Walking the Ten Thousand Daos

Chapter 67: The Old Woman

Li Qi was in high spirits.

Now, even if that piece of gold had issues, it wouldn't affect him at all.

Any problems could go directly to the God of the Li River. Having witnessed the grand spectacle of the Qinghua Palace, Li Qi was filled with confidence in such a colossal entity that dominated an entire nation.

At the same time, he also felt awe.

That self-contained Grotto-Heaven, with palaces and flowing water everywhere, profoundly shocked Li Qi.

He had previously read the Zhu Book, and its geographical descriptions always made him feel that the Great Lu Kingdom was a petty little state, not worth mentioning. He could ride out of its territory in half a month.

Yet, even such a petty little state's revered River God could possess such a magnificent Grotto-Heaven, such immense power, and such a spectacular scene.

There were at least a thousand such nations as the Great Lu Kingdom within the dominion of Wushen Mountain.

And those larger than the Great Lu Kingdom were countless.

The God of the Li River wasn't even significant enough to be recorded in the Classic of Waterways; it couldn't be considered a famous river of the world.Li Qi felt like an ant at the foot of a mountain, a stone on the road. Everything he saw appeared as towering peaks.

However, he couldn't see the true mountain, because even looking up, he couldn't.

He knows not the true face of Mount Lu, only because he is in this mountain.¹

So, what would Luofu Mountain look like?

And how magnificent would Wushen Mountain be?

At the thought of these things, the thirty wisps of pure water qi circulating within him seemed to amount to nothing.

The road ahead was long and arduous.

But Li Qi grew even more excited.

It was like the first time he witnessed the Human Dao qi of Feng County's two hundred thousand people.

Just two hundred thousand people had been so profoundly shocking.

This made Li Qi yearn even more to stand atop a mountain peak and survey the myriad Daos.

What kind of grandeur would that be?

Lost in these thoughts, Li Qi swam out of the river and waved for the temporary laborers he had hired to disperse.

Then, he gathered up the remaining usable items, such as the fish-skin drum, packed them carefully, and prepared to leave.

It was already afternoon. He would buy some food, then leave the city.

Staying overnight in the city was too expensive, and he was already accustomed to sleeping outdoors; it was quite good.

As for these water qi...

He would ask Shen Shuibi about them first. She knew more, so he would see if there was a better way to utilize them.

With these preparations done, Li Qi intended to visit the market once more to buy dry rations and the beets and oats he had promised the old horse.

However, before he had walked two steps, he saw the sweating, wealthy man he had encountered earlier.

Upon seeing the other party, Li Qi decisively turned and walked away.

He would take a roundabout way to the market.

But the other party clearly had no intention of letting him leave.

The plump wealthy man immediately rushed forward and grabbed Li Qi: "Hey! Young brother! Young brother! Do you still remember me? I bought your beast bones this morning!"

Li Qi frowned and turned around: "Sir, we've completed our transaction, hand-to-hand. I haven't shortchanged you, nor have you short-paid me. Why are you holding me now?"

"Oh, oh, young brother, young brother, ah no, Great Shaman, I was blind and offended you! Please, don't take it to heart, please don't!" The wealthy man clung tightly to Li Qi's sleeve, refusing to let go, continuously trying to curry favor.

But he was merely an ordinary person. Li Qi, utilizing his Carp Flowing Intent, was as slippery as an eel, effortlessly pulling his arm free.

This move startled the wealthy man even more. He quickly chased after Li Qi, embraced him, and knelt on the ground: "Great Shaman, Great Shaman, please save me!"

"A great person such as yourself wouldn't hold a grudge against a small one. Save my life! I am willing to offer ten gold coins... ah no, twenty gold coins!"

His sudden embrace of Li Qi drew countless eyes from the street.

Li Qi intensely disliked being stared at by so many people, so he immediately pulled the man up, his voice sinking with a hint of anger: "Speak your mind! You don't actually think your hands can hold me, do you? If I turn and leave now, who will save you then?!"

The wealthy man quickly stood up, wiping away his tears, though still sobbing incessantly, as if genuinely heartbroken.

Li Qi watched, annoyed. This man had plotted against him earlier, and now he was playing the victim, which greatly displeased Li Qi. He had originally intended to turn and leave immediately.

But then he mentioned twenty gold coins.

So much money.

He had never seen so much money in his life.

Converted to qian, it was two hundred thousand qian.

That was enough to host a large-scale Daoist ritual ground with over a hundred people.

So Li Qi did not leave immediately. Instead, he frowned, suppressing his annoyance and quickly moved forward: "Let's go, we'll talk at your place."

Seeing this, the wealthy man rose in surprise and followed Li Qi, quickly dodging the crowd's gaze and returning to his mansion.

It was still as eerie as before.

The wealthy man quickly opened the door, inviting Li Qi inside.

"Great Shaman, listen to me..." The wealthy man entered, eager to continue speaking.

Li Qi quickly interrupted: "I am not a Great Shaman. My surname is Li, and I am merely an ordinary wandering practitioner."

He was unwilling to state that he was a legitimate Shaman-ritual priest. After all, the Great Lu Kingdom seemed to have been completely assimilated by Tang's customs. Although some original Shaman Dao customs still remained, most of their systems had aligned with Tang.

At this time, the identity of a wandering practitioner was safer than that of a Wushen Shaman.

Ordinary Shamans might be ignored, but he was a person of Wushen Mountain, so it was better to be cautious.

There were countless people named Li Qi in the Great Lu Kingdom.

But Shaman-ritual priests from Wushen Mountain were few.

"Then... then I'll call you Master Li. Master Li, you must have come back to save me, right! You saw the problem with that gold, didn't you?" The wealthy man quickly flattered Li Qi with a smile.

"Stop, Sir. Don't be so quick to get familiar. From your tone, it seems you knew that gold had a problem, didn't you? And knowing it had a problem, you still gave it to me. Isn't that... quite inappropriate?" Li Qi was not affected by the other's attitude. Instead, he took a few steps back, his face stern, displaying a rigid demeanor.

"Alas, wasn't I forced to it... I didn't know you were such a master, you see," the wealthy man scratched his head, his face fawning.

"If I were an ordinary person, wouldn't you have caused my death?" Hearing this, Li Qi was genuinely somewhat annoyed now.

For this person to just blurt it out like that indicated a certain problem.

He lacked both conscience and intelligence.

Li Qi deeply understood a principle: one could deal with conscienceless people because common interests could drive them. One could also deal with unintelligent people because one could treat them with sincerity.

In this way, their actions would be predictable.

But with someone who lacked both intelligence and conscience, what kind of ridiculous things they might do was entirely unpredictable.

So, at this point, he no longer wanted the twenty gold coins.

Because complications would surely arise.

Let this wealthy man die. It would be better for him to hurry on his way.

But at this moment, an aged voice sounded from behind Li Qi.

"My son is a bit foolish. Forgive me, ritual priest. This old woman was blind before and failed to recognize Senior Brother."

...

¹Famous line from a poem by Su Shi. Meaning; You cannot fully understand or see the whole picture of something when you are too deeply immersed in it, or too close to it.