Short of Money

Inside the cabin, with its doors and windows shut tight, the light was dim. Li Weiyi dumped all his money onto the table, including the spoils he had looted from the corpses of Xing Wanxing, Fang Tong, and Yan Qingqing. The coins clattered into a small mound, which he carefully counted twice. "Eighty-two Yongquan coins, one hundred eighty-seven silver coins, and eighty copper coins." One Yongquan coin equaled one hundred silver coins, or ten thousand copper coins. Li Weiyi had already gained some understanding of purchasing power in this world. For instance, the voyage from Yao Pass to Jiuli City took nine to ten days, and standard passenger fare was eight silver coins per person. Zhao Meng was an exception, costing sixty-four silver coins. Shipping the stone coffin incurred an additional charge of sixteen silver coins. Daily food and drink were also no small expense. Fortunately, when Zhao Meng left the Bronze Ship, he had filled numerous jars and bottles with Golden Crow blood and Black Flood Dragon blood for nourishment; otherwise, his appetite alone could have devoured enough food for dozens of people. However, Li Weiyi was taking the Golden Crow blood and Black Flood Dragon blood as well, so their supply would inevitably run dry before long. Li Weiyi had previously asked Zhao Zhizhuo about property prices in Jiuli City and had been thoroughly startled. Even in the outer suburbs, a small courtyard suitable for five or six residents cost tens of thousands of silver coins if it had a good location close to the main city. Poorer, more remote locations still ran close to ten thousand silver coins. Counting every last coin he owned, everything put together was barely enough to buy one such modest residence. As for the larger compounds, let alone those inside the city proper, they were entirely out of the question. Of course, he still possessed several dharma artifacts and the otherworld coffins he had salvaged, all of which could fetch handsome sums. That was the true foundation of his confidence to settle temporarily in Jiuli City! "Selling otherworld coffins on the sly carries risks, so that will have to wait. I could sell a dharma artifact first, but as an unaffiliated outsider at the Yongquan Realm, wouldn't I draw too much attention and bring disaster on myself?" Li Weiyi muttered to himself. The mangled corpse in the stone coffin spoke up. "You could ask Li Ling. She's a Nether Lamp Wayfinder, and she's also the granddaughter of the Cangling Tribe's patriarch." Li Weiyi had already recounted the whole sequence of events to everyone in detail, naturally provoking a round of wry amusement. Everyone agreed that only a single point made no sense. Namely, why was Li Ling trying so hard to get close to him? So many dharma artifacts couldn't sway her heart, so what else could she be after? Senior Tablet had told Li Weiyi that since Li Ling was a Nether Lamp Wayfinder, she might have unlocked Perceptive Lucidity. Unlocking Perceptive Lucidity meant emerging victorious in the competition among wayfinders and becoming the priest's designated successor. A Nether Lamp Wayfinder could roughly foresee the good or ill fortune of an event and discover the correct path within the Mist Domain of Departed Spirits. A Nether Lamp Wayfinder who unlocked Perceptive Lucidity also gained a peculiar knack: once she genuinely fell in love with a man, she could pinpoint his location through perception no matter how many thousands or tens of thousands of li separated them. Senior Tablet felt this was the only reasonable explanation; otherwise, Li Ling's behavior was simply too bizarre. Li Weiyi was never one for vanity or self-delusion, and he hardly believed he possessed that kind of charm. Yet what gave him a headache was that Li Ling radiated no malice and never attacked him; instead, she seemed more and more sincere. All he wanted was to draw a clear line between them as quickly as possible... If he asked her for help selling an artifact, wouldn't that forge yet another entanglement? *Clang, clang!