Since the god of land thought Ji Yuan was just an ordinary person passing by, Ji Yuan didn't say anything and walked slowly along the river like a gentleman enjoying the scenery, but his eyes were still watching the movements of the god of land.
The land god looks more hunched and shorter than an ordinary old man. Although he has the appearance of a human body, he is probably not the kind of land that becomes a ghost after a person dies.
There are often several types of monsters among the creatures in the earth, and their bodies always tend to look like this. As far as Ji Yuan knows, at least 30% of the land gods are these types of monsters.
The land god in front was immersed in his own world, unaware that he was being followed by someone with a cultivation level far higher than his.
Walking along the river, he saw some ink flowing in the water. The God of Land used his long walking stick to pick it up in the water, creating a stream. He then grabbed it in his hand, looked at it closely, smelled it, and even put a little in his mouth to taste it.
"That's not right. There's no smell. Could it be this place? Did I find the wrong place again?"
The God of Land sprinkled a handful of water in his hand into the river, then hesitated for a moment and continued to swim upstream.
It was obvious that he was looking for something, and Ji Yuan became curious. He also thought about whether it was possible that the target he was looking for was the same as his. If it was really the same target, Ji Yuan would not be in a hurry to find those words. He had to see what happened that made the land god look for it like this.
Although this God of Land is short in stature, his movements are actually quite fast. After all, he is the god of the land who is connected to the earth's veins, and he moves very quickly on the land under his jurisdiction.
Occasionally he would disappear directly into the ground, then reappear in the distance and look around. If Ji Yuan was not also a capable person, ordinary people would definitely lose him.
About half a quarter of an hour later, the God of Land made a huge circle around, inspected many pieces of land along the way, and then arrived at a large workshop built by the water.
When we got here, the scent of ink in the air became much stronger, and the river water beside the workshop would appear half black from time to time. It was obvious that this was a workshop producing "source ink".
Yuan Mo is the signature treasure of Moyuan County of Tingliang State. Ji Yuan knows that a piece of authentic "Yuan Mo" can be sold at a high price in Dazhen. Literati and scholars flock to it to own it, but not everyone can buy it.
This is mainly because although Dazhen and Tingliang Kingdom share a border, they are separated by the long Tingqiu Mountains. Not only are the mountains steep and the roads are rugged, but there are also countless poisonous insects and ferocious beasts, making it extremely difficult to pass through. Instead, it is safer to pass through Zuyue Kingdom and turn to Tingliang Kingdom.
Although Dazhen and Tingliang had good diplomatic relations, trade was so difficult that "Yuan Mo" was hard to come by and was priceless in Dazhen. A piece of top-quality Yuan Mo was comparable to the same weight of silver and was a first-class luxury for scholars.
Of course, the exquisite and gorgeous wood carvings and lacquer tribute objects from Dazhen Ning'an County are also extremely valuable in other countries, and the older the objects are, the more sought after they are.
For example, the yellow wood pen holder that Ji Yuan had at the time was made by an authentic old craftsman from Ning'an County. It cost more than 200 coins back then. Nowadays, such a 20-year-old pen holder can be sold at a sky-high price in places like Tingliang Kingdom and Tianbao Kingdom.
This thought only flashed through Ji Yuan's mind, mainly because he saw the place where the source ink was produced. As a person who also likes to wield ink, he also felt itchy.
"Now that we are in Moyuan County, if it is appropriate, we should get some source ink to use."
Things like the desk decorations of Ning'an County and the ink from Moyuan County are all carefully crafted. The best ones among them are infused with the energy and spirit of the makers and contain a spirit of piety, at least that's what Ji Yuan thinks.
If this kind of thing falls into Ji Yuan's hands, he will also recognize its value, and even bring out a special mystery when using it.
There was constant noise coming from the workshop, and it was obvious that they were producing ink sticks and ink ingots. After the God of Land arrived here, he also slowed down.
The entire workshop has about a dozen rooms of varying sizes, as well as large open spaces in the front and back. Ink makers are busy moving raw materials, changing tools, and going in and out of the workshop.
The God of Land did not go to crowded places. Instead, he walked around the workshop for a few times and then arrived outside a very large house. He stared at the door for a long time.
"Haha, it looks like we can make some progress today."
He stretched out his hand to the focus of his vision, picked up a little ink from the door, put it in front of his nose and sniffed it, and a smile appeared on the face of the God of Land.
Ji Yuan was already nearby by now, but was still just watching from a distance.
With his extraordinary hearing, Ji Yuan knew that there were actually no workers busy in the big house where the land god stayed. There were several large houses like this one that were empty.
The roof of this house is particularly thick, and there are many thick straw mat curtains and wooden boards outside. There are even two old quilts on the door. Just looking at it gives people a feeling that the house is very "warm".
