It turned out that a farmer was selling mandarin oranges on the wide street ahead.
The farmer was about 27 or 28 years old. His hair was bright and his face had long been dyed by the wind and frost. One could tell that he was poor and tired.
There was a big cart behind him. No livestock, just a rope shoulder strap. The cart weighed hundreds of pounds of mandarin oranges. It had been pulled by one person.
The weather had been unusually warm for the past two days. The ice and snow had melted and the farmer was sweating profusely from the heat. As he wiped himself with a sackcloth, he shouted about selling mandarin oranges.
'Buy. I am selling mandarin oranges. They are good and tasty.'
"Hahaha…"
The farmer's clumsy words made the onlookers laugh. There were very few winter fruits in Yuyang City and Yun Su had not seen many people selling fruits along the way. The farmer's mandarin orange was big and red and emitted a mandarin orange fragrance. No wonder it could attract so many people.
When someone asked about the price, the farmers said that six copper coins per 500 grams of mandarin oranges. They found it expensive but refused to leave so they pestered the farmers to sell it at a cheaper price.
"The price can't be any lower."
The farmer blushed at the mockery and the uneasy look of a big man standing there made everyone laugh again. In any case, the price was fixed.
There were more and more jeers and the farmer's face was getting redder and redder. He was desperate.
At that moment, a dirty-faced Daoist in rags pushed through the crowd and stepped forward, holding out his hands to beg from the farmer.
"I'm hungry. Give me a mandarin orange to eat."
The farmer was already in a daze from being mocked and ridiculed by everyone. Seeing that someone had come to beg from him, he subconsciously refused him.
Although he was clumsy with his words, he was still smart. When he saw the beggars in the crowd looking at the cart of mandarin oranges, he thought for a moment and rejected them. After some thought, he took out a pancake wrapped in oil paper.
"If you're hungry, you can eat this."
The Daoist was furious. He shouted: "Your cart of mandarin oranges weighs hundreds of kilograms. You won't lose much by giving me one. I just want to taste your mandarin oranges. Who will want to eat your sweaty pancakes?"
"Hahaha…"
"That's right. Give me a taste of your mandarin oranges too."
"Yes, yes, yes. I can help everyone taste it and see if it's worth buying."
"If you guys kick up a fuss like that, how many mandarin oranges will be left in this truck? Seriously."
"That's right. How shameless. The mandarin oranges belong to someone else. Giving them to others is a kind gesture. It's not wrong not to give them to others. If I'm poor and unrelated, how about you give me some of your silver and copper?"
Everyone was noisy. Some were cheering, some were helping the old Daoist and some were helping the farmers. The farmer saw how everyone was getting more and more excited. He opened his mouth several times but could not say anything. He could only hold onto the shoulder pole of the car, afraid that someone would snatch it away.
Yun Su saw the scene in front of him and seemed to remember something. He smiled playfully, took out a copper coin and handed it to the farmer.
"Brother, since this Daoist wants to eat it and you're unwilling to give it to him, how about I buy one for him for a copper coin?"
"Yes, sure."
The farmer was also shocked. He hurriedly handed a mandarin orange to the sloppy Daoist. Yun Su cupped his hands and offered a copper coin.
When the sloppy old Daoist saw that someone was paying for the mandarin orange, he thanked him and took it, peeling it and eating it. As he ate, he scolded the farmer. "You think I want to eat your mandarin orange but I just need a seed."
The old Daoist spat out a plump white mandarin orange seed and held it in his palm. He borrowed a hoe from someone and got a pot of boiling water from the bun shop.
He dug a hole directly in the middle of the street and scattered a seed. He covered it with soil and poured a pot of boiling water over it. He muttered something.
"Grow, grow, grow…"
As he recited it, a green sprout emerged from the soil, growing taller and taller. Before long, it had grown to several feet tall, its branches luxuriant.
Then, the flowers bloomed and fell. In the blink of an eye, the branches were filled with young mandarin oranges the size of fingers.
"Immortal, I've met an immortal."
"This—this is amazing."
"Hahaha, the farmer's fate lies not with this immortal. He can't bear to part with a mandarin orange. This is karma."
"Quick, pray to him."
"The immortals have appeared."
The farmer at the side was already trembling in fear. He had never seen such a thing before. He wanted to go forward but did not dare to. He could only stand beside the car and guard the mandarin oranges.
On the mandarin orange tree, the young mandarin oranges were ripe. All of them were big, round, and red. They were almost identical to the ones in the car. They sparkled in the sunlight and looked even better. Many people secretly drooled.
Seeing this, the sloppy old Daoist pointed at the red mandarin oranges on the treetop and said loudly: "I'm a real perfected Daoist. I'm not as stingy as him. Anyone who wants to eat mandarin oranges can come."
