Chapter 27: Buying Weapons

Li Banfeng and Qin Xiaopang agreed on this business and prepared to go to Bitter Wushan to pick Snake-Pattern Chrysanthemums.

That evening, Qin Xiaopang went back to pack his luggage and invited Li Banfeng to stay at his house for the night, but Li Banfeng politely declined.

A Residential Cultivator had to stay in their abode for at least two hours every day; this was the most basic rule of cultivation. With Qiao Yuesheng's example right there, Li Banfeng didn't dare to break the rules.

The two agreed to meet at the noodle restaurant at eight o'clock the next day, but Li Banfeng had no watch and no timing tools of any kind. By the time he arrived at the noodle restaurant, it was almost noon.

One couldn't blame Li Banfeng for oversleeping; in the "Portable Abode," there was no distinction between day and night, and the sleep quality was truly too good.

Qin Xiaopang was very anxious: "Brother Li, why did you just arrive? We need to hurry; let's go to Ligou first."

"What are we going to Ligou for?"

"To buy some handy tools."

Li Banfeng was puzzled: "Aren't we going up the mountain to pick herbs? Wouldn't a shovel and a sack be enough? Do we need to go to Ligou to buy these things?"

Qin Xiaopang shook his head: "It's too late. I'll tell you when we get there."

After treating Li Banfeng to two bowls of plain noodles, Qin Xiaopang ate eight bowls himself. With all his strength gathered, the two ran to Ligou together.

Li Banfeng used thirty percent of his strength, while Qin Xiaopang barely followed behind. As long as a Food Cultivator was full, both their speed and endurance were far superior to ordinary people, barely able to keep up with a Traveling Cultivator.

Before, walking slowly from Ligou, Li Banfeng had spent the better part of a day, but now, running back, they arrived at Ligou in less than two hours.

Qin Xiaopang was too out of breath to speak and took Li Banfeng directly to Paifang Street.

Once on this street, Li Banfeng felt a bit nervous because the old He mansion was nearby, and Lu Xiaolan was still in the mansion.

Qin Xiaopang didn't know about the old He mansion; he was going to the Feng Ji Grocery Store.

The grocery store owner was cleaning the shelves with a feather duster. Seeing the two enter, he quickly greeted them with a smile: "Boss Qin, I haven't seen you lately. And this guest, thanks for your patronage again."

He recognized Qin Xiaopang and also recognized Li Banfeng; Li Banfeng was still wearing the top hat he had bought there.

Qin Xiaopang wasn't in the mood for small talk and asked directly: "Shopkeeper Feng, do you have any good stuff? I'm going out to do a business trip."

Qin Xiaopang's business didn't seem suitable to be discussed at the counter. Shopkeeper Feng called a waiter to watch the door and said to Li Banfeng and Qin Xiaopang: "The two of you, please come to the back room for a cup of tea."

Li Banfeng and Qin Xiaopang followed Shopkeeper Feng to the back room. The so-called back room had even more shelves than the front room, with goods stacked layer upon layer, very crowded. If it weren't for a tea table in the middle of the room, it would purely be a warehouse.

The three sat by the tea table. Shopkeeper Feng poured tea and asked in a low voice: "Don't blame me for being meddlesome, but allow me to ask, what business are the two of you doing?"

"Bitter Wushan, picking flowers." Qin Xiaopang answered directly.

Shopkeeper Feng pondered for a moment and took down a small sickle from the shelf.

The blade of this sickle was no more than ten centimeters long, and the handle was even shorter, just enough for one hand to grip.

Qin Xiaopang looked at this miniature sickle and was stunned for a long time: "Shopkeeper Feng, what are you giving me this sickle for? This thing isn't even good for harvesting wheat."

Shopkeeper Feng was also surprised: "Boss Qin, aren't you going to Bitter Wushan to pick flowers? This sickle is just right for picking flowers."

Qin Xiaopang frowned: "I didn't treat you as an outsider, but you're treating me like a fool. If I wanted to buy a sickle, would I need to come to you?"

Shopkeeper Feng looked helpless: "Boss Qin, you were the one who said you wanted to pick flowers, so I gave you the tools for picking flowers. Where did I do something wrong?"

Qin Xiaopang was anxious: "Are you really not understanding, or are you pretending not to? Can the flowers on Bitter Wushan be picked just like that?"

Shopkeeper Feng shook his head repeatedly: "This time I really don't understand. If you want this sickle, take it; if not, forget it."

During their argument, Li Banfeng saw some clues.

Qin Xiaopang knew some inside information about Bitter Wushan, but not much.

He also understood a little bit of the rules of the *jianghu*, but his understanding was limited.

