Chapter 23: “So, None of You Brought Money?” p2
The envoy was surprised that not only did the two female immortals refuse, but the male immortal didn’t touch the wine either.
Li Yu explained, “My nephew is young, and his master is strict.”
“Young, yes, yes… Young is good, very good.” Zhao Xianchen forced a smile, then, realizing his gaffe, quickly added, “Immortal Mo is so accomplished at such a young age, Immortal Li Yu must possess unimaginable power!”
“Of course!” Mu Tao puffed out her chest proudly. “My master is…”
Li Yu panicked and tugged at Mu Tao’s sleeve.
Mu Tao suddenly remembered her master’s instructions to be low-key. She stopped mid-sentence.
Zhao Xianchen: “Is?”
Mu Tao blinked and said loudly, “My Master is…well, she’s my Master!”
Mo Yichu chimed in, “And my Master Li Yu.”
Mu Tao: “My Master is the best!”
Mo Yichu glanced at Mu Tao but didn’t agree with that statement.
Every disciple believed their master was the best; he didn’t share her sentiment.
Zhao Xianchen, oblivious to their inner thoughts, stood awkwardly in the corridor, holding two jars of wine, with no invitation to enter.
After a brief silence, he politely bid farewell to the three immortals and quickly left.
Li Yu watched him leave and then glanced at Mo Yichu.
“Immortal Mo, isn’t it inappropriate for Lord Zhao to address you like that? Why didn’t you correct him?”
Her tone was calm, but there was a hint of sarcasm that Mu Tao wouldn’t understand.
Mo Yichu bowed. “Replying to Master Li Yu, before leaving Mount Chao Yao, Qingxuan Revered One instructed this disciple not to cause others embarrassment unless absolutely necessary.”
Well, he adapted quickly.
So nonchalant now, yet he deducted her points earlier…
Forget it, why bother?
Time to ask about more important matters.
“Are you confident in dealing with that Luoyu?”
“This disciple left a trace of my spiritual aura within the Wind Spirit Pearl; it can guide me. Although that Luoyu appears powerful, its cultivation isn’t that high. Without any hindrance, this disciple can handle it alone.” Mo Yichu replied seriously. “However, this disciple is not of the Winged Clan and cannot fly for long. I’ll need a small boat.”
The word “hindrance” felt like a personal attack.
Why hadn’t she noticed how blunt this guy was when reading the novel?
“Ask Lord Zhao for anything you need after we reach shore. The Luoyu is your responsibility.” Li Yu patted his shoulder encouragingly.
Mo Yichu: “Yes, Master Li Yu!”
Li Yu: “No need to be so formal.”
Mo Yichu: “…Oh.”
Mu Tao giggled softly, then quickly adopted a serious expression.
Wanting to help her senior brother, she asked, “It’s getting late, Master, are you going to rest?”
Li Yu nodded, returned to her room, bolted the door, and lay down on the bed again.
“You should rest too, Senior Brother!” Mu Tao said, her hands behind her back, as she skipped back to her own room.
The cabin was small. She touched the bed where her master had been sitting, a smile appearing on her face.
Two days later, after more than three months at sea, the merchant ship finally reached shore safely.
The ship had been rented by the envoy. Apart from a dozen or so imperial cultivators, the rest were ordinary people working on the ship.
They had journeyed to an overseas immortal mountain, encountered a legendary sea monster, experiences they would never forget and could boast about for the rest of their lives.
Zhao Xianchen, still worried about the Luoyu, approached Li Yu as soon as they disembarked.
“Immortal, Immortal…” he said anxiously, “That Luoyu, having obtained the spiritual pearl, will be even more difficult to deal with. If we leave it in this area, the fishermen of Lan City will suffer…”
Li Yu nodded repeatedly and pushed Mo Yichu forward.
Let them discuss the Luoyu; she could only offer moral support.
The two walked and talked, and it seemed all Mo Yichu needed was a small boat.
Zhao Xianchen repeatedly asked if he needed any assistance, expressing concern about the small boat’s ability to withstand the waves, and offered a larger one, but was refused each time.
“In that case, I’ll leave it to you, Immortal Mo. I’ll prepare the boat shortly!”
