Of course, Lin He understood that too.
As a mortal, if he seemed too eager for this pile of worthless spirit seeds, the shifty-eyed fellow with the drooping mustache across from him would surely fleece him like a pig led to slaughter.
So he had to make the purchase look natural, in keeping with his current identity.
Lin He's eyes rolled, and he slipped into character in an instant.
He deliberately tucked in his neck and hunched his back slightly, putting on the expression of a rustic nouveau riche: simple and honest with a hint of curiosity, a little money newly in his pocket but reluctant to spend it.
Rubbing his hands, he approached the stall at the mouth of the alley at a slow, somewhat hesitant pace.
A filthy, tattered cloth covered the stall, giving off a faint musty smell.
Right in the center of the cloth sat that little heap of shriveled, yellowing grains, looking no different from moldy brown rice left for three years in a rural grain depot in his previous life.
The mustached cultivator was squatting on the ground, heaving sighs. The fat rogue cultivator's earlier mockery had left his already neglected stall even more deserted, with barely a sparrow at its door.
He was wondering whether to move to another street corner and keep peddling his patter when he caught a figure approaching out of the corner of his eye.
The mustached man immediately put on an inscrutable smile, stroked his two sparse wisps of mustache, and drawled, "Young fellow, what catches your eye? Everything on this humble Daoist's stall is a rare treasure."
"Especially these Azure Jade Spirit Seeds. They may be a little old, but their foundations run deep. Buy some and plant them, and you might get a great surprise!"
Lin He crouched, casually picked up a few yellowing spirit seeds, and nudged them around in his palm.
"Immortal sir, what're you talking about?" Lin He said loudly, deliberately adding a trace of a country accent as he curled his lip.
"I farmed back home too. These seeds are so shriveled they'd probably float if you tossed 'em in water. It'd take a ghost to make 'em sprout."
"Don't you go taking advantage of me not knowing the trade."
The mustached man listened without blushing or missing a beat, then gave two dry coughs. "Ah, you're mistaken, young fellow! How can ordinary seeds compare to the spirit seeds of immortals? This is called 'divine splendor held within'!"
"Never mind their shriveled appearance. Find a good plot rich in Spiritual Qi and carefully water them with spirit spring water, and they'll still grow supreme-grade spirit rice!"
"Only two Low-Grade Spirit Stones per tael. For two Spirit Stones, you can't buy yourself a loss or a swindle!"
"Two Spirit Stones?!" Lin He's voice shot up. His eyes went round, and he waved his hands repeatedly.
"That's robbery, immortal sir! I heard that fresh, fine low-grade spirit seeds at the Spirit Plant Pavilion down the street only cost five Spirit Stones a tael! Yours are dead seeds any way you look at 'em, and you still want two Spirit Stones?"
"Forget it, forget it. I'll save my money for some meat at a restaurant."
As he spoke, Lin He dusted off his hands and made to turn away.
"Hey, hey, hey! Stay a moment, young fellow! Don't rush off!" Seeing his only fat sheep about to slip away, the mustached man hurriedly rose and grabbed Lin He's sleeve.
These days, even if they could pick them up for free, rogue cultivators who knew the slightest thing about the trade would consider aged spirit seeds that had lost most of their spirituality a waste of space.
Only when he encountered a rash young mortal like this, wanting a glimpse of the cultivation world's curiosities, could he con someone into taking a few.
Once he passed this village, there would be no such shop ahead.
"Business is all about one side asking the sky and the other bargaining from the ground, isn't it?"
Smiling broadly, the mustached man leaned closer and lowered his voice. "You've got a kind face, young fellow. How about this? Give me an honest price. What do you think is fair?"
Lin He stopped, pretending to be painfully reluctant to part with his money yet desperate to have the seeds. After frowning and agonizing for a long while, he slowly raised one finger. "One Low-Grade Spirit Stone, at most! I haven't got a single coin more! And I'm only buying one tael to test the waters."
"One?!" The mustached man's mouth twitched sharply. That was a vicious bargain, slashing the price straight in half.
He feigned difficulty. "Young fellow, you're driving too hard a bargain. At one Spirit Stone, I wouldn't even recover my costs. Add another half. One and a half, and they're yours!"
"No deal!" Lin He answered flatly, stiffening his neck. "I've only got this one Spirit Stone in my pocket. Sell or don't. If you won't, I'll buy a roast chicken to eat."
