It was James who started the discussion again.
“What’s your name?” James asked
“Kara” the woman; Kara replied.
“Kara, what is he to you?”
“He has a name, Yulien, He is my little brother. I didn’t like this mission from the beginning, I prefer hunting beasts to humans. He convinced me, he said ‘the risk is minimal, a second stage is not a danger to us, it is more than worth the reward.’ look where he is now.” Kara replied
“Can you tell me what happened in the sect for the last two years?” James said
Kara didn’t respond for several breaths.
“The usual, two yearly tournaments to promote the most talented outer disciple into inner disciples. Some new disciples were accepted, and others became inner disciples directly. There was a trial one to two months ago between the four big sects of the province, we had some disciples who performed pretty well, and one of them aced a part of it. They said she is the genius of the century.”
Kara stopped talking when they saw the city wall, it was big, standing twenty feet. Well, he understood where they were coming from, to live at the edge of a forest filled with beasts. If they don’t have any protection, one beast tide could cause countless casualties.
They kept going until they were three hundred feet from the city wall.
James put down Yulien.
“We will separate here. If you like you can go to the city and look for an antidote, though if you do so, the sect will probably find out that you abandoned your position, and you will get in a very messy situation.” James said.
“I have to, I can’t let Yulien die here,” Kara said.
“No you don’t, the poison will indeed prevent him from healing, but it does not last for a long time, and when it wears off, healing pills will work as usual. So you can head back to your position, convince your brother not to report any of this, and continue with your life,” James said.
“Why should I believe you?”
“It shouldn’t be long before it wears off, you will notice when it does,” James said.
“Aren’t you afraid that I will report you?” Kara said.
“And achieve what, punishment for letting me past the encirclement, or worst death if they suspect that I told you something I shouldn’t have,” James said
“But you didn't,” Kara said.
“Will they believe that?” James said.
James turned around and left.
“I hope to never see you again,” Kara said.
Well, that was harsh, James didn’t think he deserved that. But it is not the worst goodbye he has heard.
James kept walking.
The closer he got to the city the more traffic he found, most of it was hunters coming from the woods, but there were also some wagons and what looked like merchants on them.
Two iron gates were open, and more than a dozen guards monitoring the surroundings.
When he got close to the gate, one of the guards approached him.
“What business do you have in the city?” the guard said.
“Mission for the sect,” James said, holding his badge.
“You can go on,” the man said
James expected as much, cities didn’t like to intervene in matters of sects, and sects didn’t intervene in how cities are administered, officially at least.
James entered the city, the streets were wide and clean, the buildings were well-maintained and uniform, there was heavy traffic, and the people were well off.
The first thing he has to do is get some money, after that look for a safe and reliable place to recuperate.
James headed for the most approachable person he could find, an old man dozing off on the side of the road.
“Hello sir, may I ask you a question,” James asked
“What do you want?” the grumpy old man replied.
James didn’t care about the rudeness, he was the one who wanted information after all.
“Can you tell me where the market is? And recommend a quiet Inn for someone to recuperate in” James asked.
“Sure, for the market, take the street to your right and keep going until you see the first shops. As for an Inn, look for the ‘Weary traveler’ the lads working there are good ones.” The old man replied.
“Thanks,” James said.
James headed toward the market, he tried to remember as much as he could from the city structure.
He saw the first shop that sold fabric and clothes and kept going until he found one that sold cultivation material.
James entered the shop and started to look around, there were shelves with pills, talismans, battle techniques, and cultivation methods. He checked the prices, he needed to know the value of what he has, before selling it.
After a while, he headed for the counter, a young woman was sitting there, and had a beautiful smile on her face. James suspected this would usually make customers spend more, bad for them, James didn’t have anything to spend.
“Hello, How may I help you sir,” the receptionist said.
“Hello, I would like to sell some material, and use a part of the price to buy some resources,” James replied.
James took out three herbs from his rings and gave them to her.
They were one of the hardest to take care of. But they also provide a lot of benefits.
One emits a very cold Qi and can be used in alchemy to brew some remedy to heal nasty burns.
