The Beginning of a Scheme.
Xiulan had been hoping that the system would offer her a reward for earning a thousand gold. The system had been silent about rewards, however. Xiulan suspected that the system had only been giving her rewards to whet her appetite for using its shop.
Xiulan had yet to look at the shop option. She had a feeling that any shop run by this scummy system would be exploitative in its extraction of gold. When she mentally opened the shop a fanfare played, “Welcome host to the shop. The shop is filled with many options to choose from. It has everything from weapons, cultivation techniques, and even elixirs. In the unlikely event that the host cannot find what you need then there is custom order desk where a product can be tailor made for you. Custom items will of course be more expensive.”
Xiulan was overwhelmed by the number of options that bombarded her. At first glance there seemed to be and endless number of items covering everything she could want. Xiulan was looking for something in particular, however. She filtered the list down to just cultivation techniques and started to scroll through the list. She wanted to find a technique suitable for Long Yanlin’s dappled shadow spiritual roots. Obviously, he could not cultivate the way that Xiulan and her lovers did and Xiulan had a use for him.
After some initial excitement Xiulan quickly became despondent. Every item in the shop that seemed promising and some flaw that made it incorrect for her needs. One technique called the Dappled Dawn would have been perfect, but it specifically excluded dappled shadow spiritual roots.
Growing suspicious XIulan looked for a bow for Yen Wen and encountered the same problem. A beautiful silver bow that Yen Wen would love had the audacity to claim that a woman who held the bow would experience a burning pain. The bow looked quite effeminate but was apparently made by some exclusively male order of monks.
Xiulan bit her teeth together. This must be the system meddling. Forcing her to get the more expensive custom orders. Before she could even open the custom option herself the system asked in a overly cheery voice, “It seems that you are struggling to find what you are looking for. Can the system help you by taking you to the custom orders?”
Xiulan sighed at the scam of a system but also took notes. This was a good way for her to earn money in the future. The custom order screen was just a blank box that would show off the item once Xiulan described it. Xiulan began with the cultivation method, “I would like a cultivation method most suited to be used with dappled shadow spiritual roots. Preferably one designed for stealth and espionage. I would like it to be a heaven grade method and to be practicable in both low and high qi areas such as the interior of the Blue Crane kingdom.”
As Xiulan had been speaking a shifting picture of a cultivation scroll had been forming in the previously blank box. After a minute the image solidified, and Xiulan heard a ding. The system marketed its new creation, “The shadow harvesting cultivation method. The technique uses shadow qi a relatively abundant qi as not many use it to cultivate. In low qi conditions the technique can still be practiced at a high efficiency during the early dawn and at dusk when the shadows are longest. Price two thousand gold coins.”
Xiulan gasped at the price. Anticipating her shock the system said, “the host can of course buy the shop items on credit, but an interest rate of fifty percent per day will apply.”
Xiulan pounded the bed in frustration. She was making these purchases the morning after they had arrived in Temple Gorge and Yen Wen and Zheng Ling were still sleeping.
That interest rate would have her paying four thousand coins in just two days. Still, she did need it to pull of her plan and she also wanted to buy a bow for Yen Wen. XIulan decided to throw caution to the wind and bought the cultivation method.
XIulan also bought Yen Wen a new bow on credit to the tune of a thousand gold. She woke Yen Wen up with a kiss and surprised her with it, “look what I got for you Wen.”
Xiulan presented the still sleepy woman with the bow. It was a shorter bow than the long bow she originally carried. That had been designed for a person a full head taller than Yen Wen and was difficult to use fluidly. It was made of a strong but flexible wood but there were decorations of silver swirls down its entire length.
Yen Wen woke up immediately when she saw the bow. She wrapped Xiulan in a tight hug, “thank you,” she said.
Xiulan replied, “only the best for my lover. Now go out and find that boy that guided us here last night. I need to use him for our plan, and he could be useful going forward as well. If I guess correctly then he will not be far. He is probably curious about us and will want to earn more coin if he can.”
Zheng Ling had also woken up. Xiulan shoved a bag of gold coins into her hands. “You little Ling,” continued Xiulan, “must go into the markets and buy yourself the best silks you can find. I want you to look even more the aloof and serious doctor than you already are.”
The two women sprang into action and before long Zheng Ling was out shopping and Yen Wen had returned leading a nervous and exited Long Yanlin. Xiulan pulled out the cultivation scroll as he approached and spoke with solemnity, “do you know what this is Yanlin?”
The boy shook his head in the negative. “This is a cultivation technique that is very suitable for you. I assume that you have been avoiding the yearly test for spiritual roots because you do not want to join the army.”
