Calamity Messenger-Chapter 103 - 83: Jiangnan City

Unlike last time, this time it was a bright sunny day. The ’Mouse Monk’ descended into the market’s alley, where it was quite noisy outside, and the sound of people hawking wares could be heard from a distance.

Yan Qing didn’t rush out; instead, he retrieved a black belt from the public warehouse and had the ’Mouse Monk’ wear it.

Traveling in the Jiangnan Region without an ID band could get you reported as a spy. The ’Mouse Monk’s black belt’ was a gift from Qian Gongyu to Jiang Shi. Now that Jiang Shi was living it up at the Ping City Military Camp, he naturally had to pass on the ID band to a character in more need.

The ’Mouse Monk’ confidently walked out of the alley. As expected, he wasn’t as eye-catching as Jiang Shi but didn’t blend seamlessly into the crowd either. After all, he was the only bald head on the entire road, and the sun was blazing down, making him look like a moving, oversized light bulb.

The Buddhist belief was indeed strong in the Jiangnan Region. Passersby greeted the ’Mouse Monk’ with joined palms, and Yan Qing had to return the gesture for the sake of the disguise. It took nearly a minute to walk less than a hundred meters because of this. He couldn’t continue to stroll like this; Yan Qing randomly approached an old lady selling persimmon cakes: "Excuse me, can you tell me which direction Jiangnan City is in?"

Despite the bald head and default system face, the ’Mouse Monk’ looked quite good—young, fair-skinned, with benevolent brows and kind eyes, somewhat resembling Elder Tang from Journey to the West. The aunt had no doubt about the ’Mouse Monk’s identity and quickly wiped her hands to offer two persimmons: "Little Master, have some persimmons, they are very delicious!"

"This humble monk is not hungry, I just want to know which direction Jiangnan City is in and how long it will take to get there."

"Jiangnan City? Dogwa’s father, come over here! This monk wants to go to Jiangnan City, take him along!"

Ten minutes later, Yan Qing watched as the ’Mouse Monk’ sat in a cart full of clutter, swaying along the road heading southeast. Upon learning that it would take four hours to walk to Jiangnan City, Yan Qing thought of conjuring up a few more cow and snake spirits brothers to join the ’Mouse Monk’ on the journey. However, the old lady and old man were so enthusiastic about giving the monk a ride halfway, and the cart had limited space, so Yan Qing had to let the ’Mouse Monk’ embark alone.

Yan Qing set the ’Mouse Monk’ to chanting mode and switched to the alt character ’Jiang Shi.’ Since there was nothing else to do, he decided to run some dungeons.

After clearing three dungeons, Yan Qing switched back to the ’Mouse Monk’ alt character and found that he could already see Jiangnan County Town from a distance. Hearing the chanting stop behind him, the old man immediately asked, "Little Master, are you thirsty or hungry? I have some pancakes and water here—"

"No need, no need, don’t worry about this humble monk."

"Little Master, just a bit further is a commercial post, where tax officials have set up a checkpoint and collect taxes. As for me..."

"I understand. You can drop me off here."

After the ’Mouse Monk’ got off the cart, Yan Qing saw the old man scratching his head, hesitating to speak, so he proactively asked, "Benefactor, is there something you need?"

"Ah, yes." The old man hesitated for a moment before shyly saying, "Little Master, my son’s wife is expecting, and the baby will be due soon. I was just wondering, could the little Master light an incense stick in the temple and pray for their safety? I heard the temples in Jiangnan City are very efficacious."

Yan Qing blinked.

"Of course, I can."

"Also, I’ve heard others say the Buddha and Bodhisattva at the Divine Marquis Mansion are very efficacious." The old man’s face turned red: "If possible, could the little Master also ask them to protect my family?"

Feeling that he was asking for too much, he took a stack of persimmons from the cart and handed them over. Yan Qing didn’t know whether to accept or not, and quickly explained: "There are no Buddha and Bodhisattva from the Divine Marquis Mansion enshrined in the temple; you can take these persimmons back, sir—"

"No, no, they’re not worth much; take them for the road, Little Master!"

The old man acted as if he was afraid Yan Qing would return the persimmons and quickly drove the cart away. Yan Qing found it both amusing and frustrating, so he put the persimmons into the public warehouse and started running quickly towards Jiangnan City.

The ’Mouse Monk’ soon reached the commercial post, where the road was blocked by four or five tax officials. When they saw someone approaching, they straightened up but lost interest when they saw it was a bald monk.

Yan Qing thought he could just pass through, but to his surprise, they stopped the ’Mouse Monk’ and lazily reached out: "Ordination Certificate."

"Ordination Certificate?"

"Monk, don’t you have an Ordination Certificate? Who allowed you to become a monk?" The tax official instantly perked up, "Brothers, come quickly, it’s an unauthorized monk practicing wildcat Zen; let’s take him back and claim the reward!"