With that, Zhao Xianchen led the three immortals and the other cultivators to an inn.
“Please stay here until the Luoyu is dealt with. If you need anything, just ask. I’m staying in that room.” Zhao Xianchen pointed to his room and then tactfully excused himself.
Lan City was a coastal city, a hub for trade.
This was the best inn in the city, bustling with people and business.
The curious stares made Li Yu uncomfortable. She quickly retreated to her room and closed the door.
But she hadn’t been inside long when she heard a commotion outside.
She could hear her little disciple’s voice.
Curious, Li Yu opened a crack in the window and looked out.
A street vendor selling fans was shouting at his customers.
And those customers, coincidentally, were the two juniors from Mount Chao Yao.
Li Yu’s vision darkened. She opened the door, lifted her skirts, and hurried downstairs.
“Hey, I can see you two are not ordinary people, with your clothes and demeanor. I’m just a small-time vendor trying to make a living, can you stop messing with me?”
The vendor’s loud voice attracted a crowd.
Mu Tao, clutching a new round fan, looked flustered.
“I wasn’t…”
“Then why did you give me these useless rocks? And you even brought someone to help you bully me!”
Mu Tao lowered her gaze, too ashamed to speak.
Mo Yichu: “These are spirit stones.”
Vendor: “Spirit stones? What are they good for? Can they make me immortal?”
Mo Yichu: “Not really.”
The vendor laughed in exasperation. “Then why give them to me? Money! You need money to buy things, understand? No money, no business! Give me back my fan and get out of here! Don’t disturb my business!”
“Yeah, you need to pay for things. You can’t just trick people with some rocks.”
“Those rocks don’t even look valuable…”
“Yeah, how can you cheat people like that?”
Li Yu pushed her way through the pointing crowd, grabbed the two fools by their shoulders, and pulled them behind her.
“Master!” Mu Tao clung to Li Yu’s sleeve, her face full of grievance.
Li Yu: “What happened?”
Vendor: “Another one to help them, is it?”
Mo Yichu: “Master Li Yu, it’s hot. Disciple Mu Tao just wanted to exchange for a fan.”
The vendor shoved the spirit stones towards Li Yu. “That’s right! She wanted to trade these useless rocks for my fan!”
Mu Tao stubbornly corrected him, “These are spirit stones!”
Li Yu quickly took a pearl ornament from her hair and offered it to the exasperated vendor. “I apologize, can we exchange this for your fan?”
The vendor was stunned. “S, sure…”
“Thank you!” Li Yu took back the spirit stones and then, without changing her expression, dragged the two dumbfounded juniors away from the crowd, leading them to a deserted alley.
Having escaped the stares, Li Yu felt she had narrowly avoided a public execution.
Oh god, this was mortifying!
How could this happen?!
—Her chronic second-hand embarrassment had struck again!
The spirit stones used for bartering on Mount Chao Yao were just ordinary stones infused with a bit of spiritual energy by Si Qinglan, distributed among the disciples for exchanging goods within the mountain.
Outside of Mount Chao Yao, these stones had no practical or even ornamental value.
Mu Tao not knowing this was understandable, but why didn’t Mo Yichu know?!
How did Weisheng Xuanzhu teach his disciple?
He was bringing his disciple to the human realm and didn’t even teach him this basic common sense!!!
“You two!!!”
Li Yu’s angry shout made the two protagonists, who knew they had done something wrong but didn’t know what, stand at attention, ready to be punished.
Seeing this, Li Yu couldn’t bring herself to scold them.
After a moment of thought, she asked sadly, “So, neither of you brought any money?”
Mo Yichu: “What is money?”
Mu Tao shrank back and bit her lip, saying nothing.
Li Yu understood.
These two only knew about spirit stones; they had no concept of money.
Mu Tao clutched the small fan and asked timidly, “Master, is money…the spirit stones of the human realm?”
Li Yu: “…Mm.”
Mu Tao: “Then what are we going to do? We don’t have any.”
Li Yu sighed and patted Mu Tao’s head.
“Don’t worry, Master has a way.”
Li Yu took a deep breath.
What was her status?
Even if she couldn’t fight, she couldn’t let her little disciple be penniless in the human realm!
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