100 Three Rusty Coins (1/2)

When Xue'er left, she had never thought that she had somehow been revered as a vagrant assassin that was deeply feared by some and hated by others, but she would not have cared anyway.

When she smelled a distinctive scent of rotting flesh, her steps slowed down as she arrived at a barren hill that was full of displaced dirt. It seemed to have been a place where the green grass once filled the hill, but now there were clumps of grass here and there with a lot more dirt dug up and placed over the grass.

There were a few lone trees that stood upright in the darkness. The trees were full of vitality, unlike the grass that was close to the ground. Seemingly sucking up every single particle of nutrient and depleting it from the earth to allow it to grow so tall.

As the wind blew, a light sandy dust could be blown away. There was complete silence upon this barren hill.

Xue'er walked across the sandy dirt along the way, there were a few crunches to be heard beneath her cloth shoes. A sound very similar to the crackling of old and worn bones.

Her eyes gazed over the empty hill, where there was not much to be seen, yet beneath the surface, there was so much more. Her shoes accidentally kicked a grey stone that was placed in the soil, as a sort of marking. As far as the eye could see, there were many stones that were placed spread out, there were no two stones that were placed next to each other. It was no different from gazing into a barren field of lonely stones.

Her eyes saddened as they saw this scene, but there was not a trace of anger as though this was something as natural as the seasons changing. Bending down, the stone was placed back in its place as though a reminder of what had happened.

~

”You've come.” Owner Chao said as he watched Xue'er walk through the doors of his in. The night was dark and he had always kept a vigilant watch of all those who arrived.

”Of course, it's the fourteenth day. I will be leaving soon.” Xue'er said. There was not a hint of a smile on her face as she spoke.

”You have not really stayed here for too long, I feel guilty for taking your silver.” He spoke like a man of righteousness.

”It was not my silver.” Xue'er assured him. It was not her idea to stay here either, Gan Tian Chi had forced her to stay in this inn.

Owner Chao seemed to have a few more words to say but did not know how to speak them.

Before he could speak, Xue'er had already gone up the stairs and into room number one to retrieve her things, which was nothing more than a cloth bundle.

As she was prepared to leave walking downstairs, she saw that Owner Chao had set up a meal, as though waiting for her to dine. Xue'er did not turn down the invitation and sat down across from him.

The meal was simple, but it was also quite lavish from a normal person's standard, there was rice, and meat, even some sweet soup balls that were filled with minced peanuts, sesame, and sugar that was meant to be eaten on the fifteenth day of the first month.

By the time it was finished, the night watchmen came hitting the gong to signal the beginning of the last day of the new year. The sound resounded throughout the city and all were excited for the true start of the year.

”I'm coming.” Li Yang called out to the sound that kept knocking on the wooden plank that served as a plank.

When the planks were taken down, it revealed two men who were dressed in coarse clothing, one was more burly than the other and both wore deerskin boots. As the entrance was revealed, they pushed their way in, nearly causing Li Yang to fall down.

”Sirs.” Li Yang greeted them respectfully despite their lack of manners.

”How are they?” The burly man was not the one to waste words.

”Sorry, I was unable to cure them.” Li Yang spoke truthfully.

Upon hearing the words of this quack of a physician, they immediately barged their way into the clinic, carelessly knocking a few things in their wake.

When they got to see the condition of their associates, both men felt a sense of anger overcome them. The night of new lunar's eve, they had found their associates sprawled in an alleyway. Initially, they believed that it was just a fainting spell and that all would be well once they awoke. But that was not the case as they had fallen ill after they awoke.

Now in the hands of this so-called physician, the two lying in bed seemed about to breathe their last. The condition they were in seemed much more severe than when they had arrived.

”What have you done to our brothers?” The man asked, pulling on Li Yang's collar. Because he had used a great amount of strength, Li Yang was forced to stand on his toes, it was an uncomfortable position.