Chapter 5
After traveling to the world of cultivation and realizing that he had a talent for cultivation, he came into contact with talisman cultivation. Looking at the talismans composed of long and short lines, he felt particularly familiar, and thus laid the foundation for his spiritual direction. He even found some long-lost and incomplete high-level talismans in the secret realm. With years of experience and intuition, he was able to quickly tell the direction of the lines and restore them. He was truly a professional, and drawing talismans was of course easy.
It was also because of this that she learned to draw the original talismans and then integrated them into her own, creating many talismans suitable for mortals, and the warming talisman was one of them.
The principle of the warming talisman she drew is different from that of the talismans drawn by other talisman masters. The basis of her warming talisman is actually storage - the summer sunlight is introduced into the space constructed in the talisman to form energy and store it. When it is pasted in winter, the solar energy in the talisman space can be conducted out, and the heat-releasing and heating effect of the hot pack patch can be achieved.
It is precisely because his warming talisman uses the principle of space that it was matched to the space system.
With this thought, Gu Ran no longer disliked the space system. He looked at the subtitles that were as quiet as a chicken: [Score 0, Level 1], and wondered if this space could be expanded?
But facing his current situation, he is not in a hurry to figure out how to accumulate points. Survival is the top priority.
Gu Ran took a breath of orange scent and began to count his belongings.
The materials and objects used to draw talismans, such as talisman paper, talisman skin, and talisman brush, could not be used in this world, and naturally could not be considered useful materials, so she searched the workshop and estimated that the only thing that could be used in this Great Sheng Dynasty was the money left in the purse from selling talismans.
After all, the common currency in the world of cultivation is spirit stones. After she successfully drew Qi into her body, in addition to the ten low-grade spirit stones given by the clan every month, the rest of the spirit stones were exchanged with the silver she saved from buying and selling talismans. Even when she was promoted to the fifth level of Qi Refining step by step, which took longer than other cultivators in the clan, the monthly allowance of low-grade spirit stones was at most twenty.
For a long time after she started cultivating immortals, she had a hard time saving spirit stones and couldn't even afford a storage bag. She had to work hard on tasks and earn points before she could exchange this workroom with the system.
That's right, this workshop was originally used for storage. Due to insufficient points, the functions of the exchanged space were limited, so the passage of time in the space was synchronized with the time in the world, and it was just a portable warehouse for storing objects.
Later, after he formally entered Taoism and learned how to draw talismans, he sold these talismans to wealthy families and ordinary people in the city. When he accumulated enough money to exchange for spirit stones and could afford a storage bag, he transformed this space into a workshop.
This predicament did not improve until she successfully built her foundation and won the respect of her tribe members. However, within two years, she died again.
After exchanging all the money she earned for spirit stones, there was only this little bit left. At first, she even forgot where she put the purse containing such a small amount of money, so she was in a panic when looking for it. Fortunately, she found it in time.
Gu Ran calculated this small amount of money and found that the remaining three gold leaves and some small change totaled seven taels.
A total of thirty-seven taels of silver.
Naturally, no one could know about this amount of money. The original owner had not left her a penny or a half, so she had to keep the thirty-seven taels of silver for herself and spend it slowly.
According to what he learned about the Great Sheng Dynasty from the original owner's memory, it was a huge sum of money considering his status as an exile.
It will take another two or three months to reach Minzhou from this post station. If there are any expenses on the journey, these thirty-seven taels will be enough, right?
At least it's much better than the original owner being penniless.
Gu Ran felt a little more at ease, finally feeling half relieved. The other half that worried him was naturally the unpredictable changes that he would encounter during his exile.
But she had no time to worry and could only act according to circumstances.
She kept a cheerful mind and put recuperation first. There was no one else in the prison to disturb her recuperation. Although the food was not good, Mrs. Dou did not play tricks and ate at regular times and regular amounts.
After four days, the high fever gradually subsided and the frostbite swelling gradually disappeared.
Of course, the original owner's physical weakness cannot be made up in a short time. If conditions permit, it would be nice to drink soup and eat meat.
It is common knowledge that patients need to eat some nourishing bone soup, fish soup, meat and vegetables to replenish blood and qi and increase nutrition.
But Gu Ran didn't dare show off her wealth in front of Dou Po, so she couldn't use money to buy meat or vegetables from her, for fear that she would become greedy again after seeing that she could still take out a large sum of money. She had told Dou Po that she had no money left, and if she saw that she could still use money to buy meat and vegetables from her, what if Dou Po thought she was cheating and turned around to murder her again?
