Two
Ash felt on edge.
In this market, there were a number of people in the Mortal realm of refining. A great many of them were Awakened Mortals that were stuck at the bottle-neck into the Sovreign Immortal rank.
Mei and Jia were in the latter stages of the Awakened Mortal realm and Na was at the bottleneck.
Tala and Moira were at the starting phase of the Awakened Mortal.
What was around them right now were people who could cause problems if they wanted to.
This was an entirely new realm of danger for the Sheng.
“Such strength,” Mei murmured from Ash’s right. “I can’t wait to start recruiting Brides and then spar with them. This’ll grant us so much more strength. There are a great many people here with abilities we’ve never seen before I imagine.”
“We should try to find young women in the clans who are second or third daughters, who are unwed,” Jia agreed excitedly. “They would be the most likely to have under utilized talent that we can immediately inflate and then empower.”
Moving slowly through the crowd at the market, Ash and company were making their way to the deeper parts of it. As they moved, Ash saw a great number of items that he’d seen in the capital of the lower-realms cultivators.
Additionally, there were a great number of items that he’d seen in the lower-realm that seemed to be sold here as curiosities. Some of them were quite morbid curiosities.
Ash noted there was a vendor that sold trinkets and things claimed to have come from special individuals in the lower-realm. A number of things that supposedly belonged to the Langye royal family.
No one stopped to really look things over which left him feeling as if either one, everyone knew it was fake, or two, no one had an interest in the realm.
“I fear we will learn nothing by listening,” Jia remarked as they brushed past another set of booths.
“Yes, it does seem to be that we’re at an impasse. I… do… do we ask Xiuying if she would like to join us?” suggested Mei.
“She’s currently helping Eira. She said earlier she’d be doing that all day.”
“Locke says Xiu’s busy,” Ash relayed. “It’s… fine. Let’s just go to a tea-house after we buy some things. I just need to find someone who’s willing to make an exchange.”
Ash’s first thought was the lower-realm curio trader.
In his original world, before becoming the Chosen One, Ash had met more than a few people who collected currency. It was entirely possible that the curio collector would be willing to by Spirit Stones, if only to sell them.
Ash gently tugged on Jia’s arm and pulled her around toward the curio dealer.
He was an older man, perhaps in his late forties, and seemed to be bored and angry. A rather ugly combination for someone trying to sell goods to the casual passerby.
“Greetings friend,” Ash murmured and then sighed. Presenting the man a frown. Given how the man was presenting himself, he was likely the type that saw the opposing side as a true enemy. That to take them for a ride, was their goal in life. Ash needed to get to that point early. “I was… waiting… for friends to come through from the lower-realm but with everything that’s happened, it seems that isn’t going to happen.
“Would you happen to know anything given your merchandise? Is there any ways open right now? I’d be willing to pay for an actual answer? One that could help me? Mind you if it doesn’t help… I’d come back to talk to you.”
The man’s nostrils flared and he stared at Ash, then he waved a hand at him. As if wasn’t worth his time.
“My channel is secret and my merchandise legit,” he growled in an offhanded way. “Can’t help you.”
“Alright,” Ash murmured. “Have you heard anything about the travel point at all? I’d pay for that information as well.”
“No,” harrumphed the man.
“Then… I suppose… I have no choice but to sell things. I have some objects from the lower-realm that came with me when I transferred. I think I was one of the last to come over but… well… I was waiting for friends. I guess that plans out.”
The man had a gleeful and greedy look on his face at Ash’s words. It had been exactly what he’d wanted to hear and it was obvious.
Slowly, with a false hesitance, Ash began laying low-end cultivating artifacts and relics onto the man’s table. Things that would legitimately have come over with someone.
Low-end items that weren’t much for Ash and didn’t have any real worth to him anymore. The Sheng could create better and churn it out with relative ease.
This man was likely to pay better prices than anyone else as his entire market was these items.
As Ash laid things out, the man’s eyes had moved to Jia, Mei, Tala, and Moira, then back to Ash. There was something else in his eyes but it didn’t seem to be aggressive or problematic.
