The economy of this world is running on spirit stones. There is an art to it. These stones come from mining of areas near spiritual veins and spiritual lakes. One day of works get you about 1 low grade stone, which is enough to buy you 3 meals of beef soup and noodles. 1 day of manual labor can get you 1 low grade stone.
A local lady of the night charges per hour and wants 2 low grade stones for an hour and 10 stones for the night. Me, being me and He Lu being a brokie had to walk out of the red lit street with my head held low because no money, no honey.
This can not be allowed to stand and Money has taken demoted a sweaty Violet Myers from the top of my list of things to have. I asked around the food stalls if any had an opening and all shoo-ed me away. Understandable, who wants to hire a malnourished guy when you're trying to sell food. Bad optics.
Walking around I finally came to a small worn out sign stating Lo Yu- Litigation Master. The office door didn't just creak; it popped off its hinges. He Lu rode it down like a wooden surfboard, face-planting spectacularly into a cloud of floor dust.
Behind the desk, Lo Yu shrieked. He frantically tried to shove a pair of pink, lacy silk Panties into his robes, missed completely, and they landed draped over his head.
"I wasn't smelling Madame Wang's unwashed Panties!" Lo Yu yelled, crossing his arms defensively. "It's evidence! For a... a very complex tort case!"
He Lu peeled his face off the floorboards. He froze, his nose twitching. He crawled closer, sniffing the air like a bloodhound.
"...Is that grool and sweat from the Lady Wang the Dresser?" He Lu asked in awe.
Lo Yu stopped struggling, the pink bloomers still hanging over his left eye. "How do you know that specific bouquet?"
With a solemn expression, He Lu reached into his own sleeve and pulled out a crumpled, blue silk thong. "Because I, too, walk the sacred Dao of the Creamy Gusset. I lifted these from the drying line of the Noodle Lady this morning."
Lo Yu gasped, kicking his desk so hard he flipped backward in his chair. He scrambled up from the floor, his eyes shining with feverish reverence. "The Sweaty Maiden?! Let me get a whiff! Just one whiff to cleanse my meridians!"
He Lu snatched them out of reach, striking a martial arts pose. "Job first! sixty spirit stones a month, room, board, and visiting rights to your 'evidence' locker!"
"One stone! And we trade collections on Tuesdays!"
CRASH. A massive, flaming broadsword shattered the window, lodging itself in the wall. Outside, a woman's voice roared, "I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE, YOU DEGENERATE PANTY-THIEF!"
Lo Yu dove under his desk, clutching Madame Wang's Panties for dear life. "Fifty five stones! Grab the evidence sack and block the window!"
"Yes, Boss!" He Lu saluted with the blue silk, threw himself at the window, and immediately tripped over a bucket, flying headfirst out into the street.
I quickly learned that the economy of this world runs on spirit stones, and I had exactly zero of them. I spent an hour drooling outside a noodle stall, figuring out the exchange rate. One day of back-breaking manual labor gets you one low-grade stone. One low-grade stone gets you three hot bowls of beef soup.
More importantly, a local lady of the night bathed in red lantern light informed me that her hourly rate was two stones. Ten for the whole night. >Me being me, and He Lu's body being a walking tragedy, I had to do the walk of shame out of the red-light district with my head hung low. No money, no honey. This could not stand. Earning spirit stones immediately demoted a sweaty Violet Myers from the top of my priority list.