Zou Tian watched nervously as the Twelfth Discordant Brigade crept toward the warehouse. Though Chao Su was one scary guy, the same could be said for Yao Yahui, the leader of the cultivator gang.
Few organizations other than the City Watch and the three sects could match their might. Everyone in the slums were scared of them.
It looked like Chao Su and the pretty girl were about to meet their ends.
Zou Tian sighed. Regrettable. So regrettable. He’d miss the silver tael a day he was being paid to report back about his gang’s activities.
That wasn’t the only reason for caring, though. Chao Su was so unlike anyone else. He was an odd combination of scary and just strange. His mannerisms. The way he made it seem like mortals actually mattered to him. He was unlike any other person in the slums, much less any other cultivator. But in a good way.
Zou Tian had never dealt with someone who was so honorable. When he’d reported the news of the attack as he’d been ordered, he fully expected to be killed by Chao Su, not rewarded, especially not with ten whole silvers. And then the man had told him to stay safe. To stay safe!
No one had ever expressed a lick of concern for Zou Tian’s wellbeing before.
He wished that the trio would simply run away. Far away. But it was too late for that. The gang approached.
With growing horror, he watched as they cut the wood barring the door and made their way inside.
From the clear sounds of fighting, whatever happened in the warehouse didn’t take long. Why would it? How much time should it take nineteen cultivators to kill three targets?
Strangely, what did take forever was for the gang to leave. Stripping the valuables off three bodies should have been the work of minutes for such experienced street fighters. After all, Zou Tian had been inside the warehouse many times. It wasn’t like there were a lot of places to hide treasures.
Instead of seeing the gang stream out, however, minutes stretched. And stretched.
What were they doing in there?
Finally, though it was a risk, Zou Tian crept to the still open door, peeked inside, and saw not three dead bodies but nineteen.
“Alrighty then,” Chao Su said to his disciples. “Good job.”
Zou Tian’s mouth gaped. As far as he could tell, none of them had even been injured.
“Ah, just the kid I wanted to see,” Chao Su said, meeting Zou Tian’s eyes. “What should I do with the bodies?”
“Uh… Dispose of them, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”
“That seems boring. I could use them to send a message to your boss. They’d look fantastic draped all over his desk.” Chao Su paused. “I know. I could write him a nice note thanking him from his thoughtfulness and apologizing that I must return his present.” He actually pulled paper and a writing implement from his ring. “What was his name again?”
Zou Tian’s mouth went dry at the thought of something like what was being suggested actually happening.
“Deng Yun, Esteemed Master Cultivator, and …” He hesitated. Normally, he would never even think to contradict the idea of someone so powerful, but he was beginning to believe that was what was actually desired of him. “This lowly one would not counsel the Esteemed Master Cultivator to do such a thing.”
“Really? Why not?”
“Nineteen bodies, those of the Twelfth Discordant Brigade, showing up at the gang’s hideout could not be hidden. Rumors would spread. The City Watch would become interested. This lowly one does not recommend getting the attention of the City Watch, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”
Chao Su sighed. “You’re probably right. Better to get rid of them in the forest after I leave the city. Have the Stupid Name Brigade mysteriously disappear.” He shook his head. “That’s not nearly as satisfying but, yeah, okay.”
That Chao Su was definitely not simple.
----------------------------------------
Benton was both pleased and horrified. Nineteen people had come to his albeit temporary abode to take what was his. All nineteen lie dead on the dirt floor of the warehouse.
That they failed in their attempt was to the good. The fact that they all lay dead was more than a little bit iffy for him.
He was not yet used to the cruel realities of living in a cultivation world.
Not that he was going to let his disciples see that. After securing the door with a new piece of wood, he calmly went to each of the bodies, separated out what few taels or serviceable equipment they had on them, and pulled the valuables and corpses into his ring.
As soon as the last disappeared, he had a horrible thought. He was putting dead bodies in the same space he stored his food. Yuck. That was kind of disgusting.
Su thought of the space inside the ring as a kind of void that both froze everything placed inside in suspended animation and kept each item separate from everything else. Which made sense. Benton had stored hundreds of gallons of a water from a pond and various running streams inside without any containers holding it. None of the other stuff he pulled out was wet.
Still. Dead bodies. Food. Yuck.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
On the bright side, the fight had gone great. The menace of the cultivator gang was ended for good, and he guessed he’d bought some time to hopefully finish up his business and get out of town before anyone else could get organized to come against him. His battle plan worked perfectly. Neither him nor either of the twins had gotten hurt. Both had performed incredibly well. Yang Ru had even used the fight as inspiration to reach mastery with his spear technique.
The talismans had been a great purchase. He’d bought four at a thousand silver taels each, which seemed expensive for a single use device. The price was, after all, more than he was spending for a spear that could be used over and over again. On the other hand, it did allow them to use a qi shield created by a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator. They were true life saving measures when applied correctly in the right circumstances, and the high-quality crafting meant that the shield lasted seconds instead of the mere instant seen in cheaper versions.
Between those and the five hundred he spent on his sword, spear, and dagger, he was starting to feel a bit poor, considering how much he still had to buy.
