Chapter 108: No More Pretending

After playing a game of hide-and-seek with the remaining three long-tailed crocodiles, not a single one was left alive. All of them had turned into loot scattered across the ground.

After that, Su You didn’t rush to collect the loot. Instead, she took Duoya and headed into the pool where the long-tailed crocodiles lived—

Because what Su You needed was right there!

Let’s set aside what treasures they found after going in. The point is, when they came back out, they discovered that much of the loot from the crocodiles had vanished.

Especially the money—not a single copper coin remained.

You have to understand, while the corpse of the Fire Demon Leader had a time limit and would disappear after a while, these loot drops were different. They wouldn’t just vanish for no reason… unless someone else had taken them.

Originally, Su You thought there weren’t many people around, so it was fine to leave the loot there and collect it later. The most important thing was to quickly retrieve the item guarded by the crocodiles… But she never expected that, in this deserted wilderness, someone would actually pass by at just the right moment—and steal their spoils!

And that person was none other than Buguo, the girl Su You and Duoya had brought to the tavern.

…

…

Back to the present: after being released, Buguo’s first instinct was to try and leave… But if they were outside, maybe she could have gotten away. Here, though, on Su You’s turf, how could she possibly let Buguo escape?

So, in the end, Buguo didn’t even make it to the tavern door.

Maybe Su You and Duoya had already guessed this would happen, so neither of them tried to stop her.

“What… what are you going to do to me?” Realizing her efforts were useless, Buguo pouted, then turned around and put on a pitiful, aggrieved expression, hoping to win some sympathy from the two in front of her.

If Su You hadn’t already known she was a little trickster, and if Duoya didn’t know she was the one who’d stolen the loot, they might really have been fooled by this pitiful act.

After all, Buguo’s appearance was still very deceiving.

Her adoptive grandmother had died when she was only twelve. She’d been wandering for over two years since then, which meant she wasn’t even fifteen yet.

Not even fifteen!

In a normal society, she wouldn’t even be in high school yet!

So even if they knew she’d stolen from them, there was no way they’d do anything too harsh to a kid her age.

Still, even if they wouldn’t hurt her, Su You was determined to make her hand over everything she’d taken.

“Pretending won’t work on me. I’m not buying it.” Faced with Buguo’s pitiful look, Su You’s expression didn’t waver in the slightest.

She knew Buguo’s story, and she knew the kid was genuinely pitiful, but that didn’t mean she’d let her off for stealing from them.

Besides, she was hoping to recruit her.

Originally, Su You had hoped that once Buguo arrived in the territory, she could win her over with sincerity. But since their first encounter had gone so badly, if she just let Buguo go now, the girl would simply run off—recruitment would be out of the question.

So Su You had to think of another way… but that was easier said than done.

Though she sighed inwardly and felt conflicted, none of it showed on her face.

She looked up at Buguo, who, since Su You’s last remark, had changed expressions faster than flipping a page—pitiful and aggrieved one moment, now wary and cold the next.

“Since you already know, I won’t pretend anymore.” With that, Buguo steeled herself and opened her small cloth bag.

She moved so fast that the other two didn’t even see what was inside before she pulled out a handful of copper coins and some other items, placing them all on the table.

Once everything was out, she quickly closed the bag again. “I admit I took the stuff, but can you really blame me? In a place like that, who’d have thought the loot belonged to someone?”

Su You had been examining the items, but when she heard this, she glanced up, picked up one of the things, and looked at Buguo with a half-smile.

“You said it yourself—in a place like that, how could there possibly be ownerless loot?”

Buguo was at a loss for words, staring at the item in Su You’s hand, unable to reply for a long moment.

Of course she knew the loot belonged to someone. After all, how could a pile of loot just appear in the middle of nowhere?

Someone must have killed the monsters and just hadn’t picked up the drops yet!

Well, there was another possibility: wild beasts fighting each other to the death… but that clearly didn’t fit this situation, since Duoya used a bow and arrow.

And what Su You had picked up was a stone arrowhead.

If Su You hadn’t even picked up the loot, how could she have had time to retrieve her arrows?

