CH 16

Chapter 16 - I finally know how to open the modifier tool and alter money.

In my dream, I had somewhat gotten accustomed to the feeling of drifting weightlessly in a vast ocean, then suddenly felt as though my world was being jostled about.

I waited to wake up, but the feeling of being jostled did not lessen. Turns out it wasn't actually a dream.

Ye Tan was carrying me on his back along a small path. I could see pairs of houses in between the forest trees, with smoke drifting upwards from their chimneys, casting sparse, slanting shadows. It was almost nightfall.

Is this going out for a walk...?

"A-Tan?" My voice sounded hoarse and low, almost as if I was talking to myself, but Ye Tan's sharp senses were able to catch it. He asked:

"Is Master awake? How are you feeling?"

"Where are we going....."

Ye Tan's feet did not stop moving, he answered as he walked: "Your subordinate also doesn't know where we are headed, the Eldest Young Master instructed us to go."

"Huh?"

"The Eldest Young master said, there will soon be war near the Zhongli Court, and he is afraid the conflict might reach us1 . Ultimately, this subordinate.... can't guarantee my ability to help Master for the time being, so if we can avoid it we will avoid it." He stopped, then humbly apologised, "This subordinate made a decision without your authority, I request Master to punish me in the future."

"War?" I leaned forward on Ye Tan's back and rubbed against it as I changed position, "Zhongli Court is at the peak of its power, is there a strong enough enemy?"

"In recent years, the Second Young master has persuaded many small factions in the Jianhu to surrender, so it's possible some people could be resentful of his rigid methods." Ye Tan thought for a moment and added, "This subordinate spent many years residing within the walls, and is really not sure of the opinions outside."

I sighed. A few days ago I heard Ze Que praising Zhongli Zixi, saying how generous and benevolent he is, how he always repays grievances with virtue.

It's just, don't tell me we have go on foot like this...?

Thinking about leaving Changluo now, the distance between me and my code book keeps getting farther and farther away. Forget it, I don't even know where to even enter the codes, I only remember that the code for altering money is 23333, and even having that is useless. I can only leave it up to chance and wait until I can open up the modifier tool...

Oh, hold on!

If the launch of the modifier tool can be triggered by an action, the codes must also be triggered by actions, right....?

If you use your body when saying a number, then isn't that just the same as making a gesture?

With this idea, I lifted up my hand and silently gestured the numbers two, three, three, three, three, three.

As a result, a familiar little cursor popped up in front of my eyes, the same one as last time I played around with my file, and a system icon asked me to put in the amount of money.

This time I had learnt from experience. I moved the cursor with the palm of my left hand and, very carefully, entered in a single “1”, then, waiting for my fortune to arrive, made an “OK” sign.

As my hand dropped down, a small piece of gold instantly appeared in it.

I was practically moved to tears.

My dignity as a Creator God had finally been restored a little bit.

“A-Tan, A-Tan.” I could barely contain my excitement as I patted his shoulder, “Look for the nearest village so we can take a break.”

“Is Master uncomfortable? Is this subordinate’s walking too hurried?....” Ye Tan asked vigilantly.

I already had a plan: “No, I want to go to a bank2 to take out a small amount of money.”

I had thought about it thoroughly.

Last time the I was kicked out by the system retraction, it wasn’t because the amount of money was too much, rather it was because passers-by saw it appear out of nowhere.

That’s why, from now on, I have to control the amount as much as possible. If the situation comes where I must alter a large amount of money, it needs to be done completely watertight and seamlessly, I can’t allow people to just watch on as gold falls from the sky... No, for the sake of being safe, I can’t even allow people to investigate where the money is coming from. I’m just afraid that if my business goes smoothly and becomes big, it will attract people’s suspicions and experts will come to investigate me. If the time comes that the system retracts again, my hard work of all these years will end up being wasted.

Honestly speaking, I’m going to launder money.

I’m eager to give this a try.

Taking advantage of dusk, we got into a town. There were a few banks along the road that hadn’t closed up shop yet. Ye Tan chose a neat-looking store-front for us to stop at.

“I can go in by myself.” I said.

“No, this subordinate will accompany you.” Ye Tan’s expression was firm.

How will I succeed then? You’re the number one hidden danger that will cause the system to retract.

“A-Tan, I don’t want to have to come up with random excuses to deceive you.” I said calmly, “It’s just that I have to hide this matter from you. I know you are an expert in concealment, so as long as you want to come with me I have no means of stopping you. It’s just a pity that all my hard work would then be ruined sooner or later.”

Ye Tan said: “Master speaks seriously, but... with your current condition, this subordinate can’t be at ease.”

That’s right, I struggle to even stand up.

“It’s nothing, I’ll be fine for a little while. If you have nothing to do...” I briefly thought about it and said,” Go buy me a midnight snack, alright? I’m hungry.”

Ye Tan was silent for a moment, then agreed: “Alright, this subordinate will go and come back.”

He gently placed me at the entrance, waited until I could support myself standing, then left quite worriedly.