Another is a flower that emits a calming scent that can help cultivators who got in a Qi deviation.
The last one can slow down bleeding and is one of the ingredients in some healing pills.
After looking at them for a while, she took a book and started to go through it.
After a while, she replied.
“We are ready to buy them from you, sir, but how many do you have?” she asked.
“I have ten of each type,” James said.
In reality, he has more than that, but he doesn't want to risk it, he doesn’t need a lot of money and wants to stay out of the spotlight for now.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
“I can give you one mid-grade crystal for all of them,” she said.
One mid-grade crystal, for thirty herbs, so for one herb three low-grade crystals. Well, this is daylight robbery.
James took the herbs, turned around, and headed for the door. He thought there would be some haggling and was ready for it, but this is just mockery.
“Please wait, sir, there was a misunderstanding,” The woman said
James didn’t turn around, he wasn’t about to sell something he worked on for months to someone ready to mock him.
James headed for another shop, this time the receptionist was an old lady, James headed for her.
“What can I help you with?” She said
“Hello, I am here to sell some material, and buy some as well,” James said
“Sure, you can show me,” she said.
James handed her the herbs. She didn’t take long to reply.
“Where did you get those from?” She asked.
“Does it matter?” James replied.
“Yes it does, those don’t grow in the surrounding areas, that means you either got them from a sect or one of the noble families, and you don’t seem to be from any of those. So unless you are ready to show an identification, or explain how you got them, I will consider that you did so illegally. In that case, I can’t buy from you, the benefit is not worth the risk they may pose.” she replied.
James took his herbs and left.
The old lady said that, to her, the benefit is not worth the risk, so he needs to find someone to whom it does.
James kept wandering until he found a small shop that sold cultivation material. James headed inside.
There weren’t a lot of products on the shelf, and the shop looked like it had seen better days.
A middle-aged woman was staring at him from behind a small table.
“What can I help you with?” she asked.
“I am here to sell some products and buy some” James said
“Sure, show me” She responded
James gave her the sample, and after inspecting them, she turned to him.
“Let me guess, you tried other shops, and they refused to buy from you, so you came to this shop because you thought we would buy without asking any questions.” the woman said
James didn’t answer.
“Well, lucky for you, we are. How much do you have?” She said with a smile, not at all appropriate for someone about to get into a shady deal.
“That depends on how much you will pay,” James said.
“For these three I won’t even buy them, if you have ten times that, I can give you seven mid-grade crystals” She replied
“Fifteen for that amount,” James said.
“You know what, I will give you ten mid-grade ones, but no more than that, I need to make a profit as well,” she said
“Deal,” James replied.
They made the exchange.
“Now, what do you want to buy?” She asked.
“First, can you tell me how to access the black market?” He replied.
She tensed, and her hand reached under the table, James expected there to be a dagger there.
“Who sent you?” she asked.
James expected one wrong word from him, and one of them will probably die here. She is at the fourth level, and the way she reacted, she is no slouch either. But he is sure his chances of survival are around fifty, and he can work with those.
“Easy there, I am pretty sure I can take you in, and even if you did win, the damage to your shop will not be worth it,” he replied
“And now you threaten me inside my shop,” she said.
“As I said, I just want a way to access the black market, and I will pay for the information, so we can still make this profitable for both of us,” James said.
They exchanged a look for a while before she replied.
“This is not the usual way to get this kind of information, I will let it slide this time, but if you pull this kind of trick again, shop or no shop, one of us will die, and it is more likely to be you.”
James didn’t reply.
“Give me nine herbs for that information, three of each kind, and this is not negotiable, take it or leave it,” she said.
“Deal,” James replied.
It is more expensive than he would like, but it will open some doors for him, and he hopes it will be worth it.
James handed her the herbs, and she gave him a note with an address and a code.
“Do you have any weapons for sale?” James asked.
“What kind?” she asked.
“Daggers preferably,” James said.
She turned around and left for a side door, after waiting for some time she returned with three daggers and handed one of them to James.