In other words, besides the crocodile loot, there were arrows all over the ground… If there were arrows, it meant people had been there. What, did the beasts suddenly learn to use bows and arrows?

Having her “I didn’t know” excuse exposed, Buguo just gave up, slumping in defeat and not bothering to explain further.

She realized that, although this female lord didn’t plan to let her off, she didn’t seem intent on harming her either… So, whatever happened, she’d just accept it.

Su You finished checking the loot, said something to Duoya, and then Duoya left the tavern—making sure to close the door behind her.

Once Duoya was gone, Su You’s gaze fell on Buguo.

Feeling Su You’s eyes on her, Buguo kept her head down, lips pressed tight, clutching her bag even tighter.

…She… shouldn’t be able to tell, right?

Because Buguo kept her head down, she didn’t see what Su You was doing. She only knew the woman who’d caught her had left, and now it was just her and the female lord.

Just as her curiosity was about to get the better of her and she was about to look up to see what Su You was plotting, a hand suddenly appeared in her field of vision, palm up.

“What are you doing?” Buguo’s eyes darted nervously as she looked up, meeting Su You’s gaze—she hadn’t even noticed when Su You had gotten so close.

Startled, Buguo hugged her little bag and jumped back a few steps, tense as a frightened young animal.

“Nothing. I just want you to hand over everything you took.” Su You watched her expression, then looked at the bag she was clutching tightly…"

"109. Beast Core

“It was you who stole something—don’t act like I’m the one bullying you, okay?” There was a hint of helplessness in Su You’s tone.

All she could say was, little liar really lived up to her name… No wonder the system had tagged her as a “little liar.”

At first, Su You thought that when Buguo realized her attempt at playing weak hadn’t worked, she’d hand over everything she’d taken just to protect herself… And throughout the whole process, Su You hadn’t noticed anything off in her demeanor—at least, nothing that raised any red flags.

But just to be safe, Su You double-checked all the loot.

Once she finished counting everything, Su You realized that Buguo had still been putting on an act.

Not only had she hidden something and not handed it over, but what she’d hidden was actually the most valuable item among all the loot.

This particular item wasn’t even a guaranteed drop, but before leaving, Su You had glanced at the items on the ground and vaguely remembered seeing it—though she hadn’t been sure if her eyes had deceived her.

Originally, when she reached out and asked Buguo to hand over the items, it was just a test. But now, combined with Buguo’s behavior, Su You’s uncertainty had turned into absolute certainty.

No matter how skilled Buguo was, she was still just a teenager. She might have been able to lie and put on a perfect act at first, but in the end, Su You still managed to trick her into revealing herself.

“I admit I took something, but I’ve already handed everything over,” Buguo said, hesitating for a few seconds before replying with feigned confidence.

Seeing that Buguo refused to admit it, Su You took two steps closer.

Buguo immediately shrank back… This time, it wasn’t an act—just a pure, instinctive reaction.

“I may not have picked up the items myself, but I know exactly what was there. You know better than I do whether you took a round, emerald-green bead.” That emerald-green bead was actually a beast core—a rare material with an extremely low drop rate.

Beast cores had many uses: they could be used to make potions, for alchemy, to craft weapons and equipment, or as enchanting materials… The stronger the beast, the lower the drop rate of its core, but the better its effects.

What Buguo had taken was the Long-tailed Crocodile’s beast core. The Long-tailed Crocodile was a formidable beast, so its core was at least of green quality—possibly even blue.

From Su You’s memory, even a white-quality beast core was worth several, even dozens of gold coins. Green ones went for a hundred gold, and anything above green was priceless—rare and impossible to find on the market.

When Buguo realized Su You really knew she’d hidden something, her face instantly went pale.

Given the situation, her best option was to hand over the beast core. If she did, things would probably end there—after all, if Su You really wanted to hurt her, she wouldn’t bother with all this talk.

Even if Buguo had no combat ability, Su You could easily handle a child—and she still had weapons in her backpack.

But Buguo didn’t hand over the beast core.

Su You frowned, but instead of acting, she asked, “Do you know what a beast core is?”

Buguo was silent for a moment, then nodded slightly.

“What do you need money for?” As soon as she finished the first question, Su You followed up with another that seemed completely unrelated.

