I nodded to the old woman, and she nodded back at me. Then her gaze shifted to Gu Yuan beside me.
This old woman could actually see Gu Yuan.
"Little immortal Bai Erniang pays respects to Lord San," she said respectfully as she knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Gu Yuan.
I looked up at Gu Yuan. He slightly lowered his eyes and looked at Bai Erniang kneeling on the ground.
"Bai Xian'er, do you know something?"
It turned out that Bai Erniang's real form was a hedgehog. No wonder she could see Gu Yuan at a glance.
Wei Shan was just an ordinary mortal and couldn't see either of the immortals. Seeing me standing still, he timidly asked, "Why aren't you moving? Did you see something unclean?"
"Don't talk. The immortals are having a conversation. Just listen quietly."
Wei Shan had been terrified by those evil spirits. Even though he couldn't see the immortals now, he still felt extremely frightened. He grabbed my arm and looked furtive.
Meanwhile, Bai Xian'er told Gu Yuan why she didn't want us to go in.
The current pool - collector named Ma Liu not only had the support of Half - immortal Ma but also had a superior immortal backing him up.
This time, he had even joined forces with the Five - Way Gods. While helping people solve problems, he could also boost their wealth. Many people rushed to offer sacrifices to the Five - Way Gods.
Now, he had backers in the human world, the ghost world, and the immortal world.
My little granddaughter was taken away by the Five - Way Gods because they took a fancy to her, and I haven't found her yet.
A few days ago, I went to them to ask for her back, but they broke my two legs. I'm already lucky to be alive.
Bai Erniang knelt on the ground and slowly rolled up her trouser legs. Her kneecaps were dislocated, her legs were swollen, and the fracture - caused dislocation hadn't been fully corrected. She could only stand upright with the support of two wooden sticks. It looked extremely terrifying.
"Lord San, it's better not to interfere in matters related to the superior immortal, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble for yourself," Bai Erniang said, kneeling on the ground with sweat on her forehead.
"I understand what you mean. You're just reminding me to be careful in everything and asking me to help you by the way," Gu Yuan said.
Gu Yuan was really shrewd and immediately saw through Bai Xian'er's intention.
She kowtowed heavily on the ground and said, "Little immortal knows that you're extremely powerful. If you really want to completely eradicate them, please keep an eye on my little granddaughter. She's not a bad person in nature. I hope you can spare her life and let her come back to me."
"Gu Yuan, she can't hold on much longer. Should we let her get up?" I couldn't bear to watch any longer.
This was a stone - paved road. Even an ordinary person would feel their legs go numb after kneeling for a while, let alone an old woman with an injury.
Gu Yuan nodded, indicating that I could let her get up.
"Auntie, get up."
"I'll get up as long as Lord San agrees to my request."
This old woman was using the strategy of feigning helplessness in front of Gu Yuan. Didn't she know that Gu Yuan was a cold - blooded person and wouldn't buy it?
"What's your little granddaughter's name?" Gu Yuan actually softened his heart.
I quickly stepped forward to help Bai Erniang up. There was already blood seeping out from her knees, but she didn't seem to care about her injury. She quickly answered Gu Yuan's question.
"Her name is Bai Ling'er. She's very delicate and pretty. I have her photo. I'll show it to you." With that, Bai Erniang took out a photo of her little granddaughter and handed it to Gu Yuan.
I was also curious and stepped forward to take a look at the girl.
"Is this girl your granddaughter?" I was almost shocked to drop my jaw.
Wasn't this Huai Ji's maid, the cat - slave?
The contrast was too great. The girl in the photo and the real person were like two different people. In the photo, she was a pure and lovely schoolgirl, but now by Huai Ji's side, she was a sexy and hot cat - woman.
"Isn't she a cat spirit?" I asked.
"She's the same as me, a hedgehog. It's just that she doesn't want to admit it herself."
Gu Yuan seemed to sense something from my words and asked, "Do you know her?"
"I... I saw her beside Huai Ji. It was just a passing acquaintance."
I didn't tell Gu Yuan about the incident when she whipped me with a chain because I felt sorry for Bai Erniang and also because of that girl's loyal attitude.
Gu Yuan asked me to take out a healing pill from my backpack and give it to Bai Erniang. He promised her that he would keep an eye on Bai Ling and try to persuade her to do good if he met her.
After that, Bai Erniang took out something like a small bottle from her pocket. There was a drop of blue liquid in it.
Gu Yuan's eyes suddenly lit up when he saw that thing.
"Thank you, Lord San. I have nothing to repay you with. I can only give you this drop of the old tear from the Eight Tears. May you achieve your wish soon."
Bai Erniang opened the small bottle, and the drop of tear flew out of the bottle and floated into the necklace around my neck. The necklace flickered slightly, and there was one more drop of tear in it.
I excitedly picked up the necklace and showed it to Gu Yuan.
"Gu Yuan, look. Good people really do get good rewards."
But Gu Yuan wasn't as happy. He even looked colder than before.
"Who exactly are you?"
Bai Erniang slightly hooked the corner of her mouth and said, "I'm just an ordinary peasant woman."
After saying that, her body gradually became transparent until it disappeared.
Gu Yuan still stood there, with an unfathomable expression on his face.
"Gu Yuan, aren't you happy? Now there are already three drops of tears. We only need five more to fill it up."
"Let's go," he said without a trace of warmth in his voice.
It was clearly him who asked me to collect the eight drops of tears for him. Now that we already had three drops in just a few months, why didn't he seem happy at all?
He was really a moody and cold - blooded person.
I told Wei Shan to hurry up. He walked quickly in front and led Gu Yuan and me to Ma Liu's shrine.
Wei Shan knew the power of the immortals in my shrine, so he was fearless. When he got to Ma Liu's shrine, he kicked the door open.
As soon as we went in, he was stunned. The shrine was filled with people who came to invite the Five - Way Gods.
Hearing the noise at the door, they all turned to look at us. The shrine instantly fell silent. They didn't know what we were up to.
"Say something," I nudged Wei Shan.
He then came to his senses, cleared his throat and said, "I advise you not to invite the Five - Way Gods. Ma Liu is a fraud."
"You say I'm a fraud. Have you made any money?" Ma Liu walked out of the crowd with his hands behind his back. His arrogant look was completely different from the sycophantic Ma Liu I had seen before.
Seeing that Wei Shan couldn't answer, I quickly stepped forward and took over his words, "Ma Liu, do you still remember me?"
"Aren't you the disciple of Lord Liu? You're still alive?"
It seemed that Ma Liu had a powerful backer. He spoke so arrogantly.
"Thanks to you, I wasn't killed by the evil Five - Way Gods. But since I'm alive, it'll soon be your turn," I said. Since he was so rude, I didn't want to give him any face.
"Little girl, watch your mouth. The Five - Way Gods are the gods of wealth, not the evil spirits you mentioned. Be sensible and get out quickly, or I'll beat you up."
A man squeezed out of the crowd, holding a stick in his hand and raising it to hit me.
Seeing the stick coming down, I quickly stepped back and sprinkled a small bottle of water I had been holding in the air.
As the stick was falling, I curved my lips into a smile. The man glanced at me, and his eyes widened even bigger than a bull's.