Fairy, Please Forgive Me, I Never Meant to Impersonate Your Husband

Chapter 5: Spirit-Source Architecture, Ancient Relay Station

Wu Yuan finally checked the small bundle issued by the Immigration Bureau. Just as he remembered, each bundle contained a rusted, blunt knife and ten copper coins.

The coins gleamed yellow, faintly shimmering with archaic charm and runic light, unlike the ancient copper coins of Longxia on Earth, these bore traces of the extraordinary.

The blunt knife wasn’t equipment. In the Tianyuan World, true equipment referred to items imbued with elemental force (yuanli) or even spiritual light, things that could be refined with a drop of blood and provide usage information. This knife was nothing of the sort.

Again, this isn’t a game.

Unfortunately, far too few understood that.

Ignoring the crowds chattering about “killing monsters,” “class changes,” and “crappy starter gear,” Wu Yuan and his doppelganger swiftly turned onto a side road, heading straight toward another town gate.

There, they found a structure resembling a large Roman colosseum encircling a smaller one, with a towering, hundred-zhang-tall statue of a goddess at its center. A massive sign read:

“Qingqiao Town Runic Warehouse.”

The Runic Warehouse wasn’t a storage facility for runes—rather, it was a commercial space that provided dimensional storage services.

The surrounding colosseum-like buildings were eateries and leisure shops catering to the warehouse’s visitors.

These businesses thrived because accessing the Runic Warehouse didn’t require entering the main building. Within a *one-li radius of the goddess statue, one could burn a spatial talisman to connect to a designated storage space.

(*“Li” (里) in Chinese is a unit of distance, roughly equivalent to 500 meters or one-third of a mile.)

This method might seem cumbersome, but it was how dimensional storage worked in the real world, not a game.

Storage spaces were tiered by size, requiring different grades of talismans:

Gray, White, Copper, Silver, Gold, Violet, Black… and beyond.

Most spaces only required a drop of blood on the talisman, burning it would open the storage based on the blood’s aura.

But some special vaults couldn’t be accessed with blood alone. They required a spoken passphrase.

Wu Yuan was here because he knew two such passphrases.

The first came from a treasure book deciphered in his first dream-memory, though it only held a modest sum of money.

The second, far more valuable, was memorized from a video where someone bragged about their loot online in his second dream-memory. This was his foundation for future success.

Right now, Wu Yuan and his doppelganger’s combined wealth amounted to two blunt knives and twenty copper coins.

Among the eateries around the Runic Warehouse, he avoided the grand, opulent ones and chose a shabby teahouse in a secluded corner.

He spent all twenty coins to rent a private booth, receiving a White Talisman with a passphrase and a pot of cheap tea in return.

Once the waiter left, Wu Yuan didn’t hesitate. He pricked his finger and let a drop of blood fall onto the talisman.

The blood wasn’t for authentication, it merely strengthened his mental connection to the storage space.

The talisman ignited without flame, and his consciousness expanded, pulled into a vast, grid-like warehouse.

He recited the memorized passphrase.

A cluster of runes flared, carrying his mind at lightning speed to a small cubicle and depositing his consciousness inside.

His body shuddered slightly as a mental image of a one-meter cube materialized in his mind.

A quick scan confirmed the contents matched his dream-memory. With a thought, the items inside tumbled onto the table.

There were only three things:

An ornate coin pouch, filled to the brim.

A sheathed dagger.

A large clothing bundle containing three sets of semi-new commoner attire, complete with shoes, socks, and headscarves.

He immediately emptied the pouch, revealing 160 silver coins, equivalent to 16,000 copper coins, or the combined wealth of 1,600 newcomers.

On Earth’s black market, this sum would soon sell for 1.6 million.

A grin spread across his face.

This money was crucial—the first fortune is always the hardest to obtain, and it was key to his upcoming plans.

Next, he drew the dagger. Its blade gleamed like liquid ice, far sharper than the blunt knife he’d received earlier.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t true “equipment” either, lacking yuanli or spiritual light. Still, it was a massive upgrade.