It seemed unrelated, but when Buguo heard it, her eyes widened and she stared straight at Su You.

“How…how did you know I needed money?” As soon as Buguo said it, she regretted it, but it was too late to take it back. She could only stand there, dumbfounded.

How did she know? She guessed, of course.

After all, beast cores had only two uses: to sell for money, or to craft something.

Buguo clearly didn’t have the skills to craft anything herself. If she wanted something made, she’d have to hire someone—and that cost money. Especially since beast cores were high-level materials, she’d need someone with advanced skills, which would be even more expensive.

Most likely, Buguo only recognized the beast core, but didn’t really understand it, so she had no idea what it could be used for.

If she truly understood beast cores, she wouldn’t have just tossed it into her bag so casually… After all, beast cores weren’t just useful to humans—beasts could also consume them to grow stronger. Their allure was on par with that white ermine.

Of course, Su You wasn’t about to say all that out loud.

“What do you need the money for?” Su You didn’t answer Buguo’s question, but pressed her own.

When Buguo still didn’t seem willing to answer, Su You added, “You know what the situation is. If I wanted to use force, I wouldn’t bother with all this talking.”

Buguo knew Su You was right, but she still pressed her lips together and stayed silent, lowering her head so her messy hair covered her eyes, making it impossible to tell what she was thinking.

Su You said, “If you cooperate and answer my questions, maybe we can work something out.”

She’d long expected Buguo would be hard to recruit, but when actually faced with such a difficult NPC, Su You was more than capable of handling it.

After all, she’d met plenty of “weird and troublesome” NPCs before; in terms of being difficult, Buguo didn’t even crack the top ten.

The fact that she was just a child put her at a huge disadvantage.

Maybe Su You’s words got through to her, because Buguo’s head gave a little shake, and then she slowly looked up. “I need the money to pay the church… for a soul burial.”

The church… soul burial?

Su You silently repeated those words, and roughly understood Buguo’s goal.

At the same time, Buguo continued, “I once saw someone take out a beast core by accident. They said it was really valuable.” Since she’d only learned about it by chance, Buguo didn’t know about the dangers of beast cores—she just knew they were worth a lot.

She hadn’t planned to hunt beasts for their cores to sell—she knew her own limits.

She hadn’t given the beast core much thought. It was just that today, she happened to pass by where the Long-tailed Crocodile was, and saw Duoya and Su You fighting it… In fact, she knew perfectly well the loot belonged to someone else—she’d watched Duoya kill it from start to finish.

But because Su You was focused on Duoya, and Duoya was focused on the crocodile, plus Buguo had hidden herself well, neither of them noticed her."

"110. The Church

What happened next, well, you already know.

Basically, after Bu Guo saw the two of them head behind the pond and waited a while without seeing them come out, she decided to check if there was anything valuable among all the stuff scattered on the ground.

And wouldn’t you know it, she actually found a beast core!

...

“Here you go.” As Bu Guo gave a brief summary of what happened, she reluctantly took out a green, bead-like object from her bag... This was the beast core.

As she was taking it out, whether because her hands were unsteady, or she was too nervous, or maybe her legs had gone numb from standing too long, she moved a bit and the bag slipped from her grasp and fell straight to the ground.

“No!” Bu Guo scrambled to catch the bag, but in her panic, the beast core slipped out too, landing on the ground with a crisp sound, rolling a few times before coming to a stop.

Su You had been about to take the beast core, but seeing this, she chose instead to help Bu Guo catch the bag.

The sudden drop startled Bu Guo so much that sweat broke out on her forehead. When she saw Su You reach out and catch it, she barely managed to blurt out a quick “thank you” before snatching the bag back from Su You’s hands.

Su You wasn’t upset at all. Instead, she bent down to look for the beast core that had just fallen.

When she finally found the beast core in a corner and turned around, she saw Bu Guo let out a sigh of relief and start organizing her bag.

Maybe she’d been really frightened, because Bu Guo’s hands were shaking as she tried to close the bag, and she struggled for quite a while without managing to pack it up again. Because of this, Su You could clearly see what was inside—

It was a grayish-white ceramic jar.

