Chapter 7 – Yanlue’s Price

Cool air rushed against Lin Yue’s face as she approached the hovel. Each step increased the pressure against her skin, like walking into deep water. The sensation crawled across her nerves, setting her teeth on edge.

“Go on.” Shadow swirled around her shoulders. “They won’t bite. Probably.”

Lin Yue scanned the market. No one watched the crude structure. Merchants and monsters alike turned their backs, creating a bubble of deliberate ignorance around the entrance. Frickin’ hell.

She stepped through the threshold into darkness.

Blue flames cast shifting shadows across the outside dirt walls, but left the interior mostly enshadowed. The only things visible were a gnarled tree stump in the center, beside a rough stone slab that served as a table. Lin Yue edged forward, scanning the shadows for movement.

“Such a nervous little bird.” A deep female voice echoed through the darkness.

Shadow floated through the darkness, his form casting an eerie glow that made the shadows deeper, more menacing. Lin Yue steadied her trembling hands as she reached the makeshift table.

“Sit.” The voice drifted from the darkness. Blue lights shimmered, revealing indistinct features—a suggestion of movement, nothing more.

“I want to trade souls for stones.” Lin Yue forced steel into her words.

“Ahh. Souls.” The voice dripped with amusement. “Such precious things. Like spirit stones—rare, valuable. And here flutters a little bird, all nerves and sweat.” A low chuckle filled the space. “Yet this bird puffs up, scares away the bigger animals. Does the little bird have claws?”

Shadow hummed, a noncommittal sound that rang with false innocence.

“I have souls.” Lin Yue planted her feet. “Trade or not?”

A massive face lurched into the blue light. Pink-painted lips stretched across amphibian features. Golden rings pierced through thick folds of throat-flesh. Lin Yue’s heart slammed against her ribs as she stared into the face of what could only be described as a giant, woman-sized frog.

The frog-woman’s throat bubbled with amusement. “I am Madam Yanlue.” She leaned forward across the stone slab. “Perhaps instead of trading, I should simply take those souls from such a nervous little bird. More profitable that way.”

“Lin Yue.” The name slipped out before Lin Yue could stop it. Shadow’s earlier words echoed in her mind—this creature was gorged on souls already.

“Why risk a fight when trade benefits us both?” Lin Yue drummed her fingers on the stone. “You’ll gain souls either way.”

Blue smoke curled through the darkness as Yanlue lit an ornate pipe. The ethereal wisps illuminated shelves packed with bottles, trinkets, and things that gleamed. Bones clinked together in the shadows as Yanlue settled onto a cushion across the table.

“What exactly does the little bird seek?”

Shadow floated near Lin Yue’s ear. “Twelve inert spirit stones for three souls.”

“Twelve inert spirit stones.” Lin Yue kept her voice steady.

A deep hum resonated through the hovel. Yanlue slid twelve dull pebbles onto the stone surface.

Shadow writhed in agitation. “No! These are mere fragments. We need full-sized stones. Cheat!”

Lin Yue stood up. “I need proper spirit stones, not pebbles. Why would I offer three souls for this?”

A warning rumbled from Yanlue’s throat. “The bird should specify her desires more clearly.” She swept the pebbles away and placed a larger stone on the table. “Perhaps this meets your requirements?”

Shadow swirled excitedly. “Yes—this is what we need.”

Lin Yue settled back onto the stump and nodded. “Yes.”

“Four stones, returned when spent.” Madam Yanlue tapped her webbed fingers against the stone. “A fair trade.”

Shadow twisted through the air. “Impossible. The stones shatter during meridian opening.”

Lin Yue leaned forward, the blue flames casting strange patterns across her face. “I can’t return them. What if I promise all future spirit stone trades come through you? I’ll need more as I progress.”

“Trust?” Yanlue’s throat-flesh quivered. “From a stranger who stumbled into my shop?”

“Trust started when I walked in here.” Lin Yue spread her hands. “Are you so comfortable with power you’ve forgotten how to meet halfway?”

Yanlue stared through the smoke curling from her pipe. Eleven more spirit stones clicked against the table surface.

“Take the pebbles too.” Shadow drifted closer. “They spend well enough.”

“I’ll take those fragments for another soul.” Lin Yue pointed at the scattered pebbles.

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“Done.” Yanlue swept the smaller stones into a neat pile. “Payment.”

Shadow swooped toward the center of the room. His form convulsed, and four glowing orbs burst forth from his mouth. Lin Yue felt like she could feel them wailing as they hung suspended in the air.

A pink blur shot across the table. Yanlue’s tongue snapped out, impossibly long and muscled. The souls vanished in a single fluid motion. Lin Yue froze. That tongue could separate her head from her shoulders before she could blink.

Lin Yue reached forward with deliberate slowness, gathering the stones and pebbles into her pouch.

