Buying Weapons

Li Banfeng and Qin Xiaopang settled on the deal and prepared to go to Bitter Mist Mountain to collect Snake Spot Chrysanthemums.

That evening, Qin Xiaopang went back to pack his bags and invited Li Banfeng to stay at his place for the night, but Li Banfeng politely declined.

For Shut-in Cultivators, spending at least two hours a day in their abode is the most basic rule of cultivation. With Qiao Yuesheng's example right there, Li Banfeng dared not break the rule.

The two agreed to meet at the noodle shop at eight the next morning, but Li Banfeng didn't have a watch or any timekeeping tool. By the time he arrived at the noodle shop, it was almost noon.

It wasn't Li Banfeng's fault for oversleeping; inside the Portable Abode, there was no distinction between day and night, and the quality of sleep was simply too good.

Qin Xiaopang was anxious. "Brother Li, why are you so late? We need to hurry. Let's go to Inner Valley first."

"What are we going to Inner Valley for?"

"To buy some handy tools."

Li Banfeng was puzzled. "Aren't we going up the mountain to collect herbs? Isn't a shovel and a sack enough? Do we need to go to Inner Valley to buy these things?"

Qin Xiaopang shook his head. "There's no time. I'll tell you when we get there."

After treating Li Banfeng to two bowls of Yangchun Noodles, Qin Xiaopang ate eight bowls himself, gathering his strength. The two of them ran to Inner Valley together.

Li Banfeng used only a third of his strength, and Qin Xiaopang struggled to keep up behind him. Once a Food Cultivator is full, their speed and endurance are far superior to ordinary people, barely able to keep up with a Travel Cultivator.

It had taken Li Banfeng most of the day to walk slowly from Inner Valley before, but now, running back, it took less than two hours to reach Inner Valley.

Qin Xiaopang was out of breath from running and took Li Banfeng directly to Pailou Street.

As soon as they reached this street, Li Banfeng felt a little nervous because the He Family Old House was nearby, and Lu Xiaolan was still in the house.

Qin Xiaopang didn't know about the He Family Old House; he was going to Feng's General Store.

The owner of the general store was dusting the shelves with a feather duster. Seeing the two enter, he quickly greeted them with a smile. "Boss Qin, haven't seen you around lately. And this customer, thank you for your patronage again."

He recognized Qin Xiaopang and also recognized Li Banfeng. Li Banfeng was still wearing the hat he had bought from him.

Qin Xiaopang wasn't in the mood for pleasantries and asked directly, "Steward Feng, do you have any good tools? I'm going out for a business trip."

Qin Xiaopang's business didn't seem suitable for discussing at the counter. Steward Feng called a clerk to watch the door and said to Li Banfeng and Qin Xiaopang, "Please come to the back room for a cup of tea."

Li Banfeng and Qin Xiaopang followed Steward Feng to the back room. The so-called back room had even more shelves than the front room, with goods stacked layer upon layer, very crowded. If it weren't for a tea table in the center of the room, it would purely be a warehouse.

The three sat by the tea table. Steward Feng brewed tea and asked in a low voice, "Don't blame me for being nosy, but may I ask what kind of business you two are doing?"

"Bitter Mist Mountain, collecting flowers," Qin Xiaopang answered directly.

Steward Feng thought for a moment and took a small sickle from the shelf.

The blade of this sickle was no more than ten centimeters long, and the handle was even shorter, just enough to be held in one hand.

Qin Xiaopang looked at the miniature sickle and was stunned for a long time before saying, "Steward Feng, what are you giving me this sickle for? This thing isn't even good for harvesting wheat."

Steward Feng was also surprised. "Boss Qin, aren't you going up Bitter Mist Mountain to pick flowers? This sickle is perfect for picking flowers."

Qin Xiaopang frowned. "I don't treat you as an outsider, but you're treating me like a fool. If I wanted to buy a sickle, would I need to come to you?"

Steward Feng said with a helpless expression, "Boss Qin, you said you were going to pick flowers. I'm giving you the tool for picking flowers. What did I do wrong?"

Qin Xiaopang grew anxious. "Are you really not understanding, or are you pretending not to? Can you just pick the flowers on Bitter Mist Mountain?"

Steward Feng shook his head repeatedly. "This time I truly don't understand. This sickle, if you want it, take it. If not, then don't."

As the two argued, Li Banfeng saw some insight.

Qin Xiaopang knew some inside information about Bitter Mist Mountain, but not much.

He also understood a bit about the rules of the jianghu, but his understanding was limited.

