Chương 82: The Golden Tooth Debt

Some days later I woke up in a simple bed inside a small decorated room that seemed to belong to a martial school boarding house. The walls were plain wooden panels polished smooth by years of use, with a single narrow window covered by a faded bamboo screen that let in soft morning light. A low wooden table stood against one wall, a simple wooden chest for clothes sat at the foot of the bed, and a single hanging scroll of black ink calligraphy decorated the opposite wall.

The air smelled faintly of incense and old wood. I found myself near a martial arts school. Now I was sure of it, because the sharp sounds of training could be heard clearly from outside, including the rhythmic crack of wooden staves, the heavy thuds of bodies hitting the ground, and the shouted commands of instructors. My body still ached a bit, but the worst of the pain had faded. I sat up and ate the cold rice with cooked eggs and green peas that had been left for me. The meal was plain yet filling.

After the hearty meal I put on the clothes that had been prepared for me. There on a chair, neatly folded, lay a fresh set of golden silk in a dual-tone weave. Its brilliant amber surface shimmered under the light while the heavy chestnut-brown backing gave the sharp creases a deep and shadowed edge. The gold face was meticulously embroidered with faint cloud patterns using dark brown thread, a traditional motif for safe passage on dangerous roads.

Designed specifically to withstand the brutal rigor of escort missions, the fabric possessed a dense, reassuring weight that resisted tearing from stray blades or rough bark. The dark brown interior lined the collar and cuffs, ensuring that sweat and dirt from long hours on the training grounds would not stain the prestigious golden exterior. Every fold held its form perfectly, promising both fluid movement during high-speed lightness skills and a striking, disciplined appearance.

As I was bare naked, it seemed someone had taken my broken clothes and burned them away, leaving only a new sturdy loincloth that had replaced the old one during my recovery. It felt tough and well-made, the fabric reinforced with tight weaving that would not tear easily. Afterwards, drawn by the constant sounds of training, I left the house and found myself in an open field where many warriors were training. In the middle stood Xhife, training intensely, his staff whistling through the air.

The moment I stepped through the door he stopped. It was the first time I saw his face. He looked so young. He was eighteen and had such a baby face behind the mask he once wore, ha had long dark blue hair, finely worked eyebrows like thinly drawn lines, and smooth features that made him seem almost too gentle for a Vagabond. We conversed as we walked through the open training field, the morning sun warming our faces. Xhife's voice was calm yet carried a quiet fire, the kind that came from years of hidden dreams.

He told me he had run from his family's merchantry and had always wanted to be a Vagabond.

"I grew up surrounded by ledgers, silk shipments, and endless negotiations and were rarely taken as an agent. My father wanted me to take over the business one day, to sit behind a desk counting coins while others risked their lives on the roads. But I wanted the wind in my hair, the open road beneath my feet, and the thrill of real combat. I wanted to be free."

His father, who had saved us that night, was the Leader of the Golden Tooth Agency, still a respected escort agency known across the region even when the competition over took them on profitability. Xhife explained what they did with pride in his voice: "our Agency transports valuable goods through the most dangerous routes in the Region of Zhenhai, the Sea of Treasure Nation in the Zhongguodao. Rare herbs, precious pearls, ancient relics, and guarded merchant caravans even sometime high profile personnel.

It is a very competitive occupation. Many agencies fight for the best contracts, and bandits, rival sects, and even corrupt officials try to rob us at every turn. The Golden Tooth has built its name on reliability and strength. They are based in Biaoczu, a small but bustling city near Bianfeng, the capital that houses over three million souls. Our small city only has two hundred thousand." I was perplexed by the word "only."

"Only two hundred thousand? That still sounds like an enormous amount of people to me." Xhife chuckled softly.

"To someone from a smaller place it does. But compared to Bianfeng it's nothing. The capital is a beast of its own." I still could not believe his face. He looked so young, almost too surreal to believe that met him as a Vagabond. He noticed my stare and smiled awkwardly.

"What? Is my face that strange to you?" I shook my head.

