The next morning, Li Yuan went to the patrol team’s station.
Wang De watched Li Yuan enter. He didn’t speak at first, but after sensing his presence for a mont, he asked.
"I was going to ask you yesterday."
Wang De picked up his cup of hot tea and took a sip, his gaze sweeping over Li Yuan.
"Your aura has grown much stronger. Did you have a breakthrough?"
"Qi Refining Fifth Level."
Wang De nodded. A faint smile touched his lips, but it vanished just as quickly.
"Good. Qi Refining Fifth Level is more than enough to qualify for vice-captain in the patrol team. Otherwise, you’d have to put in the years."
"The circumstances were special before, but now your position is fully justified."
Wang De set down his teacup.
"Two things. First, a new batch of Cultivators trained by the Wang family will arrive in a couple of days. Most will go to the guard unit, but the patrol team will get a few. I’ll assign two rookies to you."
"Second, you don’t need to go to the outer periter for now. Focus on patrolling the market square and get your affairs in order."
Li Yuan nodded in agreent. ’These so-called "trained Cultivators" are just external mbers, sa as I was,’ he thought.
Wang De waved his hand, dismissing him.
Leaving the station, Li Yuan walked from West Street toward East Street.
Before he even reached the end of the alley, he heard a clamor of voices from ahead.
Turning onto East Street, he found a scene completely different from a few days ago.
The street was once again packed with people.
Stalls stood shoulder to shoulder, every empty spot from the past few days now filled. So vendors had even squeezed a cloth mat between two established stalls, barely managing to set up half a display. A constant stream of figures bustled through the aisle, and the sounds of bargaining rose and fell.
At first glance, it looked almost as bustling as the market square had been during its peak a few months ago.
Li Yuan continued down East Street at a steady pace.
After a few dozen steps, he began to notice so differences.
The stall of a Loose Cultivator selling ore fragnts by the roadside was deserted, its owner dozing off with his chin in his hand. But next door, a stall selling herbs was surrounded by four or five people dressed as traveling rchants, with large packs on their backs and storage pouches at their waists, haggling with the vendor.
Further on, an old vendor selling Talismans also had few custors, but a short line had ford at the entrance of a shop across the street. Li Yuan glanced over and saw they were all traveling rchants. Those who ca out of the shop were all carrying bulging cloth sacks.
The traveling rchants were buying supplies and selling their wares, while business for the local Loose Cultivators had grown even colder.
When he reached the end of North Alley, the familiar, simple cloth awning was still there.
But what was on the stall’s surface was different from before.
Previously, Old Zhang’s stall always had a dozen or so Cleaning Talismans displayed, with Fireball Talismans and Ice Cone Talismans in the back row and Exorcism Talismans off to one corner. The arrangent wasn’t exactly neat, but it looked like a proper business, with everything ready to be grabbed.
Today, the stall’s surface was spotless, with only a few Cleaning Talismans left, neatly stacked and tied into a bundle with a thin string. The Fireball Talismans and Ice Cone Talismans were gone. The Exorcism Talismans were gone, too. Four small stones held down the corners of the stall cloth, which lay stretched flat by the wind.
It looked like it had been deliberately packed up.
Old Zhang sat under the awning, but he held no talisman-crafting brush, nor were there any cinnabar or yellow paper. A small, tightly tied cloth bundle sat before him.
Standing beside him was a teenager, tall and thin with bright eyes. He carried a bundle on his back that was a size larger than Old Zhang’s and held a bamboo basket in his hand.
It was Old Zhang’s grandson, Zhang Qiu.
Li Yuan ca to a stop in front of the stall.
Old Zhang looked up. Seeing it was Li Yuan, he stood and clasped his hands in a gesture of respect.
"Li Dao You."
"Old Zhang." Li Yuan’s gaze swept over the clean stall surface and the packed bundles.
Old Zhang didn’t beat around the bush.
"I’m planning to take Xiaoyu to the Li family’s market square."
His tone was level, a simple statent of fact.
"Have you made up your mind?"
"I have." Old Zhang bent down, removed the stones from the stall cloth, and tucked the last bundle of Cleaning Talismans into his sleeve.
"I can’t do business here anymore. The price of herbs keeps rising, so the cost of crafting my talismans is getting higher and higher, but the selling price hasn’t increased much. If I stay any longer, I’ll only be spending Spirit Stones, not earning them."
Old Zhang straightened up and dusted off his hands.
"Besides, the traveling rchants have been poaching business lately. I’m afraid my sales will be poor for a long ti to co."