* The sound of camel bells suddenly echoed inside Li Weiyi's mind. A swarm of chaotic thoughts and negative emotions surged up at once, ravenous as beasts looking to devour someone whole. He hastily circulated the Yuxu Breathing Method. Only after a quarter of an hour did his mind settle back into tranquility, and the ringing in his head finally faded away. Ever since he rang the evil camel bell in the Blood Sea Coffin Dock to summon the giant camel and kill Fang Tong, the chime of bells would recur in his mind from time to time, as if some connection had been forged. "It rang again?" the corpse in the stone coffin asked. Li Weiyi nodded. "It's growing more frequent, and the influence is getting stronger... Is there really no way to resolve this?" The corpse in the stone coffin said, "Yu Tuonan was no ordinary figure. Back in Xiaoyaojing of the Demon Nation, Yu Baxian was the only one who could hold him in check. The evil camel bell possessed even greater renown, having thrown an entire living realm into upheaval and stirred up immense storms of blood. It's fair to say that all the dharma artifacts you hold put together don't amount to half of the evil camel bell. "For you, if used properly, the evil camel bell will be an exceptionally formidable trump card. Right now, you can only summon a single camel three or four meters tall. In the future, it might be an entire caravan, and the camels might even turn into dragon-headed tuotuo. "However, if you cannot suppress it and your mind and sanity are corrupted by its malice, the consequences will be dire. You could very well fall onto the demonic path. "It likely acknowledged you as master of its own accord when you channeled dharmic power to ring it, but formidable demonic artifacts like this often turn on their masters. As it continuously absorbs the world's malice, its soul energy will swiftly recover, growing stronger and stronger. You must become stronger than it is to keep from being subjugated by it. "If you could enlist a mind master of priestly standing from the Jiuli Clan, they could wear down its soul energy at this stage and sever the hidden danger. Once it grows powerful enough, trying to extinguish it will be as difficult as ascending to heaven." Throwing it away now was clearly out of the question. Senior Tablet said, "Your breathing method is potent, but you're only enduring by brute force. You need to cultivate spiritual light as soon as possible. Spiritual light can suppress an artifact's soul. When that time comes, you will be able to master it, rather than letting it constantly affect you." "Additionally, opening the fifth spring at the back-center hub will grant a martial artist a measure of resistance and the ability to tame soul intent," added the corpse in the stone coffin. Master Jar, Senior Tablet, and Senior Coffin were clearly far weaker than Chanhai Guanwu and Yu Tuonan. After all, the latter two were already capable of manifesting their forms and moving about freely. *Knock, knock.* A knock sounded on the door. "Brother Xie, Fourth Miss has awakened," Zhao Zhizhuo's voice called from outside. Stowing all his coins away, Li Weiyi opened the door and stepped out with a smile. "Elder Zhao, please don't call me Brother Xie anymore. We're on the same side now, so there's no need to hide anything. My real name is Li Weiyi. You can call me Weiyi, or Brother Li." With Li Weiyi's sharp hearing, he had long caught onto Li Ling's little gestures. He had a favorable impression of Zhao Zhizhuo. Bound by gratitude, the older man had chosen to withhold the truth about the dharma artifacts even from his young clan leader and Li Ling. In this world, clearly distinguishing debts of gratitude from grudges was extraordinarily difficult. Zhao Zhizhuo naturally had to pretend he had just learned this, offering a look of surprise and a few jesting remarks before saying, "Alright, then I'll call you Brother Li. But don't call me Elder Zhao anymore; just call me Old Zhao. Haha!" In his heart, his respect for Li Weiyi deepened further. He understood why Li Weiyi had concealed his true name; when one's cultivation was still low, utmost caution was simply essential. If Li Weiyi had acted boastful and pranced around thinking himself an extraordinary figure just because he had aided the Cangling Tribe, Zhao Zhizhuo would instead have repaid the favor as quickly as possible and kept his distance. As the two walked down the corridor outside the cabins, Li Weiyi asked, "Old Zhao, you mentioned before that your two springs were cultivated anew. Can shattered spring orifices really be