Liuyue Xue seed dejected for a long ti before finally replying, "I assu you know, Fellow Daoist, that the Ice Crystal Wood Lotus is best planted in a special place."
Jiang Zuo nodded, then replied, "Yes. I have so soil here, but it’s not enough to properly grow an Ice Crystal Wood Lotus."
Liuyue Xue: "And it’s not just the Ice Crystal Wood Lotus. Many Spirit dicines have special cultivation requirents. So, to temporarily accommodate these kinds of Spirit dicines, a certain great expert invented a special box. It’s called a Balancing Glass Cabinet, and it’s about one cubic ter in size.
This kind of glass cabinet can house most Spirit dicines for a short ti, including the Ice Crystal Wood Lotus."
Jiang Zuo was surprised. ’Soone actually went out of their way to make a box like this? How clever.’
Jiang Zuo then asked, "How short is ’a short ti,’ exactly?"
Liuyue Xue: "About three months."
’Three months is more than long enough for ,’ Jiang Zuo thought. ’There’s no way I’m waiting three months to absorb the Ice Crystal Wood Lotus. I need that cabinet.’
"Where can I get one of these cabinets? Are they for sale?"
Chi Xue Child said, "You’re being too optimistic, Fellow Daoist. That cabinet is outrageously expensive. As far as I know, Liuyue Xue is the only one around here who has one."
Liuyue Xue posted a disappointed emoji: "My master took mine, and I have no idea when she’ll return it. But I rember the Saintess has one. You could try borrowing it from her, Fellow Daoist."
Jiang Zuo frowned. "Saintess Jingyue? But the Yue Lian Holy Land is too far from here."
The distance was one thing, but asking to borrow sothing from the Yue Lian Holy Land? The very idea felt incredibly awkward to him.
Seeing the conversation finally turn to a topic she knew sothing about, Mo Yan imdiately posted, "No, Boss, that’s not right! The Holy Land has a stronghold right here in Jiang City. Where else would the Saintess and her people stay?
So you can go borrow it as soon as the Saintess gets back.
I hear they’re looking for sothing here, too."
Reading this, Jiang Zuo chuckled. ’So there’s a Holy Land stronghold here, and the Balancing Glass Cabinet is there?’
"Do any of you know where the Holy Land’s stronghold is? I’d like to go and see if anyone is around."
Then Fairy Mo Yan sent a full address.
The corners of Jiang Zuo’s mouth turned up as he read the address. He let out a small smile. "It’s been a while since I last wrecked one of the Holy Land’s sites. I might as well see if I can find any clues about Jiu Xi."
As for the Balancing Glass Cabinet, he was definitely going to take it.
Jiang Zuo hadn’t had any major enemies in his past life, and since returning, he hadn’t run into anyone he held a deep-seated grudge against.
Except for Jiu Xi. In this life, he had to kill Jiu Xi. And since Jiu Xi belonged to the Holy Land, clashes between him and the Holy Land were inevitable.
’Since I have the chance to take sothing from the Holy Land, why should I be polite?’
Making peace with the Holy Land, burying the hatchet—such thoughts had never even crossed Jiang Zuo’s mind.
He was going to kill Jiu Xi, and no one could stop him.
Once he had the address, Jiang Zuo stopped paying attention to the group chat. Now was the perfect ti to go "borrow" the Balancing Glass Cabinet.
Perception No. 1 Group Chat
Xiao Xiaomo @’d Po Xiao several tis, but never got a reply.
Xiao Xiaomo sighed. "Did Boss Po Xiao disappear? I was going to offer to ask for him. We can get in touch with the Saintess and her group."
Chi Xue Child: "Let’s just get back to searching. We all have active commissions, rember? If you don’t want to hand over half your reward, you’d better hurry up and find what they’re looking for."
* * *
The address Mo Yan had provided was for a villa in the suburbs. Villas were generally quite large, so to pinpoint the exact location, Jiang Zuo went out again to find so suitable coins.
