141. Xuzhou City is Full of Oddities

Entering Xuzhou City, Chen Huangpi stood holding ten copper coins, looking around with a blank expression.

The people in this outside world were all so strange. In just the blink of an eye, he had somehow earned seven copper coins.

"Huang Er, was that guard trying to curry favor with me?"

"No, he thought there was something wrong with your head and wanted you to see a doctor."

"Nonsense," Chen Huangpi said with displeasure. "I am well-versed in pharmacology and have read extensively through medical texts. As the saying goes, a doctor cannot heal himself, but I am a physician, and so is a doctor. Besides, if I were sick, wouldn't I know it myself?"

"Fox Mountain God, you tell him."

The Fox Mountain God, whose neck was tied with a hemp rope and being led around by Chen Huangpi, rolled its eyes. "If I had the ability to convince you, would I be led around by you like a dog?"

"A fox is just like a dog. If I didn't do this, he wouldn't let me bring you into the city," Chen Huangpi said earnestly. "Although I think that guard was very strange, what he said made sense. You must leash a dog, otherwise it might hurt someone or frighten them, which wouldn't be good."

"But I am a fox—no, I am a deity!" the Fox Mountain God said helplessly. "I must be out of my mind to go around biting and frightening people. Is that something a mountain God would ever do?"

Just as they were speaking, an adult carrying a little girl walked over.

Upon seeing the Fox Mountain God, the little girl cried out excitedly, "Daddy, that dog is so ugly!"

"Audacious!"

The Fox Mountain God glared angrily and spoke in human language, "You little girl, how dare you insult this deity in such a manner! Are you courting death?"

The little girl was immediately frightened to tears.

The adult's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly dropped to his knees, preparing to beg the deity for forgiveness.

Yet, in the blink of an eye, the young Daoist priest who had been leading the deity, along with the deity itself, completely vanished.

...

Inside the city, Chen Huangpi walked with a dark expression, pulling along the bruised and battered Fox Mountain God.

The bronze oil lamp gloated, "Little fox, if you have anything to say, just say it in your mind. Why must you shout out loud? This is the outside world; if you speak human language, the common folk will naturally be terrified of you."

Grievously wronged, the Fox Mountain God protested, "The children in this Xuzhou City are simply devoid of manners."

Ignoring the Fox Mountain God, Chen Huangpi had now arrived at a bustling street.

Hawkers lined both sides, calling out to peddle their wares. The crowd was endless, forming an extraordinarily lively scene.

Excitedly, Chen Huangpi said, "I've never seen so many people in my life. Huang Er, what is that little drum? It goes *dong dong* when you shake it, and I want one too."

With malicious intent, the bronze oil lamp speculated, "Perhaps it is some kind of magical artifact. You merely glanced at it, and your heart and mind were captivated—such methods are truly venomous."

From childhood onwards, Chen Huangpi had never left the Ten Thousand Mountains. The bronze oil lamp was the same. Consequently, once this person and this lamp arrived in Xuzhou City, they were truly like the blind leading the blind.

Fortunately, although the Fox Mountain God had never left the Ten Thousand Mountains either, Granny Tang had traveled outside. Therefore, the Fox Mountain God still retained some common sense.

"That thing is called a rattle-drum," the Fox Mountain God explained. "It's no magical artifact; it's just an ordinary plaything for young children used by common folk."

"I see."

Excitedly, Chen Huangpi walked right up to the hawker selling the rattle-drums.

Startled, the hawker asked, "Young master, what are you trying to do?"

Chen Huangpi asked, "Isn't this rattle-drum for children to play with?"

The hawker replied, "It is indeed for children. Does the young master have younger brothers or sisters at home?"

"I am an orphan." Chen Huangpi shook his head. "I have no younger siblings, but I am a child too. Am I not allowed to play with it?"

"This..." The hawker awkwardly said, "Of course you can play with it. It only costs one copper coin."

Astonished, Chen Huangpi asked, "What? It costs money?"

"Young master is joking."

...

Half an hour later.

*Dong, dong, dong.*

Chen Huangpi shook the rattle-drum with one hand while holding a gourd of candied fruit in the other, his clothes stuffed full of various small trinkets.

"Master said the outside world is very dangerous. There are bad people everywhere. But after walking around for so long, I haven't seen a single bad person—though I have seen quite a few strange ones," Chen Huangpi mumbled with his mouth full of candied fruit. "And that uncle selling candied fruit just now—I stood in front of his stall staring for a long time, and he just handed me a stick of them. When I tried to leave, he even wanted to give me money and told me to stay a bit longer."

"That's because you stood right in front of his stall with drool pouring down and your eyes glued to them. The children nearby saw you and made their parents buy candied fruit too. His business was doing so well, of course he didn't want you to leave."

"I know, that's why I only took the money after I left." Chen Huangpi rattled the few coins in his hand.

Praising him, the bronze oil lamp remarked, "Chen Huangpi, you really know how to make money. But shouldn't we be attending to proper business now? You haven't bought any spices, nor have you asked anyone about the Supreme God of Broad Vision. You've just been wandering around here, and it's already noon."

"Has time passed so quickly?"

Carefully, Chen Huangpi looked up at the sun in the sky. At this moment, the sun had reached directly overhead, fierce and bright.