I used a great amount of energy to get inside the shop. Inside sat a slender middle-aged man eating melon seeds, behind the counter there was a young shop assistant with fair skin working on the accounting books. When he saw a guest come in, the middle-aged man called out enthusiastically, but went back to eating melon seeds.

“Did Mister come to deposit money?” The young shop assistant asked.

“To exchange some bank notes... but it wouldn’t hurt to deposit some as well.” I answered, then went back to focusing on my feet.

Seeing me struggling to stand, the young man got out from the counter and helped me sit down. Luckily there were several seats in the lobby, so I was saved for a moment. I took a sigh of relief, then handed over the gold pieces I had just made.

“Sir, how much money is this?”

“10 taels.” I said without thinking. After I finished speaking, I remembered, originally it should have been a round number of 10 taels, but adding the 1 tael from my previous experiment, then the correct number must be 11.

Forget it, I don’t feel like correcting these minor details.

“I’ll have to weigh it myself, may I trouble Sir to wait for a moment.” The young shop assistant grabbed a weight from the back and put the gold on it, and after a while of hesitating he asked: “Sir, is this... 10 taels?”

The sound of that man eating melon seeds behind the door suddenly got louder.

I smiled: “Isn’t it?”

The young shop assistant hurriedly said: “I—I’ll go get the banknotes.” He ran off in an instant, and returned a short time later holding a thick stack of banknotes.

“Sir, are you seriously ill?” He asked with a worried expression while stuffing the banknotes into my hands.

“Yeah.” I answered while stroking my chin, “My condition is very severe and I could die from it soon.”

His expression was grim and he looked on the verge of panic. I couldn’t bear to tease him any longer, so I smiled and said: “No matter, it could always make a turn for the better. I’m sorry for worrying you, little brother.”

I said my goodbyes and walked out of the shop with difficulty. I looked around, searching for a bit, only to find Ye Tan sitting on the rooftop of a faraway house, gazing at the sunset through the mist, the side of his face looking sharp and resolute. Usually, when he looks at me, the expression in his eyes is always gentle. But now I find that when he’s by himself he looks lonely and guarded, like the pine and cypress3 covered by thick layers of ice during winter.

“A-Tan.” I waved at him, “What are you doing over there?”

He turned his head to look at me, the cold pine then turned into clear autumn waters4 , as if all the world had sunset clouds and spring trees5 , and all ended perfectly well6 .

Ye Tan jumped down gracefully and landed in front of me. As he took me by the arm to support me, he spoke: “If I had come any closer, I’m afraid I would have been able to hear what was going on inside.”

“You’re surprisingly not angry at all, I was a bit worried.” I stuffed all the banknotes into his arms, got back onto his back and circled my arms around him.

“Why would I be angry?” Ye Tan carried me as we went to look for an inn to stay at, he seemed to be at a loss.

“I could be keeping something from you.”

“Isn’t that how it should be?” Ye Tan answered.

This person is not properly educated, and his three outlooks7 have a lot of problems, I sighed and said: “Is there room in your brain for anything other than your concepts of social class?”

Ye Tan argued: “It’s loyalty.”

“You don’t seem to be able to recognise the facts, or distinguish right from wrong, how would you know whether you’re promoting righteousness or taking the side of the evildoer8 ?” I diligently said.

Ye Tan seemed unable to imagine it: “Listening to Master’s orders, while also distinguishing between right and wrong, good and evil?”

...

This unlucky child, it really doesn’t make sense.

Sigh, we’ll sleep first, then discuss this again tomorrow.

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1 from the idiom: 城門失火，殃及池魚 lit. Fire at the city gate, bringing disaster to the pond fish. There was a fire at the city gate, and everyone went to the moat to fetch water. The water ran out and the fish died. It’s a metaphor about suffering loss or calamity due to being involved. Top.

2 lit. money shop. Basically the equivalent of a bank back in the Ming and Qing dynasty. Top.

3 from the idiom: 松柏後凋 lit. Pine and cypress wither. Only in the winter of the twelfth lunar month does one realise that the pines and cypresses are evergreen, but the winter is so cold even they start to wither. It is a metaphor for people with lofty ideals who struggle until the end in a difficult and dangerous environment. Top.

4 A traditional way of describing a girl's beautiful eyes. Top.

5 from the idiom: 暮雲春樹 lit. Sunset clouds spring trees. From Tandoori Fu's poem "Recalling Li Bai in Spring": "Spring trees in Weibei, sunset clouds in Jiangdong.” Represents longing for distant friends. Top.

6 from the idiom: 善始善終 lit. Good start and good end. When something has a good beginning, it will also have a good ending. Used to describe serious work. From "Zhuangzi: The Great Master": "Be kind to demons, be kind to old people, be good at beginning and end.” Top.

7 outlook on the world, on life, and on values. Top.

8 from the idiom: 助紂為虐 lit. Helping Zhou in his oppression. A metaphor meaning to help bad people do bad things. Top.