With the potion in hand, Li Yunsheng helped Zhang Laifu dispel the yin energy lingering in his body.
Once the yin energy was completely gone, Zhang Laifu felt much better, though his legs remained weak.
"Brother Yunsheng, that talisman paper from yesterday that let me run so fast—could you give me another one?"
"I still have talismans, but you can't use another. Run like that again, and I'm afraid your legs will snap."
When it came down to it, Li Yunsheng's talisman was merely overdrawing Zhang Laifu's own physical vitality.
Overdrawing was fine by him, but what he needed right now was a talisman for fighting.
"Do you have any other talismans? Something to boost my strength, improve my aim—anything will do."
Li Yunsheng looked troubled.
There were plenty of talismans that could enhance combat capability, but most required an accompanying incantation, and the incantation had to be chanted by Li Yunsheng himself.
"Brother Laifu, I'll go to the old residence with you." He staggered to his feet, still somewhat unsteady.
Zhang Laifu shook his head. "You'd better not come with me."
Li Yunsheng knew his condition was poor. "Don't worry. I have ways to handle myself. I won't be a burden."
"In your state, how can you fight a drum-maker? He's deeply suspicious of strangers. The moment you step through the door, he'll take your life."
Li Yunsheng considered this carefully, then fetched a yellow front-buttoned short jacket from a cabinet. It was covered in talismans.
"Wear this. In a pinch, it can turn aside blades and spears, and it should withstand a blow from the drum-maker."
Zhang Laifu took the jacket. When the breeze blew, the talismans rustled and fluttered.
"This outfit is so flashy—does it actually work?"
Li Yunsheng looked at Zhang Laifu with unwavering conviction. "If you believe it works, it definitely will! My master made ten jackets like this back in the day and gave them to ten people to wear. Three of them survived in the end, and every one of them said it worked!"
"Hearing that puts my mind at ease!" Zhang Laifu stowed the jacket away.
Li Yunsheng still felt uneasy. "Brother Laifu, you aren't a craftsman. If even a Heavenly Master couldn't subdue him, I truly can't imagine what odds of winning you have."
Zhang Laifu was confident. "He's wary of everyone else, but he isn't on his guard against me yet. I think I can get the thing back."
"'As long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn.' Why must you tangle with this evil ghost?"
"I don't want to tangle with him. He took my green hill, and I have to take it back."
Li Yunsheng could tell that the evil ghost had taken something vital to Zhang Laifu.
"There's plenty of time ahead. Even if you lost a green hill, we can earn another."
"In the future, we can earn a hundred more. Today, I'm getting this one back first."
Li Yunsheng sighed. "Brother Laifu, think twice."
"I've thought it through. I have to take it back."
Zhang Laifu's eyes stared blankly ahead, seemingly vacant, yet Li Yunsheng could feel the chilling resolve within them.
"Brother Laifu, I know you might be feeling..."
"You don't know," Zhang Laifu said, shaking his head. "I've been bullied—bullied far too hard!
"I came out to find work, and I got kidnapped. I watched a house, and I got swindled!
"Then an old ghost showed up and robbed me of my treasure. I risked my life to get that thing, and I'm going to take it back!"
Seeing that he could not dissuade Zhang Laifu, Li Yunsheng could only ask, "Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"Where can I buy snuff?"
Zhang Laifu did not believe snuff could open the bowl. Although he had never seen snuff, since tobacco leaves didn't work, snuff most likely wouldn't either.
Still, he had to buy the snuff, or else he wouldn't fool Lao Duozi.
Li Yunsheng gave directions, and Zhang Laifu made his way to Huangxiang Street.
Huangxiang Street was a street specializing in cigarettes. At the entrance to the street stood a large shop with a dark-blue enamel signboard over the door, emblazoned with five neat, gold-lacquered characters: "Delong Western Cigarette Shop." Beneath them were several small illustrations of cigarette logos—Old Cart, Virginia, Cloud Dragon, Peacock... Zhang Laifu could not recognize them all, but he had heard people say they were all major brands from Wansheng Prefecture.
