Chương 15: "Were You Still Paranoid if They're Really Out to Get You?”

Ch 15 "Were You Still Paranoid if They're Really Out to Get You?"

"A game?" Lulu asked.

"A simple game. We'll make a small bet. If you win I'll give you a small gift and a discount. If you lose, you pay full price. What do you say?"

"Of course I'm in!" Lulu smiled.

"Mercle!" The Old man shouted towards the back of the store.

"Make yourself useful! Bring the Night Shade Demonias!" The dark cloaked man who they had followed to the store came out of the back, holding an interesting looking wooden box and presented them.

"Sir." She watched the tall man carefully, waiting for her palm to react. Nothing. Either he wasn't the source, or he was hiding it. Was that possible? She let her eyes drift back to the herbs, but she kept note of where the man was at all times.

"Child, do you know what this is?" The old man asked, squinting as if to see every minutia of her reaction.

"Is this…." Lulu's eyes opened wide as she pointed at the intricately carved wooden box.

"A spirit herb box?" She had only heard of them before. They were a requirement to ensure the long term freshness of a spiritual herb. The old man laughed, "Right you are!"

"So… there are spirit herbs in there?" Lulu looked as shocked as Amber had ever seen her, even moreso than when she had walked around her first city!

"Right again," he opened up the box and the dim room suddenly glowed a faint blue. The display was so impressive that it broke Amber's wariness. The two girls nearly smushed their faces together to see the amazing spiritual herbs up close. Their radiant petals were not just beautiful, but they also gave off an intoxicating aroma. The faint blue glow was like nothing they'd ever seen.

"All you have to do, is pick the one with the most potency. Take as much time as you need." Amber looked into the box, there seemed to be about 14 of the Night Shade Demonias in total. Picking just one would be hard. As Lulu looked deep in thought, Amber was trying to sense which one had the most Qi. She could feel that they all had Qi, but none of them really felt different. Could alchemists feel something other than Qi? She wondered. Lulu stood there, her eyes scanning each flower carefully.

She reached out her hand, hovering it over the first few, as if trying to feel something invisible to the naked eye.

"Take your time," the old man encouraged her with a mysterious smile. Amber watched as Lulu closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She seemed to be concentrating deeply, her brow furrowed in thought. After a moment, she opened her eyes and moved her hand to a different section of the box. She continued her careful examination, moving from flower to flower. Each Night Shade Demonia glowed with that same ethereal blue light, their petals seemingly identical in shape and color. Minutes passed.

The shop was silent except for the occasional creak of the old wooden floorboards. Mercle stood motionless in his dark cloak, watching the scene unfold with what seemed like mild interest. Amber wasn't sure how much was going on in the man's head. There was still no reaction from her palm. Suddenly, Lulu's eyes snapped open.

"There!" she exclaimed, pointing to a flower in the back corner of the box.

"That one!" The old man's left eyebrow rose.

"Are you certain? You can't change your answer once you've made your choice."

"I'm certain," Lulu said confidently.

"At first, I was trying to feel which one had the strongest Qi, but they all felt the same. Then I realized, that was the trick! They all have strong Qi, but one of them is concealing it." She pointed more firmly at the flower in the corner.

"That one is hiding its true power."

"The plant is hiding it…?" Amber asked, confused.

"When I focused my Qi on it, I felt a faint resistance, like it was pushing back against my Qi. The others just accepted my Qi passively." The old man's smile grew wider.

"And your conclusion?"

"A spirit herb that can hide its own Qi is incredible," Lulu explained.

"That means it's more mature and has accumulated far more Qi than the others. That one is definitely the most potent!" The old man let out a hearty laugh that echoed through the small shop.

"Hmm girl, not bad, not bad at all!" He reached into the box and plucked out the exact flower the blonde girl had indicated. As soon as he touched it, the flower's glow intensified dramatically, filling the entire shop with brilliant blue light. The difference was unmistakable now, this herb was clearly on another level compared to its brethren.

"You did it!! You're amazing!" Amber cheered for her friend as they jumped and embraced.

"I presume you're going to take the Alchemy Trial of the Great Clans?" The Old man asked, stroking his beard. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Yes! I am. How did you know that?" Lulu asked.

"With such talent, it would be ridiculous if you did anything else!" he exclaimed.

"Give me your list. Here, Mercle, fetch everything on here." He handed the list to the tall cloaked man who shuffled off without changing his expression.

"Now, for your prize." He slid a small pouch over.

"Is this…" Lulu slowly reached for it in disbelief.

"A spiritual herb pouch?"

"Is that like the box?" Amber asked. The old man said, "Yes, but this pouch is not for long term storage. It's for gathering spirit herbs only. Now, girl, look inside." Lulu opened it up, "Moonlight poppy," she whispered.

"It's highly synergistic in soooo many recipes!"

"Yes, yes," The grey bearded man said, "I believe that should help out greatly with the medicine making portion of the exam."

"But… Isn't that… cheating?" Lulu asked softly.

"Bah! All these rich kids do it. There's no rule against it," the old man waved his hand dismissively.

"Just don't forget to purchase from Jericho's supply shop when you're using clan funds!"

"Thank you sir!" Lulu bowed deeply in front of him. Amber looked at her, and felt grateful for her friend so she bowed as well.

"Hmmph, I'm serious you know. This is an investment," the elder spoke.

"Mercle! Hurry up, so we don't send off these young ladies in the dark."

