"Cinnabar, a big red chicken, peach wood..."
Xu Yan went through the list, checking the items one by one to see what he still needed to buy.
"I never expected a ritual to require so many things. They say hiring a Taoist for a ritual isn't cheap, but just look at the costs. If you charge too little or nothing at all, you'd be losing money hand over fist."
"Xu Yan, Uncle Ninth isn't here today?"
"How about some fish? Freshly caught this morning, brimming with life. Look at their vitality!"
The fishmonger, holding up a fish and wiggling it enthusiastically, made Xu Yan feel overwhelmed. He could only wave his hands in refusal.
"No, Uncle Wang. I already have plenty of fish at home. I can't buy more. My master is resting at home, so I came to get some supplies."
Pushing his bike, Xu Yan quickly left, with Uncle Wang's teasing voice still echoing behind him.
"Wang, I'm not blaming you, but look what you did—you scared off our town's genius!"
"Li, that's just your imagination! Am I scary? I was just trying to sell him more fish!"
"Forget it."
The enthusiasm of the villagers was overwhelming for Xu Yan. When he first came to buy groceries a few days ago, Uncle Wang gave him three fish for the price of one, and Aunt Yu gave him a whole basket of vegetables just for the price of one handful.
Although he was a bit unaccustomed to it, the people of this era were truly simple and honest.
After checking his items and confirming he hadn't forgotten anything, Xu Yan pedaled his bike home—or rather, back to the Yizhuang (a place for storing corpses before burial).
The Yizhuang was located in the outskirts of Renjia Town, a spacious and sparsely populated area with uneven ground. With a bicycle as his transportation, Xu Yan's butt was sore from the bumpy ride. He hadn't yet adapted to it, having been accustomed to riding in a car.
"Master, my junior brother is back."
At the entrance of the Yizhuang, Wen Cai, leaning against the door and basking in the sunshine, saw Xu Yan return and happily called out, walking forward to help him unload.
"You bought a lot of things this time. How lively the town is, isn't it? How does it compare to the West?"
Xu Yan had just arrived in this world not long ago, picked up by his master, Uncle Ninth, on the day he arrived. His identity was defined as an overseas-returned intellectual who had lost his family to bandits and was taken in by Uncle Ninth, becoming his disciple.
It was already bizarre enough to be brought to this world by some mysterious Virtue System. But to be thrown directly into a pile of corpses was almost too much for Xu Yan to handle. Fortunately, these corpses helped him solve his identity crisis.
As an overseas-returned intellectual whose entire family had been persecuted by bandits, leaving him alone, it was easier to explain his origins. Otherwise, it would have been difficult to explain who he was and where he came from.
Fortunately, there were no identity cards in this era, and with the vast territory of the country, it was troublesome to investigate household registrations, saving Xu Yan from many potential troubles.
"Second Senior Brother, you've asked nineteen times already. The town is naturally different from the West, at least there aren't blond, blue-eyed foreigners walking everywhere."
Xu Yan took the goods off his bike and placed them on the ground, explaining with a helpless look.
Picking up the goods, Wen Cai asked slyly, "Junior brother, I've heard that some foreign women are busty and have big hips. Is that true?"
Xu Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Well, it's not exactly like that. There are big and small ones everywhere, but foreigners are generally larger."
Sometimes Xu Yan really wanted to show Wen Cai and Qiusheng some videos on his phone to let them understand what a "foreigner battle" was like!
"There are many foreigners in the provincial capital. You can go and see them if you have a chance."
"What are you chatting about? Did Qiusheng go to the shop?"
Uncle Ninth, wearing pajamas, stuck his head out and looked at them. Often, Xu Yan found it difficult to distinguish between pajamas and formal wear in this era because they looked so similar.
"First Senior Brother has already gone to the shop. Second Senior Brother is curious about foreign women, so we chatted a bit."
Xu Yan winked and "sold out" Wen Cai.
Upon hearing this, Uncle Ninth frowned unhappily. "Are you very interested in foreign women?"
"No, no, master. Don't listen to junior brother's nonsense."
Wen Cai quickly shook his head in denial and ran into the Yizhuang with the goods in his hands, causing Uncle Ninth to sigh and glance at Xu Yan before turning back. "And you, knowing how honest your Second Senior Brother is, you still tease him. Haven't you forgotten anything?"
Xu Yan smiled and nodded, "No, I've bought everything."
It was just a joke, harmless and innocent. Knowing that Uncle Ninth wouldn't be angry about such things, Xu Yan teased Wen Cai. Who asked him to be so curious, asking the same question countless times a day?
"Alright, take a good rest after practicing fist position (a type of martial arts). Tonight, follow me. Wen Cai will guard the Yizhuang."
Nodding, Uncle Ninth turned and walked into the courtyard, failing to notice Xu Yan stiffening outside the door.
Although he knew this day would come sooner or later, Xu Yan was still nervous, wondering if the ghosts would be terrifying.
"By the way, are foreign women really that big?"
Suddenly, Uncle Ninth, who had already walked into the courtyard, turned back and asked. Xu Yan was stunned and nodded, seemingly acknowledging that they were indeed big, at least in that aspect, domestic women lagged behind European and American women.
"Oh~"
Uncle Ninth nodded, "I see."
What was happening here?!!
Xu Yan was speechless. He locked his bike, carried the remaining items into the courtyard, and began practicing fist position. The fist position was taught by Uncle Ninth, said to strengthen the body. As a disciple of Maoshan (a sect in Chinese mythology), it wasn't enough to just have magical powers, one must also have a good physique.
After practicing a set of health-preserving fist position and breaking a sweat, Xu Yan carefully washed his body before returning to his room to rest.
"System."
Lying in bed, Xu Yan summoned the system.
Xu Yan: Male
Twenty-first Generation Successor of Maoshan: (Mortal)
Martial Arts Techniques: (None)
Body Cultivation: (None)
Talismans and Spells: (None)
Remaining Virtue Points: Zero
A series of "nones," and the number of virtue points was zero.
Virtue points were something from the prehistoric world, weren't they? Xu Yan couldn't understand why they existed in this movie-like world. He only knew that he was now penniless and knew nothing.
Since he had just become a disciple, Uncle Ninth hadn't taught him any Taoist techniques or spells, only a set of health-preserving fist position that couldn't even reach the level of body cultivation.
Sleep, sleep. I had to catch ghosts tonight. Oh no, I meant, be caught by ghosts!!
The thought of following his master to perform a ritual tonight made Xu Yan feel uneasy. First Senior Brother Qiusheng was busy helping his aunt run the shop, Second Senior Brother Wen Cai was innocently naive, and the Yizhuang needed someone to guard it. As a new disciple, Uncle Ninth planned to take Xu Yan out to gain more experience before teaching him Taoist techniques.
With Xu Yan's current abilities, performing rituals belonged to the category of being caught by ghosts rather than catching them. If he weren't going with his master, Uncle Ninth, Xu Yan wouldn't dare to get involved.
Perhaps his golden finger was related to being a Taoist and catching ghosts and demons. He would find out the result tonight. Now, it's time to sleep!
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]