Chapter 140: Sigh

"One hundred jade coins per person?" Si Wenming frowned and complained in a rambling tone, "Prices have gone up!"

The giant tortoise slowly walked to a spot less than a hundred zhang away from the three of them. The man in black on the watchtower leaped down gracefully, covered the distance in a few bounds, and came before them, cupping his hands with a cheerful smile as he bowed to Si Wenming.

"Respected guests seem to be seasoned travelers of the Four Desolations. It is true that our Turtle Spirit Caravan has raised its prices, but the price is well worth it. This starry spirit tortoise of ours just broke through to the advanced level of a Witch King three years ago. When traversing the void, it is more than ten times steadier than before!"

"Oh?" Si Wenming raised an eyebrow, smiled, and returned the bow to the man in black. "The advanced level of a Witch King! For a starry spirit tortoise of this size to break through to the advanced level of a Witch King is truly no easy feat. Your Turtle Spirit Caravan is going to make a fortune!"

As they exchanged banter, Si Wenming pulled out three square jade plaques, each about the size of an adult's palm, from his sleeve.

The emerald-green jade plaques were exquisitely crafted, decorated with delicate floral vine patterns around the borders. In the center were a few wisps of thin clouds, from which a tall tower rose, piercing through the clouds, and a single vertical eye gleamed brightly on the tower.

"One plaque is worth a hundred jade bi. According to the going rate, you should give me back five jade qian in change for each plaque." Si Wenming handed the three plaques to the man in black, bargaining with him very earnestly.

The man in black felt the three jade bi, unhesitatingly tucked them into the leather pouch at his waist, and then handed Si Wenming fifteen thumb-sized round jade qian, their entire surfaces radiating a spiritual glow. Ji Hao clearly saw that these jade qian bore the exact same emblem of the tall tower and the vertical eye.

Before Ji Hao could ask Si Wenming about the origins of these jade bi and jade qian, as the three of them boarded the starry spirit tortoise, they stirred up a rather awkward little trouble.

The moment Manman hoisted her two large hammers and stepped onto the giant tortoise's back shell, the giant tortoise suddenly turned its head, looked at Manman in astonishment, and then spoke in a muffled, rumbling human voice, "Little girl, your hammer is too heavy... Hey, Turtle Three, for cargo weighing one hundred thousand shi, an extra jade bi is charged. You'd better weigh this girl's hammer carefully!"

Turtle Three, the man in black, hurriedly rushed over with several men in black martial attire, insisting on inspecting Manman's hammer no matter what.

Out of habit, Manman swung her hammer and casually tossed it over to Turtle Three...

Chaos erupted within the Turtle Spirit Caravan. A large number of guards rushed in from all directions, standing there dumbfounded as they stared at Turtle Three and the four Great Witch-level guards who were pinned flat to the ground by Manman's massive hammer, unable to move a muscle. Not only them, but even the starry spirit tortoise bearing the city on its back was dumbstruck.

After a long while, the starry spirit tortoise said in its muffled, rumbling voice, "This girl has incredible strength. Nobody died, did they? If nobody died... as for this matter... seeing that they're all coughing up blood, little girl, shouldn't you pay a bit for their medicine?"

"Manman, don't go throwing your hammers around randomly next time!" Standing at the doorway of the room assigned to their trio of three inside the city on the tortoise's back, Ji Hao admonished Manman very seriously. "Look, you almost beat to death a distinguished guest of the caravan, and now you've almost turned them into enemies hunting us down!"

Manman looked around unconcernedly, kicked the door open with one foot, and then shook her head in dissatisfaction. "Such a small room... And it's just because they're too weak... Hunt Manman down in the Southern Wasteland? Ji Hao, are you sure you're not joking?"

Ji Hao and Si Wenming exchanged speechless glances. It seemed the girl wasn't wrong; to hunt her down in the Southern Wasteland, one would need the resolve to be completely wiped out by the Zhurong God Clan. At the very least, this troop from the Turtle Spirit Caravan could never afford to provoke the Zhurong God Clan.

Grumbling with displeasure, Manman dropped her hammer onto the floor, causing the entire small building—specially provided for guests catching a free ride—to tremble slightly once more. Sitting unhappily on a stool in the room, she pulled out a small storage pouch, baring her teeth as she weighed the golden pearls, jade shells, and other treasures inside that rattled loudly against each other.

Having smashed five caravan members flat with a single hammer blow, Manman had to compensate them with a pile of fine jades and refined gold. Hearing her murmur softly, "No wonder Big Brother said that when traveling far from home, one cannot do without money... I only injured a few and I have to pay so much. If I had killed them, Manman wouldn't have any money left to spend. Sigh, why didn't I feel like money was needed when going out before?"

Ji Hao turned around, deciding not to entangle himself any further with Manman on this subject.

Their upbringings were entirely different, making communication about so many common-sense matters simply impossible.

Si Wenming, however, earnestly and responsibly began explaining the importance of money when traveling to Manman. The Central Plains was not the Southern Wasteland. In the Southern Wasteland, tribes could still engage in barter for the most primitive forms of trade. But in the Central Plains, transactions between various tribes and major factions required the use of jade bi and jade qian of the kind Si Wenming had just used.

Ji Hao stood by the window of the small building, gazing at the scenery of the city—several miles in radius—built upon the giant tortoise's back, while Si Wenming patiently explained things to Manman, imparting some experience for traveling away from home. As for Manman, she absentmindedly grabbed her hammer and tried to forcefully shove it back into her personal storage pouch.

"Ha! The hammer! Manman is so smart, if I stuff the hammer into this small bag, I can go get a refund from the caravan people!" Beaming with joy, Manman exerted all her raw strength, ruthlessly jamming the massive hammer into her storage pouch of unknown capacity.

Before Si Wenming could even stop her, a sharp cracking sound rang out. Dozens of dazzling rune patterns on Manman's storage pouch burst open, and a massive pile of carved refined gold, exquisite jade, and other rare treasures gushed out like a tidal wave from the ripped pouch, filling the room to the brim in the blink of an eye.

Even more precious treasures were affected by the spatial fluctuations triggered when the pouch ripped; with just a brief flash, they dissolved into wisps of azure smoke and vanished.

"Eh?" Manman blinked in astonishment. "There's as much space as a whole room inside this bag, why can't it fit this hammer?"

Ji Hao struggled to his feet from amidst the golden pearls and fine jades, looking wryly at Manman. Si Wenming shared a similarly wry expression. Looking helplessly at the room full of glowing treasures, he dryly laughed, "Manman, let Uncle keep these things for you temporarily. The reason your pouch couldn't fit the hammer is very simple—our human master craftsmen simply haven't been able to forge storage witch-tools strong enough!"

A trace of bitterness and helplessness flashed across Si Wenming's face, and he said softly, "When we reach Puban, you will learn many things."

Looking at the mountain ridges continuously flashing backward outside the window, he said in a low voice, "Including why we have to cross hundreds of millions of miles of void with the caravan to return to the Central Plains, instead of directly using a teleportation array to return... It is because the human race is still unable to build arrays capable of teleporting across such vast distances. It is because our human race is still not strong enough!"

The human race is still not strong enough?

Ji Hao nodded with a sudden realization.

At this moment, the giant tortoise suddenly stopped again. Turtle Three, who had just been coughing up blood from being hammered, stood excitedly on the watchtower and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Hey, Old Ancestor Turtle! Eight hundred li slantwise to the east, someone else wants a ride back along the way! Tsk, making a few hundred jade coins out of thin air, you've at least earned your food money for next month, old fellow!"