Pushing the door open and stepping inside, he saw glass counters lining the shop. Metal cigarette tins were displayed on the left and cardboard packs on the right, with price tags neatly marked beneath each one.
The clerk inside wore a white shirt and a red waistcoat, his hair combed until it gleamed with pomade. He spoke with a faint Western cadence: "Sir, please come in. Our shop deals exclusively in famous brands—ten times your money back if fake."
Zhang Laifu asked, "Which one is snuff?"
The clerk looked down, paused in silence for a moment, and said, "You've come to the wrong place. Go check across the street."
Across the street was a vast area—where was he supposed to look?
When Zhang Laifu asked again, the clerk put on quite an air and refused to say another word.
Crossing the road, Zhang Laifu walked along the sidewalk for a bit until he spotted a shop that looked like it might sell snuff.
Compared to the Western cigarette shop earlier, this shop had a completely different style. Its storefront was unadorned, hanging an old wooden plaque inscribed with the two characters "Yicheng." The paint had peeled so heavily that the writing was somewhat blurred.
A long bench sat against the wall by the entrance, where an old man sat smoking pipe tobacco, filling the air with a charred, acrid aroma.
Inside, the lighting was dim and amber. A row of large wooden cabinets displayed wooden boxes, cloth bundles, and bamboo tubes. A clerk in a front-buttoned jacket stepped forward and opened the boxes one by one, revealing tobacco leaves from various regions.
"Sir, we have Dongsheng, Yuesheng, Dachang, Kuitai, Jinlan, and Qingtiao. Which one would you like? We slice and blend them right here!"
This clerk was far more enthusiastic. Seeing that Zhang Laifu remained quiet, he opened several tin canisters. "We have foreign tobacco too—Ingli X-Fatu, Amikan's No. 1 Iron Tin. Why not pack a pipe and give it a try?"
Zhang Laifu pursed his lips. He didn't want to show his ignorance, but he truly didn't recognize any of it. "Er, that is... which one is snuff?"
The clerk's enthusiasm evaporated. Snapping all the lids shut, he pointed outside. "Go look down the alley."
This was a shop that dealt strictly in pipe tobacco. Just like food vendors who stuck to their own trade, tobacco sellers didn't dabble in each other's specialties.
Leaving Yicheng Tobacco Shop, Zhang Laifu turned left into an alley. After wandering through it for quite some time, he finally found the right place.
It was a two-story blue-brick building. Above the lintel hung a carved wooden plaque displaying three large characters: "Juxiangzhai." The calligraphy was in an antique regular script, neat and refined.
Flanking the doorway was a couplet: "Fragrance enters the nose to cleanse the vitals; smoke slips from fingers to pierce the soul."
Zhang Laifu had asked around in the alley; this was indeed the place that sold snuff.
He pushed the door open and stepped inside. The light was soft, and the counters were filled with snuff bottles made of agate, colored glaze, ivory, and purple clay, their stoppers inlaid with jade or silver in various designs.
The shopkeeper was a middle-aged man wearing a long gown, slicked-back hair, and an eight-character mustache.
When the customer entered, the shopkeeper greeted him promptly. "Sir, you look unfamiliar. Is this your first time here?"
Zhang Laifu held his hands behind his back, pretending to be an expert as he glanced around the shop, then nodded. "It is indeed my first time in this shop of yours."
The shopkeeper smiled. "Then you've come to the right place. We just got in a fresh batch of Shuanghua Xun and Jasmine Dew. Would you like a taste?"
The names alone left Zhang Laifu bewildered.
What on earth were Shuanghua Xun and Jasmine Dew? Was he buying tobacco or floral water perfume?
Zhang Laifu cleared his throat softly. "I want the good stuff!"
The shopkeeper apologized at once. "My oversight, sir! Please wait a moment. I have Tianhuizhai's Wangaoxing Dew."
With that, the shopkeeper opened a small wooden box containing a yellow powder.
Was this tobacco?
The shopkeeper was quite generous: "Give it a try, sir."
Try it how?
