With Benton’s proximity to the village’s wooden walls, he noticed that they showed no signs of the scarring he’d have expected from repeated beast attacks, a discordant fact when compared to everything else he’d observed. Of course, the wall’s material resonated with his spiritual sense to an absurd degree, which obviously had something to do with the lack of damage.
Su’s memories boggled at the expense to construct a wall around a village in the middle of nowhere out of wood possessing such spiritual properties. That impression gave Benton pause. Only a powerful sect could afford to expend so many resources.
Made from the same material, the gate was about fifteen feet tall, roughly the same height as the walls on either side of it, and if it weren’t in place, Benton judged that the gap would let in two wagons side by side.
It slowly slid open, stopping at the width of a single person.
A guard appeared. “Esteemed Master Cultivators, welcome to the Prosperous Gray Forest Village.”
Having the gate open even that little bit obviously made the guard anxious, so Benton led his disciples inside so it could be shut. The man cupped his hands and bowed thankfully.
Inside, the village looked run down. Not that it was overgrown with weeds or anything, just that it had a somewhat neglected look. A wagon sat outside a house missing a wheel. One window had a pane of glass broken, and it had been covered with rice paper. Additionally, not a single structure appeared to have been painted in the last decade. In fact, many of the residences had a look of abandonment to them.
Prosperous would not be an adjective Benton would use to describe the place.
Another thing that stood out was that every house, even the ones that looked empty, had a garden. Crops grew everywhere there was space.
Other than the guard, there were a few people milling about, some tending the gardens. All of them, even the guard, looked gaunt. They weren’t to the point that Benton would call them emaciated, but they definitely did not look like they were getting enough food.
Everything Benton saw tracked with the story he was building in his head of a village that had been isolated for a long time, unable to leave the walls or even receive traveling merchants, due to the spirit beast situation.
“The Esteemed Honorable Mayor has been notified, Esteemed Master Cultivators, and will be here shortly.”
Even with Su’s memories, it still amazed Benton’s Earth sensibilities how convoluted conversation got when trying to avoid personal pronouns. That cultural norm was one he was determined to circumvent whenever possible, even if it made him appear a little rude. “No problem. We can wait.”
That response might have been a mistake. Though the guard tried to cover his reaction, he looked surprised. Even though Su’s memories were flooding Benton’s mind with memories of treating guards like complete gutter trash, Benton wondered if he should have been more polite.
He observed his surroundings for the next few minutes until a mortal who looked to be in his lower fifties showed up. An expression of irritation and disdain flickered across the man’s face as soon as he saw the group of three cultivators.
Benton knew the reason.
The man wore a gold tunic with black accents and black pants that honestly looked quite expensive, and his attire was immaculate. Clean. No tears. No blood stains.
Benton and the twins had been keeping as clean as possible using streams and other sources of water, but they had no supply of clean clothes to change into. Thus, in stark contrast to the man’s outfit, Benton’s robe was stained and torn and just plain dirty. The kids’ tunics and pants were in a similar state to his and were clearly constructed of much inferior fabrics than the mayor’s. The three of them looked like peasants. Beggars. Not exactly the best image to present to the mayor of the village where they wanted to set up shop.
Thankfully, the guard bailed Benton out.
“Esteemed Honorable Mayor, the Esteemed Master Cultivators slew the tiger that had been menacing us for weeks.”
“The white tiger? The peak rank two?”
The guard nodded vigorously.
The mayor’s attitude shifted visibly. “Welcome to the Prosperous Gray Forest Village, Esteemed Master Cultivators. This humble mayor is called Mo Jian and is extremely appreciative for the slaying of that troublesome beast.”
Su’s memories conjured up a vision of another mayor who Su’s elder beheaded for the slight of looking down on their sect members. Benson rejected that advice, settling for dropping a few of the honorifics instead. “Greetings, Mayor Mo, I am Chao Su. These are my disciples, Yang Xiu and Yang Ru.”
Benson had determined to keep a low profile in towns and cities by being “Senior Brother,” and announcing the siblings as his disciples was a departure from that strategy. Because he was planning on dealing with the people of the village over the long haul, it was more important to deal from a position of strength from the outset.
