"Looks like you had good luck, but others suffered for it." Xiaoyao could imagine how depressed Zhan Bai must have been.
"How much longer do you need? Let's go stroll around this temple fair. This is my first time seeing a temple fair, seeing so many people..." Guxing looked at the surrounding crowds and said somewhat excitedly.
This was natural. It was even her first time leaving home, so naturally her first time seeing a temple fair.
Speaking of which, her departure hadn't been known by anyone except Xiaoyao. However, this no longer mattered because her time had come.
According to Xiaoyao's understanding, her eighteen years in the Mo family were enough. What needed resolving had been resolved, her fate would no longer be so fierce, but still just as hard.
At the same time, if she continued staying there, it would affect her health. She had already blocked enough evil qi for the Mo family. According to Divine Calculator's words, she should have been moved elsewhere two years ago, otherwise it would cause certain effects on her body. It's just that she felt she should continue repaying a bit more of the Mo family's limited nurturing grace.
Of course, if these things were true, then she had already repaid enough. The Mo family Great Master also believed it was true, so it could be said she neither owed nor was owed by the Mo family.
If anyone owed anything, it was the Mo family owing her. After all, she was the Mo family's direct granddaughter, raising her was proper. But her grandfather, the Mo family Great Master, only kept her as a house-protecting talisman.
That was bad enough, but knowing the time limit had passed, he still made her continue blocking evil qi. For her, this damaged her lifespan.
Though the concept of damaging lifespan was somewhat mystical, according to Xiaoyao's understanding, Taoist mystical arts actually had certain reasoning and patterns. Though unexplainable, one couldn't deny their claims.
Regarding this, he had also advised Guxing to leave, no one would notice her existence anyway.
But Guxing's response was that it wasn't necessary. Since he said her fate was very hard, living a few years less would still be longer than others' lives.
Perhaps this was fate, so Xiaoyao didn't force anything. Originally there hadn't been opportunities then anyway. Even if she came out, she wouldn't know what to do, better to let her peacefully cultivate there. That environment was still quite good.
Xiaoyao looked at the equipment before him, inspected it once, then said: "Alright, there shouldn't be any problems. Let's go stroll around..."
Actually, these Mo family devices were very simple and basically didn't need someone watching them, so Xiaoyao alone was sufficient. Plus Xiaoyao could simultaneously stroll the temple fair, it could be said to be quite relaxing work.
However, even relaxing work was still work. Not working at all would be best. At this time, everyone didn't want to work and only thought about eating, drinking, and having fun, unless truly necessary.
As for what Mo family equipment this was, nothing more than some fancy decorations on decorated carts and lanterns, plus launchers for evening fireworks shows. These were all things produced by Mo family casting workshops.
Casting equipment wasn't just for forging weapons, most came from civilian daily items. These were the Mo family's economic pillars.
Though supreme weapons commanded sky-high prices, one piece was just one piece. Ordinary things could be numerous.
...
"What is this?"
"Clay figure making!"
"What is this?"
"Shadow puppet show!"
"What is this?"
"Performing tricks!"
"What is this?"
"This is a swindler..."
"..."
...
Who knew how many things Xiaoyao had introduced to Guxing, but her questions continued because these things were completely new to her.
Xiaoyao didn't blame Guxing for asking many questions. He only hated how this temple fair had everything, singers, actors, magicians, strength pill sellers, snack vendors, etc. At the same time, all walks of life were here. They'd just encountered three groups of thieves and two groups of swindlers.
The thieves were unlucky, Guxing threw them out or beat them up in a few moves. The swindlers were luckier, well, at least luckier than the thieves, suffering no physical harm.
However, they were somewhat depressed mentally because they discovered they'd encountered an expert among swindlers. Not only had they failed to deceive Xiaoyao, but Xiaoyao had tricked them out of some money.
Details?! That was something they absolutely didn't want to remember.
"What's ahead there?"
After playing their way along with Guxing in front and Xiaoyao behind, the two had reached another area. This seemed more unpopular with fewer people, much quieter compared to those previous places.
"With so few people, is it not fun?"
Guxing hesitated. She wanted to try everything but feared this thing wasn't very fun. She wanted to play at the most entertaining places.
"For some people this indeed isn't fun, but for others, this is the most entertaining place. It depends on personal preferences," Xiaoyao replied.
"Then do you think it's fun?" Guxing looked at Xiaoyao. For things she didn't know, she used Xiaoyao as her standard.
