Chapter 8 Baozi

  Unconsciously, the night color fades away, and dawn arrives.

  Yang Yun washed up and left the room. Although he originally said that staying here would include three meals a day, Yang Yun didn't want to trouble the host too much, so breakfast and lunch were usually eaten by himself.

  As I walked out of the alley, although it was still early, a baozi shop diagonally across the street had already opened.

  There is a stove at the entrance of the shop, with steamer baskets stacked on top, and white steam rising from the steamer.

  Several people had already lined up beside the steamer, and Yang Yun walked over and joined the end of the line.

  "Is Yang Big Brother here?" a green-clad young girl in the shop asked happily.

  "Xiao Zhen, your family's buns are so delicious, how can I not come?" Yang Yun also replied with a smile.

  "How do you always arrive so punctually? The first batch of steamed buns has just been cooked." Little Jing said, taking off the top layer of the steamer, and suddenly a white mist rose, and the fragrance overflowed.

  The buns were very big, with thick fillings, each one looking like a large steamed bun. The people in front of the line either bought three or two, and when it was Yang Yun's turn, he handed over a bag, "the usual, ten."

  Xiao Zhen packed the buns while saying, "Still ten? Brother Yang, you're really a scholar? I think even the porters carrying heavy loads on the dock can't eat as much as you."

  "Xiao Zhen, don't talk nonsense!" At this time, a middle-aged man walked out of the store, smiling and greeting Yang Yun, "Yang Xiucan, little girl talks nonsense at home, don't take it to heart!"

  "It doesn't matter." Yang Yun smiled and waved his hand.

  "Right, here's another twenty cents. You take it first." The middle-aged man handed Yang Yun the money and pulled out an account book, reading: "You've already sold 120 buns at one cent each, and I owe you 260 cents in change. As for the two silver coins you lent me, there are still 620 cents left."

  "Dad, those copper coins you gave to Big Brother Yang are all inferior coins. If you throw them on the ground with force, they'll break into pieces. Let's deduct a few coins."

  "Alas! What's the point of saying this? It wasn't me who gave him counterfeit money, it was what he himself wanted. And besides, counterfeit money is still money, these are all officially minted, if we don't accept them, the government will investigate."

  "What Mr. Li said is not bad, I'm interested in inferior coins and want to collect them to see how many types there are. Now I've collected almost all of them, and with a few hundred more, it will be enough," Yang Yun said.

  Xiao Zhen didn't say anything anymore. Although the inferior coins were forcibly circulated by the government, taxes were always collected in silver taels. These inferior coins were never accepted, so one inferior coin was essentially worthless on the market.

  Xiao Zhen's family runs a small business, selling buns for one cent each. Many people use inferior coins to buy them, and they reluctantly accept them. However, when the bun shop buys flour, meat, and firewood from suppliers, those merchants don't recognize these inferior coins. The owner of the bun shop has been complaining nonstop. How could Li Laoban let go of this opportunity to get rid of the inferior coins?

  Mr. Li was delighted to calculate how much money he had made from Yang Yun, while Xiao Zhen took the opportunity to secretly put an extra bun in Yang Yun's pocket when her father wasn't paying attention.

  "Little sister Zhen, brothers have come to buy your buns!"

  At this time, a soft and gentle voice sounded.

  Xiao Zhen turned her head and frowned, the two men who came were two rascals from the street, they often came to harass.

  The short, stout rascal in front stretched out his hand and snatched two buns from the steamer basket, which were too hot to hold, and tossed them into his sleeve to wrap around. The other tall, lanky rascal was ogling Xiangyun's chest with a lewd gaze, saying:

  "Little sister Jian, I've eaten quite a few of your family's big baozi, when can I try some of the small baozi too?"

  Xiao Zhen's face turned bright red, and she was so angry that she couldn't speak a word.

  Seeing Xiao Zhen's embarrassed and angry look, the two thugs were even more pleased with themselves. At this time, a sentence floated into their ears:

  "This morning was unlucky, I just went out and saw two mangy dogs."

  The voice was not loud, but the two rascals heard it clearly, as if it were spoken right next to their ears.

  Two thugs turned their heads and stared at Yang Yun with a menacing glare.

  Yang Yunhun didn't care, "Forget it, can't mess with a mad dog, I'm outta here." After saying that, he picked up the bag full of buns and left.

  The thug holding the bag wanted to step forward and block, but was pulled back by the tall thug. He nodded towards the direction Yang Yun had gone, which was a secluded alleyway.

  The thugs who were blocked immediately understood that Yang Yun was a scholar after all, and it would be somewhat troublesome to take action in front of others.

  Yang Yun walked ahead at a steady pace, while two thugs followed behind with ill intentions.

  Xiao Zhen wanted to run over and grab Yang Yun, but was caught by the baozi shop owner, "Don't stir up trouble, those two guys are from the Black Wolf Gang, they all carry knives on them."

