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Chapter 19: "A Meager Selection."
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Shae had slept poorly and woke up grumpy, her leg itched, and the qi channels in her hips and left leg felt strained. She chose to follow the stream in the starlight instead of trying to sleep through her discomfort. The stream met with the road as the sun was rising.
As she looked down the road in either direction she lamented her limited knowledge of local geography. She did not know the next town in the opposite direction to Minlin City, she had probably been told in the past, but memory was fickle, especially as a child. Even nearby farms and manors were a mystery to her; she only knew what was close to the city.
She was unsure if she would see other travelers on the road and she met no one all morning. She pledged to reach the town tonight, even just walking like a mortal, even if I have to go through someone to get there. She clenched her jaw.
Initially, she ran which irritated her sore leg and channels, but on remembering one of her revelations last night, she slowed to a walk. She had moved and commanded her qi after breaking out of her meditation. She knew that it was technically possible, but she had been unable to do so.
While walking, she tried her best to move the little remaining demigod qi around her channels. She guessed she had about a tenth of what she first created. She could definitely make more, but she was weary of holding qi in her channels constantly. It's probably not the 'correct' way to do things. She rolled her eyes while envisioning the old monster.
One of her cultivation goals now was to charge her hairpins with lightning qi without meditating. Cleansing takes too long, can't rely on that, she told herself. Lightning was the only attack-type-technique-thing that she could almost do, and she suspected she would need something better eventually. No sense only planning for sunny days.
Her mind whirled with ideas. She was sure she had a couple emergency tactics: try to summon the lightning-ribbon? The cats-eye lightning marbles would probably work in a pinch. From her experience with using one marble in her channels she knew the lightning-ribbon would be nothing short of traumatically painful for her to use. The angry-demigod qi could work, if it doesn't shred me as soon as I leave meditation, she grimaced. Something to do with my right arm? It is already near immune to lightning, and my hairpins for electricity storage and I can throw them, she fidgeted with the three pins, could I throw anything else?
As soon as she tried to implement each new idea she was throwing them out. Just thinking of moving the ribbons out of her Dantian made her nauseous, and concentrating on trying to move the marbles while walking was difficult and migraine inducing. She thought that the angry qi needed too much setup, though my qi stores are low, I could probably risk the full conversion. She decided she could stab herself with the pins to maybe make human battery terminals, that the lightning could arc from. Ugh, that's a bit gruesome, she just didn't want to try it right now.
She played with the harpins as she walked, and eventually bent one into a circle. They were still iron wire, so they bent with moderate effort. She made a mental note to be careful not to overstress the metal, it could fatigue and break. Somewhat tired of fidgeting with them, she bent the second into an open bangle for her wrist. The third was in her hair, serving more as a barrette or bobby pin, but still much closer to its intended purpose. Going back to the first pin, she wound it into a tighter circle making a ring that she slid onto a finger. The bangle tried to fall off her wrist a few times. It was a bit too short to make a proper bracelet. So, she wove it into her sleeve, following the hem curve with the bent pin.
Electricity likes loops, she thought as she fidgeted with the ring, coils and closed circuits Electromagnets use coils too, and motors and alternators as well. Hmmm. Is magnetic qi a thing?
Getting to the actual work, she focused on trying to move her qi as she walked. Her qi was sluggish in her channels. It mostly ignored her and moved on its own, as the demigod qi liked to do. When it did move, it didn't obey her instantly, and she could hardly sense what it was doing within her. She kept trying, and hoped she was making progress.
The wide open road was great for her thought process. She didn't have to watch her footing for roots and creeks. She didn't have to think about where she was going at all. Her injuries had calmed from the walk, only brushing her mind if she took an awkward step. She drifted forwards in a trance. It was unsurprising that she didn't see the trap coming.
She was startled to find she was walking past a beggar sitting at the side of the road. She snapped out of her trance as he did something, looking at her a bit too hard, in just the wrong way. She had a sudden urge to put on a large pair of headphones and keep walking.
"Alms?" he asked.
"Sorry, I don't-" She caught herself. She actually did have a bunch of walnuts. "Eh, ok, do you have a knife or hammer or something, I've got some nuts." She stopped to reach into her bag, pulling out one of the bundles.