"Very fun. I come here to look around every year and have discovered quite a few good things before," Xiaoyao nodded.
"Then let's go see," Guxing said.
"Mm!"
"What kind of place is this?" Guxing finally asked. She seemed to not have gotten this answer yet.
"Second-hand market. Some people bring useless things from home to sell or trade, Some specialize in this business, some just resell, and some cheat people. If they can cheat one person, they can live worry-free for a year."
"Also, I just mentioned sellers. Some buyers are also in business, with good eyes, they can discover treasures and live comfortably. So this market is very complex. Looking and asking is fine, but if you want to buy something, ask me first." Xiaoyao walked while speaking and observing nearby stalls.
The second-hand market had everything too, useful and useless, current and old, cultural and martial, and oh yes, genuine and fake...
"Boss, how much for this item?"
Xiaoyao squatted before a stall, pointing at one object and asking.
"One hundred taels of silver!" The stall owner looked at Xiaoyao, then held up one finger.
"Damn, why don't you just rob people!" Xiaoyao immediately replied.
"Young man, this is good stuff, from back when... hey hey, young man don't leave! The price is negotiable - I can give it to you for fifty taels!" The stall owner was speaking when he noticed Xiaoyao walking away and immediately called out.
Business was tough these days for second-hand goods. With someone finally interested, he naturally wanted to keep them!
"For that thing of yours, I'd think five taels expensive." Xiaoyao replied.
"...Then five taels!" The stall owner gritted his teeth painfully.
However, he wasn't really pained. He'd only paid one hundred copper coins for this item. Five taels of silver was already huge profit.
"I already said I think it's expensive," Xiaoyao replied, already looking at another stall's items.
"Then what's your offer?" The stall owner gritted his teeth.
"One tael!!" Xiaoyao held up one finger and said faintly.
"Damn, why don't you just rob people!!" the stall owner said angrily.
"Pfft..."
Guxing on the side laughed because this situation was too funny. The movements and words completely switched between Xiaoyao and the stall owner in such a short time.
"Hehe... so beautiful..."
Guxing's laughter had made the stall owner somewhat angry, but after seeing her smile, he immediately froze.
"One tael, selling or not!" Xiaoyao asked at this moment.
"Fine, one tael it is!! For this girl's sake..." The stall owner gave the item to Xiaoyao while his eyes kept looking at Guxing.
"Deal!!"
Xiaoyao gave the silver to the stall owner, took the item from his hands, then continued strolling the second-hand market with Guxing.
"Boss, it seems when bargaining with men in the future, I should let you come out. You can bewitch all men. Just now with that guy, even if I said one copper coin, he might have agreed!" Xiaoyao said with a smile.
"Smooth talker! What is this thing? I don't think it's worth much, why spend a whole tael of silver!!" After Guxing laughingly scolded him, she looked at the item in Xiaoyao's hands puzzledly.
This was an unremarkable small object, a small wood carving. Though somewhat aged, it didn't look very valuable no matter how you looked at it. Xiaoyao wasn't one to collect such things, so he definitely wouldn't buy it for collection, it must be for resale.
If the resale value wasn't high, Xiaoyao wouldn't want it either. After all, the antique market was unpredictable, you might say something had value, but it needed buyers. Without buyers, everything was junk.
"Actually, his asking price of one hundred taels was completely reasonable, not robbery!" Xiaoyao said with a smile.
"?!"
"Though this is a small wood carving, it belonged to Sword God Li Xiuxian from a hundred years ago. He was the only person in these past centuries who could enter God Level, so even small items of his are very valuable. Many people compete for them, hoping to gain some divine inspiration." Xiaoyao explained.
"If it's really the Sword God's item, then it's indeed valuable. But how do you know it's his?" Guxing asked puzzledly.
"When researching certain matters, I saw some of his writing and learned his handwriting. That's his writing there." Xiaoyao replied casually.
"Oh, I see!" Guxing understood. As for what Xiaoyao was researching, she was too lazy to ask because he researched too many things, anything was possible.
Soon Guxing was certain of one thing: if it came to treasure hunting in this second-hand market, if Xiaoyao claimed second place, no one would dare claim first.
Xiaoyao had studied everything. For genuine vs fake goods, valuable vs worthless items, he could almost tell at a glance. Some things others couldn't see, he could see. Some things others didn't know, he knew.
(End of Chapter)