On the fourth day of the journey, the caravan stopped beside a post road to feed the horses.
Rather than join the scramble for a bowl of freshly cooked noodles, Lu Ye first checked the message from Chen Shun.
Dealerships in various places had come for more stock, and the merchant association had prepared a second batch of 1,200 units. Added to the previous 1,800, that made 3,000 units for retail-not 3,000 users. Quite a few were still in transit or sitting on counters.
Even so, the number of registered users was indeed growing.
Lu Ye was about to reply when another notification popped up.
Several sales had been made through Stove Old Han's product showcase that day.
"Interesting. This Han Chi really is a born internet natural. He's already figured out how to make money with the little yellow cart."
"Now I have to take a good look."
Lu Ye perked up.
In his last video, he'd still been filming other people hauling goods. In this one, he'd already started selling his own wares?
He hurriedly opened Han Chi's profile.
In the video, Han Chi wasn't standing by the stove. Instead, he had gone to an empty courtyard.
He wore a pair of strange-looking shoes.
Several small wheels were attached to each sole, and leather straps were fastened around his ankles. They looked rather clunky.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Stove Old Han."
"I wonder if you've ever had this problem: you want to get somewhere faster, but your two legs just move too slowly."
Lu Ye raised an eyebrow.
Here it comes.
That familiar flavor again.
Han Chi pointed at his feet and began introducing them in earnest.
"These are the Swift Travel Shoes I made. Once you put them on, one push of your foot will send you gliding a long way. They're especially effortless going downhill."
As he spoke, he held on to a wooden frame beside him and slowly steadied himself.
Then he shuffled both feet forward.
A slightly sloping stone path ran through the courtyard, and sure enough, Han Chi soon glided forward, picking up speed.
In the video, he still wore a rather smug look.
Until the courtyard wall drew closer and closer.
The smile finally vanished from Han Chi's face. He spread his arms to either side, trying to change direction, but couldn't bring the shoes around with him.
The next moment, a pair of fire tongs appeared in his hand.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple. Four Soul Rings rose.
Han Chi planted the fire tongs against the ground and twisted sharply. His shoes kept sliding forward, but he finally managed to jump into the sand to the side.
Dust rose.
The video paused for a moment.
When it resumed, Han Chi was standing in front of the phone again. He brushed the dust from his sleeve, his expression as serious as ever.
"As you all saw, they really are fast."
"It's just that stopping isn't very convenient yet, and turning takes a bit more practice."
Lu Ye covered his forehead, but his shoulders were already shaking.
Some "bit more practice."
Judging by what had just happened, if Han Chi had been any slower, he and his shoes would probably have been plastered to the wall together.
Before Lu Ye had finished laughing, Han Chi suddenly bent down and picked up a small round shield from beside him.
"Everyone, in our daily travels, we often encounter situations where we lose control, just like that one. That's why we really need a weapon to protect ourselves."
Lu Ye's laughter stopped for a moment.
Wait.
Why does that sound a little off?
On the screen, Han Chi had already turned the shield over, revealing the leather straps and grip inside.
"This shield was forged by my old friend Shi Wanjun himself. The face is made from solid material, the edges have been reinforced, and there's leather padding inside, so it won't dig into your hand."
"Ordinary blades won't easily leave a deep cut in it. If you plan to use it to block a high-level Soul Master's Soul Skill, though, you'd best weigh the value of your life first."
With that, Han Chi propped the shield against the wooden frame and struck it twice with an ordinary saber.
The blows rang out crisply.
The camera moved closer, showing shallow marks on the shield's face, but no cracks.
"My friend has been making things like this for decades. His craftsmanship speaks for itself."
"If you need one, tap the product showcase below. Besides the shield, there are bracers and short blades, all ready to use."
Listening to Han Chi's smooth introduction, Lu Ye once again wondered whether he was a transmigrator.
If he wasn't, how had he started cashing in so quickly?
"What a born sales natural. Wait, didn't he only just open his product showcase? He's already advertising? I wonder how much commission he gets per order."
First he kept people watching with his own strange contraption, then he smoothly followed up by selling ordinary protective gear.
And the transition was so smooth.
Lu Ye opened the showcase and saw that, sure enough, it had quite a few more products than it had a few days earlier.
The round shield at the top had already sold four.
Someone had bought the short blade beside it, too.
One person who had just received an order had already left a comment below.
