113 — A Familiar Stranger

I made my way to the village chief’s home, finding an even larger crowd now looking inside at the curious visitor. Despite having relatively grown used to the presence of cultivators among them, Taizhou was still a fairly small village. A cultivator visiting their village and being attacked was typically the most exciting that happened around the village.

Walking through the crowd that began to scatter upon our approach, I stepped inside the village chief’s place. Guo Zou, the village head, stood outside the room where the girl was, a nervous look plastered on his face. The man had put on some weight since I last saw him, making his sweaty face look quite comical.

“Is everything alright?” I asked the man, making him spin around, startled.

“Ah it’s you— No, nothing, everything’s fine. It’s just… this girl does not appear to be from the Seventh Peak. Do you think there will be trouble?” the man asked, his eyes darting around nervously.

I almost laughed at the nervousness displayed by the village chief, but I could understand his worry. She was from an unfamiliar sect, and any trouble with cultivators would typically go horribly wrong for mortals, and the people of a village like Taizhou.

Patting the man on the shoulder reassuringly, I walked up to the door. “Why don’t we ask her directly?” I said, smiling as I opened the door.

Yin stood inside besides the injured girl who was now fully awake. The girl sat with her legs dangling down from the bed, looking slightly dazed. Hearing us enter, she looked up at us, her eyes a deep purple colour that reminded me of Liuxiang.

“I thank you for helping me in my time of need,” she said, dipping her head to me respectfully.

“Oh, it wasn’t me. The villagers found you, and granny Lang was the one who treated you. I just came back this morning, so it’s them you should be thanking,” I said, turning sideways to let her see the village chief who seemed to be doing his best to hide behind me.

Granny Lang entered from beside me, walking up the girl before she took her seat at a nearby chair. “Put your arms to the side,” the granny instructed, setting her hand above the girl’s abdomen to better sense her condition.

The girl frowned, watching the old woman, but didn’t protest when Granny tried to inspect her. Instead, her eyes remained set on me.

“Are you not the head of this place? If my senses do not lie, you are the most powerful cultivator here,” the girl asked me.

“No, I’m not really the village head. Neither are any of my friends here. We just live here,” I replied.

The girl’s frown deepened at my words. “You live in a village headed by mortals?” she asked, as if confused why I would ever do anything like that.

“This isn’t my village, it is of the people of Taizhou. They so very kindly let me live here, but just because I am a cultivator, I wouldn’t try to be the village head. The current village chief knows how to do his job, I don’t. It only makes sense to have him as the head,” I replied.

The girl did not seem very satisfied with my answer, but nodded in reply. “My apologies for the mistake,” she said, glancing towards the village chief momentarily, before she fell quiet.

Granny Lang continued with her inspection, before pulling her hand back from the girl’s abdomen. “You seem to be healthy. Except for the poison in your dantian,” the granny said to the girl.

“It is a training method of my sect. We take it to suppress Qi channelling to strengthen our pathways. Nothing that will harm me,” she replied.

“Sounds like torture to me,” the Granny said, getting up. “You should be perfectly fine, but if there are any issues. Let someone know and I will take a look.”

The girl nodded, bowing her head deeply in thanks as the granny walked out of the chamber.

I continued to look at the girl, my curiosity far from satiated. “Are you from the Shie clan?” I asked. I knew they used poisons to train their disciples, at least in Liuxiang’s case.

The girl shook her head. “I’m from a town near the azure city.”

“The capital? That’s an awful lot of distance from here. What brought you to Taizhou and the Seventh Peak?”

“Trade. I work for a merchant caravan, and was heading to Seventh Peak city when some bandits began to chase me. I managed to shake them, but the package I was delivering got destroyed in the chase and I'd lost my path. I was wandering near the forest, trying to find a place to rest at night when I got ambushed by a spirit serpent,” the girl replied, clenching her fist.

“Bandits? Around here? That seems odd,” I said out loud.

“Not really. Bandits have been growing around the merchant paths near the city, and there are quite a few traders who make their way from Azure city to the seven peaks. It’s not unheard of for people to get attacked by thieves, bandits and sometimes even spirits in their travels either,” Yan Yun said, walking into the chamber.

