Unlike Bai Xia, who merely talked a good game while her body remained stubbornly honest, Tian Zheng genuinely disdained the paltry hundred gold coins the system had awarded.
This held true even if, at this moment, those hundred coins could be traded for a fortune far exceeding their face value.
While it might sound a touch boastful, money was, for him, nothing more than a numerical value.
Consequently, if such a modest sum could invigorate Bai Xia, he found the exchange entirely worthwhile.
Despite their acquaintance being brief, Tian Zheng had already come to regard Bai Xia as a friend.
Indeed, it was rather peculiar, as the man felt an immediate familiarity with Bai Xia, as if the usual distance between strangers had never existed between them.
While a somewhat cunning and mischievous personality lay hidden beneath her deceptively innocent exterior, humans, it seemed, were largely creatures of sight, and even Tian Zheng proved no exception to this rule.
Herming appearance undoubtedly earned Bai Xia many merits, and her personality, far from being truly annoying, leaned more towards spirited mischief, though it often left others in a state of amused exasperation.
In short, Tian Zheng quite genuinely liked Bai Xia; otherwise, he wouldn’t spoil her to such an extent.
Of course, his affection was not the kind of romantic inclination tinged with peculiar desires, for Tian Zheng had never considered himself a lolicon.
In his mind, his preferences had always leaned towards tall, curvaceous, and alluring mature women—those with ample bosoms, full hips, and lithe, ‘water-snake’ waists.
Thus, he considered his feelings for Bai Xia to be more akin to the fondness one held for an adorable younger sister.
Bai Xia, however, was clearly no mind-reader, and thus remained blissfully unaware of the man’s true thoughts about her.
Had she known his perspective, she would undoubtedly have extracted every last gold coin from her person and flung them directly into his face!
‘What kind of big-tailed wolf (TL Note: A Chinese idiom referring to someone pretending to be innocent or harmless while having ulterior motives) was he pretending to be?
How was this any different from what many men often declared: “I’ll just rub against it; I won’t go in”?’
‘Alright, alright, just a joke.’
In any case, Bai Xia harbored absolutely no intention of refusing Tian Zheng’s gold coins, nor did she feel the slightest bit of embarrassment.
Refuse them?
That was simply out of the question; she was so destitute she was practically on the verge of ‘selling her virtue’ (TL Note: A euphemism for prostitution, often used hyperbolically to express extreme poverty).
If a magnate was bestowing wealth upon her, why on earth would she decline?
Bai Xia considered herself nothing if not a pragmatic individual.
“Truly, Great God, you are too kind to me,” Bai Xia exclaimed. “You must be the reincarnation of the legendary Nine-Lifetimes Good Person, aren’t you?
In the future, should you ever find yourself with superfluous funds, please, allow me the honor of storing them for you.
My backpack is vast and can never be too full.”
Patting her coin purse, which now felt considerably heavier, Bai Xia found some of the vexation caused by the system’s trickery beginning to recede, though a trace of lingering resentment remained.
Having been inexplicably presented with a ‘good person card’—and the legendary Nine-Lifetimes Good Person card at that—Tian Zheng suddenly found himself regretting having given all the gold coins to this particular individual.
Of course, regret was a futile emotion now; once wealth found its way into Bai Xia’s purse, there was no earthly reason for it to ever emerge again.
She was by no means a miser, but the unfortunate truth was that her recent circumstances had been exceedingly straitened.
“You, you…” Tian Zheng began, shaking his head with a trace of resignation, “Never mind.”
He then surveyed their surroundings once more.
“We’ve looked around everywhere now.
Shall we simply head back?”
Bai Xia did not immediately make a decision.
Logically, there was nothing to be gained by remaining in this barren place; it would be a sheer waste of time.
Yet, the thought of simply returning felt undeniably unsatisfying.
For a fleeting moment, an impulsive urge to set the entire place ablaze flared within Bai Xia, though, of course, such an act was impossible, given the distinct lack of flammable materials within the dilapidated ruins.
Once her initial frustration subsided, Bai Xia let out a sigh.
The novice period was, without a doubt, incredibly valuable.
Yet, she and Tian Zheng had already squandered the better part of a day within these ruins, and the journey back would likely consume another half.
This was the sole drawback of the novice village: its limited overall area meant that ‘return-to-city’ scrolls simply didn’t exist.
Otherwise, they could have simply crushed a scroll, instantly teleporting back, rather than having to tirelessly run back and forth until their legs ached.
Yet, complaining now was utterly pointless.
Who could have foreseen that these seemingly magnificent ruins would yield not even a single item of value?
“There’s nothing for it,” Bai Xia began, “Since there’s absolutely nothing here, we’ll just have to go back—” She trailed off abruptly.
“Eh?”
Rising to her feet and stretching languidly, Bai Xia, having just lifted her gaze, suddenly froze mid-sentence, her eyes unconsciously widening as she stared intently at something directly behind Tian Zheng.
Puzzled by her abrupt reaction, Tian Zheng instinctively turned to look behind him, only to find himself equally stunned.
“I’m telling you,” Bai Xia whispered, raising a hand to point at the anomaly now visible, “that thing definitely wasn’t there a moment ago, was it?”
“…I don’t believe it was.”
Before their astonished eyes, a resplendent, golden palace had materialized, seemingly out of nowhere!
Bai Xia could unequivocally swear that no such structure had existed moments prior.
The palace was simply too colossal, too towering, and the surrounding ruins were all of comparable height.
Had such a magnificent edifice been present earlier, they would most certainly have spotted it even from beyond the confines of the ruins.
So… what exactly was happening now?
While Tian Zheng remained lost in thought, Bai Xia, standing beside him, had already adopted a demonic glint in her eyes, her voice taking on a strangely mischievous lilt.
“Oh ho ho ho,” she cackled softly, “I knew it!
How could the system possibly bear to deceive someone as adorable as me?
As expected, this ruin *does* hold treasures after all!”
“Get back here!”
Grabbing the overly excited Bai Xia, who was practically quivering at the sight of the enigmatic palace, Tian Zheng’s exasperation deepened.
“Calm yourself,” he urged. “This palace, appearing so suddenly, looks utterly bizarre from every angle.
What if you rush in like that and stumble into danger?”
“But we can’t just stand here waiting,” Bai Xia countered, “What if it vanishes again in a moment?”
Bai Xia’s argument was not without merit.
Neither of them had noticed precisely when the palace had appeared; it had simply not been there, and then, with a glance upward, it was.
Thus, there was no guarantee it wouldn’t suddenly vanish again, and lingering outside would indeed yield nothing of value.
“Alright then,” Tian Zheng conceded. “But if anything goes wrong, you immediately hide behind me.”
Ultimately, Tian Zheng chose to compromise.
However, fearing that Bai Xia might, in her excitement, dash off or inadvertently trigger some trap, he held her hand firmly as they approached the palace.
The closer they drew, the more pronounced the distinctions between the colossal palace and the surrounding ruins became.
Take color, for instance: the entirety of the ruins presented a somber, faded, and decaying aspect, whereas the palace gleamed with extraordinarily vibrant and brilliant hues.
Then there was its sheer footprint and height: the suddenly materialized palace stretched as far as the eye could see, impossibly vast and colossal.
Even its lowest tier of densely packed, upward-sloping steps rose to a height far surpassing most of the surrounding structures.
It was worth noting that the land had previously held a cluster of ordinary buildings.
Whether they had been simply covered or utterly crushed by this sudden emergence remained unknown, but now, not a single trace of their former existence could be found.
The palace, by contrast, was nestled within the ruins with the seamless naturalness of a gleaming pearl.