Chương 297: Grudges (IV)

A faint gasp escaped his lips as he watched chains thicker than towers rip out of the ground and ascend toward the flattened plateau floating midair. It was breathtaking in ways he had never experienced before--a city remaining suspended midair, with massive chains acting as bridges. There was a steady stream of people climbing up and down, and he joined one of the processions.

Strangely, there were no guards or checks anywhere, whether at the bottom of the chains or the top, allowing everyone to enter and exit the city. As soon as he entered the place, he noticed that something was off; the air, almost, felt palpable with tension, as though the string of a bow was pulled all the way back, just waiting to be loosened. It seemed as though everybody was stealthily observing him--but not just him, specifically, but more so every newcomer.

The streets were inordinately empty, with the usual hustle and bustle of an average city nowhere to be found. None of the shops were open, there was not a single child anywhere that he could see, and a good number of windows were barred with wooden planks. He frowned, not having expected it. Everything he heard about the Silvercrest City pointed to a rich, lively city that acted as the first gateway to the further northern reaches of the Split Heavens region.

This seemed more like a ghost of a city that once existed than the actual thing itself. After walking down the central promenade for almost fifteen minutes, he finally came across a shop that was open--a small tea place, no larger than a single-bedroom house. As he couldn't exactly proceed any further without getting some information about the place, he pulled apart the garlic-made cover over the front doors and entered.

Scent of boiling tea leaves permeated every inch of the cluttered space; there were four tables in total, and yet despite that, it felt somewhat claustrophobic with how close they were to each other. Behind the old, wooden stall was an even older woman who was currently tossing pieces of firewood into the roaring flame, registering him as she stood back up.

"Good day, madame," Yun Qi greeted with a faint smile.

"A double failure, lad," she said.

"Neither is it a good day, nor am I a madame. What do you want?"

"Jasmine tea, if you have it."

"Have a seat." He just barely fit behind one of the tables, feeling it press a bit into his knees, before speaking up again.

"Did something happen? It's my first time here, but based on what I heard about the place..."

"An awful lot of things happened," she said.

"If I were you, lad, I'd speedily drink the tea and get the hell out. This ain't no place for a newcomer." This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. But he couldn't quite leave--he tracked down yet another Elder that was rumored to have been behind the attack on the Spirit Sword Sect. Not directly, but more so that he oversaw the entire thing. And, for some reason, that Elder speedily left his sect about a month ago to rush over here.

If he missed this opportunity, who knew when he would get the next one?

"I'm rather sturdy, madame."

"Heh. Sturdier have fallen. Our guardian, the sturdiest of them all, was killed by some ghost. Pah. Do whatever you want." Though he wanted to chat a bit more, he realized based on her expression that she was done talking--so he didn't press. He merely awaited the tea and drank it in silence. It was about ten minutes into his thinking of the next course of action that the garlic cover parted, and another figure showed up--it was an older man, somewhat hunched and red-faced, and he appeared slightly out of breath.

"What are you doing here, Cao Xun? I already told you that I am not selling!"

"Ah, Madame, please--reconsider." the old man seemed to be placating, but behind those eyes was recognizable venom. Yun Qi remained silent, sipping tea.

"Everyone else is selling, and Sect Master has promised--""--Sect Master this, Sect Master that!! If he cares so much, how come he's never come to ask?! Why is it always you?!"

"S-Sect Master is busy--""I'm busy too! And I already told you, I'm not selling! I don't care what everyone else is doing!"

"Stubborn old woman, do you think we are begging here?!"

"Hah! You may as well be! You damned roaches! Where were you when we were attacked, huh?! While mere kids fought and saved this city, what hole did you hide in, huh?!"

"Y-y-you! How dare you! Don't you know that those children are suspected of having killed the Guardian and conspired with the attackers?!"

"As if! I saw it with my own eyes, you brute! They and that gentle man ran all over the city, saving people while you and your cohort hid like snakes!" Yun Qi frowned slightly, with the conversation taking an unexpected turn.

"Hah. What can the eyes of an old, crippled woman truly discern?"

"G-get out! Get out of my shop this instant! Get out!!" The old woman had turned wholly red, her spittle flying out at the rate of her growling.

"And if I don't?" the other man said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What will you do?"

"Y-you brute!" Taking the final sip of tea, Yun Qi stood up and walked over.

"I've seen many things in my days," he said.

"But a cultivator bullying an old, mortal woman... it might be the first."

"Huh? Who are you? Do you know who I am?"

"Scum," Yun Qi said.

"Unrepentant filthy scum."

"--y-you, did you just call me scum? Me?!" The man seemed just about ready to burst forth and attack, but Yun Qi merely extended his arm and grabbed the man's neck, lifting him off the ground with ease. The latter squirmed, his legs dangling below.

"What else are you? Madame," He ignored the man, turning towards the woman.

"You mentioned the kids and the older, gentle man. What did you mean by that?"

"E-eh? Ah, uhm, yes. When, when we were attacked by some strange people in black," she said.

"A small group of masked kids ran around the city and rescued locals. They, they became quite famous. And there were also a lot of stories of a handsome man who, despite being weak to violence, put his own well-being to the side and saved hundreds of people! The Kind Phantoms, us locals call them! We don't know what happened to them, unfortunately. One day, they just... disappeared. Not a trace of them to be found."

Just then, Yun Qi felt something--the almost imperceptible change to the Qi of the man he was still hoisting off the ground. He did his best to hide it, but there was no hiding Qi fluctuations from him--not anymore. He turned to the man and smiled faintly.

"It looks like you and I will have to chat for a bit," he said.

"Madame, is there somewhere... private we can go?"

"Uhm, you can use my basement." The old woman seemed to have recovered almost completely, pointing toward the small hatch in the ground.

"Thank you very much," Yun Qi said, fetching a few hundred coins from his spatial ring and tossing them onto the counter.

"I'll make sure to keep the place pristine."