People came and went, all with pleasant expressions. Not far from the city gate, in a tavern, the wine flags fluttered in the wind. At a table by the door sat two swordsmen in dull gray clothes, drinking spirits from the Western Regions.
Below the wine flags, a woman dressed in thin silk and colorful satin danced, her slender waist exposed as she spun, her garments like clouds and mist. It was the Huxuan Dance of the Western Regions. Nangong Wumeng watched the alluring figure of the woman and the exposed belly on the avenue, her face red with embarrassment.
Li Guanyi sighed. Nangong Wumeng’s defenses were too low.
So everyone dispersed. Batuer and the others went to buy goods. Changsun Wuchou, experienced, went to prepare necessary items for traveling in the Western Regions, preferably buying goods that a caravan should have.
Pan Wanxiu went to inspect the city.
Gongsun Huaizhi went to look at the mechanisms on the city gate.
Xu Tiange swiftly headed to the place where crops were sold in the city.
Fan Qing, thoughtful, went to the slums.
Lei Laomeng wandered around, going to the horse station to look here and there, patting some places.
Those from the Heavenly Strategy Mansion who came out this time were all elite.
Once they entered the city, each went about their own business.
Even Xu Tiange started researching the unique crops and machinery concerning the climate and terrain of the Western Regions.
Li Guanyi suddenly felt idle, so he went with Shaking Light to explore the city while silently noting the city’s products and layout.
The people here were very kind.
Provided you are a free person, not the lowly type.
Otherwise, you deserved to be beaten to death.
This was almost an imprint of the order at the bottom in the Western Regions. Li Guanyi and Shaking Light went to a tavern, where it was a two-story building, contrasting with the style of the Central Plains, exuding a sense of flowing yellow sand. Li Guanyi ordered a pot of wine, the liquor was cloudy and diluted with water.
He glanced at the desert swordsmen drinking alone over there, and using the information gained from Changsun Wuchou, he attempted to hire these swordsmen, just like hiring a darts master in the cities of the Central Plains, a very simple matter in these chaotic times.
The leader of that group of swordsmen said, "Each month I need five gold pieces, my brothers need three gold pieces and five silver coins each, plus we need two female slaves to serve us and relieve our fire, how about all the wine we can drink?"
Li Guanyi, after a moment of silence, refused.
Li Guanyi and Shaking Light sat at another table, ordering a plump, sweet-tasting date to accompany their drink, when suddenly a voice laughed and said, "This young fellow, you must be from the Central Plains, not accustomed to the local customs here." Discover more novels at novęlfire.net
Li Guanyi looked over and saw a man, about thirty years old, casually sitting down and saying, "That’s how it is here, it can’t be compared with our Celestial Empire. I am Zhang Ziweng, I represent the trade routes, and I wonder, young fellow, would you like to travel together?"
When the man came over, laughter filled the tavern: "Zhang Ziweng, you’re deceiving people again."
"Haha, are those the Western Region crops you mentioned?"
"Talking about how they will surely become profitable when shipped to the Central Plains?"
People ridiculed him, Zhang Ziweng blushed and angrily said, "What do you know? Such delicacies, naturally there are people in the Central Plains willing to eat, only, only if we could transport them across these chaotic times, they would be enough to last for generations."
He went to argue with those people, seeming to be a regular here. Li Guanyi and Shaking Light looked around the place but heard Buddhist chanting, and when they looked over, they saw a line of monks walking on the avenue, with the surrounding people giving way.
Li Guanyi originally didn’t mind, but then hesitated slightly.
Batuer looked angrily at the monks before him. The Western Region monks said, "This patron, you and we have karma, could you please offer some karma?"
Batuer tightly held his money pouch and said, "My tribe is going to travel far, without this gold, we’ll starve!"
The monk said, "Amitabha, is that so? Isn’t that even better?"
"For our Buddha, casting a Golden Body is a great merit."
"You can share in some merit."
Batuer knew he couldn’t afford to mess with these people, and reluctantly said,
"How much does the master need?"
The lead monk’s gaze was deep: "Karma is priceless, how can one quantify it?"
"It all depends on your sincerity, patron."
"I see the golden pearl in your hand looks quite nice."
Batuer was shocked and angry but had to take out the golden pearl, slowly placing it in the merit box, just as he was releasing it, a hand reached out, grabbed the pearl, and slowly took it out.
Batuer and the monks looked over, seeing Li Guanyi standing there, only he had somehow acquired a mustache and pasted it all over his mouth.
Batuer breathed a sigh of relief, then became tense.
Li Guanyi clutched the golden pearl in hand, the monk looked at him, unsatisfied:
"This patron, taking merit from the Buddha, don’t you fear falling into Abyss Purgatory after death, enduring the torture of the eighteen hells, implicating friends and family, all falling within, never reincarnating in your next life?"
Batuer wanted to persuade Li Guanyi, but Li Guanyi’s eyes drooped.
He sensed a familiar aura.
Before him were indeed monks.
Yet he clearly felt, an aura akin to Demon Sect.
A Demon Sect branch...met so soon.
The young man replied, "As you say,"
He put his hand back.
The monk’s face showed a smile.
Then saw this young man’s hand clasp again, and took it out again.
The entire merit box of golden pearls had all been taken out with one hand.
The smiling monk: "..."
The young man from the Central Plains who originally only intended to take his own golden pearl slightly smiled: "Buddha?"
The Demon Sect monk wanted to say something.
Li Guanyi reached out, wham—!
Li Guanyi directly flipped the merit box.
Suddenly, the atmosphere in the city became quiet.