The Food Money

They stared at each other, both taken aback.

Xu Yuan slowly raised a hand. "You go first..."

Lin Wanmo opened the bundle. "I fixed it for you."

Inside was the Three-eyed Firearm, along with a pouch made of beast hide, filled with gunpowder.

Xu Yuan beamed. He picked it up and ran his hands over it, unable to put it down.

His stepmother pursed her lips. "What's so great about this thing? You have to load it ahead of time, and after three shots it's basically useless. In a fight, no one's going to give you time to reload. It can't compare to the tools made by us traditional artisans."

The Seven Great Gates were rife with factions.

The most chaotic was the Law Cultivators. They were a real hodgepodge.

They had the most members, and if they could unite, they would surely be the strongest force among the Seven Great Gates.

But anyone who dared suggest unifying the Law Cultivators would find them tearing each other apart.

The Artisan Cultivators were the most openly divided sect. The New Artisans and Old Artisans both believed the other had gone down the "wrong path."

The Old Artisans had once held an overwhelming advantage. But as the Great Ming Empire had more and more contact with the Snow Fiend Ghosts, Red-Haired Barbarians, and Blue-Eyed Savages, all sorts of bizarre and ingenious techniques from the outer provinces had poured in. The New Artisans had incorporated those methods, growing stronger and stronger until they could gradually hold their own against the Old Artisans.

The Three-eyed Firearm was a New Artisan creation, and her stepmother thought little of it.

Xu Yuan put away the firearm. "Tools are just tools. When it comes to understanding and mastering the Way of the Artisan, they surely can't hold a candle to you, Mother."

"Of course." Lin Wanmo smugly accepted the little bit of flattery, then pointed at another bundle on the table. "What's this?"

"It's the silver I earned while I was away. I wanted to give some to the family..."

Lin Wanmo smiled, her gaze drifting as she said, "Well, aren't you filial?" She lightly tapped the bag with her long fingers. "The thought alone is enough to make me happy. You don't need to hand over the money..."

"I've earned money, so of course I should..."

Lin Wanmo waved a small, fair hand. "That's enough. I'm not dead yet. I can afford to support you."

Xu Yuan asked with a glint of mischief, "You really don't want it?"

"I don't."

"Won't you at least see how much I earned?"

"Qiao Zi'ang is so stingy. How much could he possibly have paid you..."

Xu Yuan opened the bundle, and her words were cut off as if an axe had cleaved them in two.

Little gold ingots, gleaming like the dainty, rosy toes of a young maiden in the bloom of youth!

Big silver ingots, shining like the plump, rounded bottom of a woman after her first childbirth!

Crisp new banknotes, like a bride being carried through the door in her bridal sedan, a brilliant red veil over her head!

Xu Yuan tapped the table. "Wipe off your drool."

Lin Wanmo shot him an annoyed look, then discreetly touched the corner of her mouth. Oh no—she really was drooling! How embarrassing.

She broke into a radiant smile and smoothly dragged the bundle into her lap. "Your mother doesn't want your money. I'm just keeping it safe for you.

"You're not a child anymore. It's time you found yourself a wife. Matchmakers and betrothal gifts all cost money. You'll start a family, carry on the Xu family line, and when I go to the underworld one day, I'll be able to face your father with a clear conscience..."

"Enough!" Xu Yuan cried. "You talk about going to the underworld to see my father as if it's really going to happen. You're not that much older than me!"

"Even so, I have to find you a wife," his stepmother insisted.

"I'm not getting married!"

"Don't be ridiculous. What, are you embarrassed?"

"Embarrassed about what?" Xu Yuan didn't care in the slightest. "I brought the money out because I meant to give it to the family. Just leave me a little spending money."

Lin Wanmo hesitated, then gritted her teeth and took out a ten-tael ingot and some loose silver.

Xu Yuan wasn't satisfied. "That's way too little. It won't even cover a night of drinking at Chunxiang Pavilion in Wangjing Ward..."

His stepmother's expression turned cold. She ground her teeth. "What did you just say?! You even know how much it costs?"

"I..." Xu Yuan's thoughts raced. "Uncle Rong Kui told me."

Lin Wanmo's bright eyes flickered. A young man carrying too much money was bound to go astray—and he already knew about Chunxiang Pavilion.

She took half the silver back.

"Hey, hey, hey..." Xu Yuan drooped his head. Who could blame her, when he'd said the wrong thing?

They could tease each other all they liked, but Xu Yuan had brought out the money to let his stepmother decide what to do with it. He didn't really care how much she left him.

Because Xu Yuan considered it "food money"!

Lin Wanmo counted the gold and silver in the bundle. Converted, it came to more than seven hundred taels! She was stunned. This kid... Was he a Pixiu or something? He'd gone out once and come back with this much money.

She'd never seen so much money in her life.

The Xu family had a rule: they could not sell the Artisan Cultivator creations they made.

Xu Yuan had no idea why the rule had been established, but it had been in place since his grandfather's time.

Without that rule, even one of his stepmother's Artisan Cultivator creations would fetch at least five hundred taels of silver.

Xu Yuan tucked the silver into his clothes and grabbed another meat-filled flatbread. But Lin Wanmo suddenly asked in a serious tone, "Tell me honestly, have you taken a liking to any girl?"

"No!"

"What about the third daughter of Old Yu's family, at the west end of Stone Street? The two of you practically grew up together. If you're interested, we should start making arrangements soon..."

If this much money wasn't going toward a wife, his stepmother planned to find a way for Xu Yuan to buy a couple of Sky Iron Ingots.

His stepmother hadn't finished speaking when she abruptly fell silent. Xu Yuan's expression changed too!

Night had fallen, yet a wave of yin energy was sweeping over the entire courtyard like windblown fog!

Lin Wanmo sprang to Xu Yuan's side and shoved something into his hands. Then, like a wildcat, she darted beneath the window. She opened her pale hand, and several delicate bamboo dragonflies flew out.

Xu Yuan looked down. It was an umbrella.

A brand-new, exquisitely crafted Artisan Cultivator creation. His stepmother had clearly made it over the past couple of days.

It had a satisfying heft in his hand. After trying it out a few times, Xu Yuan quickly understood: it was an excellent tool for both offense and defense.

The materials were costly. If she sold it, it would fetch at least a thousand taels.

The bamboo dragonflies flew off to scout.

Xu Yuan crouched and moved to his stepmother's side, but Lin Wanmo glared at him. "Get behind me!"

"I can help."

"I'm not dead yet. I can protect you!" His stepmother left no room for argument.

Xu Yuan pursed his lips and obediently retreated.

Old Qian stood outside the courtyard gate, moving stiffly and methodically like an old man on the verge of death.

First, he opened an urn of ashes and tipped it toward the courtyard.

The black-gray ashes scattered out, turning into a dense cloud of yin energy before they even hit the ground. It enveloped the entire courtyard.

Night was already the perfect time for Yin Ghosts to act. Now the yin energy in the courtyard had grown so thick it was almost viscous, making it even more like a fish in water for Old Qian's Yin Ghosts.

He set down the urn, took a shoulder bag off his back, and pulled out several cloth sacks.

The sacks were tightly tied shut. Old Qian undid the cords, and the Hanged Ghosts burst out at once. Dressed in white, their bodies and necks stretched long as though they'd been hanged. Their hair hung loose, and their long, scarlet tongues dangled down to their chests.

They floated in midair, hands hanging at their sides, their claws purplish-black and half a foot long.

Old Qian pointed toward the house, and all five Hanged Ghosts drifted over together.

First they rose above the courtyard wall. Then they swooped straight toward the house—and as they dove, they let out a single piercing wail in unison.