Almost something more simple and easier to understand.
Desire.
Which Ash couldn’t blame him for, so long as he didn’t do anything untoward, stare, or make comments. He didn’t like it, but he couldn’t just carve someone’s eyes out for looking at his people.
“This is… this is what I’m willing to sell right now,” Ash mumbled. “I also have some Spirit Stones if you’re willing to buy them for collectors.”
The man’s eyebrows went up at the last. As if he’d never considered selling Spirit Stones. Then he shrugged.
“Alright… well… for everything here, I’ll give you ten Awakened,” he muttered and threw a hand out at the refuse Ash had put up. Honestly any price was better than what Ash had because to him it was trash. “And for the Spirit Stones, I could buy a hundred of them. I’ll pay you ten Awakened for that. A total of twenty.”
Blowing out a breath, Ash looked pained, and hesitated. He stared at everything as if he couldn’t just bring himself to do it at that price.
“Twenty-two,” corrected the man. Ash got the feeling that this was as high as he would go.
“Okay. Twenty-two,” agreed Ash. “But-but can you tell me where the closest tea-house is? As well as the auction house?”
“Sure, sure, not a problem. I can do that,” the man replied with greed clear in his tone.
***
Walking up to the tea-house, Ash had only Jia with him. Mei, Tala, and Moira remained in the market. Because while they hadn’t found out much personally, Locke was actively listening to every conversation going on around her.
As well as likely stealing anything of use to them that no one would miss. Thing’s that might be classified as stealing, but only in the details. She’d take things that were in the trash, thrown out, or lost to the point of people not finding it.
To that end, they needed a group moving about the market to gather information as well as a group to get direct information.
“I dislike taking you here,” admitted Jia. “There will be much prettier woman than I.”
“I dunno, Jia,” Ash said and looked at her with a smile. “There’s prettier women in the Sheng already. Doesn’t seemed to have changed much. Has it?”
Jia wrinkled her nose, stared at him for several seconds, then shook her head. She pulled his arm closer to her chest and her fingers tightened on him.
Rather than respond, she merely opened the tea-house door for him and then moved in after him by a small half-step. As if Ash were leading her along and she was more than willing to abide by his wishes.
They weren’t the Sheng here.
He wasn’t Lord Sheng at this moment.
The momentum here on this realm, was minor for them.
Because as Ash had realized, there could be multiple facets of momentum that all added up to a greater whole. Where even a part of the whole was moving very slow, or even failing, yet the whole of it was still ramping up.
“Ah, yes, hello, and welcome to the Jade Spring Teahouse,” offered a young woman with a bow of her head to Ash. “How may I help you today?”
Ash had been thinking on this.
Realistically, he’d have to trade items for information, or a large amount of Spirit Stones. On top of that, he’d have to claim being a backed heir from the lower-realm to make either happen.
The only other option was to offer up information from the lower-realm from what he knew, as information for trade. He could claim he’d been the last one through and there’d been no one in the exit.
All of which would be true.
“I seek information and can trade some information,” Ash offered. “Realistically, I don’t know the value of my information, or the value of the information I seek. I ask for your… benevolence in assisting me. I would consider this a debt owed if I can be assisted.”
“There’s two cultivator’s to the left in the wall. And one above. They’re all Awakened Mortals. You could likely win, but this would be challenging. I also can’t guarantee Jia would survive.”
Great.
Can always hide in the Hall if need be.
“This is the realm we must struggle in now. This isn’t even our final realm. This is our path. Also, I’m so very pregnant. Oopsie doo? Tee hee?”
Locke, this is very much not the ti—
“I think I can help you,” the woman said with a smile after a long delay. As if she’d been speaking with someone through Qi whispers. A communication technique Ash didn’t know yet, but knew of. It was something that required an awareness of Qi, it’s flow, and who you were sending it to.
It wasn’t something that the Hall had, which meant it might’ve been discovered after the end.
“Please, follow me. I have a buyer who can also sell,” she murmured, gestured a hand to a side door, and waited.