Without waiting for them to call others, the ’Mouse Monk’ swiftly took off running. No matter how hard the tax officials chased, how could they catch up with the ’Mouse Monk’ with an Innate 6 points of Qi Blood? Before long, they disappeared behind him, and Jiangnan County Town was already within reach.

It was a mistake not knowing that monks have their own special IDs; this was something Yan Qing couldn’t have prepared. But as long as he blended into Jiangnan City, protected by the main city’s mechanisms, even without an ID, the ’Mouse Monk’ wouldn’t be driven away. Thus, it would be better to solve the ordination certificate issue if possible; if not, it wouldn’t affect the upcoming tasks.

Like Chang’an County Town, Jiangnan County Town outside the primary city area was also bustling. Paved with blue bricks, lined with tile-roofed houses, bustling with people, and myriad snack stalls lined the road, making Yan Qing feel like he was walking through a commercial pedestrian street. Even more surprising was that there was almost no dirt; all visible ground was paved with blue bricks.

If he guessed correctly, there was definitely a Secret Realm nearby, and Jiangnan County Town’s building materials were sourced from there. Otherwise, the building materials wouldn’t be so uniformly high-quality. Just as the architecture of the Ping City Military Camp closely resembled the ’Zhen San Mountain’ Secret Realm, the architectural style of Jiangnan County Town was probably closely tied to the nearby Secret Realm too.

Walking and strolling around, while responding to greetings from passersby, Yan Qing took nearly an hour to reach the city gate of Jiangnan City. He decided that if the gate guards asked for an ordination certificate, he would just run in. But perhaps because the ’Mouse Monk’ appeared solemnly dignified, the guards greeted him with joined palms and let him through without issue.

"You have entered the main city, Jiangnan."

"Based on your level, you can access the following milestone information"

(Milestones already mentioned will not be repeated in the narrative.)

"Top Tourist Guide: You have mapped out Jiangnan, Chang’an, and Nocturnal Heaven completely."

"Old Jiangnan Resident: You discovered the nineteen hidden Laughing Herbs in Jiangnan City (0/19)."

"Jiangnan River Map: You found an excellent angle that captures the entirety of Jiangnan."

"Trap Card: Every day in Jiangnan City, different paving stones break, and when you step on them, they spray dirty water. You’ve fallen victim a hundred times (0/100)."

"Walking on the Edge: You followed the red line painted on the ground of Jiangnan City, walking along it once, keeping both feet entirely on the line the whole way."

"Increase your level or unlock milestones to access more milestone information."

Jiangnan City is so vast!

After entering the city, Yan Qing wasn’t sure what to do first. Unlike last time when he went straight to An Guo Temple, this time the Heaven-Swaying Sword was carried by Shang Xuanwen, and god knows where Shang Xuanwen was—whether to investigate the government office where he worked or go to his home?

Or... Yan Qing looked at the ground and saw there was indeed a red line.

Maybe he should attempt the challenge "Walking on the Edge"?

Wait, Shang Xuanwen’s home...

Yan Qing vaguely connected some dots, but at this moment he saw a temple at the end of the street, reminding him of the old man’s request. He figured he should first complete the side quest of lighting incense for the old man.

"Is the brother here to stay at this temple?"

"No, this humble monk is here to light incense, seeking blessings and dispelling calamities for others."

"Sure, sure, do you want the Lotus Sea Treasure Incense for fifty Spiritual Jades each, or the Mahaprajna Fragrance for thirty Spiritual Jades each?"

"Huh?"

"If you’re short on funds, we also have the Taiyi Suffering Relief Incense for nine Spiritual Jades each or the Cyan Simurgh Wishing Incense for five Spiritual Jades each. If none of those work, the cheapest option is the Vajra Incense for one Spiritual Jade each."

"Why does lighting incense cost so much money?"

"No money and yet you dare to light incense? Get out!" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Even after being kicked out of the temple, Yan Qing still hadn’t processed what happened.

Damn it, the purchasing power of Spiritual Jades is terrifying. In Chang’an City, a single Spiritual Jade could buy you a hundred bowls of wonton noodles, yet here, it only buys you an incense stick? And that’s the cheapest one?

Though it’s not like Yan Qing was broke; he had just earned over a hundred thousand Spiritual Jades today, making him quite wealthy. Yet no matter how rich, he couldn’t stand being ripped off as a sucker by a bunch of bald heads!

This money could be better spent on a good meal of wonton noodles than offering it to the temple!

But Yan Qing had promised the old man, and unless it was absolutely impossible, failing to keep his word would give him insomnia. So he mused that the main city saved these monks’ lives. If they were outside, Yan Qing would at least rough them up and forcibly light some incense, considering it a good deed for the day.

Yan Qing looked at this bustling city filled with incense smoke and towering buildings, convinced that in such a vast Jiangnan City, he would surely find a temple that wouldn’t rip him off!