Chapter 15: Early Exploration of Jinjiang's First Publication
Yao Sisi slipped away from Qi Mu and went to the place Gong Yichen had told her about. Sure enough, she soon met him. He was dressed in brocade robes and looked like a spoiled young master, with a fan in his hand.
He said, "You haven't come for so many days, I thought you didn't want the money anymore."
Yao Sisi knew he was being sarcastic, so she clicked her tongue and said, "If I didn't come, wouldn't that mean I... didn't care about your life?"
Gong Yichen choked: "You woman, you have such a nasty mouth!"
Yao Sisi raised an eyebrow: "I'm just telling the truth!"
She held out her hand, indicating that she wanted the money.
Gong Yichen paused. He was already traumatized by reaching out to her. What was wrong with him? Why did everyone look down on him?
He angrily threw a small bag at her, secretly gritting his teeth. He shouldn't have let go of the hairband so easily when she held onto it.
Yao Sisi received the money and tossed it around a bit, not expecting that what he gave her was a Xuan Stone, not a Xuan Pearl.
"I'm leaving now, see you later!"
Gong Yichen: "Wait! I heard you're a talisman master?"
Yao Sisi paused, looked at him without saying a word, her expression unreadable.
Gong Yichen explained, "The shop you went to is under my aunt's name. I found out about it by accident, but I didn't follow you."
Yao Sisi said, "You little chatterbox, why did you suddenly bring this up?"
Gong Yichen rolled his eyes. "You're the chatterbox. I just need to talk to you about something."
Yao Sisi straightened her expression and asked, "What exactly is it?"
Gong Yichen glanced around warily: "Of course it's good news. I've discovered a cave. I wonder which senior left it behind. Are you interested in exploring it?"
Yao Sisi was stunned. Could there really be such a good thing?
"You told me something like this?" She didn't believe that this person would suddenly change his ways and not ask anyone in the family to help with the treasure hunt.
Gong Yichen's eyes darkened. "There are unreadable characters in the cave, which look somewhat like the characters you drew for your talismans. But you must not tell Qi Mu about this, and once we're inside, you're not allowed to take it from me."
Yao Sisi was straightforward: "How many people? When are we going?"
Gong Yichen blinked. "You agreed so easily? Aren't you afraid I'll set you up?"
Yao Sisi: "The young master of the Gong family wouldn't stoop so low as to scheme against me for a few thousand Xuanzhu pearls; that would be too petty."
Gong Yichen: "..."
It was hard to tell whether those words were a compliment or an insult.
“I will bring one person with me, and you can bring one as well. Before you leave, you need to swear an oath to avoid any further disputes once you get into the cave. The time is at the end of the month, so you have more than half a month to prepare.”
Yao Sisi: "Okay." She should be able to break through again after so much time; the third level of Qi Refining is still too low.
After leaving, she first sold the talisman, which not only paid back the money she had spent on the storage bag, but also made a profit.
The shopkeeper asked, "Young friend, if you have any more talismans in the future, you can give them to me first. I'll definitely give you a price you'll be satisfied with."
Yao Sisi nodded, not giving a definitive answer: "I'm going into seclusion to cultivate soon, so I don't have much time left to make talismans. We'll see how things go!"
Shopkeeper: "No problem, no problem. Cultivation is the priority. Is there anything else you need, young friend? Do you have enough talismans?"
Yao Sisi said, "There really aren't many talismans left."
The shopkeeper, being a bit of a idiot, handed her a stack of talismans without saying a word, saying, "Take this stack home, young friend. Come back anytime you need something."
Yao Sisi reached for her money, but the shopkeeper quickly refused, saying, "Can't I even decide the cost of this small amount of talisman paper? Just take it, young friend."
The talisman was only worth a few Xuanzhu (mystic pearls), so she didn't bother to refuse him. She glanced at the futon hanging in the shop, which was shimmering with spiritual light and was clearly a Xuan-level artifact.
How much are your prayer cushions?
The shopkeeper retrieved the item and handed it to her: "Young friend, we've been cooperating for so long, I'll give you my cost price, 500 Xuanzhu will do!"
Yao Sisi examined it briefly and found that the meditation cushion had a calming effect and wasn't expensive. "Okay, here you go!"
She walked out of the store and estimated her money: "That should be enough to redeem the knife."
Yes, she did redeem the knife, but after redeeming it, she was penniless.
Standing in the cold wind, Yao Sisi murmured to herself, "Is this what it feels like to start from scratch?"
A note from the author:
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