Li Banfeng had grown up in a welfare academy and had relied on odd jobs to get through university. He had seen many people and encountered many things. He could tell at a glance that the true old hand of the *jianghu* was this Shopkeeper Feng.

Li Banfeng quickly mediated and said to Qin Xiaopang: "Brother, I also don't understand. What exactly do you want to buy?"

Qin Xiaopang frowned: "Buying weapons!"

"Why buy weapons?"

Qin Xiaopang only explained one sentence: "The flowers are easy to pick, but the mountain is hard to descend."

With just this one sentence, the hidden situation was made clear.

The Snake-Pattern Chrysanthemum was very precious, and many people wanted to go up the mountain to pick flowers; presumably, many people also wanted to snatch the flowers. Qin Xiaopang wanted to buy a weapon for self-defense.

Shopkeeper Feng naturally understood Qin Xiaopang's meaning, and he also replied with one sentence: "Carrying a sickle makes it easy to descend the mountain; carrying a Green Dragon Blade makes the road hard to travel."

Li Banfeng asked: "How so?"

The shopkeeper laughed: "Those carrying sickles are farmers; those carrying Green Dragon Blades are Guan Yu.

Farmers walk quietly, at most encountering a petty thief or two; one slash, and the matter is over.

Guan Yu walks carrying a Green Dragon Blade, having to pass five gates and slay six generals. Without the ability of Lord Guan, can this mountain still be descended?"

While speaking, the shopkeeper touched the edge of the sickle. Li Banfeng really knew his stuff and could see that this was a good blade.

Li Banfeng said: "How much is this blade? I'll buy it."

Qin Xiaopang stared from the side: "What's the use of buying this? Let's go look at other shops; I have plenty of connections."

Shopkeeper Feng didn't try to keep them: "Boss Qin, then you go look at other shops. I don't have the weapons you want."

This Shopkeeper Feng was a good person; he didn't want to harm Qin Xiaopang.

Li Banfeng insisted on buying this sickle. The shopkeeper asked for five hundred, and Li Banfeng didn't haggle, preparing to borrow five hundred yuan from Qin Xiaopang.

Qin Xiaopang was heartbroken: "Five hundred yuan for just this thing?"

Li Banfeng's purse was tight, and Shopkeeper Feng could see it.

The day before yesterday, when he helped him point out the way, this young man bought a top hat and a feather duster. Shopkeeper Feng remembered clearly; this was a reasonable person.

"This guest, how should I address you?"

Li Banfeng replied: "My surname is Li, called Li Qi."

"Boss Li, I will sell this blade to you on credit. You can settle the account when you return from picking flowers."

Sell to me on credit?

Li Banfeng was stunned.

Shopkeeper Feng's smile didn't change: "You are a person who can accomplish things; I trust you."

Li Banfeng thanked him and accepted the sickle.

Shopkeeper Feng took out a small shovel from under the counter, more than ten centimeters long, and handed it to Li Banfeng: "Some flowers are rooted deep and are hard to pick. Do you think this shovel is suitable?"

Li Banfeng took the shovel, looked at its shape, touched the edge, and asked: "How much is this shovel?"

Shopkeeper Feng laughed: "In terms of material and workmanship, this shovel is better than that sickle. Logically speaking, eight hundred isn't expensive. You are a connoisseur; if you think it's suitable, seven hundred yuan, and you take it."

"Seven hundred..." Li Banfeng hesitated. The item was good, but asking for more credit wouldn't be appropriate.

Shopkeeper Feng knew Li Banfeng's difficulty: "Take it and use it first. If it's handy, you bring the money; if it's not handy, you bring the item back."

Li Banfeng accepted the shovel and wanted to buy a few cloth bags from the shopkeeper.

Shopkeeper Feng gave him two: "Two cloth bags are enough. Flowers are easy to pick, but hard to bring down the mountain."

Li Banfeng listened to the advice. Shopkeeper Feng laughed: "Do you see anything else you want to buy?"

There were no windows in the "Portable Abode," so he couldn't see the sun or moon and couldn't distinguish day from night. Li Banfeng wanted to buy a watch.

Shopkeeper Feng took out a pocket watch. The watch body was two sizes larger than a one-yuan coin, with a gleaming silver watch case that could reflect a person's shadow.

*Pa! *

Pressing open the watch case, twelve exquisite scales were embossed on the white watch face.

The crown, which was the watch handle for winding the pocket watch, was located at the twelve o'clock position. Shopkeeper Feng pinched the handle, twisted it a few times, and pulled the handle out two clicks.

Li Banfeng had seen this kind of mechanical watch. If the crown wasn't pulled out, it was for winding; pulled out one click, it was for adjusting the watch; pulled out two clicks, it was for adjusting the calendar.

There was no calendar on this watch face, so what was he pulling it out two clicks for?

