"No rooms..."
"My apologies, honored guest."
"We ran out of rooms ages ago."
"Where would there be any rooms left in the city?"
"Full, full..."
"Oh, honored guest, I'm truly sorry, but our little inn can't even squeeze anyone into the woodshed! The Liujiang Grand Gathering outside the city has drawn so many people of the martial world from north and south lately. Forget the inns in the city—even the shabby roadside hotels and temples outside the city are full. Many martial folk simply find an alley: those with bedding spread it out, those without take heaven as their cover and earth as their bed, making do like that."
After asking around for half the day, Song You had received nothing but refusals.
Perhaps too many people had been asking about rooms these past few days. Some had grown annoyed by the question; they were not exactly perfunctory, but their patience had worn thin.
The last innkeeper, however, was kind-hearted. Seeing that he was a Taoist priest, he spoke to him at length before finally saying, "But if you truly do not wish to sleep out on the streets, I can offer you two suggestions."
Song You immediately bowed.
"Please enlighten me, innkeeper."
"First, you can knock on the doors of nearby commoners' homes and ask. Some clever ones, those without womenfolk in their households, have laid out beds at home and rented them to martial folk, making a tidy sum." The innkeeper was rather old, which was why he had such patience. "Besides, you are a Taoist gentleman, unlike those martial folk. Even when speaking with ordinary people, if you say a few pleasant words and meet someone kind-hearted—or someone who believes in Buddhism or the Dao—they may well let you stay."
"May I ask what the second method