20 The Grain Has Arrived

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The others remained silent, feeling somewhat embarrassed. They were currently fleeing famine, so it was sufficient for Wang Xiaolang to speak. It would seem inappropriate if the group talked too much; they didn’t want to scare the Ghost Doll into thinking they were unscrupulous and force him to change his mind.

Unexpectedly, the Ghost Scholar’s heart stirred upon hearing the young man’s words. Herbs, voluntarily offered—could they possess some special use? Being able to exchange surplus food certainly seemed feasible.

“Of course,” the Ghost Scholar smiled more warmly, mentally calculating to keep half the meat and trade the other half with the villagers.

Two of his household were in the guard unit, and the assistants frequently visited the guards, often bringing back meat. Although Ye Lu seldom went to the guard unit, the assistants brought enough supplies.

The Ghost Scholar now understood what Captain Helan meant when he said there would be no shortage of meat on the famine road.

Indeed, there really would be no shortage of meat.

“Really? Then I want to trade. My family has some Thunderroot herb with lightning attributes that the head of the household found last time. I recall someone in your family has awakened a lightning affinity, yes?” The man’s eyes lit up as he hurriedly offered his bargaining chip, also explaining in case the Ghost Scholar hesitated: “It’s a good item, but no one here has a lightning affinity, so naturally no one dares to eat it.”

“That herb can refine the mysterious energy within the meridians; it certainly doesn’t compare to the mysterious food produced by strange plants, but it’s rare outside.” The young man added hastily.

After hearing this, the Ghost Scholar considered briefly and, convinced of the youth’s honesty, nodded. “Deal. How much meat do you want to trade for?”

“About this big piece.” The young man didn’t understand the exact measure either, but gestured with his hands to indicate the size roughly the span of an adult’s arms. The Ghost Scholar estimated it to be around thirty jin (about 15 kilograms).

Not too much, just right.

Seeing the youth’s gesture, the Ghost Scholar suddenly realized and rubbed his temple. Indeed, the unit of measure in He Village, though also called jin, differed from the one he mentioned.

“Trade it. I’ll have Axi go get the herbs from beside your ox cart later. You should be home, right? Do you want me to have Axi deliver the meat? If Axi can’t, I can send Ye Lu instead.” If the assistants weren’t home, Ye Lu could go—after all, he had nothing better to do. The Ghost Scholar had it all figured out.

The young man waved his hand and nodded repeatedly: “That’s fine, just have Axi deliver it. Lu should focus on cultivation; such a good talent must not be wasted. No, Axi’s talent is good too. If necessary, I can go get it myself.”

The Ghost Scholar agreed. People in this world had physiques far stronger than the humans he’d met before. Perhaps because of the abundant mysterious energy, humans here were generally robust. Even those who appeared frail could easily carry dozens of jin of meat as if it were nothing.

“Done.”

“Me too, me too. Ghost Doll, do you need cloth?” A hurried woman nearby, tall and slender with a fairly attractive face, though her skin was darker, but it only enhanced her unique beauty. She was initially a bit hurried but became shy when the Ghost Scholar looked over.

The Ghost Scholar hesitated slightly; he recalled she was related to the Daoist Elder—a distant relative of Uncle He Si.

“Trade!” Without hesitation, the Ghost Scholar replied. Probably Uncle He Qi had mentioned their shortage of cloth. Meat could be traded for anyone, but cloth was useful to replace worn clothing.

“However, the cloth is rough and ordinary, so you’ll get less meat for it,” the Ghost Scholar kindly warned before the trade. He always preferred to clarify consequences beforehand.

“Alright, alright, we understand.” The He family woman was pleased just to be able to trade for meat. Her shyness vanished, replaced by a bright smile, eager to fetch the meat immediately. She paid no mind to the Ghost Scholar’s caution; no one in her family was in the guard unit.

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This meant her family rarely received mysterious beast meat. Occasionally, only a few guard families actively traded meat. Her family traded with cloth and grain. Fortunately, they were skilled farmers. Getting this yellow-level strange meat in exchange was a great boon.

She still had several children to care for.

Several others successfully traded one after another, the crowd growing more excited, all chattering and asking questions.

The Ghost Scholar seemed very familiar with these matters. With so many questions, he answered methodically, even thoughtfully comforting the shy families. He treated everyone well and kept mental accounts of what could be traded for what meat.

Within just the brief time of an incense stick burning, the Ghost Scholar had the trades nearly completed.

“Hmm, the remaining meat can be turned into jerky,” the Ghost Scholar said after finishing. They now had grain, dried food, cloth, and some even traded spices—presumably found in the mountains. He agreed to all. Calculations showed this exchange had solved their food crisis.

They could hold on for at least another half-month.

