To avoid misunderstandings, Chu Yi did not take the same bus as Yao Ke. By the time he arrived in Lujiang County City, it was already late.
He first got a SIM Card, then spent four hundred yuan on a Second-Hand Phone for himself. Including the one hundred he had given Shen Zuwei earlier and the expenses for food and transportation over the past couple of days, he still had over thirteen hundred left in his pocket.
Money really didn’t go far! Chu Yi sighed inwardly. Whether it was for conditioning his body or Cultivation, he would need money next, and fortune-telling by setting up a stall was no longer feasible in this era. It looked like he would have to go back to Film City and work as an extra again.
Though the money in his hand was limited, Chu Yi did not skimp on himself. He had a good, hearty meal before finding a cheap motel to stay in.
After taking a shower, he washed all his changed clothes with the hot water. In this weather, they would dry by morning.
The motel naturally had no bathrobes, and Chu Yi was not particular. He wrapped a towel around his waist, barely covering just above his thighs. If not for the motel’s flimsy door lock—which might let someone mistake the room and barge in—he would not have bothered with even the towel.
However, when he saw his Mobile Phone on the table frantically flipping through pages, he felt a bit relieved that he had not been casually exposing himself, or he would have been seen by now!
Chu Yi raised an eyebrow and spoke leisurely, “This is my Mobile Phone.”
He had clearly checked it before buying, so how had a wisp of Life Soul squeezed into it after just a shower? This would not do. Though it was a Second-Hand Phone, it was bought with his hard-earned money, and he did not share with others.
The Mobile Phone, which had discovered there was no SIM Card and was trying to connect to the motel’s Wi-Fi, froze. It turned toward the half-naked youth, who was dripping wet with water still running from his hair, unsure whether to play dumb or beg for help.
Chu Yi’s sharp eyes recognized him first. “President Yu, how is it you?”
Yu Qingxian: …Good question. He wanted to know too.
“You can see me?” Yu Qingxian asked. Since he had been recognized, there was no point hiding anymore.
Seeing the youth fall silent, Yu Qingxian knew he had asked a stupid question. But he truly could not stay calm. Anyone who woke up to find themselves turned into a Mobile Phone would probably be more distraught than he was.
That said, running into someone who could see him at this moment—and someone he had met before, so somewhat acquainted—eased Yu Qingxian’s panic considerably.
“President Yu, what happened to you? Why are you in my Mobile Phone?” Chu Yi asked. At first, he thought it was Soul Leaving Body, but upon closer inspection, it was not quite that. He let out a strange “hiss.”
Seeing Chu Yi stroking his chin, as if subconsciously wanting to lean in for a closer look, Yu Qingxian nearly got an eyeful from this angle: the smooth expanse of his bare thigh and the towel loosely tied, boldly lifted at one corner. The outline of something lurking beneath was faintly visible, as if it might reveal itself the next second—
“Wait, you—you stay back!” Yu Qingxian hurriedly stopped him. In his agitation, his body suddenly sat up from the sofa.
He froze, inexplicably looking around. He was still at home; he seemed to have fallen asleep on the sofa just now. The business with turning into a Mobile Phone and the naked extra guy—it had all been a dream…
Yu Qingxian rubbed his forehead. How could he have such an absurd dream? He could not drink at social events anymore!
Watching that wisp of Life Soul vanish right before his eyes, Chu Yi let out a bored “tsk” and paid it no further mind. He turned and went to bed.
The next day, Chu Yi woke very early again. He practiced seated meditation for half an hour in the morning light before going downstairs for breakfast.
Standing on the street, he gazed thoughtfully toward Tianlu Mountain in the distance, preparing to head up the mountain.
After finishing breakfast, Chu Yi packed some food and water to go, then shouldered his backpack and set off.
As he walked along County Town’s only main road, stalls lined both sides: vegetable sellers, breakfast vendors, clothes and shoes, all sorts of things.
What caught Chu Yi’s eye was Three Copper Coins on a sundries stall. They were round with square holes, covered in a copper-green patina, with the four large characters “Tianshun Tongbao” on the obverse.
“How much for these Three Copper Coins?” Chu Yi nodded toward them with his chin.
Seeing business come his way—and from a greenhorn at that—the stall owner quoted, “These Three Copper Coins are family heirlooms. My grandpa said they date back to the Shang and Zhou dynasties. Tell you what, I won’t ask much: ten thousand each, twenty-eight thousand for the lot?”