  Xiao Zhen hesitated, and Yang Yun suddenly turned back to smile and wave his hand. His face had an inexplicable calmness, Xiao Zhen's heart skipped a few beats, and Yang Yun had already walked into the alley and disappeared from sight.

  Two rascals saw no one in the alley and showed a joyful expression, quickening their pace to chase over.

  The tall and burly man who was teasing Xiao Zhen touched the sharp knife in his waist, a cruel smile spreading from the corner of his mouth as he thought to himself: "A bookworm dares to scold me? I'll let you shed some blood later."

  The alley had many turns, and Yang Yun's figure disappeared after turning a corner. The two thugs weren't in a hurry either; they were local snakes who knew that this alley didn't have any forks in the road, unless you could fly into the sky, there was no way to run away.

  Two rascals turned a corner and found that the alley ahead was empty, looking at each other in dismay.

  "This kid runs really fast, chase!"

  The short rascal was about to run away, but suddenly felt something hit his knee, and a sharp pain spread out, causing him to fall down, clutching his leg and crying out in agony.

  The tall and sturdy rascal was shocked, a tearing pain suddenly came from behind, as if his skin had been completely torn open, the pain made him curl up like a shrimp, tears streaming down his face, his throat making a hissing sound, but he couldn't say a word.

  "You two rascals, dare to bully the younger generation of my good friend's family? Punish you to kneel here for half an hour."

  An old voice reached the ears of two thugs, and the two thugs heard that they would be in pain for more than half a time, their faces turned white with fear, but under intense pain, they couldn't even say words to beg for mercy.

  "Hmph - if this were twenty years ago, you two would have at least lost a hand or a leg; consider yourselves lucky."

  The voice fell, and a rustling sound of clothes breaking through the air rang out, apparently the person who had made the move was already gone.

  A moment later, Yang Yun's figure fell into an adjacent alley, looking around to make sure no one was there, and put the several copper coins in his hand into his sleeve. He patted his hands, took out a steaming hot bun, and took a big bite of it.

  It was Yang Yun who had just punished the two thugs, disguising his voice as that of a mysterious old man in order to avoid trouble. Yang Yun did not want everyone to know about his martial arts skills.

  Yang Yun walked and ate at the same time, a big bun quickly went into his stomach, and immediately another one was taken out.

  Just now, using the money to seal the hole and the body technique, are all Yang Yun using Jingyang Huajing Jue to urge. Every day, eating ten buns, all use secret methods to transform into essence, stored in the meridians, at the necessary time as fuel for Jingyang Huajing Jue.

  The Moon Essence Scripture is the foundation, requiring purity and speed; cultivating it is an act of going against heaven.

  Ji Yang's secret to preserving his life is the means by which he protects himself. Otherwise, having a body of Tao would be useless if he were to encounter a few bandits and lose his life. How could Yang forget that Wu Guo will soon enter an era of chaos, where human life is as cheap as grass? Without some means of protection, how can one safeguard oneself and one's family at that time?

  Even if it were dragon liver and phoenix marrow, one would get tired of eating the same thing for ten days in a row. How much more so when Yang Yun had been eating this for over ten days?

  "Ah, silver coins, if only I had a bit more... then I could dine out every day and savor the finest cuisine." Yang Yun continued to eat with her nose pinched shut, lost in fantasies of delicious dishes at the restaurant.

  "It seems that using a copper coin as a hidden weapon is not bad, this time it's just a small punishment, I used ordinary copper coins, if I use the inferior coins I collected, these two rascals would be crippled or dead." Yang Yun thought.

  As he cultivated, the effect of the Moonlight Spirit Eye gradually unfolded, and Yang Yun's eyesight was now far superior to that of ordinary people. With this advantage, Yang Yun chose to cultivate stealth weapons.

  In the orthodox martial arts world, people look down on hidden weapons. They like to engage in direct and fierce battles with swords and knives. However, as a cultivator, Yang Yun thinks that hidden weapons are the best means. For immortal cultivators, whether it's flying swords, magical treasures or spells, they all attack from a distance, and close combat is similar to street fighting.

  Making money into a hidden weapon has many advantages, first of all, it is inconspicuous, even if held in hand, others will not think it is a deadly weapon. As a scholar who wants to take the imperial examination, Yang Yun does not want to be like some martial artists, with several large leather belts hanging on his body, densely packed with shiny flying knives.

  In addition, the cost of making money is low and light in weight, carrying a few hundred with you is very easy. Those hidden weapons that are often used by people in the martial arts world, such as flying knives, golden coins, sleeve arrows, and iron caltrops, slightly better quality ones would cost tens of cents, equipping one hundred of them would immediately bankrupt Yang Yun.

  The power of the coins was insufficient, so Yang Yunling had an idea and collected many inferior coins. He sharpened their edges, and once these inferior coins hit their target, they would explode when encountering resistance while cutting through flesh, causing secondary damage.

  After experimenting with several mice, Yang Yun found that the effect was surprisingly good. The mice that were poisoned basically turned into a lump of blurry minced meat. Yang Yun kept this trick as his own killer move and was not willing to use it easily.