The God of Land looked around as usual, then tapped the ground with his cane twice, and his figure turned into a wisp of green smoke and disappeared into the ground. Just like that, Ji Yuan estimated that he did not leave, but went into the house.
In that case, Ji Yuan simply jumped over the outside of the workshop in a few steps and got close to the outside of the room, but he did not go in immediately. Instead, he listened outside with his Dharma eyes wide open.
Before I could hear anything, two workers came over here carrying a wooden box covered with cloth. A pleasant scent of ink wafted from the box. It was obviously freshly made ink, and it looked to be of good quality.
"Go open the door, I'll carry it."
"good!"
One of the workers ran to the door, lifted the quilt, opened the latch, and then pushed open the heavy door with a "creaky" pivoting sound.
As soon as the door opened, a stronger scent of ink wafted out from the house.
"Come on, hang it up quickly and put it on the first-class shelf."
Apart from a little light coming from the door, there were only two small windows in the room that let in some light, making it very dark. The two of them hurriedly walked into the deepest part of the room almost by feeling the wall.
Then he took out the ink sticks and ink sticks from the wooden box little by little and placed them on the shelf. It was obvious that this was a room specially used for drying ink.
After the source ink is formed, it needs to be dried, and has extremely strict requirements on the temperature. It cannot be exposed to direct sunlight. In addition to the good materials, it is the pursuit of excellence in every link that makes the source so rare.
"Huh? Why are there so many missing?"
"Yes! Aren't there at least two hundred high-quality ink sticks hanging in the first-class area of this room? Why, it feels like almost half of them are gone? Could it be that someone from the boss has come to pick up the goods?"
One person was confused and even a little panicked. If it was lost, it would be a big loss and the boss would be furious.
"I don't know about this either. But, the ink here hasn't dried completely yet. Even if it has, it still needs to be filed, washed, and filled with gold!"
"Oh no! I heard that many ink shops in the county have been robbed recently. The thieves stole the top-quality ink sticks. Could it be that we have been robbed as well?"
"Ah? This! But we were here half an hour ago, and there were quite a few people there. There were so many people in the Mofang, but we didn't see anyone come in. Besides, there are martial arts masters in the workshop..."
"We can't make the decision on this matter, go and inform the boss!"
"Let's go, let's go..."
The two ink makers hurried out of the house with trepidation in their hearts and ran towards the house in front of the ink workshop. As they left, the figure of the God of Land also rose from the floor.
The God of Land held his walking stick, and his hunched figure raised his head and looked around.
"Hehe! You little thieves must be here. The one who stole the ink stick must be some kind of goblin. Why don't you show up and surrender to me? If you can tell me the whole story, I will give you a lighter sentence!"
The God of Land called out and when nothing happened, he sneered and gently slammed his crutch to the ground.
"Boom..."
The sound spread throughout the house, and along with it a faint yellow light flashed.
All of a sudden, even Ji Yuan who was outside the house felt that the whole house had become a lot "heavier". In Fa's eyes, the house was covered with a layer of light yellowish earth, and seemed as solid as the earth.
The questioning voice of the land echoed in the house, but no other sound came out. However, even if the land did not sense any unusual aura at this moment, he concluded that there was a problem here based on the words of the two ink makers before.
"If you don't come out now, I will burn this house down. I wonder if you can stand the blazing fire!"
As soon as these words were spoken, they had a miraculous effect. Immediately, a series of noisy "yayaya" sounds came from every corner of the house, including shrill curses directed at the ground.
"You little old man, if you dare to do this, our master will beat you to death if he finds out!"
"That's right, you old man, we are just a small piece of land. We, we are not afraid of you!"
"Yes, I'm not afraid!" "No, no, no!"
"Yes, yes, don't be afraid!" "Let us out quickly."
"Let us out, and we will go to the master and complain!"
"But where is the master?" "The master is going north!"
"No, it's west!" "No, it's north!"
“Aa ...
For a moment, the room was in chaos...
The God of Land looked surprised. He thought there was only one or at most two monsters, but he didn't expect there seemed to be a large group of them.
"Humph! I don't know who your master is, and I don't know if you are really not afraid of me, but it seems that you are afraid of fire. If you don't surrender, I will burn you!"
The God of Land snorted coldly and banged his walking stick on the ground twice again. For a moment, the room began to shake "boom, boom, boom..." as if there was an earthquake. The ink ingots on the shelf fell to the ground one after another and then sank into the floor.
The God of Land knew very well that this house was not valuable, what was valuable was the source of ink. As long as the ink ingots were there, the owner of the ink shop would not suffer much loss even if the house was burned.
"If you don't come out, I'll take action."
A flame appeared on the God of Land's walking stick, and the noisy chatter in the room suddenly quieted down. Then it became even louder, with cursing, shouting and discussions resounding like a deaf ear, even more lively than a vegetable market.