Eternal madness

Chapter 33 I Must Take It Back
After taking the medicine, Li Yunsheng helped Zhang Laifu dispel the yin energy from his body.

After the yin energy dissipated, Zhang Laifu felt much better, but his legs were still weak.

"Brother Yunsheng, could you give me another one of those talismans that ran so fast yesterday?"

"I still have some talismans, but you can't use them anymore. Running again might break your legs."

Ultimately, Li Yunsheng's talismans were still draining Zhang Laifu's physical strength.

Overdrafting is acceptable, but what we need now are talismans that can be used.

"Are there any other talismans? Something that requires more strength or accuracy, anything will do."

Li Yunsheng was in a dilemma.

There are many talismans that can enhance combat power, but most of them need to be used in conjunction with incantations, which must be recited by Li Yunsheng himself.

"Brother Laifu, let me go to the old house with you." He staggered to his feet, still a little unsteady on his feet.

Zhang Laifu shook his head and said, "You'd better not come with me."

Li Yunsheng knew his condition wasn't too good: "Don't worry, I have ways to deal with it, I won't be a burden to you."

“In your condition, how can you fight a drummer? He is extremely wary of strangers and would kill you the moment he walks in.”

After careful consideration, Li Yunsheng took out a yellow short jacket with a front opening from the cabinet, which was covered with talismans.

"Wearing this garment, in a moment of crisis, it can withstand swords and spears, and should also be able to block a blow from the drummer."

Zhang Laifu took the short jacket, and as the wind blew, the talisman paper fluttered in the breeze.

"Is this outfit, which is so flashy, really practical?"

Li Yunsheng looked at Zhang Laifu with unwavering eyes: "If you believe it's effective, then it definitely will be effective! My master made ten such gowns and gave them to ten people. In the end, three of them survived, and they all said they were effective!"

"I'm relieved to hear you say that!" Zhang Laifu put away his jacket.

Li Yunsheng still felt it was inappropriate: "Brother Laifu, you are not a craftsman. If even the Celestial Master cannot subdue him, I really can't imagine how much of a chance you have of winning."

Zhang Laifu was very confident: "He is very wary of others, but he is not wary of me. I think I can get my things back."

"As long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn; why bother getting entangled with this evil spirit?"

“I don’t want to get entangled with him. He took my Qingshan away, and I have to get it back.”

Li Yunsheng could tell that the evil spirit had taken something very important from Zhang Laifu.

"There's plenty of time in the future. Even if we lose one mountain, we can earn another."

“We’ll earn another hundred more in the future, but I’ll take back the one we got today first.”

Li Yunsheng sighed and said, "Brother Laifu, please think it over."

"I've thought it over carefully, and I have to come back."

Zhang Laifu's eyes were glazed over, seemingly lifeless, but Li Yunsheng could sense the chill emanating from them.

"Brother Laifu, I know you might have some concerns..."

“You don’t know,” Zhang Laifu shook his head, “I was bullied, bullied really badly!”

He went out to find work but got kidnapped, and then he got scammed while looking at a house!
"Some old devil came and stole my good stuff! I risked my life to get this, and I have to get it back!"

Seeing that he couldn't persuade Zhang Laifu, Li Yunsheng could only ask, "Is there anything else I can do to help you?"

Where can I buy snuff?

Zhang Laifu didn't believe snuff could open a bowl. Although he had never seen snuff, if tobacco leaves couldn't do it, snuff probably wouldn't either.

But he had to buy the snuff, otherwise he wouldn't be able to fool the old helmsman.

Li Yunsheng gave directions, and Zhang Laifu arrived at Huangxiang Street.

Huangxiang Street is a place that specializes in selling cigarettes. At the entrance of the street, there is a large shop with a dark blue enamel signboard with five large gold-painted characters that read "Delong Foreign Tobacco Shop" neatly on it. Below, there are several small cigarette label designs, including Old Car, Virginia, Yunlong, Peacock... Zhang Laifu didn't recognize them all, but he heard from others that these were all big brands from Wan Shengzhou.

