Back to Fishing on the Lake
The fish market was small, but it had all the vital organs.
Xu Fan tightened his ragged hemp robe around himself. With a hefty silver tael and 140 large copper coins in his pocket, he went to the neighboring street, where firewood, rice, oil, and salt were sold.
A crowd had gathered around the rice and flour shop at the end of the street. Some wore worried looks, while others hunched their shoulders and asked about prices.
"Why does brown rice cost ten large copper coins? Wasn't it eight a few days ago?"
"What's so expensive about it? It's been this price for days. If you don't want it, don't stand in everyone else's way."
"Another devil who cultivates the Wedding Robe Divine Art has appeared in Yin Mountain Prefecture. He specializes in killing martial artists escorting cargo and grain, and even the Brocade-Clad Guards from the Northern Pacification Office can't catch him. How can grain be brought here so easily?"
"If you don't buy more now, it might not be this price tomorrow."
Xu Fan paused slightly as he passed by.
"The Wedding Robe Divine Art?"
He seemed to have heard old fishermen mention it before. It was an evil martial art that devoured people, carrying out the deeds of a Devil Cultivation Method under the name of a divine art. It had appeared in Wuling County several times.
Supposedly, this martial art paid no heed to aptitude. Anyone could practice it, and progress was extremely fast. It was widely disseminated, and many people died whenever it appeared.
Even the Canal Gang had once lost a highly skilled gang leader to it.
After some thought, he turned and headed for the tavern across the street, whose name he couldn't read.
There weren't many people in the tavern. They sat talking in twos and threes, and Xu Fan found a corner to sit in.
"Two jin of cooked beef, a roast chicken, a jar of yellow wine, a plate of fennel beans, and a bowl of white rice."
The lavish order instantly drew the gazes of the other people in the tavern.
Quite a few fishermen had come to the tavern to drink away the cold, while even more people had come to shop at the fish market, but none dared spend money like that.
"Sir, that'll cost quite a bit."
The server glanced at Xu Fan and gave him a warning, not wanting trouble later.
The man reeked of fish and wore ragged hemp clothes and straw sandals. One look was enough to tell he was a fisherman who had just come ashore.
These fishermen struggled to feed and clothe themselves. Even when they had a little money, most would order no more than one or two liang of Shaodaozi liquor and a plate of fennel beans to go with it.
Ordering three or four hundred large copper coins' worth of food at once-that was enough to cover a fisherman's expenses for nearly half a year. Could he be looking for a condemned man's last meal?
Would he claim he had no money afterward and let them beat him to death?
"I know."
Xu Fan wasn't surprised. He set the silver on the table.
Fishermen belonged to the base households, one of the three lowest classes alongside slave and corvée households. They couldn't leave the county or enter the city, and were the least welcome of all.
Even the daughters of farming households fleeing disaster wouldn't marry down into their ranks unless they had no other choice.
With no fixed abode and no property, they were born to a life of toil and hardship.
The imperial court couldn't collect taxes from the three lowest households, so naturally it gave them no favorable treatment. It could only put them to use wherever they were needed.
"Right away!"
"Just a moment, sir."
The server's eyes lit up, and a smile immediately spread across his face.
Before long, the sliced beef and yellow wine were brought out.
If not for the tavern's rules, several restless fishermen would have shamelessly come over.
Xu Fan ignored their longing gazes and buried his head in his food, eating ravenously without regard for appearances.
It had been over a month, and only today had he tasted meat!
As he ate, he kept his ears pricked up, listening to the various bits of gossip the other patrons discussed.
He had come to the tavern and spent so much money simply to reduce the chances of local ruffians latching onto him and to learn what was happening in Yin Mountain Prefecture.
Taverns had always attracted all sorts of people-peddlers, porters, and martial artists of the jianghu-and once they drank too much, they would invariably boast and show off.
Come to think of it, I can barely read a few characters right now. Should I buy a book on some miscellaneous subject and take a look?
Xu Fan picked up a fennel bean and put it in his mouth, then took a sip of yellow wine as he pondered the matter.
He had only been able to understand the Plain Luminary Supreme Yin Wondrous Instruction before because the Taiji Dao Evolution Diagram had exerted its power. Would it do so again in this world?