Realizing there wasn’t another option, they really did need the information, Ash dipped his head partially to the woman and then moved in the direction she’d indicated.
Through a doorway and into a hall, Ash glanced back to see the woman was following with a smile. There were no doors other than the end of the hallway.
Without much else to do, Ash walked to the end of the door, then hesitated, looking to the woman.
“Please, enter,” she insisted and gestured at the door.
Not liking this situation but not having much of another choice, Ash lightly turned the handle on the door and then pushed on it. It opened and swung inward.
Beyond the door was a room with a table and a number of chairs. Sat at the table was a woman, eating delicately from a plate of what looked like rice balls.
All of Ash’s expectations went right out the window the moment he saw her.
In his mind, he was expecting someone like Ren’s looks with Siu’s grace and Hui’s mind.
What he got was a middle aged auntie who looked deeply annoyed he’d showed up. With slightly frazzled black hair, brown eyes, an overly rotund build, skin that was starting to lend itself to sagging, and a sour rictus for a mouth.
Her eyes picked him over quickly, then went to Jia and did the same.
She gestured at the seats at the table.
“Sit. I hear you have information to buy and to sell. Talk. I’ll judge and pay you fair,” stated the woman. She was apparently deeply confident that this would happen. Ash glanced around and leaned ever so gently into his Dao.
Nothing overt, but enough to get a feel for the situation. Because right now, he needed more information. He didn’t need Locke to tell him that there was cultivators standing around in hidden walls or the ceiling itself.
Jia beat him to the seat and pulled one out for him and slightly stood to the side.
Apparently she was taking the ‘personal woman’ disguise head on right now.
As Ash sat down, he got the first response from his Dao.
This woman, the cultivators lurking nearby, weren’t moving with his momentum. They weren’t directly opposed to him at this moment, but they were most certainly not here to help him.
“First, I need information about this realm. Current situation, what happened with the portal, why it’s deserted, and realistically, what the Emperor is doing,” Ash said and then met the eyes of the woman. Jia seated herself beside him, settled herself quietly, and then looked to the woman. “Where he is right now would be good, too.”
Ash was pushing at the possible angle that he was an agent of the Emperor and had been out of contact. It’s why he added about his inquiry for the Emperor as well. He was giving information at the same time he was requesting it.
The auntie blinked at him, her mouth curling in a sneer, even as her brows twitched.
“That’s not exactly expensive information. Well, dependin gon the version you want,” she stated with a shrug.
“I’m happy with the common version of events for now,” Ash admitted. “Though I’d prefer it if it was somewhat true. We can work our way upward with the price depending on what I hear.”
The woman stared at him while plucking up a rice ball and pushing it into her mouth. She chewed quietly, not speaking, clearly thinking. Her eyes moving from Ash to Jia, then back.
Swallowing, she made a bothered face, then leaned back in her seat.
“Tell me what you’re selling first,” she countered and waved a hand at him. “For all I know the information you bring is something I can’t pay.”
This was the point that he needed to be careful. To thread the truth, with his information, so that people would take him seriously, and not just try to… kill him.
Because this wasn’t a Sheng realm. This was a realm that still operated on the previous belief of, ‘fuck you, I got mine’.
“The lower realm has been… attacked repeatedly. The royal family in the lower-realm was nearly exterminated by a cult called ‘Demonic Cultivators’. Most recently, it was invaded by Barbarians and the Langye king has called out to the Emperor, there’s been no response. The realm lord called out to the Emperor, there was no response,” Ash began. “The Barbarians were being assisted and supplied soldiers by the Demonic Cultivators.
“Hundreds of thousands of citizens have been displaced or killed by those Barbarians and at least four cities have been destroyed during the invasion. Sacked and razed. Tens of thousands of Barbarians are invading and becoming settlers.
“Additionally, the prison realm has been overthrown. The guards are all gone or dead, the prisoners run the prison completely, and they’ve broken out of it. They were looking for a way to get out of the prison and back to the kingdoms.
