"If you really had such a good thing, how could you have been caught by us?"
This old rat was sly and cunning, Lu Fei would not believe him easily.
"Masters, I dare not deceive you."
The old rat rummaged through some part of his body and pulled out a small, tattered oil lamp.
"Masters, this is called the Meritorious Lamp! It was originally an oil lamp placed before the Three Pure Ones in a Daoist temple. Over time, imbued with their presence, it has accumulated meritorious power which can help people prolong their lives."
"That wicked old woman Feng had done too many evil deeds, her fortune had diminished, and her fate was sealed. The ghosts would sooner or later take her to the underworld to answer for her crimes, so she set her sights on me."
"She told me that if I married a common woman and practiced the art of the bedroom, I could enhance my spiritual cultivation. If I lent her the lamp for a period, she would use the Yin-Yang Lock of Hearts to secure a marriage for me."
"I must have been blinded by greed to fall for her trick."
"Before this, I have never harmed anyone!"
"Please, masters, consider that I have not yet committed a grave sin, and give me a chance to repent and reform."
"I am willing to offer this lamp to the masters."
Having said that, the old rat lowered his body to the ground and held up the old lamp with his paws high in the air.
It turned out that Feng Erpo had faked her death to deceive the ghost officials.
No wonder she had no shadow.
She could no longer be considered a human.
From what was observed, the old rat's words did not seem to be false.
However, Lu Fei examined the lamp but did not reach out to take it.
"How could such a good thing end up in the hands of an old rat like you?"
"To tell you the truth, I was originally a mouse in that Taoist temple. The old Taoist master was kind and never drove away any of the animals, big or small, in the temple. He even allowed them to listen when he meditated and preached. Over time, I developed a bit of intelligence and learned some things."
The old mouse lifted its head, with fur charred, and sighed heavily.
"But good times didn't last. One day, the temple suddenly caught fire, and everything in it was burned to ashes. The old Taoist master became disheartened and left to wander the world, making his home wherever he went. Before he left, he saw that I was still alive and picked this lamp from the ruins, giving it to me as a gift."
"Over the years, I have carried this lamp with me wherever I went, and later discovered that it possesses the power of merit."
"It is because of this lamp that I have lived for over a century and have what I have now."
As the old mouse spoke, it stroked the blackened lamp with its paw, its eyes filled with a look of reluctant attachment.
Lu Fei and Zhang Moli exchanged glances.
"Lu Fei, I observed earlier that there is indeed a trace of the power of merit on this lamp," Zhang Moli whispered to Lu Fei.
Lu Fei nodded; he had indeed seen it too.
"With such a good thing, are you really willing to part with it?"
"When it comes to treasures in the world, it all depends on fate." The old rat laughed bitterly.
"Maybe my fate with this lamp has arrived. If not for this lamp, Old Feng wouldn't have arranged a marriage for me, and it wouldn't have attracted all of you masters here."
"This is probably what they call 'fate decided by heaven.' This lamp of merit is destined to belong to the master!"
Hu Zi was so astonished that he smacked his lips: "Wow! Old Rat, have you been to school? You sure know how to talk!"
"Its way of speaking does indeed seem to have been influenced by a great person. It's likely that it learned the shrinking spell from that Taoist master," Zhang Molin added, "Actually, this spell can both shrink and enlarge, but it probably only learned the basics."
"Even just the basics are enough for it to rule over the other rats." Lu Fei nodded.
I never expected that this old rat would have such a rare and extraordinary encounter.
What a pity.
It doesn't appreciate it.
"Masters, I know I was wrong! I am willing to give up the lamp, and I only ask for a chance to reform myself."
The old rat held the lantern high once again, speaking with sincere emotion.
"Lu Fei, if it truly repents, we can consider giving it a chance." Zhang Molin was a bit shaken.
Lu Fei narrowed his eyes.
The Merit Lantern was indeed a good item, but it was unusual for this old rat to hand over such a treasure so willingly. There must be something sinister behind it.
As Lu Fei was pondering, he inadvertently noticed something odd about the shadow on the ground.
"Hmm?"
The shadow, hunched and not belonging to any of them, was stealthily approaching the old rat.
"Could it be the soul of Feng Erpo? It seems that the rat only killed her physical body."
In that case,
"Alright, I'll give you a chance!" Lu Fei smiled faintly and pretended to reach for the lantern.
"Many thanks, Master!" The old rat held the lamp higher, his large eyes shimmering with excitement.
Before Lu Fei's fingers could touch the small lamp, the hunched shadow on the ground pounced, snatched the lamp, and turned to run.
But he had not run more than a few steps.
The shadowy figure suddenly broke apart and scattered on the ground.
The old rat looked up and, upon seeing this, was stunned.
"Sure enough, it was a trick!"
Lu Fei chuckled and then walked over to pick up the lamp.
The severed hand of the shadow still clutched the lamp tightly. With a light strike from Lu Fei's magical power, it dissipated into thin air.
Speaking of which, this Feng Erpo also shares the surname Feng, I wonder if she is related to the Feng Shaman in Yuncheng.
"Old fool, you're still not being honest!"
Lu Fei picked up the lantern and turned around, looking at the old rat with a playful smile.
"Master, you, please let me explain..." The old rat was drenched in sweat and trembling all over.
"We already gave you a chance, but you actually still wanted to harm others. How could you face the old Taoist who gave you this opportunity!" Zhang Molin was furious; he had almost believed this old thing just now.
Fortunately, Lu Fei was cautious enough.
Otherwise, the ones who would have been torn apart just now would have been them.
"Old thing, trying to outsmart my boss, you're still too green!" Hu Zi snorted triumphantly, pressing his ghost-head knife hard against the old rat's tail.
The old rat couldn't break free and, in a moment of desperation, bit its own tail off and fled.
"Where do you think you're going!"
Zhang Molin sent out a fire spirit talisman.
And Lu Fei had already prepared the thunderstruck wood.
Boom! Boom!
The electric and fire lights struck the old rat all over its body, after a bout of intense convulsions, black smoke spewed from its mouth and nose, and it fell to the ground, limp and lifeless.
"I gave you a chance, but you were useless!"
Looking at the old rat turning into a charred corpse, Lu Fei shook his head.
"With such an opportunity, instead of focusing on cultivating, you chose to cause trouble and harm others! It's in your nature, and that's hard to change!" Zhang Moli sighed with regret.
Huzi didn't care about any of that; as long as his boss got the treasure, he was happy.
At the moment, he pulled out his ghost-head saber, pointed at the gold, silver, and jewels left in the old rat's bag, and excitedly asked, "Boss, what do we do with these things?"
"Rats are best at transporting things; who knows where they stole this ill-gotten wealth from, taking it would soil our hands!" Zhang Moli held it in great disdain.
Lu Fei took a look: "This bag of gold and silver is also problematic; it can't be left here."