Combining this with what Bu Guo had just said, Su You guessed that it probably contained the ashes of the old woman who had taken her in.

A ceramic jar like that would break easily if dropped, and it also carried a special meaning. No wonder Bu Guo had been so nervous just now.

The “soul burial” Bu Guo had mentioned was actually a kind of ritual often performed by the church. Supposedly, holding this ceremony would allow the deceased to rest in peace and be reborn into a good family in their next life.

Although Bu Guo was a little con artist, if she could have survived without stealing or cheating, would she really have become the compulsive liar she was now?

Just the fact that she was willing to care for the old woman who took her in, carrying this ceramic jar with her for two years, and was even now trying to scrape together money to have the church perform the soul burial for the old woman—Bu Guo’s character was already far better than most kids her age.

...

Once Bu Guo had finally packed up her things, she stood up with the bundle in her arms and looked quietly at Su You.

Maybe because Su You had just helped “save” the ceramic jar, Bu Guo wasn’t exactly close to her, but she was definitely much more grateful and friendly now.

“This time I really didn’t lie to you. I’ve already given you everything I took.” Bu Guo’s eyes were a little red—not from crying, but from the panic just now.

Looking at her small, thin frame clutching such a big bundle, and her slightly red eyes, Su You couldn’t help but feel that this kid was genuinely a bit pitiful.

Because she was just so real...

“Mm, I believe you.”

To say “I believe you” to someone who’s used to lying—Su You only said it because she knew Bu Guo really hadn’t lied this time, and Bu Guo knew it too, but hearing those words still made her feel a little strange inside.

Bu Guo hugged her bundle tighter, pushed down her emotions, and continued, “So... can I go now?”

She had arranged with the priest to hold the soul burial for Granny in three days, but she had to scrape together enough money in those three days, or the priest wouldn’t help her.

And now two days had already passed... tomorrow was the last day.

It had been hard enough for her to save up money in the first place, and even though she’d gotten better at talking her way through things, it wasn’t exactly a reliable method, so she still hadn’t managed to save enough.

She’d been genuinely happy when she found the beast core. She didn’t know exactly how much it was worth, but the person who’d given it to her before had said that with one of these, you could buy a house in a small town. So it had to be valuable—at least enough to cover the cost of the ritual.

But now, not only had her efforts been wasted, she’d also spent so much time here... In short, Bu Guo didn’t want to stay any longer.

Su You didn’t know her plans, but she definitely didn’t want Bu Guo to leave.

That’s why she was even harder to recruit than Meike... With her heart set on leaving, it was almost impossible to get her to stay.

Unless Su You could find her “weak spot”—like how Duoya needed the dragonbone tattoo.

Su You quickly ran through her recent conversation with Bu Guo in her mind, and as if she’d thought of something, her gaze swept over Bu Guo’s bundle once more.

“You can leave if you want, but first you have to help me with something—as compensation for stealing from me.”

Right now, Bu Guo’s mind was completely occupied with how to quickly scrape together the rest of the money for the soul burial, so it hadn’t even occurred to her that Su You might not let her go.

Because time was running out, Bu Guo’s state of mind had changed.

With her nerves frayed, she couldn’t put on a good act, and even her lies lost their usual polish.

“Not now, I need to save money. The priest said I have to pay him by tomorrow.” Bu Guo was worried Su You wouldn’t let her go if she didn’t believe her, so she very seriously promised Su You that she’d definitely come back later.

Bu Guo liked to lie, but in some things she kept her word. At least Su You knew she was probably telling the truth this time.

But even if she wasn’t lying, someone else was.

“As far as I know, the soul burial ritual is performed by the bishop. Ordinary priests don’t have the authority, let alone the ability.” The ritual itself was real, but whether it could really achieve the legendary effect, Su You wasn’t sure.

But she remembered now—Bu Guo had said it was just an ordinary priest who agreed to help her. And just as Su You said, only the bishop had the right and ability to perform this ritual.

In other words, Su You was telling Bu Guo that she’d been tricked.

How could an ordinary priest have the authority to make decisions for the bishop?

Most likely, the priest saw that Bu Guo was just a gullible kid, and decided to take advantage of her desire to hold a soul burial for her granny to scam her out of her money."

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