Someone as shrewd as Mrs. Dou cannot reveal her true colors easily.
So even though Gu Ran was craving meat, he could only make do with the standard food provided to prisoners at the post station, which was pickles, porridge, and steamed buns.
These things are naturally not nutritious, so the body recovers slowly.
There are some signs of progress in the exploration of space.
Because on the second day after crossing over, Gu Ran saw that the points item had changed. The subtitles in the workroom had become [Points 1, Level 1] at some point.
At first, Gu Ran was puzzled and didn't understand how this point came about.
She didn't do anything, but she got 1 point?
Two days later, when the points accumulated to 2 or 3 each day, Gu Ran realized that these points might represent the number of days he had survived.
One point is earned for every day you survive. How many points you can accumulate depends on how many days you can survive.
In the previous life, the immortal cultivation system required one to complete tasks and earn points. In this life, can one accumulate points just by staying alive?
Is there such a good thing in the world?
Is it because the system saw that she was gone in both worlds and felt that she would probably be a passerby who would not live long in this world, so it simply used her survival days as points?
On the fourth day, when Gu Ran saw that the score had indeed become 4, he was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
It turns out that the Guru system is so pessimistic about itself.
Since that was the case, she had to survive and show it.
Gu Ran is also a person with backbone. She summed up the experience of two lives and survived. At least she should live well until the end of her life in this life!
If you want to live, resting your body is naturally the first priority.
Now that the high fever has subsided and the frostbite has been mostly cured, Gu Ran wants to stay at the post station for a few more days before finding an official to escort him on his way to continued exile.
After all, I am the only one in the prison here. There is little work and no one around. It is convenient for me to take care of myself or go in and out of the workshop.
It has been snowing outside these days and it is almost the end of the year, so it would be best to wait until after the New Year and the beginning of spring before leaving.
Facts proved that she was just dreaming. On the seventh day, the post station, which had not seen any visitors for a while, became lively again.
Even though she was locked up in the cell, Gu Ran could still hear the noise outside, as well as the loud shouting and cursing. After a while, she heard footsteps coming towards her, interspersed with the rattling sound of iron chains dragging on the cold ground.
Judging from the sound, he entered the cell on her side. Could it be that a female prisoner has arrived?
As the clattering sound got closer, Gu Ran saw a guard leading a strange officer in a black robe outside the cell. Seeing Gu Ran imprisoned inside, he was surprised and asked, "Hey, there are still prisoners in your prison?"
"He was left behind among the prisoners who were escorted a few days ago. We thought he had died of illness, but he turned out to be alive again," explained the guard.
"Oh, is this good luck or bad luck?" The officer said loudly while looking at Gu Ran unscrupulously through the gap in the fence, "We are all prisoners. It's better for us to die. Death will put an end to everything and we won't have to suffer anymore!"
Hearing these rude words, Gu Ran was extremely dissatisfied with her first impression of the official. In addition, the man's pair of yellow bean eyes swept over her cunningly, and she disliked this overly sticky look even more, so she lowered her head pretending to be uneasy.
"Mr. Feng is right, that's right." The guard laughed and said perfunctorily.
Master Feng slammed the chained door of the cell hard, and the chain collided violently with the wooden door, making a harsh noise.
"Open the door, hurry up, it's freezing in this damn weather."
Shouting could also be heard from the men's prison next door. It was probably the prisoners being escorted by the escort officer named Feng Ye. But where were they being escorted from and to? Who were they?
However, since they are prisoners, they must have done bad things and broken the law, so I am afraid it would be difficult to get along with them.
Gu Ran, who was alone, began to worry that he would be bullied because of his loneliness and strength. But when he saw the guard open the cell door and three pairs of feet came in, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, there are not many people.
"Go in here and stay here. Don't cause any trouble!" Master Feng glanced around the prison again and reminded them in a serious tone.
With the official present, Gu Ran didn't dare to act rashly. After the guard locked the door and Master Li left, she boldly raised her head and met three pairs of eyes that were also looking at her as soon as she entered the prison.
“It’s so cold, so cold!”
The younger woman kept shaking her body and stamping her feet, bringing a chill. As for the other prisoner dressed as a woman, she looked around, chose a well-lit spot, and squatted down. She saw the fire basket in front of Gu Ran, her eyes lit up, and she was shocked.
"Mother, she can actually warm herself by the fire!"