Long Yanling grimaced, “I would not mind the army, but the local recruiting sergeant has a habit of losing a few of the recruits to the slavers. Across the ocean they pay well for slaves with spiritual roots.”
Yanlin nodded, “I am going to give you this scroll. My only condition is that you work off the debt for me. I have a job for you to do and I need a person to start to cultivate this scroll before it can work. The price of the scroll is four thousand gold. I am expecting to make far in excess of that amount from this job so after this you could go your own way. However, I will also hire you going forward if you do a good job.”
Long Yanlin to his credit did not jump at the offer, “what is the job?”
Xiulan smiled, “we are going to scam the Kangs for thousands of gold coins. Your only part will be delaying your breakthrough to the first level of Qi condensation until the appropriate time.”
Long Yanlin laughed, “I would do that for free the kangs are not very well liked in this city.”
“Excellent,” said Xiulan as she tossed him the scroll. It disappeared into his skin on contract and after a minute he had absorbed the information.
“Are you familiar with the wealthy families of the city Yanlin?” questioned Xiulan when he had recovered.
“Familiar in the sense that I know their names and reputations yes. I do not know any secret knowledge.”
“That’s fine,” said Xiulan, “I just need a list of families who are just slightly less wealthy than the Kangs and one of their bitter rivals who is down on their luck.”
Yanlin considered and then listed of some families, “the Chens, Xus, and Duans are all a little less wealthy. The Zhao’s are probably their biggest rival they ship in ore from further upriver but one of their mines and gone dry. The Kangs and been rubbing in their fallen status in their faces every chance they get.”
“That’s perfect,” exclaimed Xiulan, “I want you to go out and buy some proper cloths, not that sack cloth you are wearing now. Then go to all of those families and let them know that a Doctor Zheng Ling will be holding a private auction here in two days time.
Yanlin scampered off to fulfil his mission. After he left Yen Wen moved over to massage XIulan’s shoulder and asked, “you are placing a lot off trust in that boy without really knowing him.”
Xiulan sighed relaxing into Yen Wen’s strong hands, “it is best when employing people to trust them. Mistrust leads to inefficiency. If he betrays us then I will deal with it then, or rather you can deal with him.” She punctuated this comment by licking Yen Wen’s hand playfully.
Yen Wen swatted at her, “you can be such a baby.”
The Beginning of a Scheme.
Xiulan had been hoping that the system would offer her a reward for earning a thousand gold. The system had been silent about rewards, however. Xiulan suspected that the system had only been giving her rewards to whet her appetite for using its shop.
Xiulan had yet to look at the shop option. She had a feeling that any shop run by this scummy system would be exploitative in its extraction of gold. When she mentally opened the shop a fanfare played, “Welcome host to the shop. The shop is filled with many options to choose from. It has everything from weapons, cultivation techniques, and even elixirs. In the unlikely event that the host cannot find what you need then there is custom order desk where a product can be tailor made for you. Custom items will of course be more expensive.”
Xiulan was overwhelmed by the number of options that bombarded her. At first glance there seemed to be and endless number of items covering everything she could want. Xiulan was looking for something in particular, however. She filtered the list down to just cultivation techniques and started to scroll through the list. She wanted to find a technique suitable for Long Yanlin’s dappled shadow spiritual roots. Obviously, he could not cultivate the way that Xiulan and her lovers did and Xiulan had a use for him.
After some initial excitement Xiulan quickly became despondent. Every item in the shop that seemed promising and some flaw that made it incorrect for her needs. One technique called the Dappled Dawn would have been perfect, but it specifically excluded dappled shadow spiritual roots.
Growing suspicious XIulan looked for a bow for Yen Wen and encountered the same problem. A beautiful silver bow that Yen Wen would love had the audacity to claim that a woman who held the bow would experience a burning pain. The bow looked quite effeminate but was apparently made by some exclusively male order of monks.
Xiulan bit her teeth together. This must be the system meddling. Forcing her to get the more expensive custom orders. Before she could even open the custom option herself the system asked in a overly cheery voice, “It seems that you are struggling to find what you are looking for. Can the system help you by taking you to the custom orders?”
Xiulan sighed at the scam of a system but also took notes. This was a good way for her to earn money in the future. The custom order screen was just a blank box that would show off the item once Xiulan described it. Xiulan began with the cultivation method, “I would like a cultivation method most suited to be used with dappled shadow spiritual roots. Preferably one designed for stealth and espionage. I would like it to be a heaven grade method and to be practicable in both low and high qi areas such as the interior of the Blue Crane kingdom.”
