“How do you know I won't? Hehehe, I've been an old ghost for decades. I've eaten night birds, old crows, and dead foxes, but I've never actually tasted what a hedgehog is like.”
Wanniang giggled and reached out to grab Hongluo. The latter nimbly dodged, diving straight into Nan Zhi's embrace and burying her head in her belly, refusing to come out.
“Mistress, look at her! Look at her!”
Since the resolution of the Qu family's old case and the execution of the Wang family master and servant, the knot in Wanniang's heart seemed to have loosened significantly, and her personality had become much more lively.
Seeing the ghost and the demon getting along so well, Nan Zhi smiled and playfully reached out to block her, when she suddenly felt a faint commotion in their surroundings.
“Wuuung—wuuung—”
“Wuuung—”
Two incredibly ethereal, long, and resonant cries suddenly echoed from the bottom of the cliff. A sudden updraft carried waves of salty sea wind, sending cool, damp moisture rushing upward to splash against the faces of everyone present.
The clouds scattered, and the mist vanished.
The clouds and mist at the bottom of the cliff suddenly parted as a colossal treasure ship, hundreds of zhang long, abruptly broke through the water from the depths of the sea. Its massive, heavy bow sliced through the fog, narrowly brushing past the cliff face.
The treasure ship was incredibly massive.
Atop it stood jade halls and splendid palaces, complete with miniature rockeries and flowing water. Red walls and green tiles met carved beams and painted rafters. There were rows of pavilions, terraces, waterside gazebos, and floral courts, looking exceedingly elegant. Curtains of sheer silk and satin fluttered, adorned with gold threads and silver rings, looking exceptionally exquisite.
Faintly, the sounds of string and woodwind instruments drifted from the ship. High up, someone was singing loudly, while stunning female immortals holding pipas flew gracefully around the pavilions.
What drove the treasure ship forward was not oxen or horses, but two grey giant whales, each hundreds of zhang long.
Their bodies were as massive as Kunpeng, and their shadows blotted out the sun, casting a darkness over everyone's heads as if night had suddenly fallen.
Standing beneath this colossal treasure ship, the human, the ghost, and the demon all let out a collectively awestruck “Wow!”
Before their eyes was a massive flying tower ship!
The tower ship came to a smooth halt. The two giant whales waved their fins and let out a deep, low rumble as countless small boats were lowered from the ship, slowly descending.
As the misty waves dispersed, the once-quiet cliff top suddenly burst with life.
Countless flying boats and dharma treasures flew out from the massive tower ship, landing lightly on Jueming Cliff. Most of these people seemed in a great hurry, rarely stopping to linger.
Judging by their attire, there were cultivators from the Qingjing Sect, disciples of the Wuwei Sect, and even some dressed as members of the Demon Suppression Division, though they were few in number.
Those waiting to board spontaneously formed a queue, walking along a massive, smooth stone wall on the cliff top. Nan Zhi, quick-witted and fast-acting, quickly pulled Hongluo and Wanniang to follow along.
Those waiting in line were not just human cultivators.
There were wild boars and foxes from the mountains transformed into human forms, pale-faced old ghosts with their tongues hanging out, and even demon cultivators wrapped in black robes who remained silent in the queue.
Nan Zhi also spotted an old ginseng spirit with a head full of braided roots. Hanging from its body were hundreds of tiny ginseng babies packed tightly together. With hundreds of mouths crying all at once, the noise was enough to give anyone a splitting headache.
As the old ginseng walked forward, one of the tiny ginseng babies lost its grip and fell to the ground with a soft splat. Seeing this, Hongluo quickly picked it up and happily handed it to Nan Zhi.
“Waaah, waaah, waaah!”
The moment the tiny ginseng baby landed in Nan Zhi's hands, it began to wail at the top of its lungs, its voice so weak and thin that it sounded as if it might draw its last breath at any moment.
Nan Zhi placed the weeping little ginseng back into the old ginseng's hand and said with a smile:
“Old Master, one of your ginseng grandchildren fell off. Do be careful, lest someone step on it.”
“Hehehe, having too many descendants is truly a hassle.”
The old ginseng spirit had a kind and gentle face, but his eyebrows were so long they almost completely covered his eyes. Whenever he wanted to see the path, he had to part a layer of his eyebrows first:
“If it falls, it falls. At worst, another will grow next year... By the way, this one is the cleverest ginseng baby in my family. It's a real natural at tending herb gardens and doing chores. If you want it, you don't have to give it back.”
Looking at the size of this ginseng spirit, it probably hadn't even been a month since it sprouted, right?
Ordering a creature like this to work wouldn't just be employing child labor—it would be employing "infant labor."
Nan Zhi was momentarily caught between laughter and tears.