“That one is the easiest one to hide and carry. Made of pretty sturdy material, you can enchant it with your Qi without degrading its quality, and even without adding your Qi, it can cut someone in the fifth level or less. Well, if they don’t kill you before that,” she said.
James took the dagger in his hand, it was comfortable, he could hide it pretty well, and it was good for surprise attacks.
“The second one is bigger than the first and is more durable and lethal, but it is hard to hide,” she said
James took the second dagger, it was not as comfortable as the first, but it would probably help prolong his reach.
“The last is just like the first, but it has a Qi reservoir, you can charge it before battle and the first attack, if made correctly and in the right place can hurt anyone less than the ninth level, but it is way more expensive.” the women said
That certainly is an interesting weapon, and James will definitely take it, he really needs something to shrink the gap between him and stronger cultivators, even if just for one attack. It was more comfortable than the first one and from what he could perceive was sharper.
“The first, and second will cost one mid grade crystal each, the last one will cost you three ones, but if you took the last one I will give you one of the others as a discount” the women
James thought about it, and in the end, he decided to take the second and last one for three crystals.
“I will take your deal, I will take the second and last one. Do you have any battle techniques?” James asked.
He really needs to find some battle technique, using shadow elements for reconnaissance has saved his life more than he can remember, but it has more potential than that.
“You need to be more specific than that,” she said
James knew better than to answer that, any information he gave about his attribute may be used against him in the future.
“Well, I don’t have any, but you can find some in the black market, if you know how to look,” She said.
“Well, thanks for your help, and have a nice day,” James said.
“Well, thank you, I hope you found solace from whatever it is you are running from.” She said
James turned around and left.
With money at hand he started shopping, he bought the necessary materials he needed for travels, maps, two tents, something to start a fire with, an axe, and some other tools. After that James bought a lot of provisions, some fasting pills, some normal food, salt, and some seasoning.
James also bought a bag just to hide the fact that he had a storage ring.
Now the next time he is in a forest, at least he won’t have to beg for a map or sleep in trees.
James looked for the inn recommended by the old man, and after a while he found it.
It was a two-story building, with a sign at the front that read ‘Weary traveler’, there wasn’t a lot of traffic from it, way less than what he saw from other inns in his road. But that suited James fine.
When James entered inside he was absorbed by the chatter and conversation and people speaking around him, James looked around, and dozens of people were scattered around on tables, some drinking, some having food, but none of them paid him any mind.
he headed for the counter, and on it was a young lady, she looked like she was having a bad day and had a scowl on her face. James wondered how the hell this Inn had these many customers with this kind of reception.
She has black hair, and eyes but a very cold atmosphere around here. Strangely, she looked dashing. If she smiled more, the world would certainly be a better place.
James kept his opinion to himself.
“Hello madam, Do you have any available room,” James asked
“Yep we have, one low-grade crystal for the night, meals are included,” She said
“If possible I want my meals to be brought to my room, I also want to take a bath, and please don’t wake me in the morning,” James said.
He handed her two low-grade crystals, she took them and handed him a key.
“Your food will be brought to you, the room you have has a small bath in it. No one will wake you up. It is the last to your right and should be the quietest one. Have a nice night, sir.” She said
“Thank you, and you too,” James said.
He heard her whisper about how impossible that was.
He headed for his room. It was small compared to his last one. It has a bed, a small disk, a pillow for cultivating, and a small door on the side that leads to a small bath.
James didn’t know what they were using to run the water, but he could sense some Qi. Well, this is more than enough for him.
He checked every inch of the room for anything suspicious, after confirming that everything was right he sat in the disk.
Before he even got comfortable the door was knocked, James opened the door, a young man was standing there, he handed James a plate and left without even saying a word.
For the second time, James wondered how the inn was still working with this kind of reception.
James closed the door behind him and started to eat his dinner, it was one of the best meals he had eaten. The meat almost melted in his mouth, the seasoning was fantastic, and before he knew it he had already finished it.
No wonder, they have a lot of customers who care about rude staff if the food is this good.
James thought about going back and asking for a second serving, but he decided to sleep instead. He is exhausted from all the travel and the shopping.
After a bath, James fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.