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022 - A Stroll Through Downtown
🕑 Added 2024-07-08 12:00:37 +0000 UTCFollowing their exile from the Qin Clan, Qin Yun and his wife walked the streets of Jin City looking for an inn to accommodate them. Unfortunately, any they tried would refuse them at the door, stating they had standards to keep and wouldn’t serve beggars. While Yun Jingfei was slightly offended, Qin Yun couldn’t help but laugh.
Indeed, it was only reasonable for them to think so as their state of dress reflected as such. Qin Yun’s clothes were in tatters and bloody, while Yun Jingfei’s were caked with dust and dirt, dulling their usual brilliance. Even the mask she wore had lost its lustre.
After seeking shelter from many establishments, they finally decided to acquire lodging in a mortal inn, a distance away from the city’s centre. Unlike with many other planes, mortals and cultivators weren’t estranged from one another. In fact, cultivators were quite common, at over a little more than ten percent of the total population.
This made for quite a strenuous symbiotic relationship. Cultivators, in their delusions of grandeur, were quite averse to the mundane necessities of their lives. One would think cultivators would provide for themselves, but it wasn't so for the vast majority.
While those in the Qin Clan practised inedia, this would only hold true for noble clans with some inheritance, unwilling to mingle with the mortal realm. Most other ordinary cultivators would need sustenance, clothing, shelter, etc, just as mortals would and were reluctant to manufacture them on their own.
As such, the City Lord tolerated mortals in his city if they fulfilled the populace's needs. Yet, the ratio remained the same. While Jin City wasn't large, only accommodating over a hundred thousand people, there were still nine mortals for every cultivator. Sustaining such a population wasn't something easy. Still, the system has worked for a long time now.
In exchange for their services, mortals could enroll their children into the nearby sects if they were found to possess Spiritual Roots, hoping they would secure better lives for themselves and their progeny.
Unfortunately, the chances of a mortal couple giving birth to a child possessing Spiritual Roots were one in ten. It was quite depressing to know since the chances of a child born to cultivators not having Spiritual Roots were also ten percent. While Qin Yun didn't know if that ratio held some significance, he found its inclusion everywhere quite peculiar.
This created expectations that the two classes remained separate and shouldn't mingle as if they were two different species, even if they depended on each other. While cultivators needed mortals for their daily needs, mortals couldn't survive in the outside world without the strength cultivators possessed.
There were too many dangers, ranging from demonic beasts occupying most of the continent's lands to demonic cultivators who had no scruples slaughtering anyone in their paths for the sake of their cultivation to natural disasters occurring every now and then. Life was harsh for those without power.
With a roof over his head, Qin Yun could finally discard his ruined clothes for something more presentable. While the new blue robes he donned were clean and neat, they weren't particularly luxurious. In fact, they resembled the everyday wear of most mortals, except that they shone with a slight aura, which Qin Yun promptly hid.
Yun Jingfei couldn’t help but look at his clothes, frowning, thinking about who in their right mind would refine such a standard set of clothes into an artifact? She wondered which master was bored enough to do such a thing.
Of course, the answer was Qin Yun himself. He was a man with many hobbies, and artifact refining just happened to be one of them. Still, the path was long, and he hadn't put much effort into it in this life, as cultivation took much of his attention. He only dabbled into it to provide for himself and his wife.
As you might expect, he also provided the clothes Yun Jingfei usually wore. While his main reason was to ensure they possessed the required defensive options, he also liked seeing her shine in the clothes he had chosen for her, such as the ones she wore at present.
Yun Jingfei had exchanged her usual blue dress for a dark green one. Once again, it came with assorted boots and gloves of the same colour, which hid the non-existent burns scars she was supposed to have. She hadn't changed her mask as she was now used to wearing it most of the time.
While the clothes themselves weren’t the most striking anyone had ever seen, Yun Jingfei wore them to perfection, elevating them further. Even without her perfect visage showing and most of her skin hidden, she still attracted gazes as they walked the city's streets.
More than once, passersby stopped them, trying to strike up a conversation with Qin Yun's wife, ignoring him in the process. While he wasn't the jealous type, being interrupted so often gave him a headache. Still, he had already expected such a thing to happen and had the means to make it stop.
Qin Yun held her gloved hand, rotating his Innate Qi, prompting the formation hidden within to activate. Slight colourful lines appeared over all her dress, flashing them promptly disappeared. Soon after, they weren’t interrupted again on their date.
"What did you do?" she asked, noticing the changes around her.
"Just a formation to muddle their perception of you," he replied with a slight smile. "Just enough that they won't recognize your existence unless you address them first. Simply put a little Qi into the eye to make it disappear."
Qin Yun then proceeded to show her its location, just above her heart, while she looked at him incredulously. She had knowledge of this type of formation but had never seen one incorporated so discreetly into clothes, especially not ones made of common materials. A formation with this effect should use a massive amount of energy to maintain, yet Yun Jingfei couldn't feel any drain on her as if there was a battery powering it. She wondered how he had achieved it.
