Chapter 41: The Weaver Gathers Lake Silk

The fat ghost drifted in a stupor toward Jin Guang, then its ghostly form twisted and fell into the Soul-Guiding Lamp.

Zhao Xing saw this and did not stop it; this ghost-wealth was too far out of reach, and to pry out where the fortune lay, he might even have to help the fat ghost fulfill its wish.

Too much trouble. Zhao Xing had come to scoop up side-path ghost-wealth, banking on getting rich in an instant. If it involved too many twists and turns, he might as well go back and farm.

Besides, this involved the assessment of the temple personnel; putting himself in their shoes, he too would not want outsiders interfering, so there was no need to offend people over a little money.

"No rush, there'll be plenty of chances." Zhao Xing didn't even look, and quickly returned to the stall.

Xu Lao Ba breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Zhao Xing return; he had truly feared Zhao Xing would leave and never come back, then go around gossiping and ruining the river-scavengers' reputation.

"Young Master made me wait so long—you vanished in a flash."

"Oh, I saw an acquaintance. Let's go, we'll head over to the South Lake district to take a look."

That same brush-off again. Xu Lao Ba didn't press further; seeing that they were finally getting down to business, he perked up at once, grabbed his gear, and followed.

Arriving at the South Lake district, it was still brightly lit, but the light came more from the lake itself than from the ground.

The atmosphere had also grown quiet, without so much of the earlier clamor.

"Huh?" While walking along the covered bridge by the lake, Xu Lao Ba suddenly stopped and looked in a certain direction.

"What is it?" Zhao Xing asked.

"Oh, I saw an acquaintance." Xu Lao Ba waved his hand.

"..." Zhao Xing looked at him with a half-smile—so now it's your turn to brush me off, is it?

But this time he really was wronging Xu Lao Ba.

"Young Master, don't misunderstand, I really did see an acquaintance. See that woman in hemp clothes up ahead? Yes, the pair with the young lady in white beside her." Xu Lao Ba pointed in a direction.

"I see them." Zhao Xing nodded. Not far off, a small boat was moored at the shore, with a mother-and-daughter pair aboard. A few fishing lamps were lit on the boat, and they seemed to be busy with something.

"That's Lin Li from Pingsi Wan. She's from my hometown. Her husband used to do this work too, but after he had an accident, she took over for him and became the new river-scavenger."

"But ever since her son settled down and started a family, she stopped going into the water. It's been years since she did this. I don't know why she's picked up the old trade again today." Xu Lao Ba was a little puzzled.

Zhao Xing took a careful look. Under his Bright-Eye technique, he could tell Xu Lao Ba wasn't lying; the middle-aged woman's attire and tools were much the same as Xu Lao Ba's.

As for that young maiden, she was dressed neatly, and the plain clothes on her body even carried a faint glow.

"Hm? A first-rank magic robe?" Zhao Xing turned to look at Xu Lao Ba. "Is her daughter a Weaver of the Weaving Bureau?"

Xu Lao Ba shook his head: "She doesn't have a daughter. That's her niece, Lin Baiwei, though she's half a daughter in all but name—Lin Li raised her from childhood. Seems she really did enter the Gucheng Weaving Bureau."

A Weaver was a clerk of the Weaving Bureau. The Great Zhou had always had an open atmosphere; it was perfectly common for women to go out and work or hold office.

The Weaver's job was mainly "weaving magic robes"—in fact, it was a fairly important magical-art profession.

Zhao Xing gave a slight nod: "It looks like Lin Li picked up her old trade for her niece."

Xu Lao Ba asked: "How does Young Master know?"

Zhao Xing pointed and said: "Lin Li doesn't look like she's going to scoop up any treasure—she's going to gather lake silk."

"The Weaving Bureau's assessments are mostly related to weaving magic robes."

"It's now the eighth month, around End of Heat. The usual first, second, and late silkworm crops are all gone."

"Only the water-silkworm lake silk can still be gathered, and its quality is even better by a grade."

Seeing the look of pure admiration on Xu Lao Ba's face, Zhao Xing got into the mood and added a few more lines: "A Weaver who has not yet entered the ranked realm can mostly only use this as material. Silk that is white, fine, and tough makes what's called a Heluo magic robe."

"Wearing it keeps you warm in winter and cool in summer, can dispel wind-dampness and cold ailments, and helps frail children grow up healthy."

"The slightly inferior grade is the Chuanwu magic robe, and the one below that is the Feiguang magic robe."

"Lake silk basically all makes Heluo magic robes, but the gathering conditions are harsh—it's basically only findable around the River Lantern Festival, and it has to be at night. During the day the lake silkworms all curl up and you simply can't scoop them up."

"So when I say Lin Li picked up her old trade for her niece, it's actually something you river-scavengers are more efficient at doing."

Hearing this, Xu Lao Ba couldn't help but give a thumbs-up: "Young Master really knows a lot."

Zhao Xing smiled and said: "Since she's an acquaintance, do you want to go say hello? I'm not in a hurry either."

Xu Lao Ba shook his head repeatedly: "When Lin Li goes into the water she has to take her clothes off. What if I happened to see... Would I, Xu Lao Ba, be that kind of person? No, no, I'm not going."

Zhao Xing gave a slight smile, taking that as Xu Lao Ba being put at ease.

Since the temple on shore was organizing an assessment, Zhao Xing rented a small boat and went out onto the water.

By now very few people were still releasing river lanterns, but on the water's surface there were still a few large boats and a dozen or so small skiffs, with candle-flames dotted here and there, and the surroundings were quiet.

Zhao Xing said nothing, just listening quietly, watching quietly.

Not a single living person in sight, but quite a few wandering souls.

Some clung to the river lanterns, some swam beneath, feeding on the yellow-paper incense offerings.

These wandering souls weren't necessarily all human—some were the spirits of water creatures, and some were bizarrely-shaped things stitched together.

For instance, as Zhao Xing's skiff passed a certain spot, he saw a wandering soul with a fish's head and a human body.

Even the long-lived ones would be periodically cleared out by the temple personnel.

He could also hear:

"What are you doing?"

"I want to get past."

"What are you doing?"

"I want to get past."

Not far off, by a large Dahe lantern, two strangely-shaped wandering souls were mechanically conversing, going back and forth with just those two lines—one wanting to get past, the other asking what it was doing. Missing the wisdom-soul, with only the basic soul left, this was what they were like.

As always, these wandering souls had no attacking power whatsoever, purely a natural phenomenon, and the vast majority would dissipate within seven days.

"Stop here for a moment." Zhao Xing suddenly pointed at a certain spot.

Xu Lao Ba immediately rowed over, his eyes lighting up: "Young Master, this stretch of lake is clear, but there are quite a few fish swimming around. There must be some treasure attracting them—let me go into the water and try."

"Mm." Zhao Xing's Bright-Eye technique easily saw through to the lake bottom: there were two top-grade first-rank East Lake Pearls down there.

The price was so-so—market value was only about one tael of silver. Good-looking ones could fetch a bit more, but never over two taels.

Mainly because East Lake isn't short on this kind of thing; only if you can get to second-tier or third-tier can you sell them for a good price.

Sure enough, Xu Lao Ba soon floated to the surface, a sparkling egg-sized pearl in his hand: "Young Master, I fished up two lake pearls!"

"Many thanks, come up quickly." Zhao Xing took the pearls; both were top-grade first-tier — that was about enough to recoup the cost.

Before he had time to admire them further, a series of faint, scattered sounds came on the wind again.

"Light, what a huge light — it's really blinding."

"T-turtle, turtle, over there — it's so cold, freezing me to death, I want to stay away from it."