This ti, however, he couldn’t find any that felt right.
He disliked any that didn’t feel right, and if he disliked one, he’d just keep searching. As a result, he wasted a great deal of ti.
At this point, the shopkeeper spoke up. "Young man, if you’re that picky about your coins, why not go to the antique street? They’ve got piles of old copper coins there. You’re bound to find one you like.
Besides, picking through old copper coins looks a lot classier than picking through pocket change.
People will think you’re a lunatic if you keep this up."
Jiang Zuo: "..."
’Old copper coins... I should consider that.’
Putting down a hundred-yuan bill, Jiang Zuo left the store.
The shopkeeper picked up the bill, shaking his head with a sigh. "Such a nice young man. It’s a sha he’s not all there."
Jiang Zuo, already walking away, didn’t even have the energy to argue.
Jiang Zuo knew where the antique street was, so he arrived there shortly.
Jiang Zuo chose a shop that looked rather old and went inside.
Plenty of items were on display inside: a Wooden Sword, Copper Coins, various statues, and even a Vase.
Jiang Zuo’s gaze settled on the copper coins. He asked, "Excuse , may I handle the copper coins?"
Just then, a young woman erged from behind the counter. She looked at Jiang Zuo and said, "I’m sorry, those are not for sale."
Jiang Zuo froze for a mont before turning to look at the woman.
The woman wasn’t particularly beautiful; she looked rather plain.
"None of the Copper Coins are for sale?"
The woman nodded. "That’s right, they’re not for sale. They’re the shop’s prized treasure."
"..."
’I’ve never heard of a few copper coins being a shop’s most prized treasure,’ Jiang Zuo thought.
The woman added, "You can look at the other items. Everything is for sale except for those seven copper coins."
Jiang Zuo frowned. He examined the copper coins from every angle, but he couldn’t see anything special about them.
In the end, Jiang Zuo shook his head and decided to leave. If he couldn’t get the copper coins, he wasn’t going to waste any more ti.
But just as Jiang Zuo turned to leave, soone blocked his path.
It was a burly man—or rather, several of them.
Jiang Zuo could see they had no intention of moving aside; they were completely blocking the exit.
With no other choice, he retreated back into the shop.
Seeing Jiang Zuo act so sensibly, the leader of the burly n didn’t make an issue of it. He looked at the woman and said, "I’m here to pawn sothing."
The woman shook her head. "We’re just a small antique shop. If you want to pawn sothing, please go to a pawnshop."
The man barked, "Then I’ll sell you sothing!"
The woman looked at the man, frowning at first, before saying with resignation, "This is the last ti."
"Fine," the burly man nodded.
The woman ca out from behind the counter. "What are you selling?"
The man then took out a handful of iron coins and tossed them onto the tabletop. "These ancient iron coins."
The woman’s eye twitched. ’Ancient iron coins?’
’What is this junk? How could this possibly be valuable?’
’Can iron coins even be called antiques?’
’And how would ancient iron coins survive to the present day?’
"This is ridiculous! You could at least bring sothing real. How is this any different from robbery?"
The woman was indignant, her voice tinged with anger.
The burly man argued back defensively, "They were really dug up! I got them from soone."
"Fine. Let’s say they were dug up. Does a piece of iron, or even a pile of iron, count as an antique? An antique is supposed to be an ancient object possessing so kind of economic, cultural, or historical value.
If you brought a work of art, I would accept it. But what are these scraps of iron?
It’s like you brought a pile of rocks from hundreds, or even thousands, of years ago.
Tell , would that be valuable?"
The burly man’s face went pale with anger. He raged, "How am I supposed to know all that? Anyway, this stuff... Who the hell are you?"
The burly man was about to argue further about the iron, but when he glanced down, he saw Jiang Zuo at his side, examining one of the iron pieces.
Jiang Zuo’s sudden appearance startled both the burly man and the young woman.
Neither of them understood what he was doing.
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