togophonebook Chapter 24: Wutong City
Chapter 24: Wutong City
Half a month later, in Wutong City within the territory of Wuji Kingdom.
The streets are bustling with people, much more prosperous than Gaoche Town. The streets are paved with blue bricks, and instead of horse manure and dust, they are filled with the aroma of food from the shops.
"Little brother, have a steamed bun."
Bixia climbed onto Cao Xing's back, stuffed a bun into Cao Xing's mouth, and then picked up another bun with her other hand and stuffed it into her mouth as well. Her little face was so round and chubby from stuffing the buns that she looked like a hamster with its mouth full of food.
After Cao Xing used his supernatural powers to conceal her form, half of Bixia's beastly body was hidden. Without her beastly body, Bixia looked like a little girl.
With two dimples on her rosy cheeks and bright blue eyes, Bixia's hair naturally has a slight curl, perhaps due to her bloodline.
"It's really lively."
Cao Xing looked at Wutong City in front of him; compared to Gaoche Town, it was a completely different concept.
"Brother!" At this moment, Bixia suddenly patted Cao Xing's shoulder hard and pointed her little finger at a vendor carrying a haystack in front of her. The haystack was covered with strings of bright red and shiny fruit.
"What is that? Why is the hawthorn so shiny? Is it some kind of magical fruit?"
Cao Xing looked in the direction she was pointing and couldn't help but laugh: "Those are candied hawthorns. The fruit is coated with sugar and they're sweet."
"Sweet?"
Bixia's eyes lit up even more, and she immediately twisted her body, urging Cao Xing, "Brother, eat it!"
Seeing Bixia's eager expression, Cao Xing smiled, walked over, took out two copper coins, bought a candied hawthorn, and handed it to Bixia.
When Bixia eagerly put the candied hawthorn in her mouth, her round eyes instantly turned into crescent shapes.
"Mmm~~ It's so sweet, you should try some."
Bixia picked a candied hawthorn and stuffed it into Cao Xing's mouth.
The sweet and sour taste immediately filled Cao Xing's taste buds.
"Sweetie?"
Bixia turned her head to look at Cao Xing, who nodded and said, "Sweet."
A candied hawthorn skewer, sweet and sour, whetted Cao Xing's appetite. He grabbed Bixia's arm and asked, "Sister, are you hungry? I'll take you to eat something delicious."
Last time in Gaoche Town, they were in too much of a rush and only had time to buy two sesame cakes. This time, with the money Li Zhen provided, they could afford to splurge.
"Yes!" Bixia nodded vigorously.
"Brother, the houses here are so tall and shiny, they're so beautiful."
Along the way, Bixia was amazed by everything she saw. She had never imagined that a house built of wood could be so tall and so beautiful.
Just then, Bixia suddenly noticed something, gently tugged at Cao Xing's sleeve, and whispered, "Brother, they're spying on me, but they don't seem like bad people. Should I arrest them?"
Cao Xing was taken aback. He glanced sideways and saw the girls covering their faces with fans, staring at Bixia and giggling.
Cao Xing looked at Bixia again and immediately understood. His face flushed, and he slapped his head: "Why are you only thinking about food?"
"Come on, let me take you to buy some new clothes first."
Bixia was still wearing the same clothes she wore when she played the corpse demon last time. They looked so dark and messy that it was no wonder people were pointing and whispering about her.
Cao Xing led Bixia into a clothing store, where he personally selected an outfit for her.
"How... should I wear this?" Bixia looked at the clothes Cao Xing had chosen for her with a troubled expression.
The layers of clothing looked much more complex than the clothes she was wearing.
"this……"
Cao Xing was at a loss for words, since the clothes did look rather complicated.
Fortunately, the shop owner rushed forward and said, "It's alright, it's alright." As he spoke, he called out towards the back of the shop, "Third Aunt, Third Aunt!!"
"They're here, they're here."
A woman came out from behind the shop in response. The shopkeeper walked to her side and whispered a few words to San Niang. San Niang smiled, stepped forward and took Bixia's arm: "Come, come, this dress is easy to wear. Let's go to the back room and I'll teach you."
"Brother!" Bixia looked at Cao Xing.
