Which teenager doesn't have fantasies about fantasy worlds? Ruan Bei certainly did too, but at first, seeing ghosts scared him.
Now that he could access an interesting and less frightening side of things, Ruan Bei immediately became interested.
"What kind of magical artifact?" he asked. "Can I make one too?"
"Do you know about Five Emperors Coins? I'll take you along, let's make them together." Qin Gu took the opportunity to teach Ruan Bei about the knowledge related to ritual implements.
There are many sects in the Xuanmen (mystical arts) school. Among the miscellaneous items, formations and elixirs are mostly used as pure auxiliary methods due to the extinction of their lineage or the scarcity of medicinal materials. Magical artifacts and talismans are the most commonly used auxiliary attack methods in the Xuanxue lineage, especially the Celestial Master lineage. In addition to basic Taoist spells and incantations, each of them carries two or three talismans.
Magical implements are also indispensable. Even the poorest rogue cultivator must give his apprentice a peach wood sword upon graduation. If he can't afford a hundred-year-old one, he must at least get one that is ten or several decades old.
This is out of necessity. In the Dharma-ending Age, cultivation is difficult, and it is hard to cultivate oneself. So we have to find ways to rely on external forces to increase our strength.
The difference between ritual implements and talismans is that ritual implements generally have high requirements for the materials used in their production, require specific materials, and are difficult to refine and nurture.
But once it is made, it can be used for a long time, and some even become more powerful with use, unlike talismans which are disposable.
As for talismans, they are simple: talisman paper, talisman brush, and talisman ink. If you don't have the means, just buy some yellow paper and cut it yourself. Find a brush and some cinnabar. If you don't have cinnabar, you can cut your finger and smear it with blood.
In short, looking at the materials required, talismans have a much lower barrier to entry than magical artifacts. Good materials can indeed increase the success rate and grade of talismans, but it depends more on the talisman master's ability.
Xuanqing Temple is a prestigious sect with Taoist priests who specialize in crafting magical artifacts or drawing talismans. Qin Gu is exceptionally talented, not only cultivating quickly but also learning these skills rapidly.
However, he was impatient. The nurturing time for a fine magical artifact is measured in years, and he himself had only lived for a few years. He didn't have that kind of patience.
So he abandoned magical artifacts and focused on talismans. However, this did not mean that he did not know how to make magical artifacts. He still knew the general methods, especially for low-level magical artifacts.
Five Emperor Coins are one of the most common ritual implements.
Like peach wood swords, Five Emperor Coins are widely known, and most people have at least heard of them, whether they believe in them or not.
The materials needed for both are simple and straightforward: one requires peach wood, the older the better, and then you need to find a good weapon refiner to forge it into a peach wood sword.
The other one is even simpler: the Five Emperors Coins. These are copper coins minted during the reigns of five emperors of prosperous times. They are divided into the Great Five Emperors Coins and the Lesser Five Emperors Coins. Most of the coins circulating in the market today are the Lesser Five Emperors Coins.
Money passes through the hands of countless people, absorbing the spirits of the world. It is believed to ward off evil, bring good fortune, and attract wealth. Many antique collectors also like to collect a set of these items to carry with them.
Moreover, the Five Emperors Coins are more convenient to carry than peach wood swords and can also be considered antiques.
A peach wood sword is still a sword, but it was used as a weapon by the Celestial Master, and it's not as popular with collectors as the Five Emperors Coins.
Ruan Bei listened with great interest, imagining himself carrying the peach wood sword, he would surely be dashing and incredibly handsome.
It's a pity we can only think about it now, but the Five Emperors Coins are quite interesting.
"But do we have the Five Emperors Coins?" Ruan Bei asked.
Qin Gu's family has a lot of magical artifacts. Some were left by his maternal grandfather, some were gifts from his seniors, and some were prizes he won in the exchange competition.
He originally planned to select a few items suitable for Xiao Bei to use after he entered the Daoist arts, but he really didn't have any Five Emperor Coins right now.
"No, we'll go buy it this afternoon." Qin Gu wasn't worried at all.
Ruan Bei immediately took out his phone to check the price of ancient bronze coins. They were antiques, after all, and shouldn't be cheap. He wondered if he had enough money.
