劍問蒼天 - 第56章 昌合城 - 翰墨軒

He had no sooner said this than Zhang Qingyue suddenly fell silent—he had remembered that even those four meager taels had already been swindled away by that wandering fortune-teller, Zhou Yixuan.

Shitou did not notice Zhang Qingyue's expression. His face fell as he said, "I'm a bit better off than you, but only by a few taels." He paused, then whispered, "From the look of this place, it'll cost at least thirty or forty taels..."

Just then Bili had already reached the shopkeeper's counter. The shopkeeper looked up, a smile spreading across his face, and said, "Miss, will you be wanting a room?"

Thud—a small ingot of gold landed before the shopkeeper, worth at least a hundred or eighty taels of silver by the look of it. The shopkeeper's smile immediately grew so wide his eyes went round, and he babbled, "Rest assured, miss, this establishment has stood a hundred years, and we guarantee you'll feel as though you've come home—come with confidence and leave satisfied..."

Bili cut him off. "Give me one of your best rooms. A clean one."

The shopkeeper smiled obsequiously. "Of course, of course."

Bili glanced back. "And find a room for those two standing over there."

The shopkeeper looked at Zhang Qingyue and Shitou, then turned back to Bili with a smile. "So these two gentlemen will also be..."

Bili snorted. "A woodshed will do for them."

The shopkeeper was struck dumb.

Zhang Qingyue and Shitou, standing there, were likewise struck dumb.

In the end, the shopkeeper summoned a servant and ushered Bili inside like a princess. As for Zhang Qingyue and Shitou, the shopkeeper did not dare truly put them in the woodshed, but he gave them only an ordinary room.

Zhang Qingyue and Shitou did not much mind—neither of them was the pampered sort. They only understood Bili's spoiled-young-lady temper a little better.

After the three went in, the inn returned to quiet. Pedestrians hurried to and fro in the street, the clouds shifted in the sky, and dusk gradually fell—and then an old man and a young girl came in. The old man carried a cloth banner reading "Immortal Points the Way," and the young one was a girl of no more than ten, holding a string of candied haws and eating them with relish.

It was none other than Zhou Yixuan and his granddaughter, Xiaowan.

Zhou Yixuan looked around, and Xiaowan was also taking in the surroundings. Seeing the place decorated in such opulent style, she drew a sharp breath and whispered, "Grandpa, did you take a wrong turn?"

Zhou Yixuan looked smug. "Do you think your grandpa has been good for nothing all these years?"

...was doing his accounts behind the counter. He tugged Xiaowan along and walked over.

The shopkeeper sensed someone approaching and looked up, about to greet them, when he suddenly froze, an expression of surprise on his face.

Zhou Yixuan smiled, every inch the crane-boned immortal, as much like a sage who had attained the Way as one could wish. "Manager Wang, do you remember me?"

Manager Wang gave a cry of "Ah!" and actually came running out from behind the counter, his manner utterly respectful, his face alight with delighted astonishment, while Xiaowan beside him was left staring open-mouthed. He was saying, "Oh! It's the old immortal himself! What brings you here? Ah—it must be thirty years since we last met! I think of you often!"

Zhou Yixuan smiled faintly, his air distinguished. He raised a hand to brush the dust of travel from his robes and said with a light smile, "I am no common man. These years I have wandered the world, gone to famous mountains and immortal realms, visited sages and drawn in the spiritual essence of heaven and earth—where would I find the time to come here?"

Xiaowan collapsed on the spot.

But Manager Wang looked utterly convinced, nodding repeatedly. "Yes, yes, of course the old immortal is nothing like us common folk."

With that, he invited Zhou Yixuan and Xiaowan to sit at a clean table and hurriedly called a servant to bring the finest tea.