Inside the room, there was no response. Zhou Qing kicked the door open.
Bang!
The moment the door opened, Zhou Qing immediately retreated and crouched down.
The entire process was swift and seamless.
Tang San, speechless, asked, "What are you doing?"
"Are there no traps inside?" Zhou Qing replied.
Looking up, Zhou Qing could only see the swirling dust and immediately stood up, brushing off the dust from his clothes. With a serious expression, he said, "I'm being cautious."
Ignoring Zhou Qing's antics, Tang San walked straight in.
Traps?
In his previous life as a disciple of the Tang Sect, could he not recognize them?
The only danger inside might be the excessive dust; if one breathed too quickly, it could lead to a violent cough.
Zhou Qing felt a bit embarrassed but still followed Tang San inside, surveying the surroundings.
The interior of this "small castle" was only slightly larger than his own home. It could roughly be divided into four areas: the kitchen, bedroom, study, and the living room they were currently in.
In the bedroom, on the bed, Zhou Qing discovered a skeleton. Its clothes had already disintegrated, leaving only a small gray pouch. The bed, wardrobe, and other items had also decayed.
"Is this the Soul Sage of Holy Soul Village?" Tang San gently touched the nightstand, and with a creak, it collapsed to the ground, shattering into pieces.
This situation didn't seem to indicate anything valuable had been left behind.
Zhou Qing picked up the gray pouch from the skeleton's waist. It was about the size of a fist. Squeezing it, he found it quite soft, but no matter how he pulled at the opening, it wouldn't tear.
Storage Soul Guide!
The first thought that flashed in his mind was this.
Through the books at home, Zhou Qing had some understanding of soul guides. Daily-use soul guides were relatively common among nobles and soul master families, but storage soul guides were rare.
On the market, storage soul guides were referred to as "antiques," and each one was quite valuable. A storage soul guide with a half-cubic meter space was worth over 10,000 gold soul coins!
In Notting City, no soul master, whether from the Martial Soul Hall or the City Lord's Mansion, possessed a storage soul guide. However, there was one soul master in Notting City who did: Yu Xiaogang.
Zhou Qing handed the pouch to Tang San and asked, "Can you open it? What's inside?"
Tang San took it, rubbed it, and squeezed it, finding it indeed soft. He speculated, "It should contain something like incense."
In Tang San's view, this was likely a local aromatic pouch from Douluo Continent, used to mask odors. It probably contained fragrant herbs and was filled with cotton or similar material.
In any case, it didn't feel like it contained soul coins.
"However, the size of this pouch could also hold soul coins," Tang San said, beginning to tear at the pouch, but found it very sturdy.
"Hm?"
Tang San became interested. Taking out a bamboo leaf dart, he began to cut the string at the top of the pouch. After much friction, the blade of the dart developed a series of notches, yet the string remained intact.
"Can't open it?"
Zhou Qing naturally knew how to open it, and only Tang San could open it on the spot, as he possessed inner strength cultivated through the Xuantian Skill.
However, he hadn't realized yet that opening this required inner strength and was still trying to forcibly tear the gray pouch apart.
"This is troublesome," Tang San muttered, confused as to why the pouch wouldn't open. He couldn't understand why such a small pouch was so secure. Even if the pouch and string were made from a special, highly elastic metal thread, what kind of mechanism could be installed in this soft pouch?
It was indeed strange!
"Then let me hold onto it for now," Zhou Qing took the pouch and said, "Perhaps it's a soul guide. When we return, you can help me investigate."
This was a hint that opening the pouch required soul power, i.e., inner strength.
"Only option left," Tang San, upon hearing "soul guide," immediately realized that opening it might require inner strength. However, he hadn't awakened his martial soul yet, so suddenly using inner strength would likely violate the world's norms.
I need to find an excuse…
Glancing at the skeleton on the bed, Tang San suddenly thought he could use this to his advantage…
Meanwhile, Zhou Qing, who had been paying attention to Tang San's every move, noticed his gaze linger on the skeleton for a while and inwardly felt gratified: "Good, at least Tang San isn't thinking of stealing this pouch from me later…"
Afterward, Zhou Qing casually placed the pouch on a writing desk near the bedroom window.
Crash!
The desk, like the nightstand earlier, had decayed and couldn't withstand any pressure. The pouch caused it to collapse instantly.
Helpless, Zhou Qing picked up the pouch, placed it on the windowsill, and called to Tang San. Together, they wrapped up the skeleton and took it outside into the forest. They dug a hole and buried it.
"Senior Soul Sage of Holy Soul Village, we've buried you to let you rest in peace. Your seclusion place now belongs to us. If you don't object, we'll take it as your consent," Zhou Qing said earnestly.
Tang San twitched his eye, realizing he hadn't noticed this "rascal" side of Zhou Qing before.
But now, he was in the same boat and could only go along.