Chapter Twenty-One: Boy’s Urine

A length of yellow paper was swiftly cut by the shopkeeper into several stacks of talisman paper, each two inches wide and eight and a half inches long, totaling 172 sheets, with the leftover scraps naturally discarded. Once everything was prepared, Li Yunfei asked the shopkeeper, "Sir, could you please tally up the cost?"

The shopkeeper replied, "Cinnabar is three yuan per gram, altogether three hundred. The yellow paper is twenty yuan per roll, and one roll is exactly one zhang. Since you bought a lot of cinnabar, I won’t charge you for the yellow paper."

After speaking, the shopkeeper turned to Li Yunfei again. "Young man, do you have boy’s urine?"

Li Yunfei was reaching into his pocket, pretending to take out money, but in fact he was extracting items from his system inventory. He answered, "No, I planned to ask around and see which households have children, then request them to collect some for me."

The shopkeeper chuckled, "No need for all that trouble. I have some here."

Li Yunfei was pleasantly surprised. "You sell boy’s urine here?"

With a smile, the shopkeeper explained, "I’ve spoken with the local children. When they need to pee, they come here, and when the amount reaches a certain level, I give them lollipops. So I’ve collected quite a bit. Wait here, I’ll fetch it for you."

Li Yunfei was overjoyed, never expecting such resourcefulness from the old man. The hardest material to collect was thus resolved.

One must know, a boy and a virgin male are not the same. What is called boy’s urine refers specifically to urine from a boy who has not yet undergone sexual maturation. Once they reach puberty and can produce sperm, they are no longer considered boys, only virgins. Typically, urine from children under ten is genuine boy’s urine; above ten, it might not be.

If Li Yunfei had searched on his own, it would have been difficult to gather enough in a short time.

Soon, the shopkeeper came out holding a graduated glass bottle filled with pale yellow liquid. "This is boy’s urine, exactly five hundred milliliters. Rest assured, it’s the real thing."

"In ancient times, doctors used this as a medicinal guide, but nowadays, nobody does that anymore."

"Those who buy boy’s urine these days are all geomancers. If it’s not authentic, serious problems can arise."

"So I pay close attention to this matter. Every time a child comes to pee, I watch closely."

Li Yunfei trusted the shopkeeper’s words. As soon as he took the bottle, the item in his system skill panel, previously grayed out, lit up in gold—indicating that he had successfully collected this material.

The same happened for the cinnabar, yellow paper, and brush; after he touched each item, their names lit up. Now, only rooster blood remained.

"I believe you, sir. How much is this bottle of boy’s urine?"

The shopkeeper replied, "I don’t have a set price for this. Just pay what you see fit. It costs almost nothing, just a few lollipops and a glass bottle."

Li Yunfei didn’t argue, reaching into his pocket to extract a thousand yuan from his system inventory. He counted out five bills and handed them to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper quickly waved him off. "You’re generous, but that’s really too much. Three hundred fifty is enough."

Li Yunfei smiled and pressed five hundred yuan into the shopkeeper’s hand. "You’re an honest man, doing business with integrity. I’m not short on money, so please keep it! I’ll be back when I need more materials, and I’ll trouble you to collect more boy’s urine."

Seeing Li Yunfei’s sincerity, the shopkeeper no longer protested. He glanced at the off-road vehicle parked outside and nodded. "I can tell—young men who are short on money wouldn’t bother learning this. Those who specialize in it only scrape by. I won’t be polite then."

"Don’t worry. I’ll do my best to collect this for you, so you’ll always have it when needed."

He then took a graduated cup from the shelf and handed it to Li Yunfei. "Consider this a bonus, a gift to make things a bit easier."

Li Yunfei accepted it gladly and smiled. "Thank you, sir. Until next time."

"Take care."

Li Yunfei gathered his materials, left the shop, and stowed everything in his system inventory once inside the car.

The shopkeeper stood in the doorway and seemed to remember something. He called out loudly, "Young man, for rooster blood, go to Du Hua’s chicken farm at the east end of the village!"

"He raises a flock of old roosters. Just say you were sent by Master Xiang, the papercrafter, and he’ll give you a good price."

"But if you’re just practicing, ordinary chicken blood will do—buying an old rooster isn’t cost-effective."

Li Yunfei lowered his window and nodded to the shopkeeper. "Thank you, Master Xiang. I understand."

He started the car and headed east along the highway.

After driving about three hundred meters, he saw, a hundred meters off the highway to the right, a large iron shed beside a single-story house. That must be the chicken farm Master Xiang mentioned.

A dirt road branched off the highway, leading to the farm. Li Yunfei drove straight in.

Outside the farm, the cacophony of clucking chickens could be heard. The little fox sitting in the passenger seat perked up with excitement.

"Eeee, eeee..."

Li Yunfei laughed and turned to her. "Don’t worry, I’ve brought plenty of chicken meat and eggs for you. You won’t miss out. Soon, I’ll treat you to old rooster."

The little fox stuck out her tongue and lowered her head, making a bashful gesture very much like a human.

Li Yunfei teased, "So you know how to be embarrassed! Well, you’d better wait in the car. If I bring a fox into the chicken farm, the owner might throw us out."

"Eee," she responded, curling her lip with indifference.

Li Yunfei laughed, ruffled her head, then got out and walked toward the farm.

Du Hua, the owner, was eating dinner. Hearing the car, he came out with his bowl to see who had arrived.

Du Hua was a man in his fifties, short and stout, with a ruddy complexion—a sign of a comfortable life.

"Having dinner, Mr. Du?" Li Yunfei greeted him with a friendly smile.

Du Hua smiled back. "Yes, and you are?"

"I’m here to buy some chickens. Master Xiang, the papercrafter, sent me. He said you have old roosters."

Du Hua nodded in understanding, went back to set down his bowl and spoke a few words to his wife, then came out and beckoned Li Yunfei. "Follow me."

Li Yunfei followed him toward the chicken coop.

Du Hua pulled a cigarette from his pocket and offered one to Li Yunfei.

Li Yunfei declined. "Thank you, but I don’t smoke. Don’t trouble yourself."

Du Hua stuck the cigarette in his mouth. "So, you’re a geomancer?"

Li Yunfei nodded. "That’s right. Mr. Du, what’s the age of your oldest roosters?"

Du Hua answered, "The oldest are three, all over five years old."

Li Yunfei hesitated. Only five years old?

He asked, puzzled, "Only five years?"

Du Hua laughed. "The average lifespan of a chicken is six to seven years. Very few live past ten. A five-year-old rooster is considered very old."

Li Yunfei was enlightened. He’d never paid attention to a chicken’s lifespan—apart from egg-laying hens, few chickens survive a year without being slaughtered.

So chickens really don’t live that long.

Du Hua continued, "There’s an old saying: ‘Dogs don’t reach eight years, chickens don’t live six.’ It means once they exceed those ages, chickens and dogs may start gaining intelligence, even becoming spirits."

Li Yunfei laughed. "That’s just a tale. City folks keep dogs till they die of old age, but I’ve never seen a spirit dog!"

Du Hua shrugged. "That’s tradition, passed down through generations. Who knows if it’s true? But I will say, the older the chicken or dog, the more human-like they become."