Buying Books

As for when the authorities came looking and discovered this place had already become a field of ruins, that had nothing to do with them.

Sheng County was a remote little county in Jingyun Province of the Great Chu Kingdom.

Great Chu's geographic divisions were simple: Jing Prefecture, Prefecture, Province, and Circuit, four levels in all, ranked from largest to smallest by area.

And within the provinces were many small counties.

Though Sheng County was remote and small, it was like a sparrow—small but complete in all its organs.

It had everything it should have; one could even find places of pleasure here.

At this moment, a group of people had just emerged from the entrance to Sheng County's County Office.

Xu Bai walked at the front, followed by a group of guards.

Just as he had expected, the county magistrate had only questioned them a few times before hastily wrapping things up.

Xu Bai was already used to this.

These days, some people handled matters, and some people did not.

Sheng County's magistrate fell somewhere between the two.

Say he did not handle matters? He did, indeed. For example, the County Office had dispatched men several times to suppress Fierce Tiger Stronghold.

But say he did handle matters? Not entirely. If he truly wanted to wipe out Fierce Tiger Stronghold, he only needed to surround the mountain. Yet Sheng County's magistrate had not done so.

Xu Bai did not know the reason, but he knew they had muddled through this time.

As he walked down the street, Xu Bai found everything fascinating.

Memories in his mind were one thing; seeing it with his own eyes was another.

It was like watching a movie versus stepping onto the stage yourself—the two could not be spoken of in the same breath.

Vendors hawked their wares on both sides of the street, their clamor soaring to the skies.

Sheng County might have been small, but it was no less bustling for it.

As Xu Bai walked the streets, his curiosity grew stronger and stronger. Every so often, he looked left and right.

The key was that a whole group of guards followed behind him, while he walked at the very front. He looked like some wealthy young master leading a pack of vicious servants, and everyone around them kept their distance.

"Brother Xu, where are we going?" One of the guards finally could not hold back and asked.

They had been wandering around like this, with no idea when it would end.

More importantly, no one had dared speak up. The figure wielding a saber at Fierce Tiger Stronghold had left too deep an impression; even now, the thought of it still made them shudder.

So many lives had vanished just like that, all at this man's hands. How could they not be afraid? Xu Bai gripped the hilt of the Ghost-Head Saber, looked at the middle-aged man who was clearly quite old, and touched his own face. "Do I look that old?"

It was a completely instinctive question, yet the middle-aged guard immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

"No, no, Brother Xu, that's not what I meant. I... I..."

The middle-aged guard stammered for ages without managing to explain himself.

How could he have expected this baleful fiend to ask such a question? He truly had no answer.

That saber seemed awfully fast. Would it slit his throat in one stroke?

The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became, and the cold sweat poured down harder.

"I'm not going back," Xu Bai suddenly said.

"Ah?" The middle-aged guard froze.

"The Chief Guard Captain is dead, and the escort agency has suffered devastating losses. I don't want to do this anymore," Xu Bai said.

He truly did not want to continue.

Now that he had his golden finger, and the dozen or so silver ingots were enough to cover his expenses for a while, he did not intend to divide his attention for the time being.

Besides, he had a good reason: after what had happened this time, he was afraid, so he was leaving this line of work.

"Then... Brother Xu, shall we head back?" the middle-aged guard asked, mustering his courage.

"Go back. Oh, and remember—everyone here took the money. You've broken the rules of this trade, so you can't let a word of this get out," Xu Bai said meaningfully.

The guards hurriedly nodded.

They all understood. It was like someone who could not swim boarding a boat, only for that boat to row into the middle of the ocean. There was no possibility of turning back.

Xu Bai waved them off, telling the guards to leave quickly, while he continued wandering the streets alone.

It was worth mentioning that Great Chu had a fiercely martial culture. Even with the Ghost-Head Saber hanging at his side, the people around him showed no surprise.

At most, they gave him an extra glance. That was all.

Xu Bai even encountered several people carrying long spears on their shoulders, conspicuous as could be, yet no one around them thought anything of it.

For those roaming the martial world, carrying a saber was perfectly normal.

After wandering for a while, Xu Bai stopped before a certain place.

—Money House.

He had originally planned to keep looking around, but as he passed the Money House, he remembered the dozen or so silver ingots in his bundle. He decided to exchange them for smaller pieces so they would be easier to spend later.

It had to be said, the County Office was truly lax. They had not even inspected their bundles. The moment they heard it involved Fierce Tiger Stronghold, they casually asked a few questions and hastily concluded the matter.

Of course, before entering the County Office, they had hidden the silver, only retrieving it after they came out.

At the moment, there were not many people in the Money House. Only the proprietor stood behind the counter.

However, Xu Bai did not rush inside right away. He first found a secluded corner, took out a silver ingot, and used the Ghost-Head Saber to chop it into small pieces. Only then did he take the broken silver into the Money House.

Most broken silver in Great Chu was made this way. Ordinary households used scissors to cut it, while Xu Bai simply chopped it apart.

Official silver and private silver were different. The silver in the Wooden Box was private silver, so Xu Bai used it without a care.

After entering the Money House, he soon exchanged it for a small pouch of Copper Coins, while the remaining broken silver went into another pouch.

After finishing all this, Xu Bai did not rush to leave.

"Proprietor, do you know where in Sheng County books are sold?" Xu Bai took out a piece of broken silver and placed it in the proprietor's hand.

The proprietor had been doing the accounts. Hearing this, he weighed the broken silver in his hand, and his eyes lit up. "West of the city. Follow this road straight ahead, and you'll see a bookstore."

Xu Bai nodded. After thanking him, he left the Money House.

He had not merely been wandering around all this time. He had kept his eyes wide open, looking everywhere for something like a progress bar.

Unfortunately, he had not found anything unusual like what he had encountered at Fierce Tiger Stronghold.

If his golden finger would not trigger, then he would create the conditions himself.

Xu Bai thought that since it was comprehension, reading books ought to be useful. That was why he had asked the Money House proprietor where the bookstore was.

Most bookstores in Great Chu did not primarily sell books.

They mostly sold other things, with books merely an additional item.

When Xu Bai followed the road and found it, he saw that the storefront was somewhat deserted.

Deserted though it was, there were still a few customers, none of whom had come to buy books.

After entering, Xu Bai went straight to the bookshelf and began leafing through the books.

The Bookstore Owner did not ask him much and continued attending to the other customers.

Xu Bai browsed as he walked.

"Not this one."

"Not this one either."

He kept flipping through the books. Whenever he did not see a progress bar, he returned the book to its original place.

He started at the far left of the shelf and worked his way to the far right.

When Xu Bai flipped open the final book, he stopped.

A pale golden progress bar appeared on the book.

There it is! Xu Bai rejoiced inwardly. Without even looking at the title, he took the book to the bookstore counter.

"Boss, how much is this?"

The Bookstore Owner had been attending to customers. Hearing Xu Bai's voice, he looked at the book on the counter, his face full of confusion.

People who bought books were rare, though there were always a few scholars.

If Xu Bai were merely buying a book, he would not have found it strange.

But that title...

The Bookstore Owner felt he needed to confirm it once more.

"Sir, are you certain you want this book?"