"The Li family’s market square has opened a new stall area that allows outside Loose Cultivators to set up shop, and the stall fees are halved for the first three months. I heard the herb prices there are twenty percent cheaper than here, and there are a few workshops that make talisman paper. The price for beast-skin paper is reasonable, too."
Li Yuan glanced at the boy beside him.
Xiaoyu stood there, the bundle on his back wider than his own fra. The weight of the bamboo basket in his hand made him lean slightly to one side, but his eyes sparkled, and a hint of irrepressible excitent played at the corners of his mouth.
Old Zhang followed Li Yuan’s gaze to his grandson. He shook his head, but his own lips curved into a slight smile.
"Kids don’t know the dangers of the outside world."
Li Yuan thought for a mont before saying, "It’s nearly a hundred li from here to the Li family’s market square. The road isn’t safe."
"I know." Old Zhang nodded. "A group of traveling rchants is heading south this morning. I’ve already spoken with them, and we’ll travel together. There’s safety in numbers."
Traveling with a rchant group was indeed much safer than the two of them journeying alone.
Li Yuan didn’t try to persuade him further.
Old Zhang was silent for a breath, then took a thin booklet from his robes.
The booklet wasn’t large, just a little wider than a palm. Its cover was made of coarse yellow paper with curled corners, bound with thin thread. It clearly had so age to it.
Old Zhang handed the booklet over.
"I’d like to leave this with you, Li Dao You."
Li Yuan took the booklet and flipped through it. Inside were handwritten instructions for crafting Talismans. The characters were crooked, but the explanations were clear, with each step accompanied by a simple sketch of the Spirit Pattern’s flow. It contained instructions for two Talismans in total—the Cleaning Talisman and the Exorcism Talisman.
"What is this...?"
Li Yuan asked.
"These are my notes from years of crafting talismans. My skill is low, so it’s not worth much. You could probably learn it all from an old Talisman Master for a dozen or so Spirit Stones." Old Zhang rubbed his hands together.
"These two are the only ones I’m decent at. You’ve already learned the Cleaning Skill, so the Cleaning Talisman should be easy for you to pick up. The Exorcism Talisman is sowhat useful; it can ward off a few ghosts and ghouls when you’re out and about."
"As for the Fireball Talisman and Ice Cone Talisman, the person who taught said I couldn’t pass them on."
Li Yuan closed the booklet and slipped it into his sleeve.
The mont his fingers touched the booklet, a notification popped up on his panel.
[Detectable Equippable Item: Talisman Crafting Manual (Complete)]
[Item Affix Grade: White]
Li Yuan’s expression remained unchanged.
"Thank you."
Old Zhang waved his hand dismissively.
"It’s a little embarrassing to admit, but sotis when I had conflicts with other Loose Cultivators, I would ntion that I knew a vice-captain in the market square patrol. Most of the ti, that was enough to help."
After speaking, Old Zhang bent down, folded the stall cloth, and placed the last small stone back on the ground.
Li Yuan watched as Old Zhang pulled out the few bamboo poles that made up the awning and deftly tied them into a bundle.
And just like that, the stall was packed away.
Ever since Li Yuan had transmigrated here, he had seen this stall set up at the end of North Alley during every patrol. Old Zhang would be sitting under the awning, crafting talismans, with an endless supply of Cleaning Talismans on display. Occasionally, soone would buy one or two, but most of the ti, he just sat there.
Li Yuan took a stack of Talismans and so pills from his sleeve.
Two Spirit Shield Talismans, two Fire Snake Talismans, one Godspeed Talisman, and the Healing Elixirs he had bought earlier.
"Take these for the road."
Old Zhang froze for a mont, but he didn’t refuse. He reached out his rough palm and took them all.
"Then this old man won’t be polite."
Old Zhang clasped his hands again, then bent down to pick up the cloth bundle on the ground.
Xiaoyu ca over from the side and also clasped his hands toward Li Yuan. His movents were stiff but earnest.
"Thank you, Brother Li."
Li Yuan nodded.
Old Zhang tucked the bundle of bamboo poles under his arm, carried the cloth bundle in his other hand, and started walking toward the mouth of the alley. Xiaoyu followed behind with the large pack on his back, the bamboo basket swinging in his hand.
After taking a few steps, Old Zhang turned back and clasped his hands toward Li Yuan one last ti.
"Li Dao You, take care."
Li Yuan nodded.
The figures of the grandfather and grandson turned out of North Alley and disappeared into the crowd on East Street.
With the awning gone, a small empty space was left at the end of North Alley. All that remained were a few shallow holes at the base of the wall where the bamboo poles had been stuck.
Li Yuan stood there for a mont before turning to continue his patrol.
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