Chapter 32: Master Shang's Mission
Chapter 32: Master Shang's Mission (Seeking Follow-up Reading)
At dawn the next day, the Taoist bell of Mount Wenda began to echo among the mountains.
Tian Lin had just turned over and got out of bed when Han Li knocked on the door.
When Tian Lin opened the door, he saw Han Li holding a brand new dustpan. He threw it to Tian Lin and said, "Go out and grab a seat quickly. I'm afraid you won't be able to grab a good seat soon."
When Tian Lin took the dustpan and went out, he found that there were few people outside the house.
He found that everyone was shirtless, with their trouser legs rolled up and barefoot.
Just as he was about to take off his outer robe, Han Li urged him, "Don't take it off. If you are late, you will really not be able to grab a seat."
Tian Lin followed Han Li down from the stilt house, and all he could hear were the shouts of "Go!" and "Hurry up!" from the errand boys at the Mining Academy.
A group of people rushed to wave their winnowing baskets, tied cloth bags around their waists, and flapped their wings like ducks to jump into the turbulent river.
"No one in the queue should try to grab a spot!"
The first few men who entered the river leaned slightly to resist the waist-deep rushing water.
The five of them lined up in a row, forming a human-shaped riverbank.
As soon as the five men entered the river, they buried their heads in it.
When they stood up, the river water became much more muddy and yellow.
I saw them raising the dustpan and pouring a dustpan of heavy river sand into the backpack on their backs.
But even so, they still refused to go ashore. Instead, they took a step upstream, once again dug a basket of sand and put it into their backpacks, and continued to move forward greedily.
The second row of men following the first row of five men did the same thing, except that they followed behind the men in the front row, and the mud and sand they shoveled up was obviously not as much as the first row.
Not to mention those latecomers, the errand disciples in the third and fourth rows.
When Tian Lin and Han Li arrived, they were already standing behind the ninth row.
There were a few errand disciples carrying baskets on the shore. They were not in a hurry to go into the water. Instead, they took out their pipes and started smoking.
Someone laughed and teased Han Li, "Boss Han, you usually run the fastest, why are you late today?"
Han Li jumped into the river and scooped up the invisible mud and sand into the backpack on his back.
Listen to Han Lidao: "Instead of teasing me, you might as well come down and work to earn money."
The errand disciples smoking their pipes on the shore were not panicked at all. They smiled and said, "It's late anyway, so why not take a day off? As long as we work harder tomorrow, we can always earn back today's money."
"Hey guys, does anyone want to play dice?"
They chatted for a few minutes and then went back to their sleeping place with their backpacks and dustpans.
Han Li said to Tian Lin next to him: "They always say they will earn more the next day, but they are only willing to come out and shovel a dustpan when they can't eat--"
Tian Lin said: "Brother Han was late today because he was waiting for me. I'm really sorry."
Han Li laughed and said, "That's nothing. If I work harder in the afternoon, I can still make back what I lost this morning."
The two men followed the people in front of them and shoveled river sand one basket at a time, until the men in the first few rows were forced to go ashore because their backpacks could no longer hold the sand. Only then did they slowly line up to the front, and the amount of sand they obtained increased.
After working for half an hour, Tian Lin's backpack was finally full.
He followed Han Li's example and poured the mud and sand in the backpack into a separate place after getting ashore. Then he lined up behind the others and continued to move forward.
In just over two hours, the group of people shoveled water from the river at the entrance to the front of the waterfall.
Then Han Li shouted, "Stop working, go ashore and have a rest. Come back to shovel the riverbed in the afternoon when there is more silt."
The men in the river reluctantly went ashore and poured the mud and sand in their backpacks into their own area.
Han Li explained to Tian Lin, "This waterfall brings up mud and sand from Yuechi Mountain every day. In that mud and sand, there is water spirit ore. We can pick the water spirit ore out of the mud and sand and give it to the third steward to exchange for money."
Third Manager, Tian Lin has heard this name many times.
Tian Lin did not ask who the third manager was. He just said, "I see there has been no one supervising us. Aren't the people above afraid that we will hide the Shuiling Mine?"
Han Li smiled and said, "I am the supervisor of the people in our mining academy! But there is nothing to supervise, because the water spirit ore is poisonous. If you want to turn it into water spirit stone, you need to hand it over to the third manager for refining. In short, it is useless for us to hide it, and we can't take it out."
After saying this, he first pulled Tian Lin to the river bank, pointed at a group of people sitting on the river bank sifting sand and said:
"They are now screening the water spirit ore. If you are lucky, you can get one or two ounces of water spirit ore from a winnowing basket, and you can earn one or two ounces of silver."
As soon as he finished speaking, a man sifting sand said with a smile: "Boss Han, you are really a good omen for me! When you came, I got a pimple here!"