"Trade?" he asked, tapping the rolled up blanket beside him, "Rolls out." He pointed.
His terse way of speaking made him sound a bit slow, but Shae saw a glimmer in his eyes. "Eh, I really don't have any coins."
"EH? Erry'ne got coin." He moved to unroll it.
She dropped a small bag of walnuts where he was sitting. "No really, I'm fine." She regretted her earlier misgivings about headphones, I guess I have met some interesting people before.
He pointed at the bag of nuts then back to the blanket, "Eh? We look, look!"
She sighed, "Fine. I'm just as broke as you though."
He unrolled the blanket. It was empty.
"Uhhh, isn't this supposed to have stuff on it? Like for trade?"
"Mhm." He agreed, "Yer stuff." His tone changed then, much sharper.
"Wha-?"
Another voice spoke from behind her. "He said it's for your possessions. Take your bag, dump it. Any rings or other jewelry as well, and please don't make us search you. We like to leave people with some dignity, if nothing else." The new male voice was almost suave, but it was stuffed with so much smug she nearly gagged, it's like he ate three shit eating grins for breakfast.
She turned to face three shit eating grins. Well, two and a mask, but she glanced back and the beggar did supply the third. They all had weapons drawn, even the beggar had a long knife. Probably had it rolled up in the blanket, she thought.
"You bloody serious right now?" She asked, really too stunned by the expert rug pull to take them as seriously as she should.
"Deadly." The shit eater said, flattening his mouth and leaning forwards, staring intently. The tip of his sword drooped to almost touch the road, the threatening steel replaced by killing intent that welled up from within him.
Having recently experienced the natural born and savagely honed killing intent of an apex predator, Shae almost didn't notice it. She thought that her tempering might have helped as well, or getting relentlessly qi stomped by Elder Ghon on a weekly basis. Still, she felt it a bit, and something behind it, he had a bit of power, maybe even touching on core stage strength. She would have to be very careful, but her leg itched, and she found herself still short on sleep and grumpy.
"What's that tickle? You folks feeling a slight tickle? Like when a toddler is really mad at you?" She mocked and looked at her assailants. The guy on her left had a spear, one which was entirely too close to her, and it was wobbling around like his arms were made of jelly. He was exceptionally average, save for a nasty scar that looked like it hadn't healed correctly.
The one on her right had a mask over their mouth. They were slim with long hair tied up neatly with a headwrap and a braid hung out the back. The mask and wrap gave them a ninja look, but Shae found their eyes way too pretty: bright green with long lashes. She smiled at mask-girl, her first impression stuck at: some pretty farm girl who ran away to play bandit.
She had a bow, arrow nocked but not drawn, in a resting position wide out in front of her, ready to be used. Shae might mock her, but against the young girl she was just as deadly with that bow as the idiot with the sword. Maybe I'll be nice to the pretty girl, she is probably having quite a hard time paired up with these clowns. Shae had an immortal weakness for pretty eyes.
The sword idiot was still trying to pop a blood vessel on his own forehead. He only squeezed a little more killing intent out, and a bit more when he saw Shae smile at mask-girl. His sword was now digging into the dirt of the road. It was a jian, a double-edged straight sword. He would have looked more intimidating with a dao, which was a saber. Maybe a real heavy dao, or something more pirate-like if he was really trying to nail the roguish scoundrel look.
The beggar had grown impatient. "Out! Now!" He grumbled in the same tone, grabbing her pack and tapping her wrist with the side of his knife. He hadn't dropped the 'slow' act, which made Shae wonder whether it was an act. She decided not to be too mean to him if it came to a fight. Do I want a fight?
She turned and dumped her bag on the blanket. She did not want a fight.
"Is that all?" Spear guy asked. He was on Shae's right side now, his spear tip almost catching her shoulder.
She gave him a glare.
"Hair ornaments and jewelry, too, lady!" He said while flicking the spear tip up at her hair. She knew she should have been threatened by the weapon, but the bright red tassel around the tip was particularly eye catching and obnoxious. The way he wobbled it around felt like a joke.
She rolled her eyes and plucked the hairpin out of her hair, unwound the other from her finger and dropped the pair onto the blanket.
"That better be all!" He threatened again, weakly. "No hidden purses or anything?"