"Good blade. I've tried it. Master Han, next time, could you talk about the normal stuff first?"
Han Chi replied quickly.
"The stuff before it is normal too. It's just used differently."
Someone immediately chimed in below.
"Gliding only takes two legs, but stopping takes four Soul Rings. Master Han, you're saving legwork, but spending Soul Power."
Lu Ye nearly burst out laughing again.
But after getting his laugh, the commenter had actually bought a shield and specifically asked Master Shi if he could include a longer carrying strap.
Having a laugh didn't stop him from shopping in the least.
As for Han Chi's own shoes, which were hard to stop once they got going, the comments below were full of people telling him to figure out the brakes first. Even so, that didn't stop the shields and short blades beside them from selling.
Lu Ye checked the settlements. The commission Han Chi had agreed on with Shi Wanjun had already been paid.
He really had made it work.
Lu Ye was on the road with the caravan, Master Han was selling goods by his stove, and customers were buying things elsewhere. What Lu Ye had wanted from the beginning was for everyone to be able to get things going without having to wait for him to stand beside them at every turn.
"Young Master Lu, your noodles are going to get soggy!"
The steward waved to him from beneath the shelter.
Lu Ye answered. Just as he was about to put away his phone, he suddenly spotted a new buyer under the shield.
Cheng Yue.
It was an ordinary name, and what he had bought was the small round shield in the showcase.
Outside River Bend Town, in the mountain forest.
"Don't run into the open! Get into the rock crevice!"
Cheng Yue grabbed the youngest member of the group and narrowly dodged a serpentine shadow.
The snake had a bright red fleshy crest atop its head and a fan-shaped tail. It slithered along the ground and swept around a rock in the blink of an eye.
A Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent!
They had followed Zheng Weishan of the Qinglan Soul Hunting Team to learn how to recognize signs in the outer area and shouldn't have left the designated zone. But one of the young men had found a nest of eggs and reached out to touch them, provoking the mother snake guarding the nest.
Zheng Weishan was up ahead checking the water source. They had blown the whistle, but he couldn't possibly arrive in the blink of an eye.
Cheng Yue shoved the others into the crevice just as the snake's head rammed toward them.
"Hold it off!"
The moment Cheng Yue spoke, a young man beside him gritted his teeth and raised a hand.
A Yellow Soul Ring lit up beneath his feet. Several vines shot out from the crevice, coiled around a tree root beside the entrance, and stretched across the path of the snake's head.
The Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent twisted violently, pulling the vines taut.
The young man's face went pale.
He couldn't hold it for long.
But that little bit of time was enough for Cheng Yue.
He opened the showcase he had just been looking at, found the round shield, and hit purchase without even rereading the description.
The few gold coins he had topped up out of curiosity the night before, intending to save for a short blade, finally came in handy.
The money was deducted from his balance.
The next instant, a heavy round shield appeared before him.
Cheng Yue seized the grip inside and braced the shield diagonally across the crevice entrance. His Green Bamboo Staff Martial Soul appeared in his other hand.
Two Yellow Soul Rings rose.
He braced the bamboo staff against the back of the shield, wedging the other end into a crack in the rock behind him.
Almost at the same moment, the vines outside snapped.
Bang!
The snake's head slammed into the shield. Cheng Yue's arms jolted violently, and his shoulder struck the rock wall behind him so hard that his vision went black from the pain.
The shield tilted, but its edge caught against the rock, keeping it from flipping all the way inward.
"Hold it!"
The two people beside him hurriedly reached out and helped him brace the back of the shield.
Unable to force them out, the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent pulled its head back, but swept its tail against the outside of the rock wall.
Loose stones rained down.
Gritting his teeth, Cheng Yue wedged the bamboo staff firmly back into place.
Good thing the entrance is narrow.
If they had been out on level ground, this shield alone could never have stopped the snake.
Once the others came to their senses, they immediately turned to look at Cheng Yue.
At a glance, they spotted the round shield in his hands, and one young man immediately cried out in surprise.
"Brother Cheng, when did you get a piece of protective gear like that?"
"Yeah, if you had it, why didn't you take it out earlier?"
"Wait, I remember you always using the Green Bamboo Staff. When did you get this protective gear?"
Faced with their questions, Cheng Yue kept the bamboo staff pressed against the back of the shield as he answered.
"I just bought it."
"Just bought it? You're not lying to us, are you?"
