Someone once said that money isn't everything, but without it, you can do nothing at all.
In less than a month on the road, the group had encountered one unexpected mishap after another.
If it wasn't an injured horse hoof, it was a broken shaft, or taking a wrong turn and missing the time to check into an inn, leaving them with no choice but to camp in the wilderness.
—Nan Zhi meditated inside the carriage while Wanniang slept inside her umbrella, so the two of them were completely unaffected. It was Master Wang and his servant who suffered.
Having slept out in the open in the woods for several nights, the two were nearly eaten alive by mosquitoes and bugs.
When Young Master Wang woke up the next morning, his eyes were swollen shut. During the day while driving the carriage, eating cold cakes washed down with cold water triggered several bouts of watery diarrhea.
After several consecutive days of this, both men had lost a noticeable amount of weight, the skin beneath their eyes sunken as if they had suffered terrible abuse.
Nan Zhi even began to doubt whether the two of them would make it to Kaifeng alive if this continued.
Thus, entering the city to board a boat and taking the fastest water route to Kaifeng was currently their best option.
Nan Zhi even suspected that her “Luck stat -10” debuff was the culprit behind their skyrocketing travel expenses.
System equipment could be recalled to her inventory, but ordinary real-world items could not.
Had she known, she would have kept some gold in her inventory for emergencies instead of greedily cashing it all out.
What to do without money?
“Either way, working a real job is completely out of the question. Slaving away in real life is bad enough, but slaving away in a game? That's just asking for unnecessary suffering.”
Humming a little tune, Nan Zhi cheerfully opened the Heavenly Treasure Tree lottery interface.
She still had tickets left over after defeating the demon tiger last time.
Added to that, passively mapping out the surroundings while sitting in the carriage had unlocked several exploration achievements along the way, bringing her total stash of draw tickets to twenty-five.
Nan Zhi planned to do twenty draws in one go, gambling on whether she could unlock new skills while taking care of their travel expenses in the process.
【Ten-draw in progress—】
As the dark green leaves of the sky-blotting giant tree shook, countless orbs of light rushed back and forth through the Treasure River.
Holding golden ruyi, the green-clothed girls flicked their long sleeves, catching dozens of treasures from among the myriad glowing lights. With a gentle wave, the prizes landed in front of Nan Zhi:
【Yin Niangzi Brand Stinky Tofu × 10, Water Control Art (green quality) × 1, Flying Fire Art (green quality) × 1, Yin Niangzi Brand Stinky Tofu × 10, paper ingots × 10, wild fox hair × 1, Wood Manipulation Art (green quality) × 1, paper ingots × 10, Earth Mud Art (green quality) × 1, Sharp Gold Curse (green quality) × 1】
What was going on?!
Nan Zhi looked up at the sky in total disbelief.
Had her godawful luck finally turned around?!
She had actually pulled five skill manuals in one go?!
Strike while the iron was hot.
【Ten-draw in progress—】
【Yin Niangzi Brand Stinky Tofu × 10, ghost incense × 10, wet blood mud × 3, paper ingots × 10, Painted Skin Manual (blue quality) × 1, ghost incense × 3, Strange Pause Button (?) × 1, wet blood mud × 5, paper ingots × 1, Snake-Bear Pill × 10】
Right, this was her normal draw luck.
The faint glimmer of hope in Nan Zhi's heart finally withered and died.
She couldn't help feeling that this tree had a mind of its own.
When she desperately needed cultivation methods, it wouldn't drop a single skill book no matter what.
Now that she was broke, it dropped skill books with pinpoint accuracy—and was even thoughtful enough to give her a full set corresponding to Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth!
Were the game developers really this contrarian?
Nan Zhi flashed a sarcastic “friendly” thumb toward the sky.
“How is it? If Sister Zhi is tight on silver, we can simply take the overland route,” Wanniang said, though she couldn't understand what Nan Zhi was doing. She could read the grief and indignation on her face and hastily advised, “It is just a pity that my family's immense fortune went entirely to that heartless, ungrateful dog, Wang Fugui.”
“Besides, there are several of my father's old acquaintances in Shouzhou City. If we are truly short on silver, I can accompany you to visit them and ask for a little assistance to pull us through.”
“Forget it. Friends from your father's generation would be in their sixties or seventies by now. If I show up with you at their door, either we'll be chased out as tricksters, or I'll end up scaring the old folks half to death. Why bother?”
Nan Zhi wiped her face, bitterly regretting her extravagant behavior of cashing out every bit of gold the second she saw it.
“We'll see after entering the city. I have a few skills of my own. If I run into a wealthy family or two troubled by ghosts or foxes, won't that solve our travel expenses? Besides, look at those two—both pale and sickly, looking like total wrecks. It's better to find a medical clinic to get them checked out.”
Inside and outside the carriage, Young Master Wang squeezed miserably in the cabin while Manager Wang sat cross-legged on the shaft with his neck pulled in.
“Sister Zhi has truly worked hard, not only traveling for my case but also having to worry about these two heartless fools.”
Wanniang glared at them, clearly despising the master and servant to the extreme.
“If human flesh could be sold for money, I would have chopped you into pieces and sold you cheap long ago, saving your bones to deep-fry for the dogs!”
Hearing this, the two men showed no emotion on their faces, standing as stiff as wooden blocks.
—Wanniang wished nothing more than for everyone in the Wang family to die, and she had tormented them relentlessly along the journey.
Worse, the terrifying woman in charge turned a blind eye, letting the female ghost mistreat them as she pleased.
At first, the two had harbored thoughts of resisting or escaping, but after trying a few times and suffering severe consequences, they no longer dared to resist.
Flee?
Where could they possibly flee?
The surrounding wilderness stretched for miles, filled with wolves, tigers, demons, and evil spirits in the mountains, while the narrow trails harbored bandits and highwaymen.
If they were lucky enough to encounter wild beasts or mountain spirits, they might miraculously survive.
But if luck was against them and they ran into ruthless bandits, they would end up decapitated, their meat stripped to make large pancakes and steamed buns.
“Look, Wanniang. It says here that three li away, there's a tavern for travelers to rest. How about we stay there tonight?”
Nan Zhi hadn't had time to inspect her draw rewards, so she pulled out a map that was as crude as could be and pointed to a spot on it.
“It looks like it's going to rain tonight. If the carriage is left outside and the luggage gets soaked, continuing our journey will be much more troublesome.”
“Huh?”
Wanniang floated over lightly, closing the umbrella over her head, and gasped in surprise.
“Isn't this the Chen Family Shop? Is it still around? Years ago, when I accompanied my father back to our ancestral home to pay respects to our ancestors, we happened to pass by. If I recall correctly, it was run by a young father and son. Who would have thought that over thirty years later, the Chen Family foot-shop would still be open.”
“Since you've stayed there before, Wanniang, that proves the map is accurate. Let's hurry up; maybe we can reach the inn before the rain falls.”
Nan Zhi took the oil-paper umbrella where Wanniang resided and placed it casually on the carriage.
“The clouds up there are so thick. I'm afraid tonight's rain won't be light.”
Manager Wang tactfully stepped aside, handing the driving reins over to Nan Zhi.
“Lord Nan, after you, after you.”
“What an old dog.”
Wanniang shot him a contemptuous glare, naturally sitting down beside Nan Zhi and ignoring him completely.
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