"That's it." She said flatly. Then to prove her point she shook out her robes a bit and jumped slightly to prove nothing was jingling. "Stop embarrassing yourself." She said to the sword idiot.
He finally broke his concentration as the group moved to look over her stuff. He grumbled, "I'd like to see you do any better."
Shae considered if she could summon killing intent. She had never really tried it, and even now she couldn't summon desire to cause serious harm to these people. She shrugged the thoughts away.
She motioned to the beggar, "I told him I didn't have anything, I wasn't lying."
The beggar nodded, "Mhm. Poor's dirt." He was trying to get into one of the walnuts. It looked to be a risky operation using his long knife.
She grimaced at the impending injury. "Careful with those, they are really hard to open up. You could easily cut yourself."
He looked up at her, then set his face to grim determination, nodded seriously, and got back to it. Now moving slower and with more care.
"What are these made of?" Sword idiot asked, pointing at her iron blood hairpins with his sword, moving them around the blanket with the weapon.
"Iron. The pitting is from rust."
"Then why do you still have them?" He sounded almost disgusted.
"Sentimental value. They were passed down to me from someone with more greats before their name than I can remember."
"Huh." He moved on.
Spear guy was still just behind her left shoulder. He was the only one that still had a weapon trained on her, but he was also trying to get a good view of the blanket. He saw the bundle of golden larch sticks and asked, "These any good for arrows?" then looked to the archer girl.
She just shook her head after a glance. She had found the hairbrush and was inspecting it intently.
"What's that?" Barked spear guy. The archer remained silent.
Shae offered up. "It's a hair brush. Like a comb but better. It also has sentimental value to me. Though the bristles do need to be straightened."
"Better how? How do ya use it?" Spear guy asked.
She looked at him incredulously. "It's a hair brush. You pull it through your hair, like a comb." She spoke slowly, emphasizing the words. Something she hadn't even done for the beggar.
The two bandits were standing close together now, looking it over. They got a little stuck staring at the lightning bolt carving. It was quite an impactful carving, Shae remembered.
"Yea but what's it do!?" He asked again.
Shae had had enough of this moron. She summoned up all the hate and anger she had accumulated over a lifetime of dealing with moronic men on earth. Always asking obvious questions or explaining the obvious instead, treating others like the idiots they were. Anger at a few billion people.
She stepped forward with a stomp. Pushing into his spear with her shoulder. Mentally lashing out at him with her anger. He paled immediately, eyes going wide. He stepped back automatically. The spear wobbled to the side as it freed itself from her clothes, making a quick ripping noise. She hadn't felt any pain, so assumed it was too dull. Maybe not killing intent, but anger and wrath, at least. Her right arm tingled a bit, like restricted circulation returning suddenly.
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"What was that?" Sword idiot asked.
"A lesson in how little I'll put up with idiotic questions." Shae snapped.
He looked past her, eyes locking onto the archer girl. She was just as shocked, pale faced and green eyes quivering.
"Oh! Sorry honey!" Shae cooed. "That was just for him. You're doing great." She really was sorry, the poor girl looked like she was about to bolt, or fire off an arrow. "Tell you what, you keep that brush. Your long hair needs it more than mine."
Her eyes widened and she pulled the brush close to her chest. Then she looked to the side and wiped the hints of tears away.
"She was just going to take it anyway." Sword idiot said.
"Nope, it's a gift now." The young girl retorted. "One I expect to be thanked for." The other woman remained silent, even while Shae stared at her.
"Where are these going?" Sword idiot interrupted her to ask about the letters.
She sighed. "What, are you an out of work courier or something?"
He held up the fancy looking introduction letter for the sect. "Some people pay good money for timely deliveries. And... I just want to hear your answer."
Shae knew that last part was a very blunt way of saying 'this is a test'. She rolled her eyes again. "That one is to be delivered to the Honorable Dragon's Entreaty sect. The one with the tael is for Minlin city, the same sect's cultivators there. And the last will be hand delivered by me, and me alone."
The group responded by speaking over each other. Archer girl quietly said "or what?" Spear guy jumped back in, dully jabbing her in the shoulder, "This ain't no negotiation!" And the beggar, still working on the walnut, grumbled, "No town, no go." Sword idiot stayed silent this time.