Li Banfeng grew up in a welfare institute and worked odd jobs to attend university. He had met many people and encountered many things. He could tell at a glance that the real old hand was this Steward Feng.

Li Banfeng quickly smoothed things over and said to Qin Xiaopang, "Brother, I don't understand either. What exactly do you want to buy?"

Qin Xiaopang frowned. "Weapons!"

"What do you need weapons for?"

Qin Xiaopang only explained one sentence: "The flowers are easy to pick, but the mountain is hard to descend."

That single sentence made the hidden meaning clear.

Snake Spot Chrysanthemums were very precious, and many people wanted to go up the mountain to pick them. It was likely that many people also wanted to snatch the flowers. Qin Xiaopang wanted to buy a weapon for self-defense.

Steward Feng naturally understood Qin Xiaopang's meaning and replied with a sentence: "It's easy to descend the mountain with a sickle, but with an Azure Dragon Blade, the road becomes difficult."

Li Banfeng asked, "What do you mean by that?"

The steward smiled and said, "Someone carrying a sickle is a farmer. Someone carrying an Azure Dragon Blade is Guan Di.

A farmer walks quietly, at most encountering a few petty thieves. With one slash, the matter is resolved.

Guan Di walks carrying an Azure Dragon Blade, having to pass five gates and slay six generals. Without Guan Di's ability, can you still descend this mountain?"

As he spoke, the steward touched the blade of the sickle. Li Banfeng was indeed knowledgeable and could tell it was a good blade.

Li Banfeng said, "How much is this blade? I'll buy it."

Qin Xiaopang stared from the side and said, "What's the use of buying this? Let's go look elsewhere. I have plenty of connections."

Steward Feng didn't try to keep them. "Boss Qin, then you should go look elsewhere. I don't have the weapons you're looking for."

This Steward Feng was a good person; he didn't want to harm Qin Xiaopang.

Li Banfeng insisted on buying the sickle. The steward quoted five hundred, and Li Banfeng didn't haggle, preparing to borrow five hundred yuan from Qin Xiaopang.

Qin Xiaopang's heart ached. "This kind of thing costs five hundred yuan?"

Li Banfeng's money pouch was tight, and Steward Feng saw it.

The day before yesterday, he had helped him with directions, and this young man had bought a top hat and a feather duster. Steward Feng remembered clearly that this was a sensible person.

"What should I call you, guest?"

Li Banfeng replied, "My surname is Li, and my name is Li Qi."

"Boss Li, I'll sell you this blade on credit. You can settle the bill after you return from picking the flowers."

Sell it to me on credit?

Li Banfeng was stunned.

Steward Feng's smile didn't change. "You're someone who can achieve things. I trust you."

Li Banfeng thanked him and accepted the sickle.

Steward Feng took out a small shovel from under the counter, about ten centimeters long, and handed it to Li Banfeng. "Some flowers are rooted deep and are hard to pick. Do you think this shovel is suitable?"

Li Banfeng took the shovel, looked at its shape, and felt the edge. He asked, "How much is this shovel?"

Steward Feng smiled and said, "In terms of material and craftsmanship, this shovel is better than that sickle. Reasonably speaking, eight hundred wouldn't be expensive. You're someone who knows quality. If you think it's suitable, you can have it for seven hundred yuan."

"Seven hundred..." Li Banfeng hesitated a little. It was a good item, but taking out another loan felt a bit inappropriate.

Steward Feng understood Li Banfeng's difficulty. "Take it and use it first. If it feels good to use, you can bring the money. If not, you can bring the item back."

Li Banfeng accepted the shovel and then wanted to buy a few cloth bags from the steward.

Steward Feng gave him two. "Two cloth bags are enough. Flowers are easy to pick, but hard to carry down the mountain."

Li Banfeng took his advice. Steward Feng smiled and said, "Is there anything else you want to buy?"

There were no windows in the Portable Abode, so he couldn't see the sun or moon, and couldn't distinguish between day and night. Li Banfeng wanted to buy a watch.

Steward Feng took out a pocket watch. The watch body was two sizes larger than a one-yuan coin, with a shiny silver case that reflected people's images.

Snap!

He pressed open the case. On the white dial, twelve exquisite hour markers were embossed.

The crown, which is the stem used to wind the pocket watch, was at the twelve o'clock position. Steward Feng held the stem and twisted it a few times, then pulled the stem out two notches.

Li Banfeng had seen this kind of mechanical watch before. When the crown wasn't pulled out, it was for winding. Pulling it out one notch was for setting the time, and pulling it out two notches was for setting the date.

