Departure

The next morning, Li Yuan went to the Patrol Squad's station.

Wang De watched Li Yuan enter without speaking. He sensed him out for a moment, then asked,

"Yesterday, I already wanted to ask you."

Wang De lifted his bowl of hot tea and took a sip, his gaze sweeping over Li Yuan.

"Your aura has grown much stronger. Did you break through?"

"Qi Refining Fifth Layer."

Wang De nodded. A faint smile appeared on his face, but quickly vanished again.

"Good. Qi Refining Fifth Layer is fully enough to meet the threshold for a vice-captain in the Patrol Squad. Otherwise, you'd have to wait it out."

"The circumstances before were special. Now, your position is legitimate."

Wang De set down his tea bowl.

"Two things. First, a batch of cultivators newly cultivated by the Wang Family will arrive in a couple of days. Most will go to the Guard Squad, but the Patrol Squad will get a few as well. I'll assign you two newcomers then."

"Second, you don't need to go to the outskirts for now. Take charge of market patrols first and sort out the matters on your hands."

Li Yuan nodded in agreement. Cultivated cultivators meant outer members like himself.

Wang De waved a hand, signaling that he could leave.

After leaving the station, Li Yuan headed east along West Street toward East Street.

Before he had even left the alley entrance, he heard a noisy clamor of voices ahead.

When he turned onto East Street, the sight before him was vastly different from a few days ago.

The street was packed with people again.

Stalls stood one after another. The empty spaces from a few days ago had all been filled. Some stall owners had even forcibly wedged a cloth mat between two old stalls, barely propping up half a stall's worth of goods. Figures streamed endlessly through the passageway, while the sounds of haggling rose and fell in waves.

At first glance, it looked much like the market at its liveliest a few months ago.

Li Yuan proceeded down East Street at an unhurried pace.

After several dozen steps, he began noticing some differences.

A Rogue Cultivator selling scraps of ore by the roadside had no customers at all, the stall owner propping up his chin as he dozed. Yet four or five people crowded around the neighboring herb stall. They were all dressed as Traveling Merchants, with large and small bundles on their backs and storage bags hanging from their waists, haggling with the stall owner.

Farther ahead, an old vendor selling Talismans also had few customers. Yet a short line had formed outside a shop opposite him. Li Yuan glanced over and saw that everyone in line was a Traveling Merchant. Those entering and leaving carried bulging cloth bags in their hands.

The Traveling Merchants were purchasing supplies and selling goods, while the local Rogue Cultivators' business had instead grown even colder.

When he reached the end of North Alley, that familiar crude cloth shed was still there.

But the goods laid out on the stall were different from before.

Old Zhang's stall had once always displayed over a dozen Cleaning Talismans. Fireball Talismans and Ice Spike Talismans sat in the back row, while Warding Talismans were placed in a corner. The arrangement could not be called neat, but it clearly looked like a business, with everything within easy reach.

Today, the stall was spotless. Only a few Cleaning Talismans remained, stacked neatly and tied into a bundle with a thin string. The Fireball Talismans and Ice Spike Talismans were gone. So were the Warding Talismans. Four small stones pinned down the corners of the stall cloth, which had been blown flat and smooth by the wind.

It looked as though it had been deliberately tidied up.

Old Zhang sat beneath the shed. There was neither a talisman-drawing brush in his hand nor Cinnabar and yellow paper before him. A small cloth bundle sat in front of him, tightly tied shut.

Beside him stood a teenage boy, thin and tall, with bright eyes. He carried a bundle on his back that was a size larger than Old Zhang's, and held a bamboo basket in one hand.

Old Zhang's grandson, Zhang Qiu.

Li Yuan stopped before the stall.

Old Zhang raised his head. Seeing Li Yuan, he stood and cupped his hands.

"Fellow Daoist Li."

"Old Zhang." Li Yuan swept his gaze over the clean stall and the packed bundles.

Old Zhang did not beat around the bush.

"I plan to take Xiao Qiu to Li Family Market."

His tone was calm, as though he were merely informing him.

"You've made up your mind?"

"I have." Old Zhang bent down, picked away the stones on the stall cloth, and tucked the final bundle of Cleaning Talismans into his sleeve.

"I can't keep this business going here. Herb prices have been rising nonstop, and the cost of drawing Talismans keeps getting higher, while the price I can sell them for has barely risen. If I stay any longer, Spirit Stones will only flow out and never come in."

Old Zhang straightened up and dusted off his hands.

"And lately, Traveling Merchants have been stealing business too. I'm afraid my business will be bad for quite a long time."