But that was a worry for another day. First, he had a couple of System tasks he had to take care of.
“Yang Ru,” he said. “Congratulations are in order. Great work reaching mastery! What kind of technique do you want for your reward?”
Predictably, the kid said, “Whatever technique that Senior Brother thinks would be best.”
Benton was definitely of the mindset that independent thought and decision making should be encouraged in children, but his experience parenting had also taught him to pick his battles. The boy simply wasn’t ready to make that kind of choice for himself yet.
Not that Benton really thought that anything beyond the obvious should be a serious consideration.
“We can’t afford to spend a thousand taels every time you go into battle, so considering your nature and fighting style, we need another way to mitigate you getting hurt. I’m thinking stone skin.”
“A … a thousand taels? A thousand…”
“You’re probably thinking that stone skin sounds like it would limit your mobility, but it really doesn’t,” Benton said. “You’ll still be able to perform gross movements just fine. Of course, the hardening of your skin will impact your fine motor skills, but agility isn’t exactly your forte in the first place. Plus, the technique isn’t something you’ll keep active at all times. The goal is to toggle it on just before taking a hit.”
“A thousand taels, Senior Brother?”
“Obviously, it’s not going to do much at first, even once you reach mastery. There’s only so much you can do while still in Qi Gathering. But the trick is to layer protection. We give you stone skin and then we get you doing body cultivation and then find you a nice battle robe. None of those in and of itself are a silver bullet, but combine all of them together, and you’ll be surprised at how easily you shrug off injuries.”
Yang Ru’s mouth hung open, and he stared at Benton blankly.
“So stone skin is okay?”
The boy didn’t answer, not even with a grunt.
“I’m going to take that as a yes,” Benton said.
Creating the technique presented a minor dilemma. Such a useful technique was something that other members of his future sect were sure to want. It made sense to spend a full ten points so that all future uses were per profit.
There were two counterpoints to his initial consideration. One, he was really low on Sect Points at the moment. Spending ten when he only needed to use three was a real negative. If he didn’t watch it, he could actually run out.
Two, the technique wasn’t a foundational one. It was something that Yang Ru would use at least through the peak of Foundation Establishment and maybe longer. A technique aspected to him solely would be stronger, and he would learn it faster, than a technique made for anyone to use. He was one of the sects two premiere fighters. Every advantage that could be given to him should be given to him.
Benton decided to make the technique personalized, costing three sect points, and he handed the jade slip to the boy, who just held it like he’d never seen one before.
Oh well. He’d figure it out eventually.
An even more fun task awaited. The two points that Yang Ru earned by reaching spear mastery just so happened to be the forty-ninth and fiftieth point that Benton earned, meaning it was time for an upgrade.
The choice was once again obvious. He’d just faced a Foundation Establishment cultivator, albeit a weak one. There was no guarantee the next one he encountered wouldn’t belong to a sect, though. The sooner he advanced to the next major realm, the better.
He locked in his decision and called up his status.
Sect Name: Not Chosen Sect Members: 0 Disciples: 14 Sect Points: 35 Shop Points: 18 Host Cultivation: Qi Gathering - Minor Realm Nine Qi Available: 110 Host Body Cultivation: Bronze - Minor Realm Two Host Techniques: Basic Spear Combat - Large Success Basic Archery - Large Success Menus: [Cultivation Method] [Technique] [Quest] [Perk] [Advancement] [Shop - LOCKED]
Nice! Qi Available topped one hundred, and he was only two Sect Points away from reaching Foundation Establishment.
That accomplished, the three of them settled in for the night. Benton took first watch, letting the two kids try to get some rest. Obviously with the excitement of the evening, it took them hours to actually fall asleep, so he ended up just staying up all night to let them have their rest.
Early the next morning, a knock on the door woke the kids. Their hands immediately went to their weapons, but Benton reached out with his spiritual senses.
“Don’t worry. It’s just Zou Tian.”
Benton let the boy inside.
“Apologies for the disturbance, Esteemed Master Cultivator, but this lowly one has just returned from the gang’s hideout. This lowly one had no other choice but to report to Deng Yun that the Twelfth Discordant Brigade entered the warehouse but did not exit. This lowly one further reported that the three occupants of the warehouse appeared to be unharmed and occupied with cultivating. Of the Twelfth Discordant Brigade, there was no sign.”
“I see. And what do you think his reaction will be.”
“For now, this lowly one believes he will make no moves. If the Twelfth Discordant Brigade could not handle the Esteemed Master Cultivator and his disciples, then Deng Yun’s gang of mortals would stand no chance. There’s not enough profit in him reporting the disappearance to the sects or the City Watch to offset the chance of bringing too much attention to this area. His eyes are still full of silver taels, but this lowly one sees no way for him to move against the Esteemed Master Cultivator in the immediate future.”
“Interesting.” Zou Tian’s analysis matched well with Benton’s own thoughts. “We’ll proceed for the moment on the assumption that your prediction is correct, but we’ll remain cautious. I’m especially worried about catching the attention of the sects or the City Watch. Probably best for us to spend the day quietly in the warehouse for any heat to die down just to make sure.”