The spiritual energy of Yuze Mountain had finally dried up.
All the demon cultivators with even a bit of intelligence had already left.
Bai Maomao watched as his friends came one by one to say goodbye and then departed.
Now, it was finally their turn to leave.
Su Yao packed up the things in the small courtyard and set up an illusion spell outside.
She gave it one last, reluctant look.
“Let’s go.”
The sunlight stretched their shadows long behind them.
The three of them descended the mountain without looking back.
They settled again in the village at the foot of the mountain.
Having learned from experience, this time Bai Maomao was much calmer.
Despite curious looks from villagers, he kept a cold face the entire time.
A bold young woman approached and asked,
“Hey handsome, are you here for sightseeing?”
“No,”
Bai Maomao replied curtly.
Unwilling to give up, the woman asked again,
“Then where are you from?”
“From the mountain.”
Realizing that Bai Maomao wasn’t interested in chatting, she gave an awkward laugh and ran off.
“Not in a good mood?”
Lang Junxian handed him a glass of cola and sat down beside him.
Bai Maomao nodded glumly, his long lashes drooping.
Lang Junxian patted his back and comforted him,
“We can come back someday. Just treat this like an experience trip.”
Bai Maomao gave a muffled “Mm” and drank down the cola in one gulp.
After a few days in the village, Bai Maomao learned a lot of new things, and the sorrow of leaving home gradually faded.
Life on the mountain had been harsh, so everything down here seemed novel to him.
Even the faucet in the restroom fascinated him for a long while.
He scared other guests at the hotel into thinking a mentally unstable person had broken in, and someone even complained to the front desk.
Lang Junxian had to drag him back with a stiff face.
After staying in the village for about half a month, the three of them set off again.
Because the village was so close to Yuze Mountain, with the spiritual energy still leaking from it, it wasn’t suitable for long-term living.
They began migrating northward.
It was said that the deep mountains in the north were rich in spiritual energy.
Su Yao thought they might find a suitable place to live there.
However, the long distance was a problem.
Su Yao’s hairpin was a good flying artifact, but it required a lot of spiritual energy to operate.
Over long distances, it would be exhausting and inefficient.
Then Bai Maomao, remembering the airplanes he saw on TV two days ago, suggested excitedly,
“Why don’t we fly on a plane instead?”
“You know how to?”
“We don’t have money for tickets,”
Su Yao and Lang Junxian replied in unison.
Bai Maomao pouted—he couldn’t, and they had no money.
After a moment of thought, Lang Junxian suggested,
“We could sneak onboard without tickets.”
“How?”
Bai Maomao asked, eyes wide with curiosity.
Lang Junxian scratched his nose awkwardly and said,
“We use invisibility spells to sneak on board.”
Su Yao clapped her hands.
“Great idea! Why didn’t we think of that earlier?”
So, the family of three applied the same method—using invisibility to evade paying for the bus, the car, and finally, the airplane—and successfully arrived at their first stop: Guangshi City.
Guangshi City was in central Huaxia, economically developed and densely populated.
As soon as they got off the plane, Bai Maomao was stunned by the sheer number of people.
There were crowds everywhere.
The three blended in with the crowd and exited the station with the rest of the passengers.
Bai Maomao and Su Yao, who had truly grown up in the mountains, were completely overwhelmed when they stepped into the bustling city streets.
As the eldest male in the family, Lang Junxian was forced into the role of tour guide.
Although he had never been allowed to leave the house as a child, he wasn’t deprived when it came to food or living, and he had access to the internet.
Lang Junxian had learned a lot online, and now it was finally useful.
With a calm expression, Lang Junxian led the way, checking his travel guide and confidently entering the nearest hotel.
Bai Maomao kept a straight face and didn’t say a word, staying a step behind and hiding behind Lang Junxian.
The hotel staff thought he was just shy and gave him a friendly smile.
“One double room, please.”
“Certainly, sir. May I see your ID?”
Lang Junxian stared coldly at the receptionist.
The young woman blushed under his gaze and had to repeat herself,
“Sir, may I see your ID?”
The whole family were unregistered—how could they possibly have IDs?
Thinking quickly, Lang Junxian secretly cast an illusion spell and discreetly handed over a small flyer from his pocket.
The receptionist glanced at it, then processed their check-in.