For a moment, I felt as if the girl’s eyes widened upon seeing her. But the slight shift in expression faded quickly. Just me seeing things? Or perhaps Yan Yun’s reputation was greater than I’d thought.

“What’s your name? And which trading caravan? I may be able to send Leiyu if they are still in the city,” Yan Yun asked, standing beside me.

“Ying Hua,” the girl replied, glancing at Yan Yun with an expression I couldn’t quite read. “The azure-lotus group, but they will not be here now. I was sent here by myself to deliver the package.”

“Did you drop it while running?” I asked.

“No, it was destroyed by an attack from the bandits,” the girl replied. I glanced sideways at Yan Yun when I saw her staring. Noticing my look, she averted her eyes, before glancing back at the girl.

“Apologies. It is just that, I feel like we have met. It’s been years since I visited the Azure-city though,” Yan Yun said, looking at the girl.

“I do not believe we have,” Ying Hua replied evenly. “You are…?”

“My name is Yan Yun. And this is my spirit Leiyu,” she said, as Leiyu manifested on her shoulder. “Let me know if you need help contacting your clan.”

“Hmph. Leiyu is not a messenger bird,” the proud eagle said, before disappearing.

I smiled, turning towards the girl. “I’m Lu Jie,” I said, flashing a charming smile at the girl. She did not seem very impressed. “What do you intend to do for now?” I asked.

The girl looked down at herself, thinking for a moment. “I know I have imposed very much on you already. But if you could allow me to live here for a while, I would be eternally grateful. I was supposed to receive some coins in exchange for the item I was delivering, but now that that has been destroyed, I can only send a letter back and wait for instructions,” Ying Hua said.

I glanced back at the village head, who felt surprised at my glance. He returned a single nod at me, and I turned back to face the girl. Before I could say anything, the girl spoke up once more.

“I will, of course, be willing to work in return.”

I frowned, thinking over it for a while. A merchant girl from the capital of the empire. Given my recent moved with the alchemy halls and everything, this may very well be an opportunity to spread my contacts beyond the seventh peak, and scout out competition.

“Very well, Ying Hua. It’ll be a pleasure to have you,” I said, smiling.

The girl looked back at me, her lips slightly curving up. It took me a moment to realise she was trying to smile. “May the Heavens bless your kindness,” Ying Hua said, in reply.

“I’ll leave you to rest now,” I said. Yan Yun seemed to want to stay behind, so I left her be, making my way out of the chamber. The village chief thanked me for taking care of the situation and I accepted his thanks, as I began to head back home.

Zhang walked alongside me, having been quiet the entire conversation. I glanced sideways at Zhang, watching a frown on his face.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

“No brother. Just- it is merely that. Little Yin does not seem to like that girl. It is just a surprise because she seems excited to meet almost everyone.”

“Is that right?” I asked, turning towards Silverlight.

“Sii!” the little spirit said. I frowned quietly.

I already know Twilight had good intuition, so perhaps Silverlight shared some of that, being a plant spirit herself.

The Lord’s words regarding lurking shadows came to my mind. Combining that with the timing of this new stranger, I couldn’t help feeling sceptical. But to come out so openly into… I couldn’t see the purpose of it.

“Very well. Head back home Zhang, I will be there shortly. I just have one extra thing to do,” I told the boy.

Zhang nodded, joining his fists as he gave a light bow before returning back. I would delegate tasks and further plans for our drug business to him when I returned, for now, I needed to setup a contingency plan.

Following the connection from my bond, I walked around the village. Before I saw the little spirit I was looking for, I heard the excited shouts from the kids playing with me. Following the noise, I made my way to the river stream near Taizhou. There, I saw Sheldon, spraying some children with water, as they chased him around and jumped happily. Twilight sat on his back, riding him like a speeding boat.

The sight brought a smile to my face, and I waited for them to notice me, not wanting to interrupt their play time.

It did not take long, before the children noticed and Sheldon made his way over to me, rising a little stream of water. Twilight sat on his back, jumping up excitedly onto my leg.

The little plant spirit chimed as I picked her up in my hands, laughing. Glancing down, I looked at Sheldon, and smiled.

“Hey buddy. You wanna spy on someone for me?”