Money isn't everything. It can't buy health, family affection, love, or, of course, life.
However, without money, you can't do anything at all. These two short sentences perfectly explain the true meaning of money.
The Ninja world is also like this; money is equally important. Researching Ninjutsu requires money; eating requires money; housing requires money; and cultivation also requires money.
Money is incredibly important in any world where human society exists. This holds true for 2D, 3D, movies, and a whole range of other worlds.
But there's another saying.
People die for wealth, and birds die for food. This refers to those who are lured by money, often seeing only the mountains of gold and silver ahead, without considering the danger close at hand.
Inoyue isn't a money grubber, but this short phrase is also very apt to describe her at this moment.
After stealthily entering this underground cavern, crawling through a small crevice, Inoyue was speechless the moment she stood up.
She wasn't speechless from an earthquake, but from being stunned by what was before her eyes.
Her small mouth hung open, her eyes stared wide, and her breathing became a little rapid. It felt like stepping into an air-conditioned room below fifteen degrees on a scorching summer day with temperatures near forty degrees—that instant stimulation felt like soaring to the clouds.
Now, Inoyue was greatly stimulated, her adrenaline surging, and an emotion called excitement filled her entire body.
The place was filled with dazzling jewels, gold, and jade; all kinds of antiques, calligraphy, paintings, and swords, all of them treasures.
Especially the luminous pearls embedded in the cave walls, all the size of a child's fist, round and smooth, emitting white light that illuminated the place like daylight.
"How much is this worth?"
Inoyue chuckled as she walked further inside, swallowing hard to keep her saliva from dripping, her excitement remaining high.
...
The cave entrance was small, less than a meter high, but the interior space was vast, about three meters high, with an area of at least three hundred square meters.
The gems and jade near the entrance were haphazardly piled up, thrown to the sides like trash. After walking past this section, the ground inside was covered with neatly arranged treasure chests.
A large portion of these treasure chests were open, containing stacked gold bricks, calligraphy, and antiques. Inoyue counted no less than three hundred of them.
There were too many; for a normal person to see so much treasure and still be able to count them was already impressive, let alone remember so clearly.
The three-hundred-square-meter area was entirely covered with a layer of treasure chests, leaving only a two-meter-wide path in the middle.
At the end of the path was a mural depicting the most glorious aspect of the Onmyōji.
Below this mural was an offering stand, and on it was a scroll tied with a thin string.
The scroll was white, and the string was red. She wondered what important item would be placed alone on this offering stand.
Inoyue tried to pull her gaze away from the gold and treasures, quickly approached, and picked up the white scroll with one hand.
The scroll felt cool to the touch, very light, almost weightless. If she closed her eyes, Inoyue would even doubt if she was holding anything.
"I've struck gold!"
Picking up the scroll, Inoyue's heart filled with joy.
With a gentle tug of her right hand, she untied the red string. But as soon as the red string was untied, it quickly became transparent and then vanished.
What? This is too magical, isn't it?
Inoyue was startled, unsure if she should open the scroll next.
The key thing was that the red string had just vanished. What if the scroll also disappeared when she opened it?
Scared! She was truly scared. Even the red string binding the scroll was so peculiar, so what exactly was recorded inside the scroll? It was too precious; she was genuinely afraid it would disappear.
...
Open it? Or not open it?
After a moment of internal struggle, Inoyue gripped the scroll with her left hand, pulled with her right, and instantly opened the entire scroll completely.
She wasn't a indecisive person to begin with; as the saying goes, "What's meant to be, will be; what's not, won't." (I am lucky to have it,Lost my life).
One should be a bit more carefree in life.
The carefree Inoyue didn't even blink when she unrolled the scroll. Because she was afraid the scroll would disappear transparently like the red string, she stared intently, hoping to remember the contents before it vanished.
The scroll wasn't long, less than half a meter when unrolled. Its contents were also completely visible.
There were characters, but she didn't recognize them.
There were patterns, but she couldn't understand them.
The characters resembled tadpoles, and the patterns weren't complex: an outer circle, with a five-pointed star evenly dividing the circle, and arcs connecting the inner and outer points of the star.
What does this mean?
Inoyue was bewildered. She knew this scroll was extremely important; if only she could understand it, she would surely gain astonishing rewards.
But she really couldn't understand it. The phrase "You regret not studying when you need to use it" sounded incredibly harsh to her now.
...
Just as Inoyue was frantic, the scroll suddenly became transparent.
"Oh, come on! It hasn't even been three seconds, you can't do this, big brother!" Inoyue instantly felt terrible, her voice tinged with a sob.
Once a person gets anxious, they'll beg for anything they see, regardless of whether it's useful.
Inoyue was the same; with no other choice, she could only plead, hoping the scroll would grant her some favor.
Perhaps the scroll genuinely granted her a favor, or perhaps this step of the scroll was a predetermined setting.
At this moment, on the transparent scroll, the characters seemed to come alive, beginning to swim like tadpoles, and the patterns inside also began to rotate and move.
"It seems to have a life of its own!" This thought inexplicably floated into Inoyue's mind.
The scroll has a life, it's alive?
This was truly a big joke, but now this joke wasn't funny at all. Because the next moment, Inoyue was terrified by this joke.
...
A moment ago, Inoyue was begging the scroll not to disappear, but now, she was desperately trying to throw it away.
Because the living characters and patterns on it were crawling onto her body along her hands, and the feeling was incredibly bizarre.
Fear was inevitable; even if they weren't characters and patterns, but just a group of ants crawling up her hands, it would still be a particularly terrifying thing.
The scroll couldn't be thrown away; it was like it was stuck with super glue, no matter what she did, it wouldn't budge.
Once the characters and patterns got onto her body, the transparent scroll automatically disappeared without needing to be thrown.
"Ah!..." Inoyue shrieked repeatedly. She wondered if her courage had shrunk after transforming into a loli, but in any case, these characters and patterns crawling onto her body terrified her, and she immediately slapped her hands together, trying to swat them off.
But it was useless; she could see them but couldn't swat them. They moved from her wrists to her arms, then to her shoulders, and finally from her neck upwards, directly burrowing into both her ears.
Terrified, she immediately used her pinky fingers to repeatedly dig into her ears. But after a long while, she finally gave up.
Because after digging for so long, besides a bit of earwax, not even a speck of ink was dug out.
"If you don't court death, you won't die." Perhaps this described her current situation.
This time, she was truly carefree enough. Characters got onto her body, crawling into her head. Unheard of, unseen.
"Will I die?" A very realistic question arose in the dazed Inoyue's mind.