If you don't check, you'll be fine, but once you do check, you'll be even more confused. The prices are all over the place, ranging from a few dollars to tens of thousands of dollars. The ones that cost a few dollars are definitely fake, but he can't afford the ones that cost tens of thousands of dollars!
He held up his phone for Qin Gu to see. Qin Gu glanced at it and smiled, "I'll take you to see something fun today, and maybe find some bargains."
Even if Ruan Bei lacked common sense, he knew that finding a bargain required a keen eye. There were so many stall owners on the antique street, and they could talk about antiques like experts. Moreover, they had been dealing with those things for a long time, so their eyesight was definitely good. It would be difficult to find a bargain from them!
"Could it be that a Taoist master can tell the difference between genuine and fake antiques?"
No, that's not it.
Qin Gu explained, “Compared to fakes, genuine antiques do possess an ‘aura’ that ordinary people cannot see. In theory, a celestial master should be able to see it, but antiques are, after all, inanimate objects. That aura is different from ghostly aura; it is subtle and faint. A celestial master can only see a blurry ghost, let alone an antique.”
Ruan Bei understood his implication and glanced at him with a smile: "Ordinary celestial masters won't do, what about you?"
Qin Gu laughed along, "I can't see it either."
Ruan Bei was genuinely surprised this time: "Then what should we do?"
Qin Gu gently stroked his eyelids and said with a smile, "With you, the ability to see ghosts is truly an exceptional talent."
Ruan Bei touched his eyes in confusion, still a little incredulous. Were his eyes really that amazing?
"But I haven't started cultivating yet. Wasn't I supposed to wait for my master to tell me how to observe qi?"
Qin Gu said nonchalantly, "It's alright, I'll put an eye-opening talisman on you."
Ordinary Taoist priests can truly see ghosts by using eye-opening talismans, but Ruan Bei's eye-opening talisman amplifies and expands his ability to see ghosts.
Ruan Bei was skeptical but also eager to try it out. He was persuaded by Qin Gu to give it a shot.
It was already close to noon. Since the antique street was closer to the old commercial street where Ruan's snack shop was located, Ruan Bei and Qin Gu decided to go to Ruan's father's place first and have a meal at his family's small shop.
Knowing that both children had similar tastes and loved meat, Mr. Ruan cut the braised beef used for beef noodles in the shop into large slices, stir-fried it with dried chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns, and the aroma made diners frequently look towards the stove, with some even specifically requesting the same dish.
I also took some good quality pork belly, sliced it, and stir-fried it into twice-cooked pork. Then I made a tangy and appetizing tomato and egg soup. The portions were generous, and the large plate was overflowing.
Ruan Bei mixed his rice with tomato and egg soup. He had loved eating it like this since he was a child, and so did his sister. They just thought it was delicious and could eat a whole bowl of rice without any side dishes.
Later at the Lu family home, he missed mealtime because he was avoiding Lu Sibai. He was so hungry that he went to the kitchen and fried some tomatoes and eggs, which he ate on top of the leftover rice. However, Madam Lu saw this and was so disgusted that she almost had the pot thrown away.
Ruan Bei shook his head, putting those unpleasant people and things behind him. He ate three large bowls of rice with the spicy and delicious stir-fried beef and the flavorful twice-cooked pork, so full that he didn't want to move while sitting in his chair.
Qin Gu ate even more than him. The two of them finished off all the meat, leaving only some side dishes. Ruan's father was very happy and kept asking if he was full, and if not, to have some more.
Ruan Bei waved his hand repeatedly, rested in the shop for a while, left his bag full of reference books, and then went to the antique street with Qin Gu.
After taking the bus for four stops, I got off and walked for another seven or eight minutes until I arrived at a rather quaint street.
Besides the proper shops lining both sides of the street, there are also many street vendors selling all sorts of things.
Ruan Bei overheard a stall owner showing a customer something that looked like a wine vessel, spitting as he spoke, claiming it was a bronze artifact from the Shang and Zhou dynasties.
Ruan Bei tugged at Qin Gu's sleeve and asked in a low voice, "Why can't I see anything? Is it because the eye-opening talisman hasn't worked yet?"
