Chapter 8

Actually

Li Hu immediately began searching his person, but after searching his whole body he still couldn't find his money pouch, and in his anxiety a fine sweat broke out on his forehead.

Suddenly, his hand paused at his lower back, his expression changed instantly, and he delightedly patted his head, saying, "Look at my memory—you must take this; whether you sell the pelt or give it to a rich young lady as a pet, it's worth several dozen taels of silver."

Speaking, he handed Chen Shicheng an unidentified object wrapped in leather cords like a zongzi.

Is this a purple marten?

Chen Shicheng took the zongzi from Li Hu's hand, shook it, and seeing the small head wobble as if boneless with his movements, he asked doubtfully, "Is this thing dead?"

"This little thing is just like that—when it's asleep it's hardly different from dead." Li Hu said, curling his finger and flicking the utterly still small head hard.

Boom!

A grating muffled sound rang out, and the purple marten, which had just been as still as dead, instantly feigned death, turning into a favorite of young women as it began to twist wildly.

Taken off guard, Chen Shicheng almost failed to catch the small thing in his hand.

Speaking of which, such a tiny thing actually has this much strength; with his current 6.3 Spirit attribute he almost couldn't hold onto it, and an ordinary person would have dropped it outright.

Looking at it this way, the little girl really wasn't lying; Li Hu really isn't simple, his level is probably not low either, otherwise he couldn't have caught this purple marten.

He glanced at the somewhat nervous Li Hu, and Chen Shicheng began to carefully examine the little creature in his hand.

At this moment the purple marten seemed to realize its struggling was futile, staring at him with its two beady black eyes, its small ears constantly twitching, looking somewhat uneasy.

Chen Shicheng tried extending a finger to scratch its chin, not knowing whether it was intentionally being cute or genuinely comfortable, but the little creature happily tilted its head and stretched out its body, like a marten strip.

"This little creature is quite interesting, then I'll take it."

In front of the people coming and going at the city gate, Chen Shicheng played with the marten for a while, then nodded in satisfaction.

"Young Hero Chen, as long as you're satisfied, that's fine. My father is injured, so please excuse Li Hu for not being able to stay long. If you need any help, come find me at Cherish Righteousness Ward—I'll go through fire and water without hesitation!"

After another solemn fist salute to Chen Shicheng, Li Hu supported the old man and walked noisily into the city, followed by the little girl who seemed forgotten, her mouth pursed.

【Congratulations on obtaining Lv. 7 Purple Marten.】

The notification of the task reward arriving late made Chen Shicheng slightly dissatisfied, and he pursed his lips.

If he hadn't fought hard for it, the system might have simply omitted his reward; he knew the game emphasized realism, but it didn't need to be so realistic that he had to fight for his task rewards.

After silently complaining to himself about the game, Chen Shicheng, imitating Li Hu, tied the purple marten to his waist and then proceeded with interest into the ancient-style county seat before him.

As soon as he stepped through the city gate, a road nearly twenty meters wide appeared before his eyes.

The densely packed shops on both sides and the bustling crowds on the street made this modern person, who had never been to a film base, feel somewhat dazzled.

Although Huangchi is merely a county seat, because cultivators exist, its scale is not small.

Having walked only half of this broad road, Chen Shicheng discovered a blacksmith shop, a carpentry workshop, a restaurant, a grocery store, a bookstore, and even two martial arts halls—truly a small place with all the essential facilities.

Ignoring the tempting aroma drifting from the roadside restaurant, Chen Shicheng's gaze began to wander back and forth between the blacksmith shop and the clothing store.

As the saying goes, "To do a good job, one must first sharpen one's tools!"

A wealthy person with 500 taels of gold as a base decided to first equip himself, but after glancing at the blacksmith's interior from outside, he resolutely entered the neighboring clothing store. Relying on his breakthrough-level Basic Sword Technique, he could instantly judge the quality of those weapons in the blacksmith shop.

Compared to the Tang Sword gifted by the system in his hand, although the forging technique and materials are similar, at the very least his Tang Sword's design surpasses those broad-bladed knives by several times.

"Please come in, sir; we are the finest clothing shop in Huangchi County, offering all kinds of apparel, even able to replicate styles from the capital, please feel free to browse."

As soon as he entered, the store clerk greeted him warmly.

Although he already knew from the old man's family that NPCs in this game are highly realistic, the clerk's enthusiastic attitude still made Chen Shicheng feel quite wondrous.

Just as if he were really interacting with a living person, he said, "Don't mention ordinary clothing—do you have any armor, preferably mail or scale armor?"

"This"

The clerk looked around somewhat embarrassed, seeing no one paying attention to this side, then leaned close to Chen Shicheng and said with a wry smile, "Sir, our shop does legitimate business; the items you mentioned are controlled goods, which we can't trade. Why don't you look at something else?"

Saying this, the clerk gestured with his hand, and a trading interface similar to a panel appeared in front of the counter.

【Cloth Robe: 50 Copper】

【Scholar's Long Robe: 200 Copper】

【Warrior's Sturdy Outfit: 200 Copper】

【Silk Brocade Jacket: 1 Silver】

【Gold-Thread Cloud-Pattern Silk Robe: 10 Silver】

The clothing selection is quite complete, not only everyday wear for commoners but also high-end goods exclusive to wealthy merchants, and even after Chen Shicheng pulled down the panel, he saw monk's robes and Daoist robes.

However, these are all ordinary clothes with no added attributes, worlds apart from the protective gear he hoped for.

"Do you have any equipment besides armor that still offers protective function?" Chen Shicheng asked, somewhat dissatisfied.

"We do have them, but the price—"

"As long as the goods are good, money is no problem!" Chen Shicheng said, patting his empty waist with full confidence.

He had already asked the old man about prices; the game's currency value is hardly different from ancient times, with 1,000 copper coins exchanging for one tael of silver, and 100 taels of silver exchanging for one tael of gold.

Meanwhile, an ordinary family of four spends at most one tael of silver per month, and a single copper coin can buy a plain steamed bun.

With this conversion, his five hundred taels of gold constitute a huge sum, and he simply doesn't believe there could be equipment in this county seat that he couldn't afford.

"Since you say that, sir, I'll bring out the shop's fine items for you to look over and appraise."

Speaking, the ordinary clothing on the panel before him vanished, and a new item was refreshed.

【Plain Soaring Cloud Bat-Pattern Sturdy Outfit: 100 Gold】

【Quality: Medium-grade Magic Implement】

【Description: Made from the soft fur of spirit beasts in the Qi Refining realm, it can withstand damage from ordinary weapons and resist a full-force attack from a Qi Refining practitioner; it contains a magic formation that automatically cleanses, keeping warm in winter and cool in summer.】

(End of chapter)