Madam Yanlue blew another ring of blue smoke. “How does such a small bird harvest her souls?”

Lin Yue traced a finger along the stone slab’s rough surface. “These tried to kill me. Their friends joined them shortly after.”

A deep rumbling laugh shook the hovel. Bottles clinked on their shelves as Yanlue’s massive form quivered with mirth. “So the little bird sports claws after all—sharp enough for mortals at least.” She tapped ash from her pipe. “Bring more soon?”

“Probably sooner than expected.” Lin Yue pocketed her bag. The weight felt reassuring against her hip.

Shadow coiled through the air. “The talisman paper. And a blank skill manual.”

Lin Yue straightened on her stump. “Know where I might find some other supplies?”

Yanlue croaked out directions through a cloud of blue smoke. Lin Yue memorized them while keeping her skepticism firmly in check—trusting a soul-eating frog seemed about as smart as juggling knives blindfolded.

Once they were outside, Shadow swirled excitedly around her head. “Let’s charge those pebbles now.”

Lin Yue pulled them from the pouch. The stones sat cold and lifeless in her palm. “How?”

“Find a dark corner.” Shadow drifted toward the corner where the hovel met the wall of buildings. It was nearly pitch black in the crevasse.

Lin Yue stepped into the darkness, keeping one eye on the street.

“Hold them out.” Shadow circled her outstretched hand.

Lin Yue spread the pebbles across her palm. Shadow’s form condensed into thick black smoke, wrapping around the stones. The ethereal substance seeped into the dull blue surface. Sparkles ignited within each pebble, transforming them from dead rock to living light.

“Perfect.” Shadow reformed above her shoulder. “We’ll do the same with the big ones back at the inn. Then you can start using them.”

Lin Yue rolled the glowing pebbles between her fingers before hiding them away in her robe pocket.

“They’re currency. Better than flashing souls or full stones in the market,” Shadow said.

That only made sense, and it mirrored the mortal world. That seemed to be a theme. Everything was a mirror here.

Nature didn’t change, whether demon or rat, it seemed.

The market’s eternal twilight cast strange shadows as she navigated the twisting paths. A massive grasshopper—an actual insect the size of a market stall—clicked its mandibles at her approach. The creature’s compound eyes reflected the strange half-light as it arranged sheets of talisman paper with its front legs.

“Five soul fragments.” Lin Yue placed the pebbles on the counter.

The grasshopper’s antennae twitched. It swept the papers faster than she could count into a lacquered wooden box and pushed it toward her with mechanical precision. The transaction completed without the creature uttering a single word.

Lin Yue stuffed the box into her increasingly cramped bag. Need something bigger. Would a backpack make her stand out?

The skill manual store was more like something she expected compared to Yanlue’s hovel—weathered black oak that seemed to absorb light. Lin Yue studied the buildings lining the street beside it.

A burning realization hit her. No doors marked their facades. No windows broke their surfaces. The structures existed as mere suggestions of architecture, like backdrop paintings in a theater.

Just like those shitty video game buildings you couldn’t enter. Lin Yue snorted at the comparison. The market stalls, Yanlue’s hovel, the manual store—these stood out in sharp relief against the fake scenery.

Red paper lanterns flickered in the shop’s windows, casting dancing shadows across worn wooden steps. She pushed open the door, half-expecting some jump-scare ghost to leap out.

Instead, a perfectly ordinary man sat behind a counter, absorbed in reading a book. He didn’t even look up as she entered.

Lin Yue scanned the shelves lining the shop’s walls. Bamboo scrolls stacked in neat rows competed for space with leather-bound tomes. Strange symbols glowed on some spines, while others remained deliberately blank. The air smelled of old paper and ink.

The shopkeeper turned another page in his book. “What brings you here?”

“I need a blank skill manual.” Lin Yue kept her distance from the counter.

“Won’t learn much from empty pages.” He didn’t look up from his reading.

“It’s for my master.” Lin Yue shifted her weight. “He plans to teach me personally.”

Shadow spun through the air above her head. “That’s right! I am the master and you are my lowly disciple now!”

Lin Yue’s fingers twitched with the urge to grab Shadow’s ethereal form and squeeze. Shut up, shut up, shut up. She forced her face to remain neutral, though her jaw ached from clenching.

The shopkeeper grunted and stood. He shuffled to the shelves behind him, selected a volume bound in dark leather, and returned to his seat. The book landed on the counter with a soft thump as he resumed reading.

“How many spirit shards?” Lin Yue reached for her pouch.

He looked up from his book. “None. But you must answer my question.”

A cold weight settled in Lin Yue’s stomach. “What question?”

The shopkeeper’s eyes locked onto hers. “What kind of master lets a mortal slip of a girl walk around this market alone?”

Shadow spun gleefully overhead and let out a barking laugh. “Nice knowing you, kid!”