Qin Gu sneered, "It's not that the talisman didn't work, it's that his thing isn't from the Shang and Zhou dynasties, it's from last week."
Ruan Bei: "..."
Meanwhile, the stall owner on the other side was arguing heatedly with a customer, insisting that what was on his stall was real and what was in the museum was fake.
Ruan Bei was speechless and gave up the idea of continuing to stroll along the way. He and Qin Gu headed straight for the stall selling ancient bronze coins.
There are several shops selling ancient bronze coins in the area; some specialize in selling them, while others sell other items and also sell bronze coins.
Ruan Bei glanced over and saw a flash of white light in the pile of copper coins on the largest stall.
"It really works!" Ruan Bei was thrilled and whispered the news to Qin Gu, not knowing if it was due to sunlight reflection.
Qin Gu said, "No, it must be. Take another look."
He took a closer look; the owner's business was large, but he didn't seem like an antique dealer.
A blanket two or three meters long was spread out, covered with ancient bronze coins, and a cardboard sign stood beside it.
Twenty yuan each, no bargaining.
Many people, young and old, gathered around the stall picking out copper coins. Most of them were not experts but had some interest. Anyway, these ancient copper coins were not expensive. Picking up a few would only cost a hundred or two hundred yuan, which was much more reliable than the stall next door that was asking for sixty or eighty thousand yuan.
Ruan Bei tugged at Qin Gu, who immediately understood, and the two squeezed into the crowd picking out copper coins.
There were so many copper coins on the blanket that they were piled up, and many hands were rummaging through them. The white light that Ruan Bei had seen at first was extremely faint, and he didn't know where it had been buried.
He had no choice but to reach out and rummage through the pile of copper coins. The stall owner glanced at him, saw that he was just digging and not keeping any for himself, and then ignored him.
Qin Gu was helping him dig when a customer nearby casually tossed over a piece he hadn't chosen. It landed near Ruan Bei's hand, its faint, hazy white light incredibly clear. Ruan Bei quickly caught it, held it in his palm, and showed it to Qin Gu: "This one!"
Qin Gu immediately nodded: "Buy!"
As soon as the shopkeeper saw a customer, he immediately came over and asked, "You two young men, are you only buying this one? Why don't you buy more?"
Qin Gu said indifferently, "Let's choose some more."
"Okay, pick whatever you like." The owner gave them small plastic baskets, told them to put their choices in the baskets, and then pay together once they had chosen.
Encouraged by their success, Ruan Bei found two more in one go.
Qin Gu was afraid that if he picked out the real ones, they would be too conspicuous and might be discovered by someone who really knew their stuff, so he casually picked out a few fake ones and threw them in.
The two spent almost an hour at the stall, waiting out several groups of customers, and examined all the copper coins. In the end, they filled the small basket with seventeen coins, thirteen of which were genuine, and the rest were fakes that Qin Gu had mixed in.
He originally had five in there, but when Ruan Bei looked, one of them was actually real. Nobody's luck is that good.
After they made their selections, the owner paid them and casually remarked, "You two young men have picked out all the good stuff here; you have excellent taste."
That's really just polite talk. Ruan Bei was squatting there digging for copper coins when he heard him say that to several guests he had seen off.
Ruan Bei felt inexplicably guilty. It was true; the later customers would really only be able to buy fakes. He thought about it, discussed it with the boss, exchanged two coins, and threw back two duplicate Qianlong Tongbao coins.
In any case, there is only one of each of the Five Emperors Coins. Because Emperor Qianlong minted a lot of coins during his reign, many of them have survived. Among his thirteen genuine coins, five are Qianlong Tongbao coins.
Throw two back, and see which lucky person can buy the real one.
After paying, Ruan Bei and Qin Gu went to browse other stalls. The smaller stalls had fewer goods, making them easier to find, but genuine items were also scarce; some stalls didn't have a single genuine item.
The two of them walked almost halfway down the street and finally collected two complete sets of the Five Emperors Coins. There were some extra coins that weren't complete sets, so they had to leave them for now.
Qin Gu straightened his back, which was a little sore from squatting for a long time: "Go buy two more red ropes and weave the Five Emperors' Coins together."
