Chapter 108

  Spiritwood Grove (VI)

  We didn't change our direction even after getting the news of the Spiritwood Grove; rather than aimlessly heading northeast, where the region's largest forest was located, we continued north and came to the town of our destination within a day and a half.

  I'd expected a relatively smaller town, perhaps two or three thousand strong, but it turned out to be closer to an actual city than that. It had tall walls, at least ten feet at the lowest point, a rather long line of people going in and out, some jutting rooftops of buildings and towers peeking from behind the walls, and even an active array that seemed to 'ground' anyone who tried flying.

  Or, well, that's so at least according to Long Tao's casual remark.

  Not wanting to draw any attention to ourselves, we found the line for the entry and waited. I prepped a few Spirit Stones as a bribe, as it's not like we could show our identification tokens from the Spirit Sword Sect, which means that we couldn't prove our identity either way, so I could only hope that the good ol' Spirit Stones would get us in.

  Luckily, the day was fairly cloudy and far cooler than the few days prior, with temps peaking out at eighty, tops. Because of that, despite waiting in line for over an hour, it wasn't too bad. I mean, it was bad, but not even the worst of the times I've stood in line.

  Not even close.

  Like the one time in Prague during my travels when I needed a document from a local bureau, and I accidentally didn't come at the crack of dawn but instead at the ungodly late hour of 9 in the morning. Stood there like a sheep with the rest of 'em 'till 3 before finally getting to the counter and getting my piece of paper.

  I still rage occasionally just thinking about it.

  Anyway, within an hour, it was our turn. As we reached closer, we could see more of the town beyond the gates; immediately past them, a street split what looked to be your standard 'commercial' area in two--left side looked to be full of inns and restaurants and such, while the right side was your blacksmiths and jewelers and so on.

  The gates were guarded by six people, though only three seemed to be in charge of greeting the people either way: one for those leaving and two for those coming.

  "Purpose of your visit and number of people in your party?" I've already drawn up a story (with the kids' blessings) and quickly put on my pitiful face.

  "My children and I are merchants," I said. "But on our way to the town, some bandits intercepted us. We thought we were done for when another group of bandits showed up! While they started to fight, we just barely managed to sneak out and run away... the five of us have come here with the hope of restocking our supplies in the long run, but primarily for safe haven."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  "Bandits, again?" The man grumbled, frowning under the iron helmet. From the sounds of it, we weren't the first.

  It made sense.

  Some were bound to escape and run here, especially if they were close by.

  "Fine, come in." He handed me a single token. "You will be responsible for all of them. Abide by the three main rules: no fighting, no stealing, and no being out on the streets past the ringing of the bell. Anyone caught breaking these rules will either be jailed or expelled from the city. Due to the recent influx, most inns on the main streets are full; you'll have to settle for low-sink housing in the western part of the city."

  "Ah, thank you so much!" I skillfully handed the ten low-tier Spirit Stones I prepared as I grabbed to shake his hand. I'd done it countless times before in the restaurants, and he seemed a bit surprised for a moment as he palmed them all.

  "No problem. Be on the lookout for the children asking favors. Ah, and do not interfere with local businesses. They are all led by fairly strong cultivators."

  "I won't forget the favor," I smiled as I ushered the kids in, following right after them.

  Finally making it in caused me to sigh in relief. You never knew with these places, and especially so when it came to me. This is my first time travelling in this world, so I don't know the customs, the notions, the principles, or anything of the sort. Kind of a blind leading the blind scenario over here.

  Even Long Tao, our most experienced adventurer, is about ten thousand years out of date on his information. Even in a world of magic, I imagine, ten thousand years ought to cause some change, no?

  We didn't meander about the main street for too long.

  Since we were wearing rather ordinary robes and had hidden our cultivation completely, nobody paid us much attention. A few curious eyes did glance over the kids in varying expressions, but all it did was make me push them to go faster.

  We followed the guard's instructions and moved west; the further west we got, the less... impressive, let's say, the town got. All the gilded beauty of it on the front slowly began to wane, sort of like how most things were. Underneath the bejeweled surface was a rot, and it sure did stink.

  There were fewer and fewer people out on the streets, too, and the buildings turned from two- or three-story pavilions with properly made eaves and terraced balconies into rundown shacks with literal holes in the walls.

  I'd wondered for a moment if the damned guard tricked us for some reason, but we did eventually come upon a line of slightly better homes. A few of them even had courtyards, believe it or not.

  And yet... what the hell was I supposed to do now?! As though answering my inner prayer, an older, hunchbacked woman suddenly exited one of the homes, walking with a cane in hand, and approached us.

  "Travelers, I presume?" she asked, smiling and revealing two rows of largely yellow and black teeth.

  "In search of a place to stay," I nodded, smiling back.

  "You can call me Madame Lu," Hey, that's my name, too. Maybe it's a stroke of fortune? Or... its opposite? "I'm in charge of housing guests here. Most of my finer buildings are already taken, unfortunately, but I cannot in good conscience set a father of four into a bad home, now can I? Ho ho. Follow me."

  ... you know, I don't want to be prejudiced or ageist or anything of the sort, but Jesus Christ, this woman freaks me out! The tone of her voice, the cadence, the feeling in my gut... something's off about her.

  But having already glanced at Long Tao, who just shrugged my gaze away, I figured it wasn't anything we couldn't handle.

  She led us to the very end of the road, where it splintered into a somewhat... familiar, you could call it, scenery. A round clearing around which a set of homes were built was quite reminiscent of a certain car-thieving game from my early days of life.

  "Here," she pointed at a relatively small but surprisingly well-kept house with a fenced-off courtyard. There was even an unlit oil lamp accosting the gate. "Would you like to take it?"