The spear tried to dig into her divinely cleansed flesh, but it was too dull or her skin too durable, probably both, Shae figured. They were clearly too poor for even a whetstone. With the archer girl not having a secondary weapon and the beggar relying on the long knife they made it obvious they had no other weapons.
Her anger spiked again, tingling down her right arm. She lashed out, batting the spear away with a solid crack. The tip tore out of her clothing easily, the cloth already so damaged from her fall and cleansing tests. Her sleeve slipped down her arm and a bit of metal touched her hand, she smiled.
Everyone was silent for another breath so she went back to teasing. "Speak up cutie, I can't hear you with that mask on." Shae couldn't resist teasing and flirting with the pretty ones, just to get a response. Though it was only the last couple years where it had stopped being very awkward because of her age. It was usually still awkward for the recipients.
The archer's hand darted halfway to her face before stopping. Poor thing, she probably gets that all the time from the others, Shae frowned.
"Said, no town. No go." The beggar grumbled again. All eyes snapped to him and he didn't even look up. He was locked in concentration over the same walnut, trying to slice it in half with his absurdly long knife.
Sword idiot spoke next. "She said 'or what?' And I'm inclined to agree. You think you can stop us from taking it?"
"Let her talk for herself." Shae jabbed. "Are they always like this, Honey? My heart goes out to you." Then turning back to sword idiot. "Oh, go ahead and take it, but you won't be rewarded for the delivery. Unless you count the wrath of a sect elder as reward. If anyone other than me delivers it, they will be killed upon delivery, simple as that. That's why it doesn't have all the fancy seals."
"Must be important then." He stated.
Shae shrugged. "Not really, the information is outdated, the situation has already changed."
He stared at her, waiting for her to flinch. Then said "huh," and shrugged. "Well we're not going to the town." He pulled the coin off the letter, a ring shaped silver tael, and pocketed it.
"Aww, C'mon, it will save me a stop." Shae fake whined.
"And no idea when we'll get up to the sect. I hope it's not important."
"What? Aw, send the cute girl. She probably needs a break from you idiots." She tried.
"This isn't a discussion. You do understand the situation you are in right now, yes?" Sword idiot said while trying to put some qi pressure on her.
She raised an eyebrow. Repeatedly calling him 'sword idiot' in her head, if she let herself think of him as anything else, she might crack.
"The situation? The one where you are trying to intimidate a stranger on the road? Sure, you have some real strength, but is it enough?" She paused and he increased the qi pressure. It wasn't even close to what Elder Ngoc had done without the formation. "Because here I thought you all were just some out of work couriers, looking for a job. And we both wanted to share some food." She gestured to the walnuts. Somehow the beggar still hadn't got through the one he was working on.
Sword idiot just stood there, as menacing as he could manage, swirling his qi around himself. He was nearly touching on something else too. A hint of something from his Dantian, and a warp in the air around him.
Shae had felt its kind before and it just made her want to push him more, and I can't look weak now. "Because, if you were trying to steal from me. If you were bandits? Well, the penalty for banditry is death."
She heard a grunt from over her shoulder and turned in time to see a bright red tassel coming at her. She swatted at it again, this time with real strength and anger. "Get this out of my face." A thin red spark leapt from her exposed shoulder to the tip of the spear.
Anger, wrath, judgment, that was what she needed right now, the actual emotions matching the tribulation lightning. The spear cracked, the top half flying off.
She felt the qi pressure change, just fast enough for a warning. She turned back to see sword idiot stepping toward her. This fool who tried to steal from me, who had probably corrupted an innocent girl with his stupid almost-handsome face and nearly-charismatic attitude. She flicked her right hand in his direction and pushed all the built up anger and lightning out at him, a few drops of blood drawing out furiously bright qi lightning.
He froze. The lightning crossed between them until it arced into the ground just in front of him, charring the road black where it hit. His qi jittered twice then flared up higher. At that she felt it, the slight warping of reality as he tapped into his Dao.
A tiny epiphany unlocked for Shae, and the details of what she had been able to do on the mountain became so clear. The old monster's Dao breaking reality and her enlightenment had let her make the ribbons and marbles. Both factors were needed, but the Elder's Dao was first, and she had defended herself from it first, before her enlightenment.
She pulled that ephemeral mental lever again, the one she had found against the old man's Dao. She reached out with whatever it was and grabbed at the cultivator's Dao.
