“Hmm?”
The gourd was just over four inches long, more than two inches wide, with a large belly and a small mouth, topped with a half-inch piece of dried gourd vine.
Lu Zheng casually picked up the gourd. It felt wooden, appearing to be an ordinary gourd covered in a thin layer of black dirt, looking rather grimy.
Lu Zheng wiped away some of the dirt and found the gourd was dark yellow, with a smooth surface. Apart from a faint circle of fine lines near the mouth, it had no seams at all.
“This is…”
Lu Zheng tried to pull it open, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Lu Lang, try infusing it with true qi?” Shen Ying noticed what was happening.
Lu Zheng’s eyes flickered. He infused true qi and probed the gourd’s nature.
A storage treasure!
Inside the gourd was an irregularly shaped gourd-like space, three zhang in radius, equivalent to a full thousand cubic metres of volume.
On the inner wall of the gourd space was inscribed a formula, the method to control the gourd for storing and retrieving items.
“A storage artifact, with a space of three zhang in radius,” Lu Zheng sighed.
In this world, storage artifacts were not common. They required rare materials and could only be crafted by great masters, so they weren’t standard equipment for everyone.
Though the gourd was currently empty, the gourd itself was an immense find.
But, by rights, this gourd should belong to Hou Ping… shouldn’t it?
Lu Zheng couldn’t help but swallow hard, wondering what he could offer to trade with Hou Ping for this gourd.
“That’s brilliant!” Hou Ping clapped and laughed, then said to Lu Zheng and Shen Ying, “With this, Young Master Lu can carry things much more easily.”
“It’s yours, something your master left for you,” Shen Ying said with a smile.
Hou Ping waved his hands repeatedly. “I may be naive, but I’m not foolish. The technique on the wall is the foundation of my path, but it’s not that important to you, Fairy and Young Master. You’ve looked after me, guided my cultivation, and I’m endlessly grateful. I have no wealth to offer, only my wish to repay you. I was thinking of picking fresh fruits for you both each year as a token of gratitude, but now we’ve found this gourd. Isn’t it just fate?”
Hou Ping bowed repeatedly with clasped hands. “I’m just playing and cultivating in the mountains. This gourd is useless to me. It’s better for Young Master to take it for greater use.”
So sensible…
Lu Zheng did want the gourd, so he didn’t bother with false courtesies. But since Hou Ping wasn’t an enemy, taking it without giving something in return didn’t sit right with him.
“This gourd is indeed useful to me, but I can’t just take it,” Lu Zheng said. “You’ll face enemies while cultivating in the mountains. I’ll teach you the Cold Condensation Spell to help you fend them off. I’ll also forge you a weapon. Choose from sword, spear, staff, axe, mace, or hook.”
Lu Zheng was at a loss. After reviewing his techniques, it seemed the only ones he could freely teach were the Meridian Calming Breathing Method and the Cold Condensation Spell.
The Flying Feather Soaring Sword Scripture, though he had seized it, belonged to a sect that still existed, so he couldn’t spread it freely.
As for the Tiger Roar Blade and the Eighteen Mountain-Bearing Forms, Hou Ping’s foundation was demonic qi, and having learned the breathing technique, he wasn’t suited to martial arts techniques.
Hou Ping’s face lit up, and he hurriedly said, “I want a staff! It feels right. I used to fight other beasts with tree branches. Now I’ll finally have a proper weapon!”
“Good!” Lu Zheng nodded in agreement.
Having gained a storage artifact, Lu Zheng decided to craft a fine staff for Hou Ping.
But…
Did all monkeys love staffs? Too bad Hou Ping’s surname wasn’t Sun.
Lu Zheng wouldn’t go out of his way to change Hou Ping’s name for his own amusement. The three dug up the bones beneath the stone pile and found the gourd was the only relic.
Hou Ping wrapped the bones in cloth, dug a pit near the cave wall outside, and buried them.
“Young Master, I can’t write yet. Could you make a gravestone for my master?” Hou Ping looked at Lu Zheng eagerly.
Lu Zheng had no objection. He took his red jade sword, grabbed a large stone from the cave, smoothed its six sides, and set it before the grave, using his sword as a pen.
“Tomb of an Unknown Wanderer”
“Erected by Disciple of a Later Generation, Hou Ping”
“How’s this?” Lu Zheng asked Hou Ping, explaining the text on the stone.
“Good, good, good! This is perfect!” Hou Ping nodded repeatedly.
He kowtowed several times to the grave, then stood. The three left the valley and headed back to Peach Blossom Ridge.
…
After arranging for Hou Ping to work at Peach Blossom Shrine, where Qian Bo and An Bo would teach him to read, Lu Zheng and Shen Ying returned to Peach Blossom Manor.
“A mustard seed universe, a world within a gourd,” Shen Ying said, looking at the gourd in Lu Zheng’s hand. “Lu Lang, show me how it works.”
Shen Ying had never seen a storage artifact and was curious.
“I’ll try!” Lu Zheng had already studied the formula inside the gourd. After learning it, he spent five points of luck light to master it.
He pulled off the cap, aimed the gourd’s mouth at a stone bench in the courtyard, and said, “Collect.” The bench shrank with the wind and was sucked into the gourd in an instant.
“Release!”
Lu Zheng urged the gourd with true qi, selected the bench inside, and it flew out, growing back to size and landing in its original spot.
“What a fine artifact!” Shen Ying laughed. “Now we won’t need to carry so much when we go to the hot springs or visit friends.”
Lu Zheng nodded, sighing. The essential newbie perk for transmigrators across myriad worlds was finally his!
A bit late, but he was indeed the chosen one!
“Speaking of which, I have to call you out,” Lu Zheng teased. “Even some no-name hillbilly systems come with storage space, but you, a top-tier treasure that can draw on the luck of the heavens, don’t even have a built-in storage space?”
The jade seal: “…”
…
“Can this thing collect and release to use against enemies?” Shen Ying asked.
“No,” Lu Zheng shook his head. “The gourd has no binding or restraining runes. To collect a person, they’d have to not resist. Besides, there are no sealing spells inside, so even if someone was collected, they could still cast spells or fight.”
Shen Ying blinked. “Wouldn’t they just break the gourd from the inside?”
“Exactly,” Lu Zheng nodded. “So it’s just a storage artifact.”
“That’s still great. You can carry your weapons and artifacts with you now,” Shen Ying said, covering her mouth with her sleeve, laughing softly.
Lu Zheng pursed his lips. He’d fought many battles in this ancient world, but most were sudden, and aside from a few times, his peachwood sword and embroidered spring saber had mostly gathered dust at home, such a waste.
Now, with this gourd, anyone who dared come at him would face his full arsenal!
