Chapter 209 Puji Trading Company
What Ma Xinghua said was true. This three-story house really showed the elegant taste of the original owner, even though the blue bricks on the ground were covered with fine cracks. In the misty rain, Luo Xuanyi walked around the corridor and glanced casually through the stained glass window. The lake rocks and purple bamboo in the corner formed a beautiful scene.
When walking around the flower wall, Luo Xuanyi suddenly heard a cough.
"Cough, cough, cough!" The old man coughed rapidly, then suddenly stopped. His breathing sounded like a broken bellows, emitting a blocked and uncomfortable feeling. Luo Xuanyi could easily imagine the poor condition of this person's lungs.
To be honest, in all her years, the first elderly person she had seen was in Guning Village. She had spent a long time silently studying the wrinkles on the face of the old village chief. An elderly person like this, no longer able to work and unable to cultivate the Dao, was probably destined to live in the domain of the Heavenly Dao's lackeys.
The patient Ma Xinghua mentioned earlier, who wanted to treat him, was probably the elderly man here. What a luxury.
Luo Xuanyi paused only briefly before walking around the flower wall and into the front yard. It was still early and raining, so no one else was in the yard. She unbolted the door and walked out.
Luo Xuanyi strolled leisurely through the stone-paved streets lined with bluestone tiles, relying on her memory to reach the main street. The gurgling sound of the neatly arranged stone channels on both sides of the street was particularly clear in the quiet street. She walked along the street, reading the shop signs on both sides.
Few lanterns were lit; most of the shops were small, closed workshops, their doors stacked in rows, bearing the marks of age. The winery had the most tread marks on its stone slabs, followed by the carpenters' and blacksmiths'.
Luo Xuanyi found it interesting to judge the daily behavior of the residents of Guhu Town from the details. She tried to imagine how people would act and speculate on what these stores could do specifically.
The rain was like threads, blurring into a curtain. In the gloom, Luo Xuanyi slowly walked into the town center. Suddenly, she saw two bright orange lights, hanging high in the sky, swaying in the wind. They were the door lights of a teahouse.
Luo Xuanyi looked up at the name of the teahouse and her expression became strange.
Marquis of Never Night, it’s Marquis of Never Night again.
Unlike the tallest and most high-profile teahouse in Longlan City, this Never-Sleeping Marquis seemed to have been reduced in height in order to fit in with the town, but unfortunately it was still four stories high.
Even in such a remote area, there are branches, and they are so grand. Is it really possible to enjoy tea leisurely here?
Luo Xuanyi paused for a moment, watching the lights on inside. The waiters were briskly wiping tables, but there wasn't a single customer. She walked away, lost in thought.
As they got closer to the town center, the daily food shops gradually disappeared, replaced by four spacious, spaced-apart four-story buildings. Of these, only one, the Baose Store, had a sign that Luo Xuanyi recognized, but it was closed. Of the four, the Puji Trading Store, the one closest to Buyehou, was open and had its door light on.
This door lantern resembled the lanterns in front of the shops on Longlan City's Tianjie Street—all were ornate, exquisite, and meticulously carved. The candlelight within shone a faint purple, illuminating the front doorway with a dazzling glow. This trading house must be one of the places where the monks purchased local spiritual herbs and animal bones. Luo Xuanyi stared at it for a moment, then suddenly stepped forward.
Her footsteps were silent, her aura deliberately concealed. Anyone not at a far superior level wouldn't have been able to detect her, let alone the shopkeepers and servants who were at or below the Foundation Establishment stage. Their quiet, lazy words drifted through the rain and fell into Luo Xuanyi's ears.
"...How long will it take to collect enough spiritual herbs for the next batch?" The shopkeeper of this store kept fiddling with the abacus. The abacus beads made a clattering sound, which was crisp but only made them feel annoyed when they heard it.
Although the servants were menial, they were all disciples from small sects who could draw Qi into their bodies. Therefore, they weren't as cautious with the shopkeeper as the servants in the mortal world. He leaned against the counter, covering his ears and muttering, "I don't know. Anyway, the big trading houses in the six alliances will only give us what's left. We'll see."
