txolops Chapter 14: Xuanming Sect! Qingyuefang!
Chapter 14: Xuanming Sect! Qingyuefang!
"Brother Dali, what brings you here?"
A short while later, Aqing ran over with the boy.
Chu Xuan gave a simple, honest smile and gestured with his hand.
"You mean, your family... you're all alone now?" Seeing Chu Xuan's gestures, A Qing was shocked and asked in disbelief.
Then, remembering that Chu Xuan couldn't hear, he quickly began to gesture with his hands and repeated it.
Seeing Chu Xuan nod, A Qing immediately fell silent.
"This child is quite pitiful. He wasn't a normal person to begin with, and then he suffered such a terrible misfortune!"
"Oh, poor child."
"The mountains and forests are treacherous; even immortals are in danger of perishing, let alone us mortals."
In an instant, everyone's attitude changed completely, and their gazes toward Chu Xuan became much more amiable.
"This kid is not only pitiful, but he's also quite cunning."
Just as everyone was lamenting Chu Xuan's tragic past, a blunt voice rang out.
Everyone turned to look and saw Wang's second sister-in-law staring at Chu Xuan with an unfriendly expression.
"Second Sister-in-law Wang, how can I begin to explain this? This child is ill, and now both parents have passed away. He is truly pitiful..."
Wang's second sister-in-law snorted coldly, "I didn't say he wasn't pitiful, but his pitifulness is his business. What does it have to do with Aqing? He came to our village again after half a year. I think he wants to pester Aqing."
"Ah Qing is a young, unmarried woman. If she gets entangled with him, what good will come of it?"
"Second Sister-in-law Wang is right. Aqing is a virgin, and Old Xu only has one daughter. There are only two people in the family. It's really not appropriate for a man to suddenly appear."
"Oh yeah, I hadn't thought of that just now."
Upon hearing this, Wang's second sister-in-law immediately snorted coldly, "I felt it was inappropriate at the time, but the village chief had already spoken, telling Aqing's family to take care of her first, so I had nothing to say."
"Things are different now. This kid's shrewd. He can't make it on his own outside, so he wants to freeload at Aqing's house!"
"They clearly know the way, but half a year has passed and they haven't even come to thank Aqing's family. Now that they're down on their luck and can't make a living, they suddenly remember Aqing."
"Sister-in-law Wang, I..." Ah Qing, who was standing to the side, wanted to say something, but didn't know how to say it.
At first, Aqing was quite happy to hear that Brother Dali had arrived, but now, after hearing what Sister-in-law Wang said, she felt a bit confused and didn't know what to do.
Sensing that something was amiss in the atmosphere, Chu Xuan's heart tightened slightly, especially when he saw everyone's gaze focused on A Qing and the changes in A Qing's expression.
Chu Xuan had a rough idea of what was going on. He had originally planned to give it to A Qing privately later, but since that was the case, he could only give it to her now.
He counted out five gold beans from the gold beans he had prepared at his waist and handed them to Ah Qing.
This was specially prepared by Chu Xuan before he came. In this new world, the currency used is still metal currency, gold beans, each weighing about three grams.
Chu Xuan didn't know the specifics of their purchasing power, as he had never seen any merchants in the village.
But their purchasing power should be quite good, since Aqing's father usually only carries two or three pills with him.
Gold is not rare in the Federation. It is mainly used for decoration and does not have the same prestigious status as in my previous life. Its price is only twice that of silver, at thirty Federation dollars per gram, which is not expensive.
The truly valuable stones in the Federation are those containing a thin layer of spiritual energy, which can often sell for thousands or tens of thousands of Federation dollars per gram. If the spiritual energy is abundant, they can even sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars per gram.
Those in the federal government who do not rely on government subsidies have only one pursuit: things imbued with spirituality.
This time, Chu Xuan also prepared one hundred gold beans, about three hundred grams, which cost Chu Xuan three months' worth of allowance.
Adding the 9,999 miniature fairy puppets, the expenditure was nearly 20,000. If Chu Xuan hadn't saved some money before he turned eighteen, he really wouldn't have been able to make ends meet with just this half-year subsidy.
"Brother Dali, is this money for me?"
As she spoke, Aqing gestured with her hands again.
Chu Xuan nodded immediately.
"No need, no need," Aqing waved her hands repeatedly.
"No need, Brother Dali. You've helped us with a lot of work before, so you don't need to take any money. Right now, that's exactly when you need money."
Chu Xuan gestured again, indicating that the money was to thank A Qing and that he wanted to settle down in the village.
With the help of Aqing and the others around her, they managed to understand Chu Xuan's meaning through a combination of guesswork and deduction.
"Brother Dali, you can keep the money, you don't need to give it to me. It's not difficult to register your household in the village. Just tell the village chief when you're done."
Chu Xuan persisted for a while, but seeing that A Qing insisted on not taking it, Chu Xuan took it back. Anyway, he didn't plan to give it to her now, and with so many people around, it would be better to give it to her.
After saying that, Aqing took Chu Xuan to the village chief to register his household, and his name became Dali.
As for accommodation, they will stay at Aqing's house temporarily, and will need to rebuild their house later.
A month later, a somewhat empty wooden house was built. Apart from the safe house, Chu Xuan finally had a foothold in this world.
Of course, money was inevitably used in this process. Even though Chu Xuan participated in the construction of the house, he spent all five gold beans he had.
However, there are also advantages. Because of the need to build a house, many people were needed to help. The Fairy Puppet interacted with the villagers every day, which increased the speed at which it collected language data several times faster. At present, the Fairy Puppet has compiled two thousand commonly used words and mastered all the daily vocabulary. At least in the village, it can communicate without any obstacles.
Of course, this only applies when there is a Celestial Puppet. Without a Celestial Puppet, Chu Xuan's current language proficiency is only enough to handle some high-frequency words. It will take some time before he can fully master them.
Having overcome the language barrier, Chu Xuan's understanding of this world finally made a milestone.
This village, named Xu Family Village, is located around Xuanming Sect and Qingyue Ward, and is one of the hundreds of auxiliary villages under the jurisdiction of Qingyue Ward.
Xujia Village is mainly responsible for making talisman paper. From cutting down trees to finally making the talisman paper, the entire process is handled by the villagers of Xujia Village.
It takes at least eight months to go from a tree to a qualified talisman!
This kind of time-consuming task is definitely not something cultivators would do themselves. In the Federation, this kind of work is usually done by celestial puppets. In this world, this job naturally falls into the hands of mortals who cannot cultivate.
One hundred standard-sized talismans can be exchanged for one coin of gold, which is the source of income for the entire village.
As for the money, it is used for the market agreed upon by the surrounding villages on the 15th and 25th of each month, where people from each village go to the market to buy what they need.
This is the lifestyle of the villagers in Xujia Village.
As for Qingyuefang, it is a place that only cultivators can set foot in. Ordinary people have no chance of setting foot in it. Only a few people in the village who have entered the Body Refinement Realm through the Body Refinement Techniques passed down by the Immortal Master of the Market have the opportunity to set foot in the market.