Chu Yi: “Five yuan. Any more and I’m out.”
Shang and Zhou? More like last week! He had noticed “Tianshun Tongbao” because it seemed familiar. Since he had no money anyway, he would buy these fakes to make do rather than play the sucker.
“Hey, kid, do you even know how to haggle? This is genuine antique, and you say five yuan… Hey, hey, don’t go! Fine, fine, five yuan it is! Consider it my loss, good luck for opening business this morning!”
The boss shook his head and sighed. Young people these days were harder to fool. But when he took the five yuan from Chu Yi, he grinned ear to ear. His cost was one yuan for three Copper Coins—he had netted four yuan pure profit!
This stuff sold well; he should stock more…
Chu Yi entered the mountain with his pack. At a fork in the path, he rubbed the Three Copper Coins in his palm, then tossed them into the air.
First hexagram: two yang and one yin—Shaoyin.
Second hexagram was still yin.
He tossed three times in total, then pocketed the Copper Coins, muttering, “One yang and two yin, Zhen Four, northeast direction.”
Thunder shakes and all things grow, symbolizing wood. It boded well for his treasure hunt up the mountain this time.
Chu Yi lingered on Tianlu Mountain for two days. He found a finger-thick Ginseng and two stalks of Lingzhi Mushroom. With some auxiliary herbs once down, it would be enough for him to refine his first batch of body-conditioning liquid—the Bone Washing and Marrow Cleansing Liquid.
It was the seventh day since Chu Yi had left when he returned to his rental in Film City. He had just pulled out his Office Key to open the door when someone hurried up from downstairs. Looking back, Chu Yi saw it was the landlord, Liu Quan.
Perhaps due to the original body’s lingering trauma, Chu Yi’s heart started pounding at the sight of him. He subconsciously calculated the rent due date… Damn, rent was due the day after tomorrow, and he only had three hundred something left. After paying, what would he eat?
Chu Yi turned with an awkward smile. “Uncle Liu, rent isn’t due for two more days. I’ll pay in a couple days.”
Dragon or worm, before the landlord, he had to bow his head obediently.
“No, I’m not chasing rent. Someone already paid it for you… Wait, you’re—you’re Chu Yi?!” Unlike the embarrassed Chu Yi, Landlord Liu Quan widened his eyes in shock upon seeing his face clearly. This fair-skinned, slender, tall, and handsome young man was really that dark, scrawny, unremarkable Chu Yi?
Liu Quan glanced at his clothes and the Office Key in his hand again, confirming he was not mistaken—it was indeed Chu Yi!
“When did you get plastic surgery?!” Liu Quan blurted out.
He unconsciously touched his own aged face, wondering if it would work for him too.
Chu Yi tugged at the corner of his mouth helplessly. “Uncle Liu, I’ve only been gone seven days. Look closely at my face—isn’t it the same as before?”
Someone had paid his rent for him—who could it be? Ouyang Yuyuan?
Liu Quan scrutinized it and saw no signs of alteration. “Then how did you suddenly get so much fairer?”
Chu Yi mumbled vaguely, “I ran into a young lady earlier; she taught me how to use sunscreen. Plus, I was back home these past days, not waiting under the blazing sun for roles, so maybe I just tanned less.”
In truth, it was thanks to that Bone Washing and Marrow Cleansing Liquid. Impurities expelled, the body had returned to its original state. Before age six, the original host had been fair and clean; after that, constant labor and poor nutrition had made him darker and darker.
“I see…” Liu Quan said half-believingly.
Chu Yi quickly changed the subject. “Uncle Liu, you said someone paid my rent?”
Liu Quan snapped back to the point. “It was some rich young master named Mu. He and that Young Master Ouyang who brought you back last time came by several times, seeming urgent about something. Chu Yi, you’re not leaving again this time, right? I just notified them; they’ll be over soon to find you.”
They had been frantic on the phone, repeatedly urging him to keep you there.
Chu Yi had a good idea who it was and nodded. “Alright, let them come. I’m not leaving.”
He knew Liu Quan must have taken their benefits to be so eager to keep him, but he did not mind. They seemed to want his help, not trouble him.
Still, Ouyang Yuyuan was fine so far, so why were they so desperate to find him?
