Chapter 26：Finding An Inn (1/2)
Lin Mu was standing in front of Jing Wei's Emporium, staring at the shop.
Before entering, he withdrew all the materials he was going to sell, as well as withdrawing a sufficient amount of money to be kept in the coin pouch.
He currently had four materials he wanted to sell. They were the pelt and tusks of the Red-snouted boar, the pelt of the Two-tailed wood lizard, and the feathers of the Hook-winged swan.
The gains from these materials would not compare to the number of coins he received from today's previous trades, but it will net him some silvers at least. Because for Lin Mu every little copper counted.
Once Lin Mu ensured that everything was ready, he took a deep breath and pushed open the door of the shop. The door was still hard to push and creaked loudly when it swung open.
The shop was still the same as he had left it before, with the only exception being that the counter was clean from dust and the woman, Duan Ke, was already at the counter.
Duan Ke was sitting at the counter while reading a book. She was wearing a light green dress today and her hair was tied in a bun with the help of an ornate hairpin in the shape of a poplar leaf.
Duan Ke turned her sight away from the book and looked towards Lin Mu, who had just walked in. But as she looked at him closely, she felt that he looked different from before. Only when he came in front of her, could she perceive the reason.
'He broke through to the 6th stage of the body tempering already? It has not even been a week since he was in the 4th stage of the body tempering realm.' Thought Duan Ke with a little surprise on her face.
Lin Mu was thinking about what he was going to say to Duan Ke, so did not notice the slight surprise on her face. He stood in front of her and spoke in a friendly tone,
”I'm here to sell more materials.”
”Show me what you've brought.” Said Duan Ke curtly.
Lin Mu opened the sack and pulled out the materials one by one. He first placed the bundle of feathers from the Hook-winged swan on one side, along with the tusks of the Red-snouted boar. Then took out the rolled-up pelts of the Red-snouted boar and the Two-tailed wood lizard.
Duan Ke unrolled the pelts and inspected them. Finding nothing wrong with them, she placed them down and then inspected the tusks for cracks and counted the number of feathers.
After she was done inspecting all the materials, Duan Ke turned her eyes towards Lin Mu and spoke,
”I'll pay you 1 silver for the Two-tailed wood lizard's pelt, 5 silvers for the Red-snouted boar's pelt, 2 silvers and 50 coppers for the feathers of the Hook-winged swan and 2 silvers for the tusks of the Red-snouted boar.”
”That's fine for me, I accept.” Said Lin Mu.
”Do you want to buy something?” Asked Duan Ke with a questioning tone, as if she was displeased with Lin Mu for only selling and not buying anything.
”Nothing right now.” Said Lin Mu, oblivious to her tone.
Seeing that Lin Mu was not looking to buy anything, Duan Ke took out a coin pouch from the counter and counted 10 silver and 50 copper coins before passing them to Lin Mu who took them.
Lin Mu was about to turn around when Duan Ke spoke,
”How's the sword treating you?”
Lin Mu stopped upon hearing her and spoke,
”The sword is excellent and has been a great help to me. It did not become even slightly dull after I chopped some trees with it.” Said Lin Mu with an impressed tone.
The corner of Duan Ke's mouth could be seen twitching after hearing that Lin Mu used the short sword to chop wood.
'If grandfather was here, he would definitely teach him a lesson. Using his sword to chop wood, what disrespect.' Thought Duan Ke
”You should buy an actual axe to chop wood then. It's not right to use the sword for that.” Suggested Duan Ke.
”Also, perhaps for skinning the pelts, you should also get a proper skinning knife. It would make the task much more efficient.” Further spoke Duan Ke after seeing that Lin Mu was contemplating on her previous suggestion.
Lin Mu thought of Duan Ke's suggestions and indeed felt that he should get a chopping axe and a skinning knife. If not for their intended use as tools, they could be used as extra weapons in case of an emergency.
”You're right, I'll get them both. Can you show me some?” asked Lin Mu.
Duan Ke nodded and came out from behind the counter and went towards a shelf towards the right. She checked the top of the shelf and pulled out a short knife that was kept in a leather sheath. The knife was 10 centimeters long and had a curved blade.
After taking out the knife, she went towards the other corner of the shelf and picked up an axe that was hung on its side. The axe looked very common and unassuming.
She brought both items to the counter and showed them to Lin Mu, who checked them out. Finding them acceptable, he spoke,
”How much for them?”
”A total of 5 silver coins, 2 for the axe, and 3 for the skinning knife.” Said Duan Ke.