Lanke Chess Edge
Chapter 109: Strange Business

On the way to Juntian Capital City, Ji Yuan wondered why he couldn’t see the coming great calamity of heaven and earth when he first came to this world, and had to wait until he had developed his chess game.

When he couldn’t find a good answer, Ji Yuan made a hypothesis: perhaps, if this incident had happened when he had just arrived in this world, he would have had no chance of survival.

And at that previous juncture in time, it just so happened to be the moment when Ji Yuan felt his cultivation come to fruition. It was a moment when he felt that a stage had been completed. His body and mind were in harmony with nature, and he also carried the Green Vine Sword with him.

Perhaps it had only just reached the point where he could bear it, and some mysterious Dharma triggered Ji Yuan’s catastrophe, enlightening him with all the things that were previously unknown.

As the reality had proven, it was still a close call.

In fact, Ji Yuan had already gleaned hints of this since long ago. The experience with these chess pieces in both of his lifetimes had also mentally prepared him. However, he had previously thought that no opportunity would occur until his chess pieces had been completely solidified. He didn’t expect that it would depend upon his own endurance.

As for who the great power who set up the chess game was, why the situation of the white pieces in the chess game on Niutou Mountain was so bleak, whether they were dead or alive, and why they needed someone like him to be a chess player… that wasn’t something Ji Yuan could figure out right now.

. . .

As autumn approached, the items sold on the streets of Juntian Prefecture’s capital became more diverse.

Due to the season, fruits and vegetables were abundant in the city at the moment. Even before Ji Yuan had entered the city, he could already hear the lively sounds of the hawking merchants coming from inside.

He could hear the shouts every once in a while and smell the aroma of the fruit, including that of pomegranates, oranges, persimmons, and so on.

Having experienced it once before, Ji Yuan would naturally not show up in tattered clothes this time. Instead, he used an illusion to blur his image and went straight to the clothing store after entering the city.

Ji Yuan only knew a few magic techniques, and he made full use of most of them. The improvement in his state of mind and spirit brought about by the chess game had an especially qualitative impact on the effect of his techniques.

Ji Yuan searched the city to find a decent clothing store and went in. There happened to be two women looking at the clothes in the shop. Ji Yuan smelled the faint scent of rouge and powder even before entering. These were probably not ordinary people; after all, what girl from an ordinary family would cover herself in these things on a regular basis?

“Sir, do you want to look at fabrics or clothes? Would you like them tailor-made or will you be buying ready-made? I see that you have a well-proportioned figure, many of the clothes in our store will fit you!”

The shopkeeper was the only one in the shop, and he immediately greeted Ji Yuan when he saw the simple and elegant man walk in. Although he could not see Ji Yuan’s tattered clothes, he caught a glimpse of the strange “hairpin” atop his head, which appeared to be a crooked stick no matter how he looked at it. His gaze suddenly became a little strange.

The woman beside him seemed to have just seen something she liked and called out to the shopkeeper.

“Shopkeeper, this peach-blossom red silk is really nice. How much does it cost per bolt? What about for tailoring clothes?”

The shopkeeper was immediately happy when he saw that the price she was asking for was not a few feet, but an entire bolt.

“Oh, you two girls have very good taste. These pieces of pink silk were shipped all the way from Wanzhou. They are made entirely from silk. Feel them and see how smooth they are. They will definitely be comfortable and look beautiful when made into clothes!”

“Hey, I’m asking you for the price!”

One of the women said impatiently.

“Oh, haha, after all, this is the finest silk from Wanzhou, so the price will naturally be higher. This bolt… ten taels of silver!”

Ten taels?

Before the two women spoke, Ji Yuan was a little surprised. Silk was indeed more valuable than gold. One piece of cloth could only make a few sets of clothes, but it was the equivalent of one or two years worth of expenses for an ordinary family. No wonder ordinary people couldn’t afford it.

“Okay, we’ll take this one. Wrap it up for me, we’ll find someone to make the clothes ourselves!”

“Okay, great, I’ll wrap it up right away!”

The shopkeeper beamed with joy. The two girls didn’t even bargain the price. He really made a good profit today. As he was still wrapping up the silk, he saw Ji Yuan also imitating the two girls’ actions just now, reaching out to feel the various silks and fabrics hanging on the wall.

“Sir, sir, uh, this… This shop is a small business, and everything here is made of silk, satin, and other fabrics…”

The shopkeeper tried his best to tactfully express his concerns.

Ji Yuan retracted his hand and smiled at him.

“Okay. I just wanted to feel it to see how different these silks are. Shopkeeper, how about helping me pick out two, no, three sets of clothes?”

In order to avoid trouble, Ji Yuan took out a silver ingot from his sleeves as he spoke, which immediately intensified the shopkeeper’s joy.

“Okay, wait a moment, sir. I’ll wrap the silk for these two girls first!”

The two women were also secretly observing Ji Yuan at this moment. After all, there are only four people in the store.

The visitor’s gaze never fell on them, or if he did, it was barely a glance.

They were not angry that their beauty was ignored, but rather surprised that the visitor seemed to have no clear sight whatsoever. He had differentiated the cloth just now by feel, and did not look at the fabric at all.

Moreover, although his clothes were fine, his hair bun was so untidy, but it did not feel repulsive. Using a branch as a hairpin should have felt ridiculous, but they didn’t find it funny when they looked at it.

When Ji Yuan entered the store, he had glanced at the two women. Their auras were not particularly rich, but they did have strong Qi and vitality. Listening to their even breaths, he knew that they were probably martial artists. However, he didn’t bother paying too much attention to them.