"No… it's just the first time I've seen it. You look too young to have already run away from such a life and chosen the road of a Vagabond." Xhife shrugged, his expression turning a little more serious.

"Age has nothing to do with the fire in your heart. I couldn't stay any longer under fathers rule, but now its complicated. Every day behind those walls had felt like chains. Out here, even if it was dangerous, I felt alive." The conversation flowed easily between us as we walked, the weight of the massive Golden Tooth banner pressing on my shoulders like a constant reminder of the debt I now carried of being rescued.

For the first time in a long while, I felt like I had found a small, unexpected companionship on this chaotic path. He also told me he had an older sister. And then right after he uttered those words in that moment she showed up, aged twenty-two, she smoked a pipe with casual confidence. The woman had a short, edgy pixie-cut style with bright dark blue hair.

The hair was cut in sharp, choppy layers, with longer strands at the front that framed her face and fell just above her eyebrows in a stylish, slightly messy fringe. The back and sides were closely cropped and tapered, giving her a bold, fierce, and tomboyish appearance. The overall length was very short and the longest parts reached about chin-level when she lifted her arms, but most of the hair stayed above her neck and jawline.

She came in from a recent mission and was shocked to see a Suren so deep into their neck of the woods. Her crimson eyes narrowed instantly, a mix of surprise and sharp suspicion flashing across her face. Yet beneath that suspicion I could sense something else a form of relief. Relief at seeing her little brother safe and back home. She was now the young leader of the Golden Tooth Agency, the position she had wanted for years.

She had been fine with Xhife running away, knowing his heart was never in the family business, but having him return alive clearly eased a heavy weight from her shoulders. Still, she was suspicious of me. I could feel it in the way her gaze lingered, weighing me like a merchant appraising questionable goods. She wanted to test me, to see, if I was worthy of the debt we now shared. Without a word she grabbed my arm with surprising strength and dragged me toward a large training hall at the edge of the field.

Inside, the hall was filled with racks of training weapons such as swords, staffs, spears, and shields of all sizes. She shoved me toward a barrel full of practice blades. She took a long, slow puff from her pipe, then exhaled a thin stream of smoke. With a sharp motion she spat the pipe from her mouth, letting it clatter to the ground. In one fluid motion she drew a vicious thorn-covered whip that gleamed menacingly under the light.

Cracking it once in the air, she looked straight at me with a cold, confident smile and asked, "Are you ready to be tested?" I took position after taking out my longsword.

"Yes, I am!" Before we began she asked for no Vestuto, as the hall would not contain it and it was for Agency purposes. Or if I did not mind, then I would have a higher payment to deliver to them. I immediately stopped her before she named the price, and we fought. Her whip cracked waves of pressure. She handled it well. She connected on my left arm, but I did not budge. Her thorns tangled deeper into my arm's skin, drawing blood. I grabbed it and pulled it with force toward me, my longsword ready to strike.

She leapt above with an air walk and stopped, saying, "That's enough. You are ready to join as you got spunk in you." After the fight she dragged me straight to the elders. The Leader was out securing new deals, so four amber-hued old men stood and an older woman sat around in fancy clothing with long beards and elegant poise. They approved my anointment into the Agency without proper and prior checking.

It was rushed, almost too easy, their eyes scanning me like livestock at market, nodding quickly as if my survival alone was enough proof of value. The young master Xhife had orchestrated his group so they were waiting for me the moment I stepped back into the open training field. The field was alive with activity. Around two hundred warriors trained or loitered in groups, sparring, lifting heavy stones, or sharpening weapons under the sun.

Another hundred were out on missions, their absence felt in the quieter corners where their usual spots remained empty. The air smelled of sweat, oiled steel, and dust. I felt the weight of hundreds of eyes on me, since a Suren was now among them, an outsider who owed a massive debt. I was asking around about the daily routines when I saw it. Xhife was told to go to the stables by a superior, quietly cleaning the carriages like a common stable hand.