Finally, he and his doppelganger changed into the new clothes. Their previous rags were kept—waste not, want not.

The Second Vault – A Priceless Treasure

Wu Yuan then called the waiter back and spent 10 silver coins on a Silver Talisman.

The waiter, accustomed to customers suddenly upgrading their attire, simply pocketed the money happily.

Wu Yuan didn’t activate the talisman immediately. Instead, he carefully rehearsed the passphrase, a mix of Tang script and an obscure dialect, ensuring perfect pronunciation.

This time, he was nervous.

He knew he had only one attempt.

This vault had been sealed for thousands of years.

Originally, it had been rented using a valuable collateral deposit, but the deposit’s worth had long since expired. The Runic Warehouse’s administrators couldn’t open it, but the space’s structural integrity had degraded over time.

A single mispronunciation could destabilize the space, collapsing it and destroying everything inside.

Luck was on his side.

The passphrase was flawless. His consciousness surged forward, wrapped in silver runes, traveling deep into the warehouse’s recesses.

But before he could inspect the contents, he felt the space warping under the strain of his amplified consciousness.

Not good.

Acting fast, he grabbed everything inside and yanked his mind back.

BOOM!

Dust exploded. Coughing, he and his doppelganger were left covered in soot.

When the air cleared, Wu Yuan saw what he’d retrieved:

A shoe-box-sized model house, exquisitely detailed—complete with windows, a courtyard, a well, and farmland. Mist curled around it, flickering with faint spiritual light.

Three stone tablets (one white, two gray), etched with intricate runes.

Two metal chests:

One held ten palm-sized ingots of purple-veined, scale-patterned gold (each weighing one jin).

The other contained two jade-sealed pill bottles, labeled:

“Stone Milk”

“Three Flowers, Three Herbs Elixir”

Wu Yuan’s hands trembled as he picked up the miniature house.

This was the Ancient Relay Station, a Spirit-Source Architecture, one of the rare structures capable of independent existence in the wild and even upgrading.

Though currently model-sized, a drop of blood would transform it into a full-sized complex, complete with lodging, dining, farming, and more.

Like the Soul-Mimic Mask, it was damaged, missing key components. But it was still functional enough to give him an early advantage.

The purple-veined gold alone was worth tens of thousands of gold coins, a staggering windfall.

The pills’ efficacy was uncertain, but the tablets and gold were already a massive bonus.

Adjusting Plans

The haul exceeded expectations, forcing Wu Yuan to revise his next steps.

Carrying everything openly would draw attention, so he stored most of it back in the Runic Warehouse using a Copper Talisman (purchased for another silver coin).

Only the Relay Station model, one gold ingot, the Stone Milk pill, and the three tablets remained with him.

Before leaving, he carefully erased traces of his activities. The waiter, having profited nicely, wouldn’t question the mess.

Recruiting Talent

Wu Yuan’s next destination was a residential district five li away.

He stopped before a small courtyard with three withered trees lining its entrance.

“This is the place.”

Before long, a lean, clean-shaven man in his forties emerged, gripping a short spear. His expression was guarded.

“State your business. If you’re debt collectors, tell your employer I’ll pay what I owe on time.”

Wu Yuan clasped his hands respectfully.

“Brother Chen, we’re not here for debts. We’ve heard of your expertise in relay stations and wish to hire you.”

Chen Yong frowned. “For a commercial relay station? Where?”

“Redleaf Cliff, in the Demonbug Hills, a thousand li from the nearest ninth-grade imperial road.”

Chen Yong’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve been there. Good location, rich in resources, but infested with demons and insects. It’d take a fifth-tier station and 300 Tempered Bones mercenaries to secure it. No profit in that.”

Wu Yuan smiled.

“I have a 90% certainty my station will thrive there, without needing 300 guards.”

Chen Yong fell silent, studying Wu Yuan.

Then, slowly, he nodded.

Wu Yuan’s grin widened.

He knew Chen Yong was a man who trusted his instincts.

And right now, those instincts were telling him to take the gamble.