Waiting at the very front of the queue were two Wuwei Sect disciples dressed in yellow robes. One held a fly-whisk while the other held a sword, and both wore sect tokens with bodhi patterns at their waists, making them very easy to recognize.
When the two saw the old ginseng spirit, they smiled knowingly and teased him with familiar ease:
“Pops Ginseng, heading to the Rakshasa Sea Market to sell your grandchildren again? You were just about to give away a little ginseng to that lady. Aren't you trying to swindle people?”
“These little ginseng babies of yours have only just developed intelligence, so raising them is a massive headache. A few days ago, a Senior Sister bought one to look after her herb garden, and the little thing ended up eating more than half of her herbs. That Senior Sister has been clamoring to get her spirit stones back from you!”
“Everyone in the Rakshasa Sea Market knows that I, Pops Ginseng, am the most honest merchant around! What do you mean 'swindle'? How can you ruin a man's reputation out of thin air!”
The old ginseng spirit's face flushed red, and he hastily handed over a storage bag:
“The usual. A Yellow-grade room token, please.”
The two cultivators joked a bit more but said nothing else. They simply took the storage bag and verified the spirit stones inside. Seeing that the amount was correct, they allowed him onto the ship:
“One thousand-year-old ginseng spirit, along with three thousand five hundred and sixty-two ginseng babies. Yellow-grade room for fifteen days. Seven hundred and fifty middle grade spirit stones received.”
When it was Nan Zhi's turn, the two of them were momentarily startled by the peculiar combination of a human, a ghost, and a demon. Then, the older male cultivator spoke:
“Are you fellow Daoists boarding our Wuwei Sect's tower ship for the first time? You should know that the accommodations on our ship are divided into four grades: Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, and Yellow. Earth-grade rooms are three thousand middle grade spirit stones a day, Mysterious-grade rooms are three hundred middle grade spirit stones a day, and Yellow-grade rooms are fifty middle grade spirit stones a day. We will arrive at the Rakshasa Sea Market in fifteen days. If any fellow Daoist is short on funds, you may also pay with items of equal value. Just wait a moment and take the other path to board, and a Senior Sister in charge of appraising treasures will guide you up.”
“So expensive?”
Nan Zhi couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air.
It would take fifteen days to reach their destination, and even the cheapest Yellow-grade room cost fifty middle grade spirit stones a day. Added up, that was seven hundred and fifty middle grade spirit stones.
The exchange rate for spirit stones was one to one hundred. A Demon Suppression Commissioner of an entire province only earned a salary of fifty thousand low grade spirit stones a year, which was equivalent to just five hundred middle grade spirit stones.
Who would have thought that they wouldn't even be able to afford a single ship ticket!
It was truly pathetic.
If she hadn't just made a massive fortune, Nan Zhi would have preferred to ride the wind herself and fly all the way to the twelve nations of the four directions of the southern seas.
It was truly hard to make a living in the cultivation world.
Hearing her exclamation, the two cultivators did not show any signs of mockery. They merely smiled and explained:
“Our Wuwei Sect's tower ship tickets are widely acknowledged to be a great deal. You must understand that to enter the Rakshasa Sea Market, one must first cross the Wuwang Sea and then traverse the Xuanyuan Stream. Not even a goose feather can float on the Wuwang Sea, and it is filled with bone-dissolving, mud-melting gales and a sea of blood. Even a Deity Transformation powerhouse would meet their end if they fell in. This treasure ship is constructed from extremely precious Kunpeng bones and is driven by thirty-nine Golden Core Masters working together. Only then can it float on the Wuwang Sea. Here, take a look.”
Saying this, the man pointed to a massive scar that ran across the ship's bow:
“The Wuwang Sea gathers all the evil thoughts of the world, making it extremely easy for Sky Demons to breed. Last year, our Wuwei Sect's Senior Brother Duanmu slew a Golden Core-level Sky Demon right here at the bow, and his sword intent still lingers. There are always those who try to exploit loopholes, unwilling to part with a few external possessions, thinking they can cross the Wuwang Sea using their own physical bodies and dharma treasures. But in the end, don't they all dissolve into bone mud, their souls returning to the Xuanyuan Stream?”
“Then I'll take a Yellow-grade room, just like Pops Ginseng before me.”
Nan Zhi counted out the spirit stones, placed them into a storage bag, and handed it over, mimicking Pops Ginseng's actions. The Wuwei Sect disciple took it, and with a seemingly casual glance, accurately called out the exact count:
“Five hundred middle grade spirit stones and twenty-five thousand low grade spirit stones. One human Foundation Establishment cultivator, one ghost cultivator, and one hedgehog spirit.”
Rate on N.U.
