Chương 866: Chapter 865: Destinies and Dice

Li Yu left the small wooden clinic behind and let his feet guide him through the winding alleys of the slum district. The intense emotional weight of the morning had left him feeling a bit drained but his stomach was still demanding attention. He did not want to walk all the way back to the opulent restaurants of the wealthy avenues, he wanted something simple and immediate. Li Yu soon found himself in a bustling open air market nestled between several leaning tenement buildings.

The air here was thick with the smoke of wood fires and the sharp tantalizing scent of roasted spices. This was where the laborers and the low level workers of Gilded Fate City came to eat after their grueling shifts. Li Yu walked up to a street stall operated by an elderly man with a scarred face. The stall was simple but incredibly clean. The vendor was grilling long skewers of dark river eel over a bed of glowing coals and brushing them with a thick spicy sauce.

"Two skewers of the eel and a bowl of your root broth please." Li Yu requested politely. He handed the vendor a few low grade spirit stones. The prices here were incredibly affordable. For the cost of a single cup of tea in the Golden Cicada, a person could feast like a king here in the slums. Li Yu took his food and found a spot on a wooden bench nearby. The river eel was perfectly cooked and delicious. The exterior was charred and spicy while the meat inside was tender and rich with a mild earthy flavor.

The root broth was thick and warming, instantly banishing the damp chill of the slum air. As he ate he observed his surroundings. Despite the extreme poverty and the desperate conditions, the market was surprisingly peaceful. There were no brawls breaking out over food and no thieves stealing. Li Yu noticed heavily armed city guards patrolling the perimeter of the market in pairs. Even in the deepest slums, the security of Gilded Fate City was enforced.

The slum lords could legally extort their tenants with blood contracts and predatory loans but open violence and unauthorized theft were still strictly punished. The city operated on a very specific set of rules. You could ruin a person financially but you could not disrupt the peace of the streets. Li Yu finished his meal and tossed his wooden sticks into a waste basket. He felt much better after having a meal.

He decided to walk off the food by exploring a bit more of the poorer district before returning to the main city. He wandered down a narrow street lined with repair shops and second hand merchants. As he passed a dingy pawn shop with iron bars over the windows, the heavy wooden door swung open. A young man stepped out into the street. The young man was holding a small cloth sack of basic spirit stones. Li Yu stopped. It was Jorik.

The desperate cultivator from the bank looked up and froze when he saw Li Yu standing in the street. A deep flush of embarrassment rushed to Jorik's pale face. He quickly tried to hide the small cloth sack behind his back but it was too late. Li Yu had already seen it and he easily deduced what was happening. Jorik had traded everything of value to secure the Moonlit Frost Root. Now he was pawning off whatever meager possessions he had left just to secure basic living expenses for his family.

"Young master." Jorik bowed deeply. He looked incredibly ashamed to be caught in such a vulnerable position by the man who had just saved his mother.

"Jorik." Li Yu greeted him with a warm smile and was ignoring the awkwardness completely.

"It is good to see you again. How is your mother doing?" At the mention of his mother, the deep shame on Jorik's face melted away. A bright and genuine smile broke through his exhausted features.

"She is doing wonderfully." Jorik said. His voice was filled with relief.

"The frost Qi from the root neutralized the fire poison almost instantly. Her breathing has steadied and her fever broke an hour ago. The healers say she just needs rest now. You gave us a miracle."

"I didn't give you anything, we traded fairly. I am very glad to hear that." Li Yu nodded. Jorik stepped forward and gestured vaguely down the street.

"Please young master. You have done so much for us. You must come back to our family estate for a meal. Allow us to host you and show our proper gratitude." Li Yu looked at the young man and he saw the frayed edges of Jorik's robes. He remembered the rusted swords and the cracked leather armor Jorik had traded away. He looked at the dingy pawn shop they were standing in front of. Li Yu could put it together that it was most likely a fake invitation. Jorik was an honorable person.

He felt obligated by the laws of basic courtesy to invite his benefactor to his home. But his family was completely destitute. Hosting a wealthy tourist like Li Yu would require them to spend the meager spirit stones Jorik had just pawned his last belongings to obtain. It would be a massive and stressful burden on a household that was already struggling to survive.

"I appreciate the offer, Jorik." Li Yu replied gracefully. He placed a hand over his heart in a gesture of respect.

"But I must respectfully decline. I have urgent matters to attend to in the upper districts and my schedule is quite full. Please just focus on your mother's recovery. That is all the gratitude I require." Jorik visibly relaxed. The tension drained from his shoulders just that bit more. He was thankful that Li Yu had given him a polite way out without damaging his pride.

"I understand, young master." Jorik bowed again.

"May the heavens bless your journey."

"And yours as well." Li Yu said. They parted ways and Li Yu began the long walk back toward the glittering avenues of the entertainment district. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. As the cracked cobblestones slowly transitioned back into polished white pavement, Li Yu fell into deep thought. The stark contrast of Gilded Fate City was jarring.

Just a few miles away wealthy tourists were casually throwing away fortunes on a single roll of the bone dice in the Golden Cicada. They drank wine that cost more than a slum tent and laughed about their losses. Meanwhile people like Mei's parents were breaking their backs and faking despair just to survive a predatory rent collection. People like Jorik were pawning their last heirlooms just to buy a bowl of food after saving their dying mothers.

Everyone in this city was a person but their situations were so wildly different. A single bad stroke of luck, a sudden illness or a foolish brother with a gambling addiction was all it took to plunge a family into the abyss. Bad luck was literally just a dice throw away in this metropolis. Li Yu looked down at his own hands and felt the terrifying well of Qi flowing through his meridians. He took a deep breath of the misty air and he told himself to remember this feeling.