The mayor took the minor amount of rudeness in stride. “Has the Esteemed Master Cultivator Chao Su traveled to the Prosperous Gray Forest Village in search of Orange Vigor Spirit Wood?”
Channeling his inner Yang Ru, Benton responded with a noncommittal grunt.
“This lowly mayor apologizes to the Esteemed Master Cultivator Chao Su. With the plague of spirit beasts inflicting our village, this lowly mayor’s men have been unable to gather any new wood these last five years, and our stocks were emptied by another cultivator three years ago.”
Interesting. All the information provided by the mayor tracked with the conclusions Benton had made about the area, and it was nice to both know the name of the resource to the west of the village and that it was valuable enough for cultivators to travel all the way to the village to get it. The wall construction also made more sense as the village was the source of the material, making it a lot less expensive.
“Have other cultivators appeared since the one who emptied your stores?”
“No. Esteemed Master Cultivator Chao Su and his two disciples are the first.”
Even better. Benton and his soon to be sect both had access to a valuable resource and were unlikely to encounter rivals for it in the near future. Advantageous Starting Location indeed.
The cultivators in the village still bothered him, though.
“What of the six cultivators I sensed in your village? Are they not customers for the wood? And if not, why haven’t they done anything about the beasts?”
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
The mayor’s eyes went wide, and he dropped to the ground and kowtowed.
“You may rise.” With his most imperious expression painting his face, Benton waited for the man to rise.
The mayor was trembling by the time he stood, his head bowed.
“My question?” Benton said.
“This lowly mayor apologizes, Esteemed Master Cultivator. The cultivators who live here only possess a technique used to cut the Orange Vigor Spirit Wood. Those lowly ones are only at the low Qi Gathering realm and possess no abilities with weapons.”
“I see.”
Doubt must have rung in Benton’s response because the mayor hastily continued. “This lowly one swears it is true, Esteemed Master Cultivator. The village used to be home to ten such cultivators, but four tried to kill one of the beasts that had attacked a farm owned by a relative. They did not return.”
Honestly, the explanation sounded reasonable, but there was only one way to know for sure how dangerous these men were. “I would like to meet one of these cultivators.”
The mayor dispatched to guard quickly to retrieve Guang Yin, and the rest of the gathering settled in for a quiet, awkward wait.
Soon enough, a man appeared. The first thing Benton sensed was how completely screwed up the man’s dantian and channels were. Whatever cultivation method he’d been given must have been truly atrocious.
Benton scanned the villager.
Name: Guang Yin Affiliation: Prosperous Gray Forest Village, formerly associate member of the Righteous Rain Sect Age: 61 Cultivation: Qi Gathering - Minor Realm Four Qi Available: ??? Techniques: Orange Vigor Spirit Wood Harvesting – Mastery Orange Vigor Spirit Wood Farming - Mastery Spiritual Roots: D- Qi Aspect: Oak roots bursting through the remains of a decaying elm
Interesting. The mayor had clearly told the truth about the man’s realm, and being listed as a former associate member of a sect tracked. The man’s status also revealed that he didn’t know any weapon techniques.
Benton vaguely recalled that the System allowed him to see anyone’s techniques and qi aspect as long as they were of a lower realm than him, but he wondered about the available qi.
Benton mentally queried the System. “Why can’t I see his available qi?”
To avoid the Host gaining even more of an unfair advantage than Host already has, some information is hidden from the Host when scanning cultivators who are not members of Host’s sect. Asking the cultivator’s permission will allow this information to be revealed by a scan.
“Honorable Guang Yin, may I scan you with my spiritual senses?”
The man was clearly taken aback by the request, but he quickly recovered. “Yes, Esteemed Master Cultivator. Of course, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”
Benton scanned him again.
