[Cozy Fantasy] [Farming LitRPG] The Chronicles of Emberstone Farm

Chapter 127 - I have it on good au-thority that there will be no pun-alties

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Since I was going shopping, I put on my favorite [Noble Scholar] set that made me look refined and elegant without being overdressed. It was made of fine cotton, not silk, and was embroidered with a green bamboo design. The white jade pendant that hung from its belt was in the shape of two dragons chasing each other and had green tassels. Comfortable flat ballet shoes completed the outfit.

The flying carriage arrived right on time, three hours before noon. I was hoping to finish everything I needed to do today before dinnertime.

Wukan town was an hour away, and I spent the time inside the carriage going over my plans. I’d asked Yinuo and my apprentices if they wanted to go with me. They were willing to accompany me to Wukan, but, for some strange reason, when I said I was going to Hongzhen, too, they all looked at me blankly and then said they didn’t want to go.

My apprentices must still be upset that we lost the Mid-Autumn Festival contest. I admit it was unfair that the Hongzhen judges favored their own people over outsiders, but that was exactly why I told them we should visit the town and befriend the locals.

Adventure Incarnate had a hidden mechanic where the contest judges would rate the player’s entry not only based on the stall’s contents, but also based on the player’s favorability rating. Favorability could be easily increased by buying clothes from the silk shop and books from the bookstore as well as donating money to the temple.

Before that though, I would stop by Wukan to use the two Astrology starter book coupons I got and buy as many books as I could. The most unpopular skill ever introduced in Adventure Incarnate, Astrology, was learned by reading books, which almost every player, including myself and GodIAm, considered deeply, tragically lame.

To be fair, the skill was created in order to curb the game’s rampant inflation problem. Every day, more and more gold coins were added to the game via farming, mining, crafting, etc. which caused the value of the players’ existing gold to plummet.

That’s why the Astrology skill was created. It functioned as a money sink to remove gold from the game, by making players buy expensive books from an NPC. Just getting a few basic Astrology levels cost ten million gold and leveling it up to 99 meant spending two hundred million gold.

Truly, the Adventure Incarnate developers were sadistic imps!

I was still mentally fuming over the perfidy of people who took the easy way out instead of creating a proper skill when the flying carriage arrived at Wukan.

A female White Tiger clan member helped me down from the vehicle and I looked around with interest. This was the first time for me to visit the town. The carriage had landed on top of a small hill and I could see that behind us was the hilltop observatory that was my goal.

Crafted from brown local stone, the tower stood tall, perhaps around 40 feet, and was crowned with a blue dome-shaped roof made of some shiny metal. A heavy wooden door, carved with mystical symbols, was at the base of the tower.

Below us was the town, which was rather small and consisted of only a few dozen wooden houses clustered together. All around the town were paddy fields dotted here and there with small farmhouses.

“How pretty,” I said to my escort.

“We sent word ahead of time, so the family is expecting you,” said the clan member as she gestured towards the tower.

Sure enough, a few seconds later the door opened and three old men wearing blue and gold robes embroidered with star symbols appeared. They were senior members of the astrologer clan. We exchanged greetings, and we all went inside.

The tower’s interior was a little musty though brightly lit by smoking torches. The lowest level was a large reception room, but we took the central spiral staircase all the way to the top where they proudly showed me their telescope.

“Incredible!” I was sincere in my praise.

The ancient telescope was a marvel of craftsmanship. The brass frame, adorned with silver inlay with an intricate abstract design, had been lovingly polished so that it shone brightly in the dimness of the main chamber. The lenses, I was told, were magical ones that never cracked or needed to be cleaned. I made more sounds of admiration when they showed me how the roof could be retracted to allow them to use the telescope to view the heavens.

Once the tour was done, they led me to an office where we got down to business.

“I have these coupons for starter books,” I said as I gave them the System items.

“Oh, excellent! My nephew gave a few of these away during the winter festival five years ago. I'm glad to see that people kept them,” said the oldest one who seemed to be in charge. He took the coupons and handed them to one of the others who went off, presumably to fetch the books.

The office was a small stone chamber with one tiny window near the ceiling that let in a good amount of light. Flickering oil lamps provided more light. The wooden desk and chairs seemed old, their carvings worn smooth, but they were sturdy and made of good-quality rosewood.

“I’d like to buy more books.” I read the list of the required books from the System’s Astrology tab.