Prisoners are not allowed to carry weapons, firstly because they may resist, and secondly because they may injure themselves, fire being one of the reasons.
But when Gu Ran asked Dou Pozi for the fire basket, she was the only one in the prison. Besides, Dou Pozi had a close relationship with Gu Ran - she was a creditor who owed her a huge amount of money, so she had to serve her well.
So, considering the benefits that Gu Ran had given her, Mrs. Dou went to see the head of the post, Liu Yichang, and told him the reason for arranging the matter for her. She said that judging from Gu Ran's appearance, he did not seem to want to commit suicide. Moreover, considering that Gu Ran was still ill, and the benefits that she had given him, after such persuasion, Liu Yichang approved her request.
This is how Gu Ran got his fire basket.
Now, more than ten days later, apart from Mrs. Dou, Liu Yichang was busy with other year-end affairs and had long forgotten about this matter. A new female prisoner came in today, and since Gu Ran didn't mention it and Mrs. Dou didn't bring it up, he didn't pay attention to the fire basket either.
"This... young lady? Can I borrow your fire basket to keep warm?"
The two prisoners, who looked like a mother and daughter, said this, but in fact they had already surrounded Gu Ran, squatted down and rubbed their hands, then reached out to the fire basket.
As for the third female prisoner, before Gu Ran could get a clear look at her, she had already chosen a side of the cell, sat down in the corner under the light outside the cell, near the front of the cell, with her back to them, and began to pack the bag she was carrying.
"Can this charcoal fire be made bigger, girl? This little fire isn't warm enough!"
"Mother?" The young female prisoner tried to dissuade her mother in a low voice, tugged at her mother's sleeve, and glanced at Gu Ran embarrassedly.
"Of course, of course. We're all in this together, so we should look out for each other."
Gu Ran said with a smile, opened the lid of the fire basket, and then moved some of the charcoal pile to make the fire burn more vigorously.
They were the first group of prisoners to arrive at the post station. They used a little bit of charcoal to build relationships and find out what was happening outside.
This group of prisoners was said to have set out from Zhengzhou. They had been trapped in the mountains and forests for some time due to the wind and snow, and unfortunately encountered a wolf disaster. They took advantage of the two days of clearing up the snow to dig their way to the post station.
They were all criminals sentenced to exile, and the place of exile was also Minzhou, so it was convenient for her to follow them.
If nothing unexpected happens, I will probably have to follow them on the road in the future to catch up with the prisoners ahead, including the Qin family.
If he could catch up, he could return to the team. If he couldn't, he might become a newcomer in this exile team and be taken to Minzhou together.
In this case, it is even more important to have a good grasp of the intelligence of this exile team.
From the mother and daughter, we learned that their group of people were all prisoners sentenced to exile in Zhengzhou area. There were eight officials escorting them. The chief officer was named Li, and the deputy officer was Mr. Feng who had just entered the women's prison.
There were originally twenty-two of them, but four died on the way, leaving eighteen people now. Among them, the only female prisoners were the mother and daughter. The mother was Aunt Mai Bai, who was in her thirties, and the daughter was Mai Xiang, who was twelve years old, and there was another lady named Pei Liu.
Gu Ran couldn't help but glance at Mrs. Pei Liu in the corner, added another piece of charcoal into the fire basket, and continued to inquire about the situation of the officer and the prisoners.
After all, they were prisoners traveling the same distance. Although exiles were spared the death penalty, they had all violated laws to a certain extent. If there were any extremely vicious people among them, she would have better avoid them on the road.
"With Li Jieguan here, he's a formidable martial artist. Even the worst prisoners wouldn't dare to cause trouble. So, along the way, apart from one person dying of illness, one killed by wolves the other day, one frozen to death, and one..."
After warming up by the fire in front of the fire basket, she introduced herself to Gu Ran and exchanged a few words. She had a hunch that this girl had a good heart, so Aunt Mai became more talkative. When she listed the causes of death of their criminals, she was straightforward at first, but when she talked about the last one, she glanced at her daughter and became hesitant.
"There's another one, what's wrong?" Gu Ran noticed Aunt Mai's hesitation and fear, and asked.
"Nothing." Aunt Mai forced a smile and changed the subject.
This was the group of exiles he was about to join, and the prisoners' condition would determine his own situation after he set out on the journey.
Gu Ran immediately became alert.
So, the last prisoner to die in the group of prisoners escorted by Li Jieguan, did he have some unspeakable secret behind his death?
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