Young Master Bai — Chapter 35

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Chapter 35: The Strange Copper Coins

Perhaps because the other party was wary of the Nine-tailed White Fox, they did not act rashly, and the night passed without incident. The next morning, a pale sunlight filtered through the forest and into the village. A light mountain mist still lingered, and stepping outside, it remained dim. Li Wuming was in good spirits; finding the mountain air fresh, he pulled Bai Chen along for a walk. Bai Chen also felt he ought to move about more and agreed with a few laughs.

Elderly Village wasn't large. Even at a leisurely pace, it took them only half an hour to walk all the roads. The place resembled the human towns in Bai Chen's memory, with wooden houses, stone-paved roads, and small vegetable plots carved out in each courtyard. Compared to the unimaginably prosperous Yinrong, this place felt more familiar.

Few elders in the village ventured out. At the moment, only disciples of the Hidden Wisdom Sect could be seen going back and forth. As another disciple carrying chickens and ducks approached, Bai Chen finally stopped him and asked, "I heard your footsteps last night — what were you all so busy with?"

"Someone in the village passed away. The elders can't move easily, so the headmaster asked us to help with the funeral arrangements."

The Hidden Wisdom Sect’s chivalrous nature hadn’t changed in a thousand years. Even if they could no longer slay demons, helping elders slaughter chickens and prepare funerals was still worthwhile.

Yet aside from these outsiders, there wasn't a single mourner to be seen. Although the village elder had explained this before, Bai Chen still couldn’t help but wonder, "There are thirteen households here — no children is one thing, but not even a distant relative came to mourn?"

Having no one to perform the last rites was a grave matter among humans. The disciple looked sympathetic and shook his head, "I don’t know about that. Anyway, the village elder didn’t ask us to contact anyone. He only notified the adopted son of the Sun family at the general store last night. That man now works as a clerk in the nearest town, and each month he’s the one who brings the government’s relief supplies up the mountain.”

With that, he rushed off to deliver ingredients to the kitchen. Bai Chen frowned slightly as he looked around at the tightly shut doors of each household. Thirteen families, no children, no relatives, and even the only adopted son didn’t live here — this place was eerily deserted.

By coincidence, Bu Tiange was also investigating the village and overheard their conversation as he passed by. He strolled up with a calm demeanor.

"You two suspect something's wrong with this place?"

Human funerals typically involved a three-day vigil before burial. Since the Hidden Wisdom Sect was involved, they were bound to stay several more days. Bai Chen raised an eyebrow when he saw Bu Tiange unbothered. "So Headmaster Bu isn’t in a hurry to leave?"

"If we want to lure the snake from its hole, we must give it time to make its move."

Bu Tiange remained calm and composed, appearing utterly unconcerned with the Divine Wordless Book. But Bai Chen also had a keen interest in the hidden vipers, and so he humored him with a light smile. "Since you’re sitting firmly on the fishing platform, we’ll just take a leisurely stroll."

"I doubt the yao have any interest in human funerals. Do as you please."

Bu Tiange hadn't expected their help to begin with. His tone almost sounded like he was dismissing them. But before leaving, he casually added, "If you run into danger, use a firework talisman as a signal."

That was just how the headmaster of the Hidden Wisdom Sect was. Li Wuming chuckled as he watched the figure in white walk away. "The young headmaster still keeps everyone at arm’s length. Earning his trust won’t be easy."

Bai Chen didn’t mind and gave him a confident glance. "If I could win over you, how hard could he be?"

Li Wuming had always regarded worldly struggles as a play. He smiled more deeply. "Sounds like you finally figured out how you won me over?"

As if! After all that touching, he still didn’t understand how this man — who used to want to set him up with others — suddenly changed his mind!

Bai Chen was utterly confused by his Dao companion’s thoughts but didn’t want to lose face. He struck a flirtatious glance and said, "I’m now a six-hundred-year-old fox yao — what romantic matters wouldn’t I know?"

Of those six hundred years, he’d spent the first hundred reading storybooks in quiet cultivation on the Great Snow Mountain, and the next five hundred lying in bed. He certainly wasn’t well-versed in romance. But Li Wuming, considering that pointing this out would likely get him scratched, humored his partner and replied, "Of course, you’re a seasoned romantic. No man could escape your grasp."

Such a half-hearted tone earned him a disdainful snort. The little fox knew he couldn’t control this man, so he dropped the matter and returned to the main point. "We didn’t see any other shops along the way. Looks like this village gets everything from that one general store."

The general store was right next to their courtyard, and they were already nearby. Li Wuming said, "I wanted to buy some needle and thread anyway. Let’s have a look?"