There was no date on this dial, so why did he pull it out two notches?

Tick-tock, tick-tick-tock~

The pocket watch made the sound of a music box.

Such a familiar tune. He seemed to have heard it somewhere before.

A shopping mall? A restaurant?

A VIP on the upper floor?

Li Banfeng had worked in these places, and he had a deep impression of this tune, but he could never remember its name.

He hadn't listened to music in a long time.

This sound made Li Banfeng feel very close.

"What's the price of this watch?"

Steward Feng held the watch chain. "A pocket watch from Cheman Country. If it's fake, you can return it. Two thousand two. I can't let you take this on credit."

Li Banfeng was a little tempted, but the price was staggering.

Qin Xiaopang said impatiently, "What's the use of buying this thing! It's better to buy a clock!"

Steward Feng smiled but didn't speak.

Qin Xiaopang urged them to hurry. Li Banfeng glanced at the shelves to see if there was anything else useful. His gaze suddenly stopped on a strange object.

It was a wooden cabinet, an antique mahogany cabinet, about the size of two bedside tables stacked together. Above the cabinet were three metal horn-shaped flowers.

To be precise, they weren't horn-shaped flowers; they were three horns. One was very large, with an opening bigger than a plate, and the other two were much smaller, with openings about the size of a fist.

"Is this a phonograph?" Li Banfeng's eyes lit up. He had seen this thing on television; it was a machine that played music from records.

"Phonograph?" Steward Feng shook his head. "This isn't called a phonograph."

What it was called wasn't important.

If there was a phonograph, it meant there was electricity.

With electricity, he could charge his phone.

If his phone was charged, this world would be perfect!

Even if there was no phone signal, at least he wouldn't have to buy a watch.

But Steward Feng's answer greatly disappointed Li Banfeng. "We don't have anything that uses electricity here. This is a gramophone; it doesn't use electricity."

Li Banfeng couldn't understand how this thing could make sound without electricity.

It wasn't until today that he learned that the most primitive record players had nothing to do with electricity or magnetism, only with two things: the stylus and the record.

Steward Feng placed a bakelite record on the gramophone's platter. From the drawer below the gramophone, he took out a crank, inserted it into the gramophone, and turned it vigorously about a dozen times.

This was winding the spring of the gramophone.

With the spring fully wound, he flicked a pin, and the record on the platter began to spin rapidly.

Steward Feng placed the stylus on the record, and a song, accompanied by fine static, drifted out from the horn.

"Floating~ clouds~ scatter,

The bright moon shines upon us,

Reunion is perfect,

Drunk tonight~"

The moon is full, the flowers are beautiful.

The principle of the ancient gramophone was very simple.

The record had grooves of varying depths. These grooves were carved onto the record by the stylus vibrating while the song was being sung.

Now, as the stylus moved along the grooves on the record, the sound produced by the friction reproduced the song from that time.

This was the acoustic principle of the gramophone.

The sound quality couldn't be called good; in fact, it was somewhat rough.

But Li Banfeng really liked the tune and listened with great pleasure.

Unfortunately, the time was a bit short. In less than three minutes, the stylus reached the end, the spring also reached its limit, and the record stopped.

Qin Xiaopang looked disdainful. "What's so good about this? You have to crank the handle for ages just to listen to one song. It's too much trouble."

"You don't have to wind it up to listen to music," Steward Feng said, taking a new record and placing it on the turntable.

He brought over an iron cup and added two cups of water to the small horn next to the large one.

Steward Feng struck a match and opened a small door on the lower right side of the phonograph.

Inside the door was a hidden compartment. Fixed within the compartment was an iron box containing half a box of grease, with a wick standing in the center of the grease.

He lit the wick, and a cluster of firelight filled the entire compartment.

Li Banfeng didn't know what kind of oil it was, but he could feel the intense heat from a distance.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

The small horn on the right side of the large horn rhythmically sprayed mist.

The small horn on the left was for adding water, and the one on the right was for releasing steam.

What kind of operation was this?

Could it be...

The record began to spin on the phonograph.

A steam-powered phonograph?

How precise was this machinery?

Li Banfeng's eyes widened. The education he had received over the past decade was once again being challenged.

After waiting for about a minute, the record's speed gradually stabilized, and Steward Feng placed the needle on the record.

"Butterflies fly away, My heart is no longer here, Who will come in the desolate long night, To wipe away the tears on my cheeks~~"

Wild Grasses and Flowers Meet Spring.

What a beautiful melody.

PS: Esteemed readers, important characters are appearing. Pay close attention!