As we walked along the forest there was a distance of 3 meters between both groups. The guards walk ahead clearing a path for us while we stayed behind a little enamored at the forest's beauty. Every once in a while one of them would peek back us though, like they were still a little on guard against us.
"Hey! You guys better not be causing trouble when we reach the village. Our village is considered more of a town now a days though with the population growth. We also have cultivators employed and a sect nearby so you better behave." One of the guards said in a stern tone while not even looking back.
Walking along with the group of guards I hear a set of foot steps slightly quicken behind me veering slightly to my left.
"𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨?" Qiu Tu whispers trying not to alert the guards.
"𝘕𝘰, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭."
"𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴? 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵!?" her tone slowly rising while jabbing my waist.
"𝘈𝘩.. 𝘯𝘰.. 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱.. 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵, 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘈𝘩.. 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘩.. 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦." I say trying to calm her down.
"𝘈𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺." Seemingly appeased she stops jabbing me
Appearing out of nowhere Yao Ya appears and hugs my right arm engulfing it between her mountains and staring directly into my eyes "𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘐𝘱 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘨, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴."
'That's so sweet of you, but I have to be the one that protects you. I can't let my friend get hurt because of my decision after all. This feeling though, I feel like I'm melting. I don't want her to ever let go.'
"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘐 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘵" I said with a smile while giving her a head pat using my free arm.
"Mmmmm~" Noises came from her seemingly enjoying my hand a bit too much.
Thinking of a plan I slow down my speed to regroup and discuss with the rest.
Feeling the presence of them around I start explaining my plan that I just came up with.
*Whisper*whisper*
"𝘏𝘦𝘺, 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦." I spoke getting their attention.
"𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺?" Ngo Peng whispered aggressively
Ignoring him, I start explaining what we should do.
"𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴. 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 relatively 𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩.
𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘞𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘞𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴."
"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬?" looking back at them for any indication of acknowledgement.
Taking a look, I see them all nod their head although Ngo Peng seems to be doing it begrudgingly. After the confirmation I walk back up to my original spot with Yao Ya attached to my arm.
…
Reaching an end to our destination I could see the town they spoke of, although only one of the sides. The town was surrounded by an 8ft tall stone wall in a plains near the forest we're exiting. A sign showing the name of the location (Earthen Edges) hung near the gate of one of the entrances.
"We found more of your friends before we found your group. Or well they seem to be from their clothes. They're held up in the hospital and should of woken up any time now."
Entering the town and they accepted the pocket knife and flashlight as a reward, leaving soon afterwards without a complaint.
Signaling everyone to come near I had already started to devise a slightly newer plan.
"Alright, lets split up to finish our tasks. Tao Mei, Wan Ting, and Ngo Peng can you go find the hospital and check on the remaining survivors? Yao Ya, Qiu Tu, and I will go to ask for basic information about the world. Let's meet back here at the entrance around 5pm."
"Alright" Everyone responds and starts to head out on their task.
'Okay, now where should I go to collect information maybe the market. Yeah that's a good place to start. Maybe I could overhear some useful gossip or just ask some basic info.'
Heading over to the market near the center of town, it was bustling and filled with activity. People roamed the crowded streets, some had treats or snacks in hand while a others simply walked. Little market stalls were scattered along the streets most if not all sold the before mentioned treats and snacks. The buildings which lined the street edges were full on shops all of varieties.
I searched around before my sight landed on a few general good stores. Making my way over to one of the general stores that looked the most average between the three, I noticed the prices of some of the items. The currency of most of the items is in metal coins, specifically copper, some iron, and even silver ones.
Speaking with the owner about general knowledge he was initially smiling and happy, but after realizing I was just wasting his time by asking about general knowledge that everyone should of known and not buying anything he kicked me out.
Deciding I needed some money I headed directly to a pawn store nearby dropping the spare flashlight we had to sell for some of the coins.
"What is this thing, are you making a fool of me?! Why should I give you anything for this "stick" you've shown me!" The owner spoke slightly enraged over the random black stick I dropped atop his counter
"No no no! This is no ordinary stick, it's a direct upgrade to the torch. It may only be able to be shone in one direction but it can light up farther and last a lot longer as well!" Quickly I tried to explain the usefulness so he won't kick me out too.
"Hmph, a better torch you say? Tch, What would be your price of this item then?" he spoke in a mocking way
"Uhh... maybe 10 Iron coins?" I said unsure of how their currency system would translate over.
"10 Damn iron coins!? That's 40 torches are you out of your damn mind?" He yells clearly outraged about the price
"Alright alright, how about you test out the product first then decide, huh?" trying to reason with the man
Taking the flashlight he held it like a normal torch towards a shady corner of the store.
"..."
"How do you use it?" the man asks confused
"Here just flick this switch and then point the end of it towards the corner." I say showing him the area to push and way to properly hold it.
Turning on the flashlight a light not bright nor dim appears at the end. As he held it the way I told him to the corn then lights up and even as he walks backward the light still stays on the area not dissipating even when he hit the opposite wall of the shop.
"Hmmm... this is an interesting piece of equipment you have here." His tone softer then earlier.
Noticing him finally taking an interest to the item I ask
"How much are you willing to pay me?"
"How long did you say this lasted?" His eyes still glued to the stick's end as he waves the flashlight around.
"7 hours if you keep it on like you are doing so now."
Looking back at me he says "Since, I've never seen one of these Items before I'll give you a good deal. 5 Iron coins take it or leave."
Ecstatic about getting money I take the deal without even haggling "Deal."
Sliding 5 coins towards me I quickly swipe them and exit the store, completely forgetting about asking for information in the process.
Heading out the store I found one of the buildings I saw initially, an information building. Now that I had money I could get some info through this establishment.
Walking pass the doors I was greeted by someone at the front desk.
A female worker greets me with a smile and cheerful tone, "Hello and welcome to the local information dealer. Would you like the general knowledge, advanced knowledge, premium knowledge, or the top tier knowledge room? Random knowledge for each room is 10 copper, 1 Iron, 5 Iron, and 50 Iron respectively. Specific information will cost double of the random cost."
'Damn that's expensive'
"I'd like one general knowledge room please."
As soon as I said that I saw her smile diminish a bit and her tone quickly became indifferent, "Door farthest to your left."
Walking through I saw an old man sitting on the far side of the room with a chair in the center of the room.
"Please sit" the man gesture toward the chair.
Sitting down I wonder what I should get.
"What am I able to ask for?"
"Anything most people in this town should already know about."
"Tell me about cultivators"
"They are people who cultivate to get stronger and extend their life span. 20 copper please"
"How do they cultivate?"
"They usually read manuals or technique scrolls to learn about new ways to cultivate. 40 copper please"
"Any nearby place that would offer these courses?"
"There is a nearby sect branch in city of Fang quite a bit away northeast. I'll throw in a couple free ones since no one usually visits me there are four levels of cities the crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core. Fang city is part of the mantle level. 60 copper"
'I've used 60 copper coins already, might as well just make it simpler for myself and round it down to 4 iron coins.'
"Give me four random ones, please"
"There were 8 weirdly dressed people found earlier and they are currently at the hospital that look like you.
The southern forest is the only thing separating our kingdom from the southeastern wasteland.
The wasteland is a plains that has no cultivation materials to collect nor many animals to kill and feed the populous with.
The kingdom to the west is called The Fascinating Flame kingdom. Here's another extra one for you young man, in fact this would probably even count under advanced knowledge. They're known for a flame which is said to be able to help some cultivators along their path of cultivation somehow or even breakthrough a bottleneck that's held them back.
1 Iron coin please."
…