Chapter 241: Ancestor Enters the City (Begging for Monthly Passes)

The copper furnace stood six feet tall, requiring one person to embrace it fully.

The Great Wei Wei Huoshi asked for one hundred and eighty-five taels of silver, a fair price.

Had Xu Yuan bought it without revealing his identity from the Purification Bureau, it would certainly have cost over two hundred taels.

Had he revealed his identity... naturally, it would have been free.

But it might have attracted the "Gaze of Lord Wen."

And subsequently become excellent material for a "Case of Lord Wen."

After paying the silver, Xu Yuan ordered: "Lang Xiao Ba, load it onto the cart."

The alchemy furnace Xu Yuan chose was gourd-shaped, consisting of three parts: the upper and lower gourds could be separated, and inside there was a furnace chamber.

There were also some spare parts and decorative pieces.

The Great Wei Wei Huoshi helped, and together with Lang Xiao Ba, they wrapped each part in dried straw covered with banana leaves, then bound the outside tightly with rope.

Outsiders could not tell at all what was being transported.

Lang Xiao Ba and the Captains loaded the items onto the carriage and transported them to Xu Yuan's new courtyard.

The two little maids were currently also staying in the Nancheng Patrol Station.

Lin Wanmo kept them by her side, euphemistically claiming she needed to teach them the "rules."

But Lin Wanmo herself did not know at all what the so-called "rules of wealthy families" were... her heart was too soft; the two little maids refused to call her "Old Lady," insisting she was still young and that such a title would make her sound old.

So they only called her "Lady."

They called Xu Yuan "Young Master," or "My Lord."

Gradually, they began calling Lin Wanmo "Sister" again, their two little mouths being exceptionally sweet.

Accompanying Lin Wanmo while shopping, whenever they saw someone selling sugar figures, they couldn't move forward, looking back every few steps, drool dripping onto their handkerchiefs.

Lin Wanmo shook her head helplessly, took out twenty copper coins, and bought one for each of them.

Thus, the two little maids followed Lin Wanmo, and in just a few days, their cheeks had clearly become round and puffed out.

Like little squirrels hiding several acorns in their mouths.

Xu Yuan had already secretly decided to have the stepmother take these two little maids back.

With no one in the new courtyard, Xu Yuan selected a side room on the south side as the Alchemy Room.

The scale was a bit small; in the future, he would probably have to change houses and rebuild a larger Alchemy Room.

But one could not pursue the so-called "one-step-to-completion."

The Alchemy Room must match one's own Dao cultivation.

A larger Alchemy Room would require a larger alchemy furnace.

Xu Yuan's current Rank Dan Xiu level could not yet control an overly large alchemy furnace.

Nor could one match a large Alchemy Room with a small furnace; an overly spacious interior would easily attract certain ill-intentioned things.

After settling the alchemy furnace, Xu Yuan took Lang Xiao Ba to purchase other items.

These were all very simple.

To advance to the Sixth Rank, the Alchemy Room was the "threshold"; the true mark of the Sixth Rank was: using an alchemy furnace to refine a batch of Sixth-Rank External Pills.

Refining pills with the fire in one's belly was easy; drawing the fire from the belly out to refine pills in an alchemy furnace was more difficult.

Refining Sixth-Rank External Pills was even harder.

The Dan Xiu Sixth Rank was a barrier that blocked more than seventy percent of the Dan Xiu in the world.

The characteristic of Dan Xiu being "easy to learn but hard to master" was manifested right here.

It was not easy even to enter the Middle Three Ranks.

After setting up the Alchemy Room, Xu Yuan discovered that what he lacked was not only the technique of refining medicine in a furnace, but he did not even have the raw medicinal herbs.

The things his father had told him back then were sufficient for the Late Third Rank.

Above the Sixth Rank... Xu Yuan felt he still needed to ask Aunt Wang.

As for the raw medicinal herbs, he could go find Bai Laoyan; there should be many good herbs in Ghost Wushan.

Or he could ask Tian Jing whether the official ships he had robbed contained any good herbs.

In the end, he had to return to Shanhe County.

Aunt Wang had packed a small bundle the night before.

