Vera leaned against the street's mud wall as he stared at a child petting Sword Dog. A wisp of his qi seeped into the child's skin as he scanned his condition.
Each thread passed throught he boy's veins looking for qi.
Dantian... was it?
Soon the treads reached the boy's core, or as Ezra called it, his dantian.
Its edge's were dull and cold. As expected, the child's lower dantian was locked.
Vera's qi spiralled into a thread and slipped through the crusted wall of the child's lower dantian.
It has both Yang and Yin energies. They aren't the same as us humans from the Five Plains.
There was no doubt in his mind.
I'm in the Greater Heavens...
The Greater Heavens was supposed to be a land of boundless experts, a land that teemed with qi and treasures.
But the truth was now in front of him. Flesh that clung to bones and sunken eyes were not rare here. Be it the mother who bargained to the last copper or the vendor who couldn't afford to relent. Everyone begged in their own ways.
"Brat, where is the nearest merchant hub?" Vera asked the child who was engrossed with Sword Dog's shiny golden fur.
The child looked up at Vera, his hands still ruffling Sword Dog's fur.
"Begging there will only get you beaten up, senior. This is the wrong city to beg from merchants."
The child's old rags hung on to him like curtains, they were far too loose for a child his age.
"Tsk..."
Vera picked up the child and carried him like a sack of rice.
"Lead me to the nearest merchant hub. I'll buy you a meal and some new clothes afterwards."
"Well, I guess you will only learn after being beaten up once." The child spoke in an exasperated tone. He directed Vera to the nearest trading house.
Sword Dog, woken up by the incessant petting, followed Vera.
As he slipped through the crowded city streets, Vera asked the child questions about the city.
"What is your name?"
"Chun. What is yours?"
"Vera. Which domain are we in?"
Chun's brows furrowed as he turned his head to face Vera.
"You're in the centre of the Blade Master's domain, and you ask which domain we are in? Are you stupid?"
A dull thud resounded. The child rubbed his forehead with an aggrieved expression.
Vera scanned through the city streets as he followed Chun's directions. The streets were lined with beggars, mostly children.
"Has there been a war recently?"
"I wish. At least I would get enlisted. Turn right here."
A second bump grew on Chun's head.
"Don't underestimate war. Being hungry is better than dying."
After weaving through the streets crowded with stalls and pickpockets, the two of them had finally reached the Golden Dragon mercantile.
The pavilion had thick wooden walls that rose two storeys high. At the building's entrance hung a board engraved in gold.
Two guards stood out front; they cracked their knuckles as they saw Vera approach the entrance.
Vera's qi spread throughout the opulent building.
Only a second-rank martial artist and a few early first rates.
In the Five Plains, such an entourage for a single merchant pavilion would've been excessive. Nonetheless, if it came to it, Vera was certain he could handle it quietly.
As the guards approached Vera, he let out a bit of his qi.
Chun's eyes widened as the guards bowed to Vera and courteously escorted him into the building.
"Senior, are you a martial artist of the beggar coalition?"
Chun gripped his skull tightly as he pouted.
"Why did you hit me again?" He asked with an aggrieved tone.
"Just because."
The pavilion was expansive. Each wall was adorned with renowned swords and paintings.
In contrast to the impoverished people outside the building, each visitor wore elegant silk robes and jewels.
Against each wall stood multiple polished desks, and at the far end of the building, there was a single counter that directed visitors to specific traders.
Led in by the guards, no one questioned Vera. Though spiteful comments were spoken under their breath, there were none that Vera couldn't hear.
After a few moments, Vera had reached the counter at the far end; an elegant lady dressed in golden robes greeted him.
She glanced at the beggar child Vera was carrying.
"Welcome to the Golden Dragon mercantile. The flesh traders are on the second floor." Her tone was calm as ever, as if this were usual business.
"I will tell you in advance that the price goes down significantly if you don't have its papers."
A tremor ran down Chun's body; his breaths grew heavy.
Vera's gaze sharpened.
While slavery existed in the Five Plains as well, it only happened in wartime and was limited to enemy soldiers. The legalisation of slavery, however, was prohibited in all countries.
The implication disgusted Vera, but he knew better than to lash out blindly.
"I'm not here to sell the boy. Where do you lot trade precious metals?"
"My apologies. The ore trader is at the third desk to your right."
Vera let Chun down and signalled for him to follow while heading to the ore trader.
Vera pulled the chair aside and took a seat; he pulled out a pouch from his robe.
"What is the current rate for gold?"
The trader gazed at Vera's shabby robes and the tiny pouch he brought out. It was clear his niceties ran in proportion to his commission.
Damn traders, always the same no matter where you go.
The trader didn't bother to look up from his desk as he fiddled with his abacus.
