Cicia: "Okay, not only can I let you see it, but if you want, I can give it to you directly."
Angel looked at Cicia warily: "What price do I need to pay?"
"You’ve already paid the price, so there’s no need."
Angel: "What do you mean?"
Cicia impatiently explained, "To pass through here, according to the rules, each person must give me a treasure. I accepted two meaningful coins from you, which can count as two treasures. By rights, the little guy could also pass through with you."
"But if you want to exchange one of the coins for something left here by the Wood Spirit, I can give it to you through a trade, but then only you can pass through. The little guy outside will have to stay here or use some other precious item to get a ticket through."
"So I said your price has already been paid." Cicia paused, "Also, don’t think I can give it to you for free. It’s the rule, and I cannot defy it."
"I understand, the teammate who came in earlier didn’t mean to offer ten Magic Crystals. He was just testing the ticket’s threshold. When it’s time to pay, he definitely can pay without me footing the bill." Angel paused, "However, I’m curious, Miss Cicia’s box, under the constraint of rules, does it only serve the ticket function?"
"The rules I mentioned were set by the Warden, not the rules of Cicia’s Box."
Cicia gave Angel a sidelong glance, "As for what my box does, the changes in your sensory perception and the other-dimensional space you’re experiencing now are all abilities of Cicia’s Box. But these are just its basic capabilities. Its main function..."
At the crucial moment, Angel couldn’t help but perk up his ears and lean in to listen closely.
But after keeping him in suspense, Cicia did not reveal the answer, instead saying, "I don’t want to say."
Angel: "..."
Cicia: "If one day I can leave this damn place, then I might tell you its true purpose."
Angel gave a polite smile, but inside, he was speechless. What Cicia hinted at was her desire to leave here, which, aside from "revival after despair," or Naraku City’s rejuvenation, seemed impossible.
And could Naraku City really be rebuilt? Angel didn’t have much hope; Naraku City is now supported only by a few old monsters, whose strength might not be that great. Even if Naraku City could be rebuilt, the eventual beneficiaries probably wouldn’t be them.
"Then I’ll look forward to that day." Even though Angel considered it unlikely, he still expressed eager anticipation on the surface.
"Hmph, perfunctory."
Cicia snorted a few times, shifting the topic away. She casually beckoned, and a coin appeared in her palm.
This coin was precisely the Demon Gold Coin given to Cicia by Angel.
Cicia sniffed the coin lightly, "This Demon Gold Coin has been handled many times and stained with demon blood, but when it came to your hands, it became clean. It’s mixed with your surprise, and you personally imbued it with new significance, so it wasn’t used for exchange but kept close to you, increasing its value in your heart. Until you finally gave it up to me."
Angel was unsurprised that Cicia could perceive the "meaning" in items; she’d mentioned earlier that these meaningful treasures brought a touch of solace to her lonely world, revealing she had the ability to sense the meaning in such treasures.
In a way, it has some connection with prophecy. Cicia, being a Baiyuanian, naturally has some prophetic talent, and even as a box, this inspiration should still come in handy.
Cicia: "The time is too short for me to perceive what significance you imbued it with, but it’s already very precious."
Angel: "I didn’t imbue it with significance; it existed the moment it came into my hands. Because this was the first Demon Gold Coin I earned through legitimate means from a demon."
Cicia: "So, it holds... commemorative significance."
Angel nodded indifferently.
Cicia played with the Demon Gold Coin for a moment and tossed it gently, sending it into the Dark Mist.
As the Demon Gold Coin entered the Dark Mist, a metallic object fell from the mist and landed in Cicia’s hand.
Because it came too suddenly, Angel couldn’t see it clearly, but he vaguely felt the color was familiar.
When Cicia opened her palm, Angel’s pupils slightly contracted.
Now it wasn’t just the color that seemed familiar; even the appearance was familiar.
It was a silver-white ring, identical in shape to the Silver Ring first discovered by Speedy, but this one was larger and had a long emerald root-leaf pattern etched on it, making it look more exquisite.
"This is..." Angel looked at Cicia in confusion.
Cicia casually tossed the silver-white ring to Angel, "This is what I took from the Wood Spirit. It whined for half a day, claiming how precious it is... Did it really think my appraisal ability was just for show? This thing isn’t worth anything, and it doesn’t have any meaning attached."
After complaining for a while, Cicia added, "However, if you really have a Prophet, you can use it to find the Wood Spirit’s traces without issue."
"Alright, I’ve exchanged your Demon Gold Coin for this item from the Wood Spirit. Although there’s a disparity in value, since you need it, it’s considered a fair trade."
"Do you have any other questions? Or, if you want to trade for some other items, you may." Cicia spoke while extending her pale, slender hand, brushing the mist lightly. Within the mist, an array of items appeared, possessing various shapes, some large and some small...
"I have quite a few items with significant backgrounds and stories here that I’m tired of. If you have other meaningful items, you can trade with me."
Angel didn’t respond but furrowed his brow, clutching the silver ring tightly as several seemingly related clues flashed through his mind, causing his eyes to change subtly.
"What’s wrong?" Cicia asked Angel suspiciously.
"Nothing, just didn’t expect the Wood Spirit to possess something so exquisite." Angel placed the silver ring in his pocket, acting naturally.
"Exquisite? Your aesthetic standards are a bit questionable... But compared to the Wood Spirit’s bare appearance, this sole ornament can be considered exquisite." After saying this, Cicia gestured at the indistinct items above in the mist and addressed Angel, "So, what do you think?"
Angel: "...Are you acting as a middleman? The perceived meaning equals the so-called price difference?"
Cicia: "You can interpret it that way if you want. Do you want to trade?"
Angel pondered briefly, thinking it wouldn’t hurt to trade for a few significant items, "Can you show me which items I can see?"
Cicia waved her hand, causing the outlines of the items in the mist to slowly vanish, "That won’t work; it has to be random. Since the Wood Spirit’s items are ordinary, I can control its usage, but the other items, they aren’t ordinary."
Angel: "Then forget it."
Angel didn’t trust anything random. Cicia’s randomness was certainly her choice of what she wanted to give you, based on her mood.
In gaming terms from the Holographic Tablet, Angel’s affinity with Cicia wasn’t high, so the randomness she offered would definitely be the worst.