Super Island Tycoon

But the room in front of him was something Jiang Cheng did not expect. Under the light, Jiang Cheng could clearly see several shelves here. They were filled with all sorts of things. From small trinkets to large stones, and even flowers and plants. These strange things were tightly packed together, yet Jiang Cheng did not feel a sense of crowding.

The place had always been filled with a mysterious aura. On the table in front of the man lay many small jars, seemingly filled with white slips of paper. The man casually tinkered with these small jars.

”What do you want to ask?” the man inquired. Watching Jiang Cheng and Qingqing, Jiang Cheng noticed the man’s eyes were long and narrow, seemingly lined with black eyeliner. His whole gaze appeared eerie and mysterious... He just looked at Jiang Cheng and Qingqing like that. Jiang Cheng felt as if everything inside him could be perceived by him.

”Will there be answers?” Qingqing didn’t ask directly but rather posed what seemed like a casual question.

”Of course. Don’t you believe me?” The man chuckled.

”But there is a price.” Qingqing spoke with a tone of certainty, not a question.

”Ha ha. Of course,” the man laughed. ”This is a price you can afford.”

”What price?” Jiang Cheng asked.

The man looked surprised, gazing at Jiang Cheng. ”Did you both come in together? Asking the same thing?”

Qingqing nodded without speaking, ”Seems like it’s your first time here,” the man said.

”If you want to know the answer to the question, you have to give me your most precious thing. If both of you have only one question, only one of you needs to give. The other doesn’t.” The man said.

Most precious thing? Jiang Cheng thought to himself. What could he have that is precious?

”Anything?” Qingqing asked.

”As long as it’s your most precious thing,” the man replied.

”I don’t know if I have anything that’s most precious,” Qingqing said.

Jiang Cheng looked at the setup of the room and realized the items here must be the prices paid by those who came. These were their most precious things.

Jiang Cheng couldn’t think of anything very precious to him, but Qingqing spoke up, ”I can give it to you.”

The man’s eyes suddenly lit up looking at Qingqing, and Jiang Cheng looked at Qingqing in confusion, wondering what she intended to give.

”What is your most precious thing?” the man asked Qingqing.

Qingqing didn’t speak but pulled a ring from her pocket and gave it to the man. Jiang Cheng saw that the ring Qingqing took out looked very plain, just a simple band with a small blue gemstone set in the center.

The man took Qingqing’s ring, glanced at it casually, then at Qingqing, and said nothing as he placed the ring into a small black box.

”Good. Now I can answer your question,” the man said to Qingqing.

”Where is the White Flower Stone? The specific location,” Qingqing asked.

The man did not seem surprised at all. It was as if he knew beforehand that Qingqing would ask such a question. He slowly walked to the back of the table, adjusted the crystal ball on the table, positioning it directly in front of Qingqing and Jiang Cheng.

”Put your hand on this crystal ball,” the man instructed Qingqing.

Qingqing placed her hand on the crystal ball as told. ”Close your eyes. Slowly feel the warmth of the crystal ball...” the man’s tone was drawn out, full of hypnotic energy. Jiang Cheng felt like it was the sound of a psychologist hypnotizing someone, almost lulling him to sleep.

”Good, now slowly calm your heart, let go of all the distractions,” the man said.

Jiang Cheng saw the man place his hand on the table, also closing his eyes. He was murmuring something, and slowly, a golden light appeared in front of Qingqing.

This scene was one Jiang Cheng felt he would never forget. In this dim, slightly eerie room, there was a round golden halo surrounding Qingqing’s Zhou Country. Her already extremely beautiful features became even more enchanting, like a goddess from a distant place out of reach.

Meanwhile, Jiang Cheng noticed sweat beaded on the man’s forehead, with a few drops dripping onto the table. His forehead was furrowed tightly together, looking very pained. Gradually, his entire body seemed to tremble, and Jiang Cheng almost understood—this must be consuming a lot of energy. Seeing the man in such pain, Jiang Cheng was also a bit worried for him.

However, the golden light only lasted for ten minutes before the man suddenly collapsed onto the table. At this point, the halo around Qingqing had faded, but Qingqing still stood in place without opening her eyes.

Yet the man beside her appeared to have passed out, with Jiang Cheng moving to his side, gently tapping his shoulder, but there was no movement.

Jiang Cheng then nudged his arm, but still, there was no response. Jiang Cheng tried pushing him a little harder, but he still didn’t react.

But Jiang Cheng felt the man’s pulse with his fingers. While he was not in life-threatening danger, he had obviously passed out from exhaustion. Maybe it was too much of a drain on his energy.

”What’s wrong with him?” Qingqing suddenly asked.

Jiang Cheng looked at Qiu Qingji. She appeared just as before, calm and quiet as usual.

”It seems to have overexerted him,” Jiang Cheng said.

Qingqing nodded, ”Let’s go. We’ll head out.”

”Can we?” Jiang Cheng asked, looking at Qingqing.

”Can what?” Qingqing turned to ask. ”Oh, you mean the White Flower Stone.”

Jiang Cheng nodded. ”How to put it, I dreamt of a place. It seems to exist. But I need to see it to recognize it,” Qingqing said.

”So you don’t know the exact location, but you can recognize it if you see it. Is that right?” Jiang Cheng remarked.

Qingqing nodded, ”It seems to be like that, but I’m not very sure,” Qingqing said.

”No worries, by the looks of it, this seems hard to fully know. Just look at him,” Jiang Cheng pointed at the man still slumped over the table.

Qiu Qingji didn’t turn back and just kept walking forward. Jiang Cheng followed slowly, exiting the room. Did not notice it upon entering, but Jiang Cheng now realized there were indeed many eerie things here.

Along the way, many big and small jars sat around, each containing very strange things. Jiang Cheng found himself a bit on edge, yet there’s another concern: could Qingqing’s item possibly be reclaimed?

”Can you retrieve that very precious thing?” Jiang Cheng asked.

Qingqing stopped, turned back and looked at Jiang Cheng, ”You’re trying to ask why that ring is precious, right?”

Although Jiang Cheng was also a bit curious, at the moment he only cared if the item could be redeemed.

”How to say it, that was my entire belief during my previous life, but when I truly gave it away, it wasn’t as heart-wrenching as expected, instead, there was a sense of relief.”

Jiang Cheng saw a light, joyous smile bloom across Qingqing’s face. He had never seen Qingqing smile so freely, without any burden. The previous Qingqing, well, though beautiful, was like a delicate porcelain, appearing void of any emotions.