"Ah! It's almost sunset!" Amber remembered. The memory of Dante telling them to be back by sun down was lost in a day of new experiences and excitement. They concluded their business at the shop and with a final bow, stepped back out into the golden light of the late afternoon. Lulu was practically glowing, turning her new herb pouch over in her hands as she chattered about the moonlight poppy. Amber never stopped keeping a look out on their surroundings.

"Do you remember which way it is?" Lulu asked, "This city is so big! Its unbelievable."

"I do." Amber said, "I memorized it on the way in case we needed to run."

"I think you're too worried," The blonde smiled softly at her.

"But it makes me comfortable to know I have such a reliable bodyguard!" Amber quietly reflected on the new habits she had picked up as Lulu continued to happily chatter. Surely she was just being prepared and not overly paranoid? Although she was on her guard now, it had already become a habit. She had been keeping a lookout on guard duty for almost a week straight now. Suddenly, she felt a warmth come from her palm. The spiral mark was back! Was the tall man from the store following them?

She looked around for the source as she realized three men walking together a good distance behind them had been walking the same direction as them to the herb shop earlier with Mercle. But now they were alone. Were you still paranoid if they're really out to get you? She wondered to herself.

"Lulu, listen to me," Amber said, cutting her friend off mid-sentence.

"I think we're being followed. Three men, back behind us." Lulu immediately started spinning before Amber grabbed her wrist, "Don't look!" she whispered loudly.

"Are you sure?" The blonde girl asked her bodyguard with wide eyes.

"They were following us from the market, even before Jericho's. There's not as many people here as the market district, I definitely recognize them."

"How did you remember them?"

"They're extremely ugly!" Amber said, making a face and waving her hand. In truth, they just reminded her off the men Wild Hog had hunted her and the little tiger with.

"When I say now, we'll run. If they're not following us, at worse we'll look like fools!" Amber said.

"At least alive fools." Lulu gulped and slowly nodded.

"Now!" Amber whispered as the girls took off together. Sure enough, the men started running too!

"They really are chasing us!" Lulu exclaimed.

"Save your breath and follow me!" Amber yelled back, holding her speed back so as not to lose Lulu. It was becoming quickly apparent that Lulu was not used to running, and the three man were closing in on the duo. We have to try to lose them another way! Amber thought to herself. She grabbed her blonde friend by the wrist and pulled her into an alley. They continued to run and try to make unpredictable turns as the streets got smaller and smaller. As they rounded the next corner they were met with a wall.

There was no where to go! Even worse, their escape plan had inadvertently taken them to a location with no people around. They spun around as they heard footsteps coming from around the corner.

"Get behind me!" Amber yelled at the blonde haired girl as she spun around. The young Fang girl reached under her robes to her waist and pulled out her obsidian dagger that gleamed with a menacing reflection. She was not permitted to traverse the city with her spear, but she would never leave herself without a weapon at hand again. As the three men rounded the corner they came to a stop a few paces from the knife wielding girl. She felt her mark burning on her palm. One of them, maybe all of them, was a demon!

"Kids shouldn't be playing in these streets." The one in front spoke up with a smirk. He was a tall bald man in a dark cloak and dark leather greaves. He had a menacing shoulder armor piece that resembled a demonic boar. The other two were similarly dressed.

"Then let's all go home!" Amber suggested, her grip on her knife making her knuckles cold. She understood the importance of striking first, but she was hesitant to fight in the city and live the rest of her life in a dungeon. She also wasn't sure if this was a demon in front of her!

"What a smart little girl. I like your plan," the man smiled. A menacing dragon neck tattoo peaked above his collar, glowing in the golden light of the sinking sun.

"Why don't you just give us everything you have, and we'll call it a day? Two little cultivator girls must have such interesting things on them."

"We don't have anything! We're just running errands," Amber quickly retorted.

"Heh. Running errands. What kind of errand girls are flashing big bags of coin in the middle of the market? Don't pretend." He laughed menacingly.

"I knew my gut was right about you when we saw you following that tall guy from the herb shop. That old man isn't as cunning as he thinks he is. We know what he really sells. The last one we robbed coming out of there had some pretty good stuff on him!"

"Amber..." Lulu's shaky voice came from behind the golden-eyed girl as she felt the blonde girl grab her sleeve. The situation didn't look good. The bald man seemed to recognize that they were cultivators, and he had still pursued them. That meant that they were dangerous. Now it seemed that they were, at worst, demons. At best, they were some kind of bandits that had unlocked their Qi! Memories of dying men flooded Amber's mind. She remembered her hand in front of her tearing flesh and freeing blood.

She hadn't thought about the men she had killed lately, and she didn't understand why she was thinking of it now when the situation demanded focus.

"I'm a guard with the Lucky Tiger caravan, and we're expected to report back. If they don't hear from us they'll send people!" Amber's knuckles turned white around the bone handle of her dagger.

"A couple'a little tigers! And this one's a guard! Ain't that a riot boys?" The three men laughed together.

"Besides, if you don't play nicely, there won't be anyone to find, angel." The other two men slowly started fanning out to either side. The girls both tensed up as they could sense themselves being trapped. Amber looked side to side as a drip of sweat ran down the side of her face. She didn't know which side her palm mark was reacting to. Was it both?

"No matter what happens. The first to come close to us dies!" Amber growled. She looked as if she meant every word.