A Strange Land of Money Grubbing Almost Mortals.
Fu Liwei scrambled out of the way as a group of qi-gathering cultivators tackled a fleeing merchant to the ground. Fu Liwei had just stepped off of the boat that transported him upriver. As he watched the merchant get dragged away, shouting that he would pay the bank back in a few days he heard someone clearing their throat.
“Excuse me, honoured passenger,” said the captain of the boat, “the fee for passage from the Old Capital is a gold piece.”
The man was audacious. Fu Liwei could feel that he was only at the third level of qi gathering. Fu Liwei could crush the man in a second. His energy-focusing cultivation was nothing on the mainland but on this miserable island, he should have been a rarity.
Fu Liwei sniffed and said, “I do not have any of those silly metal coins you people use. Here will this do?”
Fu Liwei flipped a spirit stone at the man. The captain’s eyes widened, and he grinned. “Most certainly honoured friend from the mainland. If there is anything else that you require do not hesitate to ask.”
Fu Liwei sneered at the man’s obsequies tone and strode off. This truly was a bizarre place. If the family had not instructed him to be discreet, he would have killed half of the impetuous almost mortals he had spoken to. They were all obsessed with money. To make matters worse all of his slaves had been offered freedom as soon as he arrived here. Apparently, these heathens had a new Queen who had outlawed slavery.
Of course, the ingrates had all jumped at the opportunity.
What was most perplexing was that everybody here was so weak. From what Fu Liwei could feel the qi density of the island was only slightly lower than the mainland. All of these qi-gathering-almost-mortals should have been focusing on their cultivation instead of grubbing for bits of metal.
This city was called Temple Gorge and if that ex-slaver from the coast could be trusted this is where he had sent Fu Liwei’s younger half-sister. It had not been easy to follow the trail here, but the family had insisted. The girl had been the only one Uncle Fu taught his blacksmithing techniques to, and the man refused to work if she was not found. The old fool did not suspect Fu Liwei’s mother of selling her to the slavers, but Fu Liwei was still sent to find the bitch.
A brief journey took Fu Liwei to artisan row. He was trying to locate Bao’s ironworks when a commotion caught his eye.
A fat man wearing a ridiculous black sash around his neck was showing off a large two-handed greatsword and shouting, “Master Fu is taking on new apprentices. Make your way to the yet-to-be-named central city and soon you could be making weapons such as this!”
Fu Liwei was shocked. The work was crude, but he could see distinct signs of the Fu family technique in the working of that blade. It was hard to admit but there was even a qi-soaking quality to the work that exceeded the Fu style. Wherever Fu Jinjing was, she was no longer a slave. Fu Liwei had to find her now before she gave away more of the family secrets.
___
Long Xiulan stretched her body lazily. She had her head resting on Yin Ju’s lap while Yin Xiu painted her nails. At first, the one-sided pampering had made her uncomfortable, but the twins genuinely would not allow her to dote on either of them.
Xiulan was tucked away on a high balcony that allowed her to observe the Golden Fist Bank trading floor. The sound of bags of coin-trading hands soothed her.
“Are you paying attention?” huffed Bai Meirong.
Xiulan’s wife was sitting close by and had been reading from a clipboard setting out all of the expenses for the royal announcement Lijuan was planning to hold the next day.
Xiulan groaned out, “Wife, you know that I am not going to veto any decisions you make. Why subject me to all this bureaucracy?”
Bai Meirong said petulantly, “I just want you to understand just how much we are spending for this party of yours.”
Xiulan tsked, “It is necessary Love. We need to restructure the kingdom before the mainland takes an interest in us.”
Before Bai Meirong could counter Yanlin faded out of the shadows and knelt. Bai Meirong threw up her hands in defeat and lamented, “Now I will never get you to listen. No doubt this will be about something interesting.”
Xiulan stood and walked over to her wife and comforted, “I promise that I will let you nag at me tonight. The others are working on the announcement ceremony so we will have some time to ourselves.”
Xiulan turned to Yanlin and indicated with a nod that he could speak. Yanlin immediately got to the point, stating, “We have been tracking a mainland cultivator who arrived in the Old Capital a week ago. His name is Fu Liwei and he has been trying to locate Fu Jinjing.”
Xiulan was pleasantly surprised. Fu Jinjing had been cagy about her past, but Xiulan knew there her lover still had unresolved issues. The arrival of this man might be the key to helping Fu Jinjing get some payback. Xiulan assumed that revenge would be appropriate. People did not end up as slaves to idiots like Bao for pleasant reasons.
“Where is he now?” asked Xiulan.
“He is in Temple Gorge trying to find out any information he can about ‘Master Fu’. I suspect he will make his way here soon,” replied Yanlin.
Xiulan tapped her lips with her index finger and enquired, “Is he strong?”
Yanlin shrugged and said, “He is at the fifth level of the energy-focusing stage. I could take him on relatively easily.”
Xiulan pondered for a while and then said, “Bring him in. Fu Jinjing can decide what we should do with him.”
Yanlin melted back into the shadows.
Bai Meirong pointed out, “It will not be long now. He might have come from the mainland for Fu Jinjing but other families and sects will soon notice us. You have almost completely saturated the kingdom with Qi.
Xiulan smiled and said, “I know just think about all of those spirit stones.”
