Ling Su got to work harvesting the spiritual herbs while Xiao Ye headed into town to procure an axe.

He planned to chop down spiritual trees as well. Since they were living over what was essentially an array to absorb spiritual energy, they might as well profit from it. Spiritual herbs growing closer to their clearing were always a bit stunted.

From Ling Ye’s limited knowledge, Huo Ye knew that spiritual wood was more durable than regular wood. With a skilled woodworker, products could even become enchanted. To work with spiritual wood, the average person would normally need a practitioner to absorb any energy residing in it. Only very skilled practitioners could work with raw wood, but finding a practitioner in such a job was highly unlikely as they have much better options than being a smith.

Refined spiritual wood was rather moderately priced, not too rare but not bad either. It was definitely much better than whatever they were making now.

Huo Ye was a bit disappointed. The Lings only had enough money to cover their normal expenditure. Their money for emergencies barely totalled up to a week’s worth. As he went down the mountain with a hundred copper coins tied in the hem of his shirt, his fist gently fondled the bulge as if in reassurance of its presence.

Huo Ye marvelled as the fog seemed to give way to him. He instinctively knew the path to follow even though it changed with every breath.

He gasped a sigh of relief as he finally made it out. A part of him feared that the Lings talent was linked to their souls and would leave him stranded in the woods.

He put on a cheery smile, casually ambling into town. Everything was new to him, though he had technically experienced it all already.

Huo Ye made his way to the woodcutter, patiently waiting as the other customers were seen to.

 Many people flocked in, usually weekly, to secure firewood. Chopping down trees was not only arduous work, but required a lot of time as well. Villagers were very content in paying for another to work so they could all benefit. It was a good and steady business though one had to pay steep charges for Shaluyu’s help in processing the raw wood.

Busy absorbing the sights, Huo Ye felt a slight chill as an intense gaze swept over him. He spun around, quickly drawing his eyes to the frowning woodcutter.

“What do you want?”

Huo Ye clutched his head as his memories of the woodcutter became more defined. Ren Shi, an honest man who had lost his leg with Shaluyu’s invasion. He’d lived quietly since then. He has no family and so mostly kept to himself. The only blight in his life was the youth standing in front of him. Ling Ye had the habit of teasing any survivor who went against Shaluyu in the beginning. He called them traitors and cowards, driving away customers and just being a nuisance.

Huo Ye looked down bashfully.

Why couldn’t this brat just be a bit more courteous? Little hypocrite!

“I would like to buy an axe, sir.”

Ren Shi’s eyebrow arched incredulously. Not only was Xiao Ye being respectful, but he actually wanted to purchase something from his shop.

“Eighty copper.”

 Huo Ye was sceptical. Money was very scarce in their village as most people liked to shop with a barter system. The very few people who would purchase goods from wandering merchants or apply to leave the village temporarily were the only ones in need of coins. The worth of a copper coin was then almost twice times its value outside the village.

Huo Ye had a gut feeling that Ren Shi was hiking up the price to either mess with him or deter him from buying.

Huo Ye sighed and handed over the coins. He stood awkwardly as Ren Shi retrieved an axe from a corner and thrust it into his hands.

“Anything else?”

Huo Ye shook his head and blinked rapidly. Ren Shi scowled at the youth until he saw his retreating back round the corner.

Huo Ye smiled broadly as he skipped to the carpenter. The excitement he felt when he was able to make his transaction in coins left him feeling a bit high. The Lings did not farm nor were they artisans. The effectiveness of using the barter system was quite low as they didn’t have much to offer. As their main customers were from Shaluyu, unbeknownst to Xiao Ye, their income was mostly in the form of coins. Huo Ye was much older and more experienced that the thirteen year old Ling Ye. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together to realise that there was no way the siblings could have survived off the profits from the villagers. It was more likely that Ling Su was selling the medicinal herbs to Shaluyu.

Much like the villagers needed herbs with healing properties, the bandits had extremely tasking jobs and were often injured. Being out of commission meant losing money. Minor wounds could be healed through cultivation. Spiritual herbs¹plants infused with spiritual energy and are typically of use to only cultivators as mortals cannot handle the energy they contain without any adverse effectswhich would accelerate the process were scarce in their locality. Buying and transportation of these herbs were very expensive, hence they were rarely used. Medicinal herbs² regular plants which have medicinal properties which are used by mortals, though a few have a little efficacy on cultivators would be used in place when necessary.

Huo Ye pondered silently, empathising with Ling Su who had to hide this for who knows how long. He walked into the carpenter’s shop on autopilot and was greeted with a gust of wind carrying sawdust.

Huo Ye coughed, furiously rubbing his eyes. He teared up, struggling to see the lean body apologising to him. Shao Zihan, the deceptively young carpenter, who was nearing his thirties, but could easily pass for eighteen. His nephew, Shao Wu who really was eighteen, had just walked up beside him with a face which made them practically twins. Their phoenix eyes held different emotions. Shao Zihan's, a mixture of pity and guilt while Shao Wu's seemed to be trying their best to set him aflame.

Huo Ye once again experienced a rush as he was able to recognise the two. It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out that meeting people was the trigger to recover his memories. He was relieved as he realised he wouldn’t need to play the amnesia card. It was well and easy just having a change in attitude but a sudden loss of memory as well would get him suspected of being an impostor. He knew few villagers had a favourable impression of Ling Ye, but he doubted that they’d take kindly to him impersonating one of their own. Coupled with the fact that the real Ling Ye was dead or rather not on the same plane of existence, he most definitely would not have an easy time.

After taking in a deep breath, Huo Ye exhaled slowly and smiled warmly. “Good morning.”