"Hey." The shopkeeper glared at the servant and stopped working on the abacus.
Seeing this, the servant became even more excited. "That's right. The six major alliances all occupy blessed caves and paradises left by ancient times. We in Baiyu Tower are just an alliance of independent cultivators, and we can't get any good opportunities. Even so, they still want to compete with us for such lowly materials. They don't have the magnanimity of a leader of the righteous path."
"The circumstances of independent cultivators are different from each other." The shopkeeper was more knowledgeable. She held the abacus in her hand, simply to fill her hands. "Kunyue Island in the sea is extremely wealthy. They control the only safe ancient road leading into the Celestial Sea, and the sea is full of rare treasures. As long as you don't come ashore, you have to be friendly with them."
The servant, who had been feeling a bit sleepy, immediately woke up. He was still young, after all, and loved these kinds of rumors. Kunyue Island seemed very far away to him. "Why should our Baiyu Pagoda bow down to a Taoist idiot who only knows how to practice Taoism? I wish we could live a carefree life too."
The shopkeeper looked young, but she had lived in the secular world for decades. Upon hearing the servant's words, she immediately whispered a warning, "Don't talk nonsense! Trouble comes from the mouth! This kind of nonsense may be said privately in Baicheng, but after all, they are the ones favored by the heavens. They are so devoted to the pursuit of truth that they don't care about external affairs!"
It seemed as if even a cultivator from the righteous path, even one slightly unrelated to the core of the six alliances, already harbored discontent with each of them. It seemed that using public opinion as a vanguard might trigger more hidden dangers than anticipated. Luo Xuanyi pondered silently as she listened.
After hearing the shopkeeper's harsh words, the servant stuck out his tongue and suddenly imitated her, whispering mysteriously and leaning forward: "They say they are devoted to seeking the truth and don't care about external affairs, but there have been rumors recently that someone in the six major alliances is colluding with evil cultivators, or... "
"Bang!" The shopkeeper suddenly slammed her abacus on the table, interrupting the servant's words with a loud bang. Anger truly appeared on her face, but her eyes were dark. "How can you say such things here? Don't speak lightly before you have evidence!"
His attitude wasn't one of defending the Six Alliances. The servant was startled at first, then he noticed the shopkeeper's gaze. He finally calmed down.
"No wind, no waves." Muttering, the servant turned into the back hall. This time, the shopkeeper didn't correct him. Instead, he picked up the abacus again, his fingers motionless for a long time.
Seeing that she could no longer hear any useful information, Luo Xuanyi deliberately stepped heavily, and waited for the shopkeeper to react before stepping over the threshold. She smiled calmly at the shopkeeper and said, "Shopkeeper, is there any money exchange here?"
The shopkeeper's body was tense, but her expression was natural, and she smiled warmly: "Of course, please come in."
Luo Xuanyi could feel the shopkeeper's eyes quickly sweeping over her body as she walked, lingering a little longer on the rain marks in her hair and on her shoulders.
The shopkeeper realized that she could not see through Luo Xuanyi's cultivation at all. Her body was as deep as an abyss and as vast as the ocean. Her instinct gave a warning earlier than her reason. She immediately withdrew her probing gaze, but her attitude did not become more humble. She still smiled softly and remained calm.
The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Feiyi is suffering from natural disasters and drought everywhere. It is really rare to see a drizzle here. This Taoist friend is very elegant."
The servant stuck his head out to take a look, then quickly retracted it. Immediately, the sound of boiling water was heard in the back hall.
The shopkeeper saw that Luo Xuanyi had a remarkable cultivation level, so he didn't dare ask for her name. Luo Xuanyi didn't offer her name either. She simply took out ten spirit coins and gave them to the shopkeeper to exchange for copper coins, saying casually, "It's not exactly elegant, I've simply never seen anything like it. This place looks like a pleasant place to live, but it's a shame it's all just a mortal market, not a place for cultivators."
First update~ Sister Yi can actually turn off the rain screen directly. This is a little hobby that she hasn't realized yet.
P.S. Thank you for your encouragement! I will keep writing!
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