He carefully picked up a grain of sand from the sieve, shook it in front of the people around him and said proudly, "Look, I haven't even finished the first sieve yet, and I found a water ore."
"Show it to me!"
Han Li spoke and reached out to the man.
The man put the gravel into Han Li's palm, but Han Li handed the gravel to Tian Lin and said to Tian Lin:
"Don't underestimate it because it's so small. It's worth a few cents. Take a good look at it. If you want to eat grass fish in the future, you have to rely on this thing."
Han Li smiled jokingly. When he went to wake Tian Lin up today, he saw that the grass carp he had caught last night had been reduced to bone residue.
He didn't tease it at that time because he was afraid that Tian Lin would feel embarrassed, but now he couldn't help but make fun of it.
"It's hard to tell this stuff apart with the naked eye. You have to spend a long time in the river before you can tell the subtle difference between this black stuff and other black sands."
The man sifting sand nearby said something and Tian Lin nodded.
In fact, he didn't need to distinguish them at all, because the entry already showed that this 'Water Spirit Ore' was called 'Black Iron Stone'.
[Black Iron Stone: Low-grade refining material, can enhance the hardness of magic weapons, inedible]
"Brother Han, I have memorized the appearance of the Qingshui Spirit Mine. Let's not waste time and sift the sand first."
Tian Lin returned the Shuiling ore to the man who was sifting the sand, and the man put a small piece of the Shuiling ore into his chest pouch.
Han Li no longer wasted time on Tian Lin. He just patted Tian Lin on the shoulder and said:
"You can sift the sand slowly the first time, and you will get used to it. If you have any questions about the mine, feel free to ask me."
Tian Lin nodded and walked to his own 'hill'!
Compared to the mountains of sand and rocks accumulated by other menial disciples, Tian Lin’s pile of sand and rocks was just a small mound of earth.
He took a dustpan and scooped up a dustpan of sand, then followed the example of others and sat cross-legged on the river bank where the water was not so turbulent.
As he lowered the winnowing basket into the water, the sand that had been piled up in a ball began to spread out in the winnowing basket, floating up and down.
Tian Lin was quick-witted and quick-handed. When the prompt word "Black Iron Stone" lit up, he grabbed the small piece of sand that was about to slip away.
The sand he shoveled out from the river was not much. After a few siftings, all the sand and gravel he dug up in the morning was sifted out.
Even so, only two water spirit minerals were screened out, and the total weight was probably only two or three cents.
Tian Lin put the water spirit ore into the pouch on his chest, thought for a while, and took the winnowing basket to Han Li.
Han Li shoveled out obviously more sand and gravel than Tian Lin, and he screened them carefully and painstakingly.
Tian Lin had finished sifting the sand with several sieves, while Han Li was still sifting the sand for the second time. "Brother Han, do you want me to help you?"
Han Li was stunned for a moment, then looked up at Tian Lin and asked, "Have you finished screening?"
Tian Lin nodded. Before Han Li could say anything, the disciples beside him laughed and said, "Young people just have no patience. I'm afraid you won't even find a single hair if you sift it that way."
Han Li really asked Tian Lin: "How much did you screen out?"
Tian Lin took out the two pieces of Shuiling Minerals from his purse and frowned, saying, "I'm afraid they are only worth two or three coins!"
When these words were spoken, several men showed surprised expressions.
Someone said with great sorrow: "There must be more water spirit minerals in Xiaotian's sand that he missed."
"Oh, the sand is so good, why don't you sift it carefully?"
"Where's the sifted sand? You didn't pour it under the gate, did you?"
Seeing Tian Lin nod, many people couldn't help but sigh.
Han Li thought about it and finally did not blame Tian Lin. When Tian Lin asked him if he needed help, how could he dare to ask Tian Lin to help him sift sand?
"Put your purse here with me, and go and have a rest. Come back to get it after dinner when I blow the whistle in the afternoon to start the work."
Tian Lin looked at the sky. It was not yet noon, so he walked towards his residence as he was told.
In the stilt house where they lived, several errand disciples were losing money with their bare chests.
Someone saw Tian Lin passing by and asked him, "You're new here, you came back so soon, it seems you didn't get any sand, did you?"
Someone else wanted to invite Tian Lin to sit down, saying, "Why should we be so anxious to make money? We won't starve to death anyway, so why not take some time out to play with the brothers?"
Tian Lin smiled and said, "I don't know how to gamble."
"You've never learned how to gamble, don't you know that newbies have the best luck? Come on, I'll teach you, I guarantee you'll win."
Tian Lin struggled hard to break free from the man and returned to his residence with a frown.
He began to meditate with his eyes closed until more and more laughter could be heard outside the room.
