The final selling price for that jar of Bamboo Leaf Green was 168 taels of silver.

Strictly speaking, that was a pretty decent price, about sixty percent higher than what it normally went for at the Tianmen Mountain market. And for Liu Xiaolou, it was double what he paid. He’d actually tried to push his luck at first, asking for a spirit stone in exchange for the jar. The steward just stared at him like he was crazy. By the end of it, even Liu Xiaolou realized he was overreaching and settled for silver.

After the sale, Liu Xiaolou scratched his head, still a little stunned. “That was it? He just bought it like that? Didn’t even ask where the spirit wine came from?”

Zuo Gaofeng laughed. “They don’t want to ask. Asking only brings trouble.”

Liu Xiaolou thought about it. “So that means heading back to the mountain openly like this really isn’t all that dangerous.”

“There’s risk, sure,” Zuo Gaofeng said. “Just not much. Look... here it comes.”

A group of Qingyu Sect servants appeared along the cliff path, each holding up a wooden placard with a painted portrait on it.

“Wanted: the Wulong Mountain bandits. Five spirit stones for any useful information!” The steward from the Qingyu Sect leading the group shouted out the reward.

Liu Xiaolou watched them curiously as they approached the cave and raised the placards for everyone to see. At first, he didn’t recognize any of the faces. But then he glanced at the names written next to the portraits, and his heart skipped a beat.

“Leader: Wang…”

“Accomplice: Wanderer Dai…”

“Notorious bandit: Zuo Gaofeng…”

“Have you seen any of these men?” asked the steward from the Qingyu Sect.

Zuo Gaofeng and Tan Bajhang both shook their heads at the same time. “Never seen them.”

The steward turned to Liu Xiaolou. Liu Xiaolou glanced at Zuo Gaofeng. Now that he really looked at it, the portrait did resemble him. Just a little. He quickly shook his head too. “No. Haven’t seen them.”

The steward moved on with his group, heading off in the other direction. “Chief," Liu Xiaolou lowered his voice, “they got your face on record?”

Zuo Gaofeng smiled. “Let them try. The artwork’s terrible. If they can’t catch anyone, that’s on them.”

Tan Bajhang grumbled, “And I’m not even on there... Am I not scary enough?”

Liu Xiaolou looked out over the bustling Ghostdream Cliff and let out a sigh. “Who’d believe this if we told them?”

He didn’t want to waste any more time. He turned to Zuo Gaofeng and Tan Bajhang. “I’m heading to Tianmen Mountain to buy some spirit wine. I’ll be back in a couple of days.”

With the silver tucked away, he made his way down the mountain and headed straight for the Hongji Tavern in the Tianmen market. After filling his belly with some food and drink, the innkeeper personally brought out a jar of Bamboo Leaf Green.

“The boss left instructions,” he said. “If Young Master Liu returns, he’s welcome to drink this. But no more than one jar a day.”

Liu Xiaolou took the spirit wine and left, stashing it at Pinggu’s old house in Yangliu Bay before settling in for the night. The place had a reputation for being haunted, but when the one who did the haunting was the one staying there, there wasn’t much to worry about. He slept like a baby.

The next day, he pulled the same move: ordered food and spirit wine again at Hongji Tavern and walked out with a second jar of Bamboo Leaf Green. Altogether, 160 taels of silver got him two jars, with the remaining eight taels covering his meals.

That night, Liu Xiaolou hauled the two jars of spirit wine back to Ghostdream Cliff on Wulong Mountain. He arrived just before dawn. The market hadn’t opened yet, and the cliff was quiet and cold. Only Zuo Gaofeng and Tan Bajhang were around, still holed up in the cave.

As the sun came up, vendors began making their way back to Ghostdream Cliff. Even villagers from down by Qianzhu Ridge came up, carrying baskets and shoulder poles. They weren’t selling rare herbs or spiritual goods, but candies, pastries, hot soups, and congee. It brought a warm, lively feel to the cliff and drew plenty of servants and maids from the Qingyu Sect to browse and buy.

