Fantasy: I Am the Villain.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Beautiful Woman Statue

Inside the Shennong Gang's treasure vault, Bai Ke followed Sikong Xuan around with a curious expression.

Unlike the hidden and cramped treasure vaults of ordinary sects, the secret chamber carved out by the Shennong Gang in the mountainside is very large, similar to the air-raid shelter from the War of Resistance against Japan that Bai Ke visited in his previous life.

Because of its purpose of storing medicinal herbs, this treasure vault not only occupies a spacious area, but also has excellent indoor ventilation.

It's clear that the Shennong Gang put a lot of thought into building this sect's treasure vault. Judging from Bai Ke's experience of meditating and adjusting his breathing just now, he quite likes this place.

After following Sikong Xuan to other places, I still felt that the place where the medicinal herbs were stored was the best place to cultivate.

Bai Ke had just awakened to his true nature, and his cultivation bottleneck had loosened slightly, making it an opportune time for further cultivation. This path of cultivation is like rowing against the current; if you don't advance, you fall behind, and there's no room for complacency.

He ordered people to clear out an open space where the medicinal herbs had been stored, and had them bring in a futon, which became a simple place for secluded meditation.

Although Sikong Xuan found it strange that Bai Ke had chosen this cold and gloomy underground place for seclusion, he still ordered his men to do as he was told. It was only a matter of a few days, so he left Bai Ke to do as he pleased.

Bai Ke had previously stated that he would no longer go into seclusion for several days in a row, which reassured Sikong Xuan, so he felt no pressure.

Sikong Xuan and Bai Ke wandered around in strange ways, and after turning a corner, they found themselves at yet another trap.

"Hehe, these collections from past sect leaders are either incredibly precious or hold profound meaning. How could we, the younger generation, dare to be careless? That's why the protection measures are a bit complicated. Please don't take offense, young master!"

"It's alright, please do as you please. I'm just here to take a look, I can't possibly steal any of your Shennong Gang's treasures."

Bai Ke waved his hand to interrupt Sikong Xuan, who was about to say something more, and then turned to look at the arrangements elsewhere.

Sikong Xuan opened his mouth, but didn't say anything. After groping around on the wall next to the stone door for a while, he found a protrusion, fiddled with it for a bit, and then the stone door gradually rose up.

The best thing is that Bai Ke has no interest in the treasures of his Shennong Gang. Although it's not a major sect, letting an outsider like Bai Ke freely enter and leave the sect's treasure vault is already a serious offense.

If Bai Ke were allowed to freely access the collections of past gang leaders, Sikong Xuan would truly worry that he would be strangled by his deceased ancestors a hundred years from now.

That makes sense. Judging from the way Young Master Tian Ce behaves, he must come from a powerful force or sect. He wouldn't possibly care about the collection of someone from a small, insignificant family.

Thinking of this, Sikong Xuan couldn't help but feel a little sad. Is it true that the weak are oppressed and enslaved? First it was Lingjiu Palace, and now it's a young man whose background is unknown.

On the one hand, they worry that their collection will be taken away by someone else, while on the other hand, they are indignant that their collection cannot meet the standards of others...

This contradictory feeling is something most people probably experience. Even though you don't want to share your things with others, you still can't help but want to hear others' envy and praise for your things.

This kind of vanity is universal, whether in modern times or the world of martial arts, whether in a prestigious sect or a humble household.

Bai Ke had no idea that his words would evoke so many emotions in Sikong Xuan. Only after entering this secret chamber did it begin to resemble a treasure trove.

Inside the secret chamber were several life-sized stone statues, some male, some female, some kind-faced old men, some beautiful women with delicate features, and so on.

"These stone statues were all made by the ancestors of my Shennong Clan before they passed away, leaving them to us unworthy descendants as a memento. But in my generation, it turns out that..."

Seeing these stone statues, Sikong Xuan couldn't help but recall the situation after he took over the Shennong Gang and was successively controlled by others. He felt extremely ashamed and had no words to face these seniors.

Sikong Xuan quickly walked out of the area. Bai Ke wanted to take a closer look at the beautiful woman's stone statue, as he seemed to have vaguely seen some writing on the hem of the woman's skirt earlier.

However, seeing Sikong Xuan like this, he couldn't bring himself to rub salt in the wound, since he was also a member of the Shennong Gang who had bullied him. He could only follow Sikong Xuan and leave it for another time to check.

As he browsed through the collections left by the Shennong Gang ancestors, he found some ancient prescriptions and formulas. For example, Bai Ke saw a fragment of the "Qianjin Fang" (Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Pieces of Gold).

Whether it's true or not, Bai Ke doesn't have time to read a medical book from an ordinary world. Even if he learns the secondary profession of alchemy in the future, this "Thousand Gold Prescriptions" probably won't be of much value.

After all, these are just ordinary herbs. Compared to rare flowers and herbs with abundant spiritual energy, and the medicinal properties of rare and precious herbs, this prescription is somewhat lacking, as there is a difference in quality.

As for the rest, Bai Ke felt that, in the world of Tian Long Ba Bu, the most precious thing in the Shennong Gang's treasure trove was the incomplete copy of "Qian Jin Fang".

Other collectibles, such as calligraphy, paintings, and ancient books, only have some value for collection. As for so-called divine weapons, they are nothing more than scrap metal to Bai Ke.

The weapons forged in this world couldn't even scratch Bai Ke's clothes. Putting aside the technical issues, the materials were far inferior. How could they be compared?

Along the way, Bai Ke also inquired with Sikong Xuan about the story of the beautiful woman statue. It is said that she was the previous leader of the Shennong Gang, but for some reason she abdicated soon after.

Sikong Xuan said that he was not very clear about that matter. He only knew that the beautiful woman had just ascended the throne and then passed it on to her master. After leaving behind this stone statue, she left the Shennong Gang.

Time flies. During one of his alchemy sessions, Master Sikong Xuan accidentally caused an explosion in his furnace, and his health deteriorated rapidly. He soon passed away.

However, his master couldn't forget the beautiful woman. It seemed that the woman was very beautiful for a time, but he didn't know why she insisted on leaving the Shennong Gang.

Even with his successor, he kept it a secret, leaving only this stone statue and instructing people to take good care of it before departing, leaving Master Sikong Xuan heartbroken for a long time.

After listening to Sikong Xuan's account, Bai Ke turned around and returned to the statue of the beautiful woman. There must be some secret about the statue, otherwise why would the beautiful woman have ordered people to take good care of her statue?

Activating his Heavenly Eye, Bai Ke carefully examined the stone statue inside and out, but found nothing of the sort.

"Hiss... This shouldn't be the case. Shouldn't there be some kind of hidden layer? How come there's nothing there? Then why would someone take such good care of their statue? There must be some secret."

Undeterred, Bai Ke continued to examine the skirt repeatedly, especially the writing he had vaguely seen earlier.