Chapter 14: Tea stall

“Huff… huff.” Li Qi panted heavily, his steps faltering.

He was already over a hundred li away from Li Prefecture City; though not yet out of its jurisdiction, the population was sparse.

To be honest, this was Li Qi’s first time traveling so far in this world.

In this world, most people never leave their hometowns in their entire lives; at the very least, this was true for Li Prefecture.

The furthest villagers might have gone was probably the county seat, and the furthest county residents went was the prefectural city, while those in the prefectural city might never leave it their whole lives.

Li Qi had never left the prefectural city. For over three years, not once. At most, he would help the Boat Towmen pull boats against the current in the city’s shallows, returning once they reached the smooth-flowing waters outside the suburbs.

This time, fleeing after committing murder, he wouldn't have wanted to leave the city if he hadn't been pushed to the brink.

He worked at the docks, pulling boats, and heard the idle chatter of various river Gangs and Merchant associations, so he knew the dangers of the wilderness.

There were monsters in the water; if he was lucky, they were Carp Spirits or Turtle Monsters, merely playful and harmless. If he was unlucky, they were Water Monkeys, and everyone on the boat would die unless protected by a skilled Cultivator to escape with their lives.

Avoiding the water and taking mountain paths was also dangerous, as the mountains were filled with forests and swamps, teeming with snakes, insects, rodents, and fierce beasts and raptors.

The only truly safe places were human settlements.

Going out meant danger.

He had been gone for a day, spending a night in a tree. Fortunately, he didn't encounter any problems. He ate some wild fruits, and according to his original plan, he was heading to Feng County, three hundred li away.

It was said that Feng County was a relatively stable small county town. Li Qi planned to lay low there for a year or so before returning to Li Prefecture City, believing that this way, nothing would happen.

Trekking a hundred li in a day, entirely on rugged mountain paths, and wearing straw sandals, he was utterly exhausted, even with his current physical fitness.

The only good thing was that it was still winter, so most beasts were hibernating and insects hadn’t emerged. Aside from the exhaustion, there was no other torment along the way.

“Even if I don’t get lost, it’s still three hundred li… truly.” Li Qi walked along the desolate path, looking around for any roadside tea stalls or water stands. He had been walking for a full day.

After looking around for a while, he was lucky enough to find a roadside tea stall.

He quickened his pace, simultaneously reaching into his satchel behind him to pull out two copper coins.

The copper coins of Great Deer Kingdom were called Da Lu Wu Zhu. They were purple, reasonably weighty but somewhat thin, each weighing about half a qian. He currently had about a thousand qian, or one guan.

Da Lu Wu Zhu was the official currency of Great Deer Kingdom, mostly issued by the government. However, it wasn't very valuable. The most common and valuable coin on the market was a type of copper coin called 'Deyuan Tongbao.' It contained more copper, circulated widely, and seemed to be a Tang Nation coin. One Deyuan Tongbao was worth five Da Lu Wu Zhu.

Even the 'one qian' weight in this world referred to the weight of one Deyuan Tongbao.

Even the unit of weight was based on another country's currency. From this alone, Li Qi already knew how powerful Tang Nation was in this world.

Although this Tang Nation likely had no connection to the Tang Dynasty of his own world.

However, there was one difference in this world: although there was official coinage, silver did not circulate. Economic activities were almost entirely conducted using copper coins, with gold only rarely used for payment.

Even notes and similar documents recorded amounts in copper coins, with gold notes used only in a very small number of large transactions.

Silver seemed to have been excluded from the economic System. Li Qi wasn't entirely clear on the specific reasons.

The thousand Da Lu Wu Zhu that Li Qi carried were worth a thousand qian in Great Deer Kingdom. Their purchasing power was actually quite good, enough to buy about half a pig, or three to four hundred jin of meat.

Generally speaking, one jin of meat cost about two or three qian. Two copper coins were enough to buy a pot of tea and two complimentary plates of small pastries at a tea stall.

However, Li Qi would never have been willing to spend two or three qian on such things in normal times.

Two or three qian was enough to buy two or three jin of rice. People in this world generally had large appetites; there were many who ate ten jin of rice in one meal, and two or three jin of rice, when steamed, was only ten jin.

Furthermore, pork was cheap, while expensive beef and mutton cost two or three times more, which he simply couldn't afford. After all, being a Lifter was physical labor, and without enough food, he'd have no strength. So, most of the time, he would eat plain rice until full. As for vegetables, having some pickles was good; otherwise, he'd make do with water plants and salt.

Occasionally, he'd get some fish for a change, but fish… eating river fish without seasoning was truly a torment. If it weren't for the nutritional benefits, Li Qi would rather eat plain rice.

Fortunately, there was plenty of plain rice.

He offered blessings to the farmer who cultivated the Spirit Rice. If not for him, countless people in this world would likely have starved to death, and at the very least, cultivation methods would not have been so widespread.

No matter what cultivation method it was, it had to be built upon eating. Without sufficient nutrition, everything else was nonsense.

Oh, except for magical techniques. To this day, Li Qi didn't know the source of Ox Strength Technique's power.

The existence of Spirit Rice prevented physical laborers like him from dying of exhaustion and hunger. Li Qi didn't know or had never heard of the inventor, but he often offered blessings to that elder.

Such a feat was surely worthy of reverence.

While revering the elder, Li Qi walked towards the tea stall.

Now that he had a magical technique, perhaps he could try to find other ways to earn money.

The things he had learned in his mind were said to originate from Qi.

But what the hell was Qi?

He didn't understand. He would learn slowly in the future. Doctrinal Canon Legacy sounded like something uncommon. To get another Ox Strength Technique-like ability, it would probably take a very, very long time.

Clutching the two copper coins tightly, Li Qi walked up to the roadside tea stall.

“Teahouse owner, a pot of tea!” Li Qi slapped down the two copper coins and shouted loudly.

There were many people around. Even though it was winter, the Merchant didn't stop. They also gathered at this tea stall to drink tea and rest, then carried their large baskets to conduct business between various villages.

However, the Merchants were clearly divided, with different baskets sitting together, evidently forming their own Gangs. Only Li Qi was alone, sitting isolated between two Merchant teams, looking out of place.

“Alright! Coming right up!” The teahouse owner shouted back, quickly coming over to enthusiastically wipe the table for Li Qi, then brought a pot of tea and two complimentary plates of pastries.

They were all rice cakes, made from Spirit Rice.

Since they were complimentary, they couldn't be too expensive. Rice cakes were already quite good.

Li Qi picked up a piece and chewed it heartily. Although the raw Material was also rice, it had a bit more flavor than plain white rice, and combined with his hunger, it tasted quite good.

After eating a piece of rice cake, he gulped down a cup of warm tea.

The tea wasn't hot, just warm. After all, the customers at such tea stalls were hardworking travelers, and they couldn't wait for the tea to cool down slowly while thirsty. So, it was always warm water with tea leaves steeped all day, with almost no fragrance to speak of, just barely tasting like tea.

“Huff…” But Li Qi was already very satisfied. At this rate, he should be able to reach Feng County by tomorrow night, right?

However, at this moment, someone suddenly spoke to Li Qi from behind: “Brother, traveling alone?”