Please bring your best friends to practice immortality

Chapter 618 One Hundred Talismans
Pu Yanlan said,

"They are outsiders. They are ruthless to cultivators, but they are kind to ordinary people. If they want to gain a foothold here and recruit disciples, they have to rely on the ordinary people under their jurisdiction!"

In fact, whether it is ten taels per person or one hundred taels per ship, the tax is already extremely heavy. Nowadays, unless you are a big merchant with deep pockets, you dare not sail to do business. Of course, the expenses they spend on sailing are finally included in the cost, raising the price for ordinary people to pay for it. In the final analysis, the fight between the immortals has indirectly affected people's livelihood. At least now there are fewer merchant ships on the river and the sea, and the trade between the mortals has declined a lot!
The direct consequence of the economic depression was that the business of the brothels near the docks was not doing well. Gu Shiyi, a wealthy young man, would be warmly welcomed by the girls as soon as he entered. Sometimes he even brought his fat, naked son and his nephew who was always chanting Buddhist scriptures. The girls would feed the two young masters fruits and pastries to serve them well. When the three of them came, they would just eat, drink and chat with them, and money would go into their pockets!
Young Master Gu sometimes also had to bring along the accountant named Lao Ma. This old man was so daring and lustful that he would rely on his master paying the bill and order several girls to sleep with him at once. While his master was talking to the girls outside, he would go into the room and work hard. It was strange to say, because seeing him gasping for breath, the girls were afraid that he would die in bed, but they didn't expect that the more he gasped, the more energetic he became. Not only did he not die, but he became more and more courageous. If his master hadn't rolled his eyes and came in to call for help, he would not have left!
It's a pity that although Gu Shiyi spent a lot of money every time he arrived at a dock, he did hear some news about the cultivation world, but it was of no use at all. Gu Shiyi came back and said to Pu Yanlan,
"Maybe I asked in the wrong place. Should I go to the market to ask?"

Pu Yanlan shook her head,
"No, don't underestimate this brothel and wine shop. Although they are all opened by mortals, they are probably as well-informed as the market. The market is full of good and bad people, and there are many spies from both sides. Our ship is too conspicuous. If we are just mortals, it would be fine. If we go to the market and get targeted, no matter which side targets us, it will be troublesome. It is better to ask for information in the brothel, which is safer and easier!"

They had traveled a long way this time, and they didn't want to be chased all the way.
Gu Shiyi rolled his eyes when he heard this. It was indeed quite easy, but it was a bargain for Old Ma. He would go out to eat meat every now and then, and he looked very proud of himself!
Pu Yanlan smiled and said,
"You are a demon, so you don't know? Demons are naturally more interested in reproducing offspring than humans. Old Ma has the blood of the Black Tortoise, so it is normal for him to lose control. If he can't find relief, it will be detrimental to his cultivation!"

Thinking back then, didn’t Gu Shiyi also have his eyes wide open when he saw a strong man?

It was only because King Tianyu had the ability to solve Gu Shiyi’s problem once and for all, otherwise the current Shiyi would not be much better than Lao Ma!
Gu Shiyi rolled his eyes when he heard this, but he also knew that Yan'er was right. As long as Lao Ma and the other party were willing and there was no forced sale, it seemed that he should not interfere too much. This world was not the same as the world Yan'er was in before. The girls here were doing legitimate business and had to pay taxes to the government. Without business, the girls' lives would be difficult!

Gu Shiyi brought Lao Ma with her in order to conceal her identity. She had wanted to bring housekeeper Jin earlier, but housekeeper Jin was controlled by her wife. Not to mention going with her, even if she listened to Lao Ma bragging about his achievements, she would be pulled back to the cabin by her ears by Madam Liu Xiaocui as if to guard against thieves, for fear that the lecherous old thing would lead her man astray!

We arrived at the mouth of Baimazhou and the scenery changed dramatically.
Since the Wanzhou Conference, the giant black tortoise on the seabed died, the Fantasy Sea lost its defense, and after the invaders from the other side arrived, the whole continent fell into endless wars, and the Fantasy Sea also changed. The originally pitch black and frightening Fantasy Sea has now turned into a deep blue, and the resentful souls on the seabed have been cleared out by a group of high-level monks on the continent. Although one or two will be encountered from time to time when sailing, and there are also many mutated sea beasts, but generally speaking, the Fantasy Sea is safer than before!

However, the seaport is now guarded by invaders. If their ships want to go out to sea, they must first have silver.

"There are many monsters on the sea these days. If you want to go out to sea, you need to buy our anti-beast talismans. For such a large ship, you will need at least a hundred of them, and each one costs ten taels of silver!"

The monk guarding the pier at the entrance to the sea raised his eyelids and quoted a price. Gu Shiyi raised his eyebrows and said with a smile,

"Sir, we are not a merchant ship. We can't make money from a round trip. Can you give us a lower price?"

After saying that, he took out a silver note and handed it over. The monk didn't even look at it. He waved his hand and the silver note went into his hand. He said,

"This is the rule of our sect... How can it be changed..."

