The three of them descended in silence. Xiao Chuchou prodded and shattered the jade pieces with his staff, sweeping aside the fragments. Only the shriveled heart and lungs and splattered brain matter remained as flesh and blood; the rest had turned into luminant jade artifacts, glistening translucently in the dawn's light.
"Alas."
Xiao Chuchou picked up the storage bag and poured out its contents with a clatter, mostly magic artifacts, elixirs, talismans, and the like. Though they had achieved victory, their spirits were subdued as they sat cross-legged amid the pile, carefully picking through the items.
After several breaths, Li Tongya landed from the sky, glanced at the shattered jade on the ground, and was about to offer words of congratulations. Yet, seeing the solemn look on their faces, he wisely kept silent. Then Old Man Nanshan sighed gently and spoke low:
