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Chapter 289: Travel Fare
🕑 Added 2024-10-04 05:17:48 +0000 UTCAt this moment, the street wasn’t too crowded, and no one else was stopping at this particular stall. The vendor, a friendly person, responded to Lin Xiao’s question with enthusiasm.
"You might not know this, but every hundred years, in the months leading up to the Talisman Master Conference, a massive spirit ship travels to various cities to pick up passengers. If you want to go, all you need to do is pay the travel fare, and you can ride the ship to the conference venue."
"Also, I hear the fare isn't too expensive. Many lower-level cultivators who want to gain experience or participate in the Talisman Master Conference take this spirit ship."
Standing nearby, Jiang Youfu widened his eyes in curiosity and asked the vendor, "Boss, how much is the fare?"
The vendor scratched his head and gave an embarrassed chuckle, "That, I don’t know. The last time they held the Talisman Master Conference, my father hadn’t even been born yet."
After that, Lin Xiao picked up a few small trinkets that Jiang Youfu had examined earlier. After asking the price, he paid two spirit stones, and then the two of them left the street.
"Brother Xiao, where are we going now?" Jiang Youfu asked as he followed behind Lin Xiao, his head swiveling from side to side as he took in the sights.
Every few steps, something new would catch his eye. One shop had a giant boulder floating by its entrance, and another store had someone demonstrating talismans. As they walked further, Jiang Youfu spotted a store selling strange beasts he had never seen before.
He found himself wishing he had three heads to see everything at once.
Lin Xiao, without even turning around, knew exactly what expression Jiang Youfu had on his face. He smiled and said, "We're heading to Qixing Street. It's the best place to gather information."
Having visited Yuanling City before, Lin Xiao already knew where to go to find information related to cultivators.
There was also Wanwan Tong now, but Lin Xiao had reservations about its safety, so he preferred not to use it.
Qixing Street was better; it had a wide variety of sources, and there was no need to worry about people knowing what information you were looking for.
Most importantly, it was free.
Inquiring about something like travel fare shouldn’t be too difficult.
The vendor they had spoken to seemed like someone who spent most of his time at the stall and probably wasn’t attending the Talisman Master Conference. It made sense that he didn’t know the details.
As expected.
After wandering around Qixing Street for a while, Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu managed to gather all the information they needed, including the fare, where to buy tickets, and the monthly departure times.
The vendor had been mistaken.
The fare for the spirit ship to the Talisman Master Conference was actually quite expensive.
It cost 200 spirit stones per person...
After gathering this information, Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu checked into an inn.
By this time, half the day had passed, and they couldn’t let Senior Liao stay inside the Soul Nurturing Pendant for too long. He needed some fresh air, too.
After locking the door to their room and setting up various soundproofing and defensive formations, Senior Liao finally emerged from the pendant.
The moment he appeared, he noticed the slightly pained look on Lin Xiao’s face and snorted, "Stingy much? Complaining about 200 spirit stones for a ticket."
Lin Xiao shot him a glance filled with resentment and sighed, "Senior, you're a wealthy man. You wouldn’t understand the suffering of us poor folk."
Jiang Youfu glanced around and tentatively asked, "Brother Xiao, maybe we shouldn’t go, then?"
However, Lin Xiao slammed his hand on the table and declared, "No way! We’re definitely going! I promised you I’d take you for some fun, so whatever you want to do, just say the word. Two hundred spirit stones? I’ll pay for it myself!"
"Besides, this Talisman Master Conference features our sect’s Elder Liu. We should go and cheer him on!"
Hearing this, Jiang Youfu grinned and said, "Alright, I’ll listen to you, Brother Xiao."
Having known Lin Xiao for so many years, Jiang Youfu understood that Lin Xiao’s complaints about spirit stones were just talk. When it came to sharing things with his brothers, Lin Xiao had never hesitated.
Moreover, Jiang Youfu remembered that Senior Liao and the others had once said that his cooking skills could fetch a good price in the cultivation world. If they ended up spending too much, he could always make some dishes to sell.
In the afternoon, Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu didn’t head back out into the city. Instead, they left the city entirely.
Nearly a year had passed since Lin Xiao had last been to Yuanling City, and now that he had some free time, he wanted to visit the graves he had buried.
Jiang Youfu had heard Lin Xiao talk about his experiences in the Icefield Secret Realm and how he had taken the bodies from the secret realm to bury them here.
When Lin Xiao mentioned wanting to visit the graves, Jiang Youfu naturally went along with him.
Before leaving, Lin Xiao stopped by a wine shop to buy a small jar of wine.
A small amount would do—it would be wasteful to buy too much.
As the sun began to set, they arrived at the spot where Lin Xiao had erected the gravestone.
Perhaps because no one had tended to the area, and because this was the cultivation world where spiritual energy was more abundant than in the mortal realm, the weeds had grown three feet tall in just under a year.
Fortunately, Lin Xiao had a skilled method for clearing them. With just a few quick movements, he cleaned up the entire area.
Looking at the desolate, lifeless scene around the graves, Lin Xiao sighed as if lost in thought.
Jiang Youfu, on the other hand, stepped forward, bowed respectfully to the gravestone, and said, "Hello, predecessors whom I’ve never met. I hope you can rest well in peace."
Seeing his serious expression, Lin Xiao couldn’t help but smile silently. Then, he uncorked the wine jar, took a small sip, and poured the rest over the gravestone.
"In the future, I don’t know if I’ll have the time or remember to come visit you again. Consider this wine as my final offering. May your paths in the afterlife be smooth."
After saying this, Lin Xiao was silent for a moment before turning to Jiang Youfu and saying, "Let’s go."
As the two of them turned to leave, they didn’t notice the faint mist rising from the gravestone behind them. The mist circled over their heads for a moment before transforming into tiny, invisible fragments that silently settled on them.
Once they were gone, the words "Nameless Grave" that had been carved into the stone began to fade, disappearing little by little with the wind.
The nameless grave had now truly become an anonymous resting place.
Shortly after Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu left the grave site, Lin Xiao suddenly sensed someone nearby.
He immediately focused his spiritual awareness in the direction of the presence.
What he found was a person lying face down in the overgrown brush, covered in wounds of varying sizes. Their clothing was tattered, and their breath was weak. If left unattended in this wilderness, they wouldn’t survive more than two days.
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