Soon, there was a knock on Tian Lin's door. Han Li had already put on his clothes and said outside the bamboo corridor:
"Let's eat first, then take a rest. When there's more silt on the riverbed, we can start working again."
Tian Lin followed Han Li to the back of the mountain. He said to Han Li, "Yesterday, Brother Han, you treated me to fish. Today, I will treat you to Grass God fish."
Han Li laughed and said, "My current martial arts level no longer needs to be supplemented by Grass God Fish, so keep your money and buy Grass God Fish for yourself."
He reminded Tian Lin again: "In the menial house, if you don't have the ambition to become an immortal, then spend your money on food and drink. Don't gamble like those guys, and don't spend your money on those girls."
Before Tian Lin asked, Han Li had already squeezed into the crowd and went to the window to look for food.
As usual, he only ordered maoergen, which was the cheapest dish in the kitchen.
Tian Lin felt the silver in his hand. The silver ingot in his hand was worth fifty taels of silver. He was very rich.
But Young Master Shang gave him the fifty taels of silver only to help him gain a foothold in the menial service yard, and he did not say that he would give him more silver in the future.
So, although fifty taels of silver may seem like a lot, it is only enough for him to eat ten meals of Grass God Fish.
Besides, Tian Lin’s current target is not just the Grass God Fish.
He glanced at the window and his eyes were caught by an entry.
[Three-legged little Qilin: A very low-grade spiritual beast, it may have Qilin bloodline tens of millions of years ago, and contains a weak fire spirit in its body, which can be eaten]
Er Niang, who was serving food, saw Tian Lin peeking out from the crowd, seemingly unable to squeeze in.
She banged the pot twice with a spoon and cursed, "Stop crowding, can't you let the newcomers order first? You grown men don't even know to give way to the children."
The men didn't care and just started to make a noise, saying, "Second Mother has fallen for the pretty boy."
Er Niang made a "Pah" sound and cursed, "If you keep messing around, I'll spit into your bowls."
Even though the group of people were making a fuss, they actually made room for Tian Lin.
Tian Lin made up his mind at this time, pointed at the 'three-legged little unicorn' and said, "I want that dish."
Er Niang was stunned for a moment, and the men next to her started to make a noise again: "The little man wants to become a big man."
Tian Lin was puzzled and heard Er Niang say, "Little brother, this thing is precious and not suitable for you to eat."
But this is the only dish in the kitchen that has fire energy. How could Tian Lin give it up?
He took out a silver ingot and said, "I've seen the price, it seems to be about the same as the Grass God Fish, Second Mother, please help me get one."
Er Niang had no choice but to put the food on a plate for Tian Lin and said, "You'd better eat less of this three-legged toad."
She didn't say much, but Tian Lin seemed to understand the purpose of the three-legged toad.
He took the dishes and walked towards his residence. The gamblers saw Tian Lin, sniffed their noses and said:
"Good boy, you ate the Grass God Fish yesterday and the Three-legged Toad today. You really brought a lot of silver with you when you entered the sect, right?"
Tian Lin smiled and asked, "Why, do you still want to rob it?"
Someone said this on behalf of Tian Lin yesterday. Today, Tian Lin really didn't like this sharp-nosed and monkey-faced guy, so he took the initiative to say something.
The man looked a little unhappy, but Tian Lin ignored him and went straight back to the house.
But to his surprise, there was a girl in green clothes sitting at her table in the room.
Tian Lin's expression changed slightly, and he looked at Xiaoyue and said, "Why did you come into my room without my permission?"
Xiaoyue looked at Tian Lin's pass with a cold face and said even angrier than Tian Lin:
"The young master didn't give you the money to spend on such shady things. Have you forgotten your identity?"
Tian Lin was not afraid of Xiao Yue at all. He put the serving tray on the table and said, "You and I are both servants of the young master. Even if I have done something wrong, it is not your turn to criticize me. It is not me who has forgotten my identity, it is you!"
Xiaoyue was so angry that her eyes were wide open, but she had noticed that someone outside the house was peeping in.
She then approached Tian Lin and said through gritted teeth: "Young Master wants you to reach the Grandmaster level as soon as possible and then kill Han Li."
Tian Lin was stunned for a moment and asked, "Why do you want to kill Han Li? Does the young master have a grudge against him?"
Xiaoyue frowned and glared at Tian Lin, "Just do whatever the young master asks you to do. Why are you talking so much nonsense?"
Tian Lin was silent. Xiao Yue said, "I'll give you a month. With your talent for martial arts and the many tonics in the kitchen, it shouldn't be difficult for you to become a master and kill Han Li in secret, right?"
Someone said that now a chapter with more than 3,000 words is considered a long chapter?
I don't know if 4,000 words counts, if it does, please give it a try, new Xianxia books, especially original ones, need to be read. Thank you
(End of this chapter)