When the commoners heard this, they were overjoyed and went forward to get the mandarin oranges. The sloppy old Daoist also smiled and shook the mandarin orange trees. Big red mandarin oranges fell one after another, making everyone salivate and shout that it was delicious.
Before long, the mandarin orange was distributed among them. The old priest swung his hoe and broke the mandarin orange tree. He carried it on his shoulder and turned to leave.
The onlookers shouted and bowed. Some even knelt to pay their respects. Some cried loudly and begged the immortal to bless them. Some even begged the immortal to take them away. They also wanted to be immortals.
When the old farmer saw this, he was extremely shocked. At first, he thought that it was a trick. How did he offend such an immortal?
However, when he thought about how this cart of mandarin oranges meant the sailors' salary, he really couldn't give it away.
"Immortal, please don't blame me. I don't know how to do business. These mandarin oranges are used for the wages of the brothers on the mandarin orange ship. All of them are paid. I was afraid that there wouldn't be enough, so I didn't dare…"
The man dressed as a farmer was about to kneel when he felt someone pull him back. He turned around and saw that it was the kind person who had spent a copper coin to buy a mandarin orange for the old immortal.
"Brother, turn around and take a look."
"Ah! …"
The man turned around and was shocked out of his wits. He saw that the car lost all of its red mandarin oranges. He shook his head fiercely and suddenly came back to his senses.
"Oh no, my oranges. The, the old man got me—"
The man felt his vision go black and his body go weak. His legs bent and he fell to the ground, muttering to himself. What should he do? Hundreds of pounds of oranges were supposed to be the salary of his workmates. Even if he tore down the dilapidated straw hut in his house, he wouldn't be able to gather the money.
Where was the sloppy Daoist? He was long gone.
"Come with me."
Yun Su pulled him away.
…
In an alley hundreds of feet away from where the orange was sold, a Daoist appeared. He looked back at the orange seller in the distance and stroked his beard as he laughed.
He looked pleased with himself as if he had done another meritorious deed. Even the beard on his chin trembled as he spoke of his satisfaction.
"People are so ignorant. They value money like their lives. It's ridiculous that they don't know how to do good."
The scruffy Daoist flicked his sleeve disdainfully and was about to leave when he saw a young man in front of him, with the orange farmer, looking at him indifferently. He was suddenly shocked. His body was cold and he couldn't stop trembling, as if he were facing a monster that could eat people.
He could not move. He could not even beg for mercy.
This person was young and although he had a dignified appearance, there was no magical power fluctuation on his body at all. Why was he so terrifying? Just from his indifferent gaze, he already seemed so terrifying. It was as if he could be killed by an invisible strangeness at any time.
"You—"
"Daoist, are the oranges delicious?"
"De… de… delicious…"
"Well, since it's delicious, let's pay for it. There's no reason to buy something without paying."
"Okay, okay."
The scruffy Daoist suddenly realized that he could move. He hurriedly reached into his sleeve and took out a money bag. However, he lost his grip and it fell to the ground. There was a clang inside. Clearly, there was a lot of silver.
"Here, the orange money for you."
The Daoist finally bent down to pick up the money bag. Without counting, he handed it to the dazed man.
"Eh? Money!"
The man came to his senses and took the purse. Feeling the weight inside, he opened the bag and carefully picked out a bit of silver.
"There are a total of three hundred and fifty-one pounds worth of oranges in the small cart. I've already asked you to do the math, sir. There shouldn't be so much money. More, more than I dare ask for."
The man stuffed the money bag back to the old Daoist priest. Seeing this, the old Daoist priest could only hand it to Yun Su with trembling hands.
"I have no business with you. I have no use for money."
At this moment, the sloppy old Daoist no longer had any immortal aura. He was about to cry in his heart. If he accepted the money, he will feel more at ease.
Yun Su ignored him, turned to the man and said: "Go back early. Your family is waiting for you. Be careful on the way."
"Immortal, this—this is your one copper coin. The Daoist paid for my cart of oranges."
"That's great."
Yun Su took the copper coin and left without a word.
After half an hour, that Daoist's body went limp and he fell to the ground. After a while, he got up and scrambled out of the city. He thought to himself that this Yuyang City was too terrifying and he could not stay for long.
At that moment, Yun Su was standing by the street and watching a man shatter a large rock on his chest. He turned around and saw the Daoist running out of the city. This person had some extremely weak Dharmic powers on him. He was only a half-baked cultivator. He could barely draw Qi into his body but was incomplete so he ignored him.
Even that kind of orange illusion technique was ignored by Yun Su from the beginning to the end. It was just that mortals could not see through it. It seemed that there was a long way to go in the path of spells. This Daoist's cultivation level was extremely low and his illusions were not bad. The effect of bluffing was surprisingly good.
It was worth it to go out today.