Yet, it seemed Qin Yun had no intentions of revealing this mystery. Yun Jingfei didn't push further, as she had since become used to his antics—at least she thought she had.
"I hope you have a plan going forward," she said skeptically. It wouldn't surprise her if he had simply followed along as the day's events unfolded. She was well aware of her husband's tendencies to ignore what he couldn't be bothered to deal with if it didn't pose any immediate threat. She felt this time was no different, and she would be proven right.
"Is it necessary?" he asked, smiling, before quickly adding something as Yun Jingfei’s foot threatened to crush his own. “Why not just enjoy this date? It’s not the end of the world.”
Yun Jingfei stopped walking and looked him in the eyes as she scowled. She didn't say a word and simply stared at him with a look of disappointment. Qin Yun knew her intentions and couldn't help but chuckle. Then, he wrapped his arms around her slender waist before kissing her tender lips. She felt a hint of anger in her heart yet chose not to resist, enjoying his tenderness even though she knew he was only trying to change the subject. She would get an answer either way.
People went about their daily lives all around them, ignoring them. While some were on a collision course with them, they would magically swerve around their locations, avoiding them by a large margin. It looked as if their gravity had bent the world around them, preventing anyone from reaching them. No one even noticed this peculiar phenomenon.
In her inexperience in such matters, Yun Jingfei soon found herself out of breath and pushed herself out of Qin Yun’s arms. She didn’t deign to meet his gaze and simply turned to the side, pouting slightly. Qin Yun burst into laughter, wrapping an arm around her back as it landed on her hips, then prompted them both to resume walking.
They ambled down the streets aimlessly, sampling the various foods on sale at street stalls. Somehow, Yun Jingfei found the cacophony of sounds and the bustling atmosphere of this mortal food market inviting. She could even feel that it was somehow beneficial to her Dao. She couldn't make sense of such a feeling as she had been taught by her master that the Dao lay in the detachment of worldly desires. She couldn’t conceive that the exact opposite led to the same result.
“Dao is everywhere; why can’t it be here too?” Qin Yun said with a slight smirk.
She really detested how her husband could read her heart so easily. She was once known as an ice beauty, effortlessly capable of masking her feelings. Yet, she was akin to an open book to this man.
Qin Yun couldn’t take all the credit as he had been in too many relationships. Their experiences were worlds apart. Knowing one’s partner’s thoughts only came with time. Yet, Qin Yun had already had too much time, and humans were always humans deep down. While all individuals were unique, their emotions weren’t.
Too many cultivators failed to realize that such basic knowledge was highly impactful. Too many conflicts could have been averted if any of the participants had a higher emotional quotient. Unfortunately, they much preferred to talk with their fist. Why did they have mouths if they had no intentions of using them? Sometimes, apathy was the answer they needed.
They soon left the food court and transitioned into an open-air market mainly catering to cultivators. While there was the occasional mortal stumbling in, they would be promptly repelled by the formation surrounding the area.
As they crossed the threshold, Yun Jingfei could feel a slight force rejecting her, growing stronger with every step she took. While she had once been a cultivator, the formation didn't discriminate; they would be excluded if they didn't possess Qi within a Qi Centre.
She thought of doubling back, yet the thought of not being considered a cultivator anymore rubbed her the wrong way. She wished to prove them wrong. Unfortunately, her mastery of intent was much too shallow to cut through this formation at the moment.
Not wishing to let this weight on her mind, Qin Yun used the side of his palm to cut the air before them, splitting the surrounding Spiritual Qi and allowing them entrance. While his movement looked casual, Yun Jingfei recognized the path she wished to walk. She wondered just how strong her husband truly was.
On the other side of this tear, the couple found themselves in something entirely resembling another world. Gone was the bustle of the street market, replaced by an air of tension. All around, merchants tended to their wares as they eyed potential customers while staying vigilant for anyone even thinking of robbing them.
While security was assigned to this place, they wouldn't be responsible if a customer insisted they be granted the wares for free. Offending some of those big customers simply wasn't worth it for the market's management.
Qin Yun and his wife perused the various shops, yet nothing caught his eye. They were all merely trinkets without much useful traits, yet were somehow way overpriced for what they offered. He also found some artifacts relegated to the side, as if worthless. Qin Yun wondered how people were able to turn a profit with these dubious practices.
There were weapons, defensive artifacts, pills and even precious materials. Yet, all inventory was just the most common things you could find in Jin City. To see the truly valuable items, one would have to visit the various clans or the city's lone auction house. Understandably, the prices would also be sky-high, something Qin Yun wasn't willing to pay for mere auxiliary enhancements.
With nothing much to see, Qin Yun considered moving on, but he heard shouts coming from further in the market. At first, they were simple arguments until things soon took a turn for the worse. While a voice in his mind told him not to involve himself, his curiosity overcame rationality.