Name: Guang Yin Affiliation: Prosperous Gray Forest Village, formerly associate member of the Righteous Rain Sect Age: 61 Cultivation: Qi Gathering - Minor Realm Four Qi Available: 11 Techniques: Orange Vigor Spirit Wood Harvesting – Mastery Orange Vigor Spirit Wood Farming - Mastery Spiritual Roots: D- Qi Aspect: Oak roots bursting through the remains of a decaying elm
That information all checked with the mayor’s explanation as well. Of course, it was possible one of the other cultivators had some kind of weapon technique, but given the example of Guang Yin and the overall weakness he sensed, Benton was willing to accept that risk until he could scan each of the other five cultivators.
“Mayor, to be frank, your town doesn’t look like it’s doing too well. I may have a deal for you that would help.”
Mo Jian didn’t say anything, but his expression make it seem like he was at least interested in hearing the details.
“Your part of the deal would be to provide three large wagons and have your six harvesters fill them with Orange Vigor Spirit Wood. I presume you can also provide me with a map to an appropriate market for the wood and names of people I can talk to who might be willing to buy it.”
Guang Yin started to speak, but the mayor shushed him.
“My part of the deal would be to provide protection for the harvesters and to transport the wagons to the market,” Benton said. “I’d then use the proceeds of the sale to fill two of those wagons with whatever goods you’d like me to purchase. The rest of the proceeds would be used to fill the third wagon with whatever I wish to purchase. Any remaining funds will be mine to keep.”
Guang Yin wouldn’t be shushed again. “Mayor can he … Can this Esteemed Master Cultivator do what is claimed?”
“The Esteemed Master Cultivator’s disciples killed the white rank two spirit tiger right outside the gates,” the mayor said through tight lips. “May these two lowly village servants retire for a moment to discuss the offer, Esteemed Master Cultivator?”
“You may.”
----------------------------------------
Mo Jian rubbed his temples. He was getting a headache.
Along with Guang Yin and Xiang Qiao, the gate guard, Mo Jian walked away from the group whom he assumed were wandering cultivators.
“Haven’t we gone far enough?” Guang Yin said.
“No.”
The old harvester asked three more times before Mo Jian finally stopped. Even then, he wasn’t sure he was out of earshot of that scary cultivator.
“I don’t like it,” Guang Yin said. “Did you see how they are dressed? Even if all three of them have reached Foundation Establishment, they’d be hard pressed to protect all of us while harvesting, and I’ve never seen a Foundation Establishment cultivator looking that shabby.”
“You didn’t see those two kids kill that tiger,” Xiang Qiao said. “It was over in an instant. Both of them landed a hit in one of the beast’s eyes. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“You’re too young to have seen the cultivators from my Righteous Rain sect move. They were all amazing.”
“None of that is important right now,” Mo Jian said. “If we don’t agree, that man might destroy our entire village.”
“I doubt he could,” Guang Yin said. “The name of the Righteous Rain sect still carries weight.”
“That sect was destroyed twenty years ago,” Mo Jian said. “We’ve seen no evidence that anyone survived. Exactly how is the name of a dead sect going to protect anyone?"
Guang Yin huffed. “Well, I still don’t think that kid has even reached Foundation Establishment. I bet he and those other kids are just Qi Gathering realms who have a lot of experience fighting.”
“Yin, he sensed that there were six cultivators in town.”
“That’s impossible. He’d have to be…”
“Yeah. Golden Core at least. Maybe Nascent Soul. I don’t know why he’s dressing like that or hiding his strength, but I don’t see how we have a choice.”
“You know he’ll probably just disappear with the wood,” Guang Yin said.
“So? As long as nobody dies, never seeing him again would suit me just fine.”
With an agreement having been reached, the mayor and his small group returned to the wandering cultivators. “Esteemed Master Cultivator, these lowly village servants accept the proposal.”
“Excellent,” the man said. “Meet at the gate at sunrise to begin harvesting?”
“Yes, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”
“Great. Thanks.”
Mo Jian was quite surprised at the thanks as it was quite out of character for a cultivator to thank anyone who was beneath him by even so much as a minor realm, much less a mortal. He breathed a sigh of relief, though, that the encounter was over and he’d, somehow, survived.
“Hang on,” the cultivator called. “Do you have an orphanage or something like it in the village?”
An orphanage? What did the cultivator want with an orphanage?