"Come and take a look! Are you satisfied with these?" Zu Dexi asked, pointing at the items laid out on the ground.
A variety of items were displayed before Li Huowang. Most of them were rusted swords, while the rest were stored in vials.
"What the? All of these are rusted. They're nothing but scrap metal," Puppy said as he knelt down, inspected the items, and started haggling with the man.
"You can still use them after polishing them a little. Do you think I'd have the chance to obtain superior quality weapons out here?" the man asked.
On the other hand, Li Huowang didn't pay much attention to the swords; instead, his focus was on the vials. He knelt down and inspected them but found that nothing was written on them.
"The Taoist surely knows his goods. To think that you would understand the value of such quality items," praised Zu Dexi.
While Zu Dexi was kneeling beside Li Huowang, and was somewhat repulsed by the smell of blood and smoke from his robes, he was not afraid. On the contrary, he was excited.
"Taoist, that's something really nice. It's a poison called Half-step. Put some of it in a person's water, and they'll die in the time it takes to take just half a step. I'm selling it cheap—three pieces of silver per bottle."
"Oh! You have quite discerning eyes! That's something really good as well. It's called Red Crane. You only need an amount the size of your fingernail to send someone straight to hell. Five pieces of silver per bottle."
"This is something even more amazing! Take one of these pills, and you'll be able to handle two women in one night! It was custom-made for Second Head Liu of Wolf's Head Mountain. However, I can sell it to you for an extra fee."
Hearing Zu Dexi go on and on about his wares, Li Huowang stood up impatiently. "Just about everything seems to be a treasure in your eyes. Fine, I want the first two items. Puppy, bring the money from the cart."
"Taoist, you are quite generous!" Zu Dexi was smiling so hard that his eyes had become thin slits. "Are you sure you don't want this too? I can make it cheaper for you. Even if you don't use it now, you might want it when you're older. It's definitely good to have, considering it helps extend your family's bloodline."
Li Huowang didn't bother to reply. Instead, he turned to his group. "You guys, choose some weapons you like. Having one is better than having none."
Hearing his words, everyone except Bai Lingmiao and Xiaoman, the two girls, approached the cart and started checking the wares.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang stored the two vials of poison and turned to Lu Zhuangyuan. "Troupe Leader Lu, why don't you buy something to defend yourself?"
Lu Zhuangyuan shook his head. "No need. If we happen to encounter bandits as we are now, we would only lose our money at most. But if we took up weapons to defend ourselves and failed, we'd lose our lives."
"Hoho, it seems that you've thought it out quite well. Looks like everyone has their own plans," Li Huowang said as he lay back down on the donkey cart to rest.
Soon, everyone returned from around the mule cart. Puppy and the rest now had their weapons. Even if they didn't know how to use them, at least they looked much more menacing.
Just as they were swinging their weapons around, Bai Lingmiao approached Li Huowang with thread and needle in hand and started fixing his Taoist robes.
"Senior Li, after purchasing all these things, we've used up over half of our money. We only have five pieces of silver left," said Bai Lingmiao, worried.
"We'll be traveling for a long time. We would've needed to buy something to defend ourselves with anyway," said Li Huowang. He already had the bronze bell and could even summon Dan Yangzi by mutilating himself. He didn't need such mundane weapons. However, he couldn't trust himself. He was worried he'd be stuck in his hallucinations once the effects of the Black Taisui wore off. If that happened, no one else would be able to protect them—they would be nothing but sheep awaiting slaughter.
"Senior Li, the weapons would work against bandits, but if we could learn superpowers like the ones Dan Yangzi had, then we'd be unbeatable!" Puppy said, bringing his blade over and sighing.
"You want to learn superpowers? Even if an expert were here, they might not teach you. Also..." Li Huowang suddenly remembered how Dan Yangzi refined pills using live humans as ingredients, as well as the bizarre cultivation method used by the monks of the Righteous Monastery. "Also, even if they did teach you, you might not be able to learn them as a normal human."
Even though he didn't have much experience, Li Huowang had a feeling that the other sects in this world would be similar to Dan Yangzi and the Righteous Monastery.
Puppy chuckled before bringing one of the guiding drug ingredients, who had only one arm, with him toward the creek. "Come, let's find some stones to polish our blades."
Just then, Simpleton's massive frame appeared before Li Huowang like a wall. "I... I..."
"No need. You can't use a sword. Just practice using your club. That's the only thing that would complement your strength," said Li Huowang as he lay back down to rest.
Their quick encounter with the merchant ended, and soon the two groups were once again on their way.
Days passed slowly as they traveled through several villages. Except for the days when they helped the Lu family set up a stage to perform, they continued moving.
In the meantime, the wound on Li Huowang's neck slowly healed.
Standing next to a jar of water, Li Huowang checked his neck using the water's surface as a mirror and saw a visible scar.
"It's not too bad. If I lower my head, it isn't too obvious," said Li Huowang as he turned and looked toward Bai Lingmiao, who was massaging her temples with her white hands.
"Why the long face? Did something unfortunate happen?" asked Li Huowang.
"Senior Li, we just purchased some food for us and the donkeys earlier. Now, we're left with only one piece of silver and 345 coins," said Bai Lingmiao.
"That little? You're kidding." Li Huowang walked out from the temporary farmhouse they were staying in and approached the Lu family's stage.
"All that money was supposed to last longer, but ever since everyone started practicing with their weapons, they've been so famished that they've been eating too much. Simpleton even eats an entire kilogram of noodles per meal! That's two kilograms per day if we eat two meals!" explained Bai Lingmiao.
"But that practice isn't useless. Since we bought those weapons, we must practice using them. At the very least, they must learn how to slash and stab," said Li Huowang.
Even if it was only a simple swing, there was a big difference between someone who practiced every day and someone who just carried a weapon around. At the very least, their chances of victory would increase if they laced their swords with poison before fighting.
Li Huowang stared at the group of people helping the Lu family disassemble the stage.
"We only have enough money for one more month. After that, we'll have to starve," said Bai Lingmiao.
"So the problem is that we don't have enough money, huh?" remarked Li Huowang.
He rubbed his chin and looked at the Lu family.
They probably earned a lot of money throughout this journey. I could just take it from them, and all our problems would be solved.
Just as he had that thought, he stopped himself. How could he think like that? Lu Zhuangyuan might be cunning, but he was still an honest man trying to make a living. How could he even consider taking money from him?
Li Huowang's mood instantly dropped.