reshaped?" The smile faded from Zhao Zhizhuo's face, replaced by bitterness. "Reshaping shattered springs is exceedingly difficult and demands tremendous willpower. After all these years, I've only managed to remake two. Unless one can find top-tier dharma artifacts, whose power might enable swift reconstruction... "Yet such artifacts... "Put it this way: in our entire Jiuli Clan, only that legendary, long-lost artifact possessed such power. Otherwise, the tribe would have done everything possible to restore my cultivation back then... Alas..." Zhao Zhizhuo let out a heavy, suffocating sigh. Tumbling from the pinnacle into the dust, he had endured untold humiliation, mockery, and abuse. His heart had long been worn down into calm resignation, yet today Li Ling and Li Weiyi had stirred up those painful memories once more. He, too, had once basked in boundless glory, idolized by thousands. Unwilling to dwell on the subject, he said, "We're here!" Li Weiyi pondered silently. Once he opened the fifth spring's central hub or cultivated spiritual light to master the evil camel bell, perhaps he could try lending the man a hand. The thought merely flashed through his mind. Exposing a dharma artifact of that caliber was no trifling matter; he had to think twice before acting. Li Ling possessed a Semi-Immortal Physique. Her skin was as delicate and translucent as jade wax, and her black hair cascaded down the sides of her cheeks like silk. Bathed in the sunset glowing outside the doorway, her features were cleanly defined, her profile strikingly exquisite. "Haven't you always wanted to draw a clear line between us? Why save me? Wouldn't doing that only blur the line again?" she asked. Li Weiyi fetched a stool and sat down. "I imagine anyone in that situation would have lent a hand. It was simply convenient." Li Ling said, "Is that so? As I recall, when I fell unconscious from severe injuries, Fang Tong was still alive. To save me, you had to deal with him first, which was hardly convenient. For such great grace and devotion, how could I not repay you?" Fearing she might bring up offering herself in marriage again—especially with Zhao Zhizhuo standing right there—Li Weiyi hastily cut in, "Fine, pay me in cash!" Li Ling's brow furrowed. "Are you that short of money?" "Going to Jiuli City, every single step requires spending money. Even if I have some savings, I can't just sit back and watch them dwindle away, can I? And as luck would have it, you want to repay me." Li Weiyi felt entirely entitled to whatever she gave, with no qualms whatsoever. Li Ling stopped bringing up repayment and asked, "Did Fang Tong escape?" Li Weiyi thought for a moment. "He ran very fast." "Did you take the heads of the other two?" She cared deeply about this. "No, that would be too cruel." Li Weiyi knew what she was after. Pulling out the Snow Wolf King tooth necklace, he said, "I assume using this as proof will be more than enough!" Li Ling reached out to take it. Li Weiyi drew it back, looking her squarely in the eyes. "I am very short of money." "What do you need so much money for?" Li Ling asked. Li Weiyi said, "Buying a courtyard residence in Jiuli City is a massive expense, and I don't have enough." "With this necklace, I can petition the clan to grant you a grand estate," Li Ling offered. Li Weiyi shook his head. "I don't want too deep an association with your Cangling Tribe or the Jiuli Clan. If the Earth Wolf King's Army investigates, it would lead straight to me. You must tell everyone that you seized this wolf tooth yourself. All you need to do is give me cash!" "Alright, I promise you." Li Ling broke into a radiant smile. "Your reasoning is sound! Jiuli City is indeed a gold sink; no amount of money is too much to spend there. In martial cultivation, breaking through a single realm consumes tens of thousands of silvers." She reached for the wolf tooth necklace again, but Li Weiyi pulled his hand back once more. "I also need to see Cai Yutong and Qi Shanshan. They are my companions." Li Ling's eyes narrowed slightly. "Very well. I will arrange it." "You should understand that negotiating terms with you is my way of trying to trust you. You only get this one chance!" Li Weiyi said. Li Ling said, "I know! If anything goes wrong, let alone being friends, I'm afraid we could only be enemies."