Chapter 616: Resources
"From then onwards, they competed with one another. They constantly captured travellers. Some visitors were possessed. Others were transformed into ghosts. The villagers were fully conscious the entire time."
"They knew exactly what they were doing, but they couldn’t resist the ghosts controlling their bodies."
Lana quietly nodded. A trace of sympathy appeared in her eyes. After a moment, she gently said,
"Even so... I think your great-aunt deserved an apology."
Liu Tong immediately nodded.
"I’ve already arranged for my grandfather to surrender himself. He’s prepared to confess every crime he committed."
Lana looked at him in genuine surprise. She hadn’t expected such a decisive answer.
Liu Tong smiled bitterly.
"I’m not an educated man. But after everything this village has experienced... I’ve finally understood something. Everyone eventually pays for their karma. My grandfather is no exception."
He looked toward the peaceful village.
"I don’t consider myself a particularly good person. But... I fear heaven. I fear karma. So... I’ll continue doing good deeds. I only hope that when my own time comes... I’ll receive better karma than those before me."
Several days later, Lana, the little girl, and Axel finally departed from the village.
Gradually, life returned to its peaceful rhythm. The villagers rebuilt their homes. Children returned to school.
The once-abandoned streets became lively again.
However, several months later, something completely unexpected happened.
One of the villagers accidentally discovered traces of gold while digging near the mountains.
Further exploration soon revealed an enormous gold deposit hidden beneath one of the mountains.
The entire village erupted into celebration. Everyone believed prosperity had finally arrived.
Yet, before long, they noticed something very strange.
Even though the newly discovered gold mine contained an enormous amount of gold, several experienced miners eventually came to a surprising conclusion.
More than half of the gold had already been excavated long ago. Naturally, a few people became suspicious. However, no one bothered to investigate further.
Compared to worrying about who had mined it before them, everyone was simply overjoyed that the village possessed such a massive gold mine.
For them, that alone was already a blessing from heaven.
Soon afterward, mining officially began. The once small and forgotten village gradually transformed into a prosperous city.
Roads were built. Markets flourished. People from distant regions migrated there in search of opportunities.
As the years passed, the villagers never forgot the people who had saved them. Right in the centre of the city, they erected a magnificent statue of Lana.
To them, she wasn’t merely an exorcist anymore. She had become their guardian. Their saviour.
Many even respectfully referred to her as the Goddess of Protection. Completely unaware of everything happening behind her back
Lana walked beside Axel with a foolish grin on her face. Axel glanced sideways at her before narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
"Lana, are you hiding something from me?"
Lana simply smiled mysteriously. Without answering directly, she took out a storage talisman and casually handed it to him. "Here."
Axel accepted it with visible confusion. "I already have plenty of storage talismans."
He couldn’t help chuckling. Thinking back, he found the whole situation rather amusing.
Once upon a time, storage talismans had been priceless treasures in his eyes.
When Lana had proudly declared that one day she would hand him advanced-grade talismans, he had laughed, believing she was simply joking.
Yet now, he possessed thousands upon thousands of advanced talismans.
Storage talismans, defensive talismans, attack talismans, and speed talismans.
He had enough to make countless cultivators jealous. Storage talismans alone, he owned well over ten thousand.
Every now and then, whenever Lana happened to be in a particularly good mood, she would casually toss him another five hundred.
Sometimes one thousand. Occasionally, she would even dump ten thousand talismans into his hands without the slightest concern.
As a result, Axel’s personal collection had become unbelievably extravagant. He had even gifted several talismans to his close friends.
Those friends almost worshipped him now. Of course, he hadn’t given them away purely out of generosity.
Building powerful connections was equally important. Thanks to those favours, his own life had become much smoother.
Meanwhile, Lana simply grinned. "Why don’t you look inside first?"
Axel sighed before sending his spiritual sense into the Storage Talisman. The very next second, he froze. His eyes widened, then he slowly looked toward Lana.
After remaining speechless for several long moments, he finally spoke. "Lana, Which bank did you rob this time?"
Lana burst into laughter. "Come on. I honestly deserve all of it, don’t you think?"
Axel rolled his eyes. "Start explaining."
Lana smiled before beginning her story. "It happened on the eighth night. Liu Tong suddenly came looking for me."
That night, Liu Tong stood in front of Lana with an unusually serious expression. "Miss Lana, I must ask you for one favour."
Lana blinked. "What is it?"
Liu Tong bowed deeply.
"Please choose some kind of reward. If you continue refusing everything, our entire village will forever feel like we’ve been taking advantage of you."
Lana immediately waved both hands. "There really isn’t any need. I’ve already been well compensated."
However, Liu Tong refused to back down. "No. If you don’t accept something, we won’t be able to live with ourselves."
Seeing his persistence, Lana finally sighed helplessly.
"Fine. I’ll make one request."
Liu Tong immediately straightened his back. "Please say it."
Lana smiled.
"I want permission to take any two resources from this village. No matter what they are. And no matter how much of them I want. I don’t want anyone stopping me. Even if those resources are valuable."
Liu Tong didn’t hesitate for even a second. "I agree. As long as you want them, they belong to you."
Lana accepted rather casually. Originally, she had merely intended to search for some valuable medicinal herbs.
Perhaps a few thousand-year-old ginseng roots. Or other rare plants worth selling. She immediately asked Myra and Mr Crow to investigate the surrounding mountains.
To her surprise, it was Myra who first returned. Her face was overflowing with excitement. "Master! I found something incredible!"