Chapter 77 (Patreon)

Here's a Happy Birthday Shout Out to Sebas Tian! In a cultivation world, your birthday party is an event where MCs go to slap faces and get Jade Beauties.

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Xie Jin made good on his word of staying long in the city. They detoured only for a moment to purchase supplies, a terse affair with price-gouging vultures where they leaned more on their superior cultivation to get a good deal than any real haggling skill. Chen Haoran noted how quickly the price rose when it was Xie Jin doing the purchasing versus when he did. Xie Jin handled it with aplomb but it was an exhausting effort all the same and they hadn’t even hit the road yet.

It did allow him to get a better look at the city and its people however. They kept their business to the lowest tier where most of the public markets were pressed up against the docks. It was the city's largest area by far in terms of size and population, hosting the majority of the working-class citizens. It was also the only area of the city to not be directly carved into the mesa and it’s buildings reflected that with their patchwork materials. Wood and grey stone lines bluestone slab streets that rose in quality and switched over to white brick the closer they were to the walls of the second tier.

Higher up in the city were the people of means and valued professions. Each ascending height having stricter requirements on cultivation and wealth than the last before one could be allowed to live there. Those were where the cultivators of White Ridge lived and was where the choicest resources percolated up. Had they the time Chen Haoran would have liked to go see for himself the resources of the second-best city in the Empire had to offer.

Unfortunately wisdom, and Xie Jin’s impatience, prevailed and they sped out White Ridge’s singular land-facing gate and onto another of the Empire’s meticulously maintained flagstone roads.

Xie Jin looked visibly relieved once they were out from the shadows of the giant stone fingers that loomed over White Ridge, and Chen Haoran finally had the heart to ask him his most burning question.

“Who is the Mountain General?”

Xie Jin looked like he just chewed a lemon. Fortunately he still answered. “The Grand Marshal of the Empire. Well… former marshal. He was the highest military commander and the second strongest after the Sunset Emperor himself.”

That answered the first. Now for his second most burning question.

“Are those his actual fingers?”

Xie Jin stumbled on the smooth stones of the road and looked at Chen Haoran with a mixture of stunned disbelief and exasperation. “No…,” he slowly said. “They’re not his actual fingers. Why would you even think that?”

Chen Haoran threw up his hands. “You’re the one who said it was his hand. How was I supposed to know you weren’t serious? It’s not like I’ve ever seen a Star Core realm before.”

“Just because they’re a higher realm doesn’t mean they’re not human.”

Chen Haoran would beg to differ on that by virtue of the giant hand they just walked through. Not to mention his own experience seeing the White Tyrant split clouds for miles with a single sword. For a brief second, he felt his sword tremble, but when he touched the scabbard, there was no change in it.

“Is there a problem?” Xie Jin asked, sweeping his eyes across the open fields surrounding them.

“Just thinking.” Chen Haoran put the phantom sensations out of his mind. “Could you tell me why you were so bothered in White Ridge? Was it because of the Mountain General?”

“Who could be calm when standing under the shadow of the conqueror of your people?”

That made sense. Chen Haoran couldn’t imagine the feeling, his homeland was the one that tended to do the conquering, but with such an overwhelming reminder, it was no wonder Xie Jin was uncomfortable.

“How long ago did this happen? If you don’t mind me asking?”

“Four hundred years ago.”

It was Chen Haoran’s turn to trip over nothing.

“Are you alright?” Xie Jin asked.

“Yes, I am; I just- That was unexpected.”

Xie Jin looked like he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He settled for amused disbelief instead. “Two-Shadow wasn’t joking when she said you were ignorant.”

“What gave it away?” Chen Haoran sarcastically asked. His thoughts were still on the timescale, however. “Four hundred years is quite a long time to hold a grudge.”

“Don’t be so surprised.” There was something dark in Xie Jin’s tone. “There’s no way we would ever forget.”

—————

Chen Haoran didn’t ask about the Mountain General in the days after that. Some questions had a time and a place and he felt he’d get more answers once they were in Zumulu proper. Xie Jin noticeably brightened once the Fingers were far out of sight and spent the time regaling Chen Haoran with various myths of his people or stories from his childhood.

Phelps, as usual, took in the new sights and smells with endless excitement. Chen Haoran was more than happy to feed both the sloth’s curiosity and his stomach. Various flowers and leaves found their way into the empty void that Phelps stored food in. While Chen Haoran happily accepted the improved rewards that followed, nothing particularly moved him. It wasn’t quite multiplying zero but it wasn’t much better, the random things he plucked by the side of the road could have been improved a thousand times and still be too low level for him to care about.

