Chapter 420
Whispers Abound (IV)
Long Tao nursed a bottle of s'wata, a local, sour drink that reminded him of Old Tortoise's milk. He had to bribe the thing every once in a while to give just a bottle, but it was worth it.
Though s'wata wasn't anywhere near as good, it was better than most other drinks here.
As he nursed it, a tattered tome floated lazily above his extended fingers, bobbing up and down gently. The more he stared at it, the more he wanted to smile.
It was evident his Master thought of a cute little idea and themed the entire art around jade, likely thinking it would increase the value of the method by a bit. That was true--it did. The issue was that his Master likely didn't actually realize by how much it would increase it.
Long Tao was confident he could sell it for 2 or even 3 million mid-grade Spirit Stones. The problem was that there were likely only three or four people who could afford such a price and none who he could casually approach, as he simply wasn't strong enough.
Creating a theme out of it thus created a problem--he couldn't go to any of the places he planned on going, as they'd stiff him immensely, knowing he couldn't sell it properly, and he couldn't go to the few people who could afford it, as they'd immediately try and capture him, likely to wring out where he found it.
The art itself, while impressive, wouldn't be worth all that--it was quite literally just its connection to jade.
Master's cute idea.
Sighing, he finished off the drink and bled into the shadow, slowly disappearing from the inn's compound and trouncing through the city's streets. Back when he was a boy, there was a city here, too--but it was not this one. Rather, it was a lawless den of morally corrupt, where the scum thrived.
He smiled rather nostalgically about the memories, as he'd made quite a lot of money off of them. He looked weak and played up the part of it and made himself seem an easy target. By the time he was done with the city, most of the notorious cultivators were dead.
Stopping suddenly, he frowned; to the east, about four hundred yards or so, he felt eerily familiar energy. After inspecting it for a moment further, his lips split into a grin as he headed over, navigating past some truly magnificent jewels only to find himself in front of a rundown shack where even the beggars wouldn't live. Yet, within, there were currently about a hundred or so souls, though only one who truly mattered.
She was a long way from home, he mused, as he took a step forward and crossed several sets of detection arrays layered on top of one another.
The interior was far cleaner than the exterior, with properly tiled floors and granite walls, standing in full juxtaposition to the ruin it looked like.
He ignored it all, climbing a few sets of stairs and donning the fox mask before reaching the upper floor, where a cloaked figure currently reading through some parchments awaited. She lowered the paper as Long Tao undid his cloaking, and though he couldn't make out her face, he could tell that she smiled.
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"My, my. A pleasantly familiar face in this hellhole. Or am I finally going insane?"
"Who knows? I thought I was for a moment when I picked up your scent."
"Oh? My scent? What a charmer you are." Long Tao rolled his eyes, looking around lazily.
"No more puppets?"
"Oh, they are always there. Like little spiders, scattered about the city. Everyone has their eyes and ears, Fellow Daoist; it is only right that I do, too."
"... I didn't think the Cradle had any interest in the things this far north," he said.
"Well, unfortunately," she said, putting the parchment down and standing up, walking over to a nearby cupboard, her gossamer robes twisting and twining under the scant few beams of light coming through the nearby window. She took out a bottle of wine from it as she continued, "We suffered a great deal thanks to a certain someone."
"Who? Me?"
"Hm," she eyed him. "It was not you who interrupted us retrieving the Seed by exploding it?"
"Though I'd love to take the credit," he said. "That truly wasn't me. One of your own, if I recall correctly."
"... oh? Little Hua? Aah," she sighed. "It truly does tire the mind when they start moralizing their actions." She poured two cups as one started levitating over toward Long Tao. He inspected it deeply but found no traces of anything untoward. "Did you really think I would poison it?"
"Great ones look for any chance."
"... I took a great deal of risk, concealing you from the Seniors," she said. "They were raving mad about hunting down the lunatic who exploded the Seed."
"And to think you could have just told the truth and saved us both some hurt." This time, the bit of her grin slipped past the mask as she chuckled. "You never did say why you were such a long way from home."
"I'm afraid I'm not in the business of revealing my intentions so easily," she said. "Why don't you tell me first why you are here?"
"To enter the Realm," he replied rather candidly, which seemed to surprise her. At the same time, he took a small whiff and gulp of wine, enjoying it a decent bit.
He never much liked the wine, even in his past life. But this one was surprisingly quiet on the way down.
"Why... is someone of your status entering some childish competition?" she queried.
"Because there are some things inside that I must have," he said. "And, from the tone of your voice, it sounds like you do, too."
"Do you have a way in?" The mask of nonchalance slipped as she seemed rather desperate.
"A way? I have the invitation."
"..." she fell silent, drinking the entire cup in one go before retreating to her seat, pressing her fingers into her chin and locking her eyes with his. "What do you want?"
"Depends on what you want from me," he replied.
"What do you mean?" she seemed to frown.
"Do you want me to simply retrieve something for you, or do you want me to help you get someone inside?"
"Why do I have a sneaking suspicion that neither will be cheap?"
"Oh, we can always just enjoy the cup of wine and go our separate ways," he said. "That one's fairly cheap."
"... help me get somebody in," she said. "What do you want?"
"Ten million mid-grade stones and a favor." If he chose to forgo the favor, he'd likely be able to take at least a hundred million off her, but Spirit Stones were as transient as fire's smoke.
"... what kind of a favor?" she probed. But, probe as she may, even he didn't know quite yet what he'd end up asking of her.
"I don't know," he said. "But I swear it won't be against your home, if that's what you're worried about."
"Humph," she scoffed, pulling back for a moment before sighing. "Fine. Here," she casually tossed him a ring. "There are twenty million in there. Get somebody in and out, unnoticed. On the day of array's activation, they'll be at the entrance donning coffin robes. As for the favor... I do not go back on my word. But depending on what it is, it may be the least time you and I have a fun interaction."
"Oh? I didn't take you for the sort that doesn't consider trying to kill each other by any means necessary extremely fun."
"Ha ha," she laughed, picking up the parchment. "Leave. I've some important reading to do."
"Until next time."
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