Walking out of the back gate, Zhi was dressed again in his monk outfit. Adjusting the hat down over his head, he turns to the left and starts walking. The khakkhara in his right hand chiming out with every step he takes. As he walks along the street he watches people and just takes in the hustle and bustle of the city around him. After walking around the area for a while he finally finds something that caught his interest. He was pretty close to the docks now and in front of him was an open market, where meat, vegetables, spices and other things were being sold and traded.

Walking closer he could smell the mix of spices, fresh vegetables and the slightly musty smell of the lake water. Entering the market, he slowed down his pace and began to move from stall to stall. Mostly he was just browsing and looking at the prices on display. But he was also looking at all the produce and spices that were carried and what they were called. If there wasn’t a sign, he would politely ask the vendor what the name of the item was.

You weren’t kidding when you said that I would find all the food pretty much the same as I remembered.

[I did say it was to help in the transition of people crossing realms.]

You did say that. Do you think I will run into anyone else like me?

[Not if you only stay on this planet. But the possibility will increase the longer you stay alive and the stronger you become. Once you leave the planet the chance will increase drastically, and will only increase more the further you travel.]

Alright, good to know.

After walking around for a while he came to a vendor that was selling something that caught his eye. Walking over to the stall he looks over the goods before asking. “This all looks to be sweet corn, would you be able to get or know where I could get grain corn. Preferably dried if possible?”

The vendor looks over to the young man in front of him dressed in monk robes before saying, “I don’t have access to that unfortunately. Most farms I work with only grow sweet corn. You might be able to talk to one of the animal merchants though. Most of the farms that breed livestock normally grow grain corn for feed.”

“Thanks for the info, how much for a one crate?” Zhi places his left hand on one of the crates in front of himself.

“Two Iron coins and 7 bits.” The vendor replies. Zhi reaches into his robe and pulls out 3 Iron coins, not having any bits on him and not completely sure what they are. But it doesn’t really matter after he took that heavy coin pouch last night. He currently has hundreds of Iron coins. Hading the coins to the man, he places them in a pouch and reaches into another pouch pulling out some smaller pieces of iron. Before handing those three little bits of iron back to Zhi.

Zhi gives them a quick look, they are really small slivers of iron. About half an inch tall and a quarter inch wide and thick. Along each side it says 1 Iron Bit, Backed by the Blue Moon Empire. Placing his left hand in his robes he stores the money into his inventory. Placing his hand on the crate in front of him, Zhi says. “Is this crate alright to take or do you want me to take another?”

“That's fine, you can take it. Thank you for your business.” Zhi nods his head in reply while he picks up the crate of corn easily with his left arm and holds it under his left arm against his body. Zhi says, “Thanks for the advice, have a good day.” before turning around and walking away into the crowd of people in the market.

Once out of sight of the vendor Zhi looks around quickly to see if anyone is looking at him. Most people are too busy, haggling or browsing the vendor's wares to pay attention to him. So as he is walking through the crowd he quickly stores his staff and the crate of sweet corn. Looking around, he doesn’t see anyone staring at him, so he begins to walk back the way he came. As he walks through the market, he begins to buy spices, vegetables and even some meat. It isn’t long before he realizes that his inventory space is getting pretty full. He keeps buying whole crates of vegetables and they are piling up quickly.

I might have gone a bit overboard. But I really wanted to make a few dishes. Hey Buddha, how long will this stay last in my inventory? I noticed that the food I was given in the village looks the same as when I got it.

[Items stored in system inventory are put into a moment of stasis and will not decay or age from that point on until removed. Does not affect living objects with consciousness, but will work on non sapient plants and other things.]

Alright, so more bullshit magic. Sounds good to me though. I could even make meals and save them to serve later. This is actually really useful. Thanks alot for the info!

[It is not magic.]

You are correct, it’s bullshit magic.

[....]

Looking at what room he has left in his inventory. He goes to a few more vendors to get oil, and some flour. Then he heads over to where they are keeping livestock. The area is actually on the other side of the market from the food vendors, separated by the trade goods and it’s not hard to tell why. The area is less filled with people and the air smells of dirt, animals and feces. Walking though the area, Zhi walks over to one of the bigger vendors to look around. They cover a decent size area of land and have horses, some cows, pigs and a few other animals for sale. Zhi walks over to one of the people standing in front of a corral of pigs.

“Excuse me, I have a weird question. I wanted to know if it would be possible to buy some grain corn from you. Preferably dried grain corn.”

The man looks up at Zhi, before saying. “I just help sell the pigs, if you want something special you would have to talk to the owner. He is over there in front of that little building by the horses.” The man points over to a small shack. In front of which is a man dressed slightly better than everyone else. He is sitting down in a chair, resting in the shade of the building.

Saying thanks to the man, Zhi walks over to the man sitting in front of the shack. The man for his part notices Zhi walking over and after a quick glance, he stands up and begins to walk over towards Zhi. As the man gets closer he sticks out his hand while his face lights up with a big smile and he says, “Welcome friend, to Little Ting’s Breeding Animals Emporium. I am Lin Tingguang’s, but my friends call me Little Ting.”