It reminded him of the White Tyrant’s dismissive assessment of his power. While the ancient cultivator was undoubtedly full of himself and missing context, he wasn’t completely wrong. Phelps would always eat so he didn’t have to worry about him rejecting gifts due to pride or any complicated feelings a person might have. If Chen Haoran wanted to make the best use of the Gifting power however, especially as he advanced in cultivation, he would have to get his hands on better resources.

Just another problem to consider once he got settled.

He absentmindedly scratched Phelps’s head as he pondered various get-resources-quick schemes in front of the fire. They had camped in a well-worn clearing along the side of the road. The air was crisp but not as cold as the Clearsprings Mountains. Xie Jin had hunted down a rabbit and a fat pheasant and had shown Chen Haoran how to properly skin and de-feather them, respectively and prepare them for roasting over the fire. They lacked any other seasoning but salt but anything would beat travel rations, so Chen Haoran couldn’t complain.

They looked up at the same time when a group driving a small herd of cattle came from further up the road and set up camp in the clearing. Chen Haoran sharpened his eyes with qi and saw an assortment of bone ornaments on the twenty or so men and women of the caravan. He cast his sense over and narrowed his eyes.

Cultivators. Every single one of them.

The majority were First or Second-Layer, the strongest was only Seventh-Layer, nothing threatening about them. It was just a strange sight to see so many cultivators seemingly employed to move cows. He did have to admit they were giant beasts, each one the size of a car.

The Seventh-Layer, presumably the leader of the group, walked over to them and clasped his hands in a bow. “Apologies for the disturbance. I hope you don’t mind.”

“There’s more than enough room,” Xie Jin said.

The leader pulled out a bottle from his sack and held it forward. “May I join you?”

Xie Jin looked at Chen Haoran. He shrugged.

“Sit.”

“Thank you,” the leader said. He sat down and uncorked the bottle, taking a single long swill and passing it to Xie Jin, who did the same before passing it to Chen Haoran.

He debated whether he should drink from the bottle, but from the way the Seventh-Layer was prepared to offer the bottle, it may have been some type of custom. He didn’t want to accidentally be rude by not drinking. In the end, he compromised by pouring the wine straight into his mouth. When he finished and passed the bottle back, the Seventh-Layer quirked his eyebrows but said nothing.

“Any news from White Ridge?” the leader asked.

Xie Jin shook his head. “The generals grip is still the same. We didn’t stay long enough to  learn anything.” He took one of the legs of pheasant and offered it to the leader. “How goes things in Reservoir Town?”

“The Pacification Commissioner released new bounties for bandits but business hasn’t been affect much.” The leader took the drumstick with a smile. “How did you know we were from Reservoir Town? You’re from the Basin aren’t you?”

Xie Jin snorted. “I can smell the peach blossoms.”

Chen Haoran looked on in confusion. He didn’t smell any peach blossoms, the Seventh-Layer seemed to understand what Xie Jin meant however. He turned to Chen Haoran.

“Are you two traveling together, young master?”

“My brother here has praised Zumulu so much that I had to come see it myself,” Chen Haoran said.

The Seventh-Layer did a double take before laughing loudly. “Then by all means please accept another drink from me as a welcome to our home!”

Xie Jin laughed with him and under their pressure, Chen Haoran found himself finishing half the leader's bottle. It wasn’t anything that could get him drunk, but the sudden cheer caught him off guard.

“Zumulu is beautiful,” the leader said. “Our women, even more so, when you get to Reservoir Tow-”

“Reservoir Town is no place to introduce my brother to Zumulu,” Xie Jin forcefully interrupted, his good cheer gone.

There was an awkward silence.

The Seventh-Layer was taken aback and looked at Xie Jin unkindly. “My apologies.” He stood up and clasped his hands. “I’ll take my leave now. Safe journeys.” Then he turned and walked back to his group, leaving the wine bottle behind.

“Xie Jin, what was that?” Chen Haoran demanded.

“A difference of opinion.”

“Are you serious?”

Xie Jin sighed. “I want to show you my homeland properly. You won’t be able to see it going along the Empire’s damned road.”

“Doesn’t this road lead directly south?”

“That’s the Empire’s way, not my people's way.” Xie Jin reached over and picked up the bottle the man left behind, downing the rest of it in one go.

“I’ll die before I let brother Chen enter any way but the Snakes Mouth.”