Ruan Bei was in high spirits and immediately dragged him to buy red rope.
However, they bought the red rope but didn't have time to braid it yet. They still had to burn those test papers for Wang Bufan. They wouldn't have time to braid them when they went back to school tomorrow.
The two went back to the snack shop for dinner, each getting a bowl of noodles piled high with beef and ribs.
The young people eating beef noodles at the next table looked at their bowls, then at their own. Although the amount of beef was not less than that of other restaurants, it was not as exaggerated as the ones next door!
The young man, dissatisfied, called out to Mr. Ruan so that he could see him.
Mr. Ruan said with a smile, "This is my child."
The young man fell silent. The father wanted to feed his son; who could stop him?
He silently added a portion of beef to his noodles, then focused on eating his noodles without looking at Ruan Bei anymore.
Ruan Bei finished the super-rich noodles with a strange sense of superiority, told his father, grabbed his schoolbag, and left.
The two went to the place where Ruan Bei had burned paper money for Ma Chunhua last time. There were still traces of the circle that Ruan Bei had drawn last time. Thinking of how many ghosts had rushed over together that time, Ruan Bei was a little scared and pulled Qin Gu to stand closer.
Fortunately, this time it was probably because the exam papers were really disliked by the ghosts, or perhaps Qin Gu was there to keep them in check. Until all the exam papers were burned, no wild ghosts were seen peeking out.
Of course, Wang Bufan didn't come either. Ruan Bei asked worriedly, "What if he doesn't receive it?"
Qin Gu stared at the rising wisps of smoke and ashes: "No, it will just take a little longer to arrive."
Ruan Bei understood. If the ghost came on its own, it could receive the offerings on the spot, just like Ma Chunhua. If it didn't come, it would receive the offerings via express delivery, which would also get them to it.
"It's good that I received it," Ruan Bei said, relieved. He clapped his hands and suddenly exclaimed excitedly, "Let's go, let's go back and make Five Emperors Coins!"
The area was remote, and it was still more than ten minutes away from the bus stop. As Ruan Bei walked, he saw an old woman walking along the path, wiping away tears.
Ruan Bei hesitated for a moment, then tugged at Qin Gu: "Kunkun, is that old lady crying?"
Qin Gu glanced in the direction he was looking, and said calmly, "I can't see clearly."
Ruan Bei: "...A ghost?"
Qin Gu nodded silently, while Ruan Bei remained silent.
To be honest, after spending two days with Wang Bufan and listening to him explain problems every day, Ruan Bei is not so averse to ghosts anymore, provided that they are not scary ghosts.
The old lady in front of me wasn't too scary. If we met her in broad daylight in the dark and desolate wilderness, she would have been a very kind old lady.
He asked Qin Gu, "She seems to be in trouble. Should we help her?"
Qin Gu said, "It's up to you. If you want to help, we will; if you don't, then leave."
Ruan Bei thought for a moment: "Then I'll go ask first?"
Qin Gu naturally listened to him. He had always known that Xiao Bei had a compassionate heart, so he wanted to try to help the seemingly pitiful old lady ghost. Qin Gu was not surprised at all.
But this ghost...
Qin Gu narrowed his eyes. Oh well, with him watching over things, things shouldn't get out of control.
Ruan Bei didn't dare go over alone, so he pulled Qin Gu along. Before they even got close, the old woman turned around in a panic as if she had been startled, and then kept bowing to Qin Gu and Ruan Bei, muttering, "Master, spare my life!"
Ruan Bei quickly stopped and stood in front of Qin Gu to comfort him, "Grandma, don't be afraid. He's not here to arrest you. He just saw you crying and wanted to ask if you've encountered any difficulties."
Upon hearing this, the old woman suddenly knelt down before Ruan Bei, kowtowing repeatedly and saying, "Little Celestial Master, I died unjustly! My daughter-in-law killed me, but told everyone I accidentally fell to my death. Such a heartless woman is still with my son! I'm terrified!"
The old woman sobbed uncontrollably, pleading with Ruan Bei. Although ghosts don't have tears, her voice was truly mournful.
"Please help me, save my son, tell the police that it was that vicious woman who killed me, and avenge me!"
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