Half a month still inside this drought-stricken region was a bit much.

Furthermore, the Ghost Scholar believed such meat trading would continue.

After everyone finished trading and dispersed, the dry day meant everyone had things to do. The meat exchange was the only reason they gathered. Some had already returned home to get items to trade at the Ye family’s cart. The Ghost Scholar had arranged that someone would be at the cart; just say it was on his behalf, and Ye Lu would naturally make the trade.

Just as the Ghost Scholar prepared to check on how the Daoist Elder was faring—his temper likely causing him to glare silently at visitors again—he heard an apologetic voice behind him.

“Ghost Doll, do you have any meat left?” The familiar voice behind held a hint of helplessness and hesitation.

Turning around, the Ghost Scholar saw it was Aunt Qian, looking a bit embarrassed.

He nodded. “Yes, we have plenty.”

Aunt Qian hesitated, thinking of what to say next. She genuinely wanted the meat. Her husband was the village chief but lacked strong talent and wasn’t in the guard unit. Meat was scarce at home. They had elderly and several siblings and children; food consumption was enormous.

Now, during famine, this meat was precious—how could she refuse?

“Would you like to trade for meat?” The Ghost Scholar saw her embarrassment and quickly asked.

Aunt Qian nodded hesitantly. “We have some berries from the ravines and forest.” Though her two children had talents, they were not combat-related but rather unusual. They gathered berries to exchange for meat to feed their younger siblings.

Feeling tender for her sensible children, Aunt Qian couldn’t help but ask.

During famine, everyone lacked food. Most guard families were not wealthy; only a few craved berries and didn’t trade often. The berries seemed simple but were actually dangerous to collect. She was reluctant to trade them casually.

The Ghost Scholar understood. These berries were valuable, like the previous lightning herb. His Daoist Elder had muttered that such items required talent to find; otherwise, some people couldn’t even see them nearby. He thought about the meat quantity and decided trading some berries wouldn’t be a loss.

It would also cheer up Daoist Elder Axi.

“How many berries do you have? I’ll trade them all. Just please note, I won’t trade for any berries with conflicting elemental attributes,” the Ghost Scholar said gently.

Aunt Qian beamed. “Brother Ghost Doll, you’re sincere! Our berries are good quality, about ten in total. Some strengthen the body, and others have water attributes that help heal hidden injuries.”

“That’s good.” The Ghost Scholar nodded. Healing hidden injuries was valuable—he planned to have all three of them eat some. Who knew if coming back to life after dying once in the star network left such injuries?

Whether or not, they should eat them.

By evening.

After finishing his tasks, the Ghost Scholar returned to the ox cart. The big blue ox was still lazily chewing grass, with some dry food mixed in. Yes, the trades were fruitful; the ox’s meals had improved.

The Ghost Scholar lifted the cart curtain and saw Ye Lu slumped inside, expressionless. The usually noble-faced Daoist Elder now lacked his usual dignity, showing instead a hint of deathly fatigue.

“...Ahem...” Indeed, making the usually uncommunicative Daoist Elder busy until now was somewhat cruel. The Ghost Scholar smirked slightly.

“You’re back.” Ye Lu spoke without moving, his tone too calm, almost lifeless.

“Mm.” The Ghost Scholar didn’t dare provoke the ill-tempered Ye Lu further and instead looked around the cart. The once empty large and small jars were now filled to the brim with corn, sorghum, rice flour, and so on. Above the wooden board lay rough cloth, and on the side table were berries and herbs.

All were the Ghost Scholar’s gains from this exchange.

“Daoist Elder, we still have about a quarter of the meat left?” The Ghost Scholar estimated and asked, “Next, we’ll make jerky, which should preserve longer.”

“About that. You must have traded with nearly everyone in the village this time. Uncle He Qi even came looking for me,” Ye Lu said, hinting they shouldn’t trade all the meat away. Good items should be kept for themselves. After Ye Lu explained several times that they ate first and only traded what was useless, Uncle He Qi left satisfied.

“You flatter me.” The Ghost Scholar wasn’t bothered by the sarcastic tone. On the contrary, he took it lightly and even teased a bit: “I didn’t expect our village to be quite prosperous; there really are many good items.”

“Tonight, make jerky and have Axi work overtime. I’ll go to the guard unit.” Ye Lu finally gave up on the sarcastic and shameless Ghost Scholar and chose to direct his displeasure at the assistants.

Just then, the assistants returned: “…?”

Ye Lu mainly didn’t want to be the only one annoyed, so he expressed all his dissatisfaction openly.

The assistants accepted this well; they were used to it. After all, they were just helping. The Daoist Elder had been busy these days, so it was their turn now. The assistants nodded at the Ghost Scholar, acknowledging the situation.

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