Seeing Lin He about to leave again, the mustached man gritted his teeth and slapped his thigh. "Deal! Consider it this humble Daoist making a friend today! One Spirit Stone per tael!"
Wild delight filled Lin He's heart, and he nearly laughed aloud, but he kept that pained "did I get ripped off?" expression on his face.
He slowly drew the Low-Grade Spirit Stone he had earned from Shopkeeper Wu at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion out of his robes and handed it over.
The mustached man snatched the Spirit Stone and deftly rubbed it between his fingertips. After confirming its quality, he smilingly weighed out a tael of shriveled, yellowing seeds from the tattered cloth, wrapped them in a sheet of coarse yellow paper, and stuffed the packet into Lin He's hand.
"Here you go, young fellow!" Having received his money, the mustached man was in excellent spirits. He could not help looking Lin He up and down a few times before asking curiously.
"But this humble Daoist is rather curious. Where did a young mortal fellow like you get a Spirit Stone? And you're even willing to spend one on this stuff to plant?"
As Lin He carefully tucked the paper packet into an inner pocket, he pretended to let his delight go to his head and grinned. "I got lucky! Don't laugh at me, immortal sir, but I used to be a villager from Emerald Mountain Village."
"Emerald Mountain Village?" The mustached man raised his brows, a flicker of surprise crossing his eyes.
"That's right. Didn't the authorities drive everyone out of our village a few days ago? They've settled us in Golden Lake Village south of town now."
Lin He patted his chest, lowered his voice, and said with an air of mystery, "Before we moved, I went into the mountains with an old hunter from the village and happened to catch a live Fanged Spotted Rabbit on the outskirts of the mountain behind us!"
"I sold it to a restaurant in town and made a windfall! So now I've got a bit to spare, I figured, since we've moved somewhere with fertile soil and fine water like Golden Lake Village, why not buy some immortal seeds to plant? If I can grow spirit rice, I'll never have to worry about food or clothes again!"
"So you came into a windfall." Understanding dawned on the mustached man. Then he looked at Lin He with a complicated gaze and sighed. "You really are lucky to be alive, lad. You could say you benefited from the trouble too."
He stroked his mustache and gave a self-mocking smile. "This humble Daoist's Daoist name is Wu De. To tell you the truth, young fellow, those seeds you bought count as a 'local specialty' of your Green Mountain."
"Huh? What's that mean?" Lin He froze for a moment.
Wu De pointed at the paper packet in Lin He's pocket. "A couple of days ago, I went to the outskirts of that 'Immortals' Mass Grave' on your Green Mountain and dug this stuff out of a torn cloth sack on the ground.
"Some unlucky rogue cultivator probably left it behind decades ago. There wasn't much to begin with, just this little handful."
At this point, Wu De seemed to recall something that still left him shaken, and he shuddered. "You can't go to Green Mountain now! Once the seal broke, all the Yin Qi and miasma inside leaked out."
"Even those major cultivation lineages have sent tough characters in to scout the way."
"Bottom-rung rogue cultivators like us can't even enter the outskirts. We'd lose our lives there."
Lin He's heart stirred at those words.
Well now, it really did come from Green Mountain's Mass Grave! No wonder Wu De was so eager to sell it off.
He was probably afraid of attracting bad luck, or these lousy seeds really were so useless that even he couldn't bear to look at them anymore.
"So they're an immortal's remains! Then I'd better put some care into growing them!" Lin He feigned the excitement of someone who had stumbled upon an incredible bargain and cupped his hands toward Wu De. "Thank you, Daoist Wu! I'm heading home to farm!"
"Go on, go on. May you grow supreme-grade spirit rice soon." Wu De waved, secretly laughing to himself.
This silly lad, planting these aged spirit seeds, more than half of them dead, in ordinary dirt. If he grows so much as a blade of grass, I'll write my surname Wu upside down!
Lin He turned and walked out of the alley. The instant he rounded the street corner, the simple, honest smile vanished from his face, replaced by irrepressible elation.
One Spirit Stone!
For just one Spirit Stone, he had obtained a whole tael of spirit rice seeds!
"As long as the essence of the moon can revive these seeds... heh heh, I'll finally have the starting capital for my grand refurbishing-and-reselling enterprise!"
Feeling the hard paper packet inside his robes, Lin He strode toward Golden Lake Village, already impatient to get home, report his spoils to Su Qiuran, and then experiment with the Jade Gourd.