86: Chapter 86 Procurement of Materials

"Xiao Niao, analyze this for me. What exactly is her background?" Hu Gualing asked nervously.

Although he had previously relied on his robust physique and disdained believing in superstitions like ghosts, his perception had been repeatedly shattered since he started playing the game Fantasy Jianghu. He began to adopt an attitude of 'better safe than sorry' regarding the unknown, and could only hope that Xiao Niao, the top student, could analyze some truth out of it.

Xiao Niao was silent for a moment, then spoke with a grave expression: "Do you think she might... not be human?"

"How is that possible!" Hu Gualing was startled by Xiao Niao's sudden conjecture.

Although this guess somewhat coincided with his own feelings, subconsciously, he still did not want to believe that someone as good as Tang Yao could actually not be human.

"I've spoken with her mother; she lives in Jiangnan, Jiangzhou. Stop guessing blindly!" Although Hu Gualing said this, he felt increasingly panicked inside. He remembered that when he called Tang Yao's mother that day, the first call was hung up immediately. The second time, she called back, but from her tone, he could tell she had no emotional fluctuation—clearly not the reaction a mother should have. Could it be that Tang Yao really was...?

"Oh? That happened?" Xiao Niao's gaze flickered uncertainly.

"Sigh, the thing is, that day she gave me a phone number..." Since this matter concerned Tang Yao's privacy, Hu Gualing hadn't mentioned it earlier, but now he had no choice but to explain it briefly to Xiao Niao.

Hearing this, Xiao Niao became even more confused.

His earlier guess was that since Tang Yao could stay in the game for long periods and seemed to have an endless supply of game currency, coupled with her ignorance of the real world, was there a possibility that she wasn't an Immortal Master player, but an existence similar to an NPC?

But now Hu Gualing told him that Tang Yao had a mother in reality? This completely overturned his hypothesis, making Tang Yao's identity even more mysterious.

However, this could be considered a new Breakthrough. If her identity couldn't be figured out in the game, perhaps they could start from reality.

"Gualing, how about this: take some time later to call her mother again and try to ask about Tang Yao's situation indirectly. I'll search online to see if I can find any information about her." Xiao Niao briefly explained his thoughts to Hu Gualing.

Although it currently seemed that regardless of Tang Yao's background, she wasn't a bad person and unlikely to do anything harmful to them, having such a bizarre matter weighing on his mind meant that if he didn't try his best to figure it out, his mental state would suffer.

...

With silver in hand, Hu Gualing naturally prepared to purchase the Materials needed to craft equipment. Whether out of friendship or efficiency, he had to check Xiao Niao's Trading House first.

Arriving at the entrance of the Xie Family Courtyard, Head Manager Xie Dongdong was sitting at the door, holding an awl and hemp rope, doing needlework.

"Young Hero Xiao Niao, Young Hero Hu." Head Manager Xie Dongdong put down what she was holding and greeted them.

"Sister Dongdong, I brought Gualing to see the goods," Xiao Niao said.

"Alright, Young Hero Hu is a regular customer, please come in." Head Manager Xie Dongdong stood up and led them inside.

"Where's Xiaotian? Why don't I see him?"

"Xiaotian is still sleeping."

"Oh, children are growing, they need plenty of sleep."

Just as Xiao Niao and Head Manager Xie Dongdong were talking, they saw Xie Xiaotian walk out of the room, eyes bleary with sleep, clearly still not fully awake.

Seeing them, Xie Xiaotian rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, suddenly perked up, and quickly went over to Hu Gualing, saying excitedly: "Great Hero Hu, visiting our Xiao Huang Trading Firm again? A lot of good stuff has arrived these past few days; you really must take a look!"

Xiao Niao felt a bit jealous. When he first dealt with Xie Xiaotian, Xie Xiaotian wasn't this enthusiastic; instead, he was full of caution. Gualing had only come here to buy things once, and he already had such a good relationship with him?

However, speaking of good stuff, he had already taken a look when he left earlier. There were indeed more scattered goods on the shelves, but they couldn't be described as "good stuff" at all...

Although Hu Gualing hadn't looked at the goods yet, he scoffed at what Xie Xiaotian said. Xiao Niao's Trading House was still in the startup phase; the items consigned by villagers were all things that took up space at home and were a pity to throw away. Even the rain capes had holes in them—what could possibly be good stuff?

Looking at Xie Xiaotian's enthusiastic little eyes, it was obvious he saw him as a sucker, eyeing the silver in his pocket!

"I won't look at the good stuff. Help me see if you have these items," Hu Gualing directly listed the Materials he needed: "Soybean paste, clear oil, saltpeter, and toilet paper."

Xie Xiaotian had thought a big business deal was coming, and his eyes became even more eager. But after carefully listening to the names of these items, his two thick little eyebrows couldn't help but knit together.

Even Xiao Niao couldn't help but ask: "What do you need these for? We don't have a single one of these on our shelves."

"Of course, for crafting equipment."

"Crafting equipment uses these things?" Xiao Niao couldn't help but mutter.

Hu Gualing smiled complacently without explaining. They say everyone has their own specialty; Xiao Niao, a top student studying computers, naturally didn't understand as much as him when it came to blacksmithing.

However, were there really none of these Materials?

Hu Gualing unwillingly paced over to the shelves to check, and discovered that indeed, there wasn't a single one of the Materials he needed, causing him to frown.

At this moment, Head Manager Xie Dongdong spoke up: "Young Hero Hu, the items you want are quite valuable, especially the clear oil. We don't even have enough for our own use, so no one has any extra to consign to the Trading House. However, if you are sure you need it, I can take out what we have at home."

Hearing Head Manager Xie Dongdong's explanation, Hu Gualing nodded in sudden realization. Given the village's production level, clear oil was indeed considered a precious item.

There was no other way; in the end, he had to ask Head Manager Xie Dongdong for help. At a price of 300 wen per jin, he bought a few jin from several neighboring villagers, barely managing to scrape together a bucketful—enough for quenching.

As for the soybean paste, that was not in short supply, so he bought a jar directly from Head Manager Xie Dongdong's home.

What surprised Hu Gualing was the saltpeter; none of the households had it. Upon asking around, he found out it was used for treating illnesses and could be bought from Doctor Yang, but the price was calculated by the qian.

This qian was nothing else but a unit of weight here; 10 qian equals 1 liang.

In other words, this stuff was priced exactly like medicinal herbs.

But there was no help for it; soybean paste combined with saltpeter could achieve a better Carburizing effect, so Hu Gualing had to pinch his nose and weigh out two liang.

After this trip, just for these three Materials, he had spent nearly six liang of silver.

Fortunately, toilet paper wasn't expensive. He grabbed two stacks from the latrine; it was that kind of rough, thin yellow paper. He had to use several sheets when wiping his butt, otherwise, he'd accidentally get it on his hands...

Although he didn't get the ox/sheep horns, animal fat, or fur, with these four Materials, it should be enough.

Hu Gualing packed these things into his backpack and felt his body suddenly become twenty jin heavier. However, this bit of weight was nothing, and he swung his arms and strode back to the Blacksmith Shop.