Zhang Wei and Xiao Yun stood in a standstill. On one side, Zhang Wei wanted to finish selling all the middle- and low-grade pills, while on the other side, Xiao Yun wanted to explore the town.
He naturally didn't want to be exploring alone, not wanting to be eaten by one of those beasts.
Zhang Wei snorted when he heard his reasoning.
"First, those beasts won't be out if they are dangerous, and second, what do I do if they are? We'd be two little snacks."
Xiao Yun put his hand on his chin as if thinking for a while.
"If I die, it'd be nice for someone to bury me, and if we both die, we can walk hand in hand to meet the King of Hell to talk about our unjust death."
"What will you do if he gets annoyed at you?"
Zhang Wei emphasized the you.
"If we get kicked out, we'll go to the Emperor of Heaven and tell him we are a couple that got kicked out from both Hell and Earth for loving each other."
"….." Zhang Wei's eyes twitched at this.
"You will stroll around next to me, and I will sell the pills at the same time."
"Okay."
Walking around was an experience. Xiao Yun had been waiting to try some good food but didn't have money.
He asked for his share immediately after getting out. Zhang Wei handed it to him, telling him to be careful with how he spent it. Xiao Yun brushed him aside, saying he was only going to buy some necessities.
"Really?"
Zhang Wei questioned. Xiao Yun turned around with a guilty heart.
One was looking around, going to every stall that interested him, and the other kept looking for pill shops to sell at—quite the pair.
After finding a pill shop, Xiao Yun waited outside for Zhang Wei. Getting bored and hungry, he bought a few kebab sticks.
Zhang Wei got everything done fairly quickly, going out the door after a few minutes.
"What are you doing?"
"Eating. Want some?"
Before Zhang Wei could respond, Xiao Yun's eyes twinkled upon seeing a cauldron shop. He shoved the kebabs into Zhang Wei's arms.
"Wait here, I want to check something out."
Zhang Wei was left outside the cauldron shop door.
He expressionlessly looked down into his arms at the kebabs, which were still hot, sending out a mouthwatering, seasoned fragrance. Looking around.
'He said I could have some, so…'
Inside the shop, when Xiao Yun entered, he went to the front desk. Looking around stiffly, he asked,
"Excuse me, ma'am, may I ask about the different types of cauldrons?"
The store lady smiled.
"Of course. Our shop has a wide variety of products. There are also books that could help you identify them."
Xiao Yun nodded blankly, saying thanks, and looked at the material. Since the first lesson, he had wanted to see what kinds of different classes of cauldrons there were.
Turning pages, the information had a category of cauldrons the shop sold, but that category only consisted of mostly low- and a bit of mid-grade cauldrons, showing that mid-grade and high-grade cauldrons were rare.
"Miss, can I ask something?"
"Ah, sure."
"What do mid-grade and high-grade cauldrons do? Isn't it the same thing?"
The store manager shook her head, explaining,
"While they all have the same purpose, some cauldrons need to be at a certain level to hold in the pill while making it, or it will explode. Another thing they do is also trap the spiritual energy around you and from inside you to make the pill, so it needs to suck in energy."
The first point, Xiao Yun had already figured out from Teacher Bai's lesson, but the second point he didn't know about.
'So suction… it's like a vacuum. It needs to take everything in.'
He kinda wanted to bring science into this, but this world—where even unicorns would not be strange Creature—was not scientific at all.
Thinking of that, he started to get depressed.
'Why did I need a high school degree now?'
Years of his life had been wasted on school, and now he couldn't even use the knowledge he got. Xiao Yun started to draw mushrooms in the corner, depressed. The store owner felt Xiao Yun was starting to get downcast.
"It's okay. You're new to pill-making, so it's okay if you don't know yet. You're going to do well."
Xiao Yun lifted his gaze at the Reassuring, his eyes curling up. 'She's nice.'
The store lady was momentarily stunned by Xiao Yun. When he came in, he had only been polite but never smiled, making him seem unapproachable on the outside. But now, as he smiled, his otherwise elegant appearance had been given a touch of warmth.
"Thank you, miss. Your help—I will come again."
Xiao Yun left after. 'I will come back when I need a slightly better cauldron… and have more money.' The cauldrons in that shop cost so much, making Xiao Yun want to fall down on his knees.
Looking for Zhang Wei, he saw him standing with a bunch of empty sticks, chewing slowly with his mouth closed as if eating a delicacy.
"Where are the kebabs?"
"You said I could have some."
"Yeah, some."
Xiao Yun had thought this young master would not want to eat this kind of street food. He was asking out of courtesy; he didn't know the person next to him was a starving ghost.
Taking one kebab stick out of his sleeve, Zhang Wei handed it to Xiao Yun.
"Oh, thanks."
Xiao Yun stopped complaining after he was handed the kebab. He was still hungry afterward because he had only eaten small things.
'Wait, isn't this from my own money?'
Did Zhang Wei think he could just be sent off with this?
"Calm down, I'm buying dinner."
Xiao Yun turned his frown upside down quickly, saying, "Okay."
'I feel like I made a mistake.'
Zhang Wei thought but he still didn't go back on his word.