Zhang Laifu had never seen snuff before.
Tobacco, borneol, poria cocos, and various spices were ground down into fine powder to make snuff.
Snuff was usually kept in a snuff bottle; when taking it, one pinched out a bit between fingers and snorted it into the nostrils.
How could Zhang Laifu know any of this? He didn't want to try it either—better to just buy it.
"This Wan-whatever Dew, how much is it?"
The shopkeeper replied, "Two dollars and five dazi."
"Two what?" Zhang Laifu was stunned. "Two silver dollars?"
A customer nearby chimed in, "Silver dollars, of course! What else, two dazi?"
Zhang Laifu said in surprise, "Two silver dollars for a jin?"
The shopkeeper was struck dumb for a moment, and the customer chuckled. "Are you pulling my leg? You think you're buying cabbage by the jin? Two silver dollars gets you a single liang, plus five dazi!"
"Who's pulling your leg? Is this made of gold dust?" Zhang Laifu did the math. Lao Duozi had given him ten silver dollars, plus the two from yesterday, making twelve in total. That would barely buy six liang.
Would six liang be enough to open the bowl?
While Zhang Laifu was still calculating, the customer offered some advice: "The shopkeeper's quoting the standard market price. I reckon you don't know the snuff market.
"If you're giving a gift to high officials or dignitaries, Wangaoxing Dew is just the thing. But if it's for relatives, Shuanghua Xun or Jasmine Dew will do."
Zhang Laifu felt uncertain. "Is there a big difference between those two and Wangaoxing Dew?"
"A world of difference," the customer explained. "Snuff has ten grades. Wangaoxing Dew is first grade, Jasmine Dew is eighth grade, and Shuanghua Xun Dew is ninth grade. They aren't even close."
If he bought such poor-quality snuff, could he get away with it?
If Lao Duozi failed to open the bowl, would he take his fury out on Zhang Laifu?
To be honest, no one even knew if this stuff would work.
Opening the bowl with snuff struck Zhang Laifu as absurd. Lao Duozi was probably mistaken again.
It would actually be fine if he was mistaken. If opening the bowl failed, Lao Duozi would still need Zhang Laifu to run errands to find soil, giving Zhang Laifu another chance to stall and deal with him.
Once the bowl opened successfully, Zhang Laifu would lose his usefulness, and he would have to fight Lao Duozi to the death today.
Seeing Zhang Laifu hesitate, the shopkeeper opened the jars to show him the quality of Jasmine Dew and Shuanghua Xun. "The grades are divided like that, but rest assured about our shop's goods. Jasmine Dew and Shuanghua Xun are also reputable brands, cleanly made."
The customer teased, "Clean? You didn't mix in incense ash, did you?"
The shopkeeper waved his hand dismissively. "You jest, sir. We cater to regular patrons—when have we ever done such a thing?"
"Mix in incense ash?" Zhang Laifu froze.
The customer quickly explained, "I was just joking with the shopkeeper. Incense ash and snuff look quite alike. Some unscrupulous merchants mix incense ash into their snuff, but Juxiangzhai is an established shop—they wouldn't do such a thing."
Zhang Laifu looked down at Jasmine Dew and Shuanghua Xun. Their color was yellowish with hints of white, not as pure as Wangaoxing Dew, and bore a distinct resemblance to a certain kind of dust.
What kind of dust?
There was dust on the offering table in the ancestral hall—that very fine dust, which must have been incense ash!
Back then, the fedora had reacted to the incense ash, so it must have liked it. But why didn't Lao Duozi just tell me to bring back some incense ash?
He could certainly collect plenty of incense ash in the ancestral hall. With all of Lao Duozi's experience, hadn't he tried incense ash already?
He definitely had, but he must have failed.
What the fedora liked wasn't incense ash.
What the fedora liked had to be snuff! It had reacted to the incense ash because incense ash resembled snuff, and because some snuff had incense ash mixed into it!
Lao Duozi had likely guessed right this time!
The moment he brought the snuff back, the bowl would open!
Chapter 31