After a pause, he changed his tone and said,

"But the rule is that since you are not a merchant ship, we won't charge you according to the merchant ship price. So we'll charge you eight taels each!"

Gu Shiyi paid the silver and took a stack of talismans glowing with magic back to the boat. He ordered his subordinates to stick all the talismans on the boat, but he took one and put it on the third floor to show everyone. After Pu Yanlan saw it, she said,
"A low-level spirit stone can be exchanged for 200 talismans like this in the market!"

If a low-level spirit stone is exchanged outside, the market price is five hundred taels of silver!
Gu Shiyi hummed,

"They built a wharf here and sent people to guard it. If they don't take food and daily necessities from us, aren't they just enjoying the sea breeze for free?"

Pu Yanlan smiled slightly and said,

"You can make money if you want, but if you do it too aggressively, I'm afraid that fewer people will go out to sea in the future!"

There were only two or three ships moored at this pier. If it continued for a long time, even the big trading companies would not be able to bear it. As the two were talking, a clerk came up to report.

"Master, someone wants to see you!"

"Who do you want to see?"

Gu Shiyi raised his eyebrows and scanned with his demon sense, and found a middle-aged man in fancy clothes standing on the dock. Judging from his attire, he was probably a businessman.

"Please ask him to come up!" Gu Shiyi ordered, and turned around to call Fox.

"Mei Niang, please bring all the girls in!"

Her concubine Hu Meiniang, who was playing with the little girl on the deck and smiling charmingly, nodded and greeted her.
"follow me!"

A group of little girls jumping and skipping followed her with a smile. Although these little girls were transformed into human bodies by the fox, they could not speak. However, they usually stayed on the third floor of the cabin and were not allowed to go down, and the people below were not allowed to come up. Therefore, the guys on the ship did not notice anything strange.

After a while, the middle-aged man in fancy clothes was invited up. When he entered the cabin, he saw a young man sitting in the upper seat. He had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and was handsome. The lady next to him had a gentle face and elegant temperament. She came up to greet him and praised him.

"My name is Gu Chengkui, nice to meet the owner of this place!"

Gu Shiyi smiled and waved his hand.
"Brother Gu, you are too polite. My last name is Gu, and I am the eldest in my family, so I am the eleventh. Brother Gu, you can just call me Gu Eleventh!"

Gu Chengkui nodded.
"It turns out to be Brother Gu, what a honor!"

He was not surprised that Gu Shiyi was the eldest but was called Eleven. It was said that there was such a custom in large families along the coast. If the family was not prosperous, they would call the children by their higher rankings. For example, the eldest child would be called Eleven, the second child would be called Twelve and so on, in the hope that the child would bring prosperity to younger siblings and bring more children to the family, indicating the prosperity of the family's descendants!
This made him more certain that Gu Shiyi must be the son of a big family in a coastal city, so he greeted Madam Gu again. Madam Gu stood up and returned the greeting. After both parties sat down again, the butler Jin Er came over to serve tea. After Gu Shiyi and the guest had invited each other three times, Gu Chengkui put down the teacup in his hand and bowed, saying,

"Brother Gu, I came here to discuss something with you!"

Gu Shiyi nodded and smiled when he heard this.

"Brother Gu, please feel free to speak!"

Gu Chengkui said,
"I guess Brother Gu has already bought the talismans from the monks at the dock?"

Gu Shi nodded and smiled,

"Eight taels of silver per piece, and I bought 100 of them!"

Gu Chengkui sighed,

"Now that the cultivation sects on the other side of the sea have invaded the mainland, it has become increasingly difficult for us mortals to do business..."

After a pause, he got down to business.

"I see that Brother Gu's ship has a shallow draft, so I think it is not carrying heavy cargo. I have a friend who is also doing business with me. After arriving at this dock, one day the merchant ship caught fire. Although the cargo was rescued, the ship was burned. This batch of cargo has already arrived here. If we transport it back, we will lose all our money. So he discussed with me and asked me to transport half of the cargo to Dumozhou on my cargo ship. However, my merchant ship is already full, and I am worried that I can't find anyone to help me transport the other half of the cargo. It just so happens that today I heard that Brother Gu's ship is going to Dumozhou. I wonder if Brother Gu is willing to carry half of the cargo. I can give you 50% of the silver earned from these cargoes. How about it?"

Upon hearing this, Master Gu looked at his wife and laughed,

"I thought it was something else, but it turned out to be a good thing. To be honest, Brother Gu, I was going to Dumozhou to visit relatives. I didn't have much cargo in the cabin, and I was worried that the bottom cabin would be empty and I was afraid that it would not be able to withstand the wind and waves on the sea. Now I have cargo to use as ballast, which is a good thing!"

Gu Chengkui was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly stood up and bowed.

"Thank you so much, Brother Gu!"

Gu Shiyi smiled and waved his hand.
"Don't thank me yet. Tell me first, what kind of goods are these? Is there anything that cannot be transported?"

In this world, transportation is also under the jurisdiction of mortal governments everywhere. For example, swords and weapons are not allowed to be transported privately!