They say money isn't everything, but without it, you can't do anything.
Less than a month into their journey, the group encountered one mishap after another.
If it wasn't a horse's hoof getting injured, it was a broken carriage axle. If it wasn't that, they were taking the wrong path and missing the check in time for an inn, forcing them to camp in the wilderness.
Nan Zhi would meditate inside the carriage while Wanniang slept inside the umbrella, so they weren't affected much. The same couldn't be said for the Wang family master and servant.
The two of them slept out in the open in the woods for several nights and were nearly eaten alive by mosquitoes and insects.
When they woke up the next day, Young Master Wang's eyes were swollen. As he drove the carriage during the day, the cold pancakes and cold water he consumed gave him several bouts of diarrhea.
After several days of this, the two had thinned down considerably. The flesh under their eyes had even withered away, making them look as if they had been subjected to some form of illegal abuse.
Nan Zhi even doubted whether the two of them could make it to Kaifeng alive if this continued.
Therefore, entering the city to board a boat and taking the fastest water route to Kaifeng was the best choice at the moment.
Nan Zhi even suspected that the Luck stat minus 10 debuff she was carrying was the reason their expenses had skyrocketed along the way.
System equipment could be returned to her inventory, but ordinary items could not.
Had she known, she would have kept some gold in her inventory for emergencies instead of greedily withdrawing it all as cash.
What was she to do without money?
"Anyway, there's no way I'm going to work a job. Being a beast of burden outside the game is bad enough; if I do it inside the game too, that's just looking for misery and courting death."
Nan Zhi hummed a little tune and excitedly opened the Heavenly Treasure Tree lottery page.
After subduing the demon tiger last time, she still had some remaining lottery tickets.
Combined with the maps she had passively unlocked while sitting in the carriage and the exploration achievements she had earned, she had accumulated a total of twenty five lottery tickets.
Nan Zhi intended to do a twenty pull in one go, gambling on whether she could unlock new skills while solving her travel expenses in the process.
【Ten pull in progress—】
As the dark green leaves of the sky covering giant tree shook, countless light orbs zipped through the Treasure River.
Green clothed girls holding golden ruyi shook their long sleeves, capturing dozens of treasures from among the thousands of glowing lights. With a gentle flick, they dropped them before 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 at the sky in disbelief.
Had she finally hit the jackpot?!
She couldn't let this chance slip away.
【Ten pull 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 luck level.
The hope that had been rising in Nan Zhi's heart finally died.
She felt as if the tree before her had a mind of its own.
When she lacked cultivation methods, it wouldn't give her a single skill book no matter what. Now that she lacked silver, it gave her skill books one after another, even thoughtfully providing a complete set for the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth!
The game design was really just being contrary, wasn't it?
Nan Zhi raised a sarcastic "friendly" thumb toward the sky.
"What is it? If Sister Zhi is short on funds, we can just take the land route."
"It is just a pity that the vast wealth of my Qu family all ended up benefiting that heartless Wang Fugui."
Although Wanniang didn't understand what Nan Zhi was doing, she could read the grief and indignation on her face and hurriedly tried to comfort her:
"Besides, there are several old friends of my father in Shouzhou City. If we are truly short on silver, I will go with you to ask for some assistance to get us through this emergency."
"Forget it. Your father's friends from that generation would be in their sixties or seventies by now."
"If I showed up at their door with you, they would either drive us out as scammers or I'd scare the poor old folks to death. Why bother?"
Nan Zhi wiped her face, deeply reflecting on her extravagant behavior of withdrawing all her gold because she couldn't resist looking at it:
"We will see after we enter the city. I have some skills, after all. If I can run into one or two wealthy households plagued by ghosts or foxes, won't our travel expenses be settled?"
"Besides, look at those two. Both of them are pale and sickly. It would be better to find a clinic to get them checked out."
Young Master Wang and Manager Wang were a pathetic sight; one was squeezed into the carriage in a mess, and the other sat cross legged on the carriage shaft with his neck shrunk back.
"It has been hard on Sister Zhi, running around for my case and having to worry about these two black hearted fools."
Wanniang glared at them, seemingly disgusted by the master and servant:
"If human meat were worth anything, I would have chopped you into pieces and sold you off long ago, leaving the bones to be fried and fed to the dogs!"
Hearing this, the two showed no joy or sorrow, looking like wooden dolls.
Wanniang wished the Wang family would just die out entirely, and she had tormented them quite a bit along the way.
Crucially, the female star of slaughter who was in charge didn't care, letting the female ghost mistreat them as she pleased.
Early on, the two had some heart to resist and were always thinking of escaping, but after several attempts and suffering real hardships, they no longer dared to rebel.
Run? Where could they run?
The surroundings were nothing but wilderness filled with wolves, leopards, tigers, and bears, as well as demons and evil spirits. The smaller paths were infested with mountain bandits and thugs who robbed travelers.
If they were lucky and met wild beasts or forest spirits, they might accidentally keep their lives. But if their luck was bad and they ran into murderous bandits, they would truly end up with their heads separated from their bodies, their meat stripped to be made into pancakes and buns.
"Wanniang, look. It says here that there is a tavern three miles away where people can rest. Shall we stay there tonight?"
Nan Zhi didn't have time to check her lottery winnings and instead took out a map so simplified it could barely be called one, pointing at a certain spot.
"It looks like it's going to rain tonight. If the carriage stays outside and the luggage gets soaked, it will be much more inconvenient to continue our journey."
"Oh?"
Wanniang drifted over lightly, closing the umbrella over her head, and said in surprise:
"Isn't this the Chen Family Shop? Is it actually still there? Years ago, when I followed my father back to our ancestral home to offer sacrifices, we happened to pass by here. I vaguely remember it being run by a young father and son."
"I never thought that after thirty odd years, this Chen Family foot shop would still be open."
"Since you have stayed there before, Wanniang, it proves the map is correct. Let's hurry. Maybe we can reach the shop before the rain falls."
Nan Zhi took the oil paper umbrella Wanniang resided in and placed it casually on the carriage.
"The clouds are so thick; I'm afraid the rain tonight won't be light."
Manager Wang tactfully moved aside, handing the task of driving the carriage to Nan Zhi.
"Lord Nan, please, after you."
"What a loyal old dog."
Wanniang glanced at him with disdain and naturally sat down beside Nan Zhi, ignoring him from then on.
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