"Yeah, we've been together the whole time. We never split up. When did you buy that shield?"
"I really haven't left, but that doesn't mean I couldn't buy a weapon. Even I didn't expect to actually be able to buy this shield through the phone."
As he spoke, he gestured with his chin at the phone lying beside him.
The phone's screen was still on Han Chi's showcase, displaying the product information for that very shield.
"You mean you conjured your round shield out of this little thing?"
The youngest member stared at the phone screen, his eyes widening.
"I didn't conjure it. I bought it. This shield cost me a few gold coins."
Cheng Yue caught his breath and urged them on.
"Don't let go. It's still outside!"
The others looked a little dazed at his words.
They had seen Cheng Yue holding that thing before, looking down at it whenever he had a spare moment. They had thought it was just some novelty for listening to music and watching people dance.
Who would have thought it could buy a shield too?
And once he'd paid, it had appeared in his hands immediately.
If he hadn't had that phone just now...
At the thought, their faces turned a little pale.
Cheng Yue, however, had no time to let them keep pondering.
A scraping sound came from outside the shield again, and he said in a low voice, "A little to the left. Don't let it pry up the edge of the shield."
The others hurriedly did as he said.
The Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent outside circled several times, but couldn't squeeze through the narrow opening. At last, it retreated a short distance for the moment.
Just then, an answering whistle sounded in the distance.
Uncle Zheng is here!
Cheng Yue let out half a breath and had his companions hold the shield. He hurriedly used his phone to record the shield and the snake's shadow outside for a few moments, but before he could send it, a fierce shout came from above.
"Get farther inside!"
Reddish-brown wings swept over the treetops.
Four Soul Rings rose. Zheng Weishan completed his Crimson Owl Martial Soul Possession in midair and swooped diagonally across the snake's path. A purple Soul Ring lit up, and he beat his wings, sending a gust of wind that knocked the snake's head aside. Seizing the opportunity, he drove it away from the crevice.
The snake rolled into the bushes and coiled there for a while. In the end, it didn't attack again, slowly retreating toward the eggs it was guarding.
Zheng Weishan didn't pursue it. He simply guarded the way out for the students.
When the group crawled out of the crevice, their arms were still trembling.
"Who told you to touch the eggs?"
The youngest member lowered his head, his eyes reddening.
After scolding them, Zheng Weishan checked each of them for injuries before picking up the dented shield.
Cheng Yue recounted how he had bought the shield. The others beside him scrambled to add details, afraid Uncle Zheng wouldn't believe him.
But after looking at the order, he asked only one question.
"How many times are you planning to let it block next time?"
Cheng Yue didn't dare answer.
"If the edge hadn't caught in that crack in the rocks, you and the shield would have been knocked flying. It's a good piece of equipment, but you still need to know how much you weigh."
He handed the shield back and led everyone out of the woods.
Only when they reached a safe spot did Cheng Yue send the footage of those earlier moments and add a line.
"I just bought this shield, and it really came in handy. We're out of danger now. Thank you, Master Han."
The first person to reply, however, asked how he had still had time to film.
Cheng Yue's ears grew hot. He admitted that Senior's whistle had already sounded, and that in his haste, he shouldn't have let himself get distracted. He also took a photo showing everyone outside the woods, so people wouldn't keep worrying.
Soon, the comments came pouring in.
Some asked about the shield, some about the snake, and some said that if they were nearby, they could bring people to take a look.
Zheng Weishan stood beside him and read the lines clearly.
Those people weren't in the woods, yet they already knew what the group had run into.
"Uncle Zheng, if you had one too, we could just tell you where we were."
"First learn not to run off, then think about that."
Cheng Yue shrank back.
To his surprise, Zheng Weishan took two steps, then turned back.
"Back to River Bend Town."
"To rest for the night?"
"Let's go! Take me to that place that sells phones. I want to have a look!"
Beside the post road, Lu Ye finally got to eat that bowl of noodles, which had clumped together a little.
He read Cheng Yue's new reply, but didn't laugh as he had when he saw the Swift Travel Shoes earlier.
The phone, originally meant to amuse people, had truly given them another way out in the woods.
Lu Ye glanced at the cargo boxes stocked on the cart, then looked south.
Rongrong's cart was probably somewhere ahead on this road too.
He put away his phone, finished the noodles, and got up to fetch his horse.
The caravan still had to travel slowly along its original route, but it was time for him to press ahead on his own.