[Celestial Insights: Navigating Your Destiny Through the Stars]

[Astrology and the Human Psyche: Understanding Your Inner Universe]

[The Zodiac Code: Decoding Your Cosmic Blueprint]

[Planetary Patterns: Discovering Your Life's Cosmic Design]

[Stars and Serendipity: A Guide to Astrological Timing]

[The Astrologer's Handbook: Mastering the Art of Celestial Interpretation]

[Cosmic Connections: Exploring Relationships Through Astrology]

[Astrological Almanac: Your Guide to the Celestial Cycles]

[Mapping Your Destiny: Astrological Insights for Personal Growth]

[The Astrology of Wellness: Nurturing Body and Soul with the Stars]

The astrologer frowned. “We have all of those, but they're quite valuable.”

“It’s okay, I brought a lot of money with me,” I said. “How much?”

“I can give you a ten percent discount since you’re buying ten.” He picked up an abacus from his desk and started calculating the price while muttering figures under his breath. “Eight million plus three million twenty thousand… thirty million… minus the discount… taxes…”

It took him quite a while and when he finished, he put the abacus down with a sigh.

“One hundred million coins. I’m sorry but the last two books that you listed are extremely valuable. Without those, I could give you the other eight for only two million,” he said.

“Okay, let’s go outside then,” I said.

“I understand,” said the senior astrologer.

We all got up and went outside. They handed me my free books.

“Thanks. Here’s the payment then,” I said.

The office was just too small for me to withdraw one hundred million gold coins from my stack, so we had to go outside for me to take them out. I waved a hand and the coins appeared on the ground at the foot of the hill. One hundred million coins was quite a lot, so it made a small hill of its own.

“Holy stars!” said the senior astrologer. His eyes nearly fell out of their sockets.

“G-gold,” said the youngest one. He fell to his knees and reached a trembling hand towards the glistening heap of gold coins below us.

The other astrologer’s mouth fell open and he put a hand on his chest as though he was about to have a heart attack.

Even I was taken aback by the size of the stack of coins. I thought it would fill an area around the size of an Olympic swimming pool, but this was more than quadruple that.

I coughed and said, “I assume this is fine? Can I have the books now, please?”

The White Tiger clan member, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up, “My lady, when they said one hundred million coins, I believe they meant copper coins.”

“Whaaaat?” I was shocked. “But I don’t have one hundred million copper coins!”

This was a disaster!

Wait, no it wasn’t! Wasn’t this an insane discount compared to the expected price of buying all the books for level 99 Astrology?

“I’m sure they’ll accept gold coins. One gold coin can be exchanged for four hundred copper coins,” said the clan member.

My mind reeled at the thought of paying four hundred times less money than I thought I would need. How amazing! I used the System calculator and then turned to the senior astrologer. “Is that acceptable? One hundred million copper coins is equivalent to… two hundred fifty thousand gold coins, right?”

He nodded. It seemed he was in shock and unable to speak just yet.

I put the coins back in my inventory and said, “Do you have a chest or something I could put the coins in?”

They led me back inside where I placed the coins on their kitchen table.

“Thank you. It was great doing business with you!” I said once they handed me the ten books I needed.

We said our goodbyes and left the tower.

“Pardon me, my lady,” said my escort after helping me board the flying carriage. “Something’s come up, and I’ll need to stay here. The driver will bring you back to your farm.”

“What? But I was going to Hongzhen,” I said.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“Aw, it’s okay. The trip isn’t urgent anyway, I was just gonna go shopping,” I said. “I’ll go back home then. Is something wrong? Are you going to be alright?”

“I'll be fine, thank you for asking. Have a safe trip,” she said.

I wondered what had happened. She didn't seem to want to talk about it, so I dropped the subject and just left.

It was only after I had already returned to the farm that I realized that I had made a huge mistake.

Chapter 127.5

An excerpt from the journal of Shuye Skullcrusher, Guardian of the Ancient Hill Forest:

When Violet informed me that she wanted to buy books from the astrologer clan, I sent her off with a driver and guard.

Who knew that she would conjure up a literal mountain of gold coins?

Thankfully, the guard I assigned to her had the presence of mind to send an emergency signal immediately, before there was a riot. The local branch of the clan swiftly arrived to keep watch and protect the tower and its residents. The two hundred thousand gold coins Violet left behind were spirited away by two dozen warriors who safely deposited them in the nearest clan bank.

Many people from Wukan town saw the gold, and word somehow spread that there was a hidden magical treasure trove under the hill. Hundreds of people formed gangs and started digging for gold.

I’ve sent people to try to persuade them that the mountain of gold was just an optical illusion caused by a rare solar phenomenon.

And next time, I'll send a higher-ranking guard with Violet, someone senior enough to advise her and speak up when she's about to do something outrageous. Hopefully, someone who is able to protect her not just from danger, but also from her own lack of common sense.

Could Violet come from a place where there are mountains of gold lying around?