Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 256 Ye Family Town

In the crowd, someone who seemed to know some inside information immediately boasted, "Ye Family Town is newly established, so of course you gentlemen haven't heard of it! This Ye Family Town, Ye Family Town, it's all surnamed 'Ye,' so it must be backed by the Ye family of Jiangnan!"

Someone asked in confusion, "Isn't the Ye family from Jiangnan? How did they end up at Baishi Mountain?"

Someone else said, "It seems that Young Master Ye Qi is the personal disciple of Immortal Bai Shi, isn't he?"

The same small vendor, smiling, explained to everyone: "That's all ancient history! This Ye Family Town has nothing to do with Young Master Ye. It was only some time ago, when our Ye Family's patriarch led the Ye Family north during the last Immortal Fate Gathering, that he decided to move the entire Ye Family here!"

"The old patriarch recently cleaned up his business and then built Ye Family Town to make it more convenient for all the distinguished guests traveling to and from White Stone Mountain!"

As the vendor spoke, he pointed to a stone tablet not far away, on which were three large vermilion characters: Baishi Mountain.

Then he continued, "You esteemed guests have not misunderstood, this is indeed Baishi Mountain. Yejia Town is still a mile to the east! There are many inns in Yejia Town, which is to make it easier for everyone to stay. However, with so many people coming every day these past few days, the inns are almost full. The thirteenth inn in Yejia Town is under construction and is trying to be ready in the next couple of days so that more people can stay!"

After the vendor finished speaking, everyone suddenly realized what he meant. Gao Wencai was the first to speak up: "Well, since we're already here, let's pay for convenience... Give me four maps of Ye Family Town!"

As he spoke, he took a handful of copper coins from his Qiankun bag and handed them all to the small vendor. Then he turned to Shi Yizhi and the others and said, "If you buy them all together, I'll give you each a portion!"

Shi Yizhi readily accepted the payment, but Jiang Wanli insisted on paying himself: "How could I possibly accept that!"

Gao Wencai snorted and said disdainfully, "It's nothing, it's just a few coins. Although my Gao family can't compare to the Ye family, we don't care about this little bit of money!"

His words implied that he didn't get along with the Ye family.

Having said all that, Jiang Wanli felt embarrassed to argue any further and had no choice but to accept the map from the small vendor, which he then examined carefully.

In the very center of this map is Ye Family Town. To the southwest is the White Stone Mountain Teleportation Station, where the group is standing. To the east is the Sword Casting Manor, to the north is Flying Fox County, and to the northwest is a huge mountain floating in mid-air, marked with the words "White Stone Immortal Sect".

However, apart from Yejia Town, other places are only briefly mentioned with one or two diagrams, and the paths are obviously not as detailed as those in Yejia Town, but rather roughly marked with a number of miles along the roadside.

When it came to Yejia Town, things became much more detailed.

On the map, heading northeast from the White Stone Mountain teleportation station, upon entering Ye Family Town, one immediately sees an inn called "Ye Family Inn," followed by three more inns: "Wanqi Inn," "Huiyou Inn," and "Xianyuan Inn."

The person who had also bought the map was observing it, muttering to himself from time to time: "This Ye Family Inn must be run by the Ye family. And Wanqi... could it be a property of the Sword Forging Manor? Then this Huiyou Inn must belong to the Huiyou Escort Agency. How strange, isn't the Huiyou Escort Agency a caravan company? How come they've started an inn too? And who owns this Xianyuan Inn?"

The peddler, happily counting his money after selling a lot of maps, casually answered the crowd's questions upon hearing them: "Hehe, that Immortal's Fate Inn is owned by an immortal from White Stone Mountain. I don't know exactly which immortal it is, but its prices are the highest of all the inns in Ye Family Town! However, because the Immortal's Fate Inn offers 'immortal food,' it's always the first to fill up. Right now, you esteemed guests are probably out of luck... Even at mealtimes, the inn's lobby is packed with people!"

"This is a silver ingot," Gao Wencai said, pulling out a small, exquisite silver bar from somewhere. He then held it up in front of the vendor and said, "Thank you for your help, sir. Do you have time to show us the way? Once we find a suitable place to stay, we'll be sure to reward you!"

(Contrary to what you might imagine, the earliest silver ingots were square or shovel-shaped. It wasn't until the late Qing Dynasty that the "gold ingot" style "silver ingots" seen in modern films and television dramas appeared in large quantities. The picture shows a fifty-tael silver ingot from the "Guiyang Treasury" in the early Northern Song Dynasty.)

The small vendors were blinded by the one or two taels of silver ingot!
Although the price of silver fluctuates, it is mostly worth more than half a string of cash for one tael of silver, and some high-quality silver can even be worth a string of cash!

