Mage's Cultivation Journey 14

The sale of the herbs went without a hitch if one ignored the huge forced discount we had to take, netting us one tael rather than two and a half taels. But, it was worth everything I had observed on the line. 

Especially since, despite the huge line, no one had been selling truly valuable stuff. Even the tael we got was near the higher end. It might mean that there was a better channel to sell them outside, while the outpost of the Liao family targeted the weak and the desperate. 

I didn’t go around searching for it despite it being the plan we had before we arrived. The crisis changed the situation somewhat. 

“What’s next,” the kid asked once we left the line behind. “Should we just try to find a place to rest, or leave…” 

“Leaving is tempting, but we don’t have many options. We can’t go to the city, or any town near it without risking being caught.” 

“We can try the border towns near East,” he suggested. “It would be easier.” 

“Maybe, but it would take more than a month for us to reach there even if we take a faster pace. It’s also risky. Not to mention, it might not have the opportunities we have here?”

“Opportunities?” the kid questioned. “What do you mean?” 

“Blocking of the passage is forcing a lot of caravans to stick around, along with their martial artist's guards. Then, there are the refugees, their great numbers making it easy for us to mix into the crowd, allowing us to play fast and loose with our identities.” 

“Is it really necessary to take the risk?” he asked. “I’m already recovering. One more month in the wilderness, and I might actually return to the Peak of the Initiate Stage. That way, we will be safe … well, safer.” 

A sigh escaped me. “No. Your recovery is the exact reason we have to stay here. I want to examine more martial artists before I design the next steps of your treatments. What we are doing is not a treatment, but merely a workaround. The more internal energy you try to handle, the bigger risk you are taking. We can’t risk you aggravating your injury.” 

He nodded, though hesitant. After spending all that time with him, I knew what he thought. He was feeling useless, wanting to act to fulfill his need to pay me back. I would have consoled him, but since he wouldn’t listen, there was no need to waste words. 

“We need to make a small change in our identity,” I said. “More like an addition.” 

“On the surface, we’re still two villagers. However, I’m going you start calling you young master when we have secret eavesdroppers. You’re the bastard son of a martial artist, and he sent me, a loyal servant to accompany you during a trip, to see if you’re worthy of his teachings.” 

“That…” he whispered. “I can’t fake being a noble. No one would believe it.” 

“That’s the good part, you don’t have to,” I explained. “You still grew up in a village. The only small change we’re making is that I taught your martial arts.” 

“Is it really necessary?” he asked. 

“Yes,” I said. “People around here seem to be obsessed with two things. Power, and heritage. We have to fake the latter while we develop the former. That way, it won’t be suspicious when we start revealing your martial arts development. Not to mention, it’ll allow us to fulfill two of our critical needs.” 

“What are they?” 

“Access to the black market, and learning how to read and write,” I said. 

“You don’t know how to read as well?” the kid asked, shocked. 

I smiled as I corrected. “I don’t know how to read and write the local language. We used a completely different alphabet back home,” I explained, a half-truth that made the situation more digestible than me learning the local language purely by eavesdropping. “The fake identity will help us there. We will find a tutor for you. I can occasionally observe the lessons, which will be enough.” 

“I don’t understand? Can’t we just find someone to teach me without an identity? Or, even better, find someone to teach you directly?” 

I shook my head. “No. An old villager learning to read in the midst of a crisis would look suspicious, and an attendant trusted by a reputable martial artist should know it already,” I said. “Then, there is the speed I would learn, making it suspicious.” 

He looked unconvinced. “Is it really necessary?” he asked. 

“It is. And, if we play our cards right, we might even find a way to access the black market in the process.” 

He looked surprised. “Really? How?” 

“Believe me, kid. It’s not the first time I’m using fake identities to access a shady marketplace. The first rule is that, if you try to actively search for it, they will avoid you, afraid of being caught. Liao clan doesn’t look like a bunch that would be happy with their profits being undercut. We need to bait them properly.” 

“Alright,” the kid said, but he looked hesitant. 

“You still have a question. Ask it,” I said. 

“It’s just that you were much more careful when in the wilderness. It feels like a significant change.” 

I smiled. “It was because it was a wilderness that I was hesitant. I had always been an urban rat. Here, I know how to navigate. You can outsmart a person. A beast would just kill you.” 

He nodded. I could see that he wasn’t fully convinced, but it didn’t matter much. His role was not too different than his own. We soon picked a spot to settle for the night, near where the refugees were camping, but far enough to allow us to talk. 

There, I gave him a list of things he needed to pay attention to, like occasionally flaring his essence to show his martial artist status, but without actually using his techniques. Ideally, keeping his identity as a student of Furious Wind School was the safer choice. The school might be one of the many in the region, with relatively limited fame, but that didn’t guarantee anonymity. 

Keeping the number of variables limited was the best option. 

Similarities between his role and reality meant that it didn’t take long to go over everything thrice. The sun was yet to set. “It’s a good time to put it to a test,” I said to him, making a sweeping gesture. “Go for a walk while I prepare our dinner.” 

“Should I look for the tutor?” I asked. 

“Keep your eye open, but don’t focus on it. For tonight, focus on embodying the smug latecomer martial artist who’s trying to keep it down. Give them flashes of your identity, but stay out of trouble.” He nodded and stood up. “Try to stay in my vision,” I called at the last second.

I wanted that, not just because I wanted to observe his acting, but also because I wanted him nearby in case someone had the idea of stealing from me. I could bluff a martial artist if necessary, but I didn’t trust myself to defeat a peasant in a fistfight. I knew what I was good at, but the opposite was true as well. 

I was not good at fighting. Worse, I had a feeling it would eventually be necessary. All around us, I could see the tension ramping. Currently, things were calm because refugees were merely struggling, while the Liao clan swindled them mercilessly. 

Currently, they have disposable objects to sell, but once they run out, they will face another challenge. Whether to sell their lands. 

And, once that time arrived, 

Soon, they would run out of things to sell, and that struggle would turn into desperation. Desperate people did dangerous things, the kind that left many bodies behind. Especially since, everything I had seen made me think that the Liao clan would work to fuel that desperation rather than quell it. 

As for what form it would take, I just had to see it— 

My musings were interrupted by a sudden shout. “How dare you stand against me, you busybody,” a shout came. I turned toward it, curious exactly what was at the source of it. But, I wasn’t expecting to see Yu Xing, standing in front of a trembling figure protectively, five fully grown men in front of him, each carrying threatening clubs. 

At first, I was surprised to see Yu Xing mixing with such a situation, as he had proven to be remarkably calm and thoughtful despite his age … but then I noticed the figure he had been protecting. Particularly, her long, silky hair, the only other feature I could see other than the rags she was wearing. 

“Of course,” I groaned and stood up. The kid might be remarkably calm and measured for his age, but he was still just sixteen. And, no teenager could resist playing the hero when there was a beautiful damsel in distress. 

I started walking toward there with slow, steady steps. I wanted to run there at full speed, but showing any kind of desperation would be worse.