With the Travel Pass in hand, a stone lifted from Baozhu's heart, and she slept soundly until dawn.
After washing up the next morning, she stood at the window for some fresh air and spotted Zhou Qingyang burning something in the courtyard. Baozhu craned her neck curiously and saw the filthy Daoist robe Zhou Qingyang usually wore burning in the fire. She already knew that old clothes could be sold to secondhand clothing shops, and most people of the Rivers and Lakes were frugal, so she found it rather strange.
When everyone had risen and gathered for breakfast, Baozhu proudly announced that she had obtained the Travel Pass and could leave Zhaoyi for Chengde.
They were discussing where to stay after crossing the checkpoint when a traveling merchant suddenly appeared at the inn's entrance, hawking talismans to drive away plague demons at the top of his lungs. To drum up business, he deliberately spread rumors of plague demons lurking in the city with an air of mystery. Before long, the guests were opening their purses, and even the innkeeper came over to buy a few.
Having lost his beloved daughter to an epidemic, Yang Xingjian took this extremely seriously. He stood and was about to take out his money when Zhou Qingyang reached out and held him down. "I can write these talismans myself. Either way, you're throwing money into the water. Why throw it to an outsider?" She immediately took out yellow paper and cinnabar and began drawing with the fluid ease of drifting clouds and flowing water.
With his business snatched away, the merchant made a few nasty, snide remarks. Zhou Qingyang fired back with a vocabulary in a class of its own, loudly cataloging his baldness, bad breath, impotence, athlete's foot, and other afflictions, while extending her