Cao Xing nodded to Bixia, and then Bixia followed San Niang to the back room.
"Don't worry, Third Sister is skillful and won't offend the young lady."
At this moment, the boss walked up to Cao Xing, glanced at Cao Xing's worn-out robe, and smiled, "Young master, you have an elegant demeanor. I suppose you're here to attend the Shangfang Temple's conversion ceremony?"
Cao Xing looked at the boss with some surprise.
The shopkeeper quickly explained, "That's not surprising. Every three years, there's a Dharma assembly where countless people in this area want to become disciples."
At this point, the boss couldn't help but reveal a look of longing in his eyes. He looked through the door towards the direction of the green mountain outside and said, "Who doesn't want to be an immortal? If it weren't for this age limit, I'm afraid I would give up all my wealth to try it out."
After muttering to himself, the boss suddenly realized his rudeness and quickly turned to Cao Xing, saying, "I was just being foolish; please forgive my ignorance, young master."
"Since you are here to attend the conversion ceremony, you should change into a suitable outfit. How about this, I'll give you a discount on the two sets of clothes?"
Cao Xing thought about it and realized that he really should change his clothes. The fur of his original "prince's robe" was too flashy, so Cao Xing put it away. Now he was wearing Zhang Feiyu's clothes, which were a bit worn out.
"Then it will be hard work."
With Cao Xing's consent, the boss personally helped Cao Xing choose an outfit. The outfit was simple in style, but much better than the tattered robe Cao Xing was wearing.
"younger brother!"
At this moment, Bixia had changed her clothes and came out from behind the shop, skipping and hopping to Cao Xing.
Cao Xing's eyes lit up as he saw that Bixia had changed into a light blue cross-collar ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress).
The light grass-colored top was embroidered with silver bamboo leaf patterns, and the moon-white waistband gathered the skirt just right. The layers of gauze at the hem rippled with her steps.
Third Sister skillfully styled her hair into a double-loop bun, with two naturally curly strands of hair playfully hanging down beside her cheeks, making her jade-like eyes even brighter.
Although Bixia has the bloodline of the Yellow Robe Monster, she looks more like Bai Yao.
"How much is it in total?" Cao Xing was very satisfied with the two people's clothes and was about to pay the bill.
The shopkeeper walked to the counter, fiddled with the abacus, and said, "The young lady's clothes are made of silk, so they are a bit more expensive at 130 coins. The young master's clothes are cheaper, only 20 coins."
Cao Xing nodded to himself. 150 coins, though not cheap, was a fair price.
But the shopkeeper flicked his finger and added another 15 coins.
Seeing Cao Xing's puzzled look, the shopkeeper explained, "Sir, this 15 coins is a peace tax."
Cao Xing had assumed that Wutong City was different from Gaoche Town. At least when he entered the city, he hadn't seen any notices reminding him to pay taxes. He didn't expect that taxes would be paid in the consumption section.
Seeing Cao Xing's somewhat surprised expression, the shopkeeper reminded him, "Young master, you've come from afar and may not know the rules here. You have to pay taxes for everything you eat, drink, and use the restroom here."
"If you wish to participate in the conversion ceremony, you will need to pay 10 taels of Taiping Gold to the yamen in advance, 20 taels for a conversion certificate per person, and 5 taels for a vegetarian offering fee. These are the basic requirements. If you want to ensure that you can successfully enter the Shangfang Temple, you will need to spend additional money. You will find out the details when the time comes."
Holy crap, this is so expensive?!
Upon hearing this number, Cao Xing's scalp tingled. He had studied the prices in the Journey to the West world and calculated it based on the rice price during the Zhenguan era.
The purchasing power of one tael of silver, converted according to the price of rice, is roughly equivalent to 4800 to 7000 yuan in Mao Zedong's currency before his rebirth.
Let's take a middle value; it'll probably cost around 6000 yuan.
35 taels of silver is roughly equivalent to 21.
hiss! !
This is just the cost of attending the initiation ceremony; it doesn't mean that spending this money will make you a disciple of Shangfangguan.
At that moment, Cao Xing instantly understood the weight of Zhang Feiyu's words, "Prepare more money."