Because that is what he was, a cultivator, what she had been trying not to call him, even in her own head. She couldn't stand against a cultivator, but a sword-idiot was an easier matter.
Sword idiot's Dao was small, miniscule compared to Elder Ghon's, just a little shard of obsidian. It was his own personal belief in how the world worked, how he wanted it to work, and she could feel it. Her mental grip on the little shard connected her to it, it was a single simple idea, but she only received flashes of its intent. The Dao was focused around personal power, taking what you want because you had the power to do it. Making others bow just because you can. Perfect for a bandit or pirate leader. However, with it now in her metaphysical hands, she saw it was not a one way street, I can use it against him.
He had frozen in fear at the red lightning, and she would need to reinforce that fear, reinforce the power she had over him. With a considerable effort of will and a decent bit of pain, she flickered a lightning marble inside her right hand, quickly channeling lightning into her arm and remaining hairpin then flickered it back into her Dantian. It only took the blink of an eye, but even that had been a struggle.
She flinched and grimaced in pain. She recovered quickly, glad he missed that, the cultivator was now staring at the lightning around her arm. It was so easy last time.
Her hand arced with lightning, jumping to her wrist and charring her robes. The iron hairpin was still hidden in her sleeve and acted as a magnet, drawing the lightning out of her. It made for an excellent illusion of her power, one the man was clearly afraid of.
Then she did the really important step: she showed the sword idiot that other people, anyone, could have power, and that he would need to bow to them instead. A simple lesson that he should have already learned. She shoved at his Dao, forcing it back into him, sealing reality around him. He coughed pathetically; eyes wide in terror.
She felt her mental lever snap away from her and a headache stabbed into her mind. She saw the backlash was much worse for him. He dropped to a knee and coughed up blood, one mouthful, then another. He kept his sword in hand, the point digging into the earth supporting some of his weight. His qi guttered and swirled erratically, not yet out of control, but teasing the edge.
The cultivator in front of Shae was still conscious, still alert, even if he didn't look it. She guessed at her odds of finishing him off and immediately discarded the idea. She only had a single lightning strike left, all her qi spent to charge up her arm with lightning again. If she could land a clean hit, what a big if, and it might not kill him or knock him out. Even if it did she would still have the others to deal with, and they might not stand by, might not let me walk away after killing their friend. The archer already had an arrow nocked and ready. The spear wielder was behind her, out of sight. I have to play out the stalemate.
She breathed out some tension. She made her move and took control of the scene. Walking over to the blanket, she plucked the unmarked letter from Elder Ghon out of the pile then stepped back. "You, girl." She commanded. "Split this up. Take whichever letter you wish to deliver, and I mean you personally. Take the food in the blanket, leave the rest of my things. And the rest of you can fuck off, now."
Silence filled the air. Then a sharp 'crack' and a cheer from the beggar. "Woooo! Did, I did! Nut!" He shoved the meat of the walnut into his mouth and chewed. "MMM! Good! Good nut!"
Everyone else stared at him. Except for the spear guy who had already made it a hundred paces down the road, and the sword idiot was still dripping blood from his mouth and staring at the ground. So it was just the two women who stared at him, both amazed he hadn't picked up on what was going on.
Shae smiled at him. "Good job. Please, take as many as you'd like." She gestured to the pile with her left hand while tucking her right out of view. That got the archer girl moving as well, and they quickly had the whole lot sorted out. The beggar took up the blanket of nuts and casually carried it off after the spear guy. He had cut off the road and was running deep into the woods.
"Why?" The archer girl asked, gesturing to the letter she had.
"Because you need a fresh start. Give it to the sect cultivators in town and go home. Or go to the sect and have a fresh start there." Shae shrugged. "Banditry only leads to pain and misery. Either yours or others, caused by you, neither is good, neither can be good for you."
She nodded and tried to move sword idiot. He stood and stumbled off, then sidetracked off the road after a dozen steps, stopping to sit and meditate. The archer followed and stayed with him when he sat.
Shae frowned at the pair, then discharged her pent up lightning into the ground with a roar of frustration. "AAAargh!"
They were easily within earshot and she didn't really want them to see her mad or angry about getting robbed. She thought this might work as if it was part of her mysterious lightning powers. Wait, she thought, is it mysterious? I am clearly a cultivator, and it was definitely qi based. That is not much of a mystery.