A Strange Land of Money Grubbing Almost Mortals.
Fu Liwei scrambled out of the way as a group of qi-gathering cultivators tackled a fleeing merchant to the ground. Fu Liwei had just stepped off of the boat that transported him upriver. As he watched the merchant get dragged away, shouting that he would pay the bank back in a few days he heard someone clearing their throat.
“Excuse me, honoured passenger,” said the captain of the boat, “the fee for passage from the Old Capital is a gold piece.”
The man was audacious. Fu Liwei could feel that he was only at the third level of qi gathering. Fu Liwei could crush the man in a second. His energy-focusing cultivation was nothing on the mainland but on this miserable island, he should have been a rarity.
Fu Liwei sniffed and said, “I do not have any of those silly metal coins you people use. Here will this do?”
Fu Liwei flipped a spirit stone at the man. The captain’s eyes widened, and he grinned. “Most certainly honoured friend from the mainland. If there is anything else that you require do not hesitate to ask.”
Fu Liwei sneered at the man’s obsequies tone and strode off. This truly was a bizarre place. If the family had not instructed him to be discreet, he would have killed half of the impetuous almost mortals he had spoken to. They were all obsessed with money. To make matters worse all of his slaves had been offered freedom as soon as he arrived here. Apparently, these heathens had a new Queen who had outlawed slavery.
Of course, the ingrates had all jumped at the opportunity.
What was most perplexing was that everybody here was so weak. From what Fu Liwei could feel the qi density of the island was only slightly lower than the mainland. All of these qi-gathering-almost-mortals should have been focusing on their cultivation instead of grubbing for bits of metal.
This city was called Temple Gorge and if that ex-slaver from the coast could be trusted this is where he had sent Fu Liwei’s younger half-sister. It had not been easy to follow the trail here, but the family had insisted. The girl had been the only one Uncle Fu taught his blacksmithing techniques to, and the man refused to work if she was not found. The old fool did not suspect Fu Liwei’s mother of selling her to the slavers, but Fu Liwei was still sent to find the bitch.
A brief journey took Fu Liwei to artisan row. He was trying to locate Bao’s ironworks when a commotion caught his eye.
A fat man wearing a ridiculous black sash around his neck was showing off a large two-handed greatsword and shouting, “Master Fu is taking on new apprentices. Make your way to the yet-to-be-named central city and soon you could be making weapons such as this!”
Fu Liwei was shocked. The work was crude, but he could see distinct signs of the Fu family technique in the working of that blade. It was hard to admit but there was even a qi-soaking quality to the work that exceeded the Fu style. Wherever Fu Jinjing was, she was no longer a slave. Fu Liwei had to find her now before she gave away more of the family secrets.
___
Long Xiulan stretched her body lazily. She had her head resting on Yin Ju’s lap while Yin Xiu painted her nails. At first, the one-sided pampering had made her uncomfortable, but the twins genuinely would not allow her to dote on either of them.
Xiulan was tucked away on a high balcony that allowed her to observe the Golden Fist Bank trading floor. The sound of bags of coin-trading hands soothed her.
“Are you paying attention?” huffed Bai Meirong.
Xiulan’s wife was sitting close by and had been reading from a clipboard setting out all of the expenses for the royal announcement Lijuan was planning to hold the next day.
Xiulan groaned out, “Wife, you know that I am not going to veto any decisions you make. Why subject me to all this bureaucracy?”
Bai Meirong said petulantly, “I just want you to understand just how much we are spending for this party of yours.”
Xiulan tsked, “It is necessary Love. We need to restructure the kingdom before the mainland takes an interest in us.”
Before Bai Meirong could counter Yanlin faded out of the shadows and knelt. Bai Meirong threw up her hands in defeat and lamented, “Now I will never get you to listen. No doubt this will be about something interesting.”
Xiulan stood and walked over to her wife and comforted, “I promise that I will let you nag at me tonight. The others are working on the announcement ceremony so we will have some time to ourselves.”
Xiulan turned to Yanlin and indicated with a nod that he could speak. Yanlin immediately got to the point, stating, “We have been tracking a mainland cultivator who arrived in the Old Capital a week ago. His name is Fu Liwei and he has been trying to locate Fu Jinjing.”
Xiulan was pleasantly surprised. Fu Jinjing had been cagy about her past, but Xiulan knew there her lover still had unresolved issues. The arrival of this man might be the key to helping Fu Jinjing get some payback. Xiulan assumed that revenge would be appropriate. People did not end up as slaves to idiots like Bao for pleasant reasons.
“Where is he now?” asked Xiulan.
“He is in Temple Gorge trying to find out any information he can about ‘Master Fu’. I suspect he will make his way here soon,” replied Yanlin.
Xiulan tapped her lips with her index finger and enquired, “Is he strong?”
Yanlin shrugged and said, “He is at the fifth level of the energy-focusing stage. I could take him on relatively easily.”
Xiulan pondered for a while and then said, “Bring him in. Fu Jinjing can decide what we should do with him.”
Yanlin melted back into the shadows.
Bai Meirong pointed out, “It will not be long now. He might have come from the mainland for Fu Jinjing but other families and sects will soon notice us. You have almost completely saturated the kingdom with Qi.
Xiulan smiled and said, “I know just think about all of those spirit stones.”