Pushing open the door, you see a glass counter in the shop. On the left are metal cigarette boxes, and on the right are paper cigarette boxes, with prices neatly marked below each box.

The shop assistant wore a white shirt and a red vest, his hair was slicked back and shiny, and he spoke with a slightly foreign accent: "Sir, please come in. Our shop specializes in brand-name products. We guarantee a tenfold refund if any product is counterfeit."

Zhang Laifu asked, "Which one is snuff?"

The waiter lowered his head, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "You've come to the wrong place. Go and take a look across the street."

The area across the street is too big, where do I go to look around?

When Zhang Laifu asked again, the guy, who was quite arrogant, stopped talking.

After crossing the road, Zhang Laifu walked along the street for a while and felt that this shop looked like it sold snuff.

Compared to the previous tobacco shop, this shop was very different in style. The storefront was not fancy, and an old wooden plaque hung on it with the words "Yi Cheng" written on it. Because the paint was severely peeling off, the characters were somewhat blurred.

There was a long bench against the wall by the door, where an old man sat smoking a pipe, the air filled with the acrid smell of tobacco.

Upon entering the shop, the lighting was dim. A row of large wooden cabinets displayed wooden boxes, cloth bags, and bamboo tubes. The shop assistant, dressed in a traditional Chinese jacket, stepped forward and opened each box, revealing tobacco leaves from various regions.

"Sir, we have Dongsheng, Yuesheng, Dachang, Kuitai, Jinlan, and Qingtiao. Which one do you want? We'll cut and mix it for you!"

The man became much more enthusiastic. Seeing that Zhang Laifu didn't say anything, he opened a few more tin boxes: "We also have foreign cigarettes here, Ingrid Exfab, Amican No. 1 Iron Bucket, you can have a pot to try."

Zhang Laifu pursed his lips, not wanting to appear ignorant, but he really didn't recognize it: "Um... which one is snuff?"

The waiter wasn't so enthusiastic anymore. He closed all his cigarette packs and pointed outside, saying, "Why don't you go and take a look in the alley?"

This was a shop specializing in dried tobacco, and like the food business, the tobacco seller didn't do it as a side business. After leaving Yicheng Tobacco Shop, Zhang Laifu turned left into the alley and walked for a long time before finally finding the right place.

This is a small building made of blue bricks. Above the door hangs a carved wooden plaque with the three large characters "Juxiangzhai" written in old regular script, neat and elegant.

There is a couplet on both sides of the door frame: "The fragrance enters the nose and cleanses the lungs, the smoke penetrates the soul through the fingertips."

Zhang Laifu inquired in the alley and found out that this was where snuff was sold.

Pushing open the door to the shop, I found the room softly lit. The counter was filled with snuff bottles, made of agate, glass, ivory, and purple clay, with caps inlaid with jade and silver, each with a different shape.

The shopkeeper was a middle-aged man, wearing a long gown, with his hair slicked back and sporting a mustache.

As the customer entered, the innkeeper quickly greeted him, "Sir, you look unfamiliar. Is this your first time here?"

Zhang Laifu, with his hands behind his back, pretended to be an expert. He looked around the shop and nodded, "This is really my first time visiting your shop."

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Then you've come to the right place. We've just got our new Double Flower Smoked Wine and Jasmine Dew. Would you like to try them?"

The name alone left Zhang Laifu completely bewildered.

What do "double flower incense" and "jasmine dew" mean? Are they buying cigarettes or floral water?

Zhang Laifu coughed lightly: "I want good cigarettes!"

The shopkeeper quickly apologized: "It was my negligence, sir. Please wait a moment. I have Tianhuizhai's Wan Gao Xin Lu here."

After saying that, the shopkeeper opened a small wooden box containing yellow powder.

Is this a cigarette?

The shopkeeper was quite generous: "Please try the taste."

How to try?
Zhang Laifu had never seen snuff before.

Tobacco, borneol, and poria cocos, along with various spices, are ground into a fine powder to make snuff.

