Divine Tang Era

Chapter 140 Shopping and Storytelling (Part 2)

Xu Dan took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and continued, "Although the ghosts surrounded Jingning City, they did not attack the city at first. Around 3 PM, suddenly, a huge, golden-yellow, long-haired bull, almost as tall as a mountain and with two thick, pointed horns, emerged from the thick, inky fog."

Behind it, a herd of equally enormous woolly cattle thronged around, each with two incredibly sharp horns atop its head.

These long-haired cattle seemed to have gone mad, charging headlong into the ground, their hooves causing the earth to tremble violently and creating a series of thunderous roars. Even the city walls shook violently, as if the earth itself were turning over.

Seeing that things were going badly, I quickly took the bow and arrow from my back and shot at the lead golden-yellow long-haired bull. "Whoosh!"

At this point, Xu Dan struck what he thought was a cool archery pose.

"Did it hit?" Wan Zhen listened intently, his heart pounding in his chest.

"It hit the target, but you could also say it missed," Xu Dan said, shaking his head.

"What do you mean?" Wan Zhen asked, his face full of confusion.

"The hide of that golden-yellow long-haired ox was incredibly thick, practically an indestructible suit of armor. When the arrow struck it, it felt like hitting a wall of bronze and iron; it bounced off without even leaving a mark. I felt this wouldn't do, so I nocked another arrow and used the Heavenly Fire Spreads from the Five Elements Arrow Technique, the ultimate Void-Breaking Arrow technique taught to me by Master Xue. Whoosh—"

Xu Dan then made what he thought was a dashing archery gesture.

"Did you hit the target this time?" Wan Zhen asked hurriedly, his eyes fixed on Xu Dan, afraid of missing any detail.

"It hit the target, but you could also say it missed." Xu Dan continued to shake his head.

"What exactly happened? Stop keeping me in suspense!" Wan Zhen was extremely anxious.

"The hide of that golden-yellow long-haired cow was so thick that the arrows only burned off some of its hair and couldn't even pierce the hide, leaving only a thin white mark. It couldn't hurt it at all."

"What should we do then?" Wan Zhen asked with a worried expression, clearly engrossed in the conversation and having immersed himself in the story.

"Master Xue has made his move."

Xu Dan proudly declared, "Master Xue is from the Xue clan of Hedong. He possesses the ancestral art of divine archery and is a direct descendant of Xue Rengui, the Duke of Pingyang, who once shook the world. His archery skills have reached a high level, truly astonishing heaven and earth. When he fired his arrow, an unparalleled aura surged straight to the heavens and earth, causing the wind to rise and the clouds to surge, silencing all ghosts. That enormous, golden-yellow, long-haired bull, as big as a mountain, instantly vanished without a trace under Master Xue's arrow."

And the cattle behind them, too, were reduced to a bloody mess under his overwhelming arrow force that swept across the heavens and earth...

Xu Dan spoke eloquently and exaggeratedly about the battle that had taken place the previous night.

Wan Zhen listened with rapt attention, genuinely believing it to be true. He was so shocked that his eyes almost bulged out, and his mouth involuntarily opened wide, looking utterly incredulous.

Although Xu Dan's words contained a bit of boasting, it must be admitted that his story was truly brilliant and captivating. Those who were originally focused on drinking tea were also drawn in by his story, gathering around and standing quietly to listen.

After Xu Dan finished recounting what happened last night, he realized that a crowd of people had gathered around him.

I was stunned and had no idea what was going on.

After figuring out the situation, they were both amused and exasperated. Indeed, watching a spectacle is in the nature of the Chinese, a trait that has never changed in any dynasty. To avoid being stared at like a monkey, Xu Dan quickly left the teahouse with Wan Zhen.

................

Time flies, and three days have passed since the ghosts attacked the city.

For the past three days, Xu Dan had been pondering what he should do. However, despite his thoughts, he continued to eat and practice martial arts as usual.

Because the county government had acquired a large number of monster and bird carcasses, they were selling a lot of animal meat at the market. Upon hearing this, Xu Dan also bought some high-quality animal meat to stock up in preparation for opening his shop in the future.

In addition to meat from animals and birds, he also bought some animal hides to make clothes and blankets.

I heard that the winters here are very cold, and the snowfall is particularly heavy. At its deepest, the snow depth has reached ten feet.

This startled him, a native of southern Fujian. He was already afraid of the cold, and the thought of spending the winter in such a frigid place made him shudder; he felt it was simply not a place fit for a human being. So, when he heard the news, he began to stockpile all sorts of supplies in advance: grain, meat, vegetables, and even a lot of firewood. Basically, he bought everything he thought he might need in the future.

He had kang beds built in every habitable room downstairs.

When he gets too cold to stand it, he will go downstairs to sleep in the room with the kang (heated brick bed).

Actually, let alone snow, even now, without any snow, the weather is getting colder every day. Especially after the Ghost Festival on the 15th of the seventh lunar month, you can clearly feel the temperature dropping day by day when walking on the street.

The wind stings your face like a knife, making you instinctively shrink back.

That day, after dinner, Mother, as usual, happily took Little Magpie to school.

Xu Dan then went to the altar where Xuanwu Zhenjun was worshipped, respectfully lit an incense stick, and bowed.

Afterwards, as usual, I came to the door, stretched lazily, and looked at the busy crowd on the street outside.

Xu Dan secretly rejoiced that he was fortunate enough to have some strength and good luck, enabling him to hunt monsters, gather rare medicinal herbs, and even have some spare money. Otherwise, he would probably be like these people, busy all day long, struggling to make a living, only to end up with hardly any money left in his pocket.

Of course, he knew in his heart that this was related to the fact that he was now all alone.

If I had a wife and children, a whole family to support, I'd probably be just like them, busy from morning till night, without a single day of peace. Thinking of this, I couldn't help but laugh at myself. Why did I suddenly think of these things? I'm still just a child.

Xu Dan lowered his head and looked himself over.

He was short in stature, with a sturdy build, and a round face adorned with an innocent smile.

Why should he worry about such trivial matters? It's still early. This is just the influence of his past life's thoughts; things are different now. He kept reminding himself that he was still a child, just a child, a real child. Thinking this way, his mood immediately became relaxed and cheerful, and he even happily whistled.

"Junior brother."

Just as he was lost in his own thoughts, he suddenly heard someone call him, and then he saw Xue Diao and Xue Bao'er walking over side by side.

Xu Dan waved to the two of them, wondering to himself: when did he become so close to them, coming here every few days?

His mindset was still stuck in the modern society of his previous life, unaware that in ancient times, the bond between fellow disciples was higher than mountains and deeper than the sea, sometimes even closer than that between blood brothers. Moreover, he had done the Xue family a favor, though few knew of it.