Chương 398: A Vow (XI)

We came upon the city gates a little past the dawn of the eleventh day from our descent. We kind of rushed the last bit and skipped a day's rest, and it did reflect a bit in our appearance. The kids kind of took after me in that I didn't really care all that much about the way I looked, as long as I didn't smell. And we didn't smell, really--though we did look like we smelled. Which would explain the difference of treatment, at least partially.

The city guards did seem to know Shuren and Lao Shun, waving them in with big smiles and no fees, and then there was us. With the kids, there was at least a bit of pretense, but it was entirely dropped when it was my turn. Though, it was kind of funny watching Lao Shun and Shuren desperately hold back the kids from going just a bit berserk.

After this world's equivalent of a rather intimate pat-down and a bit of bribery, I was finally let through and had to endure kids' constant reassurances that they'll sneak out at night and teach those guys a lesson. The streets were a bit reminiscent of Silvercrest City, but unlike the latter, there wasn't a central alley that split the city in two. Rather, it was more of a sprawl, with a web-like 'design' born rather naturally as cities evolve from small, communal villages.

There was great foot traffic, with quite a few shops lining the immediate sides after the gates. Luckily, we had two people who'd been here before, so they immediately led us to the city's fanciest inn--a four-story structure made out of glistening marble with a golden crown-like statue at the very top acting both as a decoration and as a water drainage system for after it rains. While the outside was beautiful and rather awe-inspiring, the interior left a lot to be desired.

It was crude, somewhat ostentatious, its decorations having no rhyme or reason to be in the places they were, past just being 'decorations', and the rooms were... well, at the very least, I had my own bed once again, as well as a window peering out toward the rest of the rooftops, as the inn was the tallest building for about two hundred yards or so. The totality of the city's surface was something I actually underestimated severely when I first saw it from the mountain.

While it was no metropolis, it was massive, as it took us a good ten minutes from gates to the inn, and we were barely one sixth of the way into the city. After enjoying the sight from the window a bit, I fell back onto the bed and--oh my God. Oh. My. God. I take back everything bad I ever thought about this place. This bed is divine. Ah. Satin. Cushioned. Almost like a foam mattress. I just... I just slink back into it almost by instinct, sprawling and melding. I just... meld.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. I close my eyes and I find myself drifting. Not through my thoughts or my memories, but through the comfortable nothing, through the not-quite-foamy goodness. I've been comfortable quite a few times by now in this world, but this... this is almost a hotel-level bed. When I create a sect, or at least make a permanent home, beyond all else, my number one priority will be to make it the most comfortable place in the world.

"Master, we'll go out to eat; will you come?" That was Xi Zhao's voice, and though I did want to try the local delicacies...

"Master will rest for a little while..."

"Yes, Master! We'll bring you something delicious!" I'd forgotten just how much comfort matters to mental health. Suddenly, I've got no worry in the world. I'm just holding my eyes closed, sinking into the bed, and letting all of my anxieties just... melt away.

"Fellow Daoist Lu, may I come in?" Well, that didn't last long.

"Come in." It was Shuren that forced me to sit up and come back down to reality. She'd changed, donning a fresh set of silver-cast robes. Now that her pilgrimage was complete, she'd restored her cultivation fully and was seemingly aglow with a new resolve.

"Did... did I interrupt your rest?" she asked as I didn't quite manage to fix my annoyed expression in time.

"There'll be plenty of time to rest when I'm dead," I spat out, and she seemed to wince at the words.

"Don't worry about it; just an expression from my hometown."

"A rather... macabre one."

"Well, it did help me make peace with death," I said.

"However little. What can I help you with, Fellow Daoist?"

"Ah, I came to say goodbye."

"Goodbye?"

"Hm," she nodded.

"I have already spent more time than I expected on the pilgrimage, so I must return. Beyond that, I also came to make a vow."

"Huh?"

"You've helped me in ways that cannot be measured," she said.

"And in ways that can never be truly repaid. I've come to vow to return to you as soon as I settle my accounts with the Island and swear my loyalty to you under the heavens. I will work the remainder of my days to repay the favor." She bowed deeply--that full ninety-degree bow, which signaled she meant business. I was a bit surprised, but not terribly. Based on her character, our interactions, and the--no, wait.

"... and this has nothing to do with Shun?"

"S-Shun? A-ah, you mean Fellow Daoist Lao Shun. N-no, of course not. What could it possibly have to do with Daoist Shun?" Well, she may be a thousand years old, but she stutters just like a teenage girl would. Which is... odd.

"Right. You hide it as well as any of them."

"Thank you. I mean, I--""--it's fine," I chuckled, sitting up from the bed and walking over to the window.

"I don't need your servitude, Shuren. If you want to join us, you're welcome. All I ask is that you keep the world blind to the children."

"Of course," she said, standing back up fully at last.

"You have my word. I... I should let you know that Daoist Shun did attempt to propose... you... first..." she just barely squeezed through her teeth as I held back my laughter.

"But... I knew."

"Hm? Knew what?"

"From the way you looked at me," she said.

"It was exclusively his dream rather than yours."

"... uh. I, I think you're a beautiful woman, but I--""--ah, no, ha ha, no, please don't misunderstand," she said.

"It was... refreshing. Rather, everything about you was... refreshing. You showed me that, even in the immoral world I live in, there is kindness for its own sake. I will never forget it."

"I hope you resolve everything smoothly," I said.

"I'll try. I will advise you to be careful with the Mountain; though they make themselves seem impartial compared to the other Holy Lands, they are vastly worse than them, ultimately. There is a reason they've opened up the realm to the public--and though I do not know the exact why, I do know for a fact it was not due to their altruism. Something is afoot." Oh, if only she knew...

"Though I look kind and trusting," I said.

"You'll seldom meet a more paranoid man, Lady Shuren; I guarantee it."

"I'm reassured, then," chuckled.

"Well then, farewell, Fellow Daoist. Until our paths cross again."

"Until our paths cross again."