As Xiulan had been speaking a shifting picture of a cultivation scroll had been forming in the previously blank box. After a minute the image solidified, and Xiulan heard a ding. The system marketed its new creation, “The shadow harvesting cultivation method. The technique uses shadow qi a relatively abundant qi as not many use it to cultivate. In low qi conditions the technique can still be practiced at a high efficiency during the early dawn and at dusk when the shadows are longest. Price two thousand gold coins.”
Xiulan gasped at the price. Anticipating her shock the system said, “the host can of course buy the shop items on credit, but an interest rate of fifty percent per day will apply.”
Xiulan pounded the bed in frustration. She was making these purchases the morning after they had arrived in Temple Gorge and Yen Wen and Zheng Ling were still sleeping.
That interest rate would have her paying four thousand coins in just two days. Still, she did need it to pull of her plan and she also wanted to buy a bow for Yen Wen. XIulan decided to throw caution to the wind and bought the cultivation method.
XIulan also bought Yen Wen a new bow on credit to the tune of a thousand gold. She woke Yen Wen up with a kiss and surprised her with it, “look what I got for you Wen.”
Xiulan presented the still sleepy woman with the bow. It was a shorter bow than the long bow she originally carried. That had been designed for a person a full head taller than Yen Wen and was difficult to use fluidly. It was made of a strong but flexible wood but there were decorations of silver swirls down its entire length.
Yen Wen woke up immediately when she saw the bow. She wrapped Xiulan in a tight hug, “thank you,” she said.
Xiulan replied, “only the best for my lover. Now go out and find that boy that guided us here last night. I need to use him for our plan, and he could be useful going forward as well. If I guess correctly then he will not be far. He is probably curious about us and will want to earn more coin if he can.”
Zheng Ling had also woken up. Xiulan shoved a bag of gold coins into her hands. “You little Ling,” continued Xiulan, “must go into the markets and buy yourself the best silks you can find. I want you to look even more the aloof and serious doctor than you already are.”
The two women sprang into action and before long Zheng Ling was out shopping and Yen Wen had returned leading a nervous and exited Long Yanlin. Xiulan pulled out the cultivation scroll as he approached and spoke with solemnity, “do you know what this is Yanlin?”
The boy shook his head in the negative. “This is a cultivation technique that is very suitable for you. I assume that you have been avoiding the yearly test for spiritual roots because you do not want to join the army.”
Long Yanling grimaced, “I would not mind the army, but the local recruiting sergeant has a habit of losing a few of the recruits to the slavers. Across the ocean they pay well for slaves with spiritual roots.”
Yanlin nodded, “I am going to give you this scroll. My only condition is that you work off the debt for me. I have a job for you to do and I need a person to start to cultivate this scroll before it can work. The price of the scroll is four thousand gold. I am expecting to make far in excess of that amount from this job so after this you could go your own way. However, I will also hire you going forward if you do a good job.”
Long Yanlin to his credit did not jump at the offer, “what is the job?”
Xiulan smiled, “we are going to scam the Kangs for thousands of gold coins. Your only part will be delaying your breakthrough to the first level of Qi condensation until the appropriate time.”
Long Yanlin laughed, “I would do that for free the kangs are not very well liked in this city.”
“Excellent,” said Xiulan as she tossed him the scroll. It disappeared into his skin on contract and after a minute he had absorbed the information.
“Are you familiar with the wealthy families of the city Yanlin?” questioned Xiulan when he had recovered.
“Familiar in the sense that I know their names and reputations yes. I do not know any secret knowledge.”
“That’s fine,” said Xiulan, “I just need a list of families who are just slightly less wealthy than the Kangs and one of their bitter rivals who is down on their luck.”
Yanlin considered and then listed of some families, “the Chens, Xus, and Duans are all a little less wealthy. The Zhao’s are probably their biggest rival they ship in ore from further upriver but one of their mines and gone dry. The Kangs and been rubbing in their fallen status in their faces every chance they get.”
“That’s perfect,” exclaimed Xiulan, “I want you to go out and buy some proper cloths, not that sack cloth you are wearing now. Then go to all of those families and let them know that a Doctor Zheng Ling will be holding a private auction here in two days time.
Yanlin scampered off to fulfil his mission. After he left Yen Wen moved over to massage XIulan’s shoulder and asked, “you are placing a lot off trust in that boy without really knowing him.”
Xiulan sighed relaxing into Yen Wen’s strong hands, “it is best when employing people to trust them. Mistrust leads to inefficiency. If he betrays us then I will deal with it then, or rather you can deal with him.” She punctuated this comment by licking Yen Wen’s hand playfully.
Yen Wen swatted at her, “you can be such a baby.”
