can we let this opportunity for wealth pass by?”
The captain hesitated a bit, and at that moment another group of adventurers cautiously walked past them, heading in the opposite direction of the search.
The captain yelled to them, “Brothers, did you find a damn treasure map too?”
They looked at each other, and a young man said, “Yes. Do you want to buy it?”
“No.”
The captain looked at the thin man.
“That’s right, absolutely right.” The thin man was so excited he was nearly incoherent, “Who knows if they just picked a piece of paper and doodled on it to sell it?”
“You’re crazy.”
“I’m not crazy, not crazy.” The thin man shouted, unfolding the “treasure map,” pointing to the crooked word “treasure,” and said, “This is clearly some kind of spell; at first glance, it just looks like random scribbles, but if you look closely, the writing moves and turns into elvish! This is clearly an ancient spell that can open a treasure!”
The captain couldn’t help but take a step back, saying, “You’re completely insane; follow my orders and keep moving.”
None of the team members budged an inch, and a female team member said, “Captain, what if it’s true?”
The captain wanted to argue but was inexplicably filled with agitation and restlessness. At that moment, he realized he was also tempted. Taking a deep breath, the captain forced himself to calm down.
What if it were true?
He couldn’t help but think. He had always rejected gambling. He never bought stocks or bet on races; he firmly believed that if casinos were so profitable, the money must come from the gamblers. Relying on gambling to get rich was just a pipe dream.
But for some reason, he remembered four days ago, when he accompanied his teammates to do ten consecutive draws, and he just stood at the entrance waiting. He saw a man claiming to have gotten rich overnight, surrounded by young maids in each arm, boasting about his good luck in the tavern repeatedly.
He was on the verge of wavering.
Just one bottle of magic potion, if poured down his throat, could earn the favor of the goddess of wealth, and money would flow in.
But he still held back, looking at the eager eyes of his team members, and said:
“Alright, let’s go back to search for treasures.”
The thin man smiled, carefully hiding the paper.
On the way, they saw a group of people fighting each other, swinging weapons at each other’s heads.
“You little dwarf!”
“Long ears! I’ve had enough of you! I’ll cleave you in two.”
“The potion was discovered by me first, so these robbers!”
The captain vetoed the thin man’s enticing suggestion to take advantage of the chaos to snatch the potions.
At the same time, Prince Is’s spies among the search party reported the chaos back to Prince Is, who was a kilometer away.
Riding a white horse, Prince Is listened intently to the various noises, using his extraordinary ability to easily pick out the sound he sought among the chaos.
His expression changed, and he looked up to the sky and shouted:
“Everyone, stop fighting, or there will be no more rewards. The treasure map you hold is nothing but a temporary sketch by a succubus; the potions are also fake. If anyone can burn the treasure map or potion in front of me, I will give them 500 gold coins as a destruction fee!”
For a moment, the adventurers who heard the voice stopped fighting. The chaos did not spread, but many were skeptical.
“Prince Is surely wants to monopolize all the good things.”
“Then why offer us a destruction fee?”
“We must have been played by the succubus.”
“No, he definitely doesn’t want to see us striking it rich, which threatens his family’s status, so he’d rather spend some money to avert disaster.”
While many adventurers argued among themselves, someone suddenly pointed at the treetops and shouted, “Succubus! It’s the succubus!”
Almost everyone looked up and saw a beautiful, slender figure with black hair and dark horns standing on a branch—the succubus.
Ji Ma looked at her pre-written lines: “Oh dear, how unfortunate to have been discovered… Do you want my treasure? If you want it, you can have it; go find it yourself! I’ve hidden all those treasures in that place.”
While saying this, she manipulated the illusion and laughed, “Oh dear, how unfortunate to have been discovered; do you want my treasure—”
Unfortunately, the greedy adventurers were too impatient to listen to her words. An archer pulled back his short bow, and an arrow shot towards Ji Ma, passing straight through the illusion, which instantly dissipated.
At that moment, far away, Ji Ma couldn’t help but smack the tree trunk, “Damn! How can the young people today have no patience at all?”
She originally thought there had been enough foreplay and planned to strike directly, but did not expect to encounter unexpected obstacles.
As Ji Ma lamented, in the views of the crowd, only a piece of paper floated down.
Someone rushed to grab it, stuffing it into his arms and running.
Behind him, the adventurers shouted:
“It’s the succubus’s treasure!”
“Stop him!”
“There’s a cart full of wealth potions inside!”
This rumor exaggerated with each retelling, with everyone adding their own favorite items.
After listening carefully, Prince Is became furious:
“This group of greedy swine! How could a succubus be wealthier than me? How could there be a ship full of gold, eight big houses, three elven maids, three halfling cooks, five noble ladies, and a golden dung fork? Are they just reporting a menu?!”
He couldn’t take it any longer and shouted to the sky, “Everyone! Continue the pursuit! That’s just the succubus’s trap!”
Long after, no one responded to him.
“Looking on the bright side, has it calmed down?” Prince Is muttered to himself.
Before he could finish his thought, he saw a blood-soaked dwarf run out of the forest, holding a paper stained with blood. As he dashed down the slope, a huge crowd of adventurers surged from behind the hill.
Were they not chasing after the 5,000 gold coins and the 500 gold coins, but were instead scrambling for a piece of scrap paper?
Prince Is bit his tongue to suppress his anger.
In the distance, a voice called out: “Prince Is, not good. Everyone is in disarray, and few continue to pursue the succubus.”
The entire sky echoed with his roar: “Then why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
No answer.
“Are you all trying to grab it too?”
No response, but Prince Is knew that was the answer.
“Damn!” He took a deep breath.
“Prince Is, Prince Is.” A servant riding a horse approached, “The ship sorcerer wishes to see you.”
“Okay, I’ll be there right away.”
