This time, he was alone and had no handcart to pull, so he soon reached town.
Vendors' cries rose and fell throughout the town.
With a half-worn bamboo basket on his back, Lin He strolled leisurely down the street, carrying a Fanged Rabbit trussed up tightly with vines.
The rabbit was the size of a puppy, its brown-and-black markings sleek and glossy in the sunlight, two little fangs protruding from its mouth. Though securely bound, it still bared its teeth at Lin He from time to time.
"Behave yourself. Make another sound and I'll roast you right now." Lin He slapped the rabbit on the forehead, drawing sidelong looks from passersby.
First, he turned into Spring Restoration Hall with practiced familiarity.
The gray-robed assistant was sharp-eyed this time. Spotting Lin He from far away, he instantly smiled until the wrinkles on his face bloomed like a chrysanthemum. "Oh! Young Master Lin is here! Come in, come in! The shopkeeper is waiting for you inside!"
This was what they called arrogance first, deference afterward.
Lin He scoffed inwardly but showed nothing on his face, striding casually over the threshold.
Shopkeeper Qian was working his abacus. At the sound, he looked up, and his lean face immediately filled with a professional, insincere smile. "Young Master Lin, how much good stock have you brought today?"
Lin He set the bamboo basket on the counter and lifted the rag covering it. "Just this. About thirty jin."
Shopkeeper Qian leaned over for a look. The superb green spike grass lay quietly at the bottom of the basket, lush green and thick-leaved, its quality as flawless as ever. Yet the two wisps of his goatee twitched, and his brows creased almost imperceptibly. "Only this much? Young Master Lin, we signed a long-term contract. I was counting on you to bring more so I could pave the way for some business in the county town."
"Shopkeeper Qian, listen to what you're saying." Lin He sighed, his face weathered with the hardships of making a living.
"If superb herbs grew everywhere like cabbages, could you still call them superb? My wife practically ran her legs off looking for these mutated seeds... no, I mean, she practically pushed her wheelchair to pieces."
"We only managed to get these thirty jin after spending three days deep in the mountains and ancient forests."
Lin He spun this pack of lies without even blinking.
Shopkeeper Qian gave him a couple of suspicious looks, then glanced at the goods in the basket, but ultimately asked no more questions. After all, this was the only source. If he pushed too hard and Lin He took his business to Preserving Harmony Hall, his losses would outweigh his gains.
"Fine, thirty jin it is. Eight wen a jin, two hundred and forty wen altogether." Shopkeeper Qian deftly counted out two strings of copper coins and several dozen loose ones, then pushed them across the counter.
Lin He tucked the money into his robe and cupped his hands with a smile. "A pleasure doing business with you."
After leaving Spring Restoration Hall, Lin He felt the heavy copper coins inside his robe and felt considerably more at ease.
But this was still not enough. The money needed for spirit rice seeds was an astronomical sum. Selling grass, he would have to save until the year of the monkey and the month of the horse.
He lowered his head to look at the Fanged Rabbit still struggling in his hand, and a smile curled his lips.
This creature had firm flesh and ran wickedly fast through the mountains. One look told him it was prime game, naturally something only the rich could afford.
And where were the richest people in town? At the restaurant, of course.
Lin He strolled along the main street. Before long, he spotted a sign with gold lettering on a black background-"Drunken Immortal Pavilion."
The restaurant was grand, with three stories, carved beams, and painted rafters. Two waiters stood by the entrance to greet customers, dressed far more respectably than the assistant at Spring Restoration Hall.
Lin He was about to approach and offer his game for sale when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed people crowded several rows deep around the noticeboard beside the restaurant's entrance, pointing at something posted there.
Lin He raised his brows and squeezed into the crowd with the rabbit in hand.
The original owner's memories included literacy. Lin He looked up and saw a lifelike beast drawn on a fresh sheet of yellow paper.
It had a doglike build, brown-and-black markings, and, most conspicuously, two little fangs sticking out of its mouth.
What the fuck? Lin He's heart gave a sudden leap. He looked down at the rabbit in his hand, then back up at the drawing, comparing them several times.
Rather than saying they bore no relation, one could only say they were identical.
He hurriedly read on, word by word.
"Bounty notice: The Li Household of the county town urgently seeks to purchase a number of 'Fanged Spotted Rabbits.' Alive or dead, but they must not be bled. Whether rogue cultivators or mortal hunters, anyone who provides these rabbits shall receive, for each one, a generous reward of-"
Lin He's gaze followed the ink downward and settled on the final line.
"One low-grade Spirit Stone!"
Lin He sucked in a breath of cold air. His head buzzed, as though the sound effects of countless gold coins dropping were echoing wildly inside it.
One low-grade Spirit Stone?!
To a cultivator, a low-grade Spirit Stone might merely be pocket change casually given as a tip. But to a mortal, this was a fucking fortune! At five wen a jin, how many jin of green spike grass would he have to sell to scrape together one Spirit Stone? And now this rabbit in his hand was actually worth one Spirit Stone!
"Hey, hey, young man, that thing in your hand... could that be a Fanged Spotted Rabbit?!"
Just as the immense joy left Lin He somewhat dizzy, a voice tinged with trembling surprise and delight rang out beside his ear.
Lin He turned to see a plump, round middle-aged man in a brocade robe staring fixedly at the rabbit in his hand. His eyes shone green, like a wolf that had starved for three days. This fat man was none other than Shopkeeper Wu of the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.
The onlookers followed the shopkeeper's gaze, then all stepped back in unison, bursting into cries of surprise.
"Heavens, it really is!"
"This kid's luck is unbelievable! That's a low-grade Spirit Stone!"
Lin He's eyes shifted, and he immediately hugged the rabbit to his chest, eyeing Shopkeeper Wu warily. "What's this, Shopkeeper? Planning to force a sale?"
"Oh, young man, you must be joking! Our Drunken Immortal Pavilion is a century-old establishment. We cheat neither children nor elders!"
Shopkeeper Wu hurriedly rubbed his hands and approached with a broad smile, lowering his voice. "Young man, how about selling me that rabbit? I'll pay the price on the notice, one low-grade Spirit Stone, plus one tael of silver for your trouble. Let's be friends!"
Lin He narrowed his eyes, swiftly calculating inwardly. If Shopkeeper Wu was willing to add even one tael of silver, the benefits he stood to gain by passing the rabbit on to the Li Household were certainly far from small. The Li Household was a great lineage on equal footing with the Lin Household and Su Household. In the county town, its hands and eyes could reach the heavens.
"Shopkeeper, what does the Li Household want so many rabbits for?" Putting on the air of a curious country lad, Lin He asked tentatively, "The meat might be tasty, but surely it isn't worth buying with Spirit Stones?"
Shopkeeper Wu glanced around. Seeing everyone nearby pricking up their ears, he pulled Lin He aside and said mysteriously, "Young man, you seem an honest sort, so I won't hide it from you."
"I heard the Li Household's guardian spirit beast has reached a critical juncture and urgently needs large numbers of these Fanged Spotted Rabbits to extract their bloodline essence!"
"It's a matter of burning urgency. The Li Household has already called on every village and town hunter within a hundred li. That's why the price has been driven so high. There are even cultivators stationed at the purchasing point in the county town every day now!"
Extract their bloodline essence? A guardian spirit beast?
Lin He's heart pounded wildly.
What did it mean to catch a rising wind? This was a rising wind!
Lin He licked his lips. Looking at the rabbit in his hand, he seemed to see a ticket through the gates of the cultivation world beckoning to him.