A group of young warriors from his own faction kept throwing fresh horse poop onto the carriage every time he finished cleaning it. He didn't explode in anger, but I could see the quiet fury burning in his face, the way his jaw clenched and his hands tightened on the brush. He was being deliberately humiliated. I jumped in without thinking.

"What the hell is wrong with you people?" I snarled, stepping between them and Xhife. They turned on me with sneers.

"What does a Suren know about hard life in a Agency, mister reject of a young heir ran from us after all is that not right?" Their words cut deep, laced with contempt and jealousy. I was mad. The fire in my chest flared. Without hesitation I grabbed a handful of the fresh poop and smeared it straight across one of their faces. The man recoiled in disgust, gagging. The brawl exploded instantly. Fists flew. I was a bit superior, my strikes heavier and sharper thanks to the real survival experiences.

I dropped the first two with clean hooks, the third with a knee to the gut that left him gasping on the ground. Xhife joined in beside me, turning that negative anger into fierce support, fighting with surprising ferocity even though it was about him in the first place. I shouted over the chaos, "Don't worry! I can hold back their anger. But just because you wanted a different life, they force you into cleaning the carriage and then besmear you for wishing for a different life? No!

Let them do it like they should, not you who is forced here. Let's go train you oh so noble escort warriors!" We fought the remaining 2 warriors for a good while using the emotions to fuel our combat, fists and elbows flying, bodies hitting the dirt. Bruised egos and bloody noses marked the end. The brawl finished with a strange mix of resentment and new respect. Some of them even nodded grudgingly as they picked themselves up.

Then the Veteran Leader, Hifui, a fifty-nine-year-old grizzled man with a voice like gravel, stepped in. He had disdain for both the young master and me for different reasons... Xhife for running away from duty, me for being an unknown Suren who brought trouble on the first active day. He grumbled, "Escorting a damn pearl with a Suren and a runaway brat. The agency really has fallen low." He then assigned me the heavy Banner of the Golden Tooth as punishment, with Xhife at the backline with me.

"Carry it. Both of you. Maybe the weight will teach you something." The Golden Tooth Escort Agency banner was a tall, imposing vertical hanging flag made of heavy luxurious crimson-red silk with intricate golden embroidery and ornate borders, proudly displaying bold golden characters "金牙镖局" above the English text " Golden Tooth Escort Agency," with a large, gleaming metallic golden fang emblem in the center and elegant red tassels dangling at the bottom.

Weighing a massive five hundred kilograms, it was the pride of the agency, which was carried ceremoniously during escort missions to boost the morale of the guards and intimidate any would-be attackers. And so our first mission was quickly set as training: to carry a pearl in a box inside the carriage to a nearby smaller city named Qiushanzuo of one hundred thousand people up north, two hundred eighty-eight kilometers away.

All around this place the land was heavy and flat but drier than everything I had seen before, with beautiful rivers winding through it as we marched with twelve personnel. Our leader was Hifui, a fifty-nine-year-old veteran who hated the young master and me but had to take on this request to train us with purpose. He grumbled the whole way, his voice scratching like gravel.

"Escorting a damn pearl with a Suren and a runaway brat. The agency has really hit the rock into the river. It pains me to share these uniform colors with this useless rabble." Xhife walked beside me, ignoring the old man. He helped carry part of the banner's weight when my arms were tired from holding them straight without being allowed to move my hands. It turned out that after thirty minutes, my non-moving arms felt like they were carrying not a 500-kilogram banner, but a 5, 000-kilogram one.

The conversation flowed as we marched under the open sky with moving clouds. Hifui eventually warmed up a little, sharing stories of past escort runs from when he first started as an agent years ago, describing how bandits tried to ambush them, only to be crushed by the Golden Tooth's veterans. I listened intently, learning the ways of this escort life, while the weight of the massive banner pressed on my shoulders like a constant reminder of the debt I now owed. The journey tested me, but it also felt right.

A new path had opened, one of debt, duty, and growing strength alongside a companion, something I was already well used to.