Lin Liqin caught up with Lin Liqiu as she turned the corner not far from where the fight had concluded. He quickly pulled her into a side alley to avoid the surging crowd of people. Now that they were out of sight Lin Liqiu couldn't hold back her tears any longer. Despite being a bit taller than her brother with wide muscular shoulders, Lin Liqin was surprised by how small his sister felt in his arms as she wept against his chest.
Once she got her tears under control, Lin Liqiu attempted to change the subject out of embarrassment, “Your Drunken Fist technique has improved and your ability to combine ki and chi is always impressive.”
“Dear sister, are you finally starting to see how outstanding I am? I was quite dashing, wasn't I? Perhaps I should play the hero more often,” said Lin Liqin as he struck a heroic pose.
In order to stop her brother's ego from growing in real time Lin Liqiu lightly pushed him, causing him to stumble a few steps down the alley. “Some hero, running off before you even collect your reward. Shouldn't you be sampling Aimi's 'Fluffy Delights' about now?” Thinking of Aimi again caused Lin Liqiu's eyes to mist up, but she tried to hide it with a playful wink.
Lin Liqin didn't miss the pained expression that flitted across her face and sought to reassure her, “When you first told me about your feelings for Aimi I know how scared you were to admit it. The fact you trusted me with your true self meant the world. In honor of your feelings and your courage I swore that I would always be here for you and wouldn't pursue Aimi.”
More to herself than her brother, Lin Liqiu spoke under her breath, “Things would have been so much simpler if I'd been born a man.”
Unfortunately for her, Lin Liqin heard her comment and couldn't help but retort, “If you were a man you'd just end up hating me like all the other guys around here, because the ladies would still prefer me.”
Lin Liqiu ran up and gave her brother another shove, but this time she used more strength than she intended and sent him tumbling. Lin Liqin crashed into a small fence along one side of the alley. He hissed in pain as he rubbed the back of his head.
After quickly checking to ensure her brother was unharmed, Lin Liqiu's eyes began to drift towards the fence. It was painted, but she could tell it was some sort of metal. A few light taps from her knuckles confirmed it and she was fairly certain it was iron. Painting it obviously wasn't a practical solution for weapons or armor, but was an ingenious method to avoid rust. The rods seemed to be hollow and were joined together using a technique she was unfamiliar with. This was rather intriguing, as Lin Liqiu was considered the last true metalworker on the island, but she had no idea who or how this fence was even made.
After helping her brother to his feet, Lin Liqiu opened a small gate in the fence leading to a small shop where she intended to inquire about the fence's construction. As Lin Liqin dusted himself off he glanced at the sign board above the shop. He was familiar with both Gaian and Japanese as well as a few smaller regional dialects, but still couldn't make out the name of the store. Now his interest in this odd little shop was piqued too.
As the two entered the shop they noticed that the floor was pulsing, almost as if it had a heartbeat. The sensation wasn't unpleasant, quite the opposite in fact, but it only added to the mysteriousness of the store. There was no bell above the door like the one at Fluffy Delights, but a gentle voice still sounded out from the backroom, “Welcome to Tomo's Treasures! I'll be with you both in just a moment.”
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“How does she know we're here? And how does she know there are two of us? This place is very strange,” Lin Liqin whispered to his sister in a hushed voice. Lin Liqiu had been getting a strange feeling from this place, but didn't voice out any concerns.
“It was fairly simple really, no great mystery. I sensed you through the vibrations in the floor,” explained a young girl as she exited the backroom. By the twins' estimate she was about ten years old, perhaps a bit younger. She wore a white blindfold over her eyes which complimented her auburn hair. She continued to explain, “It's an earth technique passed down in my family, but I tweaked it a bit so I could 'see'.”
Lin Liqin was blessed with perfect pitch and sensitive ears, as such he could tell there was something odd about the acoustics in this space, but since the girl seemed to be in the mood to reveal her secrets he decided to just ask, “I didn't notice at first, but the sound in this room seems off somehow. Could you explain that as well?”
“I used a simple wind technique to calm the air, a water one to strip it of humidity, and an ice one to lightly chill it. All of which increase the distance that vibrations will travel, including sound.”
“It's rare to meet a chi user that cultivates multiple elements,” stated Lin Liqiu with mild surprise.
“Maybe not that rare,” the young girl nodded in Lin Liqin's direction, indicating she was somehow aware that he too used multiple elements. Before the twins could respond to this revelation she continued, “So, what can I help you with today?”
“I wanted to know more about your fence. Do you know who made it? The craftsmanship is unlike anything I've ever seen.”
“The entire store, including the fence, was designed by the owner, however he is too busy to receive guests at the moment. This place was built a long time ago, so any one that worked on it has probably moved on,” the girl paused for a moment in thought, “but I may have something that could be of help. Please, follow me.”
The three began walking between shelves and display cases. The shop had looked quite small from the outside, but Lin Liqin felt like he'd walked a city block before he broke the silence, “Did you say this place was called Tomo's Treasures? I was surprised I couldn't read the sign posted outside.”
“Ah, yes that is the rough translation. It is written in ancient Gaian, predating the empire. Are you familiar with Tomo? He is often used by parents in the Gaian Empire to scare their children into behaving. Not sure if the stories have spread here yet though. Regardless, these are the trinkets he brings back from his travels,” the girl motioned to the nearby shelves, “When he's done examining and researching them they find their way here to be traded.”
As they continued to walk, the twins glanced at the items on display. Some looked exquisite while others appeared quite mundane, but they were all exotic with unknown uses. They noticed that there were no prices listed, only descriptions of chi cultivation or ki refinement levels.
Eventually, the girl came to a stop before a podium. Upon it sat a large tome. Lin Liqiu gasped when she saw it and Lin Liqin exclaimed, “A ki forged book!?” Most ki users would choose a weapon to ki forged if presented with the opportunity, Lin Liqin already felt that his zither was rather unique.
Lin Liqiu could not hide her curiosity as she began examining the book from multiple angles. The young girl quickly explained, “This is The Encyclopedia, which translates to book of general knowledge. As I'm sure a ki smith such as yourself is aware, the owner's intent heavily influences the item's function. Tomo always strove to gather and share information.”
The book seemed too small to contain as much knowledge as the girl was claiming. The twins watched as she opened the book, but instead of the pages being packed with words and pictures as they'd expected, each page was an inky black. “How does it work?” Lin Liqiu stared at the book with large eyes, not wanting miss a single detail.
“You wanted to know about the fence, correct?” After seeing Lin Liqiu nod the girl placed her hand on the book and said, “How was the fence outside the store made?” The black surface of the page began to move and compress itself into characters and diagrams, creating several pages describing the designs and construction methods used to create the fence.