Chapter 29: Gratitude of the Unjustly Slain

The protective golden light was crumbling, but the Mother of Grievances ran out of time before the golden light completely shattered.

Under the cover of the golden light, Dabao's sharp claws finally tore the Mother of Grievances into pieces.

At that precise moment, a prompt from Dimension Paradise appeared.

Seeing this, Guo Ming immediately began chanting the Rebirth Mantra.

Unlike his previous spellcasting, the content of this chant was obscure, profoundly difficult to understand, and recited at an extremely rapid pace.

Its rhythm also sounded very ethereal and drifting.

As he chanted, dense wisps of grievance squeezed out from the shattered body of the Mother of Grievances, slowly dissolving upon contact with the air.

Dabao was quite startled by this sight.

Protected by the golden light, his lifesteal effect had pulled his health back up to eighty-five percent, allowing him to exit the fearless and berserk states.

He immediately hurried back to Chu Danqing, carrying the treasure chest dropped by the Mother of Grievances.

Chu Danqing cast his gaze upon the treasure chest. Its tier was still Excellent, but the patterns on its surface were noticeably dazzling.

He suspected that the chest's original quality should have been Rare, far beyond what he could access at his current stage.

At least, it was not something he could have obtained solely by relying on Dabao; it was thanks to Guo Ming's assistance that Chu Danqing had successfully slain the Mother of Grievances.

However, because of the excessive help from a native resident, the quality of the dropped treasure chest had been reduced.

Putting the treasure chest away for the time being, he turned his attention to the fragments of the Mother of Grievances.

As the怨气 (grievance energy) gradually dissipated, indistinct figures slowly freed themselves from it.

After all the figures bowed deeply to him, they finally vanished into nothingness.

[You have received the gratitude of those who died unjustly.]

[Your Charm +1]

Hearing the prompt, Chu Danqing was utterly baffled.

Logically speaking, he hadn't contributed all that much effort; if anyone deserved gratitude, it should be Dabao and Guo Ming.

Yet, he was the only one who received this gratitude.

Dimension Paradise indeed possessed a Charm attribute, but much like Willpower and Luck, it could not be increased directly with attribute points and required special methods to improve.

It couldn't even be viewed directly; higher clearance was required to unlock standard data visualization.

He didn't know much about the Charm attribute.

"Brother Chu possesses boundless merit to have won such favor," Guo Ming said with a smiling expression.

Chu Danqing did not accept the flattery and immediately asked, "What is the meaning of this?"

He preferred to believe it was the generosity of Dimension Paradise rather than gifts from a group of people he had never met before.

"Good deeds reap good rewards, that's all there is to it," Guo Ming didn't mind that only Chu Danqing received the gratitude. "Though my help and Dabao's were certainly indispensable during the process,"

"Still, the majority of the credit belongs to Brother Chu."

"Had Brother Chu chosen to leave instead of choosing to appease the resentment of the Mother of Grievances, how could there ever have been a time of peace?"

This made Chu Danqing genuinely embarrassed, making him feel like an oppressive boss taking credit for others' work.

The decision was his to make, but the actual execution wasn't done by him.

"This hardly seems fair to you," Chu Danqing said truthfully, considering the Peace Charms and the Rebirth Mantra.

Without Guo Ming's help, how could they have achieved this outcome?

"I see how much you like the Shadow of Frost Spring; I'll lend it to you for a while longer," Chu Danqing said smoothly, feeling somewhat hypocritical.

Yet, if he were asked to simply give it away, he couldn't bear to part with it. After all, it was an Excellent-tier piece of equipment, and a magical firearm very suitable for a newcomer like him.

"No, no, no, a gentleman does not covet what others love," Guo Ming immediately refused. "Although I am fond of this item, I see Brother Chu uses it for self-defense, how could I take it?"

"If I use it, what will Brother Chu use for the journey ahead?"

Chu Danqing waved his hand, "You saw it yourself, my marksmanship is truly unmentionable."

"In my hands, it's merely a pearl cast into darkness. Lending it to you for this period will allow its potential to be better unleashed."

After some polite declining back and forth, Guo Ming, unable to resist his affection for the weapon, accepted it.

"I truly love this thing too much, so I shall keep using it in my hands for a bit longer," Guo Ming said with embarrassment.

"It's no trouble at all. I'm lending it to you, you didn't beg me for it," Chu Danqing said bluntly. "What is there to be embarrassed about?"

With these words, the expression on Guo Ming's face became radiant.

Slinging the Shadow of Frost Spring across his back, Guo Ming then said, "My late father always wanted me to excel in both literary and martial arts, but unfortunately, my congenital deficiencies prevented me from entering the Dao."

"Since I have an elder brother in the family to hold up the pillars, I cast my passions among the mountains and rivers."

"Normally, I am also fond of archery, but there are truly very few bows in the family that I have the strength to draw." Saying this, Guo Ming laughed self-deprecatingly.

"On the contrary, the Shadow of Frost Spring gifted by Brother Chu suits my wishes perfectly."

From Guo Ming's words, Chu Danqing gathered that he wasn't lacking in this type of equipment; rather, those suitable for him were exceedingly rare.

While the shape of the Shadow of Frost Spring was a bit peculiar, its usage requirements were low enough to overlook that.

Though he said this, Guo Ming was already pondering how to repay Chu Danqing in his heart.

First, he saved his life; then, he helped avenge his servant; and now, seeing his fondness for it, he even lent him his personal weapon while leaving himself defenseless.

He searched his mind for what Chu Danqing might need.

He had indeed contributed effort, but compared to his own life, what did these possessions amount to?

"Let's not talk about that for now. You mentioned earlier that there is a rare treasure at the bottom of this well," Chu Danqing changed the subject and asked, "Something capable of creating a Mother of Grievances probably isn't anything good, right?"

Interrupted by Chu Danqing's words, Guo Ming recovered his wits and replied, "Not necessarily."

"It's just that after this ordeal, the miraculous power of the rare treasure is likely left with very little."

"Falling into Brother Chu's hands, it might not prove terribly useful."

Chu Danqing understood the reason: it must be because the Mother of Grievances had completely absorbed the power of that rare treasure in the end, otherwise her strength couldn't have surged out of nowhere.

"As long as it's usable, I don't mind," Chu Danqing wasn't too bothered; worst case, he could take it to the Apostle Square and sell it.

If all else failed, he would keep it, just in case it came in handy later.

This was of the same nature as Lord Mengchang harboring the rooster-crowing and dog-stealing retainers.

Having said that, he led Dabao and prepared to head toward the bottom of the well, but Guo Ming stopped him.

"The hour is late, and there is still lingering grievance energy at the bottom of the well."

"Brother Chu can wait until dawn, and go after the sun comes out."

"Besides, Dabao has fought back-to-back battles and deserves a rest."

"This rare treasure cannot run away; we can just go retrieve it tomorrow," Guo Ming offered his reasons.

Chu Danqing originally wanted to say that delays breed changes, but Guo Ming's words also made sense.

"You know more than I do, I'll listen to you," Chu Danqing was not stubborn enough to think he was always right.

Guo Ming's background and upbringing gave him far more knowledge.

By contrast, Chu Danqing was merely a reserve apostle who had arrived in the trial world not long ago.

"Since that's the case, let's find a place to rest for a while," Chu Danqing checked the time; it was still a long way from dawn.

They couldn't possibly stay awake until tomorrow morning, after all.

Before resting, Chu Danqing figured he should first open the treasure chest of the Mother of Grievances to see what good items he could get.