After a sudden flash of insight and a long spell of work in his room, Li Chen finally emerged from that wondrous state of total immersion, put away the Puppet Dolls, and returned to the main hall.
Old Hou and You An said little, merely telling him, "It's getting late. Let's go take a look at the Market Fair."
They had spent days traveling through the wilderness and urgently needed to replenish some essential mechanical hidden weapons, Spirit Stones, and spirit materials, so they set off at once.
On this visit to the Market Fair, Old Hou first bought several jars of silk slurry.
This spider silk was normally stored in sealed jars and sprayed out under high pressure when a mechanism was triggered. Refined in imitation of natural spider silk, it possessed extraordinary Spiritual Essence and was exceptionally tough.
Besides blades fitted to each of its steel legs for slicing and slashing, Old Hou's Steel-Legged Patrol Spider also had nozzles that released webs. Its launched nets were particularly suited to catching small, nimble prey.
You An went to the money house to exchange money for a batch of Spirit Stones. His Heavenly Soldier War Armor consumed enormous amounts of spirit essence; running at full power, it used several times as much as an ordinary puppet.
Li Chen selected a batch of spirit materials he might need in the future, along with cloud mud, merfolk fat, and other ingredients needed to synthesize skin membranes.
Then, on a sudden whim, he bought a batch of rouge, face powder, eyebrow pencils, and brushes used by women to apply makeup, and visited a clothing shop to buy ordinary clothes for men and women, young and old.
While traveling through the wild mountain forests and hunting demons these past days, he had not forgotten to make time to study the Art of a Hundred Crafts and Puppet Master lore.
The Puppet Dolls of the two young sisters he had crafted last night were precisely the fruits of his recent breakthrough in technique.
Now that he could successfully capture Xiao Die's and Xiao Ying's appearances and make lifelike wooden puppets, creating a fine skin for an Armored Warrior Puppet would be no trouble at all.
He decided to stock up on these things; they might prove useful another day.
"Money really doesn't last. Half of it was gone in the blink of an eye."
On the way back, Li Chen could not help lamenting a little. A single visit to the Market Fair had cost him nearly five thousand Talisman Coins.
"Still, the goods here really are more plentiful than at the Commandery Seat-not just spirit materials, but ordinary household goods too."
Old Hou said, "Of course. Did you notice those vendors with stalls along the street? Quite a few are traveling merchants who specialize in doing business along the Imperial Road. They know the prices and local products of every region. If we'd known the market when we came from the Commandery Seat last time, we could have brought some spirit materials along, bought low and sold high, and stolen some of their business."
"Unfortunately, trading carries enormous risks too. One careless mistake can wipe out everything you have. I'd advise you to keep clear of it."
Li Chen said, "Trading is risky; enter the market with caution. That's experience talking, Brother Hou. We'll remember it."
The three returned to the inn, only to discover, to their surprise, that someone was already waiting for them in the small hall in the rear courtyard.
"You're the ones who went to the Hundred Flowers House yesterday? Which of you is the Skin-Painter?"
The speaker was the young gentleman seated in the flying chair. His gaze swept over the three of them before quickly settling on Li Chen, who wore the Puppet Master's Robe.
Puzzled, Li Chen asked, "Who are you?"
The young gentleman said, "My name is Zuo Hao. I heard from the proprietress of the Hundred Flowers House that you'd also gone there to gather models, so I knew you were a fellow Skin-Painter."
Well, aren't you clever, Li Chen remarked inwardly, then said, "That's right, I am indeed a Skin-Painter. May I ask what business you have with me, Young Master Zuo?"
Zuo Hao said, "Nothing much, really. I was merely curious."
"I've already asked around. The models you used were the prettiest pair of sisters in the Hundred Flowers House. I have a habit of not sharing models with other people, so I paid to buy them. But the thought that you might still have their skins in your possession displeases me greatly."
Li Chen said dismissively, "So what?"
Zuo Hao said, "Bring them out for me to see. If they're well made, I'll reward you and buy them for a price that will certainly satisfy you. If they're poorly made, that would be a wanton waste of heaven's gifts, so don't blame me for being harsh."
You An gave an odd laugh and said theatrically, "Well, well, what aristocratic young master have we here? Such big talk! Even a Master Artisan wouldn't speak like that to our faces. We're not your household servants or lackeys. Didn't your mother teach you to keep a low profile when you're out in the world?"
The guard beside Zuo Hao stepped forward, his expression icy. "What did you say?"
You An snorted. "Are you deaf?"
"Now, now." Old Hou hurried over to smooth things out. "Sorry, my brother here can be a little blunt. But young master, aren't you being rather overbearing yourself? We've never met before. Why act like this?"
Zuo Hao could not be bothered with them. He simply stared at Li Chen, whom he had identified as the man who mattered. "What? As a Skin-Painter, you don't even dare show other people your own work?"
Li Chen laughed. "If I brought it out just because you told me to, wouldn't I lose all face?"
Zuo Hao gave his guard a meaningful look.
The guard understood. He took a cloth pouch from his pocket and tossed it onto the table with a thud.
The pouch was not cinched shut, and some of the Talisman Coins inside spilled out as they clinked against one another, displaying an alluring metallic gleam.
All three stared for a moment. Good grief, that bag alone had to contain at least a thousand Talisman Coins, didn't it?
"All right, all right. Money's the boss, and no one's face counts for more than Master Money's. I'll bring them out, okay?" Li Chen gave a meaningful look of his own.
You An understood and swiftly gathered up the Talisman Coins, taking the pouch over.
Seeing this, Zuo Hao's lips curled into a faint, slightly contemptuous smile, but he did not stop him.
Li Chen considered briefly. Although he could not quite make out what the other man was playing at, there was no harm in letting him take a look. With luck, he might even sell them at a high price and fleece him for a tidy sum.
From the young man's tone, he was most likely a Skin-Painter himself, and a rather conceited one at that.
So he took the Puppet Dolls of Xiao Die and her sister out of his Storage Bag and set them in the hall.
When the two Puppet Dolls appeared before them once more, both Old Hou and You An were struck anew by their beauty.
How lovely they were: willow brows and starry eyes, pearly teeth and vermilion lips, delicate, straight noses, and faces like carved jade. It would be no exaggeration to call them the makings of peerless beauties.
More extraordinary still was the indescribable spark of life in their features, as though supernatural methods had granted them an appeal beyond reality. The various sets of golden-ratio data Li Chen had drawn from his previous life-stones from another mountain used to polish his own jade-had produced unparalleled harmony and perfection.
Zuo Hao and his guard were startled as well. Zuo Hao in particular, who claimed to be a fellow Skin-Painter, immediately sank into profound shock.
"Can human artistry rival the work of Creation?"
He murmured this in wonder, then fixed his gaze on Li Chen, who had made the two Puppet Dolls, and said with absolute certainty, "You're an inheritor of Shape-Stealing Skin-Painting too!"