Li Tui emerged from the narrow alley and merged into the crowd on the main street.
I need to find somewhere to settle down first, Li Tui thought.
On the outskirts of the market were small courtyards and wooden huts available for short-term rent to Rogue Cultivators. Though crude, they at least offered privacy. Following his memory, Li Tui headed toward the back alleys of the eastern market. After passing through two narrow streets, he spotted a low-walled courtyard with a wooden sign bearing the character "Rent."
Inside the courtyard stood several separate wooden huts, all with their doors closed. The caretaker was a hunchbacked old man, squatting by the entrance and smoking a pipe.
"Renting a room?" The old man raised his eyes.
"A single room. The cheapest kind," Li Tui said.
The old man exhaled a puff of smoke. "One spirit stone for seven days, plus a two-stone deposit. Monthly rent is cheaper—four stones a month."
After thinking it over, Li Tui said, "I'll rent for seven days first."
The old man held up three fingers. "Three stones."
Li Tui counted out the spirit stones from his robes and handed them over. The old man took them, weighed them in his hand, then untied a key from his waist. "Room Three, B. The one at the very end. Everything's inside; clean it up yourself. Once the seven days are up, either renew or move out."
The room was not large, but it was clean, and it even came with a simple warning formation.
It was decent enough.
Li Tui sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion inside the room and closed his eyes to regulate his breathing.
His divine sense sank into his dantian. That thread of icy spiritual qi circulated slowly, growing a little more solid than before.