Uncle Tian had set up a little stall too. He brought all the cured meat from his roof beams, over a dozen slabs, and laid them out to sell. He caught Liu Xiaolou’s eye across the way, and they shared a knowing smile.

The same steward from the Qingyu Sect who’d bought the wine earlier came strolling up again. When he saw the two jars of Bamboo Leaf Green beside Liu Xiaolou, he grinned. “Two jars this time, huh?”

Liu Xiaolou finally worked up the nerve to ask for a spirit stone. “Wasn’t easy. I nearly wore my legs out tracking these down. Last time you said…”

Before he could finish, the steward pulled out a spirit stone and handed it over. “Two jars, one spirit stone.”

Liu Xiaolou didn’t agree. “Sure, three months ago you could get two jars of Bamboo Leaf Green for one spirit stone. But you know what the price is now. And I nearly ran my legs off bringing this up the mountain just for you…”

The steward gave him that same look. Like he was looking at a fool. But this time, Liu Xiaolou was used to it. He said, “I’m not throwing out some random number. One spirit stone for two jars doesn’t cut it. I wouldn’t make a single coin off that. I’m not asking for another spirit stone, but you’ll need to add 160 taels of silver.”

“At last time’s rate, I paid 160 taels for one jar,” said the steward. “Now you want me to pay a whole spirit stone for the second jar on top of that? You think I’m stupid?”

“The spirit wine’s getting harder and harder to come by. You know that.”

“Once our Qingyu Sect returns to Dongting, that spirit wine will be easy to get again. And you know that.”

Liu Xiaolou did some quick mental math, then sighed. “Fine. I’ll just take the silver.”

After a bit more back-and-forth, they settled on a price: 320 taels of silver for the two jars.

There was never a fixed exchange rate between spirit stones and silver. It all came down to what people needed at the time. Right now, silver made more sense; he could use it to buy more Bamboo Leaf Green. Of course, he’d have to time things carefully when it came to converting silver into spirit stones. For the moment, he was just lucky that Qingyu Sect and Tianmu Mountain were at odds; it gave him the perfect window to slip through unnoticed. But once that window closed, all that silver he was hoarding could turn into a liability. And might not even get him that many spirit stones in the end.

The steward seemed satisfied too; he could finally report back without having to travel hundreds of li to some other sect just to get spirit wine. He said to Liu Xiaolou, “My surname’s Hou. You can call me Steward Hou. From now on, whenever you bring more spirit wine, set it aside for me. Don’t sell to anyone else, got it? If someone tries to force a sale, just drop my name.”

“I heard there’s a visiting inspector in your sect who’s also surnamed Hou. Would that be...?” Liu Xiaolou asked cautiously.

Steward Hou laughed. “Oh? You’ve heard of my older brother? That’s right, it’s him. My own flesh and blood.”

Liu Xiaolou gave a respectful bow. “I’ve heard great things. Truly.”

Steward Hou motioned for the servants he brought to carry off the two jars of Bamboo Leaf Green, then strolled off with his hands behind his back. Liu Xiaolou watched as he stopped at Uncle Tian’s stall, spent some silver on two slabs of cured meat, and even licked his fingers where he’d touched the grease, smacked his lips thoughtfully, then gave a satisfied nod before having the meat hung on the pole the servant was carrying.

Both Hou brothers were cultivators, and inner-sect officials at that. They weren’t to be compared with the outer-sect stewards and inspectors. So Liu Xiaolou kept his distance, watching from afar. From the way Steward Hou shopped, it looked like he mostly bought meat.

A meat lover?

With silver in hand, Liu Xiaolou jumped back into his courier life. He made the long trip, nearly 200 li, to the Tianmen Mountain market and resumed hauling jars of Bamboo Leaf Green. He lingered at Hongji Tavern for four days and managed to get his hands on four jars. He loaded them onto a shoulder pole and made the overnight journey back to Wulong Mountain.

.....

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