Niu Da's Mother shook her head, and Niu Da thought for a moment before saying,
"Shiyi seemed to have mentioned that her hometown is in the Northwest, and since she was little, she's followed the Old Taoist Priest in ghost catching and exorcism..."
"Oh... Have they ever caught ghosts in town?"
"Yes! Our house had a ghost before, and Shiyi personally exorcised it..."
"Oh..."
The five people exchanged glances,
"Tell us, how does she catch ghosts?"
Having said this, another silver piece was placed on the table. The Niu family members, along with Niu Er and Niu San who were wiping tables and sweeping floors, all had their eyes light up. Niu Er and Niu San immediately squeezed over,
"This... Esteemed guests, I should be the one to tell this. When she caught the ghost that day, I was the closest..."
Niu San gestured animatedly as he reenacted the scene of Gu Shi Yi catching ghosts on that day. The five listeners remained expressionless, until the man of medium stature narrowed his eyes and asked,
"You said she drew talismans?"
All members of the Niu family nodded,
"If there are any left, bring the talismans here for us to see..."
Niu Er, not as quick-witted as Niu San but more nimble on his feet, dashed inside and tore down the talismans stuck on the inner courtyard door,
"Esteemed guests, take a look!"
As the man inspected them, a cold smirk stretched across his lips,
"As expected, it's here..."
He continued to inquire,
"Where exactly on the mountain behind are the two of them?"
The Niu family members looked at each other, none able to provide a clear answer, only mentioning that it was in the unnamed large mountain behind the town. The five people exchanged glances again, and finally, the man said,
"Take the silver and go now!"
Niu Da's Mother snatched up the silver, gleefully departing with her three sons trailing behind her, calling her 'mother' in an attempt to get a share of the silver. Only Niu Da's Father had a bitter smile as he attended to the guests drinking...
Meanwhile, Gu Shi Yi was unaware that people had arrived in town asking about them. She was now staying in another nameless little town thirty miles away from the small town, where she had spent ten copper coins to stay at the inn,
"Why is this place so small and dark? Can't you find a larger place to stay?"
The Big Boss, discontented inside the broken earthenware jar on the table, wriggled his body. Gu Shi Yi took the Little Mud Man out from the cloth bag and placed it on the table, replying irritably,
"I don't have much silver, and we still have a long way to travel. We need to save as much as we can!"
Most of their silver had been given to Widow Zhang by the Old Taoist Priest, and since Huangjing was more than a thousand miles away, the little silver they had wouldn't even cover the journey's expenses, hence the need to economize.
However, Gu Shi Yi was not worried. She planned to earn silver as they traveled, so she intended to buy a horse-drawn carriage in this town the next morning. This way, if they missed an inn along the way, they could spend the night in the carriage.
The Big Boss was highly dissatisfied, looking around before saying,
"Get a room with windows so we can go out at midnight to absorb Spiritual Energy!"
Gu Shi Yi replied,
"No worries. When midnight comes, I'll open the door and you can sneak out to the courtyard. Just be careful not to let anyone see you..."
As they were speaking, someone knocked at the door. Li Yaner, who had been moving around on the table, quickly ran behind the broken jar. The Big Boss straightened up. Gu Shi Yi went to open the door and found it was the Waiter bringing water. She took the copper basin, thanked the Little Shopkeeper Brother, and turned back inside to wash her face and feet.
When midnight came, and all the guests in the inn were asleep, Gu Shi Yi quietly opened the door and let Li Yaner and the Big Boss out. She allowed them to roam the courtyard, absorbing the Essence of Moonlight, while she sat cross-legged on the bed, practicing her breathing exercises— and the night passed without incident.
Early next morning, Gu Shi Yi left the inn and inquired at the only horse and carriage shop in the small town. Located in a remote area, the shop had a limited selection of quality horses. Since Gu Shi Yi also wanted to save money, she picked out an old and worn carriage along with an old, thin horse, paid the silver, and had them brought back to the inn.
"Little Shopkeeper Brother, could you please feed the horse some grains?"
Gu Shi Yi pulled the carriage through the back door and unhitched the old horse from the carriage. Upon seeing the horse, the Waiter made a sour face and said,
"Big sister, why did you buy such an old horse? It's so thin; I'm afraid it won't make it fifty miles before collapsing!"
It wasn't the Waiter's business what the guests bought, but he was really worried that the horse might not even leave the inn before dying. What if it appeared that the inn was to blame for feeding it to death, forcing the owner to pay compensation in silver?
Used to the Itinerant World, Gu Shi Yi read the Little Shopkeeper Brother's mind and replied with a smile,