Zhi took in the man, before reaching out his hand to give the man a firm shake in return. Little Ting was definitely a fitting name, the man himself was less than 5 foot tall and slight of build. Almost frail looking, but his handshake was firm as Zhi returned the greeting Zhi said, “Pleasure to meet you Little Ting. My name is Ming Zhi and I come with a slightly odd request.”

Both of them release their grip and Ting is the first to speak while somehow giving a bigger smile than before. “I like odd requests, they tend to be worth more money. So what can I help you with today Zhi? Possibly a unique looking breeding stallion? I know a supplier down river who can get me demon beast stallions of the first core level. They are five times stronger than a normal horse but a lot harder to break in. I would get you one that is already broken in of course, but they do cost extra.” His smile is going from ear to ear at this point.

“I actually just wanted to ask if I would be able to buy some already dried out grain corn from you.” Ting for his part doesn’t even seem phased by the question. But his smile is a little smaller now when he replies, “That shouldn’t be too much of a problem. But it would take about a month, and you would have to pay for it in advance. I would have to wait for a supplier to come in, place the order and wait for them to return with the goods. How much are you looking to get?”

“A couple of 50 pound bags worth. But I want yellow corn only, not white.”

“Just a moment, like me, think about this. I need to double check my numbers. Before I give you a quote.” Steps back and pulls out a little book before flipping through it looking for something. Once he finds what he is looking for, Ting begins to mumble to himself a little, it's low but Zhi can still hear as he says, “I normally buy wagon loads, not bags. But a wagon load is 1 Iron Tal and it’s mixed grains with a normal weight of around 500 pounds. So that should be 5 pounds per iron coin, but he wants only yellow not mixed. I don’t think I will be charged extra from my supplier, but I could charge more for that. Yes, that should work I think.”

Ting nods his head, closes the book and steps back over to Zhi before saying. “I can get you two bags for the price of 15 iron coins each. So 30 Iron coins total, paid up front.”

Zhi nods his head and replies, “I will do 11 Iron coins a bag. I am pretty sure compared to normal sweet corn, grain corn isn’t that expensive. “

“Yes but you want me to special order only yellow corn, not the mix I normally get. I will do, 14 Iron coins a bag.”

“Since it is a special order I will do 13 Iron coins a bag, but you only get paid half up front and the rest when I come to pick it up.”

Ting stays quiet for a moment and thinks it over. Before putting his hand forward and saying, “You have a deal Zhi.” Zhi reaches out and shakes the man's offered hand. Ting releases his hand and says, “Now me and let's write out a bill of sale contract and take your down payment.”

Ting leads him to the little shack, inside is a small table and a few chairs along with some cabinets. Reaching inside a cabinet he pulls out two sheets of paper. Then begins to write out a simple contract on one of them. “How do you spell your name and where can I contact you once your items arrive?” Zhi spells out his name and then says, “You should be able to find me at the Blue Jewel Restaurant. Even if I am not there, you should be able to leave a message for me there and I will get it the next day.”

Once finished he reaches into another cabinet and pulls out a small yellow crystal. Placing it on the completed contract the whole paper glows yellow for a moment. He then takes the crystal and places it on the blank paper. Zhi watches in fascination as the contact is written out on the blank paper like it was being fed out of a copy machine.

Once done Ting glances over both contracts and then hands them over to Zhi to read.

________________________

I, Lin Tingguang agree to purchase two 50 pound bags of yellow

Grain corn for Ming Zhi for the agreed price of 13 iron coins a bag.

Ming Zhi will pay half up front and the other half on pickup.

A messenger will be sent to the Blue Jewel Restaurant once items are in stock

And will make a return trip to notify the buyer every two weeks for the first month after.

If Ming Zhi does not pick up his items within one month of delivery

A late fee will incur of 1 Iron coin. If he does not pick up items within two months

All items will be forfeit, as will the prepaid amount.

________________________

Zhi looks them over and finds nothing wrong, signing both contracts he hands them back to Ting. Ting holds out his hand to Zhi and says, “Payment please.” Zhi pulls 13 Iron coins from his robe and hands them over to Ting. Ting takes them and puts them in a pouch before he signs both contracts. Handing one back to Zhi he says, “Pleasure doing business with you. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Zhi gets up from his seat and says, “Maybe, do you know where I can get some quicklime or burnt lime?”

Ting pauses at the question to think. After a moment he says, “Your best bet for something like that would be in the trade goods market next store. I know a few vendors carry limestone there. But I don’t know about quicklime or burnt lime or what exactly those are.”

Zhi sticks out his hand to shake while saying, “That is more than enough help, I will come see you when my items come in.” After shaking hands with the man, Zhi walks out of the shack and heads to the trade goods market. It takes about an hour and talking to a few people, but he found someone who had quicklime and was willing to sell it. With a bag of that now safely tucked into his inventory he walked out of the market area. Heading towards the street he first met Zhao and his conman uncle. He had some divining to do.