Chapter 95 - Destination Home (1/2)
Shin Sumi had thought about it for a long time before they reached Hoyan River. Of course, she wanted to repay Wuije for the trouble she had given him.
She was even more inclined to do so considering the man hadn't hesitated a single second before lying to the guards about her and paying the hefty price of a copper coin for her.
She had seen his days' work being paid by old Ren ten coins and Wuije had already parted with two just entering the city.
Wuije opened his hand, feeling what Shin Sumi had left inside.
It was a pearl, large as a coin and whiter than snow.
”An Empress Tooth!” the man exclaimed, his eyes wide with disbelief. He attempted to push his hand forward in a motion meaning he couldn't accept the gift but Shin Sumi's own small hand retracted promptly, a smile forming on her face.
”Keep it, I have no use for it. This is only a small payment for your hospitality and the trouble I caused you.”
Wuije wanted to retort something for a second but eventually closed his mouth after a second of silence. He was smart enough to read Shin Sumi's honest expression.
A smile of gratitude echoed Shin Sumi's own and a small nod expressed his thanks.
”Have a safe journey back to the mountains, I'll be on my way now” Shin Sumi parted ways with the woodworker, making her way through the streets of Hoyan River City.
Pearls white enough to be called Empress Tooth were not that uncommon but the demand of such a luxurious item still made it very valuable. With the one Shin Sumi had given Wuije, the latter would probably be able to spend three to four months without ever looking at his coin purse.
For the price of a low grade spirit stone, nine Empress Tooth remained in her bag of holding.
In the sect they only served as a vain decoration female disciples liked to add to their hairpin. In the mortal realm, the use was very similar but only reserved to high status women.
For Shin Sumi it meant being able to easily get metal coins for food and other things important to her she had thought about for a long time.
Food was more of a guilty p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to Shin Sumi who didn't need it to survive. She didn't need sleep either and wouldn't need to spend money on a room at night. Travelling in Wuije's cart had been nice but terribly slow for Shin Sumi whose legs could be faster than a horse's by using the slightest amount of Shinsoo.
But she definitely needed money for what she had in mind.
She spent the better part of the afternoon walking the streets leisurely, basking in the sun and the anonymity of a large crowd. Asking questions here and there to the few individuals that didn't look at her with lecherous intent, she soon began to build a map of the country in her head. The roads she needed to take, the cities she could stop at and those she could avoid.
She also managed to exchange all of her pearls but one, in a small shady shop far from the main streets of the bustling city. The man she sold the pearls to seemed happy with himself. She had gotten ripped off compared to what she could have fetched for eight precious pearls in a market, but the man also offered discretion and Shin Sumi wanted it more than the money.
Haggling at the open market would surely raise eyebrows. A young girl like her with eight pearls was bound to raise questions. Even after she sold them, a young girl with a lot of money was bound to raise even more unwanted attention.
Shin Sumi then stopped at a few stationary shops, avoiding the open market for now. She bought a dark grey cloak, the kind that was thick but without looking expensive and would hide her face and her silhouette. To compliment her new cloak she also bought a couple of dresses that were more appropriate for a country girl.
Not changing her clothes yet, Shin Sumi moved to another part of the city. The richer part.
The smell of luxurious spices and fragrant incense soon replaced the smell of the horses and the commoners' market. Shin Sumi couldn't help but feel out of place in a neighborhood like this one.
She quickly entered a shop, then another before finally finding what she wanted in the third one.
Most of the metal coins she had exchanged were gone by the point Shin Sumi left, a smile of contentment on her face.
She left Hoyan River by foot, crossing the long wooden bridge to the other side of the river, the eastern side.
After an hour of two, the main road became more and more empty, the few crossways she had passed thinning the number of carts.
A slight relief progressively went over her face when the sun started setting down. From the obscured valleys of the Dark Sky Starry Sect, she had become more familiar with less light. It would also make her disappear in the shadows more easily.
A faint green glow briefly illuminated the inside of her cloak. Nuan whimpered curiously. The Lion Bat had come out to find herself trapped under the cloth, trying to make sense of the foreign fabric before Shin Sumi helped her out laughing.
”Here you go, girl! You're free as the wind here!”
Out in the open, Nuan opened her black eyes and stretched her wings. She jumped from Shin Sumi's hands to her shoulder, then propping herself upwards by putting a paw on the top of her head.
Nuan sniffed the air, disoriented and confused.
”The Shinsoo in here isn't as good as in the sect, right? It took me a while to get used to it too” Shin Sumi admitted.
To compensate for the lack of ambient Shinsoo, Shin Sumi offered Nuan a few spirit berries. The spirit creature gulped the fruits down ferociously. As she looked for a moment at the tiny pointy teeth and remembered the countless times she had been bitten, Shin Sumi was glad that Nuan was only as long as her arm, from head to tail.
”Nuan, can you show me Elder Zhu's techniques?” Shin Sumi spoke softly, petting the Lion Bat.
Under her hand, a small vortex twisted the yapping beast. By reflex, Shin Sumi retracted her hand. She didn't know what could happen if the vortex touched her. Would it twist her hands into a mush of torn flesh and broken bones?
Shin Sumi shook the grim thought away. Putting the floating book on her l.a.p, she began to flip the pages with her fingers. The bark-like cover felt warm on her knees, and the paper-thin leaves that formed the pages felt frail.
Despite Nuan's growth since she hatched, the book had had no visible change. It made Shin Sumi question Nuan's origin once again, the biggest mystery in her life so far.
Quickly finding what she was looking for at the end of the filled pages, Shin Sumi concentrated.
She would always get lost in her books as soon as her eyes saw written characters. It had always been like that. She didn't even hear the Copper Bell ring once when the night had become too dark for her to read properly and a gentle diffuse light appeared from nowhere just for her eyes.
On top of the highest peak of the Dark Sky Starry Sect, an old man was standing, his eyes peering downwards through the clouds, as if they could see past the opaque curse.
”Patriarch,” a voice called behind him, ”I have retrieved Yunhai's bag of holding. The ceremony is going to begin soon so whatever you wish to do, you should do it now.”
Patriarch Sen turned around, thanking the Great Elder of the sect, Chu Xuanba. The bag of holding that once belonged to Elder Zhu floated quickly from one man's hand to the other's.
Chu Xuanba frowned slightly but didn't speak.
”If you have something to say, say it, old friend” the Patriarch sighed.
”Most people would curse at the sight of somebody going through a deceased ally's possessions... It would be best if the bag was cremated along with the body.”
Patriarch Sen's eyes darted upwards to meet the stern look and the cold face of the Great Elder before returning to the matter at hand.
”If anything was stolen, we could track Yunhai's killer. I'm only looking for clues and I will return the bag before the ceremony. I will see you there, Great Elder,” Patriarch Sen dismissed Chu Xuanba with a wave of his hand.
After another stern look under his eyebrows shaped like swords, the Great Elder turned into a blur and left the mountain top.
Patriarch Sen relaxed. Part of it was due to Chu Xuanba leaving, part of it was because he couldn't find any clues incriminating Shin Sumi. Had he found some, he would have lied of course but a Ghost had to cover their traces.
After a brief second, his divine sense fell upon the scrolls and spirit jades. One of Patriarch Sen's eyebrows curved upwards.