However, Chen Huangpi knew that this sun was actually an eye. Fortunately, he did not dare to channel his vital essence into his eyes, and no evil eyes were protruding from his body, so he would not be blinded by its glare.

Since it was already noon, night would fall before long. Even though Chen Huangpi had been mesmerized by the prosperity of Xuzhou City, he had no desire to spend the night in this place. After all, the Ten Thousand Mountains were his home. There were no ominous entities to delay him here; if he stayed out overnight, his eldest master would surely be angry.

At this thought, Chen Huangpi hurriedly sought out directions to a nearby spice shop.

Yet, upon arriving at the destination, seeing the price tags hanging from the various spices in the shop, Chen Huangpi was completely dumbfounded.

Not a single spice was cheap. Every single one of them cost several hundred copper coins per catty.

Especially black pepper, which surprisingly cost ten taels of silver per catty, and required placing a special order in advance.

"Kid, are you going to buy or not?"

"I am not buying!"

Furious, Chen Huangpi stomped out of the shop. "Rip-off shop! Absolute rip-off! The spice shops in Xuzhou City are all highway robbers! There are spices everywhere in the Ten Thousand Mountains; they thought I didn't know the market and tried to trick me into paying exorbitant prices. They are too much!"

Chen Huangpi was extremely angry. He patrolled the mountains and gathered herbs year-round. Although he couldn't harvest spices every single time, with how often he went, what could he possibly lack? These spices were just like weeds, growing all over the place in the Ten Thousand Mountains. Yet the moment he arrived in Xuzhou City, they had become astronomical in price.

The Fox Mountain God pouted, "Is there any chance that spices in the outside world simply cost this much?"

"Then I still won't buy them!" Chen Huangpi sneered. "I'll just harvest some spices on my way back. Master will only think I bought them, while my money stays right in my pocket. I can do whatever I want with it."

Right at that moment, Chen Huangpi spotted a procession of cultivators approaching.

The cultivators wore brocaded robes, every single one of them possessing the Golden Core realm. Behind them followed carriages inlaid with gold and jade, exuding utmost luxury and pulled by exotic beasts.

Flying from those carriages were banners bearing a single character: *Cao*.

Wherever the procession passed, the surrounding common folk lowered their heads and scurried to the side, trembling with fear like little chicks spotting a hawk.

Chen Huangpi was somewhat puzzled. Granny Tang was also a Golden Core cultivator, yet she and the surviving villagers of Yellow Gourd Village were like a close family. Why were the cultivators of the outside world viewed by the common folk like fire and water?

In truth, had Chen Huangpi paid attention only to matters of cultivation within the memories of cultivators like Song Qiuyue, he would have known that the outside world's cultivators viewed mortal humans as mere blades of grass; the two sides were not even considered the same species. People like the Grand Tutor, who treated common folk like oxen and horses—and treated himself likewise—were the absolute anomalies among anomalies.

"Kid, why are you standing there in a daze?" a cultivator barked. "Hurry up and step aside!"

Puzzled, Chen Huangpi asked, "The road is so wide, why should I step aside?"

The roads of Xuzhou City were indeed wide enough for ten carriages to run side by side. This cultivator procession and their carriages were not even in the same lane as him. Since he wasn't blocking their path, why should he move?

The cultivator coldly stated, "This is the Human Path. On ordinary days, scum like you are allowed to walk here, but the moment we cultivators arrive, all you common folk must retreat to the horse paths or cattle paths! Scram right now, or you'll forfeit your little lives!"

Baffled, Chen Huangpi looked to his left and right, but saw no sign of these so-called cattle paths or horse paths.

Walking up to Chen Huangpi, the cultivator pointed to the muddy paths on the extreme outer edges and said, "Look over there, see? That's the road you belong on. The one on the left is called the horse path, and the one on the right is called the cattle path. Pick one for yourself."

Chen Huangpi said, "But those paths are utterly muddy, while this Human Path is straight, firm, and paved with flagstones. If I don't walk on the Human Path and instead walk on the cattle or horse paths, what will happen if my clothes get dirty?"

The cultivator sneered, "The Human Path is for humans to walk on. Are you a human?"

Chen Huangpi thought for a moment, shook his head, and said, "I suppose I am not."

"Turns out he's just an idiot."

The cultivator was amused to the point of anger. He had originally expected this fool to claim he was a human, allowing him to squash the wretch like a bug right after telling him that only cultivators were truly human. Never had he expected the fool to say he probably wasn't one.

Oh well, whether he was human or not, he would just kill him anyway.

Frowning, Chen Huangpi asked, "Do you want to kill me?"

Surprised, the cultivator asked, "Even an idiot like you knows that?"

Chen Huangpi replied, "Although I may not be a human, I am no idiot. I am a cultivator—a cultivator far stronger than any of you."

Upon hearing this, the cultivator's expression instantly turned brilliantly colorful.

He finally realized that he couldn't perceive the cultivation base of this young man who claimed to be a cultivator. If the fellow wasn't lying, his cultivation must undoubtedly surpass his own.

"A mis—"

Before the word "mistake" could leave his lips, Chen Huangpi grabbed the cultivator's neck and gave it a gentle twist, instantly snapping it.

Upon seeing this, the rest of the cultivator procession braced themselves as if facing a formidable enemy.

Witnessing this, Chen Huangpi smiled and said, "Earlier I thought everyone in Xuzhou City was a weirdo, but now it seems there are still plenty of normal people around."