Lang Junxian paid and finally let out a silent sigh of relief.
He had almost forgotten—they were all technically off the grid.
Once inside the room, Bai Maomao, who had stayed quiet the whole time, finally came to life and exhaled a long breath.
“That scared me to death.”
Su Yao, who was unpacking, nodded.
“We can’t keep going on like this. Eventually, we’ll need to interact with normal people. We need to adapt to their way of life.”
Lang Junxian thought for a moment.
They’d better start with the internet.
Though the internet had tons of information, it was messy.
Lang Junxian filtered through it first and saved the useful parts for Bai Maomao and Su Yao to read.
Even though the volume of information was large, Bai Maomao and Su Yao weren’t ordinary people.
Their memory, strengthened by cultivation, was far superior to that of average humans.
So after a crash course overnight, they finally grasped the basics of modern society.
Bai Maomao drooled while staring at delicious foods on the computer screen.
Su Yao, however, was worriedly considering the idea of sending the two to school.
She’d heard that human children all start school from a young age.
With a deep sigh, Su Yao thought about how difficult it was to get into school nowadays.
Without identification, even bribery might not work.
The thought of money made her even more distressed.
They didn’t have much left—what they had was saved long ago from selling medicinal herbs.
The three of them looked at each other in silence.
They had to find a way to make money!
After a quick group discussion, they realized that most of what they owned was useful only to cultivators.
If they tried to sell such things, not only would they attract unwanted attention, but without proper usage, these items could even backfire or seem useless to ordinary people.
That left them with only one option: Su Yao’s herbs grown on the mountain.
She could pick ones that were younger or had less-than-ideal appearances—those shouldn’t cause too much trouble if sold.
After searching through her storage room for a while, Su Yao found a 500-year-old ginseng root and a 300-year-old lingzhi mushroom.
Bai Maomao also contributed a failed Qi-tonic pill.
The ginseng and lingzhi were of average quality—leftovers Su Yao hadn’t used for refining pills.
Still worried they weren’t good enough, Su Yao considered bringing out an older, better one.
“These are enough. If they sell smoothly, we’ll make at least several million,”
Lang Junxian said with a mix of amusement and exasperation, stopping her from taking out a thousand-year-old king ginseng.
“That much?”
Bai Maomao now had a solid grasp of RMB.
Hearing that these cast-off items could sell for millions made him itch to clear out his whole herb stash.
“Ginseng and lingzhi that are over a hundred years old are considered life-saving for ordinary people,”
Lang Junxian explained.
“And with pollution so bad nowadays, wild herbs are rare and thus expensive.”
Bai Maomao nodded with a vague understanding and touched his little treasure pouch.
To him, those herbs were just “little money.”
Since descending the mountain, Bai Maomao had realized how essential money was—for food, fun toys, and even a place to stay.
Everything needed money!
As someone with no worldly experience, he now had a lingering fear about finances.
But knowing these herbs could be exchanged for such large sums finally gave him a sense of security.
If they ever ran out of money, he could just casually sell a herb or two.
Selling the herbs was left to Lang Junxian.
Bai Maomao and his mother stayed in the hotel, continuing their crash course on modern knowledge.
Lang Junxian left the hotel and headed straight to the largest traditional medicine shop in Guangshi City.
It was called Tongrentang, a reputable store known for fair prices and genuine herbs.
In Guangshi City, it had a solid reputation.
Carrying three boxes in his coat,
Lang Junxian waited outside for a bit.
The shop wasn’t busy—only a few customers came and went, likely people who had made prior appointments.
He even spotted two cultivators going in with stern faces and coming out smiling.
That confirmed it for Lang Junxian: this shop served not just regular customers, but cultivators as well.
With that confidence, he walked in.
“Welcome. How can I help you?” the greeter at the door asked politely.
“I have a few medicinal herbs I’d like to sell.”
“What kind of herbs?” the clerk asked, still courteous.
“Take a look.”
Lang Junxian took out one of the boxes and opened it gently.
“Can you make the decision?”
Inside was a ginseng root the size of an adult’s palm, with complete root tendrils and a main body shaped like a human figure.
It emitted a rich, pure herbal fragrance.
“Please wait here, I’ll get the manager,” the clerk said solemnly, respectfully leading Lang Junxian to the guest lounge before hurrying off to fetch someone.
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