The fat ghost walked dazedly towards the golden light, then its shadow twisted and plunged into the Soul Guiding Lamp.
Zhao Xing didn't stop him; this ghost fortune was too distant, and to inquire about the wealth's whereabouts, he might even have to help this fat ghost fulfill a wish.
It was too much trouble; Zhao Xing's pursuit of illicit ghost wealth was all about instant riches.
If there were too many complications, he might as well go back to farming.
Additionally, this involved the assessment of temple personnel, and putting himself in their shoes, he wouldn't want outsiders to interfere, so there was no need to offend people for a small sum of money.
"No rush, there will be plenty of opportunities." Zhao Xing didn't even look and quickly returned to the vendor.
Xu Laoba finally breathed a sigh of relief when Zhao Xing returned; he was really afraid that Zhao Xing would leave and never come back, then spread gossip and ruin the reputation of the river fishers.
"Young Master made me wait a long time, he disappeared in a flash."
"Oh, I saw an acquaintance. Let's go, we'll go to the South Lake District to take a look."
It was that perfunctory remark again, but Xu Laoba couldn't ask more. Seeing that they were finally getting down to business, he immediately became energetic, picked up his tools, and followed.
Upon reaching the South Lake District, it was still brightly lit, but the light mostly came from the lake, not the ground.
The atmosphere also became quiet, without as much noise.
"Eh?" As they walked along the covered bridge by the lake, Xu Laoba suddenly stopped and looked in a certain direction.
"What's wrong?" Zhao Xing asked.
"Oh, I saw an acquaintance." Xu Laoba waved his hand.
Zhao Xing looked at him with a half-smile, thinking, "So now it's your turn to be perfunctory with me, is it?"
However, he had truly misunderstood Xu Laoba.
"Young Master, don't misunderstand, I really did see an acquaintance. Did you see the woman in linen clothes up ahead? Yes, the one with the girl in white next to her." Xu Laoba pointed in a direction.
"I see her." Zhao Xing nodded. Not far away, a small boat was docked by the shore, with a mother and daughter on board. A few fishing lamps were lit on the boat, and they seemed to be busy with something.
"That's Lin Sanniang from Pingsiwan, she's from my area. Her husband used to do this, but after he had an accident, she took over from him and became the new river fisher."
"But ever since her son got married and started his own family, she stopped going into the water. It's been several years since she last did it, I don't know why she's returned to her old profession today." Xu Laoba was a little puzzled.
Zhao Xing scrutinized her carefully. Under his Bright Eyes Spell, he could tell that Xu Laoba was not lying. The middle-aged woman's attire and tools were similar to Xu Laoba's.
As for the young maiden, she was dressed cleanly, and her plain clothes had a faint shimmer.
"Hmm? A First Rank Spell Robe?" Zhao Xing turned to Xu Laoba. "Is her daughter a weaver from the Weaving Bureau?"
Xu Laoba shook his head: "She doesn't have a daughter, that's her niece Lin Baiwei, but she's like a half-daughter; Lin Sanniang raised her since she was little. It seems she did join the Gucheng Weaving Bureau."
Weavers were clerks of the Weaving Bureau. The Great Zhou Dynasty had always been open-minded, and it was common for women to go out to work or become officials.
The profession of a weaver primarily involved 'weaving Spell Robes,' and weavers were even a relatively important Spell profession.
Zhao Xing nodded slightly: "It seems Lin Sanniang has returned to her old profession for her niece."
Xu Laoba asked: "How does Young Master know?"
Zhao Xing pointed and said: "Lin Sanniang doesn't look like she's going to fish for treasures, but rather to collect lake silk."
"Most of the Weaving Bureau's assessments are related to weaving Spell Robes."
"It's already the end of August, the ordinary first, second, and last silkworms are all gone."
"Only water silkworm lake silk can still be collected, and its quality is even better."
Seeing Xu Laoba's admiring expression, Zhao Xing, feeling enthusiastic, explained a few more things: "Weavers who haven't reached a rank can mostly only use this as material. Those made from white and fine, tough silk are called Heluo Spell Robes."
"Wearing them keeps one warm in winter and cool in summer, can ward off rheumatism and cold, and can also help frail children grow up healthy."
"Slightly inferior ones are called Chuanwu Spell Robes, and even worse ones are Feiguang Spell Robes."
"Those made from lake silk are basically all Heluo Spell Robes, but the conditions for collecting the silk are harsh. It can generally only be found around the time of this River Lantern Festival, and it must be at night. During the day, the lake silkworms shrink, so they can't be caught at all."
"That's why I said Lin Sanniang returned to her old profession for her niece. This task is actually more efficient for you river fishers to do."
Xu Laoba couldn't help but give a thumbs up upon hearing this: "Young Master knows so much."
Zhao Xing smiled and said: "Since she's an acquaintance, do you want to go say hello? I'm not in a hurry."
Xu Laoba shook his head repeatedly: "Lin Sanniang has to take off her clothes to go into the water. What if I bumped into her... Am I, Xu Laoba, that kind of person? No, no."
Zhao Xing chuckled softly, which reassured Xu Laoba.
Since there was a temple organizing an assessment on the shore, Zhao Xing rented a small boat to go into the water.
At this time, very few people were releasing river lanterns. There were still a few large boats and a dozen small boats on the water, with scattered candlelight, and the surroundings were quiet.
Zhao Xing didn't speak; he just listened and watched quietly.
He didn't see a single person, but he saw many wandering souls.
Some were clinging to the river lanterns, others were swimming underneath, feeding on the yellow paper incense.
These wandering souls were not necessarily all human; some were the souls of aquatic creatures, or strange combinations of various forms.
For example, as Zhao Xing's small boat passed a certain spot, he saw a wandering soul with a fish head and a human body.
Even those who lived long would be regularly cleared away by the divine staff.
He could still hear:
"What are you doing?"
"I want to go over."
"What are you doing?"
"I want to go over."
Near a large river lantern not far away, two strangely shaped wandering souls were mechanically conversing, repeating these two sentences over and over: one wanted to go over, and the other asked what he was doing. Lacking a soul-nucleus and only having a soul, this was how they were.
Still, the same thing applied: these wandering souls had no offensive power; they were purely a natural phenomenon, and most of them would dissipate within seven days.
"Stop here." Zhao Xing suddenly pointed to a certain spot.
Xu Laoba immediately paddled over, his eyes lighting up: "Young Master, this part of the lake is clear, but there are many fish swimming. I'm afraid there's a treasure attracting them. I'll go into the water and try."
"Hmm." Zhao Xing's Bright Eyes Spell easily saw the bottom of the lake; there were two First Rank High Grade East Lake Pearls down there.
Their price was mediocre, about one tael of silver on the market. Good quality ones could sell for a bit more, but definitely not more than two taels.
The main reason was that East Lake wasn't lacking these kinds of items. If they could reach Second or Third Rank, then they could fetch a good price.
As expected, Xu Laoba soon surfaced, holding a shiny, egg-sized pearl in his hand: "Young Master, I found two lake pearls!"
"Thank you, come up quickly." Zhao Xing took the pearls. Both were First Rank High Grade, which was pretty much breaking even.
Before he could admire them too much, a series of faint rustling sounds came from the wind again.
"Light, such a big light, it's so dazzling."
"Turtle, turtle, over there, it's so cold, I'm freezing to death, I want to stay away from it."