He would have to work hard selling maps for two days to earn that much money!

The vendor nodded vigorously, patting his chest and saying, "Yes, yes! I know Ye Family Town like the back of my hand! I can tell you exactly how many mice live in which alley!"

Upon hearing this, Gao Wencai's lips curled into a smirk. Coupled with his somewhat lewd appearance, he looked like a villainous minister from a storybook. However, in the eyes of the small merchant at this moment, Gao Wencai was incredibly dashing. With a slight loosening of his grip, the one-tael silver ingot fell lightly into the merchant's hand. Gao Wencai then said, "Lead the way. I'm feeling a bit hungry and tired. We should find a place to stay as soon as possible."

"Yes! Yes! I understand!"

As they were talking, Gao Wencai made the decision unilaterally without consulting Shi Yizhi, Anderding, and Jiang Wanli.

Although Shi Yizhi was somewhat unhappy about being assigned this task, he only frowned slightly and said nothing, considering that the other party had good intentions and had paid money several times.

Jiang Wanli thanked him profusely, saying, "Oh, thank you so much, Brother Gao! You've really gone to so much trouble for me. I feel ashamed!"

Even Andersen cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Brother Gao."

Shi Yizhi felt a little embarrassed and bowed to express his gratitude, saying, "Thank you, Brother Gao."

The four followed the vendor towards Ye Family Town. The vendor diligently relayed various pieces of information: "You've arrived rather late. Although the immortals of the White Stone Immortal Sect announced that on the day of the Immortal Affinity Conference on the first day of the first month, people can be directly teleported from the teleportation stations of the twelve first-level main cities, many people still choose to stay here first..."

"Conditions are much better now, unlike last time. I heard that during the last Immortal Affinity Gathering, everyone had to build their own thatched huts because there was nowhere to stay! This time, besides our Ye Family Town, there's also 'White Stone Village,' which is a spontaneous gathering of people from several villages and counties in Xiao Kingdom. There are quite a few houses to stay in, but there are no inns. Those houses are cheap, costing only a little over a hundred coins. Some large communal rooms are only a few dozen coins. But the cheapest option is those wooden sheds. Tsk, they're not even as sturdy as the stables in the inns in our Ye Family Town, and their location is also remote, even further east than our Ye Family Town. They're not as close to the White Stone Immortal Sect as our Ye Family Town..."

"To be honest, there aren't many people who can stay in Ye Family Town. The second master of Sword Casting Manor is quite shrewd. He actually opened up the entire manor, saying that it's free for two taels of silver to stay until the end of the Immortal Destiny Conference... Tsk! He really knows how to make money! A regular inn only costs two or three hundred silver coins a night! How many nights can you stay here with that!"

Jiang Wanli asked curiously, "With such high prices, do people actually stay at the Sword Forging Manor?"

The vendor snorted and said, "There are plenty! After all, Sword Forging Manor has two Grandmaster-level martial artists! Not to mention, I heard that because of its good relations with the White Stone Immortal Sect, the food at Sword Forging Manor is also 'immortal food,' you just have to pay extra for it. But even that alone has attracted quite a few people!"

Jiang Wanli was astonished: "I never imagined everyone here was so rich!"

The peddler quickly chimed in, "That's right!"

Although Jiang Wanli came from a wealthy family, and the Jiang family was considered a prominent family in Sheyang, he still had to be frugal when traveling. For example, if he really needed to stay at an inn, he would often stay in a dormitory to save money. So when he heard that so many people actually spent two taels of silver to go to the Sword Casting Manor, he was quite impressed.

Gao Wencai then asked, "Of these twelve inns, which one is the best built?"

The vendor replied, "That's probably the 'Cola Inn' to the north. It's also run by an immortal from the White Stone Immortal Sect. I heard this morning that there were less than ten rooms left. I don't know if there are any left now."

Jiang Wanli said, "Was it also opened by an immortal from the White Stone Immortal Sect? This name is quite strange!"

"Hey, that's because this inn serves a drink called 'Cola,' which is said to prolong life and prevent all diseases. It's even called 'divine brew'! That's why it has that name!"

Shi Yizhi then asked, "With such a good thing, why isn't this inn full?"

"Isn't this huge?! This is the largest inn in Ye Family Town, with over three hundred rooms, I heard! And this 'Cola' bar..."

At this point, the small vendor scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly, chuckled, and explained, "All the inns in Ye Family Town offer it. The cheapest place only charges a hundred coins for a bowl. I've tried it myself, and it's not as miraculous as they claim. However, it does give you a good boost of energy and helps you sleep soundly at night. If you gentlemen are not short of money, you might really like to give it a try!"

(End of this chapter)