“The Emperor knows none of this at this time and I must tell him. That is the information I’m selling you. I was the last one out of the portal. When I arrived, there was no-one on this side of the portal. I waited for some time, no one arrived. I’ve kept to the sides hoping that someone would show up as I was promised.”
Ash finished speaking, held up his hands, and looked at the auntie.
Who stared at him.
Unmoving, unblinking, unspeaking.
Staring at him as if she had no idea what to do.
Ash noted that the momentum she and her people had put out had shifted. It was no longer moving in the opposite way of him, but was now, moving ever so slowly in his direction.
They weren’t with him, but they weren’t against him any longer.
That was honestly as best as he could hope for given the situation. They were starting from nothing and he needed a point that he could work with.
“The Emperor pulled back,” began the woman. “He’s put the realm under… siege. He’s locked it down from both portal ends and there’s no way out right now.
“The realm is quickly having to become self-sufficient. All the guards, and his people, all pulled out. There’s no-body on the realm left that’s from the Emperor’s forces. Even the Realm-Lord was taken out.”
Ash was shocked by that information.
He had genuinely thought he’d have to worry about the Emperor swinging in and causing him problems. If the Emperor had sealed the realm off, it meant Ash could easily take control of this realm.
So long as he could subjugate everyone in the realm, break the clans, and enforce your will on them, there likely wouldn’t be anyone to stop him.
“Wonderful,” Ash grumped, looked away, then back to the auntie. “Nearest auctionhouse?”
“There isn’t one. Emperor closed it and took everything,” admitted the woman.
Ash blinked several times, then looked to the table.
“How much will you pay me for what I told you, since it seems I’ll need to find a new form of living?” Ash asked, then looked to her.
“Not enough,” she admitted.
“Will you exchange Spirit Stones for Awakened Stones?” he asked instead. “I have a large number of them for my operations in the lower-realm, but very few Awakened Stones.”
The woman pursed her lips, then blew out through her nose.
“I’ll trade for some of them, yes,” she confirmed. “We can bicker back and forth over the numbers. Here… enjoy a meal and a drink on me. I need to go see how many I’m allowed to purchase, as well as to let some people know what you told me. It’s information I need to make people aware of immediately.”
Which is fine. If they know the Emperor is having issues in every realm, it’s likely that the Clan families will turn on one another. Or a few might.
They could consider the possibility of becoming the Realm Lord by virtue of being the strongest there is.
“Exactly. I agree, Darling. Also, I sent Chu and Hui as well as a Bridal party to go secure the other portal. I told them to bury it and fortify it just like the other one. Though we should probably bury this one face down so anyone who tries to step through just sees a wall of dirt.”
Have it open out into the water world?
Anyways… thanks, my pretty little Locke Sheng.
Still going to punish you for dropping the pregnancy thing out of nowhere on me.
Is it just you and Xiu right now?
“And Eira.”
I… yeah, Eira, too.
“So far, yes.”
So far.
Right.
Anything I need to know about the area around me?
“No, but she’s panicking. She’s talking to her boss I think about what you told her. This’ll set the realm on fire.”
“I think,” Jia began, speaking in English. “That we will need to go see my family sooner rather than later. I do not think for a moment that they do not have an active bounty out for my capture. I am sure they do. Sure of it, and likely these information brokers will discover it, or already know of it.”
“Right,” Ash agreed and leaned back in his seat. He was also speaking in English. “Right. Your family first then while figuring out a place to set up camp. I was thinking… maybe starting a Sect? Could be the right way to go about this.”
“I would… I would very much like to open a sect. Preferably in my home city. It is called Anyi. It is very large. Larger than anything you have seen so far. With much room for Sects to set roots in at the fringes of the city.”
“Then… the Sheng Sect will come forth once more,” Ash stated and felt the finality of that statement. The fate of it.
The momentum.
“Remember this moment,” Ash murmured to himself, for himself.
“I will indeed remember this moment. The moment my husband has decided to claim another realm,” Jia said in English, then smiled at him. “I remember all of our moments… Ashley.”