*Tick-tock, tick-tick-tock~*

The pocket watch emitted the sound of a music box.

Such a familiar tune; it seemed he had heard it somewhere before.

A shopping mall? A restaurant?

"One VIP guest upstairs?"

Li Banfeng had worked in these places; he had a deep impression of this tune, but he could never remember the name.

It had been a long time since he heard music.

This sound made Li Banfeng feel very close.

"What's the price of this watch?"

Shopkeeper Feng held the watch chain: "A pocket watch from the Cheman Kingdom, guaranteed genuine or money back, two thousand two hundred. This one cannot be sold to you on credit."

Li Banfeng was a bit tempted, but the price was staggering.

Qin Xiaopang said impatiently: "What's the use of buying this thing! Might as well buy a clock!"

Shopkeeper Feng laughed and didn't speak.

Qin Xiaopang urged him to hurry. Li Banfeng glanced at the shelves to see if there were any other useful things, when his gaze suddenly stopped on a strange object.

It was a wooden cabinet, an antique rosewood cabinet, about the size of two stacked nightstands, with three metal horn flowers on top.

To be precise, they weren't horn flowers; they were three horns—one very large, with a horn mouth larger than a plate, and the other two much smaller, with horn mouths about the size of a fist.

"Is this a phonograph?" Li Banfeng's eyes lit up; he had seen this thing on TV—it was a machine that played music using records.

"Phonograph?" Shopkeeper Feng shook his head. "This isn't called a phonograph."

What it was called didn't matter.

If there was a phonograph, it proved there was electricity.

If there was electricity, he could charge his phone.

If he charged his phone, this world would be perfect!

Even if there was no phone signal, at least he wouldn't have to buy a watch.

But Shopkeeper Feng's answer disappointed Li Banfeng: "We don't have anything with electricity here. This is a gramophone; it doesn't use electricity."

Li Banfeng couldn't understand: without electricity, how could this thing make a sound?

It wasn't until today that he learned that the most primitive gramophone had nothing to do with electricity, nothing to do with magnetism, and only had to do with two things: the stylus and the record.

Shopkeeper Feng placed a bakelite record on the gramophone tray, took out a crank from the drawer under the gramophone, inserted it into the gramophone, and turned it hard for a dozen times.

This was winding the gramophone.

Once wound, he flipped a pin, and the record spun rapidly on the tray.

Shopkeeper Feng placed the stylus on the record, and a song with fine, crackling noise drifted out from the horn mouth.

"Floating~ clouds~ disperse,

The bright moon shines on people coming,

Reunion and perfection,

Drunk in the present morning~"

"The Moon is Full and the Flowers are Beautiful."

The ancient gramophone had a very simple principle.

There were grooves of varying depths on the record; these grooves were carved by the stylus vibrating while the song was being recorded.

Now, letting the stylus travel along the grooves on the record, the sound produced by friction reproduced the song of that time.

This was the acoustic principle of the gramophone.

He wouldn't dare say the sound quality was good; it was even a bit rough.

But Li Banfeng liked this tune very much and listened to it quite comfortably.

Unfortunately, it was a bit short. In less than three minutes, the stylus slid to the end, the spring reached its end, and the record stopped.

Qin Xiaopang looked disdainful: "What's so good about listening to this? To listen to one tune, you have to turn the crank for half a day; it's not worth the effort."

"If you don't want to wind it, you can still listen to tunes." Shopkeeper Feng took a new record and placed it on the tray.

He took an iron cup and added two cups of water to the small horn next to the large horn.

Shopkeeper Feng struck a match and opened a small door on the lower right of the gramophone.

Inside the door was a hidden compartment, and in the compartment was a fixed iron box containing half a box of grease, with a wick standing in the center of the grease.

Lighting the wick, a cluster of fire filled the entire hidden compartment.

Li Banfeng didn't know what kind of oil that was, but he could feel the scorching temperature from far away.

*Chi! Chi! Chi! *

The small horn to the right of the large horn rhythmically spat out water vapor.

The small horn on the left was responsible for adding water, and the small horn on the right was responsible for exhausting steam.

What kind of operation was this?

Could it be...

The record began to spin on the gramophone.

A steam-powered gramophone?

How precise a machine was this?

Li Banfeng widened his eyes; the education he had received over the past ten-plus years was challenged once again.

After waiting for about a minute, the rotation speed of the record gradually stabilized, and Shopkeeper Feng placed the stylus on the record.

"Butter~fly~ flies away,

The heart is also not here,

In the desolate long night, who will come,

To wipe the tears filling the cheeks~~"

"Wild Grass and Idle Flowers Bloom in Spring."

Such a beautiful tune.

PS: Dear readers, an important character has appeared; keep your eyes peeled!

(End of chapter)