Chapter 421
Whispers Abound (V)
"What is this?" I asked with a quivering voice and shaking hands, the ring on the palm of my hand trembling.
"The stones to buy the stabilizing herb," Long Tao replied somewhat apathetically.
"... no, no. The stones to buy the herb would amount to a couple of hundred thousand, at most. Long Tao."
"Yes, Master?"
"Who did you rob?"
"What makes you think I robbed someone?"
"The amount of stones in the ring," I said. "Circumstances. And, well, it's you."
"Are you saying I'm a thief? That's hurtful, Master." Then why do you look like you're ready to burst into laughter rather than crying?!
"Apologies, Long Tao," I said. "So, who did you rob, and do we need to run?"
"... I didn't rob anyone," he snickered. "Merely made a... deal."
"..." I stiffened a bit as my eyes wandered from the ring over to him and back to the ring again. "Why... why does that sound even more ominous?"
"It's not."
"Even you don't sound convinced."
"Remember Xi Zhao's home town?" he suddenly asked as I dug into my (relatively) distant memories.
"Yes. What about it?"
"Did you ever wonder why the kids had such an easy time cleaning it up?"
"... that was easy?"
"Of course," he shrugged. "There was somebody else there at the time who had the means of possibly killing us all. I just happened to have had a nice chat with her, and she offered to go away once I mentioned my grand-aunt's second middle name."
"... how many middle names did she have?"
"Nine."
"Wow."
"Yes. She was rather eccentric. Regardless," he continued. "As I was wondering where to sell off the thing that definitely can be sold and invites no scrutiny since Master decided to be cute with it," I winced yet again, realizing that I likely went a bit overboard with the whole 'theming' thing. "I picked up on the familiar scent and happened to meet with her again."
"And you sold the art to her? For this amount?"
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"Hm? No, of course not. Impressive though it is, it's not worth that much, not even to someone decidedly obsessed with jade," he shrugged. "No, she asked for a... different favor."
"Oh no."
"Don't worry, it's nothing that terrifying," he said. "She merely wants us to help her sneak somebody into the secret realm."
"..."
"..."
"And that's not terrifying?!" I exclaimed somewhat angrily. "I'm pensive about us going in, and you want me to also bring along a complete stranger?!"
"For twenty million mid-grade stones."
Dammit.
He was right. I mean, he was wrong, but he was right. Twenty million mid-grade stones wasn't some discountable amount that didn't matter. It was literally life-changing. Besides being able to give Lao Shun enough stones to buy a whole slew of 'stabilizers', I'd also be able to provide the kids with an inexhaustible (for the time being, at least) amount of stones, and we could even power some arrays for a long while.
... all the same, there was something in my gut that wasn't sitting well with it. I eyed him silently for a while before relenting; it was just... too good of a deal. No, wait.
While twenty million mid-grade stones is a lot of money, that's just from my perspective. Getting somebody into a secret realm without being invited yourself would be worth a lot more to some people.
"Hm. Twenty million mid-grade stones. And nothing else?"
"... you're rather shrewd, Master," he smiled. "She also owes me a favor."
"Seeing as I'll be the one sneaking somebody in," I said. "Won't she owe me a favor?"
"Seeing as you will never be able to find her," he retorted. "It will be as though you don't have it, anyway."
"Haah. Whatever. Fine. Thank you for the stones. Now give me back the art."
"Why?"
"Huh? You'll still try and sell it?"
"Of course not. It's not as though it's the only one you have. I found it... fun. So, I'll study it a bit."
... oh, I hope you choke on studying it.
He went and left me with the ring so full of wealth I felt funny holding it. I quickly hid it and started distributing the stones across several rings, just in case some stealthy thief decided to try his luck with me since I looked the sort to be robbed.
The next week went by relatively uneventfully--after giving the stones to Lao Shun, he said he'd get the first batch prepared before we were to depart for the mountain and simply disappeared. The kids continued to go out almost daily, exploring the city and even meeting some of the other kids that'd be participating in the realm opening.
I mostly meandered about the inn, occasionally going out, too, but sticking to the familiar premises, as the 'flush with money onset paranoia' happened to make me a bit too anxious to drift too far out.
As such, I mostly just stayed back and actually studied the jade movement art a bit; it wasn't going to replace my Shadow Steps, but it'll be useful to know it when I find myself in a jade-heavy environment.
I thought it'd all be rather pedestrian until the day of departure, until hectic calls alerted me very early on in the morning. They came from Dai Xiu, and I quickly sped out of the room to see her and Wan Lan and Xi Zhao standing there, panicked.
That wasn't the worst bit--they were severely wounded, with cuts and nicks still bleeding rather profusely.
"What happened?!" I asked immediately, feeling panicked myself.
"We-we were attacked!" Dai Xiu replied hastily. "By, by some old guys! They took away everyone else, Master!"
"What?! Took them where? Everyone else?!"
"Y-yes! They came for Brother Tao, and-and Senior Alchemist happened to be there, so he fought for a bit and helped us escape!"
"... hm?" I paused for a moment, feeling something was odd. "They... they took Long Tao?"
"Yes!"
"Did... did he struggle?"
"H-huh?" the three of them paused and thought for a moment before their panicked expressions began to subside. "He... didn't. He just... went along."
"Oh." Okay. If he went along willingly, it probably isn't that dangerous. Still... who the hell dared just kidnap somebody in broad daylight? "Who attacked you?"
Dai Xiu looked away guiltily for a moment before Wan Lan explained about what happened about a week ago, when some guy from some random sect accosted them, wanting to take them away. I figured it'd happen (rather, I was shocked it hadn't happened before), but still... it's uncomfortable.
Very uncomfortable.
"Do you know which sect?"
"We heard Sister Zhao mention it was Immortal Sword Haven Sect."
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