She sighed then tried to take deep calming breaths as she cleaned up her stuff. A few walnuts were left, just a fist sized bundle in waxed cloth. She grinned as she found a few other things that were missed completely. Her ginseng, knife, and Elder Ghon's formation notes were all overlooked by the bandits, some had been stuck inside her pack. Only the ginseng would have been worth stealing, but the notes might have made the cultivator curious enough to take it anyway.
Her bag repacked, with the golden larch branches neatly tied up, she set off again. Instead of ignoring the two on the side of the road, she called out to them, "He's going to be like that for a while. You can leave him be, he will live." Then after a few breaths she tried again. "Fresh start you know?" The girl looked conflicted, so Shae tried to wait to give her time to run ahead and put some distance between them, but it was getting awkward.
She let them be, maybe one of the others will swing around to keep an eye on him so she can leave. Shae really hoped the woman would make the choice on her own.
Shae decided to run the rest of the way to the village, if archer girl wasn't going to push distance between them, then she could instead.
Running helped her focus on something other than panicking about how close she was to getting stabbed by a bandit. "Bloody hell that was too close." She said to herself a few times, once a few li were between them.
Her leg still itched, but her qi channels were less sore without qi in them. She had checked her shoulder to see only a few light scratches where the spear tip had slid along. Shae didn't doubt she would have lost blood to it if he had been actually trying.
To help herself calm down, she reviewed her personal rules for dealing with bandits or situations that clearly were not in her control. She was not particularly good at following these rules, but in the time since she learned them two years ago they had helped. She learned these rules shortly before she left home, and they were not a small piece of that puzzle.
Rule One: show no weakness. Bandits and bullies love weakness, they look for it and exploit it whenever they can, so even if you are a literal child against trained soldiers, don't cower, don't instantly submit, and don't lose your calm. She usually did great at rule one. This time was a weird exception because she wasn't actually a weak child anymore.
Rule Two: make no promises, tell no lies. This was probably her favorite because it was an old classic. Lies are weak links, see rule one. Lies can be turned against you. Be sources of anger or leverage the other party can use against you. Promises are just elaborate reasons to get you right back in the same situation again, which is obviously bad. She had pushed these rules pretty hard this time. 'Technical truth that can be interpreted as a lie later' was about the same as lying as far as most people were concerned. So she docked herself points for that.
Rule Three: be more trouble than you're worth. This covered a few lesser rules, like not carrying anything valuable. Not making powerful enemies. And a few others. This one she wasn't sure she managed this time, it was always a hard trick to pull off. She had been carrying too many things she was concerned about losing, and had maybe made herself sound too important. That could have led to them searching her more closely. This rule also covered the 'carry a fake wallet' idea of having a lesser prize they could take and be satisfied with. She really didn't have much as the one letter hadn't been enough. She had failed to plan for bandits on such a short stretch of road.
"Ugh." She groaned, "the letter!" Her introduction letter to the sect would be delivered by someone else, how absurdly embarrassing. A little part of her hoped the archer girl- or woman, she should stop calling her girl in her own head. She was probably a decade older than Shae.
It could be a bit of hilarious sitcom drama. She smirked and hoped the woman would deliver it and be mistaken for Shae herself. She'd also get to see how nasty the sect was based on how they punished the woman.
Then she immediately felt bad, she didn't want the poor woman punished. She had tried to push her to get out of that terrible situation, not to push her right back into another. Shae supposed she might have some influence on her punishment. She doubted the woman's ability to impersonate herself since she didn't give the woman her name. She'd have to kick the sect security's ass if they let her social engineer her way in so easily.
Her final conclusion: I will have to really reconsider these rules. Having actual power changes the dynamic of most situations. Drastically.
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The kilometers flew by, and the li twice as fast. The local long distance unit, the Li, was almost exactly half a kilometer. It had taken Shae an embarrassing amount of time to figure that out while growing up here. The local meter was just a 'pace' which was exactly whatever it was. Though, the standardized version was usually a bit longer than most people could walk comfortably, since it was based on some tall asshole that ruled the local area. Human body based measurements are trash. Shae cursed.
Then she smiled wide, the city was in sight.
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