Chapter 45 – The Fish Head Feast

Lynn Naya was finally woken up by the smell of fish.

She had never eaten fish in all her time since transmigrating to this world. First, fish were scarce. Second, the fish in the West River were monopolized by the gangs, and fresh, live fish were incredibly expensive. Later, when she had a little bit of savings and could afford fish, she gave up on the idea because of the limited ingredients. Without seasoning, the river fish tasted very fishy.

Today, Auntie Feng somehow managed to find some scallions and ginger. The steamed fish head was covered with a layer of scallions and ginger and then another thick layer of dogwood berries. As soon as it was served, the delicious smell of fresh fish wafted out, making her mouth water even in her dreams.

“Auntie Feng, where did you get so much ginger?” Lynn Naya opened her eyes and saw the large fish head in front of her. She couldn’t help but pinch a slice of ginger from under the fish and put it in her mouth. The pungent taste of the ginger filled her entire mouth.

Yes, this is the taste.

“This ginger is wild ginger that I found when I was cultivating some land in the wilderness last year. I transplanted some seedlings this spring and harvested a small basketful. If you want some, Talisman Master Lynn, I’ll give you a few later.” Auntie Feng said cheerfully.

“I’ll take them. Food doesn’t taste as good without seasoning.” In this life, all that matters is eating and drinking.

After the fish head was served, the rest of the fish followed. The fish was so big that one could fill a large basin. They didn’t need any other dishes. Everyone grabbed a bowl of rice and ate with big mouthfuls of fish soup and fish meat.

The fish meat was firm, the fish head was fragrant, and the slightly spicy dogwood berries in the fish soup were very appetizing. She poured some fish soup, which was the essence of the entire fish, into her rice bowl and mixed it. It was simply delicious.

If she felt tired of the savory taste, a sip of sweet and mellow grape fruit wine was the perfect luxury.

In the end, Lynn Naya ate three full bowls of rice before she finally stopped. The others were about the same. Even QingXiaozhou, who had been refusing to eat, couldn’t resist and ate two large bowls after seeing how everyone was enjoying themselves.

While they were eating, some mortal cultivators who had just returned passed by. They couldn’t help but stop. “When did a restaurant open here?” They then shouted at Auntie Feng, “Shopkeeper, are you there? We’ll have some food too.” After saying that, they pointed at Lynn Naya’s table. “We’ll have the same thing as them.”

Auntie Feng came out when she heard the noise and said apologetically, “You’ve come to the wrong place, gentlemen. This isn’t a restaurant. We…”

“Auntie Feng,” Lynn Naya called out to her. “We’ve had enough to eat. You should take their business.” She sensed that there were three more basins of fish in the kitchen, which would be enough.

“Yeah, we’re almost done. Go ahead and take their business.” the others also said.

They were all exhausted and didn’t have the energy for a fancy meal. They had all eaten their fill in one go. There was only some soup and fish left on the tables.

Seeing that everyone agreed, Auntie Feng complied and took out some of the reserved fish.

After Lynn Naya and the others had their fill, Qiao Guanyuan paid the bill, and they all went back to their homes to rest.

After they left, the new customers found out that they were the talisman masters from the Talisman Academy. They couldn’t help but pat their chests, thinking about the spirit stones they would soon have to pay back.

When they bought the talismans on credit, everyone had to register with their identity jade tokens. Scarface Qing would definitely not agree if they didn’t pay. A Light Body Talisman was one spirit stone. The mission rewards were quite a lot now, so it wasn’t worth it to cut off their own path for one spirit stone, but even so, they couldn’t help but feel a little heartache.

“By the way,” one of the customers suddenly thought of something and called out to Auntie Feng, who was about to leave. “Ma’am, I see you’re quite familiar with the talisman masters. Do you know what happens to the debt if a person who bought a talisman on credit dies outside?”

“Didn’t they make it clear when you bought the talisman on credit? If you can’t pay, you use your house as collateral,” Auntie Feng said. “Hall Master Qing has already taken back more than twenty houses during this time.”

Auntie Feng’s words made them look at each other, feeling a little heartbroken. “The person is dead, and now the family has no home. What are the families of those cultivators going to do? It’s getting colder and colder. Not only do they have no one to protect them, but they also have nowhere to live. Hall Master Qing is being too cruel.”

“You’re thinking about it the wrong way. They’re only using the house as collateral. They didn’t kick the people out. If they have money, they pay it back. If they don’t, they have to work for the Talisman Academy until they pay it off. When the debt is paid, the deed to the house will be returned to them.” Auntie Feng said. She thought it was a good deal.

“Wouldn’t that be even more pitiful? Not only do they lose their home, but they have to be slaves for someone else.”

After hearing this from the customer, Auntie Feng wanted to argue but didn’t know how. The words seemed to make sense at first, but she felt like something wasn’t right.

Then, the customer’s companion knocked him on the head and scolded him, “What do you know? If it were really like that, I’d rather owe the Talisman Academy money.”

“Why?” The customer asked, rubbing his head, looking puzzled.

Auntie Feng couldn’t help but look at him too.

“Let’s use me as an example. If I die, my wife and two children will definitely have a hard time. Forget about being bullied. They might not even be able to have a full meal. But if they can work for the Talisman Academy, at least they will have a livelihood and won’t starve. And with the Talisman Academy’s name, others will think twice before bullying them,” the companion said. “It seems heartless, but from another perspective, isn’t it also a kind of protection?”

