"Uh, young man, I'm really sorry. Our clinic has run out of regular silver needles," the shopkeeper said awkwardly.
He'd been too busy admiring the beauty to check the stock.
"If you're out of regular ones, what do you have left?" Li Hao asked, dismayed. His luck really was something else.
"Uh, there's a set of 108 premium gold needles, and a packet of cow-hair needles. But both are a little expensive," the shopkeeper said softly.
Gold needles were soft and easily broken; only expert physician-martial artists could use them. Cow-hair needles needed no explanation. They were weapons used exclusively by masters of the physician-martial arts, capable of killing without a trace. They were extremely sinister.
So the shopkeeper spoke of them very cautiously, afraid someone else might overhear.
After all, physician-martial masters were extremely skilled at killing as well as saving lives, and their methods were simple and brutal—one move, one kill.
Outsiders could hardly imagine that people skilled at saving lives were also skilled killers, with methods even more vicious than assassins'. As the old saying went, the Buddha and the demon were separated by only a hair's breadth.
"Give me both." Li Hao casually pulled out a handful of gold leaves and tossed them onto the counter.
"Uh, young man, using these things..."
"Don't worry. If I dared to buy them, I can definitely use them," Li Hao explained.
He knew the shopkeeper meant well. It wasn't like he could scold him for that.
But what was this piece of red cloth in his hand? It was square, made of soft fabric, and felt nice to the touch. It didn't chafe at all. Two ducks had been embroidered on it, swimming, and a few delicate strips of cloth had been sewn along the edge.
It looked a little familiar, as if it were exactly like something Yi Lin wore.
Only Yi Lin's was plain, with no ducks embroidered on it, and it wasn't nearly this big.
Li Hao thought it over. Maybe he'd been careless while getting dressed that morning and had stuffed Ning Zhongze's into his pocket. But it was no big deal. They were husband and wife, after all. Surely it wasn't unreasonable to keep a little something as a souvenir.
Naturally, he couldn't take it out and examine it in public. He'd have to admire it slowly, in the dead of night. The ducks were beautifully embroidered, lifelike. Then Li Hao put it into the system's item storage.
Ning Zhongze: Those are mandarin ducks playing in the water, not ducks swimming! I worked my fingers to the bone for half a month embroidering that. It's my favorite one.
"Young man, here are the gold needles and cow-hair needles. If you can't use them, you can return them as long as they aren't damaged." The shopkeeper was an honest businessman; if the items weren't suitable, he'd accept returns.
"Got it. Bye-bye, then." Li Hao waved and left with the items. As for the payment, that handful of gold leaves was more than enough.
"Bai-bai? What does that mean? I'm not white!" the shopkeeper muttered, baffled.
As for the gold leaves, there were plenty of wealthy families in Hengyang City. He could borrow some from any one of them and have enough to last a long while.
"Husband, we're over here." From far away, Li Hao saw Yi Lin waving to him from a porridge stall by the street.
"Yi Lin, Abbess, you're up so early!" Li Hao said. He looked a little worn out; he hadn't slept well the night before.
Ning Zhongze's "pillow" had been too soft, and his neck was a little sore that morning. Yi Lin's was still the best, the most practical.
"Is this early? The streets are already packed with people. We martial artists train in the coldest days of winter and the hottest days of summer. We can't slack off for even a day," Abbess Dingyi admonished him.
Dingyi had raised Yi Lin from childhood and treated her as her own daughter. Though she was only Li Hao's concubine, Li Hao had no wife, so there was no harm in her giving her cheap son-in-law a bit of motherly advice.
"All right, I'll remember that. Yi Lin, what level have you reached in martial arts?" Li Hao asked casually.
"Husband, I'm already at the peak of the first-rate realm. I think I'll break through to the acquired realm very soon." Yi Lin licked her lips, as if breaking through were as easy for her as eating or sleeping.
And breaking through really was easy for Yi Lin. She didn't even need to eat; all she had to do was sleep.
Watching the young couple show off like that, Abbess Dingyi decisively turned her head away.
They were a pair of troublemakers, always coming along to ruin her mood. Now Yi Lin's senior sisters had no interest in practicing anymore; their heads were full of men.
They were thinking that one day they, too, could just lie around and have their cultivation rise by leaps and bounds like Yi Lin's.
Dingxian and Dingjing had even sat several tables away from the couple at breakfast. Dingyi had only herself to blame for running her mouth. The young couple had slept in—so what? Why had she had to say anything?
Now even her morning porridge had lost its flavor.
"Master, here, add some sugar. Husband says porridge without sugar is just a bowl of rice water." Yi Lin pulled out a packet of white sugar and handed it to her master, Abbess Dingyi.
Li Hao had gathered a large quantity of brown sugar in Hengyang City, then refined it, filtered it, and removed its color to make this.
On their wedding night, Yi Lin had suffered a severe penetrating wound and lost a lot of blood. Li Bai had worried that her health would be badly affected, so he'd thought of getting some sugar to help replenish her blood.
But the brown sugar in Hengyang City had too many impurities and tasted bad. So Li Hao had made white sugar from memories of his previous life. It came out as white as snow, and Yi Lin adored it.
"This is sugar?" Abbess Dingyi looked incredulous.
"Yes, Husband made it. He says it's snowflake sugar, and it's very sweet." Yi Lin dipped a little into her mouth, her face showing contentment.
Children loved sweets, and Yi Lin was no exception. She often asked Li Hao for some. Eventually, Li Hao got tired of the hassle and packed her a whole bag, putting the rest into the system's storage space.
"Is it sweet?" Yi Lin looked at her master expectantly.
"Mm, it's good." Abbess Dingyi took the packet, dipped a little into her mouth, and nodded in approval despite herself.
"Senior Sister Dingxian, Senior Sister Dingjing, you should try some too." Abbess Dingyi gave her two senior sisters a little sugar as well, and then...
Then she wrapped up the whole packet and stuffed it into her pocket.
Yi Lin's little mind buzzed. That was the sugar Husband had given her. Why had Master put it in her own pocket?
"Is everyone finished? If so, let's go to the Hengshan Sect's Golden Basin Hand-Washing Ceremony." Abbess Dingxian rose to her feet.
The disciples hurriedly finished their bowls of plain porridge, grabbed their swords, and got up.
"Husband, my sugar..." Yi Lin tugged on Li Hao's sleeve, her face full of reluctance.
But the one who'd taken her things was her own master. She didn't dare ask for them back.
"You shouldn't have shown off. Don't worry, I've got plenty here. If we run out, I'll just make more." Li Hao made another identical paper packet appear in his palm as if by magic.
Li Hao would never admit he had a touch of obsessive-compulsive disorder. He was meticulous about packing things, and the weight and packaging were always about the same.
"Thank you, Husband." Under the envious gazes of her fellow disciples, Yi Lin tucked the sugar into her pocket.
This time she didn't show it off again. She'd learned her lesson; take enough losses, and eventually you grew up.
Abbess Dingyi watched Li Hao hand Yi Lin the packet and secretly felt her own pocket.
Mm, still there.
Before you continue