He promised himself he would never take his situation for granted and he would always be grateful for the privileges he possessed. He would not let the arrogance of power blind him to the struggles of the weak. Lost in his philosophical musings, Li Yu let his feet wander aimlessly through the bright streets. He eventually looked up and realized he had circled all the way back to the massive open courtyard of the Stone Pavilion. The pavilion was just as crowded as it had been the other day.

The sound of cutting blades and cheering cultivators echoed over the high walls. Li Yu decided to step inside. He did not plan on buying any more origin stones but he enjoyed watching the spectacle of hope and disappointment play out on the cutting tables. He walked through the entrance and immediately noticed a large crowd gathered near the lower tier tables. The ambient Qi in the area was flaring with hostility. Li Yu leaned against a nearby stone pillar to observe.

A young man wearing faded royal blue robes was standing in front of an origin stone table. He had a handsome face but he looked incredibly exhausted and a bit battered. A heavy sword was strapped to his back. Surrounding him was a group of arrogant looking cultivators wearing the matching white and silver robes of a prestigious local sect. The leader of the sect disciples was pointing a fan aggressively at the young man in blue.

"You have a lot of nerve showing your face here, Prince Zhao." The sect leader sneered. His voice was loud and intended to draw a crowd.

"I thought you would be hiding in the dirt after what you did."

"I have done nothing wrong." Prince Zhao replied. His voice was calm but a deep stubborn anger burned in his eyes. He kept his hands away from his weapon as he knew the strict rules of the city.

"You stole my childhood sweetheart." The sect disciple spat furiously.

"Lin'er was promised to me. And you used your royal status to poison her mind and turn her against her own sect." The crowd murmured. A scandal involving a prince and a stolen sweetheart was premium gossip. Li Yu crossed his arms and listened closely as well.

"I did not steal anyone." Prince Zhao sighed heavily. He looked incredibly tired of having this exact conversation.

"Lin'er made her own choices. She left because she realized you are an arrogant fool. And she certainly did not come to me. I do not have a consort or a companion."

"Lies." The sect disciple yelled.

"Perhaps she went to my older brother." Prince Zhao offered with a bitter, self deprecating smile.

"The perfect Crown Prince. He is the true heir to the kingdom. He has the supreme talent, the boundless resources and the favor of the king. He takes everything else. Why not her as well." The sect disciples laughed mockingly.

"You are a pathetic excuse for royalty." The leader scoffed.

"A marginalized second prince with no backing and no future. You are just here gambling on cheap rocks hoping for a miracle because your own kingdom abandoned you." Prince Zhao ignored the insults as he had heard them countless times before. He turned his back on the arrogant sect members and focused entirely on the table of origin stones. He was not going to let them provoke him into a fight that would get him thrown into the prison. Li Yu watched the young prince with growing interest.

Prince Zhao walked slowly down the long table. He did not use a silver monocle or a wooden hammer like the wealthy stone masters. He simply hovered his hand over the rough grey stones one by one. He closed his eyes and seemed to be listening for something. He moved past the large expensive stones and stopped at the very end of the table. He hovered his hand over a small ugly rock covered in dark moss and dried mud. It was in the lowest price tier available. Suddenly, Prince Zhao's eyes snapped open.

A bright spark of certainty lit up his exhausted face.

"I will take this one." Prince Zhao told the attendant. He pulled out a meager handful of spirit stones and paid for the ugly rock. It most likely emptied his entire remaining budget. The sect disciples laughed even harder.

"Look at the trash he buys." The leader mocked.

"A beggar prince buying beggar stones." Prince Zhao ignored them completely. He carried the ugly stone over to the nearest cutting station. The crowd followed him, eager to see the marginalized prince humiliate himself further. Li Yu followed along as well as he was swept up in it all. The cutting master took the ugly stone and placed it on the iron table. He activated his Qi blade and began to shave away the thick crust. The crowd leaned in closely with every movement, just waiting for the reveal.

The cutter peeled the final layer of grey shell away. There was no blinding flash of light. There was no sudden overwhelming pressure of an ancient beast core or a supreme herb. There was absolutely nothing spectacular about the reveal. Sitting on the iron table among the grey dust was an incredibly old, tarnished brass ring. It was covered in strange unreadable scratches and looked completely worthless. It did not even possess a faint trace of ambient Qi. The entire pavilion erupted into roaring laughter.

"A rusted ring." The sect disciple howled holding his stomach.

"A piece of mortal junk. Truly a treasure fitting for a discarded prince!" The crowd chuckled and shook their heads. The young man had spent his last spirit stones on a piece of trash. It was a pathetic end to the drama. But Prince Zhao did not look disappointed at all. He reached out with trembling hands and picked up the tarnished brass ring. He held it up to the light. His eyes were wide and burning with a fierce, terrifying intensity. And then the marginalized prince began to laugh.

It started as a low chuckle and quickly grew into a maniacal booming laugh that echoed across the entire courtyard. He clutched the ring to his chest as if it were the most precious artifact in the cosmos.

"The heavens have not abandoned me!" Prince Zhao yelled over the mocking crowd. He glared at the sect disciples with absolute fiery determination.

"My fate changes today. You will all remember this day!" The crowd stared at him. The laughter died down, replaced by pity and confusion. They whispered that the stress had finally broken the poor boy's mind. He was claiming a rusted ring was going to change his fate when his perfect older brother was already slated to inherit an entire kingdom. It was absolute madness. But Li Yu did not think the prince was crazy. Li Yu smiled brightly from his spot near the stone pillar.

A young man pushed to the absolute brink of despair and a sudden maniacal confidence.

"Good luck on your adventures." Li Yu whispered silently into the wind. He turned around and walked out of the Stone Pavilion. The city was full of countless stories and crossing destinies. He was just passing through and he was perfectly content with his own path.