He wasn’t lying — he genuinely seemed intent on making a winter coat for the little fox. Bai Chen thought wearing such a thing in his original form would look childish and undignified, but in the end, he couldn’t refuse and followed Li Wuming in.

The store had two floors. The ground floor sold various goods, while the upper was the residence. On the counter were everyday items like pots and pans. A faint medicinal scent came from the drawers, but it was mixed with mildew — likely from not being aired out for a long time.

Seeing no shopkeeper, Li Wuming called out, "Anyone here?"

"Yes! Coming — "

The response came from a young man. These village houses were centuries old, and the stairs were rickety. The young man stumbled down in a rush and fell, patting off the dust and limping over awkwardly. "You must be the guests the village chief mentioned. My store only carries everyday goods, likely nothing that would interest cultivators."

He dressed like a scholar, plain and unwealthy, and his clumsy demeanor didn’t suggest any martial prowess. Li Wuming noted that the man had some spiritual energy, but only barely, and gave Bai Chen a reassuring look.

"You’re the adopted son?" Earlier, the disciple said the village’s only young person had returned to help with the funeral. Bai Chen figured this must be him.

"I’m Sun Decai. I heard about the funeral and brought some paper money and candles."

As expected. Sun Decai served them courteously. Seeing that they weren’t interested in shopping, he added, "We really appreciate your help. The village is full of elders who can’t leave, and I’m just a weak scholar — I couldn't have carried the coffin alone."

He did behave like a genuine bookworm. Li Wuming browsed the counter items and asked, "There’s no school in the village. You didn’t study here, did you?"

"When I was young, the village chief taught me to read. Later, all the households pooled silver to send me to a school down the mountain."

Heaven's Way Alliance only accepted talented cultivators. If a child showed no aptitude, families usually apprenticed them or found manual work. It was rare for a poor family to fund a full education — especially for an adopted son.

Li Wuming knew the poor had hard lives in any era. He truly sighed, "Meeting a foster father like that is your fortune. You should care for him well."

Sun Decai wasn’t a native villager. Judging by their attire, he could tell these guests were prestigious cultivators and dared not be impolite. He nodded repeatedly. "Of course. I would never forget the kindness he showed me."

There wasn’t anything unusual here. Bai Chen carefully scanned the area but found nothing odd. Instead, Li Wuming kept glancing at the drawer where money was stored. It only held a few strings of copper coins. These days, towns mostly used silver; these wouldn’t attract a cultivator’s interest. Yet Li Wuming stared for quite some time before casually asking, "I heard the relief silver for the elderly is distributed through you. There’s no use for money in this village — do the elders use it?"

Sun Decai seemed surprised by the question and forced a smile. "True enough. With no other shops, silver’s useless here. I usually exchange it for rice and grain down the mountain."

"That bag?" Now that he mentioned it, Bai Chen also noticed a bag of rice at the store’s entrance. He gave it a pat — it was quite heavy.

For some reason, Sun Decai looked a little nervous when he reached for the bag. But with no excuse to offend powerful cultivators, he kept smiling. "Yes, this is high-quality rice from Jiangnan. May not impress you cultivators, but it’s good for mountain folks. I still have some fruits and vegetables at home — once the funeral’s over, I’ll deliver more."

"I see. You’re busy — we won’t keep you."

There really was nothing strange here. Li Wuming didn’t even buy his needle and thread and simply pulled Bai Chen back home.

Once they were alone, Bai Chen asked directly, "You kept looking at those copper coins — did you notice something?"

"They’re coins from the Western Liang era. Judging by the year inscription, they were in circulation during the chaos in Chang’an six hundred years ago."

A few strings of copper coins shouldn’t have drawn Li Wuming’s attention. But the year carved into them was peculiar. Even as he spoke, his tone betrayed some puzzlement.

This immediately piqued Bai Chen’s interest. "Didn’t Western Liang fall ages ago?"

"Exactly. After my eldest brother ascended the throne, he had the old currency melted down and recast into silver. These coins are now rare."

The Li and Zhao clans fought fiercely to seize the empire. Old coins from the previous dynasty were taboo, and no one dared use them. Even if some refugees brought them during their escape, they would have exchanged them long ago. There shouldn’t be any left.

Bai Chen wasn’t well-versed in human currency, but he sensed the issue. Six-hundred-year-old houses, six-hundred-year-old coins, and thirteen elderly households with no family — this Elderly Village was far too ancient.

He had nothing better to do, so he earnestly said to Li Wuming, "I’d like to see what creature has evaded our detection. Since the Hidden Wisdom Sect is staying until the funeral ends, how about we visit the town and investigate the village’s origins?"

~ Chapter End ~

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