“These two ladies, your peach blossom silk has been wrapped, and the silver…”

“Here, it’s yours!”

“Great, great!”

The shopkeeper hurried to the front of the counter and picked up a small scale to weigh the silk. After confirming the weight, he handed the bolt to the customers and watched the two ladies leave, then immediately turned to Ji Yuan.

“Sir, sorry to keep you waiting. What style robes do you prefer? We have any style you want: Confucian robes, front-buttoned over-robes, formal clothes, casual clothes, all of which are ready-made in our store!”

“Ah, bring me a green robe, a white robe, and a gray robe. All of them must be long and wide-sleeved. Oh, and please also bring the clothing underlayers as well, both shirts and pants.”

“Okay, then I will measure your whole body from the inner layers to the outer layers. Got it, got it. Let’s take your measurements first.”

The shopkeeper took a wooden ruler from the counter and held it up to measure Ji Yuan. In no time at all he had completed the measurements. He just had a strange illusion that the feel of the customer’s clothes was a little strange, but he didn’t think much of it.

As if to ease his previous rash words, he chatted with Ji Yuan while picking out his clothes.

“The two ladies just now were really strange. They were obviously not ugly, but they insisted on putting heavy makeup on. I don’t know if they really just don’t understand how to do their makeup, or if they did it on purpose.”

“Haha… Maybe they really just don’t know how, but why didn’t the shopkeeper point it out just now?”

Ji Yuan also smiled when he heard his words. He couldn’t see clearly anyway.

The shopkeeper looked outside.

“How could I? Wealthy ladies are the kinds of people one should most avoid provoking, particularly with regards to their appearance. If I say something, would they care that it was said with good intentions?”

“Hahaha… that makes sense. Shopkeeper, you are wise!”

Ji Yuan also felt happy, and his previous gloomy thoughts were slightly relieved. He had the rare feeling of having heard a similar joke as in his previous life.

“Oh, yes, come, sir, please try these outfits, they will definitely fit you!”

During their conversation, the shopkeeper had already picked out a robe for Ji Yuan…

After about a quarter of an hour, Ji Yuan came out of the clothing store already wearing a brand new white outfit. He also carried a cloth bag he had purchased from the store, which contained his other two sets of clothes. In total, he had spent only six hundred coins, which was a perfect match with the price of the peach-blossom silk.¹

As for the pile of tattered clothes still in his hands, Ji Yuan clasped his palms together, and the tattered clothes turned to ash in his hands, floating down into the street gutter.

The direction that Ji Yuan was heading in at the moment was precisely towards the street where he had stolen the chessboard. Vendors generally didn’t like to change the place they set up shop unless it was necessary, so it was very likely that the merchant was still in the same place.

Just by chatting with the shopkeeper at the clothing store, he had indirectly learned that it was already the fifteenth year of the reign of the Yuan Dynasty. This was not much different from Ji Yuan’s original estimate.

He also bought a new pair of shoes along the way, and, after walking for less than two minutes, Ji Yuan navigated himself to the street he had been on before by feeling. Sure enough, he heard the merchant’s voice again.

“Jade jewelry, newly arrived jade jewelry, jade bracelets, jade pendants, jade rings, all good jade~!!!”

The vendor shouted vigorously, but not many people stopped to look at the stall. Just as he grew thirsty and picked up a bamboo jar to drink some water, he found a man in a white robe standing in front of his stall.

The vendor perked up and hurried to greet him.

“Sir, you must be a scholar. Why not buy a piece of jade? Don’t scholars always say that a good gentleman admires jade, and good gentlemen are like jade?² Look at these jade ornaments I have here, look at how green they are!”

Although Ji Yuan couldn’t see the specific designs of these jade pieces, jade was a special material. Good jade had its own aura, like the jade pendant Wei Wuwei had given him. As for the jade on this stall, even without looking at the aura, all he had to do was reach out to touch them and feel their spiritual energy to know that not only was the workmanship poor, but the jade quality was also inferior.

Ji Yuan ignored the green ones and picked a hairpin that was grayish black, and asked the vendor.

“How much is this hairpin?”

The merchant took a look, and inwardly remarked that this rough jade hairpin was one of the worst in his stall. He looked at Ji Yuan’s expression, hesitated for a moment, and quoted a price.

“Thirty coins!”

“Haha…a jade hairpin is only thirty coins? I don’t think that’s enough, not enough, I think it’s… worth a tael!”

Ji Yuan said to himself. He plucked out the branch above his head, inserted the jade hairpin directly into his bun, then took out a small handful of silver nuggets from his sleeves, an amount about equal to a tael of silver.

“Here, this jade hairpin is worth the price! Keep the change, haha… Not bad, not bad, this jade hairpin is really good…”

The merchant blankly held the silver pieces Ji Yuan handed him in his hands. He looked dazedly at the man in the white shirt, who was talking to himself and leaving without looking back.

‘This man… just left like that? ’

When Ji Yuan had almost walked around twenty steps, the merchant seemed to come to his senses, and looked at the silver in his hand.

“This would be equal to about two or three months worth of earnings…”

After hesitating for a long time, the merchant finally gritted his teeth.

“Hey! Sir! Sir! That jade hairpin is not worth this much! I really don’t need this!”

Ji Yuan stopped, a smile on his face, and he gazed back meaningfully at the vendor.

1. T/n: Not really, the price for the silk was stated to be 10 taels (~1000 coins or so), maybe he’s talking about the bargained/discount price?
2. Jade symbolizes purity, integrity, and nobility.