After all, as a member of a base household, he couldn't enter an academy in the city, nor could he hire one of those haughty scholar-teachers.
Buying books and learning slowly on his own was an option, but it would take too long, and in time it would also arouse suspicion.
In other people's eyes, how could a member of a base household from the three lowest classes have spare money to learn to read and write?
After listening for a while, he finally heard something that interested him.
"Have you heard a devil has appeared in Yin Mountain Prefecture?"
"Of course. He's a fiend who cultivates the Wedding Robe Divine Art, and the Brocade-Clad Guards still haven't caught him."
"It's not just the Brocade-Clad Guards. The Clearwater Sect has come too!"
"If that devil's strength weren't so profound and he didn't look down on ordinary people's Qi and Blood, we wouldn't dare come to the fish market to shop at a time like this."
"I heard that devil ambushed and killed a True Disciple of the Clearwater Sect and stole a spiritual treasure. They say it can help a highly skilled martial artist become a grandmaster."
"What kind of spiritual treasure could drive that devil so mad that he'd dare kill a True Disciple of the Clearwater Sect?"
"I'm not sure. Supposedly it was found in the depths of Peach Blossom Spring Lake three months ago. An omen appeared in the heavens then, casting a golden glow over the night, and even a grandmaster of the Clearwater Sect came."
"The Clearwater Sect?"
Xu Fan gnawed on his roast chicken. He had heard old fishermen say a few things about it.
The sect had many martial artists, including several grandmasters.
Several of Yin Mountain Prefecture's major Aristocratic Clans sent their talented descendants there.
"The bill."
After sitting for quite a while longer, he finally stood up.
"Sir, here's your change after the bill. Please come again."
The server came over smiling and handed him a small cloth bag.
"Mm."
Xu Fan weighed it in his hand, nodded, and took it with him as he left.
"He's a clever one. He spent most of the silver he had on him, so hardly anyone will be after him now."
"He's alone and a fisherman to boot. He couldn't hold on to his money."
The tavern keeper looked at the thin, frail figure departing and couldn't help but sigh.
"Small folk have their own wisdom for survival."
In his seven or eight years running the tavern, he had seen and heard of quite a few fishermen lucky enough to catch treasured fish, but most couldn't hold on to their windfalls.
Either petty officials at the fish market demanded money under all sorts of pretexts, or fishing gangs on the lake forcibly extorted it from them. Some were even beaten to death and robbed.
After leaving the tavern, he used the money he had left to buy nearly half a sack of white rice and a jin of fine government salt from the rice and flour shop at the end of the street.
Now that he had cultivation, he didn't need to worry about money for the time being, and he needed nourishing food to build up his body.
At the same time, he would avoid running into trouble as much as possible.
His cultivation wasn't high yet, and he didn't want to risk being exposed by killing someone.
A fisherman from a base household, unable to enter the city and with no way to learn martial arts, actually had cultivation?
If people found out, they would surely seize him and demand an explanation.
He stepped aboard his black-awning boat and glanced back at the fish market slowly disappearing behind him.
"Peach Blossom Spring Lake is my treasure trove."
"I can't sell treasured fish often, but I can eat them often."
Xu Fan had already made plans.
Since the treasured fish in the lake were useful to martial artists, they should also be useful to his cultivation.
At worst, they would nourish his body. Investing in himself couldn't be wrong.
"Liang Chi is a notch stronger than the man in charge of the fish market, and he's sold a few treasured fish too. Presumably he has a way to catch them."
"He's a fisherman who can't even enter the city. Where would he get a Cultivation Method or martial art?"
"Could it be that damned Wedding Robe Divine Art?"
At the thought, Xu Fan grew wary.
The Wedding Robe Divine Art was said to be widely disseminated, and people in various places obtained it from time to time.
In his place, if Xu Fan didn't have the Taiji Dao Evolution Diagram's ability to travel between two worlds, he might well practice the Wedding Robe Divine Art too if he obtained it.
Who told this goddamned world to divide people into ranks, while he happened to be in the lowest three classes?
"I'd better be careful."