Snuff is usually kept in a snuff bottle. When you want to smoke it, you take out a little bit with your fingers and inhale it into your nostrils.

Zhang Laifu had no idea about this, and he didn't want to try it out; he just wanted to buy it directly.

"How much does this Wan-something dew cost?"

The shopkeeper said, "Two yuan and five cents."

"Two what?" Zhang Laifu was stunned. "Two silver dollars?"

A customer nearby said, "It must be silver dollars, not two copper coins, right?"

Zhang Laifu asked in surprise, "Two silver dollars for a pound?"

The shopkeeper remained silent for a while, then a customer next to him laughed: "Are you kidding me? Do you think you're buying cabbage? You want to buy a pound? Two silver dollars for one ounce, and you'll have to add five more coins."

"Who's talking nonsense? This is gold powder?" Zhang Laifu did the math. The old captain gave him ten silver dollars, plus the two he gave him yesterday, which together amounted to twelve dollars, barely enough to buy six taels.

Is six ounces enough to open the bowl?

Zhang Laifu was still calculating the bill when a customer next to him advised, "The shopkeeper is giving you the market price. I doubt you understand the market for snuff."

"If you're giving a gift to a high-ranking official or nobleman, Wan Gao Xin Lu is just right; if you're buying it for a relative, Shuang Hua Xun and Jasmine Lu will suffice."

Zhang Laifu was a little worried: "Are the two things you mentioned very different from Wan Gaoxinlu?"

“The difference is huge,” the customer explained. “Snuff is divided into ten grades. Wan Gao Xin Lu is the first grade, Jasmine Lu is the eighth grade, and Shuang Hua Xun Lu is the ninth grade. They are far apart.”

Do you think you can get away with buying such poor-quality snuff?
If the old helmsman fails to open the bowl, will he take his anger out on Zhang Laifu?
To be honest, I don't even know if this thing will work.

Zhang Laifu thought it was ridiculous to use snuff to open a bowl, and that the old master had probably made a mistake again.

It's good that we made a mistake. The attempt to open the bowl failed, but the old leader still needs Zhang Laifu to run errands and get soil. That way, he'll still have a chance to deal with him.

Once the bowl is opened successfully, Zhang Laifu will lose his usefulness, and today we'll have to fight the old leader to the death.

Seeing Zhang Laifu hesitate, the shopkeeper opened the jar and showed Zhang Laifu the quality of the jasmine dew and double flower snuff: "That's how snuff is graded, but you can rest assured about the products in our shop. The jasmine dew and double flower snuff are legitimate brands and are of clean quality."

A guest joked, "Is it clean? Did you get any incense ash mixed in?"

The shopkeeper waved his hand: "You're joking. Our shop caters to regular customers. When have we ever done anything like that?"

"Mixed with incense ash?" Zhang Laifu was taken aback.

The customer quickly explained, "I was just joking with the shopkeeper. Incense ash and snuff look quite similar. Some unscrupulous merchants mix incense ash into snuff. Juxiangzhai is an old brand and wouldn't do such a thing."

Zhang Laifu looked down at the jasmine snuff and the double flower snuff. The two kinds of snuff were yellowish-white, not as pure as the Wan Gaoxin snuff, and they really looked a bit like some kind of dust.

What kind of dust?

There was dust on the altar in the ancestral hall, the kind of very fine dust that should be incense ash!

The hat reacted to the incense ash, so it must have liked it. But why didn't the old leader just let me get some incense ash to take back?

There must be a lot of incense ash to collect in the ancestral hall. The old master is so experienced, didn't he try using incense ash?
He definitely tried, but probably didn't succeed.

Top hats probably don't like incense ash.

Top hats probably prefer snuff. They react to incense ash because incense ash and snuff are very similar, and some snuff contains incense ash.

The old master guessed right this time!
As long as you take the snuff back, the bowl will be opened!
P.S.: Once the bowl is opened, then we'll have to fight tooth and nail!

Dear readers, we'll start tomorrow morning.

(End of this chapter)