“Is that so?” the customer asked, still confused.

Auntie Feng, however, thought about the newly added hide-tanning workshop behind the Talisman Academy.

She was sure it was true. Otherwise, why would Lady Wu from the back street, whose husband had died and whose house had been taken, be kneeling and thanking Hall Master Qing?

*

Lynn Naya had no idea about these discussions. When she got home, she slept soundly and woke up feeling refreshed at noon the next day.

The Talisman Academy no longer needed to rush. She only needed to draw three Spring Recovery Talismans a day to hand in.

Right, Spring Recovery Talismans.

After a month of high-intensity training, the Talisman Master Association now had two more first-grade mid-tier talisman masters besides Qiao Guanyuan. One was a hardworking talisman master, and the other was Chen Yun, the talisman master who had broken through first in Lynn Naya’s class.

Seeing that two people had already advanced, Lynn Naya decided to advance as well, becoming the fourth first-grade mid-tier talisman master in the Talisman Master Association. Now she could draw more expensive Spring Recovery Talismans to earn spirit stones.

Speaking of spirit stones, the Talisman Academy didn’t make much money in the past month. The books showed an income of more than 300 spirit stones, but after all the expenses, only less than 100 spirit stones were left. This didn’t even include the ‘wages’ for the talisman masters.

Qiao Guanyuan also felt bad about letting everyone suffer a loss, so he said that all talisman materials would be supplied at half price for the next six months. He also said that the ‘wages’ for this time would be paid back later when the Talisman Academy had more money.

Lynn Naya wasn’t too concerned about this because, in the past month, she had secretly saved thirty-nine Five Thunder Talismans. Based on the price of one spirit stone for a Light Body Talisman and two for a Spring Recovery Talisman, these Five Thunder Talismans would be worth at least five spirit stones each. She had already made a huge profit.

After counting her Five Thunder Talismans again and confirming the number was correct, she put them back in her storage bag. Lynn Naya tidied up, practiced her Green Spirit Sword Technique, ate something, and then went up the mountain.

She had been busy drawing talismans for the past month. She had only watered the Cold Moon Grass on the mountain and left. She hadn’t even weeded or loosened the soil for them.

She also needed to temper her body with cold water. The effect of the water she had been using had gradually weakened. She hadn’t tempered her body recently, so now that she was free, she had to find a spot closer to the cold pool.

Oh, and martial skills. Practicing on her own was too slow. Did she need to find a training partner?

Lynn Naya was loosening the soil for the herbs in the herb forest, thinking about what she needed to do next, when she suddenly sensed someone nearby. She instinctively looked up and saw an ordinary-looking man walking toward her herb forest from the foot of the mountain.

As she looked at him, the man also noticed her. Their eyes met, but the man didn’t stop.

Lynn Naya was still squatting in front of a Cold Moon Grass plant, but her hand quietly reached for her storage bag.

After the man gave her a friendly smile, nodded, and continued to walk up the mountain, she returned a similarly friendly smile.

After about ten breaths, the man was almost at the closest point to Lynn Naya. At that moment, Lynn Naya suddenly lunged forward and threw all thirty-nine of her Five Thunder Talismans at the man.

The man didn’t expect this weak-looking female cultivator to attack him. Just as he was about to make a move, an overwhelming flash of lightning had already engulfed him, leaving only a scattered finger technique that Lynn Nayadodged by rolling on the ground.

Boom, boom, boom, a series of muffled thunders rang out. After the blinding flash of lightning, there was nothing left on the ground, not even ash, only a large crater left by the talismans.

The moment the Five Thunder Talismans were thrown, Lynn Naya had already used a Light Body Talisman to run far away. When she saw that nothing was following her, she slowly turned back.

When she cautiously returned to the herb forest, she saw a large crater where the Five Thunder Talismans had hit. There was no one in the crater, but there were some weapon fragments and a storage bag.

Was the man vaporized into nothing?

Not daring to linger, Lynn Naya quickly used a tree branch to scoop up the remaining items on the ground and flew back toward the mortal district at the foot of the mountain.

The reason she had acted was that this herb forest was in a remote location, and the Dao Palace disciples rarely used this path to go up and down the mountain. The other reason was that the man had a killing intent the moment he saw her.

The other party thought she was a low-level cultivator, so his movements weren’t very subtle. He gathered spiritual energy in his finger as he approached her, and she sensed it all. In this situation, her only choice was to strike first without holding back, hitting him with a wave of Five Thunder Talismans and escaping in the chaos.

She had also already thought it through. If the Dao Palace found out, she would tell them the whole story and admit that she used the Five Thunder Talismans.

As for where the talismans came from, she could say that Yun Xian gave them to her. Yun Xian would definitely cover for her, and she could tell Yun Xian that her talent in the art of talismans was not bad and that she had already become a first-grade mid-tier talisman master.

For now, regardless of whether the Dao Palace would find out in the future, she had to take the things in the storage bag to make up for the stack of Five Thunder Talismans she had just lost.

Returning home, she rushed to the basement. Lynn Naya took out the storage bag she had just picked up. She used her spiritual sense to look inside and then poured the contents out. Suddenly, a treasure pile taller than her covered her face…