"1000 coppers to a thousandth of a jin; our minimum trade is a tenth of a jin. Prices vary based on quality. I take a 20% commission." His response was short and curt.
It was clear to the trader that Vera wasn't carrying any papers proving his holdings. All the gold Vera held would be within the pouch; it wouldn't be enough to make a trade.
However, thanks to Ezra, the pouch held a lot more than it seemed to carry.
Along with his halberd, the pouch carried a boulder's worth of gold.
"Do you make holdings accounts? And if so, how many branches facilitate transactions?"
The trader's eyes rose from his desk; the clacking of his abacus halted.
"We cover all cities in the domains within the South Sea. All handle transactions. How much would you like to deposit?"
"How much does it take to remove trader fees?"
At Vera's words, the young merchant's breath hitched.
Within a moment's time, the cold expression on his face turned to a respectful smile.
"We omit trader fees as long as the balance is above 500 gold coins. If you are depositing through gold, we take 6 tenths of a jin."
After Vera filtered out the details, he deposited the required amount and set up his account.
When he pulled out an ingot of gold from his pouch, he received a few dubious gazes from the guards of the pavilion.
Though his oppressive qi made them think otherwise.
Having completed the transaction, the trader promptly handed Vera a token with his name engraved on it and the mercantile's symbol on its back and a pack that contained 500 coppers.
As he stood at the gate, he looked at the bewildered Chun that he carried along.
"Let's go get some clothes."
...
Vera and Chun sat at a table in one of the Golden Dragon's affiliate inns.
Waiters hurried across the tables with various delicacies laid over their arms, although most came to Vera's table.
He stared at Chun as he gobbled down over 5 plates of noodles and stir-fried chicken, ruining the new robes that Vera had bought for him.
As Chun rose to take a breath before diving back into the plate, Vera held his head in place.
"Take a break; you're going to choke." He pushed a cup of water to Chun
While Chun drank from the cup of water, Vera looked at him with furrowed brows.
Before he left the Five Plains he laid out a plan with Ezra's help.
According to Ezra, the next stage of cultivation was based on something called 'Law'.
Law is an esoteric power that allowed martial artists to establish rules that manipulated causality. Law was something that could be intuited, but that would take many years before coming to fruition.
The living proof of that was Ezra himself.
Having spent nearly a century to create his first law and a millennium to create the Immortal's Painting, he told Vera that he'd become an old man before becoming a practitioner.
The first stage of the plan was to join a notable sect and stay there at least until he mastered one Law.
I can't stay here for long, nor do I plan on bringing this child along with me.
Vera laid down his cutlery and spoke. Since he couldn't bring the child along, he wanted to at least set him up before he left.
"Chun. Do you have a place you can go back to?"
"No," the boy answered between bites of his noodles.
"Where will you go after today?"
"Back to my street."
Vera had no obligations to the child. Nor was he a charitable person.
Nonetheless, his grip tightened at the thought of letting him go back to begging. Perhaps it had to do with the cruelty of the people.
There were beggars in the Five Plains as well. But they weren't children, and they weren't sold off as slaves.
As he filled another cup of water for Chun, he asked, "Will you work here if I can get you a job?".
But, his reaction surprised Vera.
Chun's arms quivered at Vera's words; he sat silently, unwilling to touch his food.
"It is okay. I make quite a bit from begging."
Vera looked at his bony wrists.
He's lying. Why?
In his travels he had heard of teahouses that dabbled in unsavoury businesses. But most of those were handled after the opiate ban across the Five Plains.
Vera's breaths sharpened as he observed Chun's reaction.
"Have you worked at an inn before?"
"Yes... But they don't pay much. I'd rather beg."
Cold sweats beaded across Chun's forehead as he replied; the trembling in his hands grew in intensity.
The implication was heavy.
Just then Chun crossed his arms; gripping his trembling arms under the table.
It wasn't just an assumption anymore.
The surface of the table cracked under Vera's fingers.
Back home he'd never come face to face with something this heinous. But now that it was happening right in front of him...
Vera sat in silence after he passed another cup of water to Chun.
The image of Chun's trembling body was burnt into his mind.
Vera let out a deep sigh and picked up his utensils to eat.
But before he started eating, he asked, "Chun, will you carry my things for a few coppers a day? I'll be travelling across the domains for a few years; you can leave at anytime.".
At Vera's proposal, Chun was first hesitant.
But soon the shivers in his body calmed. He looked at Sword Dog that peacefully slept beside Vera.
"Hm..."
"My mother said people that animals like aren't bad... I'll come along."
In truth Vera knew Chun wasn't convinced of his nature. He simply closed his eyes and hoped for the best.
The same way Vera hoped this wasn't the case for all the children he'd seen begging.
Soon, the bustling of waiters resumed.
Vera and Chun ate their dishes in silence.