At dawn, she wrapped her head with a blue-flowered cloth handkerchief, hung the bundle on her arm, opened the door silently, slipped out, and had just reached the alley entrance when she heard Grandpa Shen's voice coming from behind: "Where are you going?"

Aunt Wang was startled, nearly falling apart completely.

"I..." Aunt Wang slowly turned around, her two eyeballs rolling in their sockets like two glass marbles—she simply stopped making excuses and, giving up completely, said: "I'm going to Zhan City to see the children."

Grandpa Shen, with a tobacco pipe in his mouth and hands behind his back, walked out and scolded: "When Mao Si returned, I saw something was wrong with you!

I've been secretly watching you these past few days!

What nonsense are you making? The two children are fine in Zhan City. Don't you know your own condition?

If you go out on this trip, you might not come back!"

"I want to!" Aunt Wang's heart fire blazed greatly—truly greatly, her heart bursting forth, flames rushing out.

This fire forced Grandpa Shen to step back one pace.

Grandpa Shen was furious: "You madwoman, do you want to fight me?"

"If you don't stop me from going to see the children, I won't fight you." Aunt Wang's eyes were turning red: "The two children are outside; do you not worry about them at all?

Why can Mao Si go see the children, but I cannot?

I don't know how many days I have left; compared to dying outside, I am more afraid of dying without seeing the children even once!

Besides, what's wrong with dying outside? It just means I won't become a piece of shadow puppet in a box; I think that's quite good!"

"You—" Uncle Shen pointed his pipe bowl at her, so angry he could not speak, and finally tucked the pipe bowl behind his waist, turned, and walked away: "I don't care anymore!"

Aunt Wang quickly put out the fire, stuffed her heart back in, and headed along the flagstone street toward Chengxi.

After a while, those river workers and laborers arrived in twos and threes before Aunt Wang's basket shop, waited for quite some time, saw no sign of the door opening, and immediately began grumbling in dissatisfaction: "Why is this old woman slacking off and not opening the door?"

Xu Yuan discussed with Zhang Laoya: "I need to go to Shanhe County."

The agreement with Zhang Laoya still had a little over two months remaining.

Zhang Laoya rolled his eyes: "No way!"

"I'll be back in at most three days."

Zhang Laoya sneered: "It's not a matter of you saying a few days and it being a few days. When you went out with the Shanhe Bureau last time, did you not expect to encounter an ancient python?"

That was the truth; Xu Yuan had no way to refute it.

"I was careless last time too..." Zhang Laoya still felt some fear now; how dangerous it had been, Xu Yuan almost did not return.

Xu Yuan said: "That is my home; I have several elders in my family who will not let anything happen to me."

"That still won't work. I have figured it out; you young man are just a troublemaker! Wherever you go, trouble happens!"

Xu Yuan, feeling guilty, stomped his feet and shouted: "How can you slander an innocent person out of thin air!"

"Hmph! Hmph!"

"Then come with me."

"I'm not going." Zhang Laoya said: "I have seen through your true face; how could I be foolish enough to drag myself into it? For these two months, I will go nowhere, and you must not think of running around either!"

Xu Yuan had a headache.

Wait another two months? But his heart was itching with impatience.

If he could not advance, that would be one thing, but he clearly felt everything was about to fall into place... who could bear to wait?

But Zhang Laoya put on an iron face that said "this matter is not up for discussion," so Xu Yuan had to temporarily give up and think of another way to persuade the old man.

A large cart entered the city and stopped at a roadside spot.

Aunt Wang stepped down from the cart carrying a small bundle.

She glanced at the surrounding streets: she had not been here for decades; it was very unfamiliar.

The driver said: "Auntie, I am heading to Chengxi; you go south from here. If you cannot find it, just ask passersby; anyone in the city knows how to get to the Nancheng Patrol Station."

"Good." Aunt Wang responded, and paid the fare.

Aunt Wang walked by herself for a while, then got lost; she even lost her direction.

She grabbed a young man and asked: "Young man, which way to the Nancheng Patrol Station?"

The young man pointed out the way for her; after thanking him, Aunt Wang headed in that direction.

After the young man left, he suddenly turned back to look at her figure, scratched his head, and said in confusion: "This auntie... why does she look a bit like the statue of the Ancestor..."

(End of this chapter)