"A new stall district has opened over at Li Family Market, and outside Rogue Cultivators are allowed to set up stalls. Stall fees are half-price for the first three months. I heard herbs there are twenty percent cheaper than here, and there are several workshops making Talisman Paper. The prices for Beast-Skin Talisman Paper are reasonable too."

Li Yuan looked at the boy beside him.

Xiao Qiu stood there, the bundle on his back extending a full span wider than his body. The bamboo basket in his hand weighed him slightly to one side, yet his eyes sparkled, and there was a trace of excitement at the corners of his mouth that he could not hide.

Following Li Yuan's gaze, Old Zhang glanced at his grandson. He shook his head, but the corners of his mouth curved up as well.

"Children don't know how deep the waters are outside."

Li Yuan thought for a moment, then said, "It's nearly a hundred li from here to Li Family Market. The road isn't peaceful."

"I know." Old Zhang nodded. "A Traveling Merchant caravan is heading south this morning. I've already spoken with them. Xiao Qiu and I will travel with them, so we'll at least have someone to look out for us."

Traveling with a merchant caravan was indeed far safer than having two people travel alone.

Li Yuan did not try to persuade him further.

Old Zhang fell silent for a breath, then took a thin booklet from his robes.

The booklet was small, only a little wider than a palm. Its cover was made of rough yellow paper, its corners already curled. It was bound with thin thread, and it was clear that it had seen many years.

Old Zhang handed the booklet over.

"Keep this, Fellow Daoist Li."

Li Yuan accepted the booklet and flipped through it. Inside were handwritten methods for crafting Talismans. The writing was crooked, but the instructions were clear. Every step came with simple sketches of the paths of the Spirit Patterns. There were only two kinds of Talismans in total—Cleaning Talismans and Warding Talismans.

"This is...?"

Li Yuan asked.

"These are my experiences from drawing Talismans over the years. My skill is low, so it isn't worth much. If you find an old talisman master, you could probably learn this for a dozen or so Spirit Stones." Old Zhang rubbed his hands together.

"These are the only two I can present. You've learned the Cleaning Spell, so Cleaning Talismans will be easy for you to pick up. Warding Talismans are somewhat useful too. When you travel outside, they can block a few Yin Ghosts and the like."

"As for Fireball Talismans and Ice Spike Talismans, the person I learned from said they could not be passed on."

Li Yuan closed the booklet and tucked it into his sleeve.

The moment his fingers touched the booklet, a notification popped up on the panel.

[Detected equipable item: Talisman Crafting Manual (Complete)]

[Item entry grade: White]

Li Yuan's expression remained unchanged.

"Thank you."

Old Zhang waved a hand.

"Come to think of it, I feel a little embarrassed. Sometimes, when I had conflicts with other Rogue Cultivators, I'd say I knew a vice-captain from the market. Most of the time, it was still somewhat useful."

After saying that, Old Zhang bent down and folded up the stall cloth, placing the last small stone back on the ground.

Li Yuan watched as Old Zhang pulled out the bamboo poles of the cloth shed and deftly tied them into a bundle.

Just like that, the stall was closed.

From the time Li Yuan had transmigrated here until now, he had always seen this stall set up at the end of North Alley whenever he patrolled. Old Zhang would sit beneath the shed drawing Talismans, with unsold Cleaning Talismans spread across the stall. Occasionally, someone would come buy two, but most of the time, he simply sat there.

Li Yuan took a stack of Talismans and several Medicinal Pills from his sleeve.

Two Spirit Shield Talismans, two Fire Snake Talismans, one Godly Movement Talisman, along with the Healing Pills he had bought earlier.

"Take them with you on the road."

Old Zhang froze for a moment, but did not decline. He extended his rough palms and accepted everything.

"Then this old man won't stand on ceremony."

Old Zhang cupped his hands, then bent down and lifted the cloth bundle from the ground.

Xiao Qiu moved closer from the side and cupped his hands toward Li Yuan. The gesture was stiff, but earnest.

"Thank you, Brother Li."

Li Yuan nodded.

Old Zhang tucked the bundle of bamboo poles beneath one arm and carried the cloth bundle in his other hand as he headed toward the alley entrance. Xiao Qiu followed behind with the large bundle on his back, the bamboo basket swaying in his hand.

After taking a few steps, Old Zhang turned back and cupped his hands toward Li Yuan.

"Fellow Daoist Li, take care."

Li Yuan nodded.

The grandfather and grandson turned out of North Alley and vanished into the stream of people on East Street.

Once the cloth shed was dismantled, a small patch at the end of North Alley was left empty. Only a few shallow holes remained by the wall, where the bamboo poles had once been planted.

Li Yuan stood where he was for a moment before turning and continuing his patrol.